In the shadows. (H.S) [A.U]

Chapter 32

A/N:

My sincerest apologies if this chapter is a tad bit too much.. but I don't think this one is going to be that bad. BUT I'm telling you, the next one is going to be more intense.

-_-_-_-

When you cried,
I'd wipe away all of your tears.
When you'd scream,
I'd fight away all of your fears.
And I held your hand through all of these years.
But you still have all of me...

***

NIALL'S POV:

I look around the weird neighborhood as I drive my car, trying to find the creep's house. It has to be here somewhere. I'm sure I have seen it around here.I want to talk to him. I don't know about what though. Guess I'll have to figure it out when I see him.

It's been two weeks since Elizabeth has been missing and I have a gut feeling that this guy has something to do with it. 

I have always been the loud yet the quiet one in the group. I'm more observant than I look. I have seen this guy at totally irrelevant and different occasions whenever we were hanging out with Elizabeth. 

At first, I just thought of it as some coincidence. But if it happens more than three times, it isn't a coincidence anymore.

It's not even like he just happened to be there. It's more like he was doing nothing but standing there, staring at each and every one of Elizabeth's move. The way he looked at her made me feel uncomfortable.

I had been suspicious of him but I never brought it up in front of any of our friends. I know how they would react to it and it wouldn't be a good reaction.

All of my suspicions were confirmed on the night of Elizabeth's birthday. When we couldn't seem to find her anywhere and decided to head to her house and that Zayn was going to get her, I was making my way outside of the farmhouse and I bumped into the same green-eyed creep at the entrance. But he didn't even stop to look back, he just rushed inside, looking around, searching for someone. 

Something felt so wrong that night.. I wish I could've stayed there and made sure Elizabeth was okay only if Liam hadn't dragged me out of there.

Then later that night, Liz was all freaked out when she came home. She tried her best to put up a facade but I could see right through it. Oh how badly I wish I had asked her what's wrong..

I was going to ask her when Liam got up and made his way to the kitchen but I was interrupted by Liam saying something about someone standing outside. 

The thing with Elizabeth's house was that it is nearly in the center of the woods, there was no way in hell that some drunk accidentally stumbled there. That was the reason I was so determined on checking outside and when I saw that Liz was so persistent on not doing the same, It confirmed that Elizabeth knew about him and he had most probably threatened her or something so that she wouldn't tell any one. 

When Zayn broke up with her the very next day, it all started to fuck my brain up. I didn't know the real reason but me and Zayn had become acquaintances over time and I was a hundred and ten percent sure that they didn't break up because it wasn't working out between them. 

As far as I knew Zayn, he was head over heels for Liz. And for him to turn stone cold in one night was enough for me to know that there was something else going on. I still decided to stay quiet.

I wanted Elizabeth to stay with us in London so that I knew she was safe. So that I knew she still had one of us to go to if something happened. When Liz insisted on coming back the same night, something felt wrong. She was so persistent on going back, it felt weird. I couldn't spend more than two days in London so I decided to come back before I had originally planned on.