Collide

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Niall couldn't breathe as he saw Blase approach, though he did his best the keep the scowl on his face.

"Well looky here," Blase said casually. "Did you really think we didn't expect one of you to try something stupid?"

Niall didn't say a word. He kept Zayn's arm slung over his shoulder.

Blase walked over to him, his face uncomfortably close, and just stared a moment before a broad grin broke out on his face. He chuckled.

"You won't be so hard to break," he said.

Niall's stomach dropped as more people piled in, seizing his arms and roughly dragging Zayn.

With a simple nod from their superior, the two captives were lead back to the apartment complex where waited someone whom Niall had never wished to see again; Ray Hollaway.

Ray laughed smoothly.

"Niall!" he exclaimed as if he was greeting an old friend. Niall just stared, holding his gaze.

"I think there's a few things we need to clear the air on," he said comfortably.

"Oh?" Niall said, anger throwing caution to the wind. "I thought everything was quite clear."

Ray laughed again.

"For starters, I don't think James is your real name, is it?"

Niall didn't respond, just stared. He stopped only when the fist of the man next to him collided with his face.

"He asked you a question," Blase said.

"Vincent!" Ray scolded. "Let's remember these are our guests. We still have a reputation to consider." Niall doubted he gave a shit about that. Ray turned back to Niall. "Besides, I couldn't care less what your name is. Either way, you're going to be of some use to me."

Niall's skin crawled at the edge he'd never heard on the man's voice until that moment.

Ray muttered something to the man next to him, Lintz, if Niall heard his name correctly, and he left for a moment returning quickly with a small, dark mahogany box.

Ray opened it and removed a small syringe from inside, about half the size of standard, with a murky plum liquid inside.

"Do you know what this is?" Ray asked. "No, of course you don't. This is the Fluer de la Mort. A rather unpleasant substance from a rather nasty plant. The Flower of Death, if you will. The plant it comes from is nearly extinct, only a few who continue to grow it underground can get their hands on it. Or it's cure."

He gestured to the man holding Zayn, who grabbed his hair and pulled his head the the side, exposing his neck. Zayn thrashed as much as he could in his state and, base on how much energy he was able to muster, Niall guessed that he knew all about the toxin. Despite his struggles, the needle found it's mark and the plunger was pushed.

"See it starts," Ray continued as if he didn't just condemn a man to death. "When the body tries to fight back; fever, vomiting, the like. But eventually, if the victim survives the process, the virus tricks the blood cells into thinking it belongs there and is soon mass reproduced."

Niall's stomach twisted with every word.

"Now don't worry, this is a lengthly process, I'd say he has two years left, maybe less, but it's in no way pleasant. Once the body starts shutting down, it goes into panic, attacking itself while trying to locate the problem. The more the dosage; the quicker this will happen and the less likely he will survive the first month."

His words had lost their silky touch. They were dark, cold, and merciless.

He removed another syringe and placed it in Zayn's neck, ceasing his struggles.

"So, the question you want to ask yourself is, do you want to be responsible for the end of this young man's life? Or are you going to tell me where I can find the Saints?"

Niall's heart was pounding in his ears, his face hot with rage and panic. What the fuck was he suppose to do? He couldn't give up his cousins, or anyone else at that warehouse, but he couldn't let Zayn die, especially not like this.

Evidently Ray thought he had waited too long, because he pushed the plunger down, releasing the poison into Zayn's veins.

"Maybe a year," he said coldly. "Give or take a few months."

Niall panicked when he removed yet another vial, placing the third needle into his neck.

"Ok!" he snapped. "Alright, I'll tell you. Just get that that fuck away from him!"

Niall suspected he knew where Blase got his smile, because there it was, staring at him again.

"I knew you could see reason, Niall," the silky smooth voice had returned.

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Murphy was pacing, unable to keep still.

"He should've been back by down," he muttered, half to himself.

"Give him a minute," Liam said, stretching his shoulder with a wince. "Maybe he got caught up in traffic."

Murphy glared at him, wishing he'd keep his mouth shut.

"Caught in fucking traffic," he breathed sarcastically.

"Liam's right," Connor spoke up from where he'd been thinking in the corner. "We can't get paranoid now, we have too much on the line. Give him ten minutes, then someone can go check on him."

"Paranoid?" Murphy said incredulously. Was he serious?

"Yeah, paranoid," Connor said. "Just give him a call and calm down, alright?"

Murphy rounded from where he was pacing and stormed over to him. He swung his arm, his fist connecting with the side of his brother's face.

"Don't," he growled. Connor looked at him, angry shock evident on his face. "Not after what fucking happened last time. We're going to go find him."

He could see the thoughts on Connor's face. The guilt, the anger, and finally the defeat as he nodded.

"I'm taking Louis and Harry," Murphy said as he walked out to door.

But he never got the chance, because as soon as he did the bullets started flying.