Chapter Text
“Kevin!” Brian called out into the empty forest around him, cupping his hands around his mouth in an effort to amplify his voice. But, there was no reply. He gave a huff and kept walking, grumbling under his breath. Where the hell did Kevin go?! He couldn't have gotten that far… right?
“D’you find anythin’?” Brian turned his head towards the voice, seeing Daithi float down towards him. The two had split up from Daniel and Sean to look around.
“Nothin’...” Brian shook his head and sighed. “D’you think he’s ok?”
“Ah, yeah… He’s probably just gone home…” Daithi gave a slight shrug. “You know Dan can blow things out of proportion sometimes…”
“Yeah but… I dunno, I guess I've got a bad feeling…” Brian glanced around him again, frowning more.
Daithi opened his mouth, about to respond with some unconcerned quip, but he was interrupted by a familiar bark. Seán. Without a word, the two rushed toward the noise. Brian stumbled to a stop when he saw the golden wolf sniffing at a small metal object sitting in the grass. Next to him was Daniel, who picked up the object and turned it around in his hands for a few moments, inspecting it. The wolf transformed back to his human form, Seán soon getting up from the forest floor.
“It’s… One of Kev’s lighters… isn't it?” Seán asked, fidgeting with his hands a bit.
“It is…” Daniel confirmed, looking up from the lighter in his hands and to brian and Daithi. “Believe us now?”
Brain gulped and glanced at Daithi, who couldn't help but look a bit worried. He looked back to daniel and nodded slightly.
“Y-Yeah… Yeah, I do…” Brian sighed.
“I-I smelled other people here…” Seán spoke up, glancing around. “They smell… Dangerous… Like… Monster Hunters…”
“Monster hunters have a smell..?” Daithi asked
“W-Well… most of them are from the same family… so the family smells the same…” Seán explained, looking back to his friends. “Kinda… they kinda smell like Kevin, funnily enough… that's why I didn't like him at first… A-Anyways-” Seán cleared his throat. “If they took him somewhere… he's not in a good way.”
“Can you track them?” Daniel slid Kevin's lighter into his pocket.
“M-Maybe…” Seán took a deep breath before transforming back into a wolf. He sniffed around a bit more before barking and trotting away. The three lads silently followed after him, as if talking would distract him from his smelling. But when the wolf let out a sudden pained yelp and stumbled back whimpering, the three stumbled to a stop.
“S-Seán?!” Daniel stepped towards the whimpering canine. Seán then sneezed a few times before putting his paws up to his nose. After more whimpers, he transformed back into a human.
“Agh f-fuck!” Seán yelped out, rubbing his nose harshly.
“What’s wrong?” Brian glanced around where Seán was sniffing, noticing a red powder dusted around the forest floor.
“C-Cayenne!” Seán yelped, sneezing more as he tried to eject the painful powder from his nose. Tears began to fall from his eyes as he did.
“Shit… they covered their tracks in pepper…” Daithi huffed, looking at the power on the ground.
“C'mon, let's get back to the mansion. I can help you flush that shit from yer nose…” Brian helped Seán to his feet.
“Th-Thank you…” Seán whimpered, leaning on Brian a bit.
~~~
What the hell happened..?
Kevin couldn't remember… He was awoken by the throbbing pain in his head and his sore muscles. He groaned in pain, thankful for the soft bedding around him. He moved to put his hands on his head but panicked a little when he realized he could only move the one.
That got his attention. Kevin cracked open his eyes, wincing when the light made his head pound. Kevin blinked a few times and looked around the room. His heart sank when he recognized where he was. He quickly sat up, suddenly feeling disgusting. The bedroom was just as he left it. Dark carpeting, light walls, a bookshelf with a few nicknacks and games, and the window next to his bed let in a soft light from the sun. It would almost be a serene sight if it weren't for the occasional singe marks around the room.
And the terrible memories this room was connected to.
“Feck…” Kevin swore, tugging at his restrained hand. He looked at it, seeing it zip-tied to his bed frame. He was trapped. In this hellscape that he had always sworn to himself that he would never return to. But, here he was. And he was furious.
The sound of footsteps on the creaking floorboards in the hallway pulled Kevin out of his thoughts. His head whipped to look at the shut door, just as he had done so many times before… the door soon began to slowly open, an ear-ringing squeak coming from the old hinges. Kevin's face twisted into a glare as he recognized the woman who peaked inside the door.
"Oh good!" She immediately smiled at the sight of Kevin. She completely entered the room, shutting the door behind her. She smiled kindly at Kevin, approaching him confidently. "It's good to see ya again, dear. We've all missed you dearly-"
"Oh stuff it." Kevin snapped, jaw clenching.
The woman froze in her tracks, an exaggerated look of shock and offense plastering itself on her face. "Aodh! Don't talk to your mother like that!" She scolded the man as if he was still a child.
"You're no mother." Kevin hissed, flinching at the name his mother used... He struggled against his restraint. "A-And that's n-not my name!"
The fake expression on the woman's face suddenly melted away into one of true annoyance. "You've always been so… disruptive, Aodh… Why is that, do you think?"
Kevin rolled his eyes at his mother's words. "Oh, I know the exact reason. I'm not a feckin' inconsiderate, heartless bi-!" Kevin tried to snap at her in anger, but he was met with a familiar resistance. A backhanded slap across his face. Kevin couldn't help but yelp in surprise, no longer used to the sudden abuse that he used to endure regularly.
"Don't talk to your mother like that!" The woman spat at him, a furious scowl on her face.
Kevin took a shaky breath, trying to choke down his fear. He was not going to let this woman control his life anymore. "I don't have a mother." He spat right back at her.
"God, those monsters have really taken their hold on your mind, haven't they?!" The woman exclaimed, putting a hand on her chest.
Kevin just shot her a glare in return. Monsters… Hearing her talk about his friends like that left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Don't worry my dear," the woman stepped closer to Kevin, instinctually causing him to scoot back away from her. She suddenly roughly grabbed ahold of Kevin's chin, forcing him to look up at her. "mommy's gonna help you get better." Her voice was as if she was coddling a child.
For a moment, Kevin froze and just looked up at her, taking shaky breaths. But soon he grit his teeth and his glare returned. He used his free hand to shove her away from him. "Get the feck off me!"
The woman stumbled back with a surprised yelp, looking at Kevin with fear on her face. "Aodh, dear-!"
"Don't call me that!" Kevin spat, angrily pulling at his restraint again.
The woman almost looked… Disappointed. "Aodh… I thought… I hoped that you wouldn't be like this… I put you in your old room… I only tied your wrist so you wouldn't take off or break something… and this is how I'm repaid?" She sighed, shaking her head. "I suppose I should have expected this from you…" she then walked back towards the door, opening it up and beginning to walk back through it, but then she paused. "I'm sorry for what's about to happen… I tried to do this the easy way…" she didn't even look at Kevin as she spoke. And with that, she walked through the door and slammed it behind her.
And with that, Kevin was left in silence. It was deafening. He swallowed and took a shaky breath, trying to keep forcing his calm.
She's sorry for what's about to happen?! What the hell does that mean?!
Kevin began to panic, looking at his bound wrist and beginning to feverishly pull at it. He couldn't be stuck here again, he just couldn't. But no amount of pulling would get his wrist free. It just caused the plastic to dig into and cut up the skin on his wrist.
The sound of footsteps approaching his door pulled him out of his useless and panicked tugging. Kevin swallowed as the door opened. His stomach filled with dread as he saw the same men that had captured him before. He instinctively scooted himself as far back on the bed as possible. And even now, despite now knowing the context, he still couldn't place who these men were. They both stepped inside the room, both smiling as if this was just a casual meet-up.
"Heya, Kev!" The one on the right greeted. Kevin's eyes scanned the two, trying to collect as much information as possible. They looked nearly identical in the face. Roman nose, gapped front teeth, freckles sprinkling their light skin, blue eyes, and light red hair with a white streak in the front… just like Kevin. But a few things did separate the two. The one on the right had his hair cut short and messy, and a few scars scattered across his skin. The one on the left had his hair long and pulled back into a bun. He also had a pair of glasses and a large burn scar covering the left side of his face.
"Quit callin’ him that! It’s Aodh! Don’t want Grandma to flip hearin’ you call him that!" The one on the left spoke up and elbowed the one on the right in the ribs, bringing Kevin out of his thoughts.
"Wh-who… who are you..?" Kevin stuttered out, his ability to keep a resistant front fading away.
"Oh! You don't remember us, uncle Aodh?" The one on the right tilted his head like a confused puppy.
Uncle..?
"L… Liam?" Kevin raised his brows in surprise.
"No, I'm Liam!" The one on the left, Liam, piped up. "That's Cain!"
"Yep!" Cain grinned and nodded, his hair bouncing as he did.
Kevin swallowed, glancing between the two. They were his sister's children… he remembered that now… but they couldn't be more than seventeen… and yet, they were here, being monster hunters… Kevin swallowed, the similarities between them and him causing a shiver to go down his spine.
"What did we come in here for again? Cain looked to Liam, an eyebrow arched.
"To sedate him, dumbass!" Liam smacked Cain on the back of the head, rolling his eyes. "This is why mother says I took all the brain cells…" he grumbled.
"S-sedate me?!" Kevin swallowed and yanked at his restraint again. "C-cmon now, lads! You don't have to do th-that-!"
"Oh don't worry uncle Aodh!" Cain smiled as Liam pulled out a capped syringe from his pocket. "Grandma said that you just needed some extra help! You'll be better soon I know it!"
"Just hold still, ok?" Liam approached Kevin, uncapping the syringe. He grabbed Kevin's arm, causing him to yelp and pull away. Both Liam and Cain frowned at his reaction. Cain then walked to Kevin and held his arm much tighter than Liam had. Kevin whimpered and tried to pull away again, but Cain's grip was far too strong.
"L-lads pl-please-! Just l-leave me go! I'm not-!" Kevin's begging was cut short as Liam pierced the needle into Kevin's arm. Kevin yelped, and all he could do was watch in fear as the liquid was injected into his veins.
"Wh-wh-what's that going to d-do?" Kevin asked, body beginning to tremble. He watched as Liam pulled the needle out of Kevin's arm.
"Oh, you'll just go to sleep, uncle Aodh! No worries at all!" Cain smiled, letting go of Kevin's arm.
Kevin whimpered and pulled his arm to his chest. He already could feel the effect of the drug. He began to feel light-headed and his limbs began to tingle.
"I'm sorry about this, Aodh. No hard feelings?" Liam offered a guilty smile.
"You'll forgive us when you're better!" Cain smiled, trying to assure Kevin. But with the spots now dancing in his vision, nothing could assure and calm him. He swayed in place for a moment, trying desperately to fight the drug's effect. But it was useless as Kevin fell back into the bed. It was so soft… and comfortable… did they change the mattress after he left? Or was he just… so tired… Kevin couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, and soon they fluttered shut… and he was out.