Chapter 25

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Chapter 25:

I hear mummers and hushed tones almost arguing before I even open my eyes. I’m not in a bed, I think to myself as the pain in my neck shoots down my back. My head feels like it’s full of sand and the sounds are all blurred as I crack open my eyes to be met with the sight of a room I’d never seen before. It looked like a dormant warehouse as I took in the dusty crates and random furniture. When I tried to move around I noticed I was confined to the uncomfortable chair, my hands tied behind my back and ankles tied to the legs of wood. Panic starts to sink in and I struggle against the confines, desperation in my struggle. The noise stops the hushed voices and in return I stop too, feeling like a scared mouse as I hear footsteps. 
“Ah! She’s woken up” Jake says to another guy who I’ve never seen before and I feel my whole body start to tremble. 
“Jake what are you doing?” I ask as he stands in front of me with the other guy. 
“Well, I think it’s time for a little chat, sí?” he asks with a sly grin that makes me wheezy. 
“So, about six months ago I get a call from my cousin. I grew up in a house where family was everything, so I was very close to my cugino. He says to me “Jake, I’m ringing from my jail cell, I need to ask you a favor”. And who am I to turn my back on family? famiglia è per sempre” he says with a smirk. 
“Sí, of course agreed and he tells me about his ex fratello (brother), how he got him and his best friend into jail, how he wanted to see them both suffer for disgracing our families name” he snarls out as if I’m supposed to understand what he was implying. 
“And I promised on the phone to him that day I wouldn’t stop until the boy who turned against his own brother for some runaway whore is dead. But then I got a better idea when he told me about his ex girl who ran off with him” he says, snaking his way closer to me and eventually standing right in front of me before leading down so his face was inches from mine. 
“He tells me how they’re apparently in love, how they were going to run away to be together and this Sheeran dude he was working with the police, the PLND. And lucky for me I get around so much; if I didn’t I wouldn’t have known my pal Brain who works with them who was more than happy with keeping an eye on Ed, making sure he never got close enough to you. But the meat head fucked up, so I had to step in.” he whispers as he drags his nail slowly but painfully down my cheek.
“And now, I’m going to take away something special from Ed, just like he took away my cousin” he snarls and before I can even register what’s happening next his hand swipes across my face, the sting of the impact making me whimper. 
“Now, I introduce you to Darren, who will be taking care of the dirty work because I’m too busy trying to find a place to dumb your body once we’re finished” he chuckles out and my mouth flies open as my eyes dart from him to the guy behind him.
“Please don’t do this, please-“
“Shhhhh” he says and quickly puts some kind of cloth around my mouth and tied it at the back, causing me to almost gag as I couldn’t talk. 
Jake leaves and I’m left with this guy who looks like this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this. 
“So the deal is, I rough you up and take some pictures, send them to this Ed boy, let him worry for a bit…then we kill you, send more pictures and boom; job done” he smiles. “So don’t shit your pants, you’re not dying yet” he says sarcastically and I feel hot tears start to well in my eyes at the thought of Ed having to sit at home, being toured over my whereabouts and not being able to do anything. Not being able to see him ever again. Not being able to kiss him properly for the last time. 
“So let’s get this started shall we?” he asks evilly and I start to whimper as he makes his way towards me.

In hindsight I’d rather not recall what I had to go through in the time I just put behind me. I don’t want to think about the endless ways he left bruises and cuts over my body, and how I couldn’t even see after he was finished since the wound over my eye got too swollen. But what I will always remember is how he took pictures of me, in my weakest possible state and made me watch him send them to Ed. And in that moment I wasn’t concerned about the horrible ache in my ribcage and the pounding of my head and stinging of the gashes left on my skin but the ache in Ed’s heart I knew he’d be feeling miles away. I thought about how he thought I’d come home to him, and we could finally be happy and travel and everything he’s been working for the last month would finally fall into place. His dreams were probably filled with thoughts of us really star gazing and tumbling head first into a deeper love than we could both ever imagine. But that was all dream for us now as I lay on some disgusting bare mattress struggling to breath. All I could do was stare at the ceiling and try to imagine him wrapping his body around mine instead of giving my attention to the horrific pain from all over my body. The room was dark and damp, and since the mattress was bare and I didn’t even have a pillow ripples of cold washed through me as I tried to get to sleep. 
But as I closed my eyes one sentence echoed through my mind that scared me more than anything; 
I was going to die tomorrow

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I woke up after an overwhelming pain sliced through my side as I let out a pained groan. 
“Wake up” someone gruff at me and I open my sore eyes to see Jake standing over me. I try to sit up but the pain is too much and I can’t hold in the desperate whimpers as they fall from my mouth. 
“You need to make a phone call” he says pulling me up roughly causing bitter tears to rim my eyes. 
“To who?” I croak out as he pushes me down into the wooden chair I was almost beaten to death on yesterday. 
“Your ciccino” he says out sarcastically. “And you’re going to do exactly as I tell you eh?” he barks and I quickly nod my head. 
“Sí, I’ll ring but I won’t speak. You tell him how much it hurts, and how much you miss him. Don’t tell him where you are, who you are with, but tell him you’re going to die soon. And if you step out of line it will be the worst decision you’ll ever make” he snarls as he punches in the number written on a scrap of paper onto the phone. He presses dial and holds it up to my ear, my stomach knots over hearing Eds voice one last time. What will I say? I’ll probably only get a few short minutes to pour out my heart to him, which wouldn’t nearly be enough time. Forever wouldn’t be enough time to tell him how much I love him, but I knew I’d just have to do my best. 
“Hello?” A voice husks through the receiver, making my heart jump to my throat. It was obvious he’d been crying all night, he sounded so weak and small.
“Ed? Baby it’s me” I say, my voice cracking but maintaining a soft tone. 
“I-I don’t have much time, so you have to listen okay?” I say calmly and I hear him mummer a soft ‘okay’ in agreement. 
“I’m not in the best shape at the moment, and I’m probably going to die in the next 24 hours. I’ve got bruises and cuts all over my skin, but that doesn’t even compare to how much it hurts knowing I’ll never see you again. I’m sorry, so fucking sorry for not letting myself just forgive you, so we could be happy and I could have shown you how much I adore you, and I do. I adore you so much it aches in my chest and my head and my fingertips. Loving you was better than anything I’ve ever known, and I’ll never stop loving you. My lips will turn blue and my veins will stop being used, but I’ll always love you, forever. You’ll always be my boy Ed, and I want what’s best for you. Please keep reading, go on that road trip, sing and dance and smile, it’s okay to cry and be weak sometimes too. Go to festivals and sleep in late, draw and see and touch the world because life’s too short and I know you’ll find happiness in these things. Don’t give up on yourself, because I never did and I never will. You’re different, you’re one in a million and the best gift life gave me was the privilege of loving you. Don’t let anything hold you back, you can have the world if you want. And I’ll always be with you; when that sunlight comes through the window in the morning, that’ll be me kissing your skin good morning. And when the snow starts to fall in your front garden, that’s me wishing you a Merry Christmas. I’m sorry that our time together was short, but now, with the knowledge that what we shared was something most people spend lifetimes trying to find, I can die happy.” I spill out, my voice shaky and cracking ever so often. 
“Please don’t forget me” I beg finally, letting the sobs take control of my body, rippling through me like bullets. 
“I love you so much, you’re my forever Taylor. Wait for me, I’ll find my way back to you baby” he says down the phone and a warm glow starts to spread in my chest but at the same time my heart starts to ache. 
“I love you” I finally whisper before Jake pulls the phone away and hangs up abruptly while chuckling. 
“That was the sappiest thing I’ve ever heard, you two are a joke” he laughs as he walks away to put the phone on the table. “And I thought that stuff only happened in shitty chick flicks” he finishes with a sicking smile. 
“Now, what do you want to do with your last hours eh?” he asks cheekily as he walks back over to me. 
“We could…” he trails off and walks slowly towards me. “…have some fun?” he says cheekily and plants himself in my lap. 
“Get off me” I growl harshly and he shoves my shoulders roughly against the back of the chair making me whimper. 
“Suit yourself” he says getting off me. “Have fun alone”
And with that he just left, left me in some damp room with a mattress and a chair, alone to replay the sound of Eds voice over and over in my head.

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This is too much omg, i'll try to update soon maybe on friday. Remember to vote and coment please.

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