"What the hell do you want? How did you get in here?" I said and tried to keep my voice even despite the crazy pounding in my chest.
Cole took another step closer and I pressed myself up against the counter, discreetly trying to grab the phone behind me.
He dropped his smile and grabbed my chin between his fingers hard. I hissed in pain and tried to wrench free.
"Don't even think about it," he growled.
"Harry is on his way, he'll be here any minute," I lied and prayed Cole would see through it.
"Is that so? Funny I didn't hear you talk to him," he said and moved his hand to my wrist, tugging me forward against his chest.
I held back a whimper; it would do no good to show him how terrified I was.
"I texted him."
Cole kept staring into my eyes as he reached his other hand behind me, snatching up my phone and quickly scrolling through it.
"You're not a very good liar, sweet Ella," he murmured and threw my phone over his shoulder.
It landed on the floor with a crash which made me cringe. There went my only chance of getting help.
"What do you want?" I repeated and squirmed to get away from his hold.
Cole chuckled, but the sound wasn't reassuring. "You made Harry destroy my life. He took everything from me! When Max fired me, I had nothing left. I think it's only fair I get to destroy his."
Ice cold shivers ran down my spine as I went over his words. He was here to hurt me. Or worse; kill me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"
"Shut the fuck up. I don't need your bloody apologies. It's already done."
His hand found its way up my neck and he tangled his fingers in my hair, tugging hard so that my head tilted back involuntarily.
I gasped as he pressed his lips roughly to my neck, the faint scruff on his face scratching my skin uncomfortably.
"Now, what should I do with you. . ." he hummed to himself, his lips moving against my throat.
"Please, let me go. I'm sure we can work this out somehow," I whispered desperately, trying to restrain a gag at the feeling of his hot mouth against my skin.
He huffed, tugging at my hair again. "I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut."
I clamped my lips together and figured I might have a better chance of escaping if I complied to what he said.
Suddenly there came a creak from the hallway outside the kitchen and I stiffened. Maybe Harry got Dylan's messages, too.
But as the person stepped over the threshold into the kitchen, all my hopes came crashing down and a sense of dread formed in my stomach.
Heather met my eyes over Cole's shoulder and her lips slowly spread into a mean smirk.
"I bet you're wondering what I'm doing here. I mean, after all I got Adam in the end so why would I bother you again?" she said with a bitter laugh.
I gaped and wasn't able to come up with anything to say in reply.
"Tie her up to a chair and let's have some fun," Heather continued and Cole chuckled.
"I like the way you think, babe," he said to her as he pulled me toward the kitchen table. "Find something to stuff her mouth with so that she won't scream."
Heather nodded and walked off, leaving me alone with a psychopath. He reached into his back pocket and pulled up a string of rope which he easily used to tie my hands to the chair behind my back.
I fought back, tried to wrench my arms free and kick him in the balls, but it was to no use.
Straightening up, he narrowed his eyes and before I had time to react he raised his arm and slapped me hard across the face. This time I did whimper, because the ring on one of his fingers hit me over my cheekbone.
I felt warm liquid start trailing down my face and tears of pain welled up behind my eyelids. "Please," I begged.
Cole shook his head and opened his mouth to say something, but Heather returned with one of Harry's bandanas which he must've left behind. She walked over to me and leaned over to cover up my mouth.
As she fastened it behind my head, she quietly whispered in my ear. "Just go with what he says and this will be over so much faster."
She stood back and admired her work before she turned to Cole with a raised eyebrow. "Now what?"
Cole held up his phone. "I think we should record this, otherwise it would be no fun. Imagine the look on Harry's face when we show this to him later."
I tried to scream, but it came out muffled. They wouldn't dare touch him. I'd rather die a thousand times over than knowing he would get hurt.
"Stop, you're just wasting your energy," Heather giggled and placed the phone on the counter so that it was standing up on its side, the camera facing me.
She leaned in and waved into the lens. "Hi Harry! I really, really hope you're doing well. Because you won't be once you've seen this!"
I squeezed my eyes shut and a few tears escaped. I couldn't believe this was happening.
"You know, Ella, I have come up with a few things I'd like to do to you. But I think it's only fair that the ladies go first," Cole smirked and gestured towards Heather.
She nodded excitedly and bounced up and down like a kid in a candy store.
"I'll give you a minute," Cole said and disappeared from the kitchen.
Heather smiled and pulled out a chair from the table. Placing it in front of me, she sat down. "You know, from the moment I laid eyes on you I could tell you were a real prude. I mean, look at you! You think you're so much better than everyone else."
I shook my head furiously, feeling like Heather was the better chance to get out of this mess. If I could only convince her Cole was a maniac.
She huffed. "You have your perfect hair, perfect eyes, perfect body. All the boys always crawling at your feet. Was it hard? Having both Adam and Harry fussing over you? Did you have a hard time choosing between them, hm? You fucking bitch!"
Heather leaned closer and spat in my face. I flinched and squeezed my eyes shut, my tears mixing with the blood and her saliva.
"Open you fucking eyes," she seethed. "You took Harry from me and you basically made me lose my job. And to top it all off, when I finally managed to get my hands on somethings of yours; he decides to dump me once he found out about my background. So guess what?" she held her hands up in the air and looked patiently at me.
Did she really expect an answer? I only continued to shake my head.
"I blame it all on you."
Still shaking my head, but with much less force, I felt more tears trail down my cheeks.
"Aw, don't cry honey. I won't kill you. I only want to fix you up a bit. Or rather, mess you up a bit. I think you could learn much from walking around with a scarred face," she smiled and held up a tiny pocket knife.
I stiffened and began kicking with my feet again, trying to move the chair away from her. I only succeeded to get it to the opposite wall, then I was stuck.
Heather laughed and walked closer, twisting the knife in her hand. "I think I'll start with your cute, straight nose. It could use some character."
I closed my eyes again and begged this would be be over quickly. I felt her getting closer, the light disappearing as she bent over my face. I flinched when the cool metal pressed against my nose and drew in a sharp breath.
"Heather, come here for a sec!" Cole's voice suddenly called from what I assumed was my bedroom.
She sighed in annoyance, but backed off and my eyes flew open. "I'll be right back," she sang and trotted out in the hallway.
Desperately scanning the room, trying to come up with ideas of how I could get out of here, I realised there was nothing I could do but accept the situation.
I slumped down and tried to make up the words from my favourite song in my mind. It didn't help one bit.
Footsteps were soon heard, walking into the kitchen and I sniffed. This was it. A pair of battered, brown boots stopped in front of my feet and I gasped. I knew those shoes.
Snapping my head up, I almost cried out from relief when I saw Harry standing in front of me with a panicked and shocked expression. He held up a finger to his mouth, signalling for me to keep quiet.
I nodded and gestured with my head to the hallway. He needed to know who he was dealing with.
"Is he still in the house?" Harry whispered as he leaned forward to untie the bandana from my head.
I nodded wildly as he struggled with undoing the tight knot Heather did before.
"Dylan told me as soon as I got to the club, I'm sorry I didn't get here any faster," he mumbled.
"It's okay, I know your phone was dead. Dylan called me too, but it was too late. Cole was already here," I whispered as the piece of cloth fell from my mouth.
Harry reached over me and behind the chair to free my hands, just as Cole appeared in the doorway. He stood there frozen, eyeing the scene in front of him.
Harry didn't seem to notice, because he kept talking. "I should've known something like this—"
"Harry," I said carefully as Cole stepped closer.
"It's okay, baby. I'm here now." He was still fiddling with the rope around my wrists.
I met Cole's eyes and he held up something in the air. It glimmered in the dim light from the kitchen lamps. A slow smirk found it's way to his lips and I froze.
"Harry!" I shouted, making him pull back and stand up straight quickly.
"What—"
His question was abruptly ended by a sickening sound and his eyes grew wide in surprise as they stared into mine. Shock held me in a chokehold, making it impossible to scream or utter a single word.
A splotch of deep, dark red slowly started spreading on the front over Harry's white shirt. His lips were slightly parted as he glanced down and touched it, bringing his fingers back to inspect the wet substance with amazement.
Cole had stabbed Harry.
I could see him lurking behind Harry, my mind still not keeping up with what was happening. Not wanting to take in what happened in front of my eyes.
"Ella," Harry choked out and took a staggering step toward me, holding his blood covered hand out.
I snapped my eyes back to his and gasped when I noticed that blood had started trickling out of the corner of his mouth, down his chin.
When Harry fell, time seemed to slow down. I heard him hit the floor with a dull thud and stared at his lifeless body for a couple of seconds. His head lolled to the side and more blood poured out from his mouth, gathering in his hair.
A dark pool of crimson coloured liquid formed around his body and the sight of it finally made me snap out of the numb state. I started to panic as I realised I was still tied to the chair and had no way of getting down to him without bringing the chair with me.
All I could do was watch as life slowly left him; his skin getting whiter and whiter by the second, standing out in stark contrast to the red blood. His chest rising and falling hurriedly at first, but his heart not being able to work that hard for long.
Closing my eyes, I rested my head back and let out a deafening scream.