Laced

Laced - Chapter 21 (For Every Action, an Equal and Just Consequence Part 2)

I heard the whip slice the air before it came into contact with my back, and I bit down onto my lip hard to keep myself from crying out. "One!" I yelled.

I could already feel my flesh rising up in a welt, when the second strike came down on my bare back again. "Two!" I bit my lip harder, until my teeth broke the delicate skin, and I could taste blood in my mouth. "Fuck." I swore under my breath. "Three!"

"Four!"

"Five!"

"Six!"

Tears welled up in my eyes, and although I physically kept counting each strike with Zayn, I zoned out, mentally detaching myself from reality as I continued to endure my punishment.

 "Seventeen!"

"Eighteen!" I gasped again as the cool leather of the whip sliced at my skin.

And just like an impatient child waiting to arrive somewhere, the last minutes were the toughest. Or rather, the last strikes.

My head was spinning, and my back was completely numb as he withdrew his whip.

Swoosh. A new sting was placed on top the others, and I faltered as I cried out in pain. "Twenty-s-s-seve-e-n"

"What was that?" He demanded. "Do you want me to start over?"

I shook my head violently, and yelled. "Twenty-seven!"

Again he struck. "Twenty-eight!"

"Twenty-nine!"

I tensed once more for the last whip, but it never came. I heard his footsteps, and I held my breath as I waited for the end of my punishment.

"I want you to tell me exactly why you were punished."

Sweat dripped off my forehead, and I licked my lip, the blood not completely stopped from biting down on it. I swallowed painfully, grimacing in pain. My back throbbed, my arms aching to be released. "I disobeyed you."

"How so?" He questioned.

"I spent time with Abby after you left, behind your back, after you clearly told me to stay away from her." My voice cracked, my mouth extremely dry. I needed water, and I needed my back to stop throbbing in gruesome pain.

"That's correct. And do you plan on doing it again?"

"No, sir."

And suddenly, out of no where, the whip cracked through the air, and I felt a piercing pain on my shoulder blade as it stuck me for the last time.

"And that finishes the thirty, Mr. Styles. Disobey me once more, and we'll make this sixty, instead. Understood?

"Yes, sir." There were black spots in my vision, and the world around me began to spin once more.

I heard footsteps as he walked out of the cell and away, leaving me alone in the dim light, sweating and aching all over.

--

About an hour or so later - I had lost count of time as I struggled to endure the pain - I heard footsteps, and quickly turned my head around to see who it was.

"I'm here to release you, and get you sent up to the hospital to clean and tend to your wounds." Niall approached the cell door, unlocking it and entering.

"How are you feeling?" He asked warily as he unlocked the handcuffs.

I quickly pulled my arms down, rubbing the wrists where the metal had marked them as I struggled against the handcuffs while recieving my punishment. I finally turned to him, wiping the sweat off my forehead. "Like shit."

I wiped the blood from my lip, and quickly grabbed my shoes and shirt.

"Come." Niall motioned, and I followed after him.

As much as I probably should hate Niall, I didn't. It wasn't his fault he did all of this. Just like the rest of us, he had orders to follow, and he, unlike me, actually stuck by the rules.

My back burned, and I couldn't wait to get to the hospital wing to get something to relieve the excruciating pain I was in.

--

I hissed in pain as Liam pressed a gauze to my back, stopping the bleeding.

"Sorry." He apologized. "I have to stop the bleeding, and then disinfect these wounds."

I was laying down on my stomach in one of the hospital rooms on a patient's table, grimacing in pain and biting down on my lip again, causing it to bleed once more.

"Harry, stop biting that lip! It's already swollen!" Liam scolded, then pressed a clean gauze to my once again bleeding lip.

I groaned. "Just get me some morphine." I pleaded. This kind of physical pain was demanding, calling for my attention, distracting me from forming coherent thoughts. And as much as I tried to block out the pain, I couldn't. However, the morphine could.

"I have to clean the wounds first!" Liam reasoned, but I wasn't in the mood.

"Just get the fucking morphine, Liam, or so help me, I'll get up and get it myself!" I yelled.

He paused, hesitating. "Alright. In the meanwhile, relax, alright? I'll go get it and set up the IV."

I closed my eyes, relieved. "Thank you."

As he stepped out of the door, I heard him gasp.

My ears perked up, listening to the hushed conversation behind the door as I layed.

"Harry?" Liam said. "He's not here right now."

"But I want to see him! Where is he?"

Was that....Abby?

"No, he's busy right now." Liam said convincingly.

I heard a thump, and then Abby hissed. "I don't care! I need to tell him something!"

"No, go back to work, Abigail. He doesn't want to see you right now."

I bit my lip again as I listened, silence engulfing the room as they both stopped talking.

Finally, I heard an exasperated sigh. "Fine." Abby said, resigned. "Tell him I came by?"

Liam's voice came softer this time. "I'll let him know."

"Thank you."

And then I heard footsteps walk away, and I knew that Liam and Abby had left.

I closed my eyes, grimacing once more. My back felt like it was on fire, and the flesh throbbed. I let out a deep breath, trying to block out the pain once more.

I heard the door open, but I kept my eyes closed. "Thank you, Liam."

And then I heared a high pitched scream, one that couldn't ever come from Liam.

Abby.

--

Author's Note

Much apologies for the delay in updating. Between exam, work, and the holidays approaching I had forgotten that a week has passed since I last updated. I will be posting the chapters for last Thursday and Tuesday, as well as tomorrow's chapter in the next few minutes. 

Take care, and until next time.

IS