The Secret Lives of One Direction (A Paranormal Fanfic)

A Story of War

Chapter Four

We all gathered around Niall as he psyched himself up for his story. I was still a little shaken from the revelation that one of my best friends was dead, but I fought against my now dying feelings of panic and concentrated on my mate.

"It was a long time ago," Niall began, setting up what I guessed would be a long story. "Just as World War One was beginning..."

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Niall's P.O.V.

War against Germany was declared on the 4th of August, 1914. Immediately, me and my mates knew we wanted to sign up and help with the war efforts. I was 16 at the time, so, when I went to sign up, my obvious youth prevented me from fighting. My mates - though they were mostly 17, not 18 - looked old enough to be permitted, so they went off to war.

I see now that I was lucky to be denied the chance to fight. But, did I stop there?

No. Stupidly, I did not.

I decided that, on my 17th birthday, I would once more sign up to fight. That was in five months. In that time, I spent a lot of time with my girlfriend, Danielle (though I called her Dani). She never liked that I wanted to fight - she always begged me to reconsider.

"Don't go to war, Niall," she would plead. "I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you."

Did I mention that we were in love? Deeply in love. Not that childish, made up love that children believe they have: we were truly in love.

"Dani, you know I love you, too," I would argue, "but this is my dream. I want to get stuck in with the fight and serve my country, before it's too late."

The night before my 17th birthday, Danielle and I finally crossed that final line. We claimed each other as our own, and, after we had made love, I proposed to her. She tearfully agreed and promised to wait for me. We snuggled together for the rest of the night.

On my birthday, I was able to slip away from the attention lavished upon me by my family. I had elected not to tell my mother I was signing up - my father was already fighting in France - because she would not allow me to.

At the sign-up post, the army-men looked me up and down suspiciously.

"You don't look eighteen," one of the men commented, his arms folded before him, watching me disapprovingly. They weren't the same men as before.

"I am," I reassured them. "Turned eighteen last week, sir. Took a week to make my decision, but I finally resolved to go to war!"

The soldier standing still looked doubtful, but the one sitting in front of the sign-up sheet nodded.

"I believe him," he said.

"But, sir, I--" the other officer began to argue but was soon cut off.

"Name?"

It took me a moment to realise he was talking to me. I coughed and shook myself back into reality. "Niall Horan," I answered confidently.

"OK, Mr Horan, please follow Private Adams for your physical examination," the soldier ordered, pointing to his left but not looking up.

I followed the standing officer - who I assumed was Private Adams - and we made our way to a back room. I was ordered to strip down to my underwear, and then Adams walked around me, inspecting my body. I felt a little awkward, but I was relieved when he handed me a brown soldier's uniform and sent me through to another room full of expectant soldiers after getting dressed.

Within the hour, we were put on a truck and driven to the nearest training centre. We spent a week there, being trained hardly and quickly for the best part of the day. When we were done, we were taken to the coast and sailed over to France.

I shouldn't have been surprised when I was sent straight to the trenches. I spent a little more than a month there, in the dark, damp and dirt. I soon began to despise the rest of my platoon and curse my ridiculous decision to join in with the war. In fact, I was almost relieved when my commanding officer received the telegram telling us to prepare to go 'over the top'.

But, soon, realisation sunk in.

I wasn't stupid. I knew what 'over the top' meant. I also knew that, if you were unfortunate enough to venture into No Man's Land, you would be dead in seconds. But what could I do? If I argued, I'd be shot anyway!

So, a week later, after I wrote and sent goodbye letters to my mother and Danielle, my platoon and I went 'over the top'.

It was chaos. Bodies of my hated friends fell before my eyes from various bullet wounds from machine guns. I almost ran back but knew I'd be shot immediately. So, on pure instinct, I ducked, pretending I had been shot.

As bodies continually fell beside me - and sometimes on top of me - I began to crawl to what I guessed was a dead tree. I ignored all pleas for help, the mud that clung to me, and everything else. I ducked when bullets came too close and simply concentrated on my goal.

Eventually, I made it to the trunk of the tree. Carefully, I began to stand up, using the tree to shield myself. I lifted my leg and began to climb. My plan was working!

Until I felt a searing pain in my arm, causing me to lose my hold and fall painfully to the muddy ground below. I looked at my arm and saw a bullet wound with blood gushing from it. I tried not to panic and, instead, went to stand up. However, with my wound, I was clumsy.

Everything turned black.

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When I next opened my eyes, I looked around me. I was still in No Man's Land, underneath the dead tree. All around me were dead bodies. I noticed something moving, and soon began to stand.

I felt no pain from my bullet wound. When I walked, I felt like I was floating. In full eyesight of the guns, nobody tried to shoot me.

It took a few hours for me to realise that I was dead. When I understood, a tear rolled down my cheek as I taught myself how to use my powers in No Man's Land.

When I willed myself to be seen, bullets were fired. I quickly willed for invisibility. Firing ceased.

When I looked down, I realised I didn't actually touch the ground. When I tried to sit on a boulder, I hovered just above it. When I tried to walk through the boulder, I did.

When I jumped, I flew. So, I flew back to Britain to visit my Danielle. I found her holding my letter, crying. Comforting her was my year younger brother, Jonathan. I then decided not to show myself to Danielle; it would be too painful for her.

After the war was over, Jonathan, my BROTHER, proposed to Danielle. With a slight - only a slight - hesitation, she agreed, and they were married by Christmas.

I was so furious, I almost showed myself. But, I stopped myself. I let my fury melt into sadness, and I left Britain and spent time wandering ths globe.

It took me many years to discover my power for shooting ectoplasm and, helpfully, my power to visit the World of the Dead. There, I met my dead friends. I discovered I could live there but I decided against it. It was PAINFULLY boring. I only used that world to get changed - it was like a video game, where you dress up your character. I did that every day, as I decided that I would play as a young boy and make many friends over and over again.

I have lived many lifetimes: actor, normal boy, policeman, fireman. This is my first lifetime as a singer - and I am enjoying it.

A/N Sorry for the long chapter, I just didn't want Niall's story to be two chapters. Hope you enjoyed it! Will post the next chapter soon.

I would like to dedicate this chapter to my amazing friend @Lucyelliestyles for being so awesome and helping me out. If you haven't, check out her profile! Thanks, Brucey! :D

Please vote and comment any feedback. I could do with some of your opinions. Cheers!