Louis' POV
The self loath comes shortly after Richard and Fred leave. It feels as if millions of tiny bugs are crawling over my skin, plaguing it with dirt and disease. I can feel Richard's hands haunting my body, gripping and clawing.
I lie in a heap on the floor, shaking and cold and desperately trying to scratch off his grime. I only succeed in making myself bleed.
Colby approaches me apprehensively, a concerned look on his young face. "Um, Mr...?" he starts.
I angle my head off the ground and prop it up with a hand. Colby looks down at me, tears brimming his eyes.
"Hey, Colby." My voice comes out hoarse and it dips at the end with sadness.
"Are you okay?" His big blue eyes open up and I feel myself catching a glimpse of his soul. This young boy has been through too much. He doesn't deserve any of this pain. Despite this all, his soul is beautiful.
I hesitate. Should I shake my head yes I'm fine in attempt to shelter this boy from further trauma? Or has he been through enough to know I'm not okay?
"No, Colby. I'm not," I say.
Colby scootches closer to me and his little hand weaves into mine.
"It'll be okay, Mr."
"You can call me Louis," I correct him with an attempted smile.
"It'll be okay, Louis," he corrects.
"Thank you, Colby," I whisper. "Thank you."
Then the pain in my head intensifies to the point where I feel my head is exploding. My eyes see red, and I shut them but still see it. The red bubbles over and fills my head. The pain pulses from my head through my body in waves until I'm drowning in it. My head swims underneath the sea of red and then sinks to the bottom.
---
Niall's POV
As the car bumps along the highway, I stare out the window with my forehead pressed to the glass, leaving a smudged mark. The sun is slowly sinking lower in the sky, but will hold for a couple more hours.
My eyes skip over objects in the distance. Trees, a McDonald's billboard, a sign showing which way is east, a shack that looks like the one from my nightmare....
Wait. A SHACK THAT LOOKS LIKE THE ONE FROM MY NIGHTMARE.
"There!" I point to it, a good hundred meters in the distance. "That's where Louis is!"
"What? How do you know?"
"Just PULL OFF!" I scream.
The car jeers off the highway and onto the pebbled side, bouncing violently over divots and tuffs of grass. I throw open the car door and jump out before the car stops completely; every second counts.
"Niall, what's going on?" Liam's frantic voice calls after me as he sprints to catch up.
"The nightmare I had earlier. That shack," I point to it off in the distance growing closer, "is the same one! Louis is in it!"
"H-How do you know?"
"I just do! Trust me on this, Liam."
"I trust you, Niall. I trust you," he says as we sprint through the field.
I feel my heart beating faster and faster as we approach the shack. My breathing matches my heart's pace and I struggle to slow it down.
We reach the shack quickly, not quick enough, and I circle it cautiously. Liam goes in the opposite direction.
"I found a door!" his voice sounds from the other side.
I run to him and he's stood in front of a sheet of metal. We grab the edges and lift. The sharp metal slices into my palms, but I do not let go like I did in my dream.
It lets out an ear splitting clang when it clashes to the ground. Liam and I hurry into the shack, the light from outside streaming in, casting eerie shadows over foreign objects.
We turn in circles looking desperately for any signs of Louis.
"Hello?" I hear a soft voice call. It comes from a dark corner where the light hasn't reached.
"Louis?" I call, unsure if the voice belonged to him.
I see a small body appear from the shadow. I almost do a double take.
"Colby?"
"Niall!" He runs to me and hugs my legs. I bend down and grab him in a tight hug.
"Are you okay?"
He nods his head yes.
"Oh my god," I breath. "I can't believe I found you!" I have been searching everywhere online only to find him in the place I least expected. My hands run along his back, comforting him as well as myself.
"Niall, L-Louis isn't o-ok," he chokes out, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks.
I pull away from our hug to look at him. He is pointing to the wall where he appeared from.
Liam and I sprint the short distance and I collapse when I see a body. Louis.
"Oh god," I manage to say, my throat tightening and cutting off more words that I didn't know to say.
His head is cocked to the side, eyes screwed shut. His arms are loosely draped over his stomach, a weak attempt to comfort himself. A pool of blood leaks from beneath his limp, pale body. He looks so fragile. So traumatized and...frozen.
Everything around me disappears and it feels so surreal that I doubt if this is reality. Maybe I'm dreaming again.
But this is not a dream.
I place a hand lightly on his chest and lean close to his face. My ears strain to catch a sound of breath, my hands feel for the rise and fall of his rib cage.
There's nothing. He's not breathing. Panic rises in me and chokes me. I listen closer, desperate for something, anything.
And then I hear it. The smallest puff of air escapes past his lips to my face.
"He's breathing!" I exclaim. Oh thank God, he's breathing.
I take Louis' hand in mine and hold it tightly. I'm afraid that if I let go, I'll loose him forever.
"I love you, Louis. I love you so much," I whisper to him.
Maura and Karen come bounding through the doorway, out of breath. Liam orders them, "Call an ambulance! And tell John we found Louis!"
They walk outside for better reception and make the calls quickly.
Liam crouches down beside me. He takes in Louis' condition. His shirtless torso is covered in scrapes and scratches, dirt and grime mixed with sweat. Bruises litter his innocent skin, turning it dark blue and black. His blood, a murky red, is splashed over his arms, hands, legs, back. Liam has to look away. He clamps a hand over his mouth and I can see his brain trying to process it all.
And then the strongest man I know breaks down. A muffled sob cuts through the thick silence and Liam collapses to the ground beside me. His hands move to his hair and grip it tightly, and his face twists through a series of emotions I never thought he would ever experience. Distress, stupor, anger.
Tears pour out of his eyes and he begins hysterically crying, completely loosing his ability to contain himself. His wails of distress echo off the cold, metal walls, sounding ten times worse.
I wrap my arms around him and pull him to me.
"It's going to be ok," I whisper against his knotted hair.
"This isn't fair!" He surprises me by exclaiming. "No-body should t-treat someone l-like this!"
"I know. I know. What Richard did to Louis was awful, inexcusable. But we found Louis, and he will be ok. We found Colby, too!" I tell Liam.
He nods his head and wipes the tears off his cheeks. "Louis will be ok," he repeats to himself.
And in that moment I realize how our usual roles had switched. I'm usually the one in distress, needing Liam to comfort me. But here he is, needing my shoulder to cry on. And I'm happy to give it.
Then something shifts within Liam, I can feel the air thicken around us.
"I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch." His voice is low, threatening.
"What?" I'm confused.
"Richard. I'm going to fucking kill him."
Is he serious? He just had a complete mental breakdown, and now he's threatening to kill Richard? I'm worried for Liam's mental stability.
"Liam, I'm not sure that's the right way to approach this..."
"Damn right it is." He suddenly pulls away from my embrace to stare at me. His hard stare nearly burns a hole through my face. "Richard nearly killed Louis, so I'm going to kill him."
"Liam-" I start.
"Don't tell me what to do, Niall. I know it sounds tempting to you, too."
I remain silent because as much as I feel sick with myself, it was tempting. To get back at Richard for all the pain he's caused us.
"I want Richard to know exactly how he made Louis feel. I want him to feel the way Louis did."
I nod my head slowly, letting his words seep in. But as much as I agree, something within myself stops me from saying so. Richard is a human being, despite how utterly messed up he is, he's still human. And it isn't right to do to him what he did to Louis. That makes us no better than him.
"I don't know if I can do that," I say, barely above a whisper.
"I'm about done with this shit," Liam announces. He stands up and stalks away, out the door.
So much for comforting him.
-----
Ta daaaaaa! Here's another chapter! The one you've all been waiting for! Niall found Louis :D what did you think? I love reading your comments :) please vote, too- it would be greatly appreciated!