Rewinding Time (Narry)

Chapter Thirteen

IMPORTANT: This chapter is focused on the present and the characters who were left behind.

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❝LIAM❞

It had been well over a month since anybody had last seen Niall. The police had spent three weeks searching for a kidnapper of some sort but eventually gave up when they were unable to catch onto any leads. They ended up declaring Niall a "runaway" and pushed it towards the bottom of their list of things to worry about. I couldn't quite believe that he was gone. It made no sense to me why Niall would run away at all; he had an extremely close relationship with his mother and he didn't particularly have any problems at school. I was upset that the authorities—who were supposed to protect us—had given up on Niall.

Maura has never really been the same since the night that Niall failed to return home. I spent a few hours at the Horan's on the day after Niall's disappearance in order to comfort her; Niall had told me that he was his mother's only real family. Despite our unfamiliarity, I knew that it was wrong to leave her alone in such a time of hardship. I soon discovered the reason why she was so upset; her husband too left one day and never returned.

She couldn't remember the reason exactly why he left.

"It feels as though a part of my memory is slowly dying even though I don't want it to," she had said. "I'm afraid that I might have Alzheimer's, or something, and perhaps that is the reason why I'm starting to forget everything about him. Liam, I'm afraid I might begin to forget Niall too."

It just doesn't feel the same anymore without Niall's cheery, perky, personality around. Even without him, the world seemed to continue on, almost as if he never existed. It was a bit hard for me to take; the feeling inside of my chest is much too complicated to explain. Whenever I think about him and all of the things that might have gone wrong in his disappearance, it feels as though somebody's got a tight grip on my heart and won't stop squeezing it until I die. I've already realized—perhaps a bit too late—that I have feelings much stronger than friendship for him.  

Maura and I have grown quite close since this whole ordeal began; I would often visit her and we would sit down and talk about each other's day over a cup of tea. If it weren't for Maura, I'd definitely be spending my days locked inside of my room. I couldn't get over the fact that Niall was with me just a few hours before he had gone missing; I felt as though it was my fault that he was now gone. If only I had paid more attention to him, he would still be by my side, laughing and smiling like he always does. Every day, I fear that I'll be watching the news, and his tattered body will be up on the screen. I don't think I can possibly live with myself if something like that happened to him.

It irritates me how nobody else around me seems to care too much that he's no longer here besides Louis and Eleanor. Every time Niall is brought up in conversation by some insensitive prick, Louis always tries to change the topic, almost as if he can't even bear to talk about Niall, because he too knows that we could have helped Niall.

The sudden vibration inside of my pocket caused me to flinch, snapping me out of my thoughts. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. My eyes glanced over the caller ID, and I was surprised to see that it was Eleanor. Eleanor wasn't the type of person who liked to hold a conversation over the phone—often preferring texting over talking—so whatever it is must be quite important.

"Something is very wrong," said Eleanor's trembling voice through the speaker. "I think your parents are being arrested."

I felt the blood drain from my face. I couldn't imagine how such a thing could possibly happen. My parents were both honest and kindhearted individuals; they would never do anything to hurt anybody.