"Well, that was fast." I hear Louis shout from some unknown room as the boys and I enter their gang house. "Did Harry suck the humanity out of her yet?"
The nerves crawl from underneath my skin, sending a deathly shiver up my spine, as Zayn ushers me into the kitchen where everyone is located.
"Louis, please." Harry sighs, walking up behind and passing us while brushing his hand against mine in a comforting way.
"Meeting. Now." Zayn orders in a tone that makes my already racing heart jump against the inside of my chest.
All the boys exchange confused glances before getting up from their seats and making their way from the kitchen, following Zayn who has already sucked away his presence from the room.
I look to the girls for some kind of explanation but Sydney quickly avoids my eye contact and Veronica doesn't even bother looking up from her fingers chipping away at the deep purple nail polish.
I play with a strand of my hair while blinking back the moisture in my eyes, built up by utter fear and little frustration.
"C-can you tell me what's going on?" My voice breaks but I keep my composure as I plead with Sydney.
Her worried blue eyes meet mine before flashing back down to the floor, shaking her head, she frowns.
My hands begin to shake and I try to take deep breaths.
What am I going to do?
I need to call my uncle, he can get me out of this and away from here. I can move back to Paris and out of.. All this. I can transfer colleges there and live with my aunt and uncle again; I can be safe. Away from the bright eyed gang members that belong to Xavier and away from him as well. Away from these.. Creatures. I don't want to die.
But what about Zayn?
A boy doesn't compare to the risking of my own life.
But you care about him.
But I could die.
I squeeze my eyes shut. Deep breaths, Chloe, deep breaths. Don't pass out. Don't lose your sanity. Don't cry.
"I don't care if you can't tell me everything, but please explain why there were three gang members, three non human..things, in my apartment trying to kill me. I'm about to lose my shit here, and no one will tell me anything. I'm begging." I raise my voice, becoming more than worked up.
"Calm down." Veronica sighs in annoyance.
"Calm down.. Calm..down..?" My eye twitches. "Calm down?! You have literally got to be shitting me! I was just taken out of my own apartment, almost murdered, and you're telling me to calm down. Please for the love of-"
"Darling." His soft voice freezes me as I feel the gentle touch of his hand on my arm. "Come with me."
Veronica and Sydney quickly look away as I turn around and my pleading eyes meet Zayn's gaze. His hand glides down my arm to intertwine our fingers and he slowly leads me out of the room.
I stare at the bird tattoo on the back of Zayn's neck as he guides me to some stairs leading to what looks like a basement.
Is he going to kill me?
No.. He would never hurt me. Right?
I feel my body begin to tremble as we descend the stairs, and Zayn's hand gently squeezes mine in assurance which calms my accelerating heart a bit.
We reach the basement and it resembles the upstairs living room, very modern and clean. There's a huge seating area and even a bar, not to mention the gaming area with a ping pong and pool table. Several doors are at the edges of the room and I'm guessing they lead to bedrooms and bathrooms, but Zayn and I pass them all to get to yet another staircase.
