No Control (Luke Hemmings' Sister)

Chapter 9

"Do you wanna see what happens if we shake the pod?" I ask.

"Let's do this thing." A mischievous grin appears on his face. We both jump up and down until we get yelled at by the pod above us.

"That was great." I laugh.

"Gracie? Those scars never really were from those boys were they?" Michael asks seriously. I looked down to see that my sleeves had ridden up and my scars were exposed.

"I'm sorry. I can't stop. I do it and I feel guilty about it so I do it again." I hang my head down in shame.

"How long has this been going on for?" He questions.

"A few years." I mumble.

"What?" He asks.

"A few years. Look, I really don't want to talk about this. I've already been lectured by Ashton and I don't need to hear it from you." I snap. I cross my arms and wait for the pod to get to the bottom. The second the doors slide open, I run as fast as I can away from Michael. He screams my name and runs after me, but I'm too fast. I weave in between the crowd and keep running until I'm sure that Michael is nowhere near me. I take the opportunity to stop and look at my surroundings. I was next to a small pond surrounded by green grass. I collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. The exercise I just did was a bit too much for what my body could handle. My next few actions went by in a flash. It was as if something was controlling me. I slipped a blade out of my boot and pressed the cool metal to my wrist. I couldn't stop myself. Next thing I knew, my arm had new slashes covering it, and I was beginning to feel lightheaded. I didn't know what to do. I pulled out my phone and called the one person I knew I could trust.

"Calum? I don't know where I am. There's a pond next to me. Cal, I think I'm going to die. I cut too deep. I need help. Please." I whispered into the phone. The last thing I heard was Calum's panicked voice before everything went black.

I didn't know where I was, but it was really bright and white. I saw an old woman walking towards me.

"Grace, you aren't ready for heaven yet." She looks at me with pity.

"Who are you? And that's where I am? I'm actually dead?" I ask.

"I'm your grandmother. You aren't dead yet. Luke and the boys aren't capable of handling the fact that you could be dead. Jack and Ben flew out to London last week and the two of them haven't slept since the first night. Luke refuses to leave your side. He doesn't stop blaming himself. You need to go back honey." She explains.

"Grandma, I'm never happy though. My life is awful." I sigh.

"Do the boys make you happy?" She questions.

"Yeah. Alright. I'll try for you, and I'll try for them. Now how do I go back?" I say.

"Good. Just try your hardest to wake up from the coma. I have to go, but I love you sweetheart." She kisses my cheek and walks away. I close my eyes and wished to wake up. I felt stupid, but it worked.

"Luke! Her heartbeat monitor is beating at a faster pace!" I could hear Calum shouting. I opened my eyes to see Luke trip over his own feet in an attempt to run closer to me.

"Good job." I laugh a bit, but my voice was hoarse.

"Grace!" Luke exclaims.

"What the hell Grace? Why would you do that?" Ashton asks loudly.

"Okay Ash, I know that this situation is serious, but you don't need to yell at her the second she wakes up." Ben tells him.

"Can everyone but my brothers leave for a bit?" I ask.

"Sure." Calum smiles weakly and pushes Michael and Ashton out of the room.

"What happened that made you do this?" Jack sits down next to me.

"Michael saw my scars and he started asking about it. I really didn't want to talk about it with him, and so I just ran. I ended up next to a pond and something just came over me. I wasn't able to stop myself. I tried but I couldn't." A tear falls down my face.

"Grace, you seriously need to come to one of us for things like this. What if you were gone?" Ben asks.

"Just a few minutes ago I took a trip into heaven. I thought I was dead, but I met someone there who convinced me to go back." I say.

"Who?" Luke questions.

"Grandma. I never knew her, but she somehow knew all about me. I guess she's been watching over all of us." I explain.

"How did she convince you to come back? I'm glad she did, I'm just curious about what she said. I haven't seen her in years. She died a while ago." Luke asks.

"She made me realize that even though I thought my life was shit, you and the boys make me happy. I had to come back for you all." I say.

"Grace, oh my god I can't believe we're the reason you came back." Jack looked like he was about to cry.

"Can we all just have a family hug and then can I talk to Calum alone?" I ask. They all nod and pile on top of me in a hug. They leave and Calum comes in a few seconds later.