Captured Innocence ➵ [Completed]

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|41| Captured Innocence |

She couldn't breath.

She didn't breath.

This is not how they were supposed to be reunited. She lifted his head onto her lap and looked down at his skinny and malnourished body. "L-Louis..." She let out a shaky breath as she ran her fingers over his skin. "This...t-this is all my fault...Louis!" He began to barely show signs of consciousness.

Her eyes widen as he began gripping her back. "L-Little bird, how ya' been?" He tried to maintain a level of sincerity but his voice was hoarse and shaky as well. "I knew I'd get to say g-goodbye."

She realized then and there that is was Louis or Niall. Whatever decision she made would impact the rest of her life. "This isn't goodbye." She shook her head.

"He says you love him.." I'm not sure how to respond. Finding Louis here changes everything. Niall LIED to her for almost a year! Who knows all that Louis has been through. How could Lyla love someone who could do this? "I-I don't know what this all means or if we'll ever get out of here-"

She interrupted him when she saw that there was a chain connected to his ankle and the wall across the cellar. "You're getting out of here Louis...H-He can't just do this to you. You're not an animal-"

"He seems to be getting away with a lot..." Louis' voice trailed off. Niall isn't himself sometimes, she rationalized. Had he been lying to her about the medicine and then taking it out on Louis.

Lyla helped Louis sit up and then stood up from the cement stairs. She started to search around the dim cellar for some sort of key. "He takes it with him...I've already learned the ins and outs of this place."

"I'll find the keys-"

"So what? I'm not making it far after that-"

"I'm doing this for you Louis! Just give me sometime and you'll be out of this place and where you belong-"

"I belong with you, love."

Somehow, she didn't know if that was possible anymore. "Things...t-things can't be the same anymore. What matters is that we're safe." Louis pondered what Lyla meant by "we're". She didn't choose Louis or Niall. She chose Callum, Grace and herself.

From there they created a plan for tomorrow.

****

There was no news of Louis' escape, not that Niall would tell her anyways, which meant that Niall had no clue that he left early in the morning the day before with Lyla's help. "Bye, see you soon Angel," Niall announced getting ready to walk out the door for work. Lyla didn't know that was the last thing she'd say to Niall for a long time. "And little angels."

Keeping up with two newborns on only three hours of actual sleep is not something everyone can say they accomplished.

During the time Niall usually gets back home, the timer on the oven going off because dinner was ready and the time the babies cried out for another bottle was when fate decided to knock at the front door.

The only people it could possibly be were Niall, Harry or Olivia. Niall had a key and the other two hadn't spoken of a visit. Niall was truly a loner and I didn't know of any other friends. She felt as if it was against her nature to even approach the door. "Uhm...who is it?" She called out anxiously as she approached the door.

"Law enforcement, ma'am!" A woman's voice called out and Lyla's eyes widened. She was silent for almost a full minute, dazed from the panicking thoughts and pressure building. The beeping, the crying and the shouting police woman. "Ma'am! We'll be forced to take action if the door isn't opened at this moment!"

"I-I can't! There's a padlock a-and I don't have the key." She panicked. Where's Niall? Why isn't he here? Do they have him? Where did they take him? He'll be scared, he needs me!

"Please step a few feet back! We're coming in-"

Lyla took a step back, her breathing rapid and her eyes watering. It's all here. Freedom is not here. Freedom is coming and that's a scary thing. It all went in a blur after that.

"My name is Agent Victoria from the National Crime Agency...it's my understanding that your name is Lyla Marie Pembroke...is Kate Herrera with you?"

"Where's Niall?"

"Lyla...Niall has been arrested...you, your newborns and Louis Tomlinson are safe...do you have any subsequent information on the location of Kate Herrera?"

"Gone...she's gone...he's gone."