Monster || Narry AU

07- Ghastly

Due to the overwhelmingly high amount of comments, all of which were lovely, here's an update for all of you. You guys are the absolute best.

{Trigger warnings for this chapter: mentions of abuse, torture, death.}

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Harry didn't expect his life to ever turn out this way. Then again, he reckoned no one really did. Most imagined doing what they loved, married with a family, rich or at least well off, happy. No one imagined living their lives in an old, dark home people believe is haunted, or looked at as a freak to the people they do encounter. His life was different, when he was younger. He had hope, had a future, and all of that was ripped away from him.

The bitter resentment still boiled and festered inside of him.

And after years and years of everything, he had begun to grow hard, angry, and hopeless. He began lashing out at those that feared him, those that saw him as a freak. Attacking, killing people who trespassed, ripping away their lives like someone had done so long ago with him.

He had a pretty normal childhood, up until the year he turned 7. Leading up to that point, it was normal. Both his parents had jobs, they ate normally and never went hungry. He had an older sister, named Gemma, and she was absolutely brilliant. Everyone had known about her, the 'genius Styles girl' was what she was commonly referred to. People claim she would change Britain, save it. Harry always had faith in her.

But then unemployment went up again, jobs were laying people off, and despite their hard work and dedication, Harry's parents were two of the many that also lost their jobs that year. It gave being hungry a new definition. They couldn't afford their home, couldn't afford food, and couldn't afford clothes for their rapidly growing children. That lasted for months, and finally, something happened.

Harry had just turned 7 when his father came home with a smile on his face. It was a first in such a long time that Harry couldn't help but feel excited for whatever opportunity his father had found. He had announced that he had been given an offer, one that would bring a lot of money to the family, would save them, feed them, clothe them, put a roof over their heads, and allow them to live. But he never once mentioned what it was, not to any of them. He walked over to his wife, and whispered excitedly with her. She didn't look too happy to Harry, in fact she looked angry. They had begun to argue, and Gemma had taken her brother and sat in the corner of the small one room home that they had been staying in for a while, covering his ears with a soft smile on her face.

Their parents had reached an agreement before their children went to sleep, knowing that no matter what, this would be the only thing to save them.

Harry should have known then that something was wrong. He didn't though.

It was early the next morning when he was woken up, so early that the sun had just woken up. His father was the one to wake him, while that in itself was rare, Harry hadn't connected the dots. His father had said just to let Gemma sleep, told him not to wake her before they left, but Harry couldn't just leave without a hug from his sister.

Gemma however had connected the dots, when she was awoken by small gentle hands and her little brother whispering in her ear. She had understood enough then. She had hugged her brother tight, had asked him not to go, to stay home and play with her. But Harry had been promised an adventure, and that prospect had been too exciting for the little 7 year old to give up. She had hugged him and told him to be safe, that she would see him for dinner. All she had thought was that he would be given to someone for a few hours, her friends had to do stuff like that for their parents, but none of them liked that. They said it hurt, that it was gross. She figured not telling her brother would be best, she would just have to be there to pick up the pieces when he got home.