He shuts the door from his hotel room and heads outside to the streets. His stress has subsided a bit since the incident, but for the past few days Liam has been on edge. He's starting to feel the burning sensation inside of him again. He tries to find the closest store where he can escape the feeling by getting the only thing that seems to always soothe him. Liam notices a gas station across the street and nearly bursts into a sprint as he quickly makes his way towards it's inviting fluorescent lights.
Anxiety rushes through his body as he stands in front of the store, staring at the "pull" sign on the door, remembering the last time he felt like this, he burnt his apartment building down and caused chaos in his small town. What if he kills more people just by touching the door handle? What if he accidentally sets it on fire?
"Excuse me" He hears a woman's voice from behind him.
He snaps out of his daze and shakes his head, "Sorry 'bout that" He reaches to open the door for her, but the woman's hand has reached the handle before his, opening it before he could.
He moves out of her way so she can enter first and he follows behind. He starts pacing back and forth from the aisles trying to find cigs he could buy, he spots a section with the different brands of cigarettes and chooses his favorite, he hesitates before grabbing the pack, thinking that it would burst into flames, closing his eyes he takes a deep breath and sighs. He opens his eyes and reaches out to grab it, waiting for them to be destroyed by his hands. A few seconds pass with nothing happening and he's snapped out of his daze by hearing the bells above the door ring and when he looks up he see's three guys in dark black suits and with sun glasses. Each of them spread out into different sections of the store, keeping their eyes on Liam. They make Liam feel a bit queasy and he immediately wants to get out of the store. Liam heads to the cash register, trying to get out of the store as soon as possible. As he hands the money to the employee, he turns his head and tries to spot the three men, and when he finally see's them off in the corner whispering amongst one another, all staring at Liam.
"Would you like a receipt?" Liam turns his attention back to the cashier and shakes his head, grabbing the pack and leaving the store, the burning underneath his skin starts to get worse and he can't handle it anymore.
He walks towards the side of the building, under the sharp bright light of the streetlight. He leans against the wall, relishing in the cool feeling of the brick on his forehead. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the his cigarettes, he see's his hands shaking and he clenches his fists and squeezes his eyes shut, breathing deeply. His hand enters the pockets of his jeans, searching for a lighter.
"Fuck" he mutters, when he realizes he doesn't have it on him. He debates going back in to the store and buying one, but he really doesn't want to be near the guys in the suits, something about them is off. A thought occurs to him, if he could concentrate carefully, then maybe he could light the end of the cigarette. He places his fingers on the opposite side of the cig and keeps his eyes steadily on it.
"Uh, Mr. Payne?" He turns his head towards the side where he heard the voice, there stood the three men he had seen earlier in the store. One of the them pulls out a lighter from their pocket and they all start approaching Liam, getting closer to him.
"Here" one of them says as he holds the open flame up to the end of the cigarette, lighting it. Liam carefully places the end into his mouth and sucks in, breathing deeply and holding the smoke inside until he feels a bit dizzy.
"You need to come with us" Liam breathes the smoke out, tilting his head up and watching as the smoke curls into small wisps before disappearing into the dark night sky above.
"Oh yeah? For what?" He says a bit cockily.
"We'll explain everything later, just come with us."
