Chapter Text
It’s after midnight when Liam climbs onto the roof through his open bedroom window. He can still hear the faint vibrations of his phone from where he’d left it laying on his bed. He doesn’t want to answer the packs calls right now, there’s always something going on and he just..he needs some room to breath.
He flops down onto the cold slate tiles, resting his feet on the rain gutter. The air feels heavy against his skin as he pulls his old ipod from his hoodie pocket, unravelling the headphones and slipping one bud into his ear.
Liam stares up at the vast inky darkness above him when suddenly bright streaks of blue and gold illuminate patches of the sky. He stares in amazement for a moment before letting his eyes slip shut, you’re supposed to make a wish on these things right?
I wish I could be alone for a while.
He re-opens his eyes and watches the impressive display until every last glowing light is gone. Clambering back into his room, he strips off his hoodie before throwing himself down onto his bed. Kicking and pulling at his bed covers until they’re positioned perfectly. He lets his eyelids drop shut, tuning out the dull sounds of the night. He really should try to get some sleep if he’s going to have to deal with whatever new big bad is lurking.
Across town, on the other side of Beacon Hills, Theo is laying flat out in the bed of his truck, staring up at the night sky in wonder and amazement. Polaris. Vega. Betelgeuse. Arcturus. He lists them one by one on his fingertips, as he spots them twinkling in the darkness.
His phone vibrates sharply against the metal next to his head. The tinny sound it creates hurts his ears. Wincing, he reaches out for the device. He’s puzzled when he sees Scott’s name on the screen. He can’t think of a single reason why the boy would be calling him, but he certainly has no interest in being scalded for whatever he’s supposedly done wrong now. He declines the call, slipping the phone into his jacket pocket.
He’s unsure how long he lays there just staring up at the stars, when out of nowhere, hundreds of little celestial fireballs light up the sky. It doesn’t look like any meteor shower Theo has ever seen before. It’s incredible. He sighs frustratedly when he hears the incessant vibrations of his phone again. He shuts his eyes tightly as he makes a wish.
I wish everyone would leave me alone for a while.
When he opens his eyes again the meteor shower is almost over, the colourful trails are fading away into nothingness.
When Liam wakes up the next day, it’s almost eleven-thirty in the morning. Why hadn’t his mom woken him? He sits up against his headboard, rubbing at his tired eyes. Swinging his legs around to the side, he places his feet on the carpet, bending forward to grab a t-shirt.
As he jogs downstairs, something strange occurs to him. He can’t hear either of his parents heartbeats. Pulling socks from the radiator, he walks into the kitchen. He looks around for a note explaining where they’ve gone, but he can’t seem to find one. Weird.
He takes a glass from the dish rack, turning the cold tap on. That’s strange , Liam thinks as he glances out the kitchen window. His elderly neighbour Mrs. Hadley is always out in her garden on Sunday’s, pulling up weeds and what not.
Gulping down his water, he decides to go check in on her. He slides his feet into the pair of worn vans next to the front door before grabbing his house keys from the hook.
He knocks loudly on the white wooden door, when he doesn’t hear any movement inside, he rings the doorbell. Still nothing. He leans over the railing, peering into the living room window but there’s no sign of anyone.
Scratching at his head, he walks back down the steps and along the path. He looks up and down the street, there’s not a single person to be seen. Where is everyone?
Theo awakens to bright rays of sunshine streaming in through the windows of his truck. He squints his eyes trying to adjust to the light. Shrugging the blanket away from his shoulders, he reaches over to the cupholder, picking up his phone. The clock on the screen displays ten-thirty but that can’t be right, he never gets to sleep through the night, not without police deputies moving him on.
The notifications from Scott’s missed calls are still untouched on the screen. He swipes his thumb over them, pulling up the alpha’s phone number. His finger hovers over the call button for a few seconds, he growls at himself for even considering wussing out, pressing the green button to call him back.
‘The number you have dialed is not accepting calls at this time’ the robotic female voice answers. Well, that’s strange. It’s definitely the number Scott called him from.
Frowning, he opens up his contacts scrolling until he lands on Stiles’ number. He hits the call button. ‘The number you have dialed-’ Theo hangs up.
He scrolls to another name, Corey. ‘The number you-’ What the hell is going on here?
He tries one more number, even though he knows what’s going to happen. Liam’s phone goes straight to voicemail.
Theo climbs into the driver’s seat, flinching as he sits on his keys. Lifting up his hips he fishes them from his back pocket. Shifting gear, he drives away from the dirt road he’s parked on, in search of Scott’s pack.
Theo feels a sense of panic rising in his chest when he doesn’t spot any other car on the road. And he has yet to see a single person anywhere in town. All the shops and cafes are shut, it’s eerily quiet, the place looks like a ghost town.
That’s when he remembers his wish the night before. It can’t have anything to do with that..can it? This is not what he’d meant, he didn’t want to be the only person on the entire fucking planet. How is he going to fix this?
Theo swerves over to the curb, switching the engine off. He grips onto the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turn white. He takes a deep breath and then another one. How could this have happened?
He flings the car door open, jumping to the ground. Theo hates not knowing what to do, it feels foreign to him. He slams the door shut, his frustration building. He lets out a yell, kicking at the front wheel.
“Woah. What’s wrong with you?” he hears a familiar voice say from the sidewalk. Theo’s head snaps up to stare at him.
Liam’s not sure why Theo is looking at him like he suddenly has three heads.
“What, do you not understand words anymore?” He questions.
“How are you here?” Theo asks, eyeing him quizzically.
“Uh..I walked?” Liam says, confused.
“Have you not noticed anything strange?” Theo asks pointedly, throwing his arms out.
“Yeah..where is everyone? Is there some sort of event on or something?”
Theo narrows his eyes at him. Liam swears he can see the left one twitching slightly. The chimera groans before kicking the wheel of his truck again.
“Oh my god. I’m being punished. The entire town disappears and I’m left here with you.” Theo yells. Liam’s not sure who he’s actually angry with, Liam or himself.
“What do you mean the entire town has disappeared?”
“Look around you Liam, there’s no-one here” he shouts. “I tried calling Scott, Stiles, Corey and you but-”
“Wait. You called me fourth? I’m fourth on your list of people to call?” Liam pouts. “You called Stiles, Stiles who hates your guts, before you called me?”
“That’s what you take from this situation?” Theo asks in disbelief.
“”No, you’re right. It’s just..I thought we were-” Liam pauses, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Never mind. How does something like this even happen?”
He can’t believe he ever thought that him and Theo were friends. After the war, when they’d fought side by side, he felt like something had changed between them. Sure, they still bickered but there wasn’t as much fire behind it anymore, it was almost playful now. Liam obviously thought wrong.
“Do you have a TV in your house?” Theo asks absently, looking back down the street.
“I don’t live in a cave and I’m seventeen years old, what do you think?” Liam says wryly. “I don’t really think now is the best time for you to catch up on your soaps though..”
Theo scowls at him. “I don’t want to watch television Liam. I want to see if there still is any television or if it’s more than just the town that’s gone”
Liam’s face pales at the thought. They can’t be the only two people left in the world.