Dark and damp. Dripping at the edges and half blurry, a shifting and looming figure, with a far too wide smile.

Invasive in his touch, and cackling while Will writhes under the rough fingers that poke through his wounds.

Uncaring, as he screams from the fingers poking around his open chest and leg. Sinnew and muscle oozing out of the open caivities like waterfalls off a cliff. The skin pulled back to reveal a dark and bloody mess of bones, the ribs looked healed over from where it looked like they cracked and broke.

One of them cracked over a patch of darker skin from where the doctors had fixed his punctured lung.

Sweeping his eyes over the grisly scene, he found it hard to breathe. His open chest rising rapidly over and over, his heartbeat rose with every second.

He could see his own heart out in the open. Beating in tandem to his rising heart rate and it took everything to not hone in on it. The fist sized organ sat there and taunted him as he sweat through the torturious fingers pulling muscle from bone. Not covered with skin or muscle, openly beating in the moist air.

Lower down from where he could see his heart. The mess of his leg is visible from every angle, clear cracks in the bones made worse with the inky figure's hand. Tugging, digging in, and curling around things that don’t need to be touched so soon after a break.

He feels like his heart is beating out of his chest when the figure lets his choke-inducing grip on his broken tibia go. Picking up the skin peeled back from his chest and laying it back where it belonged.

The soft brown colored skin was threading itself back over his chest, like it was never separated or bloodied in the first place.

Smaller dark bruises that still bothered him lay over his abdomen and the skin over his ribs.

The skin had been healing for a while, but it still bothered to stay tinted a little longer. His eyes blurred as he made pathetic noises from where he floated immobile in the dark space.

His eyes were painfully screwed together, as he half sobbed when the hand returned to his leg, ghosting the palm over his knee. Leaving horrid aches at the barest touch.

Jerking somewhere deep in the limb when the hands dug again. He felt like his leg was being pulled apart, one bone pulled to the left, the other to the right, right on top of where they broke.

The pain never stopped, only lessened to an ache for a moment, then came back. Even when the hands left him and the figure melted into the dark around his body, he still hurt.

One huge booted foot, so large in its presence he felt it would crush his whole body, slammed on his knee.

Will felt his mouth fall open, harsh ringing went straight through his skull from one ear to the other, before his vision blacked out in a full-body jerk.

Will’s eyes flew open as his body jerked him upright, sweat slid down his neck all the way down his back before it evaporated off his warm body. His chest rose up and down heavily, giving him the barest ache where they did.

His head hurt with a painful throbbing against his skull, his ears still ringing, as he held his hands up against them, trying to smother what noise he could.

Almost smacked his head to get the ringing to stop, before gentle hands stopped him, replacing his hands where they had covered.

The fluffy appendages were trying to flatten themselves against his head as much as possible. Leaving him dazed and bleary-eyed. Slowly, the ringing lessened, and he could divorce his eyebrows from each other.

The agonizing sparks in his right leg, the dryness in his throat, and a slowly lifting headache are the only things left from his nightmare.

“Are you okay now?” Eve asked, tilting her head to the left, he could see her assessing his state, sucking in a lip as whatever she saw worried her.

“Yeah, I just need some water.” He nodded. The ringing in his ears was gone, and his headache would probably go away if he got some water.

The pain in his leg, however, was apparently going to stay unless he got medicine. “Do we have something for pain in the bathroom?” He asked, not fully remembering the amount of first aid they had since they used it more than a month ago.

He felt Eveline’s shoulder bump his from where she sat next to him in the bed. Her hands resting gently back on her lap, a book sat between her legs.

When he had gone to lie down, she followed him with a book in hand, asked him not to mind her while she watched over him. Gentle smile apparent as she patted his shoulder with one hand, only moving to turn the page of her book or leave one hand rustling his dark brown hair.

It was so calming that Will fell asleep immediately, his large body curling into her side as he slept, his curly head butting up against the right of her torso.

Now they sat next to each other, one of his arms lay over his lap, as she rested her shoulder on his. “I think so, I’ll go check.” She pondered out loud, set the book down on his side table, and walked out of the room. Returning in 15 minutes with water, a couple of pills, and two sandwiches, one with just honey peanut butter on it for him to nibble on slowly.

Through the closed blinds in his lamp-lit room, he could see the sun threatening to spill out from behind them. Will is glad he didn’t wake anyone up at the crack of dawn. Taking the pills and water from Eve’s hands, he took them with the water, then gulped a bit more after.

Will took the sandwich, thanking Eve as she sat down next to him. She had finished wiping the crumbs from her hands after she had eaten her own sandwich.

It likely included apple jam and peanut butter, her favorite. Will laughs to himself at the thought that that’s why she smells like apples all the time.

For the past few weeks, everyone has been slowly chilling out about his injuries. They still snap their heads to him when he makes ouch noises, but they no longer coddle him when his arm is functional again.

He has crutches he uses to get around, although they’re weird to fiddle with, he prefers them to being picked up by the armpits.

It’s an interesting feat to be easily lifted by his 6’4 Wolf friend Oakley, when Will is a 6’2 Wolf-dog in his own right. His feet and tail dangle 4 inches off the floor when he’s held up to the sky by Oakley.

Will doesn’t hate it when Oakley lifts him, it’s sort of fun, it’s just a bit silly if he can walk by himself. Will has seen them like this before, when he told them about when those guys fought him.

Back then, it was sillier, less, Heavy. It didn’t mean so much, so they could joke about it freely.

Now, if he jokes about how he feels like he was lucky, they look at him like they're seeing something in him.

Will tries not to worry them, but it’s hard not to when you disappear one day, and the same day come back physically worn.

It’s not like Alex Hawthorne had said anything other than the same stuff everyone says to him. But when paired with pain so thick you couldn’t speak. You come out at least a little different.

Limp and nightmares are the good stick in his opinion. His innocence is still intact. He probably shouldn’t joke about it when he was basically in his underwear when their creepy principal broke his leg.

He wouldn’t tell Oakley that one; he already felt guilty enough for when those wolves got him.

Enough about his injuries, though, he was going to visit his mamma today. Let her know he’s okay, and ask her how she’s been. Will hasn’t talked to Chris in a while either. He hasn’t seen their mom for even longer.

Usually, he would try to visit her often, but with his job and school, he couldn’t make time for it. Now, with how immobile he’s been, he hasn’t even been working.

Oh, fuck, he’s filing that worry away somewhere for later. He needs to make sure his mom’s hospice payments are going through.

Shaking his head gently until that line of thought that could get dangerous quickly is finally gone. Replaced with excitement and a bit of nervousness for how it might go.

Noah, Oakley, and Eve wanted to come with him, and he wanted them to come too. However, his mom isn’t exactly the tightest-lipped person, and she loves to brag.

She would surely tell them something related to his childhood and leave them concerned. But it’s just another part of him now that he’s out of that house. (How great it would be if that were true) So he wants them to meet his mom.

The only way to know if she will or won’t is to go. So after a good hour or two of lying still next to Eve. He sits up and informs Eve of his plans.

“I want to visit my mom today, and, I want you guys to come. Can you tell the others?” He pokes her knee, looking up at her with his dark green eyes.

“Sure, I’ll tell them to get ready.” She smiled at him, closed her book, and tucked it under her arm. She got off the bed, walked out the door, and closed it behind her. Left by himself, he got his crutches and changed his clothes.

It takes about two and a half hours before they pile into the Uber Oakley bought for them, and an indeterminate amount of time before they’re walking down the halls of the familiar building.

Rounding corners until they find themselves in front of a door with a paper name plate tucked into a clear box that hangs on the wall to the right of it. The white paper had the name ‘Winter Carver’ printed on it. William stepped forward, knocking gently on the door.

“Come in.” Sweet and full of warmth, her voice tickled him behind his ears. Green eyes he’s seen on himself light up when she sees him walk in, not even batting an eye when she notices his leg and crutches.

“It’s been a while since you visited. I’m so happy to see you, honey.” She smiled at him, giving him a quick but big hug as soon as he came within arm's reach. Breathing her in, he’s both comforted and unnerved by her scent. Letting go eventually, he steps back, but stays leaning on the bed.

“I’m sorry I haven’t visited Mamma.” He looked at her, responsibility and emotion holding itself in his green eyes.

“It’s okay, baby. How have you been? How’s school?” She gave him a reassuring hand, and anything he could have said died in his mouth before he could speak it.

Oh, the things you don’t know, Mamma. Gulping through the tiny lump in his throat, he responded.

“It’s suspended, Mamma, I’m fine. How are you? Did you do anything fun with your friends here?” He steered her away from the topic, smiling almost mournful as she lit up again.

“Oh, I was wanting to tell you this story, it was wild, Joseph was telling me about how his son, Blake, was volunteering at some animal shelters.

It reminded me of you, you know, you’re always grooming animals for money. Such a nice boy, he had been playing with this one cat, and the thing had been startled so bad it basically flew around the room.” She chuckled at the story.

“The thing only stopped freaking out after it had scratched the boy up, crazy.” She paused for a second.

Will knew what was coming, bracing himself to explain. “Reminds me of that time you got out of that room he put you in, you looked haunted, ate some food at dinner, and threw it up right after, then wiped your face and smiled.

He told me he had no idea why,

if I knew then he was starving you by leaving you there,

I would have smacked him.” She seethed, rapidly switching emotions, almost manic.