Oscillation | [H.S]

Chapter 7

The ride back to the mansion was quicker than the way to Creswick. I was seated behind the passenger seat, pressing myself against the door and looking outside. The men left me alone this time. I heard Harry rustling through the folder that contained my papers. He could find my birth-certificate, my passport, the confirmation that I had become an orphan and why in that folder. Everything was in there.

During the ride, I could finally take a good look of where we were going. The mansion was located about a twenty minute ride out of London. The surroundings quickly changed to more rural and woody. The mansion itself was surrounded by large woods and the enormously high fences that I had seen beneath my blindfold. It would be very difficult to escape from here in any way.

I also hadn't dared to escape when getting into the car at Creswick. I knew Zayn or one of the other men would have easily pulled their guns out and shoot me in the legs with a perfect aim.

The more time I thought about it, the more I began to wonder about who these men were. It must be some sort of criminal organisation. A gang, maybe. I hadn't heard anything about gangs in the vicinity of London. But most of the criminal world probably knew how to be invisible.

"Walk with me." Harry pulled me out of my thoughts. He got out and walked to my side of the car, opening the door since it couldn't be opened from the inside. I trailed Harry inside the mansion, trying to keep up to his pace. He took the stairs that were on the right, walking to a door at the end of the long hallway.

He swayed the door open, pushing me past him with a strong hand on my back. The room was around 15 square metres and very simple. There was a 2-person bed showed against the wall opposite of me, an oak closet against the wall on the left. Another door was settled in the right wall. The were small windows near the top of the room

"Stay here until I come and get you. You can freshen up in the bathroom" With these words he was gone, closing the door behind him. I listened to his footsteps descending down the hallway. I didn't dare to open the door behind me, so I walked up to the other door on my right side.

When opening it, I was met with a beautiful bathroom. The tiles were matte black, and the walls were white. A small chandelier was hanging from the ceiling casting soft yellow light through the room. The was a big bathtub standing on black, little legs. A shower was attached to the watertap. There was a big white sink with an even bigger mirror above it surrounded by little lights.

I closed the door behind me, noticing how there wasn't a lock, while slowly walking into the bathroom. My hand touched the big bath, longing to go into it and soak away all the tension and stress from today. I didn't feel at ease enough to just rest naked in the mansion while knowing that all the men were present. And knowing what these men could do.

My body turned away from the bath and I met my own eyes in the mirror. I let out a soft gasp. I looked horrendous. My hair was greasy and messy, strands hanging around my face. My cheeks were bright red, one side even turning a little bit blue already near the eye. My eyes had dark circles beneath them which were accentuated by the red puffy eyes from crying. A little blood was still visible on my jawline.

I quickly spun around, getting rid of my shoes and socks. I grabbed a bottle of body-wash and shampoo from the little stand next to the bath, not bothering to smell them. I turned the faucet on to warm up the water, stepping into the bathtub. The warm water relaxed my body immediately.

The shower was quick since I did not know when Harry or one of the other men would be back and I was deadly afraid of them just barging into the bathroom. I had put on my old clothes afterwards, not wanting to go outside of the bathroom naked. The room was still empty, so I sat down on the bed and sighed deeply. I felt exhausted but my mind was buzzing too much to go to sleep. Also, I was hungry.

To keep myself busy, I stood up from the bed again and walked over to the closet. The closet was mostly empty, spare for 3 black t-shirts, a pair of grey sweatpants and some black socks. The sweater I was wearing had become dirty, smelling a bit like sweat. However, it felt too cold to grab a clean shirt. I also didn't dare to randomly grab something. I was afraid of Harry becoming angry.

I was really afraid of Harry. The longer I was alone in the room, the more desperate I became. Claustrophobia started taking its toll. I wanted to leave, but I had nowhere to go now either. I doubted Creswick would stay open when they saw what state it was in and of course now that Mr. Acker was dead.

The door opened, but it wasn't Harry who came into the room. The boy with blue eyes and no tattoos stood in the opening. He started approaching the bed when he saw I was seated on the edge. I curled into myself

"Here, apply this on your cheeks every two hours." He said to me. His hand was outstretched to me with a small white tube laying in his palm. I carefully took it while looking at him with a questionable look.

"It cools the skin and soothes the bruise." It sounded like something I needed. I had felt my heartbeat in my head all day as a dull, throbbing pain.

"Does Harry know that you're giving me this?" I could curse my stupid mouth for talking before thinking. The boy laughed out loud. Surprisingly, it was a very happy cackle.

"Yeah." was his simple answer. "Name's Niall by the way. You might be 'ere for a while so 's good to know." I only noticed his accent now. Irish, it must be.

"Emma" I answered my name back to him, wondering about his words in the meanwhile. Being here for a while? I certainly hoped not. The lump in my throat appeared again.

"Harry said to come and get you for dinner." He continued. I shook my head as a response.

"I'm not hungry." I lied, my stomach immediately protesting. Fortunately not out loud.

"It wasn't a question" The little bit of niceness that was in Niall before had disappeared immediately.

And so I went after him out of the room.