A Dance With Death

|| Chapter 25 - Friend ||

                   

I blink at Ava, not sure how to respond. I haven't spoken in a while. I step away from her. She tries to say something, but I raise my hand and turn away, not giving her a chance to speak. She's not making sense. She must be under some misunderstanding. It couldn't be him. It can never be him. Niall is dead.

She looks at me, waiting for me to say something. "Zayn, I'm not lying. I swear, I saw him. Even I couldn't believe it when I first saw him."

"No it wasn't him," I mutter inaudibly. I then glance back at her and say, "You must've seen someone else. Someone who looks like Niall maybe."

She shakes her head. "You have to believe me. I'm sure it was him because he talked to me. I had enough time to take a good look at him, to listen to his voice."

My mind is racing with thoughts now. I know that she's telling the truth but I find it hard to take in. "Tell me everything," I say. "Tell me what happened."

She seems relieved that I'm starting to accept her story. "Look, I-I was coming back from my ex's house," she speaks hastily. "I entered the apartment building and I was headed towards the elevator. I pushed the button but then someone called my name. There was nothing extraordinary about the voice but it brought chills to me. Then I turned around and I saw him -- Niall. It took me a while to figure out that it was indeed him. And when realisation struck me, I couldn't help but just stand there in horror," she says in one breath.

"I initially thought him to be a look-a-like. But he didn't seem like one. There he was. And he was so real. He was- he was smiling at me, with his hands behind his back. He was dressed in a white shirt and black jeans - just like from his last concert. He looked so . . . weird. I don't know, there was this strange feeling about him. I wanted to say something like 'you're dead' or- or do something like scream for someone or pinch myself to ensure that this was all real. But I couldn't move. His death stare kept me in my place. He took a step towards me and . . ." she stops.

"And what?" I ask impatiently.

"He said in a low voice that it was indeed him; that he was indeed Niall. His- his voice brought me shivers. It was so horrifying, so . . ." she visibly shivers. I can see tears in her eyes. Her voice starts to break down. "He- he came closer to me and- and he said that everything was going to be alright. And then he revealed a knife. I finally got the courage to scream but he . . ." She falls on her knees and buries her face in her hands. I can hear her sobbing.

Everything around me falls apart. Nothing is making sense to me now. I step away from her, shaking my head. I'm having trouble believing whatever she said. The way she described him, the terror in her eyes -- I cannot imagine what must have happened.

I clasp my mouth shut, so that I wouldn't let out a cry. My eyes are welling up with tears, but I hold them back. My body falls onto the bench behind me.

"Oh Niall," I whisper, closing my eyes. "What did he do to you?"

I was right all along. Niall was out there, he had always been out there. All the times when I saw him; those incidents are now starting to make sense. It was so stupid of me to not trust myself. He was indeed there. He was real. He wasn't just a figment of my imagination. He was the Niall I had lost.

And now he's turned into a killer.

Caius turned my best friend into a killer. Ava mustn't be the only one. I'm sure there must be more people that Caius might've killed with the help of Niall.

At this thought, I finally start crying. How much can Caius make my life worse? What did I do to him? Why do I deserve this? Why did Niall deserve this?