Work Text:
William comes back to himself to the noise of pacing.
Tears spring up in his eyes as a bright, blinding light falls onto his face. Sticky, red liquid coats his eyelashes and he thinks he groans as he blinks away the pain-
The pacing stops.
“William?”
He sits up- suddenly- and he has one moment to look at a face- red headed and so- so tired- before the noise of a gun shot goes off.
That’s weird. It hurts a lot- the bullet impacts the front of his skull but something tells him he’s already gone through this- so the impact blows him back and he hits the tile with a thud.
“Fuck- fuck fuck fuck- okay- you’re alive- aren’t you? Like the little freak you are?”
His vocal cords still work. Even as blood pools from his forehead, “ Xavier?”
“That’s- that’s X to you.”
It doesn’t hurt. Maybe he’s panicking too much or he actually can’t feel anything or maybe this is just- his mind feels like sludge. It might actually be sludge. He doesn’t know how a bullet would do that but he feels sludgey.
“..this is because of Cantri-“
“Don’t say her fucking name or I’ll- I’ll shoot again.”
William needs to get out of here. Somewhere inside him says oh, you deserve this. You had this coming. Another part says he should not get tortured by his ex-situationship.
“So.”
“Shut up-“
“What do you- want- X?” It’s hard to talk. Maybe it’s the blood or maybe that piece in his brain got messed up. Maybe he’s just scared.
“I’m-“ his voice trembles a little, “I’m gonna do to you like you did to her.”
Cantrip stares at him from against the wall. She has blood in her mouth.
There’s the noise of a gun clattering to the floor. He doesn’t even know why Xavier would have a gun or why he wouldn’t just use his strength- his skin sharpens and he tugs William’s body up.
His hands cut the sides of his arms and shoulders- William tenses and he feels himself being swung around- slammed against the wall. He has half a mind left to let the ice-feeling seep through his bones as he slips through the wall.
It’s weird seeing his own brains on the wall. And blood. It’s the last thing he sees before he stumbles into a- familiar hallway.
It’s weird registering where he is.
Belltech. The hallways and the lights and the linoleum tiles.
Oh. Oh.
He wonders what his brother told Xavier. He’s sure it’s not anything he hasn’t told himself.
The door next to him slams against the wall, and he scrambles against the tile as blood slides between his fingers. It’s weird how much your head bleeds when you’re shot.
He wishes he would never be back in these fucking hallways ever again. He can still hear the screaming and the noise of own shotgun.
Yeah- a lot of stuff makes sense now.
Xavier lets out a yell as he swings his hand towards him, and William’s not quick enough to go intangible or dodge as it hits in the crook of his chin. Blood bubbles up there.
His headaches back. The lights here are worse than in the room.
He runs down the hallway- there’s panic, and he needs to get out of here. Face Xavier on his own time. Face Xavier when the other doesn’t have him locked in his brothers building.
Gas flows through the hallways.
The next thing he does is weird. He can taste blood in his mouth before coughing it up- Xavier’s hand is around his neck and he-
He bites down. That’s a weird decision. His teeth don’t tear on the skin- it’s hard. Xavier still recoils, and he’s shoved back. Back into the hallway.
He takes that as a sign to keep running. Xavier lunges again but he sidesteps and continues- there’s an elevator here, isn’t there?
Tide and Vyncent watch him from the elevator. Vyncent looks almost disappointed. The gun against his back and the axe in his hand are the only things he can think about.
His boots echo against the ground again. The rooms pass by and he can hear Xavier screaming-
“Get back here-!”
He doesn’t want to do that. He turns a corner and he can see that fucking elevator, and his hand slams against it.
He’s now stuck in a corner. His back is against the wall and the other boy just stares at him. He has a bat now. He doesn't know where the other got that but he doesn’t want to know.
“...Do you see her too?” His voice is scratchy. William can’t see past the blood. Cantrip stands behind him- she still has blood on her mouth. That fog is back.
“ No.”
The elevator pings- and he moves the same time Xavier does. He sees stars as the bat impacts his skull and he can’t see anything. His feet brush against the gap between floor and the elevator, and the bat goes again- impacting the door.
His hand hits the button again with so much force it stings. His ghostshaping is fuzzy at best but a blue wall comes up- and the other has that look in his eyes as he bangs his fists against the wisps.
“ Drop this fucking wall, Wisp.”
“No thanks.”
The elevator doors begin to slide shut- the banging gets louder and louder until it’s just muffled. And William’s alone.
William is so alone.
The static is coming back, and he lets go of the wisps before slumping down against the wall. He tries not to stare as Jade looks down at him from the other side.