The Girl On The Street (complete)

Chapter 22

Chapter 22- Almost Lifeless

Ziara's POV.

Derek pulled me from the warehouse as we heard running coming down the halls. I was in a daze from all the blood loss and the beatings. Derek pushed me out of one of the doors just as Harry and Louis turned into our hallway. I couldn't scream, I couldn't shout because Derek had tied a piece of cloth against my mouth.

"In the truck." He commanded, opening a door. I tried to get out of the daze and went into the truck. He drove onto streets as he handed me the phone.

"Tell them 'Close but not close enough... Can you catch her before she falls?' " He told me. I opened the text box and started to type in the message. Stupid man, this was the first time he made a mistake. We turned onto a dirt road and I saw the street name. typing it silently and fastly, I sent it to Harry, and deleted the text. He couldn't reply since this was a one-way number. We stopped by another warehouse and he roughly pushed me out of the back seat.

"Can't you be a little more gentle?" I groaned as he moved the bonds from my mouth to my hands. Derek cackled and shook his head. "Why do you want me?" He grabbed my arm roughly and opened up the door. How many warehouses did he have access to?

"Because, I just do." He snapped. I swear, he's on his man-period or something. One moment, he'll be sweet and next he's like the executioner from the underworld. I walked into the large room that was empty. It was an almost duplicate of the last one, but without the blood. He pushed me down into a chair that was leaning against the wall. I closed my eyes and waited for the next punch.

"You know what? You're worthless, Ziara. I don't see what I saw in you." He snarled. I ignored the taunts, not giving him the reaction he wanted. He slapped me as I felt his anger wash over me.

"Where is the feisty girl now? Where's the fiery girl?" He taunted. I rolled my eyes, not giving into the temptation.

"So, what should we do tonight?" He asked, getting out Grim. I didn't even flinch anymore when I saw the knife. I mean, it wasn't an empty threat, it was a very real threat, but it was a break from the numbness that filled my soul. I was broken, and not even the guys could fix me... I doubted that even Henry could fix me. I let him down, I let Harry down...

He grabbed me and threw me in the corner. I turned my face into the corner and put one of my arms across my chest. My hair covered my face and I waited for the cold pierce of the knife.

"Stop!" He commanded as I continued to move. Stopping, I moved some of the hair out of my face. Derek began cutting with grim, but now, even the knife couldn't hurt me. Harry would probably be disgusted with my appearance. I probably looked like I came from hell with my pale skin and lifeless eyes.

Derek pulled out another pair of clothing, making me change into a black skirt, a black halter top that formed like a turtleneck neck thingy at the top, he still had my shoes, but handed me a black crown that I had to set on top of my head. I went back into the position and he drew black wings around me again. Then he wrote words around me. I was never able to look at them, or the picture.

"Amazing" He said, breathless as though this was a million-dollar painting. I whimpered and he took the picture. I knew for sure that it was going to Harry. This is how he would see me, as a lifeless, gaunt girl.

"What's with the wings?" I asked quietly. He grabbed me roughly and pushed me into a chair that stood in the middle of the room.

"That's obvious, you used to be an angel, one that was pure and beautiful. Now you're just a demon from hell." He spat. I was never beautiful, I would have never been an angel. He was right, I'm a demon.. I am nothing left, just a lifeless body that tucked her real feelings away from the world. Still, my heart ached as he said the words.

Harry used to tell me I was beautiful, no matter what I looked like. He would always bring me up on my down days. He was the angel, while I was the one sinking on the inside. He was the one that deserved something better then me, someone that wouldn't bring him down.

I saw that the room was darkening, and my eyelids started to feel heavy. The feeling in my body started to get numb again, and my broken heart started to go slower. I didn't even register the moments were I lost the grasp on reality.

Niall's POV.

We were outside the second warehouse that we had searched. There was no sign at all in this one. I knew we were losing minutes, seconds as we looked for her. Knowing the psycho, he was probably bleeding her out.

"We can't give up on.. Not until we searched every single warehouse." Zayn stated as he came out. Harry had lost hope as he fell to the floor. Louis sat next to him, trying to calm him down.

"We have to keep looking, if not, she might die." I whispered softly.

"Way to brighten the mood Niall." Louis scoffed. I gave him a look before climbing back into the car. The other two boys got into the car with me.

"He's right, what if she is dying?" Liam whispered. Louis helped Harry up and they slowly came iinto the car. Harry leaned against me as Louis closed the door. He was lifeless, and the problem was that I didn't know how to fix it. I didn't know that it would affect him this bad.

The boy barely spoke and barely ate anymore. He still drank some water, but it was only because we kinda forced him too. There hadn't been a clue in a while and I was starting to worry. Then the familiar tone went off and Louis got the phone out.

"Close but not close enough... Can you catch her before she falls?" Louis read out loud. My blood turned frozen at his words, and Zayn roughly turned onto the road. We drove down the highway as his phone rang again.

"Chesire Road?" Louis question. "Anyone know where that is?"

"Yeah, but it's on the other side of town." Liam told us. "It's a dirk road that doesn't hold anything but an old... warehouse..."

"Then let's go!" I exclaimed. Zayn turned the car so that way we were going into the city. Harry stopped crying during our conversation, but still lay on my shoulder. We were in the middle of London when we got another text.

"She's almost gone, better be quick..." Louis read again. I grabbed the phone to see the picture. I couldn't believe that she looked so... So lifeless. It was like he was draining her. Which I bet he was from the looks of the scars. Harry grabbed the phone weakly and looked down at the picture.

"At least we know where they are." He whispered as he handed the phone to Liam. Louis patted his back and muttered 'that's the spirit'. I couldn't help but think of the words. 'Down and down we go Never felt so low Can't hear you callin' So maybe we're already gone' were the song lyrics. It was another Daughtry song called, Maybe We're Already Gone. It was a good song, shame that he had to use it.

We drove for another hour till we reached the dirt road. Then making our way down to the warehouse, I saw that another car was parked. So that was how he made his escape. We made our teams, with Harry and I in one group, and the others with each other. I had my phone and Harry had a flashlight just in case everything would be black. I motioned for the side door and we moved in.

There was a long hallway and we walked down it. There were doors on the sides and one door at the end. We opened them all, only to find empty storage rooms. Lastly, we opened the door and stepped into another main room. Walking down the aisles we came up to the big room where there was actaul light on. In the middle, on a chair, sat Ziara... and behind her was the psycho king, Derek.

"About time you all caught up with me." He laughed as he held Grim against Ziara's neck.