At Arm's Length (A Punk Niall Horan Fanfic)

Chapter 11 - To The End

The next morning, Macie and I were doing dishes while Finn put them away.

Rebecca was passing through when he accidentally dropped a plate on the floor. She stormed over and slapped him, tears forming in his eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" She shouted. "Go get a damn broom and clean this mess!"

She stormed off and he wiped his eyes, grabbing the broom.

"Don't say anything, you'll only make it worse for both of you" Macie whispered when I started to ask Finn if he was okay.

"This place is fucked" I muttered under my breath.

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Finally Monday rolled around. During my free class period, I snuck onto the roof of the school.

I sent a text to Detective Bailey, explaining that I didn't feel comfortable here and telling him about the Patsy's.

Afterwards, I FaceTimed Andrew.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" He greeted. I smiled at the sound of his voice.

"I could ask you the same, but I know that you have a free period right now as well"

"How's Liverpool?"

"Shitty, my new family is strict. I have to hide my phone because I'm not allowed to have it. They inspect the rooms every Thursday and we're only allowed to leave to do chores. Also, they hit one of the boys that I live with"

"That's terrible! You gotta come back!" He said.

"I'm trying, I just told Detective Bailey everything"

"Good, because we miss you so much! Plus, Niall's been extra douche-y lately. I think he misses you too"

"I don't know. He's convinced Bailey's my boyfriend and we're running away from my family because our age gap is illegal" I told him, rolling my eyes.

"What a dumbass. Oh well, you should still come home"

"Hopefully I'll be home tonight"

"Yayyy! I can't wait!" He said, as the bell rang. "Gotta go, see you soon" he said, hanging up.

I hope so.

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I hadn't heard anything from Bailey all day. I went to bed, only for Rebecca to wake me up at 2 a.m. I quietly went downstairs and saw a wooden chair from the kitchen in the middle of the floor facing Reginald and Rebecca, who were standing there waiting for me.

"Sit!" Reginald demanded. I sat in the chair and he continued. "We know you've been lying to us"

I started to speak, when I felt breath on the back of my neck.

"Anna Holmes" a familiar voice said behind me.

I felt the blood leave my face, this can't be happening. Where's Bailey?

I started to get up, but he grabbed my left shoulder and pressed something cold to my right cheek. It slowly dragged across my cheek and I realized it was a knife when I felt blood dripping down my cheek.

"Consider this your punishment" Reginald said as they both went upstairs to go to bed.

I leaned away from the knife and his left hand lost grip on my shoulder. I quickly ran to the kitchen, grabbed the largest knife I could find and ran out the back door. I could hear him chasing me, but I knew there was a park with a lot of bushes and trees ahead. I found a couple bushes I could hide in and waited till he ran past me.

I text Bailey the word 'emergency' and then dialed 999.

I quietly whispered that I needed the police when I was shoved from behind, making me drop the knife and my phone.

He started kicking me, mainly aiming for my face and ribs. He straddled me and started to punch me before pulling his knife to my neck.

"And now the moment I've been waiting for" He said. The tip of his knife poked my neck, starting to draw blood. Before he could start dragging it across my throat, the police pulled up in front of us.

He quickly got up and ran, the cops chasing after him, except for one that was tending to me.

"Oh my god, Anna are you all right?" They asked, I looked up to see a familiar face.

"Bailey! What took so long?"

"I discussed everything you said with my boss who sent me directly up here to address the Liverpool police. We were on our way to take all the kids from the Patsy's when we got your 999 call. Is that-?"

"Yes, it's the same guy. The Patsy's were mad that I lied about my identity, so he was my punishment"

"I'm sorry, Anna. Let's get you to the hospital" he said, helping me up and into the ambulance.

We went to the hospital and Bailey was on the phone with the Liverpool police while I was being stitched up.

"Any news?" I asked him.

"They caught him and are sending him to London for trial. The children have been removed from the Patsy's and the Patsy's have been arrested. Once you're stitched up, we're sending you back to Mullingar. After that, I'll only need you for the trials"

"That sounds perfect to me"
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💋 -TVo