Hostage

6. "She's a human being"

  That morning when I woke up Clyde wasn't there, and I was no longer in a wooden chair but instead I was laying down on a soft bed and a sheet was draped over my bruised body.

What the heck?

I went to remove the sheet from my body, and that's when I realized that my hands were no longer restrained, and I stared at them in disbelief. What on earth was going on?

"Clyde?" I called into the empty space. The fluorescent light shined brightly above me, and from here I could see that there was no sign of Clyde. What happened to him? Was he hurt? Did Harry take him?

But one question stood out most of them all: Why did I care? It wasn't like Clyde was anything special to me. So why should I care if Harry took him upstairs to torture (or kill) him.

However, I couldn't help but sympathize for him. We were both in the same situation, sort of under the same condition. It was nice to have his (slightly inappropriate) company around while it lasted, but I guess now I was back to being on my own.

Just as I was about to make my way to the restroom the door upstairs opened and a blonde head poked its way through. Niall grinned crookedly, muttering incoherence under his breath to somebody behind him before the door opened fully and he walked down the steps with Louis trailing behind him.

"Good morning" He greeted, motioning for Louis to set the tray on the table in the corner before turning back to me. "Why aren't you roped up?" Louis spit out, venom laced in his tone as he gazed around the room in search for 'my chair'.

"Chill out, man" Niall halted Louis from advancing towards me with a hand to his chest. "I had a bed and a TV brought down here and freed her. She's being held in our basement against her will, the least we can do is make sure she's comfortable" Niall muttered defensively.

"Did Harry approve of this?"

I couldn't help but notice the natural distaste in Louis' voice when he addressed me. If anyone should be bitter about the situation it should be me. I was the one being locked in a basement because of my fathers actions.

"It's fine, Louis. Shut up, will ya?"

Niall rolled his eyes at his friend before grabbing the silver tray from the table and walking towards me, a smile gracing his features. "Brought you some food. You haven't eaten anything in three days -I'm sure you're hungry" The tray was placed on the bed next to my frame. I still hadn't moved yet; I must have been so shocked that they actually cut me free. They were basically giving me a huge advantage to escape.

I'd been down here for so long that I began picking up on things. Things like: There was always a door that was slammed about two hours after Niall came down to try and feed me -which was around 6. I'd asked Niall for the time once, and that was all I needed.

I also knew that Liam and Niall took turns coming down to feed me -and occasionally they'd bring Louis. Liam in the mornings, Niall in the afternoon. Even though I refused to eat any of it they still tried, and they usually kept me company for an hour or two.

"Still not eating, eh?" Louis observed from the other end of the room. "How has she not passed out from physical exertion?" Louis asked in disbelief. "I mean -she gets a beating everyday and she isn't eating? That's not good, Niall! Why haven't you told Harry?"

"Why do I need to tell Harry everything? Do you really think he cares whether she's eating or not? He'd probably yell at me for feeding her for fucks sake! She's a human being, Lou" Niall exclaimed.

I eyed the food to my left as the boys voices gradually got louder. It was the usual: A turkey sandwich with cheese, mustard, lettuce, and mayo. Although I didn't like mustard itself, I did like it on sandwiches, and this one looked so good, so tasty. I wanted so badly to just move my hand a few inches to the left. To shove it in my mouth and rid of the hollow feeling in my stomach...But I couldn't. I was making a statement, and I refused to give in.

"Harry doesn't give a fuck about her, Louis. I'm trying to fucking help her so she doesn't fucking die!" Niall bursted. I've never seen him so angry; His face was red from irritation, nostrils flaring, and chest heaving. I wouldn't be surprised if he punched Louis in the face right about now.

"Everything that goes on down here needs to be reported back to Harry" Louis growled. His posture was a lot calmer than Niall's, but I could tell he was just as agitated.

"Why? What's the point of me telling Harry? He had a fucking camera set up down here!" Niall pointed towards the corner of the room, where a tiny sphere shaped object was implanted in the ceiling.

My lips parted in shock. I need to start being careful of what I say to Clyde. They're literally always watching.

"Whatever" Louis spit out. "Do whatever you fucking want, Niall"

Just as he began stomping up the stairs Niall yelled out, "Don't walk away from me!" And began running after Louis. The slam of the door signaled that I was alone once again.

But was I really?

I glanced at the camera in the corner.

~*~

Harry

"What are you two idiots fighting about now?" I rubbed my temples in frustration when Niall and Louis came tumbling through the living room. Louis holding his hands over his ears and screaming "BLAH BLAH BLAH" at the to of his lungs with his eyes crossed while Niall tried to pry his hands away while simultaneously trying to shout over him.

"Hey Harry" Zayn rounded the corner, a cigarette dangling from his lips. "Check downstairs. You'll find out what they're arguing about" Zayn's features were twisted in curiosity, like he was curious as to how I'd react.

Downstairs? Where the girl is? Oh fuck!

I shot up from my seat and sprinted to the door at the end of the hall, punching in the code and unlocking it with the key before pushing the door open and racing down the steps.

Raleigh sat on a bed, staring wide eyed at me with a remote in her hands. My eyebrows joined in confusion, staring at the bed beneath her, then the remote in her hands, the uneaten sandwich on the table in front of her, and lastly, the flat screen TV mounted on the wall.
 

 ~*~  

Raleigh

"What the fuck is this?" Harry exploded, eyes surveying all the extra things Niall had given me. I could tell Harry was contradicted with himself.

On one hand: I was kidnapped and being held hostage. I wasn't supposed to be treated luxuriously; I wasn't supposed to enjoy my time down here. I was supposed to be suffering.

But then on the other hand: I was free and I wasn't going anywhere. I had stayed put; hadn't made a noise, hadn't caused a fussed about anything and most importantly -I hadn't tried to escape.

I could see the internal battle Harry was having, his eyes darting from my face to the things, then to my wrists and back to my face. "Who gave you these things?" I opened my mouth to answer, but he beat me to it. "Niall" he rolled his eyes in annoyance, shaking his head in disappointment.

"I don't know whether to beat the fucking shit out of Niall or you" He admitted, angry eyes settling on my paralyzed frame. "I suppose I don't have a real reason to punish you" He sighed deeply before moving towards me, smirking when I flinched away from the contact of his hand grasping my chin roughly.

"Listen to me" He gritted out. "If I find out that you've tried escaping I won't hesitate to bend you over my lap, understand?" His icy eyes held mine captive, making sure I caught on to every syllable of every word that came from his pink lips.

"If you even think about escaping there will be consequences, got it?" He mumbled a bit softer. I was surprised Harry was able to portray nay kind of gentleness at all.

My eyes darted down to his lips when his tongue made an appearance to moist them, and judging by the smirk he wore he noticed.

"Actually" He spoke. "Maybe I should come up with a new punishment. I feel like you'd like to be bent over my lap. Hmm?" I shook my head feebly when his grip withdrew.

"No" I mumbled, my voice coming out much weaker then I intended. "I won't try to escape.....I promise"

~*~

Obviously I was lying to Harry when I told him I wouldn't try and escape. Are you fucking kidding me?

This could be my one chance. And if they thought I was going to let it pass they were wrong. I understood that by me doing this there was a chance that I'd be unsuccessful and I'd be dragged back down here and bent over Harry's lap, but I had a feeling that wouldn't be my only punishment.

But I couldn't just sit down here knowing that I could have tried to escape; I have to try.

I was going to escape, and I wasn't going to let anyone stop me.