Oscillation | [H.S]

Chapter 16

When I woke up Harry had left the bed. I yawned softly, the exhaustion clear in my body. Despite the fact that I didn't have any other nightmares for the rest of the night, I still only had gotten about four hours of good sleep. The sunlight was illuminating the room white room.

Suddenly, an idea came into my mind. I got up slowly, feeling a bit better when moving compared to yesterday, and stumbled to the door. I pushed the handle down and gasped slightly when the door opened. This would be my chance!

I wasted no time and stumbled down the hallway while supporting my body against the walls. It was a different hallway than where mine and Harry's room usually was. However, my gut was telling me this was the right way. Both ends of the hallway had corners, so I could never be sure.

When I reached the corner I stood face to face with Niall immediately. He was wearing black skinny jeans, a patterned blouse and a questionable look on his face.

So much for a gut-feeling.

"What are you doing?" He questioned me, lowering his hand from the door knob and turning his body to me. I realised I was still clad in only a T-shirt and man-boxers. I tried to cover up while swallowing the lump in my throat.

"I was trying to find you for some medicine.." I knew it was a weak lie and Niall clearly saw through it. His eyes turned hard and his mouth formed a straight line.

"Don't lie to me." He snapped, which made me flinch. He had expressed mostly niceness but I shouldn't forget he had always been present when something happened to me and he didn't do anything. He was just as bad as the others. His eyes quickly scanned over my body before sighing, his eyes softening again.

"Follow me." He just said, turning back to the door and pushing the handle down. I hesitantly followed him into the room, being perfectly aware of my nakedness.

We ended up in what I guessed was his room. I still wasn't sure if they all lived at the mansion or if it was just Harry's. Louis had his own house, that was sure, but I had no clue about the others. If Niall lived here, would Nova also be somewhere in the mansion? This room, however seemed thoroughly lived though. There were pieces of clothing all over the floor, some decorations on the wall and the bedsheets were rumpled.

Niall walked over to another door and I noticed that his room was connected to two doors. When I didn't follow suit, he called my name. My body moved slowly, still trying to find support on the walls as I could feel my legs shaking from either fear or exhaustion. Maybe both.

I ended up in a room that was around the same size as Niall his own room. My eyes opened wide when I took in all the medical equipment standing in the room. The walls were covered with high cupboards fulled with pills, fluids, and equipments.

"Are you a doctor?" I gasped, amazed why someone would choose to practice such noble work for people like Harry.

"Something like that." He replied vaguely, his back turned to me as he was rummaging through some products. Not a second later he turned to me and handed me a small box of pills.

"Take two pills a day and always eat something beforehand." I took the box of pills, quickly scanning the package and noticing that it was antibiotics.

"Harry told me." Niall said. "Now go back before he notices you left the room." I nodded gratefully and stumbled out of the room and went on my way back to the room I was in before. When I entered it, I collapsed on the bed, letting my eyes close.

I couldn't imagine that such a small walk would be so exhausting. Although I shouldn't forget the condition my body was in. The bruises were spread all over and still hurt. I kind of regretted not asking Niall for more painkillers.

Slowly, my breath evened out and I fell asleep again.

I woke up at the sound of the door clicking back into its lock and I opened my eyes to see who had entered the room. Happiness flew through my body when a glimpse of red hair came into my vision. Nova looked a lot better than I remembered her from last time. The bruise around her eye had already started to fade to a soft-green colour and the bags beneath her eyes were smaller.

"I'm glad you're looking better." She smiled when she saw me awake. Her body moved elegantly towards the end of the bed where she sat down. I wanted to hug her but I couldn't get my body to move much. I really was exhausted and now that I was thinking about it, I was also famished again. If I kept eating only once a day, it was no wonder I was getting so thin. My stomach rumbled and Nova smiled.

"No worries, I brought you food! Niall mentioned you needed something to eat." I nodded and moved to sit myself upright a bit against the pillows. She gave me a plate with some fruits, yoghurt and granola. I started eating immediately.

"How are you?" She asked me softly, after giving me some time to eat. Her happy face had turned into concerned and serious. I lifted my shoulders shortly, not totally knowing how to explain it to her. She had listened so well earlier but her case was exactly the same as Willow's. Although, I didn't seem to despise Niall as much as I despised Louis.

Nova seemed to have the gift of understanding when someone didn't want to talk and simply nodded and waited patiently for me to finish my food. She had gotten a glass of water in the meantime, which I downed just as greedily, taking the antibiotics as well.

"Harry slept next to me tonight." I blurted out of nowhere, breaking the silence that hung in the air. I was still very shaken about it, but apparently even more than I thought as I had the need to tell her. Nova gasped harshly, her eyes widened in shock as she looked at me.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?! Are you okay? Does it hurt? Do I need to get anything?" She fired these questions so quickly it took a moment to process them. Hurt? Yeah I was still hurting from a few days earlier but he didn't do anything this night. Not that I knew of, at least.

"No?" I questioned her but when she frowned her eyebrows I realised this wasn't a good answer to all of her questions.

"I'm okay. The bruises and the arm hurt but otherwise I'm okay." I said. "Just a bit shaken up from it."

"He didn't have sex with you?" She asked in such a surprised tone that I should consider myself lucky for Harry keeping his hands to himself.

"No. I..." I thought of a way to explain it well. Maybe she would think badly of me when I told her I slept better when Harry was next to me. Next to the man that gave me these nightmares and had almost killed me. But was she any better?

"I had nightmares. He was very angry about being woken up a few times so he just slept next to me and the nightmares stopped." I told her eventually. Her mouth fell open a bit.

"Harry..." She starts, pursing her lips together for a moment and frowning before continuing. "He is known for, well.. To put it nicely, fucking almost every female that touches his hands." My eyes went wide at this and I was sure the blood drained from my face. It wasn't really news to me, I had already expected it a bit.

However, she knew what his intentions were and she was also expecting it to happen. She didn't even offer to help me escape while she knew I would get raped here.

"Why aren't you helping me to get away from here then?!" I suddenly burst out, feeling angry towards the girl. She shrunk away from my loud voice.

"Emma. You have to understand that I can't." She spoke softly, trying to calm me down. I felt tears now streaming on my face. If the roles were reversed, I would have helped her. Even if I would gain some bruises.

"You're a coward." I snapped, turning my head away. I had hoped she would have gotten the hint, but when she didn't leave I turned to her and screamed:

"Get out! I don't want to see you again!"

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