Downfall [Punk Niall Horan]

37

"You can't be fucking serious," Niall said exasperatedly.

I had stopped moving completely minutes ago, letting my thoughts run rampant around in my skull. The blood in my veins had seemed to turn to ice, lodged in my arteries and veins until it left me completely frozen. A statue you could say.

I knew that Damon disliked me and wanted to hurt me from the way he reacted to seeing me. But I didn't know he would voice something like this so prominently. The consolation Niall gave me moments before just seemed to blow away into the wind, leaving me petrified of this man.

"It's my deal. Either hide her here where she's partially safe, or send her out into the city where it's surely a death sentence for her," Damon said equally, quirking a daring eyebrow. Niall's fists balled up and I knew just how much he wanted to break something.

Probably Damon's face at this point. But I couldn't blame all of this on Damon, either. Niall knew Damon's feelings towards my whole family before he even brought me here. So it was basically all of his fault, and he was probably mad at himself for bringing me here.

"Just let me leave, it'll be easier," I finally mustered, looking at Damon instead of Niall. I didn't have to look at him to know what his reaction would be. "Fuck no," Niall growled, taking a brisk step towards me.

My eyes cut across to him, stopping him in his tracks. He really needed to stop treating me like a child. "Don't speak to me like that," I warned lowly. Guilt settled into his eyes, and he dropped his outstretched hand. Because he knew that he wasn't going to get to drag me around that corner again and put me under his spell. He grimaced, pulling his bottom lip into his mouth before he stepped back to his original spot.

"She sure does have a leash on you, brother," Damon inquired, stretching his now free arms. A light look was on his face until it fell into one of hatred as he stared back at me. "Better hope she doesn't figure out the full truth and kill you all. Just like her father, a murderer."

I flinched like I had gotten psychically slapped when in all reality it was just a mental and emotional slap to the face. Suddenly I was reminded again of just how little I knew about everything. What else was everyone hiding from me?

Niall quite obviously bit his tongue to keep from throwing insults at Damon, because he clearly held respect and friendship towards this man; Niall didn't want to disrespect him in his own home no matter how much he didn't like what Damon was saying.

No matter how dangerous it was in here, it was even more dangerous out there for some reason that I was not told. So I knew what Niall's decision would be even before he sucked in a breath to state his choice. "What room?" Niall gritted, titling his head towards the floor.

"Girls go up the stairs to the left and it's the very last door at the end of the hall. Boys same for you except to the right," Damon instructed with a roll of his eyes. Everyone grabbed their bags and filed up the intricate stairs.

Everyone except Val, that is. Her black orb eyes floated ghostly over the expansion of the house, until they landed on Niall. "Could I talk to you, Niall?" Valie murmured, voice laden with something I couldn't decipher.

My eyebrows furrowed deeply as I turned to look at Niall, whose face had softened considerably. "Of course, Val," he stated, turning and walking back down the stairs to meet her.

They had just turned the corner to the library when Luke pulled on my arm, knocking me from my inner stupor. Why was Val acting like a ghost, a shell of a person? And why the hell did she have to talk to Niall?

"Come on, Ty. They shouldn't be long," Luke whispered gently, pulling on my arm again. With one last fleeting glance at the library, I let Luke's hand on my back guide me up the stairs again.