Crimson Notion

eleven

"Liam is the leader of Renascent."

I can't help but laugh out loud at the outrageous words coming from his mouth. He's got to be kidding. Liam barely got through high school and now he's leading a gang? Sounds like a load of shit to me.

Blake looks at me as if I've gone crazy but continues to drive steadily on the road.

"Okay now tell me the truth," I say while attempting to calm myself down from my laughter.

"Emera, he's the leader of Renascent. I used to know him." Blake says catching my attention.

"What do you mean you knew him?"

He squeezes my hand and turns off onto some road in this bumblefuck town.

"Liam used to be a member of Inprobus. He and I worked together as guards for the main buildings and then he just left. He was a good friend of mine."

I continue looking at him as he's driving with my mind in a mess of pieces. There is no way in hell Liam would've ever joined something like this. He's got to be confusing Liam with someone else.

"You've got to have the wrong person. He'd never join anything like this. I'm sorry but this is all one big mistake."

I know Liam better than anyone else. He held me while I cried and got me out of so much trouble when I was in my rebel phase. He'd drive me home from parties and laugh his ass off at me when I was piss drunk. We would go out at three in the morning to go get food and he's even the person that taught me how to fight and defend myself.

Even though he can be an annoying dickhead, he's the most caring person that I've ever met. He'd never lead a gang that would hurt people.

"Okay, then I must be talking about a different Liam James Payne whose birthday is August twenty-ninth, twenty-seven years old, brown hair, around five-foot-nine, and brown eyes. Right?"

My jaw nearly falls clean off of my face and onto my lap as I comprehend that he actually knows my brother. He actually knew Liam, he talked to him. Fuck he worked with him. He worked with him in Harry's gang. The man I let make out with me.

Fuck.

Liam was in a gang, this gang to be more exact and now he has his own? He literally leads a fucking gang? I never thought my brother would hurt a fly and now he leads people that kill other people.

That has to mean he wasn't kidnapped then. Did he choose to leave? Leave me and dad? Me? He could've easily came back and seen us if he wanted to but he never did. He never even bothered to tell us that he was okay and alive. We've been worried for how many years about him and come to find out he's alive and this is what he's doing.

I can't help but wonder if there is anything else I don't know about him. It's been so long since I last saw him and heard his voice. God do I miss him. I'd do anything to see him again.

Does he even know that Harry has me right now? What is he even planning on doing with me?

•••

Thank god when Blake and I got back to the house nobody was there. The last thing I want right now is to see Harry. All I want to do is go to sleep and cry at the thought of Liam.

"How about you go get changed and I'll bring you a drink and some pain meds?" Blake says to me as I head towards the stairs.

Even though I fucking hate taking any kind of medicine, this pain in my hand is excruciating and I don't think I'd be able to sleep if I didn't take any.

"Thank you," I say quietly while walking up the stairs to my room.

Once I enter the room and close the door behind me the first thing I do is kick my pumps off and once my feet are flat against the cold floor, a wave of relief and bliss take over my body.