"I knew it." I squeaked. I knew something like this was going to happen. It wasn't safe in Harry's world. I wasn't ready for it. This is exactly the reason that I'm still afraid of him. I'd never be safe around him or even in this town ever again. I should have listened to my gut and forced him to stay away from me right from the beginning.
"What are you talking about?" Megan asked, through gritted teeth, gasping for air. This only made the man's arm get even tighter around her throat. I had only just realized that Megan knew nothing of what had happened. How could I have neglected to tell her? She's my best friend and I tell her everything, but I hadn't seen her and she wouldn't understand if I tried to tell her. One of the reasons I was so scared is that I wasn't able to tell anyone about it. And I never would be able to.
"I'll tell you later." I breathed.
"Shut up. Or you can forget later." he interrupted our conversation. I squeezed my eyes shut tight and tried to writhe out of his grip.
"Let us go!" I screeched again. "I'll call the police."
"How are you going to call the police? Huh?" he asked, his arm squeezing my throat tighter. Blood was rushing to my head and I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head.
"You know, I should kill you right here and right now. Just one little twist of the neck. And snap." he laughed, licking his lips. His beard scratched across the back of my neck, making me cringe. He tightened his grip, thinking I was trying to escape. It was pointless. I knew that I couldn't escape anyway. He was going to do whatever he wanted to me and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to scream, but the hold he had on my throat stopped me from making any sort of sound. I was going to die here. My family wouldn't know.
"Please..." I choked. "Please let me go. I- I didn't do anything."
"That's not what matters." he laughed. This guy was completely psychotic. The way he laughed about it scared me.
"HELP!" I screamed, the second that his grip on my neck loosened. The moment was fleeting. He slapped his grubby hand over my mouth. The tears that poured from my eyes, soaked his hand, making it slip off of my mouth quickly.
"Try and scream again. Don't think I won't kill you. I'm not afraid. In one second. You'll be gone. You!" he said, pointing to Megan. She looked up at him, terror in her eyes. "If you walk away now, I won't kill either of you." he grumbled. Madison was shaking. She nodded and we both were ready to break into a run. "Not you!" he barked at me, feeling my apprehension. I felt like throwing up. I couldn't imagine why he would be willing to let her go but not me. Except, I did know. It had nothing to do with me and everything to do with Harry.
"Go, Megan." I said. I couldn't stop crying, but I wasn't about to let her stay here and suffer with me. We could both die, or only one of us could die. It wasn't a hard choice to make, even though I wanted to get out of here alive too.
"But, what if this is just a joke and he-" Leave it to Megan to try and protect me. This was my problem and I didn't want her to get hurt because of it, never mind killed. He'd let her go, even though he'd never let me go. I'd prefer it to be me that dies here. Megan was too good to die this way. She was worth too much to die. She had too much to offer the world. Where as I had nothing to give. I always knew that. I thought about it all the time. Especially now that I was given a reason to.
"GO!" I yelled, reminding myself of Harry when we ran into Marcus. At least he's not here. That would make it so much worse. He just got out of the hospital but I have no doubt that he would immediately put himself back in the same exact room all over again if it meant protecting me. I wouldn't let that happen. Sometimes he needs protecting too.
"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to help you." she squeaked. Tears filled her eyes as she held eye contact with me for a fleeting moment. She let out a quiet sob before breaking out into a sprint. The man pulled me to the ground, slamming his foot into my stomach. I flinched and curled up into a ball, trying to protect my vital organs as I had been taught in a self defense course once.
"I would love to kill you now. It wouldn't matter. Think about what it would do to him." the man laughed again. It terrified me that he was constantly laughing. I knew he meant Harry. I can't keep doing this. I can't stay with Harry if this is going to happen all the time. This was his fault.
"Please." I cried. "Don't. Please don't. I'll do anything."
"Oh, I'm not going to. That would ruin all the fun in this. This is a game." he snarled, taking a hit at my nose. I screamed and kicked, trying to get him in the groin. "Stop that!" he snapped, kneeling on my feet. I licked the blood off of my lips and tried to rip myself from his grip.
"You see this?" he asked, pointing to the long slice on his face that was lined with stitches. I gulped and nodded quickly. "Styles did this and I'm not going to live the rest of my life letting him think that what he did is ok. I'm going to make him pay for it and if I have to do that through you, so be it." he growled.
"He has scars too, asshole." I croaked, choking on my own blood. I tried to take a deep breath, but I couldn't. I spit the blood that was pooling in my mouth into his face. He flinched. I took this second to try and get out. It was pointless. He wiped the blood from his face and hit me across the face again, harder now.
"He could use a few more." he laughed, manically. "Maybe I'll just have to do it to you. Get to him where it really hurts. I could carve your face like a fucking pumpkin." he licked his lips. I cringed and tried to scoot away from him. It wasn't working. Nothing was. I wasn't going to make it out of here alive. I was never going to see my family again. I was never going to see Harry again.
"He risked his life for you. You know what that means? It means that he cares more about your life than his own. What a little surprise." the man paused to laugh again, making me wonder what on Earth he was talking about. "To kill you would be far worse than killing him. Far, far worse. But fortunately, it has given me some ideas." he smirked, his eyes burning holes right through my skin. "So help me God." he said, standing up. "You're lucky this time. Next time. Next time." he spat, kicking me in the side again before running away. I groaned and tried to heave myself off the ground. This is such a joke. I spit blood from my mouth before heading home. I couldn't go to the library like this. I looked like I had just gotten hit by a car.. How was I supposed to explain what happened when I get home? "Hey Mom, I nearly got beaten to death by a random stranger today. I have no idea what he has against me. No, I swear that it was nothing to do with gang activity. I just ran into him out of nowhere, I'm sure it's nothing. Don't call the police, please! Goodnight!" But what else could I say? It's not like I had that many options. I wasn't going to be able to hide it from anyone. But I couldn't tell anyone what had happened. I rubbed my sides and scraped my shoes across the sidewalk. I wanted to know what Megan was doing, but she was probably at home freaking out. Or at the police station. At least she wasn't dead. He didn't even hurt her that bad. I tried to not resent her as I thought about how much pain i was in.
"Charlotte?" Oh no. I froze in my place, unwilling to turn around. How did he just so HAPPEN to be walking down the same street that I was on?! This is a big city and he could be doing anything at this moment, but of course not. Of course he's here. He's always here at the worst times. I almost wished that he was a nightmare and that all of this was a nightmare. I would wake up and never see Harry again. I would be safe. I could walk down the street to the library without a care in the world. Just like I was able to a few months ago. Everything had changed and it was Harry's fault. "Charlotte, what's wrong?" I couldn't keep walking forward. He'd think that I was mad at him, and even if I did do that, he'd only follow me. I wiped my bloody nose on my sleeve and plastered a very fake smile on my face before turning around to meet the eyes of the boy I was most afraid of at this moment. Even more so than the guy that I had just run into. Because I knew what Harry would do when he found out what had happened. That's was terrified me the most.
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Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter! Hit a roadblock in the number of reads, but that's ok. If you're sticking with me, you're absolutely amazing.
Let me know what you think!
Thank you and I love you!
~Peyt xxx
