Hostage

35. "I'm Not Crazy"

*Present Day*

"You're going to tell me I'm crazy"

"No I won't; I'm here to help you, Rae"

"Don't call me that!" I snapped, hysterically. Nobody can call me that anymore. Not after him.

"Look, I know you were practically forced into this session but I need you to understand that your guardians are only doing what's best for you. After all you've been through you need to talk to someone; It isn't healthy to keep these things bottled up."

"You wouldn't understand!" I cried. "You wouldn't because you weren't there!"

"Obviously I won't be able to fully comprehend the traumatic events you experienced...you're right about that, but that doesn't mean I can't try. Please, Raleigh, let me help you."

"Even if I do tell you, it won't bring him back! He's dead and he isn't coming back!" I sobbed.

"Who, Raleigh? Who do you want me to bring back?"

"Harry"

The counselor whose name I didn't even bother to remember fell silent. The name that had been in the news for months, who people didn't even know I had a connection to -until now.

Harry was dead. He was gone. All five of them were. They'd identified their bodies in a river. They'd been so happy because finally finally they'd caught all five criminals who they'd been chasing for years and years on end. News reported boasted about it. Police stations threw parties to celebrate.

I cried in my room for hours on end. It had been five months since I left him. Five months of not sleeping. Five months of paranoia. Every time somebody got too close to me I'd freak out, usually resulting in a panic attack or somebody getting a broken finger.

"Harry?" She asked slowly, beginning to piece together what I was saying. This is the first time I've muttered a word about what happened. No matter how many times the police officers would drill me about my absence, I would simply tell them I only knew faces. Not name. Then they showed me countless pictures of criminals, asking me if they were familiar. And for each and every picture I said no.

I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from bursting into tears when they showed me Harry's picture.

"Harry Styles" She repeated, dropping her pen and notepad. She set them on the table, crossing her legs and leaning back in her chair as she pushed the frames of her glasses up.

"They killed him" I whimpered, keeping my gaze locked on the window as tears built up behind my eyes."I loved him and they killed him"

My eyes trailed to her plaque, her name printed in bold letters across it. 'Haley'

"Raleigh. This information is extremely important, okay? You're doing so well by talking about it, honey, but I need you to be completely honest with me"

"Was Harry Styles the one who kidnapped you?" She asked quietly. My throat swelled up. My vision blurred. Yes, I screamed in my mind. He kidnapped me and forced me to fall in love with him.

"I love him" Was all I said, squeezing my eyes closed as more tears fell.

"Please tell me what happened, Rae" She quickly spoke. "Raleigh, sorry"

"He kidnapped me one night" I gave in, finally. "He took me to his house and I stayed in the basement. They wanted information about my father but I didn't have any. I never found out why they wanted him" I lied easily. I was keeping my family out of this. "But it changed after like a month and a half. He protected me from- from people worse then them."