No one has time to process what is going on, or guess what is about to happen. Before I can even finish screaming I'm being pulled through the back door. But there is no escape, someone yells. The house is surrounded by angry men with baseball bats and handguns. What? You didn't hear me the first time? Take her to the basement. Someone is barking orders and I can't really tell who it is. Niall? Marvin? My feet twist and stumble on the hardwood floors as I am once again being dragged in another direction. I see nothing, hear nothing, and feel my mind start to wander off. Before I feel hands. Hands wrap around my face and I see Niall's blue eyes looking down at me. He mouths something, talk louder. I can't really hear you. I wonder if he can read my thoughts because he bends down closer.
"I'll see you soon princess." Is all he says, then the door closes in front of me.
Everything rushes back, sound, feeling, his words haunt me because if that was his way of goodbye I'll have to let him know it was pretty shitty.
"Emilee move your fucking feet! Let's go!" I feel Jal rush me down the stairs, my consciousness comes back to me, and the idea of going to the basement begins to look like a bad idea.
"Why did we come down here." I look around me, making a head count, I realize all the boys are still upstairs. Leaving Kayla, El, Jal, and I to sit down here in the fucking dark. Great.
"Because we have to find a way out of here. If Troy finds you you're dead. You will not make it through the night. He will hurt you in ways that you never thought harmful. He will turn you into a walking corpse. Then he will send you back to Niall, and we all know what would happen next..."
Except I had no idea what would happen next. Would he kill Niall? Or would Niall go after him? Or maybe Niall would just leave me, unable to see any resurrection in myself so he would just move on with his life.
"Shhhh he's here!" El turns to face us, the air instantly closes in on my throat. And the whole house is silent. I stand at the bottom of the stairs. Waiting for something to be said.
First I hear the door, then the floorboards creak one by one. Its one of those horror scene moments if I am being quite honest. And if I wasn't drowning in my anxiety I would laugh. The floor creaks and groans until it comes to a stop. Right in the middle of the room. Muffled voices begin, and I try to hold my breath to hear what they are saying, I can't hear at first but eventually they become clearer with each word getting louder and louder.
"Emmmmileeeeee" I hear a sing song voice call for me. A sob slips from my lips. Of course he knows I'm still here.
"Listen here kid, I'll make you a deal." He begins to yell, Jal shakes her head frantically, reminding me of what she recently said. I try not to listen but part of me keeps and ear open.
"I will not kill any of your friends. Hell, I won't even kill Niall. If you promise to come with me and my dear friends and spend some time with us. No strings, not loopholes, I just want to show you what I promised you only a few days ago." If I knew him any better I could picture the wide smile on his lips right about now. The floorboards didn't stop creaking, he was slowly pacing. From the middle of the floor to the door, then back again. He knew. Which meant I only had a few more moments to decide what I was going to do. I look to Kayla, her eyes meet mine as she silently cries out to me. Does she know what will happen if I go up there, or what he will do if I don't?
"I know you're scared Emilee Walters. I know you're hiding in fear of what I might do. But the longer you wait, the easier it will be for me to pull the trigger on one of your friends up here. Who should I start with, Harry is it? Yes, I know a bit about you. Friends for life. Like a big brother to her, is that correct? If you don't come here in five minutes you'll get to see what's really going on in his head after I put a hole through it." His voice is steady, he has no concerns that I won't go up there. My one foot reaches for the first step.
"Please, don't do this." Kayla sobs, I look at their faces. All three of them are terrified, if only I could feel what they were feeling. But the moment Jal burst through the door I knew what I had to do. I can't put them in danger any longer. It's not their war, it's mine.
I take the stairs silently, second step, third, fourth. The light creeps through the cracks in the door, and I can only picture what it looks like out there. I feel for everyone in this house. I feel the pain in the girls' eyes, the fear for Harry's life. The frustration Niall has for putting all of us in this. I am doing this for them, I am doing this to allow them to go home. Maybe when they reach their homes safely they can involve the police. But for now, it is my choice. My hand wraps around the door knob and my mind begins to spin. Is this really all I can do to save my friends?
The footsteps have stopped. No one in the house is moving. Not a single movement from the basement to the top floor can be heard. I twist the door knob, I'm signing my own death certificate I suppose.
The first person I see is Zayn. His eyes bore into my own, he becomes anxious as he realizes my intentions, he goes to move but another gun is pointed at him. They all stand in the main room, men on the stairs point guns at the door, at the boys as well. Harry is back to back with Louis, their hands raised, surrendering to the two men surrounding them.
My calm face breaks instantly when I see Marvin in the corner. His face bloody and beaten, slumped against the corner I could not tell if he is breathing. I rush to his side, shaking him lightly. The rest of the room jumps at my fast movements. His head moves slightly, and his breathing is so light you could only tell if he was alive if you put your ear to his chest. I forget about everyone for a moment.
"He needs a doctor!" I yell, turning to face everyone around me. They all stare back, as if I never said a word.
"What the fuck is wrong with you! Someone fucking help!" I scream to their faces. But they all continue to look blankly at me.
"They aren't helping because I told them not to move." His voice rings through the quiet halls of the house. And I make no movement towards him. Troy enters from the living room, Niall by his side. I look to Niall and his face shows no emotion. He does not even look back at me, he seems to look right through me. I stand, and Troy offers his hand. I don't take it.
"Well, it seems you've made your decision. Shall we go?" He motions to the door. But my eyes still are locked on Niall. What was going on with him? Say something you idiot!
"Niall..." I whisper, his eyes finally meet mine, and that's when I know I have no other choice. The pain in his eyes finally seeps through. After months of hiding it, maybe even years, the small crack in his masquerade finally gives in. My heart calls out to him every way possible, I want to take his pain away from him. I want to give him everything I have. If only we met on different circumstances, maybe I could have.
"I have one condition." I turn to Troy. He smiles and mocks me with a bow. "Anything for you princess." He laughs wholeheartedly, and a tear slips from my eye.
"If I go with you, you leave Niall alone. You leave Marvin and Jal, all of my friends. You never go near them again." I turn to him, and he goes serious.
"Of course, like I said I would. You have my word." His hand extends to me, and I look at Niall one more time. I try to imagine us in another world. Somewhere far from this hell. Where we could live together and be happy, be safe.
"I'll see you soon baby." I try to sound sincere, but my words choke out, but he seems to get the point. I wish I could kiss him one more time, to feel him against me. But I take Troy's hand and he pulls me from the house. My mind is swirling with curiosity and fear. What now? What am I supposed to do? The door closes behind us and I see cars parked coming from all sections of the road. There are more men waiting outside, guns locked and loaded. Troy's sense of pride gushes from him as he snakes his arm around my waist.
"Now baby, we have the whole world ahead of us. What is it that you want the most?" He looks down to me, but I don't have to answer because he knows. He knows exactly what I want. And it seems to anger him a bit because his brow becomes knotted and his lips curl back in disgust. Pulling me down the stairs we walk from the house passing the men and cars until we're in the middle of the street.
"I know baby, I know. Leaving all your friends and Niall behind. It hurts knowing that they'll be without you. So why don't I ease their pain?" I look to him, and something in my stomach lurches forward, what the fuck is he talking about?
"Light em' up boys!" He screams, and my first instinct is to run. To run back into the house. But arms are around me, and I'm being dragged into a black van. I kick and scream, clawing my way back to Niall. I see several men light cloths tucked in bottles, that's when I see the empty red jugs of gasoline piled up. The old house stands no chance, and neither do the people inside.
"Stop! Please!" I kick and beg with every ounce of energy. Troy still holds me down in the back seat of the van. As it begins to drive off I see the first licks of flames burn the walls of the house. Smoke rises and more bottles are thrown into windows. My mind goes wild, I show no sign of giving up. In Troy's sick mind this is probably hilarious to him. Seeing people suffer and die, all I can think about is my friends. How they're trapped all because I was stupid enough to believe a fucking physco.
"You're fucking sick!" I turn and try and punch Troy. He restrains my hands, I half lay and sit against the car window. With his free hand he smashes my face against the window.
"I want you to watch every second of this Emilee. I want you to see what I can do to people who fucking cross me. You're lucky I let you live. I could've easily locked you all in there, but I didn't. You know why?" I don't answer, my eyes are shut tight as I still squirm and twitch, hoping he lets me go.
"Because Niall paid his debt, in fact when he paid it the only thing he said was to keep you safe. So that is what I did." His lips press against my ear, and I scream again. I refused to listen to anything he says. I won't give up on them. This nightmare has to end soon, but in reality I knew it was only the beginning.
"How do you feel baby? How does it feel to be the only one to survive my wrath. I know you're angry, but in time I'll make you forget you even knew Niall, or any of your friends. I'll show you a whole new world, just like I promised. Hm? How do you feel about that?" His arms encircled me, pushed up against the window the tears show no sign of stopping. I feel him pressed against me, making sure every time I open my eyes I see the house swallowed in flames. But I will not give him the satisfaction he lusts over.
"I feel nothing." I whisper. We continue to drive, and Troy still holds on to me knowing once I get the chance I'll make a run for it. He knows because when the house disappears into the smoke and the distance the van puts between us I stop crying. I still shake and try to twist from his grip. I must make him believe he won, I must make him believe that he won me over, physically and emotionally. The wheels in my brain begin to turn, as I come up with ways to kill him, to make him feel what he put us all through, deep down I know whatever he plans to do cannot be worse than this. Even if it is he won't get the reaction he hopes to get.
Because the knots in my stomach unravel, my mind goes numb, and I no longer feel anything at all.
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ANNNNNND thats a fuckin wrap ladies and gentlemen. I hope you enjoyed "Pen Pals with a Criminal" as much as I did.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for supporting this book from the very beginning. Going to about 300 reads to over 30k is fucking amazing. Thank you SO much. I couldn't of done it without you.
Now,
I was hoping to do a sequel, but if i do it will take some time, because i will want to write most of it out and see how it will go. This story actually took a huge ass turn from when i originally started. (it was just gonna be one of them cliché love stories, but hey, i think it turned out a lot better). So I may release a prologue or pilot within the next month. Stay tuned (:
(I'll start editing chapters within the next week, just making grammatical changes, making sure everything makes sense. I won't change anything major.)
Stay Golden xx