Message in a Bottle

Struggling For Air (13)

Chapter 13

*Ciara's POV*

I wake up with a terrible pounding headache. The dark's smothering my face, making it hard to see. I look around, realizing I'm still at Louis and Harry's house. An uncomfortable feeling creeps into my system, making me stop short in my motion.

My vision drifts to the door frame, I squint to try and see through the black. I hear the wooden floor creak, my stomach completely drops. "H-hello," I whisper, not hearing a response.

I turn over to Mason, who was still fast asleep. I feel my hands start to shake and my heart was beating a hundred miles per minute, what was going on? I return my attention back to the door, everything seemed to be back to normal. I'm probably just overreacting, with everything going on it was probably normal for me to be imagining things, right?

I shake of the uneasy feeling and carefully rest my head back on the feather pillow. I start counting to 100. When I was younger, my parents always used to fight with each other during the night and usually, counting to 100 helped me calm down and fall back asleep.

There was something about this moment though that made me unable to rest. I sit back up, staring into the darkness once again. I hear a loud bang come from my side of the bed, I spin my head to see what the source was. I'm able to see nothing but complete black. My body's tensing up and I begin to feel an unwelcomed presence, almost as if someone was staring right back at me.

"Harry?" I manage to ask. I start to hear heavy breathing next to the side of my face, my eyes shoot wide open and my heart drops. I slowly turn my head towards the noise, deathly afraid of who or what might be there.

I feel a large hand wrap around my neck, forcing me back onto the pillow. I struggle to regain my breath, looking for the person who was strangling me. "I was supposed to be your one and only," I hear Mike whisper harshly.

My hands were fidgeting with his against my neck, trying to loosen his grip. "You were," I reply, gasping for air. I'm able to see his features now, he looks the same as always, who knew that he could turn into somebody so heartless and cold?

"Why?" He demands, tightening the hold on my air way.

I choke, feeling my throat start to throb, "Harry!" I groan out.

Mike lets go of my neck and I see him wind his arm back, "don't you dare call out for him." He hisses as he hits me across the face, sending me into even more agony.

"Harry!" I yell louder, trying to ignore the discomfort in my throat.

"Fucking stop!" He warns, pulling a knife out of his pocket and forcing it up to my throat. My immediate thought was Mason, what would he do without a mother? I would never see him grow up, I would never be there for his entire life.

I feel a liquid drip down my neck and a smile appears across Mike's face, an extreme pain bursts from inside of me. I bring my fingers up to my neck and feel a deep gash that's oozing with blood, Mike had sliced my throat. I start to scream out Harry's name again, praying that he would hear me and come rescue Mason and I.

"Ciara!" Mike screams, his voice sounding lower than usual.

I feel my eyes flutter open and I stare up at Harry and Louis who wore concerned looks on their faces. I quickly bring my hands up to my neck, discovering that there was no cut on my throat, only sweat. I sigh with deep relief, the whole thing must have been a horrible dream.

"Are you okay?" Harry asks, looking me over with giant eyes.

"I had a bad dream, that's all." I reply, returning my gaze to my trembling hands.