Tortured Love (One direction Fanfic)

Chapter 23

McKenna's POV

I slipped out of Niall's arms and pushed the blankets off me. I instantly regretted it when the blast of cold air hit my body. It was defiantly colder around here than it had normally been. It was borderline intolerable!

I tucked the blankets back around Niall and ran up the stairs. I caught sight of Zayn in the living room so I went in. "Good morning Zayn" I greeted "how are you?"

He stretched and yawned "Tired" I nodded in agreement.

"How's Niall doing?"

"Cold. Speaking of which, do you mind if I take the blankets off your bed for him?" I asked.

"Of course. It has been down right freezing around here lately" Zayn rubbed his arms.

"Yeah. I swear I was going to wake Niall last night with my teeth chattering!" We laughed.

"Has Claire gotten up yet?" I asked as our laughter subsided.

Zayn grimaced "Yeah. She's in the kitchen. I asked if she wanted some company but she said she wanted to be left alone" I nodded solemnly. I knew what she was going through and it wasn't easy. But I also knew being alone didn't help.

I got the blankets, went back downstairs as fast as I could, and put them on Niall. I was glad he was still asleep; he needed the rest. I went back upstairs and went into the kitchen. Claire noticeably tensed when I entered. I grabbed a pot, filling it with water, and put it on the stove. I heated the water and put it in two mugs along with some hot chocolate mix. At least they had a good variety when it comes to food around here.

I set a mug down in front of her and sat down. "How'd you sleep?" I asked softy. Her eyes and nose were still red and puffy indicating she had been crying all night.

"It's cold"

"Yeah it's not normally this cold" I replied.

"What happened to you guys?" She asked bluntly.

"What do you mean?"

"Liam said they tortured you guys. What did they do?" Claire demanded.

"I don't think you wanna hear the answer" I said.

"Yes. I do" she replied softly. I sighed and took a sip of hot chocolate, stalling. I didn't want to answer this question.

"They take us one by one and beat us. Sometime there's a lashing. It's different every time. They also do things like turn off all the lights and terrorize us in the dark or make this noise that makes our brain feel like it's turning to mush" I finally said.

"Has anyone died?" Her voice was very shaky.

"Charlie was strangled but Liam resuscitated her. Niall was shot and-" I swallowed hard before continuing "they made us believe he was dead" Tears dripped down her face and Claire wrapped her hands tighter around the mug.

"I'm sorry" I added. This wasn't an easy thing to hear or say.

"How do you deal with this? The suspense and terror of it all"

I considered it "You don't. You just get used to it" I hoped my honesty helped her but I doubted it. I probably just scared her further.

"Can we just talk about something else?" She asked quietly.

"Sure" I said, grateful.

"Charlotte and Harry..." She started.

"Together" The way they were acting indicated they were together again but I still needed to talk to Charlie about it. Claire cracked a small smile as she wiped her face.