"You're nothing!" Harry spat at him, raising his crowbar above his head. He swung down hard, snapping Louis' arm in an instant. The rest of the band descended upon him, beating him wherever their fists could reach.

The terror and pain were agonizing and when Louis woke up to Simons frantic voice, he screamed in fear. He backed up to the headboard of the infirmary bed, holding up his hands to ward away any attacks.

"Calm down Louis!" Simon called, holding his hands up in a placating gesture, his eyes wild with worry.

It took a few moments, but eventually Louis came to himself and realised where he was.

"What happened?" he asked breathlessly.

Simon, seeing that he had calmed, walked over to him and smoothed his hair back soothingly.

"You appeared to be suffering from some form of flash back. I had been trying to wake you for five or so minutes" he explained worriedly. "was it about the virus?"

Louis nodded, trying to push himself up on trembling arms. Why did he feel so weak now?

"Why am I in here?"

"You collapsed. Liam said you were trying to put distance between yourself and them. He didn't understand why. He said you looked really pale and frightened."

"I guess I haven't been hiding it as well as I'd hoped" Louis confessed to sage, looking away and flushing red.

"Lou," Simon gently cupped his cheek and turned it so he was facing him. "You aren't dealing with this situation well. They all know something happened, and it is clearly still bothering you. It may help to talk about it with them" he urged him.

Louis sighed, suddenly noticing his headache again.

"Do you have any pain pills? My head is killing me" he said, eyes pleading with him to drop it.

Simons head drooped slightly in defeat, letting it go for now.

"Okay, I'll get you something now"

Louis left the infirmary soon afterwards, giving Simon a hug in gratitude.

He was heading up to his room when he got a strange feeling that he was being watched.

He checked behind him, only to see nothing out of the ordinary.

When he turned back around, he was suddenly face to face with Liam.

Louis jumped in fright, taking one quick step back, uncomfortable with the proximity.

"Heya Li" Louis said with forced cheer.

"Lou, I was coming to see if you were okay?" He looked more worried than before.

Louis laughed, "I feel like that is all you have asked me today, buddy" He said.

Liam didn't say anything, just waited for a proper answer.

Louis sighed in defeat. "I guess I over did it today in the garage" he muttered to him, kicking his foot at some imaginary dust on the ground.

Liam didn't look convinced. "Can I talk to you a minute?"

"Sure?" Louis said, curiously following as Louis turned to lead him to his room.

The Thing watched as one of the smallest beings followed the biggest one down the hall way.

The Thing liked that small one. There was so much turmoil writhing within him. It followed the two, hoping for another taste.

Liam opened his bedroom door and held it open for Louis to enter first. He then closed the door behind them.

"What's up?" Louis said, turning in the tidy bedroom to face Liam.

"Lou, I want you to tell me why you are so afraid of us" Liam cut to the chase.

Louis felt like he had been winded. He sat down on Liam's neat bed and started fiddling with his fingers.

"I'm not afraid of you" he said unconvincingly.

Liam sat down next to him, putting a comforting hand on his back.

Louis squirmed slightly and Liam took his hand away.

"See Lou? This is what I'm talking about. You can barely stand to be around us, you hate being touched, you scare easily. What's wrong? Did we do something wrong? Did we hurt you?"

Louis couldn't meet Liam's eyes, but something in Sherman's voice made him want to.

"Lou." Liam crouched down in front of him to try and meet his gaze and Louis gave up, finally looking. Liam's eyes were wide and watery.

"Lou. I had this dream last night. A nightmare. It seemed so real though..." Liam stood up and began to pace, wringing his hands.

"What happened?" Louis asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"In the nightmare, I was in a snowstormed place with everyone. And I was watching..." He paused, wiping a hand down his face in distress.

"I was watching Zayn hit you into the ground. A-and I was just watching, letting it happen. And for some reason I wanted him to keep hitting you because I thought you d-deserved it." He trailed off, now him being the one who couldn't meet Louis eyes.

Louis' chest was tight. Was the band beginning to remember what happened on their own? Was it just Liam?

"Lou, I asked Zayn and he had the same nightmare but from his point of view" Liam continued. "Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me we didn't do that to you Loui!" Liam pleaded, turning back to look him in the eye once more to see Louis' shiny with pent up emotion.

"Lou? Say something" Liam insisted.

Louis couldn't do it anymore. Perhaps Liam finding out was for the best, he thought. Maybe things will get better if everyone knew. And not really seeing anyway to deny it, Louis just gave up and nodded, looking at the floor as a lone tear escaped his eye.

He quickly wiped it away, feeling as though the atmosphere in the room was getting darker and heavier.

Liam strode over to Louis and lifted him into a tight firm hug. Louis swallowed tightly, letting Sherman hug him. He didn't know what to do now. If Sherman knew, everyone would soon know.

He waited for Liam to let go, fighting the urge to push him off, still uncomfortable at the contact.

"I am so, so sorry" Liam murmured.

Louis was beginning to feel suffocated. He didn't want pity and he didn't want everyone to feel bad. He just wanted everyone to get over it and he just wanted to get out of this room!

Thankfully, Liam finally let go and Louis stumbled to the door, pulling it open and staggering out. He fell against the wall, catching his breath.

Liam followed him out, concern all over his face.

"What's wrong?"

Louis groaned, making his way to his own bedroom. "Nothin, just need some rest" he murmured, ignoring Liams questions which followed after him. He landed onto his bed and promptly fell asleep, unexplained exhaustion taking over.

The Thing gleefully followed the small one who was giving off waves and waves of distress. The Thing knew it was mostly It's own doing. Part of The Thing's feeding habits exacerbated the negative emotions within the victim, but this small one was particularly juicy. It would drain this one a little more before moving onto the other beings. It could feel Itself becoming so much stronger than It had ever felt before. It loved this world and its delectable occupants.

It entered the small one's room and opened It's hole of a mouth and began to feed immediately.