the purge // n.h. (au)

fourteen

A/N: Thank you so much for 51 votes on the last chapter and the nice comments! I love reading them and seeing that. (: But I have chapter fourteen right here, and I guarantee you all will love it and be quite surprised. (; xo

Julissa

My palms were sweating and my heart was beating erratically as the three of us stepped out into the dim hallway, my nerves skyrocketing instantly. We were surrounded by silence, the only sound being of our uneven breathing and Maddie's quiet whimpers into Niall's neck.

I was frightened, and the most that I had ever been in my lifetime. This was my very first time being in such a deathly situation, and it only made my worries worse. It didn't help that we only had two guns on us to defend ourselves against twenty or so people, either. And I still had no clue as to whether or not my father was still alive or not. All I could do is pray and hope that he was, while hoping that all of us made it out alright.

Niall gently nudged my side, catching my attention. I looked at him to see him motioning towards the door at the end of the hall, the faint sound of two girls talking filling my eardrums. And I knew for a fact that neither of them were my mother.

Nearly a second later the door opened, revealing two women that seemed to be a few years older than me holding large butcher knives in both of their hands.

I was about to gasp out of shock but was quickly pulled behind the wall next to me by Niall, his free hand flying up to my mouth to prevent any sound from escaping.

Shit, that was close- too close.

It looks like we have to be a lot more careful than even I thought.

He gave me a warning look and slowly removed his hand from my mouth and put a finger up to his own, silently telling me to stay quiet.

I nodded shakily and pressed my back up further into the wall, afraid that I wasn't hidden enough.

My ears strained to hear their footsteps, the faint steps becoming slightly louder the closer that they became. I immediately knew that they were coming towards where we were hiding, only causing me to panic even more. I wanted to scream out of fear, but forced myself to keep my composure. I glanced over at Niall and saw that Maddie was freaking out herself, her small body shaking silently in Niall's grip. I was surprised to see that Niall was the complete opposite, staying brave for the both of us. In a way I admired him for it, though.

He gave me a small nod as if to tell me that everything would be fine, carefully pulling his gun out of his back pocket and aiming it towards the open space where the two women would soon appear.

I mentally prayed that this would work out, and that he wouldn't end up getting injured during this process.

One of the girls laughed about something as they were only a couple of feet away, and I closed my eyes and waited for the sound of the bullet to fly towards them.

In seconds my prediction was brought to life, the sound of the bullet ripping through the air and a blood curling scream echoing throughout the building. I brought my hands up and covered both of my ears, wanting nothing more than to block the agonizing sound from my eardrums. It didn't help, and I could still easily hear both women as they were both shot to death by the boy that I was falling for.

But just as fast as it had started it was gone, the painful cries soon turned into an eerie silence.

I slowly opened my watery eyes and shot my gaze towards the floor a foot or so away, my jaw dropping as I was met with their two lifeless bodies covered in blood. One of the women had a bullet wound in her chest near her heart, and the other had it dead in the center of her left lung, killing both of them in seconds. It was a terrible sight, but I knew that it had to be done. Otherwise, we would be in their place right now.

I didn't even realize that I was crying until Niall wiped a tear away with his thumb, bringing my attention back towards him.

"It had to be done, Jules," he whispered lowly, looking at me sadly.

I couldn't find the words to speak and answer him, so I just nodded and forced a weak smile his way.

"Let's go," he mumbled, jerking his head in the direction of where the girls came from. "But be careful."

"I will," I croaked, following right behind him as he gradually made his way down the hall and towards the front of the house.

*

After what seemed like hours of wandering through the house and killing off one by one, we (or Niall), had managed to kill off a good six of them without getting hurt. Yes, he got a couple scrapes and cuts, but he thankfully didn't get severely injured. And Maddie didn't get touched at all, which was exactly what I wanted. Still, there were many more that were inside the house, and we still hadn't been able to find my mother or father anywhere. I figured that we just weren't at the same place at the same time, which was why we couldn't find them. But we hopefully will soon.

"I still haven't seen Axel," Niall whispered suddenly, looking around us warily as if he knew something was wrong. "I think he's still searching for me."

I shivered with goosebumps at the thought, not able to imagine Axel hurting Niall. I honestly can't imagine anything bad happening to him, especially if I were to see it happen. I wouldn't be able to live with that, as the image would haunt me every day for the rest of my life. I promised him that I wouldn't allow him to get injured tonight, and I wasn't planning on breaking that promise.

I shrugged at his words, "I'm sure my father found him and got rid of him already. He's not going to hurt you."

He sighed softly, flickering his gaze between Maddie and I. "Yeah, maybe."

"Niall, you have to be positive-"

I was cut off quickly by Niall's sweaty palm pressed against my lips, forcing me to be quiet. There was a look of great terror in his blue eyes as he switfly shoved me and Maddie into the bathroom beside us, bringing us to the wall furthest from the door. I wanted to ask him what was going on, but I knew without speaking that it was the person that we had been dreading to see all night. Maddie let out a small cry as he set her in my arms, telling me to stay where I was and don't move until he got back.

I shook my head as a tear rolled down my cheek, reaching out for his arm in hopes of getting him to stay. "Please-"

"Sh. I need to end this," he mouthed, leaving a gentle kiss to my forehead before cocking his gun and rushing out of the bathroom.

Millions of thoughts rushed through my mind as I wondered what was going to happen in the next few moments, my heart thudding inside of my chest as I listened to Niall's footsteps go down the hall and directly towards Axel.

"Well, look who we have here," I heard Axel say, the sound of his voice causing an uneasy feeling in the bottom of my stomach.

It wasn't long after that before I heard groans and moans coming from where they were, and I had to use everything that I had to keep from running outside and getting Niall out of that mess.

I thought that it was almost over, until the sound that I hadn't wanted to hear filled my ears and made me stop breathing.

"Niall!"