Niall stepped forward placing his hand on the railing to the stairs. He was expecting his hand to go through the railing, as cliché as it seemed, but it felt solid to him. He took a moment to look around and saw the leaves being blown off the trees and rustling to the evenly laid frost coating the ground.
Shouldn't he be cold? He thought realizing he was only in a thin tank top. Though for the first time he realized he didn't feel the frost in the air or the wind blowing against him. All he felt was a content warmth in his body.
He looked up again at the house and sighed. How was he supposed to get up there without being noticed? Now that he was actually here at his mission he had a billion questions to ask Josh, but something told him he was a hard guy to get a hold of. He wondered what other powers he possessed if any. More importantly though how he was going to get to the bedroom of Liam his appointed child. He wondered if because the railing felt solid if that would prevent him from walking through the walls of the house. He decided to try anyways because he had nothing to lose. He made his way up the steps making no sound at all. He reached the black door with the fern wreath hanging from it. There was a bay window to his right with white trim that stood out against the old brick surrounding it. He touched the door with his hand and willed in his mind to be translucent. He looked in amazement as his hand slipped through the door disappearing. As he was rushed with happiness he stopped thinking about being translucent and his hand became solid again against the outside of the door. Niall cursed himself and tried again this time slipping
his whole body through the door. He was now in the foyer of the home greeted by a hallway to his left leading to the kitchen and stairs leading upward to his right. He knew Liam was upstairs so he began soundlessly climbing the stairs till he reached the top and was faced with a hallway two doors on each side, four doors in all. The sheet he carried in his pocket didn't go in to exact detail on which bedroom was Liam's so he was going to have to figure that one out for himself.
He moved down the hall to the first door on the right and willed himself through the door. There he saw a teenage boy with messy curls sleeping soundlessly in his bed. The boy's bedroom phone began to ring as the boy stirred from his sleep. Niall slipped out of the bedroom before the boy could open his eyes and moved across the hall to the first door on the left. Here he was met with a decent size bathroom complete with a shower and tub and nice vanity. He nodded to himself and moved on to the next and last room on the right. Here he saw a small little boy with dirty blonde curls fast asleep. He was tangled in a ball of covers on his small bed that was pushed against the far corner of the room. That must be Liam, he thought to herself as he took a look around the room. He would wait till the morning to introduce himself, not wanting to interrupt his sleep and scare him.
Niall paced around taking all of his surroundings in. He figured he would probably be spending a lot of time in here over the next decade and then some and thought familiarizing it would be a good idea. The room itself was fairly small. At the foot of the bed was a small toy chest painted with superheroes on it. The flooring throughout the room was a plush off white carpet and in the center of the room was a medium sized rug that was a light baby blue with teddy bears on it. The walls were white with a multicolored cowboy border going around the room. On the right wall facing the bed were two big sliding doors to the closet and up against the
wall in the middle was a small dresser. There was a window past Liam's bed above his toy chest looking out into the backyard. The window was covered by pale yellow blinds that fell loose to either side. Past the window in the right corner was a small wooden rocking chair with a blanket draped over it. That was Liam's whole room. It wasn't much but then again a five-year-old didn't need very much to be happy and it seemed very cozy.
Niall decided to take a seat in the rocking chair in the corner and wait until the sun rose and Liam woke up. As he sat down he began to take in the noises he heard from the room over where the teenage boy he had found earlier was. He heard chocked up sobbing coming from the boy and wondered if this had anything to do with the phone call he had received that had woken him up. He willed his way through the wall between the rooms and was then standing through the bed the teenage boy was currently hunched over sobbing on. He made herself solid again and sat crisscrossed on the bed facing the boy. When the boy looked up he looked straight through Niall and to the door.
Niall felt a part inside him sting as the thought of being invisible to almost everyone really sunk in. He wanted nothing more than to comfort the boy that sat in front of him but now that he was dead he could no longer do that. He then started to think back to his previous life and his family but nothing came to mind. He couldn't remember anything from his past life aside from his name and the last final moments of his life as a human. That was it. It stung like a knife to the chest to realize things would never go back to the way they were and he would never see his family and friends again even if he couldn't remember them. Surly he had them right? Or maybe he didn't have anyone at all and that's what drove him to the point of suicide.
Niall was quickly interrupted from his train of thoughts as the boy in front of him started murmuring under his breath through chocked sobs.
"Oh god Louis why? Why did you leave me?" Was what he kept repeating over and over to himself. His hands were shaking as his broad shoulders started rocking back and forth in his hysterical state.
Niall sat there and wondered to himself for a moment why the name Louis sounded so familiar, and then he gasped when he remembered why. Louis was the boy he had met back in the angel's office. Liam's brother must have known Louis and gotten news of his suicide. That must have been what the phone call was about. As the realization sank in Niall felt even worse for the possible friends and family who probably just recently received word of his own death and are in mourning. Though then again maybe no one knows of his death, or maybe no one cares. He shakes that thought out of his head as he focuses his attention back on Liam's brother.
Niall glances over to the clock and see it's already a little past five am and the through the window he can just start to see the sun begin to peek over the edge of the horizon. He wondered what time Liam was due to wake up and if he attended primary school yet. He assumed if he did he would join him at school since he was the only one who could see him. Most kids his age had imaginary friends anyways so I'm sure no one at school would notice if he started talking about him. He gave a sad glance back to Liam's brother and unwillingly moved back to Liam's bedroom where he took a seat again in the rocking chair. As much as he wanted to, there was nothing he could do for Liam's brother and the thought of sitting there helpless didn't sit well
with him. He also thought it would be better if he was already here when Liam woke up so it would be easier to introduce himself to him.
Liam didn't start to stir till around seven thirty. At this point Niall could hear everyone else in the house was already awake. He could hear Liam's parents walk into his brother's room and comfort him when they heard him crying and asked him what was wrong. They stayed in there for a while hugging him until his dad excused himself to go get ready for work and his mom went to make breakfast. They excused him from school for the day and Niall listened as he stayed seated on the bed continuing to cry.
When Liam stirred he began to stretch out his body and a yawn escaped from his lips. His hair was a mess, small curls wildly going in all directions. His eyes slowly cracked open trying to adjust to the sunlight pouring in from the window.
Niall got up from the rocking chair and made his way over to the front of Liam's bed staying silent as the young boy continued to wake up. When the boys' eye's finally opened fully and focused in on the image in front of him a startled expression appeared on his face and he back himself up on his bed burring himself into his covers. Niall hesitantly moved toward the bed and sat down on the edge as the boys' eyes peered over covers he held to his face.
"Hey there Liam don't be afraid. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm Niall your imaginary friend, and I'm here to keep you safe." Niall spoke softly to the young boy hoping not to frighten him anymore. He cautiously lowered the covers and looked fully at Niall for the first time with a confused expression on his face.
"You're my imaginary friend?" he spoke softly, barley above a whisper. Niall nodded never taking his eyes off of Liam. He wasn't sure what to say or do to break the ice after this strange introduction so he stayed quiet and studied Liam's face. Liam peered down at his hands and then back up at Niall with a huge grin on his face. "Does that mean you're here to play with me anytime I want?"
Niall internally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled back at Liam nodding. The grin on his face split ear to ear as he got up from under his covers and moved right next to Niall.
"That's right as your imaginary friend I'm here to play with you and protect you. However, there are some rules we need to discuss first." Liam's smile falter for a moment but then nodded to know that he was listening. Niall continued "Since I'm just your imaginary friend that means only you can see me and no one else. Also if you are to stop believing in me or wish me away then I'll disappear and can't return and we don't want that." He spoke slowly making sure Liam was understanding every word he said. He just continued to nod along and stare at Niall so he went on. "I'm going to be with you for a long time Liam and I'll always make sure you're safe, you have nothing to worry about."
Liam leans forward then and places his little arms around Niall's shoulders. Niall moving his bleach blonde hair out of his eyes, and wrapped his own arms around the small boy as he felt him smile against his shoulder. This wouldn't be that hard of a mission right?
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