Hostage

33. "The infamous Harry Styles"

  My head flew to the side, and I watched as my blood splattered against the wall, followed by my head slamming against it. The burly man grabbed me by my neck, holding me to the wall while I squirmed restlessly for air.

I clawed at his arms, his face, but he was tough and his arms only tightened around my throat, causing me to make horrid choking sounds. Raleigh's face flashed through my mind as I continued kicking my legs.

My throat was burning from lack of air supply, lungs screaming in protest. Well, looks like this is how I'm gonna die.

I gave one final attempt to break free before closing my eyes and letting my body fall limp. Black spots tinted my vision, my head throbbed. Death was so close.

Suddenly my vision cleared, and I gasped violently, turning to my side to spit up blood as I restored my oxygen supply. The man that had been strangling me was now laying face down on the floor, a bullet woven through the back of his head.

I looked up to find my savior, but my eyes darkened drastically once they landed on Clyde. Yeah, he was still apart of the gang. But that didn't change the fact that he beat and attempted to rape Raleigh.

Clyde looked at me steadily, giving me a small nod of his head before he stalked off. However, he didn't make it very far. He fell to the floor with a bullet straight in between his eyes. Blood immediately leaked from the area and I had to look away before I vomited.

I was still leaning against the wall trying to catch my breath, but I scurried over to hide behind a fallen bookshelf at the sound of footsteps approaching. It would be a minute or two before I would be able to engage in another physical fight.

I choked out a gasp when my feet were grabbed, and someone pulled me from my temporary hiding spot. "You fucking coward" The man chuckled, swinging his foot back before kicking it harshly against my side.

A sickening crack told me he'd broken at least one of my ribs, and I cried out in agony as I rolled over on my other side. "Some fucking pussy you are, Styles. Hiding while your men fight to the death" He grinned at me, a golden grill on full display.

Suddenly his smile vanished, replaced by a deathly glare as he grabbed my shirt and dragged me up the same wall I was being choked on. He placed one forearm against my throat, just letting the pressure be known and not actually joking me -which I was somewhat grateful for.

I couldn't fight back. My body was still trying to recover from nearly dying. My limbs were weak. My throat was raw and scratchy. My head was throbbing. I could barely keep my head up.

He pulled out a knife from his back pocket, and teasingly ran it against the skin at my cheek, just enough for me to feel it. Although he didn't draw blood. "Oh how good it would feel to just slice your throat right now" He chuckled again. Blazing dark brown eyes narrowed at me. "But the boss wants you for himself. Matter of fact-"

The man never got to finish his sentence, however, because Champion came running around the corner, showing his full set of teeth. I watched as he drew closer to the unknown man, his growls increasing as he realized this man was putting me in danger.

"Angriff"(Attack) I gave him the command in German, and not a second passed before Champion had pounced, tearing the skin off of the man's shoulder with one bite. The man screamed in pain, shaky fingers attempting to grab a hold of Champion and shrug him off. Champ got another good bite in at the man's neck, and I watched as blood gushed out of the area.

"weg" (German; away) I commanded him yet again, and the dog backed off immediately. I slid the knife from my back pocket, sticking it easily in the mans chest, killing him painlessly.

"Guter junge" (Good Boy) I said quietly, scratching behind his ears. This dog had been with me for the past eight years, and had saved my life more than once. But I knew being here was a danger for him. Cupcake was nowhere to be seen, and I had no idea whether the dog was still alive or not. I needed to at least keep Champ safe.

"Gehen" (Go) I said loudly. "Gehen Champ. Go!" The dog put his ear back, whining as he sat in place and stared at me. "Verbergen" (Hide) I whispered, and he was off. I watched as he ran out the back door and around the side of the house.

A painful cough forced its way through my lungs, and I watched in horror as blood stained the carpet now. "Fuck" I cursed, wiping the excess blood from the corner of my mouth. I wasn't going to be able to fight much longer. The pain was too much for my body. Raleigh was taking over my mind. I was worrying about her so much that it was beginning to distract me.

Simple directions, I gave her. Hook a left at the stop sign at the end of the gravel road. Drive until you see a pink mailbox. Those were so easy to follow, but I was so paranoid something would happen to her before she reached her destination.

"There he is" The all too familiar voice echoed around me. All I needed was a ten fucking second break. Was that too much to ask? Just a few moments to catch my bloody breath so I have some kind of a chance.

My mind floated to Raleigh. Please be safe. Please be safe. If I did all this fighting to survive only to find out she didn't, I'd kill myself. I'd have nothing left to fight for. Nowhere left to go. Nobody left to love. I'd be nothing.

"The infamous Harry Styles" His footsteps were alone, informing me that I had at least a sliver of a chance at surviving here.

Fight, Harry. Fight for Rae

"You know...last time I saw you we made a deal. Your sister for Raleigh" He finally came into my vision, and I kept my eyes locked on his as he approached me slowly. I wasn't able to push myself up, so I settled for leaning against the wall for support.

"And everything was fine. I called off my initial attack on you and your gang. But then a week later you go and fuck up, Harry. You steal her from me. After I gave you my word" His voice raised at the end, displaying his frustration.

"She's not your property you fucker" I spit out. I shouldn't have said anything because the minute the words left my mouth he'd pushed me up and pinned me against the wall, a knife held at my throat for the second time this evening.

"You're one brave bastard" He laughed loudly, digging the knife into my throat until I started to bleed. "She is mine, Harry. And I want her back so where is she?" He snarled, retracting his knife.

"She's dead just like her bloody father" I growled out, spitting blood into his face.

He chuckled humorlessly. "Dead? Nah I don't think so" He let me go, and I was unable to support myself, thus explains why my body fell heavily to the ground.

I cradled my side gently, careful not to apply any more pressure to the already broken ribs. "We found her father. Tied him up in my base-" Before I could even blink he was back in front of me, knife clutched tightly in his hand as he stared at me.

"You're lying"

"When we went back down there he had shot her. He looked me in the eyes and then shot himself"

"Liar" He roared, planting the knife right in my chest. I screamed out in agony, clutching his arm as he twisted his wrist and dug the knife deeper into my skin.

"Tell me the truth Styles" Venom laced his tone as he retracted his knife. I could feel my pulse throbbing in time with my head. Could feel my heartbeat getting slowly and slower until it was barely a gentle hum. My vision was speckled with black dots. The room began spinning.

"Dead" I managed to whisper out, leaning my head back against the wall as blood oozed through my shirt from the wound in my chest. The last thing I felt was his knife piercing through the skin at my stomach before my eyes rolled back and darkness welcomed me with open arms.

If this was what death felt like, I was pretty okay with it.