Prince Charming

The Voice

♡Niall's POV♡

As we pulled up, we heard loud footsteps of running and crashing noises coming from inside the house.

"What the hell is that noise?" Louis asked, pressing his ear to the door. We listened for a little longer, before I heard a door slam, and I could tell just from how they slammed it that it was Anriette.

"Anriette," I gasped, quickly shoving the key in the lock and pushing the door open with my shoulder. "Anri!" I yelled, but there was no reply. "Help me find her!" I yelled to the boys, running around the house. I opened every door and looked in every corner, every closet, everywhere. Louis and I finished checking downstairs and I ran upstairs to look for her.

"Anriette!" we called, running out of options of where she could be. As we stopped to catch our breath, we heard her voice. She faintly called, "Niall... Louis.." Slurring her words so it sounded like she said, "Nouis."

"The bathroom! She's in the bathroom," I yelled, sprinting down the hall to where my room was. I forced the door open, and saw her laying face down on the carpet, sobbing. I gasped at the sight. She was surrounded by knocked over bookshelves, night stands, and broken glass, and she had cuts all over her from the shards.

"Help me get her up," I called to Louis, and we carefully dragged her away from the glass and broken objects on the floor. She was shaking, and weakly latched her arms around my neck.

"Where were you?!" Anri screamed, hugging tighter, as if she wanted to believe we were still here.

"We were only at a photoshoot, sis. What's going on?" 

"Photoshoot!"she screamed, shaking and beginning to bawl. I rocked her back and forth, trying to calm her as we sat on the floor.

"I think it's time we talked about that nightmare you had... that's what this is about, right?" I whispered, stroking her hair. She nodded and sat there with us for a few minutes, until she finally calmed down enough to speak.

"You're having nightmares again, love?" Louis asked. She nodded. "What happened in it?"

Anri took a deep breath before she began telling us. "Well... I came home from dance, and I called for you guys, and you didn't answer. I thought you were probably at a... at a photoshoot, so I didn't think anything of it. I put my bag back down and walked down the little hallway to the stairs, except the little hallway went on forever. And at the end of it, there wasn't stairs like there is here, but there was a little black door. So I stepped in..."

She stopped to catch her breath. Louis and I each took one of her hands, and squeezed tightly, and she continued.

"It was completely black, and there was a single light shining on the table. On the table sat a little pink envelope with my name on it, and a single rose. I read it, and... and it said... 'You can only have one. Choose wisely.' I looked around for a sign, but the room was black and empty. Until I heard a voice echo, 'Welcome home, Anriette."

"This doesn't sound good," I whispered. She shook her head in agreement, and I squeezed her tighter. "Go on."

She sighed, then began again. "The room was all dark, and then a chair slid out from behind me and knocked me into it. When I was sitting, I couldn't move. It was like it had invisible chains or something, and my head was constantly being pointed at the ceiling. And then, he turned the lights on."

I asked her, "who turned the lights on?"

"He did," she replied, then continued going like she didn't just call a fictional voice a 'he.'

"And then, when I looked," she started crying again, and I pulled her in and hugged her tight, rocking her back and forth until she calmed down.

"Sshh, baby, it was only a nightmare. I'm here, you're okay, Anri. You're okay," I cooed. When she stopped crying, Lou looked to her and brushed a strand of hair out of her face.