Demons

Chapter 43

"Lacey! Where the hell were you?! Do you have any idea what time it is?!" Lillian screamed when she opened the door and found Louis carrying me the same way he had taken me out of the party. Ava opted to wait in the car, probably because she was sleeping off the few drinks she had.

"And you smell like alcohol and... Lacey what did you take?!" She continued to yell anxiously at me and Louis as he awkwardly stood there with my face cuddled into his chest.

"Look, um - Lillian is it? - Well, yeah Lacey had a very rough night. She should just sleep everything off." I heard Louis defend me, and I knew he shouldn't have.

"And who the hell are you?!" Lillian asked. Yup, I called it.

"I'm Ava's boyfriend. Don't worry, I didn't drink and was able to take care of Ava." He explained before Lillian could accuse him of anything.

"And why are you bringing my niece home at 3 am?" She hissed. It was 3 am? I didn't think we were at the party that long. Apparently we were. Of course, I had lost all concept of time so I wouldn't have known anyways.

"She had some problems with this guy and we couldn't find her for a while." Louis spoke vaguely, and I tried to bury my face deeper in him, but it wasn't possible.

"Did he - hurt her?" Lillian softened, indicating rape.

"No! No, we got there just in time. One of her friends actually stopped it before anything could happen. But the guy really messed her up and put something in her drink. Which was Sprite, it wasn't alcohol." Louis covered me by telling her the truth, not leaving any room for me to be the rebellious partying teenager.

"Oh my god. But she wasn't even supposed to be going out tonight. And she never said anything about going out for a party. Then, she comes home with a random guy holding her at 3 in the morning. Can you tell my disbelief?" Lillian said, and my heart sank. I thought she would believe him. He was telling the truth.

"I'm not some random guy, though. I'm Louis, Ava's boyfriend." Louis stated proudly, and Lillian scoffed, cracking a smile.

I finally peeled my eyes fully open instead of spying on her, and her eyes met mine. I felt so guilty when I looked up at her. She looked sleep-deprived, as if she had stayed awake waiting for me to come home. And when I finally did, I was in horrible shape, sickly and scarred.

"Yeah, okay. Just lay her down on the couch. Thank you." I groaned when I heard Lillian say this, feeling Louis walk me to the couch in the living room. I didn't want to let go of Louis; he felt so warm and
strong, like Zayn. He was the closest thing I had to Zayn right now. There was a ringing in my head and I heard moans and screams. I must still be hallucinating.

No, Lacey, these are flashbacks. And it clicked.

I could hear a man groaning out Sandra's name, while I felt sick and confused. I heard beer bottles clanking, as she brought home her "drinking buddies," using them to have drunk sex. And then, I immediately flinched and flailed my arms around while I was still in Louis' grasp, remembering trying to run away from her as she kicked and punched me.

"Lacey? Lacey?! It's okay! You're safe now. Niall won't hurt you." Louis tried to comfort me, but when I saw Lillian's sympathetic face, I knew that she understood what I was shaking about. And it wasn't Niall. At least, not anymore.

"Louis, I got this. Thank you again and sorry for my rudeness. I'm just tired." Lillian chuckled, and Louis smiled, shaking his head after he laid me gently on the sofa.

"That's fine. I get it; you were probably just tired and worried. Well, it was nice to finally meet you." Louis spoke cheerfully and was gone when I heard the front door open, then close. I pried my eyes open with my fingers to reveal a worried and distressed Lillian sitting on the single couch next to mine.