Taken by One Direction

Chapter 20: Hate

I watched quietly as Liam entered the room. He went over and whispered something to Niall before turning to look at me. No emotion was displayed in his eyes as he came near me. I couldn't help but shrink away from him; he had been so angry at my outburst this afternoon and to be honest, I was scared.

"Katie." He addressed me sternly as he stood in front of me, looking down.

"We need to talk to you." I nodded and waited for him to continue.

"Come on." He motioned for me to follow him. I didn't move. I couldn't move. I was frozen in place.

"Katie." Liam warned, frustration crossing his features. Shit, he was getting even more pissed. I didn't know why I couldn't make my body move; was it because Harry was in the other room? I was able to be near him this afternoon...

"I-I can't." I muttered. He rolled his eyes and came closer to me.

"Oh yeah? Why the hell not?" He hissed, towering over me.

"H-HE's in th-there." I whispered. We both knew who HE was; I didn't need to specify.

Liam's eyes immediately softened and he looked away from me. He squeezed his eyes shut before fluttering them open and looked over to Niall.

"Go see how Haz is doing and send Lou and Zayn back, yeah?" Liam asked him. Niall nodded and headed out. Liam went over and sat on the bed, never taking his stern eyes off of me. I remained where I was, shaking, but trying to appear confident.

Louis and Zayn come in tentatively not moments later. I couldn't bear to look at them. I was embarrassed at my outburst, but more importantly, I was deathly afraid. They went over and leaned against the desk while I remained shaking where I was planted. It was silent for a moment before Liam spoke.

"What you did was unacceptable. You NEVER hit one of us, do you understand me?" He spoke to me quietly, although the anger and authority in his voice made me fear even more. I nodded, not looking up and leaving my eyes trained to the floor.

"Katie, look at me." He demanded, his voice rising slightly. I slowly glanced up at him with wide, afraid eyes.

"Do you understand?" I nod at him again.

"Ok, with that said, I am terribly sorry about what happened to you. I had no idea that he would... Well, none of us did. I just- I should have been there to protect you." Liam came over to me and crouched in front of me. His voice broke a little at the end and I could see the pain and sorrow in his eyes. He was asking for forgiveness. Feeling a quick rush of confidence, I decide to respond.

"But you weren't there, Liam. It doesn't matter if you wish you were, because you weren't. And it happened. It's too late." I whispered softly, but the harsh edge of despair was evident. In the corner of my eye, I saw both Zayn and Louis look down. Liam gulped as his eyes filled with slightly tears.

"I-I'm sorry." He whispered, now being the insecure and fearful one in the conversation.

"It doesn't cut it." I whispered back, sounding broken.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, we're giving you a free-bee. We won't punish you because of what HE did to you. Next time, though, we won't be so lenient." Liam tried to hide the hurt in his voice by trying to sound angry, but I could see through it.

"Ok, next time one of you dickheads rape me, I'll skip that attack stage and just go straight to the suicide stage." I snapped back. I was thankful that I wasn't going to be punished, but I didn't have time to be their appeasing bitch.

Liam quickly spun around and stormed back to where he had been sitting before and put his head in his hands. I smiled inwardly to myself; I had upset him. Normally, I would try to avoid doing that to other people, but this was different. Really different.

These boys had kidnapped me, abused me, raped me, starved me and now want me to just be ok with it. Hell no. They wouldn't be able to break me that easily.

"Look, what happened, happened. We can't change it, but we can help you move on." Zayn spoke as he bravely came over to me and tilted my chin up to look at him. I quickly jerked my head away, out of his grasp.

"Don't fucking touch me." I hissed at him. He pulled his hand back and looked at me with a shocked expression.

"Woah, where did that come from babe?" He asked gruffly. It almost seemed as though he was insulted that I wouldn't let him touch me, but I had let Liam touch me.

"Don't. Fucking. Touch. Me. I don't want you or Harry near me." I said with as much assertion as I could muster. I couldn't take it any longer.

"Zayn, what did you do?" Louis asked half angry at Zayn and half worried for me. He rushed over to my side. I saw Liam peer at us over the top of his hands, but made no other move.

"I didn't do anything to her! I don't know why she is freaking out on me!" Zayn put his hands in the air in surrender. Louis slid in between Zayn and I, making our faces really close in proximity. I could feel his hot breath as he looked down at me.

"Baby, what happened?" He whispered, clutching my jaw gently as he ignored Zayn's protests.

"He hit me." I said strongly, showing that I was not afraid.

"Twice." I added. I saw Louis's eyes harden. His grip on me got tense, but not tighter. He was being purposefully gentle.

"When?" I could see he was hoping for me to respond to a different time, maybe my first day here. Sorry, Lou.

"After I attacked Harry." I whispered. I was surprised that he could hear me, but then again he was rather close. For some reason, his presence was calming, not scary.

Louis quickly stepped away from me, shoving Zayn back as he did.

"What the fuck is wrong with you guys?!" He shouted as he pushed Zayn forcefully towards the door. Zayn took his cue and quickly left the room to join the other boys up front.

"They're fucking treating her like shit; an object!" Louis slammed his fist into the side of the door.

I wasn't going to lie; Louis's quick act of violence brought on a sudden round of fear. I never saw him act like that...

"Louis, calm down." Liam spoke softly, no concern for Louis's violence evident. I got some reassurance that Liam didn't rush to calm him down. At least Louis's anger wasn't like Niall's or Zayn's... If Liam hasn't stepped in by now, then it probably won't get any more physical.

"He fucking hit her after Harry... Harry... Oh god. What have we done?" Louis crashed to the floor. Liam got up and went over to Louis.

"I know, Louis. Believe me. I know..." Liam put his hand on Louis's shoulder. Both pairs of eyes were suddenly on me. I felt rather self-conscience, but I remained still.

"Love, it's going to be alright. We will protect you. We promise." Liam spoke slowly as he began to approach me, nudging Louis to follow.

"Somehow, I don't believe you. I've heard promises like that before." I don't mean to be so harsh, but at this point I was at my wit's end. I don't know how much more my sanity could take.

Louis's eyes filled quickly with tears, while Liam just tried to mask his emotions. They slowly helped me stand up, not one of them able to meet my hateful gaze.

"We have to do something. We can't keep putting her through this stuff. I mean, look at her... We've ruined a life." Louis was holding me upright, though he spoke as if I wasn't in the room.

"What can we do?" Liam hissed back. I shook their hands off of me and stepped away from them. Both looked over me and then back at each other; a similar expression that I couldn't place in their eyes.

"We have to let her go." Louis whispered sorrowfully.