Fight to Die (Harry Styles)

Fifteen

Chapter 15

• Julia •

I am escorted into the palace of the Emperor. It is far grander than my own home and that is something that I have always assumed impossible to beat. Every detail, every embellishment within this giant house screams money. But what more could I have expected from the palace?

I am led into a sort of bedroom. Well, it is a bedroom, but it is far more decorated than any room I have ever seen. That just goes to show that though there are those who are wealthy, there is always someone who is wealthier. A thought dawns on me that does frighten me: what if this is Felix's room? Judging by the extravagance of it, I would assume so. Only the best for a man of the royal family.

The guard leaves me in the room alone, but I notice that there are two others standing by the door. So I'm trapped in here. Great. My time is spent pacing in anxiety. What does Felix know? What doesn't he know? What is he doing? Where is he?

The answers to these questions can only come by his return. My pacing slows down quickly seeing as the time that passes is increasingly growing in length. I sit in one of the chairs and eventually that, too, grows uncomfortable. I eye the bed wondering if maybe I could sit on there. Just for a minute though. At least an hour has passed since I've been here and still there has been no sign of Felix even entering the building.

Well, if he expected that I would wait patiently or be all happy and excited for when he returned, he was wrong. I am not a patient person and I never have been.

I stand from my chair near the large wooden desk and walk to the bed. Without a second thought as to the punishment I could receive, I lay myself across the end of the bed and breathe a sigh of comfort. The soft cushioning is far more comfortable than that hard, wooden chair I was sitting in previously. At first, I am determined to stay awake, but that determination dwindles with the time passing. Before I know it, my eyes are closing despite the what used to be a strong drive to keep them open. Well, there you have it: I fall asleep.

It isn't a sleep full of dreams or deep thoughts meant to help me in real life. It's none of that shit. It is a sleep of absolute unconsciousness with no thoughts and no hint of disturbance. But the peace I thought I had achieved comes to end at the sound of someone shouting. That someone I recognize as Felix.

"Julia!" he shouts, running into the room and kicking over a table for absolutely no reason at all. The table crashes to the floor with the loud sound of snapping wood and I am startled by the sudden noises.

Sitting up frantically, I brush the fallen hairs from my face and face Felix. He is now standing in front of me and I dare not move. I notice something different in his cold, brown eyes. There is a tinge of redness in the white of his eyes, either from tears or drinking. Though I fear it is the latter. Felix moves towards me, neither quickly nor slowly. There is something strange about his stance; it is far different that anything I have ever seen from him. He bends forward and in one swift movement, he has my arms pinned to the bed behind me. His grip on my shoulders is strong enough to hold me in place, extremely still. I struggle against him, but it is to no avail. He is too strong and based off of this strange and threatening behavior of his, I strongly believe that he is slightly, if not entirely, intoxicated.

Fear infiltrates me at the force of his actions and I struggle to find my voice, "F-Felix," I stutter. "W-what are you doing?" My voice sounds strained like I am out of breath and I immediately regret asking.

His grip tightens on me and I feel the pain shooting through my arms. He hovers over me and his hot breath fans over my face. Drunk.

"You are mine," he says, his voice weak and sounding almost like a question. He is unsure of himself.