Forbidden Desires {Ziall AU}

Chapter 36: karma rules

chapter title from Little Freak by Harry Styles

Hello lovely people!!
Welcome to the last chapter, my dear readers. I hope you enjoy this (and cry a lil). Although this is the last chapter, there will be an epilogue, but due to the length that I have no doubt it will be, I will be taking a week off in between to get it perfect for you all. So, next week there will be no chapter, but the week after the epilogue will be released. Then, this epic story will be over. I have some ideas for extra snippets that were not in the original story, so you might get a little extra content, but I'm not confirming anything!
Enjoy!

"There he is," someone chuckles, "the man of the hour."

I blink my eyes open, willing the world to focus around me. I tug on my arms, a futile attempt at escaping. They're bound by thick ropes, as well as my feet. My father sits across from me, a sinister smirk betraying his cold façade. "I didn't think taking Mr Styles would work," he stands from the chair, pacing back and forth. The men scattered in a circle around the room are taken by expressions of fear. If I were to guess, they never thought they would meet the man that everyone talks about. "Did I really raise you to be so stupid?"

I scoff, turning my head away, 'You didn't raise me at all."

His footsteps stop. The room plunges into silence. It's as if everyone is holding their breath, waiting for my father to deal a blow. Suddenly, my hair is wrenched back. He pulls my face to be level with his mere inches away from me. 'You're a disgrace," he spits, "You don't deserve to be my son."

A cold laugh bubbles its way up my throat, spilling out of my mouth over and over. I can see the men around the room glancing at each other, they must think I'm insane. My father's gaze becomes confused, "Do you think I want to be?"

His fist makes contact with my face, bringing with it a throbbing pain. The metallic taste of blood emerges in my mouth, spilling onto my lips. My head lolls to the side. I centre myself for a moment before opening my eyes. I smirk up at him, playful eyes burning into his rage. Maybe I can crack him. If one comment got to him, what else can I say?

"Do you want to know where your little friends are?" My fleeting hope dies inside me.

"Let them go," I grit.

"You see," he muses, wandering around the room. "I thought about killing them. It would have been so much easier. Yet, I couldn't pass up the opportunity when it presented itself." He stops, turning to me, "You know the one thing love more than death?"

I keep my mouth glued shut. The rope burns under my flexing hands.

He pulls his face close to mine, "Torture."

I let out a scream, a shuttering noise that I don't recognise in my ears. Thrashing in my chair, my father steps away. I make one last desperate attempt to break the rope. People break off from the circle and come to contain me, but my father puts up his hand. They stop in their tracks. "Don't you dare hurt them," I snap, glaring at him.

He smirks, "I wasn't talking about them."

My eyes turn to slits, studying him while he relishes in his perfect plan. Me? He's going to torture me? It can't be anything I haven't endured before.

He again places his face inches from mine, "How much are you willing to sacrifice for them?"

My mind starts reeling, a thousand different possibilities bumbling around in my head.

"Hmm," he hums, turning away from me to order the men around him, "bring them in." A door opens, and Louis, Harry, and Niall stumble through the frame. They're being led by a troop of men barricading around them. Niall spots me, his face softening. I smile at him as much as I can right now, which is almost certainly pathetic. The men push them onto the floor. "I'll give you a choice," I bring my attention back to my father while he walks up to them. "I'll let you go free, no strings attached," He faces me again, placing each hand on Harry and Niall's shoulders, "but they die." Their eyes widen while the silence stretches on. "Or," he removes his hands, walking towards me again. "I'll let you come back, give you a... pardon for what you've done, and they go free."

My heart drops. Niall screams out but is instantly silenced by someone's boot. His scream is morphed into a pained groan. He sounds like he's trying to say something, but the words are ineligible. I can't bring myself to form any words. I know what I have to do, but maybe I can hold out a little longer. I won't be able to see Niall. I'll have to suffer through this hellhole without him. I won't get to wake up with him every day. I'll have to live without him. I drop my head, tears welling in my eyes. My father's eyes are on me, trying to study me through my hair.

He clasps his hands together, "Well then, what will it be? Your life," he gestures a hand to me. "Or theirs?" he gestures to them.

My eyes meet Louis'. He looks petrified of everything happening around him. I don't blame him, if you didn't grow up like this, it must feel like you've stumbled into a James Bond movie. Harry's eyes are glued to my father's profile. His face is blown red, his breath coming deep. Niall's face is the one that breaks my heart. Tears roll down his face, dripping into the floor beneath his feet. He's gasping for breath, on the verge of a panic attack. His whole body is shaking. I want to take him in my arms and tell him everything will be okay, but I know it would all be a lie.

I lock eyes with my father, "theirs," Niall is shouting out to me, screaming that I can't. I can't leave him. I close my eyes, letting the tears finally fall.

He claps, "Oh, good, I was hoping you would say that," How sadistic can he be? He looks between us, "untie them."

No one moves. The men look at each other. One of them dares to pip up, "sir?"

My father surveys them, "I said, untie them."

"All of them?" Someone else asks.

"Yes," he answers. People flood in around me, avoiding my eyes as they loosen the restraints. I stand up as soon as I can, my hands curled into fists at my sides. "Let's give them a chance to say goodbye," he drawls, placing a hand on my shoulder, which I brush off.

Niall runs up to me, his eyes blazing. He pushes me back hard, "How would you!" he screams. He pushes me again, his palms flat against my chest, "Fucking asshole!"

He looks so furious with me; I can't imagine what he's going to be like when I'm gone. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, pulling his body into mine while he struggles. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

His body settles a little, "Liar," he sobs. He wraps his body around mine when the floodgates open. He squeezes so tight around my waist I'm not sure I can breathe properly. "You said you wouldn't leave me," he cries, his knees giving away under him.

I lower us to the ground and he settles between my legs. I'm speechless. How do I respond to that? I settle for murmuring reassurances in his ear while he cries. Tears of my own are spilling down my cheeks. Harry and Louis are huddled off to the side, sad smiles on their faces. "I love you," I whisper, though it feels like goodbye. I'm brought back to Harry and Louis being ripped away, the way they held each other so tight. It feels eerily similar.

"No," he murmurs, "No, no, no..." I stand him up with me, stabilizing him under his shoulders. He pulls away from me, tracing his eyes over my face, like he'll have to categorize it to memory.

I meet Harry's eyes, "take care of him for me," Harry nods back.

Niall cries out, grasping onto any part of me he can reach. I cast a pleading look at Harry. He walks over, gently grabbing Niall's waist. But, once Niall feels the contact, he's quick to shift away, letting out a whine. Harry gives me a look before wrapping arms tight around Niall's waist. Niall tries to pull me with him, but I unwrap him from my body, ignoring his cries. He grips at Harry's arms, trying to claw himself away.

Harry says something to him, a desperate plea for him to calm down. Niall loses his fight, casting one last look over me and turning into Harry's chest.

Louis comes up to me, pulling me into a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you, man," he whispers.

I smile, pulling back, "I'll miss you too," I still haven't stopped crying, I don't think I can.

They make their way towards the door, Niall still clinging to Harry. When they step through that doorway, I feel a piece of my heart leaving with them.