Beyond (Niall Horan) (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twelve

A/N: So my main focus is my Ziam fic right now, but I've decided to update this one and maybe a few others for the heck of it. A little change from Ziam, yeah?

Oh and some of my fanfics-including this one-will be getting updated covers soon so stay tuned! (:

Mariana's POV

"Mariana!" I hear Eric shout as I take off sprinting towards the front door of the house. I ignore him as I skid to a brief stop, throwing the door open and running inside the house. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Eric continues to shout as he too comes running through the front door, just footsteps behind me.

Running up the stairs as fast as I can, I bolt to my bedroom, opening the bedroom door so fast that it hits the wall with a heavy bang! Practically panting, I slam the door and lock it so Eric can't get inside.

"Mariana!" Eric yells from the other side of the door. "What the fuck?!" He begins to bang on the door, his fists banging against the wooden door. Biting my lip, I stare at the door. If I don't do something about him soon, he'll probably end up splintering the door or something.

"I need to work!" I scream through the door after he finishes speaking, the only things to be heard being his fists banging against my bedroom door. Everything silences for a moment before Eric starts screaming again.

"YOU RAN ALL THE FUCKING WAY HERE TO WORK?!" Eric screams. Judging by his voice, he was growing angrier and angrier by the second. Tears well up in my eyes as I stare at the door. I didn't like lying to my brother, but I know I have to. If he knew my real reason for running home, he would call me crazy and he would probably make our parents call a mental hospital or something.

"I'm sorry!" I shout through the door. "I need to get it finished!" It is a lame excuse, but it's the only thing I can think of at the moment. Eric has stopped banging at the door, but his voice sounds as angry as ever as he screams at me.

"AND YOU THINK I COULD JUST WAIT TO DO MY HOMEWORK LATER?!" He screams. I cringe. He's right, his assignment was the reason we had gone to the library in the first place, but I couldn't think of a different excuse. And besides, if I suddenly came up with some other random excuse, my change of reason would make Eric even more suspicious than he already was.

I stay silent, chewing on my bottom lip, trying to come up with another excuse. Wracking my brain does absolutely nothing however, as the ideas folder in my brain remains completely empty. It was odd-I usually had a lot of really random ideas when I didn't need them and for really random things. But now that I actually needed an idea, I couldn't think of anything whatsoever.

Minutes pass. Nothing pops into my head, but that's when I freeze, realizing something. The hallway is silent-there's no more banging against the door or Eric yelling at me for leaving the library and hiding in my room. Sighing in relief, I reach out to unlock my door before freezing. Eric barging into my room wasn't the only reason that I had locked my door-I still had to do what I was originally going to do in the first place.

Gulping a bit, I keep my bedroom door closed and locked as I turn away from it. I turn to face a different door-the one that led up to the attic.

It is closed.

Legs shaking, I make my way over to the closed attic door. The door creaks as I open it, but I've gotten used to it by now and don't cringe due to the noise anymore. Looking up, the staircase is dark. The single attic light isn't on, but that doesn't surprise me. Niall liked it dark-it was easier for him to show himself that way.

Taking a deep breath, I begin my descent up the stairs. The stairs creak in their usual places, but I ignore that too. As I climb, I realize that I should have probably grabbed a flashlight, but it's too late. I'm already almost to the top of the staircase.

"Niall?" I whisper as I reach the top, stepping onto the attic landing and moving away from the stairs. If I fell down them, there's no telling how hurt I could get. "Are you here?"

Silence.

Taking another deep breath, I remain where I stand. I know Niall is shy and is probably just hiding from me, like he sometimes did. Especially after the earlier encounter in the attic-he probably didn't want to speak to me after that. Truth be told I was a little afraid too, but I had to talk to the deceased boy about the information that I had found out at the library. All of the new, shocking information was too unsettling to just let go as if it is nothing.

"Niall?" I repeat, taking a step further into the attic. Once again, I am met with silence. Glancing around, I see nothing. If he was here (which, I knew he was), he hadn't manifested himself. At least, not yet.

"Niall, please," I beg, "I need to talk to you."

I expect silence, but to my surprise, I hear something afer my third or fourth call for the ghost boy. The noise is very faint and I can't make out exactly what it is. But somehow, I am able to tell that it's Niall. It's Niall and he's upset.

"Please Niall," I plead again, "I know why you're hiding."

That does it. A blast of cold air whooshes through the attic, causing me to shiver. Glancing around, I finally see the nineteen year old boy. He's hunched over in the corner, his back to me.

"Niall?" I murmur as I take a step forward. I reach out and try to touch his shoulder, expecting my hand to go right on through. But to my surprise, I'm able to touch him. He feels light, as if he's about to blow away with the breeze at any second, but I can touch it. And it sends a jolt through my arm.

"Niall I-"I'm cut off when he finally turns around to face me. I gasp once I see his face.

He's been crying.

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