Hostage

25. "I'm sorry Shrimp"

"Just make sure she's safe" Harry mumbled quietly to Lexi, thinking I was still asleep. It was early in the morning. The sun hadn't come up yet and usually I wouldn't be awake at this time, but the minute Harry left the bed I was wide awake and alert.

Harry was pulling a white shirt over his head as he whispered the words to who I assume was Lexi. She must have nodded in reply because not a single word was exchanged, but the door closed softly.

"I know you're awake" Harry huffed as he swiped some deodorant under his arms before tossing it onto the dresser.

"S'your fault" I grumbled back, opening my eyes to watch as he struggled to fit his giant foot in his ugly brown boots.

"Sorry" Was the unexpected response I got from him. I stared at him in the door in bewilderment. Who would have thought that Harry Styles even knew the definition of an apology.

"The boys and I are gonna run into town to take care of a few things. We're taking Gemma so you'll be here alone with Lexi" He sighed in relief when he got his shoes on, standing up and peering down at me. "Is that okay with you?"

"I'd much rather come with you" I said embarrassingly, reaching out in search of his large palm.

"You'll be safer here by yourself" His hand caught a hold of my own, soft pink lips kissing my knuckles as he spoke the words against my palm. My heart fluttered, beating out of my chest in a attempt to get closer to Harry.

"Please don't leave me" I whispered the empty words.

"You'll be fine, Raleigh" I was starting to hate it when he called me by my full name.

~*~

"Where's the ice cream?" I asked Lexi as I dug around in the freezer.

She popped out from around the corner with a spoon dangling from her mouth. "In my belly" She giggled, dropping her bowl into the sink.

"Is there any more?"

"In the basement. But I'm too scared to go down there. I'm pretty sure it's haunted"

"Then how did it get down there to begin with?"

"I made my boyfriend do it" She stated it as if it were obvious, rolling her eyes and licking the excess treat off her spoon.

"And you're gonna make me go get it aren't you?" I asked with a huff.

"Well I'm not doing it and my boyfriend's in California at the moment, so...."

I groaned, not liking the idea of having to walk down the stairs and then back up. But then I thought of the ice cream and how delicious it would be. "Fine" I said with a sigh, kicking the fridge shut and heading towards the stairs.

I flicked the light on, holding onto the banister that was barely screwed into the wall. The stairs creaked beneath my weight as I descended, and just as I landed on the final platform a sudden paranoia washed over me like a tidal wave.

I opened the door with a creak, and slowly stepped in, feeling around for a light switch. As soon as the fluorescent light kicked on I was silenced, mouth agape as I stared at the figure in front of me.

He was tied to a chair, arms tied behind his back, legs tied to the legs of the chair in front of him. For a moment I wondered if this was what I looked like when I was tied up in Harry's basement. Only, I didn't have a bag over my head, and I wasn't just sitting around in a pool of my own blood like this man was.

He sensed my presence and, probably thinking I was out to hurt him, the man cowered in fear. I could tell he was gagged beneath the bag by the way his cries and pleas were muffled.

Go back upstairs Raleigh.

I wanted to find out why Lexi had someone tied up in her basement. Oh god what if she isn't who she says she is. What if she's a murderer. Before my mind could process the scene my legs were propelling me forwards until I was stood right in front of the stranger.

Hands that didn't feel like my own reached out and pulled the bag off of the stranger's head.

My hand covered my mouth to muffle the strangled sob threatening to escape as my eyes absorbed the terrible condition of my brother. "Spencer" I whispered shakily, tears streaming down my cheeks as I ran my hand through his dirty hair.

Bruises dotted along his face, a big one in particular circled his jaw. His face was a mix of blue and yell from his bruises and brown from the excessive amount of dirt covering his face.

I didn't hesitate to grab the knife laying against the table in the far corner and cut him free. First working on his gag, moving to his wrists behind his back, and then freeing his legs. He untangled himself just as the sound of tires screeching on the gravel was heard from above us.

"Oh god. They're home. They did this to you didn't they? It was Harry! You have to run Spencer! You need to get out of here- GO!" I pushed him out of my way, ready to dart up the stairs and stall, but just as I turned around Spencer, quick as lightening, snatched the knife from my hands and placed the gag that had previously been in his mouth in mine.

I screamed, thrashing against the arms of my own blood, my own brother but he held the knife to my throat to silence me. He muttered a pathetic "I'm sorry, Shrimp" when the sounds of rushing footsteps came from the staircase I used to get down here.

I couldn't fight back against him even if I was in my right mind. I was too shocked, too confused, too hurt at the thought of my own brother threatening my life.

I sobbed like a baby when Harry and Zayn, followed by the rest of the boys came bursting through the door. All of them but one stopped, staring at my brother and I with wide eyes.

Zayn was the only one who's eyes darkened, and just as Spencer shouted "Stay back or I'll-" Zayn had delivered a heavy punch to his jaw, and he grabbed me before I could fall, tossing me to Harry who caught me easily.

I pushed myself from his arms, smacking his hands away harshly when he went to grab at me again. "Don't touch me" I growled low under my breath, choking on my sobs as I looked at the frown that weighted his features.

I pushed my way through the rest of the boys, not glancing up once as I headed to the room Harry and I shared.

~*~

Harry tried to warn me so many times. He mentioned something about skeletons in Spencer's closet but I never even thought for a minute his secret would be this bad.

My own brother tried to kill me. Spencer tried to kill me. My mom was dead. My dead was a part of some horrible gang. And my brother tried to kill me.

Dark, dark thoughts clouded my mind and blocked my rationality. I didn't want to be here anymore, I wanted to go somewhere so I wouldn't have to feel this awful pain anymore.

And that was when a sickening thought crept into my mind; I could die. I could die right now and nobody would even care. My family's gone. Everyone I've ever loved is either dead or insane.

Why should I have to stay here and suffer when I could just go away with my mom?

"Fuck everyone" I growled as I clutched my hair tightly, my frame trembling from either my sobs or rage. And suddenly all the suicidal thoughts disappeared and new ones floated up.

"I should just kill him" I muttered to myself. "I could kill him for trying to kill me" I stood up to my feet and went to reach for the door handle, but it swung open and I jumped back in surprise, clutching at my chest.

Harry was fuming, I could tell, but he hid it as his eyes cast a careful glance along my body, focusing on my face as if he were trying to gauge my mood at the moment.

"I want to kill him" I muttered through the tense silence.

Harry nodded once, his soft eyes on me. "Me too"

"He tried to kill me" I said with less conviction, finally letting my stance hunch over. The short confidence I'd felt a moment earlier gone with a heartbeat. Harry didn't say anything in response, but he did frown.

He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

"He's my brother" I finally let the tears go, uncurling my fists by my side and allowing myself to sob. Harry pulled me into his arms easily, wrapping one hand around my back and tangled the other in my hair. His lips pressed to my forehead in a muted kiss.

"I thought he was looking for me" I cried, clutching Harry's back like my life depended on it. I felt so weak. Drained. I was tired, exhausted from being betrayed.

I hadn't realized it, but some time during my crying fit Harry had moved us to the bed. I was between his legs, facing the wall opposite of us in the comfort of his arms. "I'll never trust him again" I whispered, wiping a final tear before tentatively placing my hand in Harry's. His hand enveloped mine completely, his lips moving against my skin as he spoke.

"Sometimes...." He placed a kiss on my neck before turning my chin so I could face him. "The person you'd take a bullet for ends up being the one behind the gun"

~*~

"When I was about 10 I think...my dad passed and my mum was forced to take care of me and Gem by herself. She wasn't too happy about that. She didn't care for me or Gem but still to this day I love her with all my heart"

His hands subconsciously trailed the length of my back, running over my butt before his lips lifted into a smirk and his eyes met mine. "Your mom didn't care for you guys?" I asked in disbelief.

"She loved my dad more than life itself. She didn't want kids but he did, so she had some so he wouldn't leave her" He stated casually. We were laying side by side in our room, facing each other while laying on our sides.

"When I was sixteen I found out my mum was using. She's leave needles and bags of all kids of drugs just laying around the house. She was blowing all of her money on drugs. Instead of paying the bills she'd go to her dealer. That's when I began looking for jobs. I had to work three jobs to take care of Gem and I. I rarely ever went to school because I was either working or too exhausted to do anything"

"So on Gem's birthday I told her I'd take her out to some pub with her friends. I leave her to go to the bathroom, come back, and already some asshole is hitting on Gem. He's all up in her space and he's very touchy-feely, but I kept myself at bay. Gemma's pretty good at handling those types of situations so I let it be"

I brought my hand out to trace his jaw when it tensed, sensing this story was about to take a turn. "Bad idea" I whispered.

"I heard Gemma scream and when I turned around his hand was under her dress and he was forcing her into him. I lost it then. Grabbed him by the back of his shirt, threw him on the ground, climbed on top of him and beat him to a fucking pulp. All I could think about was his hands on her and I was so angry. Angry at him. Angry at my mum. Just...angry. It was all pent up and I was finally getting a release and it felt...it felt good."

"When I was done I stood up and went to confront Gem but she was crying and she looked at me like..." His eyes flickered down to his knuckles, most likely what Gemma had done. "Like I was a monster. I was just protecting her but I...I scared the shit out of her. She left with her friends and that's when this burly man approached me. I could tell as soon as he came up that he was trouble, but he sparked my curiosity when he mentioned that he was on a gang"

"You have to understand my situation, Rae. I was so young. I knew I had nothing going for me. The only person who ever loved me was dead. My sister couldn't even look at me. My mum was a drug addict. I was a lost cause. He promised me money. Lots of it. He promised me girls and well...I was 16" He grinned.

"So I joined him. And from then on Gemma stopped talking to me because she was terrified of what I'd become. Over time I became more powerful and stronger and I moved up in the ranks until I was the second-hand man. A few years went by and the leader died, so I took over."

My eyes clouded with sympathy. "That sounds a lot worse then my childhood" I whispered. My parents were rich. I had everything I could ever ask for. My parents never had trouble paying bills. And I had a part-time job that I ended up quitting because I felt stressed. My life was nothing compared to what Harry had to go through. "You've got to be the strongest person I know"

I could see Harry's cheeks tint in embarrassment, but he diverted the subject quickly. "Do you want to know how the boys joined?" I eagerly nodded.

"I was tracking down these two guys that were allegedly members of our rival gang. However, by the time I found them, they were already dead, and Zayn was leaning against the wall with a cigarette dangling between his lips and a gun in his left hand. He asked me if these men were with me. I said no and that I had come to kill them. He cracked a joke that I don't remember and I took him in about a month later. He introduced me to Liam about a month later."

"Louis' grandfather and father had all been in the gang business so naturally, Louis was in there as well. Just sorta in the family blood ya know? So when I found out who he was I took him in and made him my second in command."

"Niall's is the best" He let out a loud laugh. "I'd ordered pizza for the boys, yeah?And Niall was the delivery boy. Well, when he rang the doorbell and nobody answered, he took it upon himself to walk around to the back. We were interrogating this guy in the shed so when Niall heard voices he opened it. We were in the middle of cutting this guys' fingers off when Niall stumbled in with a grin and like ten boxes of pizza. After he saw all the blood and the nearly dead guy he fainted. We didn't want to kill so we told him either he joins our gang or we slaughter him. It took him while, but he's loyal. He still gets queasy with all the blood and torturing and stuff though"

And as Harry continued talking about his past and all the things that have happened, I couldn't but to smile when he did. Frown when he did. Sigh when he sighed. Hell, I was so focused on watching him that I didn't even know what the hell he was talking about.

And that's when I realized: I liked him more than I thought I would, and it was beginning to scare me.