Im Only Human

The Bad News

Niall's POV

The lights shut off and then I hear the boom of thunder. A storm.

"Fuck." I mutter under my breath. Everything is black. I can't see a thing.

I move my hands around in from of me and feel the smooth surface of the wall.

"Niall! Mate, where are you?" Louis screams.

"Here!" I put my forehead against the wall. "I'm over here."

My heart is hammering in my chest and my head is pounding. My breathes come out quickly and my body trembles. He was so close to killing her. He was burning her. In front of me. Torturing her. Right in front of me.

Blame and sadness crash over me in huge waves. It's my fault. I should've taken her away from the party as soon as she showed up. I should've done everything I could've to protect her but I didn't. I couldn't save her.

Tanner is with her somewhere making sure she is safe. I can't do that. I can't protect the woman I love. I don't deserve her.

Four pairs of hands grab me. The boys.

"Lads, Mac is safe. Tanner has her. Remember he's the FBI agent I told you that was helping me. He's takin her to a safe house."

A small light appears from the back of Harry's phone. "Why didn't i do this earlier?" he laughs.

I shake my head and snatch the light from him. I shine it around the room and that's when I realize that Marcus and his crew are not here.

"We need to find them." I say frantically.

"Find who?" Liam asks.

"Marcus and the rest of the bastards that are trying to kill Mckenzie!" I snap at him.

Liam frowns. "You know Niall you are not the only one who is losing someone you love. My girlfriend was lying to me the entire time, so don't you fucking snap at me. I'm hurting too dammit."

Liam is red in the face and his fists clenched at his sides. He's right. The woman he loved was lying to him the entire time. He lost her just as I am losing Mckenzie.

"Liam, calm down mate. We'll figure out where they are and then we don't have to worry about losing them anymore." Zayn runs a hand through his hair. "Let's go find Nat and Taylor. We need to give them a update on everything."

We walked back into the party only to find everyone gone. It was just a barren ballroom floor. We walked out the front door and found Nat, Taylor and Rachel waiting for us. They turned to face us with fear stricken faces.

"Niall, where's Mac? Marcus just took off and said something about finishing what he started and that he wasn't gonna let her get away. Please tell me she's safe?" Nat says.

"For now." She sighs in relief. "But Marcus and his gang are still out looking for her. There's an FBI agent named Tanner, taking her to a safe house until Marcus is caught."

"FBI?" Taylor asks.

"Long story." I reply.

She nods slowly but doesn't press the question. And I'm glad.

Rachel hails a cab and all the girls and Zayn and Harry climb. They wave goodbye and we promise to call if anything comes up.

"Alright, what's next?" Louis asks.

"I'm gonna call Tanner and see what's going on with Mac and if he's located Marcus."

I dial the number and wait for him to pick up. No answer.

I dial again. He answers on the third ring.

"Niall."

"Any news?" I ask.

"Yes," he says quietly. "Good and bad. Which do you want first?"

"Good."

"Good news is that we found Marcus."

I breathe out the breath I didn't even know I was holding. "That's great."

"I wouldn't get too excited Niall. There's still bad news. Mckenzie was not transported to safe house safely. Jason hi-jacked the car and drove into a lake." His voice starts to crack. "I couldn't save her. I couldn't get her out."

"What?"

"Niall she may not be dead they haven't found the body. She may have saved herself but I'm not sure. Everything happened so fast but Jason and Mckenzie are both gone."

I feel nothing. Nothing but numbness. It spreads through my body like a chill in the winter time. I feel myself falling to ground and the phone slipping from my fingers.

"What's going on?" Liam asks into the phone. "What? No. No that cannot be right...... Ok." He hangs up.

"What is it Liam?" Louis asks.

Their voices sound so distant. So far away. I've lost touch with life. I'm lost in the sinister thoughts swirling around in my head.

"Mac's dead."

Mac's dead.

Mac's dead.

Mac's dead.

She's dead.

Those words repeat in my head. Images of her drowned body at the bottom of a lake pop into my head. Her lifeless green eyes, dead pools of emerald. Her fair skin, pale and clammy. Her lips, colorless, never to be kissed again. Her voice, never to be heard again.

Mac's dead.