Charlotte's POV
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I finally decided to leave my casket. I knew that I had to do something to stop thinking about my constant pain. I couldn't keep living like that. I'm not going to threaten my health over a boy who left me. No matter what, I am in charge of my own life and I cannot let myself become dependent on anyone or anything, because that's toxic. Humans are meant to be independent. Codependent relationships lead to high risks for depression. Something which burdened Harry and I on a daily basis anyway. It's better this way. I read all of that online at some point while I was trying to get over it. Codependent relationships are so poisonous and I am not going to wilt after a few weeks just because a boy left me. I am worth so much more than that. I miss him so much, but letting myself die will not change how he feels about the subject... I couldn't stop wondering. Maybe if he knew, he'd come back... But it didn't matter. He wasn't even worth it. No one was. I wouldn't die. Not for anyone.
"Megan?" I breathed into my phone. My voice even sounded hoarse after having not have used it for so long. I almost hadn't said a word to a single person since Harry left. Even after my mom had forced herself into my room, everything went back to the way it was when she left. I didn't leave my room. I didn't talk to anyone. Piper cried after every attempt to talk to me when I ignored her which was every time. I couldn't even bring myself to care that I was always making my little sister cry. Maybe she'd get it one day. If she was lucky like I had been. No. I wasn't lucky. I got trapped. I just sat and read. We had talked about what happened with Marcus, but I had only talked to Megan once or twice after that. I feel like I haven't seen her in ages. I need human contact.
"Charlotte! You haven't texted me in two months and now you're just calling just like that!? We're best friends and you can't just a-"
"Can I come over?" I mumbled, feeling bad about how I had abandoned her like that. Although I was going through a hard time, it was wrong to have not made any contact with her. She must have been worrying about me like crazy. We're supposed to talk every day. But I didn't feel like it. And it didn't bother me, really. I hadn't wanted to talk to her much before this either. She never had much to say and all she did was tell me that I should leave Harry. Now she'd probably laugh in my face and say I told you so. But I needed to see someone.
"S-sure." She said. I think she could tell pretty quickly that something was wrong. She always knew when something was wrong with me which was one of the reasons that she's my best friend. I shouldn't have such negative thoughts about her. I hesitated for a minute. I was always letting people manipulate me. That's why we're still friends. I sighed. I couldn't manage a goodbye. I hung up and didn't even bother taking anything as I walked out my door. My mom sat on the couch, watching me leave with her jaw agape, but I didn't utter a single word to her. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked at my reflection. I grumbled at the dark circles under my eyes. I didn't sleep much either. Reading had sounded much more appealing than dreaming about all that I had lost in the last few weeks. Sometimes I had even had nightmares about Harry dying. Or about me dying. Or about Louis dying. They were all just as bad as the last- worse. I was hoping they would stop because I felt like I was over it. But they never stopped. They only got progressively worse.
Suddenly, my face wasn't the only one that was looking back at me from the reflection in my phone screen. I turned around, eyebrows furrowed. My heart was already racing, because I was surprised to see another face. "Hello." the man said with a smug grin.
"Can- Can I help you?" I asked, taking a step back. At first, I had almost been sure that the offender was Marcus. For a nanosecond, I wondered if he escaped prison, which seemed unlikely. I'm sure that they moved him to somewhere that was more secure. But this was not Marcus or the other guy that had attacked me out in public. This man looked more like a criminal, if anything. He was short and had greasey black hair that was slicked back. And a beard.
"Oh yes. Yes, you can definitely help me." All signs coming from this guy seemed to be warning signals. This was not someone that I wanted to make smalltalk with.
"Well, I don't have time to-"
The man shoved his fist into my mouth and grabbed me with the other arm. Every time. What the fuck. Megan is just going to think that I'm ditching her at this point. Panic flooded through me and I almost didn't react at all, too shocked to comprehend what was happening. But I knew that I had to fight back. I couldn't let this happen. Harry woudln't want- He'd be ma- I mentally scold myself for thinking of Harry at a time like this. But how could I not? I knew that this had to do with him. It always did. I bit down as hard as I could, trying to free myeslf, but my teeth lodged deep into his skin didn't seem to phase him in the slightest. His hand bled and his blood flowed into my mouth, making me gag, but I don't think that he even noticed. There was a pocket knife in my pocket. Harry made me carry it after the first time, but I couldn't get to it now. I tried to reach it, but I couldn't. He noticed. "What are you doing? What's that?" he growled, feeling my pocket. I cringed and kicked behind me but he barely reacted. He took the knife out of my pocket and sank it directly into my back. I tried to scream but it was near impossible with his hand blocking my airway. I was just grateful that the pocketknife was short. It wouldn't kill me. Not yet. I kicked him again and he actually stumbled backwards. I thought I'd be able to get away. I tried to break out into a sprint. I started to scream, but he caught me again before I got more than five feet away from him.
"Shut up!" he snapped. My head hit something hard, making my vision black and blurry around the edges. I weaved in and out of conciousness, but was able to recognize the inside of a vehicle before something hit me hard in the head again. This time, I did not come back to conciousness.
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I think I regained consciousness but it was hard to tell as everything was still dark. But it smelled like mold. I went to punch my knee to decide if this was real or imagery, but found my hands tied up behind me. I could feel the rope digging into my skin. This was definitely real. My phone was ringing and it seemed to echo. I breathed in and almost choked on the damp air. I couldn't see anything. There were no lights on. I was in pitch black. I wanted to scream but there was something shoved in my mouth, making it impossible. It seemed from basic observations that I was in a cellar or a basement... Something underground. The air was so thick and stuffy- where ever I was. How the hell was I going to get out of this? I don't have survival skills. I'm barely a legal adult and never thought I'd be in any situation like this. It was a package deal... It came with Harry. My head throbbed like someone was hammering at my head with a steady beat. Tears ran down my face. He kidnapped me. There was no escape. There was nothing I could do to get out of this. My thought process came to a sudden halt. I was going to die down here. There was no way out no couldn't move. I couldn't scream. I was done for. It was over. Harry wasn't even going to come and save me because he never wanted to see me again. He probably won't care if they kill me now that he's gone.
"Good morning, Charlotte." A creepy voice rang through my ears. I heard the heavy footsteps on the concrete floor. I wanted to scream again and I wanted to knew how he knew my name, but I couldn't speak so I refrained to growling instead. "Shut up, dog." he laughed, grabbing the back of my chair and tipping it back to look at me closer. It felt like I had downed a bag of sand, the scratchiness of my throat, making my eyes water heavily. He grabbed my neck tightly, digging his nails into my skin. My phone continued to ring continuously in my pocket. The man pulled it out of my pocket, his grimy fingers sending uncomfortable shivers through my hip. He threw my phone across the room. I didn't hear it break, but I still winced, knowing that even when he left, I wouldn't be able to find a way to call anybody for help now.
Would anyone know I was gone? My family would take less than two days to realize that something's wrong, but I wasn't sure if two days would be enough with the condition I was in. Everything was extremely blurry and I wondered if I had been drugged. I almost didn't feel any pain at all. My head lolled back and i threw up mostly on myself. This just made my throat hurt worse, but at least it wasn't so dry anymore.
I longed for Harry to come back now more than ever. I didn't want him here exactly. I would never want to put him in that type of danger. However, I'd like nothing more than to see him one last time before I die in the hands of this man. Thinking of Harry was a good distraction to help me ignore the pain on the tight grip the man had on my neck and the rope burn around my wrists and the ache of my jaw. His heavy boots clomped around the chair. All at once, a small white pill was shoved into my mouth. I tried to spit it out, knowing it was probably some sort of drug, but he pulled my hair down towards the floor, making the pill tip back into my throat. I gagged, trying to keep it up, trying to fight it, but it slid down my throat.
"You need some more sleep. Don't worry. You'll get plenty now. Just relax." he said, before drawing what looked like a cane from behind him- like a walking stick. My eyes widened in horror as I registered what it really was.
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Author's note:Thanks for all the reads and support. Lots of love!
ADDED: I apologize so much for the absolutely horrible spelling errors! Just went back to look at them. As I said, I wrote this on my phone and since I was on the app, it didn't spell check. I am not horrible at spelling, but I type too fast for my phone and it gets confused, so there are often lots of typos. So sorry. Love you!
~Peyt x