The Secret

Chapter 6: Twenty Steps Up

Georgia held me as I wept. A waterfall of emotions had been building up, and the flood gates had opened. I felt paralyzed. Zayn's once snow-white shirt, was now crimson red. He laid there on the couch, his arm resting on his forehead, relaxing like nothing had happened. The crackling of the fireplace was the only sound filling the room. Niall stared at Louis's body, his face mangled from the beating he just took, he was lifeless. Zayn took a long deep breath and held it in, finally exhaling, letting all his problems go. He sat up and faced me. Swiping blood from a laceration that formed next to his right eye, going down, reaching almost to his nose, "I'll tell you this, you're not the damsel in distress that Liam always said you were."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I scolded.

"It means that you can put up a hell of a fight. Hopefully this doesn't get infected, I quiet like having both eyes." He kept dabbing at his cut with the napkins that were brought in with the food. "Liam always said you were never able to protect yourself, why do you think you never went with us on any events we did?"

"You're lying." I was enraged. Who was he to say how Liam felt and treated me. He treated me like a queen, like I was the only one in the world.

"Am I?" he grinned.

"Liam would never do anything like that, he loved me."

"Oh, did he? I forgot you were with us everywhere we went. Saw all the girls who threw themselves at us. Especially Liam. You really think he was going to settle down for you princess? According to him, you were just another trophy on the shelf."

"Fuck you."

"Now or later?" he winked.

I began to open my mouth, to say every vulgar thing that came to my mind, When the doors opened. The butler walked in, sighing, making sure we could all hear it. "I told you I hated cleaning blood." He shrugged, "No matter, I see that you all have made your decision of the night. Please if you could follow me, I will guide you to the stairs where your rooms wait for you at the top. Please be aware that there are only three rooms, so four of you will have to share, while one gets their own room."

Niall kicked Harry who was still on the ground snoring. He jolted awake looking around. "Get up you stupid fuck." Niall's voice had gone from terrified, to just pissed.

Harry stood up wiping the drool from his mouth and looked around. Seeing Louis's body he screamed, "What the fuck! What the fuck, what the fuck!" Looking at each of us, he grabbed his head trying to make sense of what had happened. He began to pace back and forth. His entire body shaking, unknowing that it was one of his best friends who caused Louis's demise. Still pacing and crying,

Zayn stood up, slapping Harry across the face, leaving a red handprint across Harry's face, "Get yourself together. Man, the fuck up for 5 minutes of your life." Harry sniffled and wiped the tears off his face. Zayn faced the butler and questioned, "What about Louis, what happens with his body?"

"I'll take care of it." There was no remorse in his voice. Like this was just another day on the job. "Now please, follow me. The lady of the house has requested that currently, you all go to your rooms until the sun rises in the morning. That's when we shall have breakfast, and the main events will begin."

He turned around and began walking through the dimly lit hallways. How much time had passed since we been here? The hallways were dark, and the sound of crickets from outside somehow echoed through the hall. I saw the door we entered. I could easily make a break for it, but I had to remember what had happened the last time I tried. Zayn slowed down to my pace, leaning in and whispering, "Don't try it. We're in the middle of nowhere, and there's guards everywhere like he said. Let's just get to the rooms, get some sleep and figure this out tomorrow." He was confident that we were going to get out.