Niall Horan: My Bad Romance

Chapter 13: The princess and the frog

An image of Niall flashed behind my closed eyes. A bullet whizzed past my head, ruffling my hair and snatching my breath. Niall lunged forward, his arms encircling my waist and slamming me against the hard wood flooring. His body completely covered mine, shielding me. Protecting me. 

Everything went black. My soul felt detached from my lifeless body, as it lay tangled with Niall's on the flooring. I felt like I was drifting up towards the sky, gazing down at the scene at it unfolded. I floated up to the ceiling, hovering hesitantly near the front door.

My eyes were pulled towards the direction of the doorframe and round into the living room. Robbie was standing there, clutching his stomach, blood dripping along his fingers and soaking the edge of his shirt. His black hair was stuck to his forehead, his other arm extended out in front of him, the gun shaking in his grip. I watched as he allowed the gun to slip from his grasp and clatter to the floor. Niall reached behind him and hastily grabbed for the gun he had discarded as he had rushed to get me to the floor and out of trouble. 

Skillfully, he clicked the hammer down with his thumb and without even a moment’s hesitation; he pulled the trigger with his index finger. The gun flung itself out of his hand due to the force and he briskly turned his attention away from Robbie before he even had the chance to see him fall to the ground. Austin jumped over Niall and me and hoisted Ollie up and over his shoulder, sprinting into the lounge and laying him across the sofa. Sam bent over and grabbing Niall's discarded gun, he filled up the magazine and fired a shot in the direction of each of Robbie's gang members.

All three of them were tied to dining room chairs, gagged with tight white ropes. Each of the shots spiraled through the still air and each body was hit in a different place. One of the boys lulled instantly as a shot hit him directly between the eyes. The second leapt up as a bullet sliced through his left foot. The final guy fought against the ropes bound around him to double over as the bullet struck him dead in the stomach. 

The second and third men continued to shout and yell, their voices crackling but losing no fervor. Sam growled huskily and turned back towards them, aiming perfectly and releasing a bullet through each of their skulls. Even in my ghostly form I felt my heart plummet into my stomach and my breathing fall into an irregular pace. Austin did not even flinch at the continuous shots being fired; instead he distracted himself by sorting out the wound on Ollie's leg, putting pressure onto it to calm the bleeding. The boy Ollie had been standing with ripped off his shirt and handed it to Austin to wrap around Ollie's leg.

Niall lifted himself onto his hands and knees, taking all of his weight off of my body. He stroked my hair gently and turned me around so I was lying on my back. My arms dropped to my sides. Niall tucked my hair behind my ears and using the tips of his fingers brushed my cheek backwards and forwards. He traced every contour of my face and I shuddered as a tingling burn spread like wildlife through my translucent veins. He heaved my upper body into his arms and cradled me against his chest, whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

'You're going to be okay, do you hear me Daisy, you're gonna be fine, I'm going to be here for you every step of the way,' he promised repeatedly. It sounded as though he was trying to engrave it into his own mind rather than my own unconscious one. He sat rocking me back and forth, the sensation both comforting and frantic.

Austin finished off and turned to Sam. 'Get the car and bring it round the back alley. Set,' he paused to count the number of dead bodies, sprawled limply around the room, 'four bodies bags on the floor and turn all lights off. Do not attract any attention to yourself.'

Sam nodded robotically and walked out into the hall. He stood and appraised Niall and me with a hint of sorrow before marching under me and out of the door. Austin wiped his hands against the sofa and lifted himself to his feet, glancing at each of the men before leaning round the doorframe.