*TW: Slight violence and blood*
Ophelia's POV
"He sounds like he misses you, yeah? Let's send him a little video."
I swear my heart stops beating at Denver's sick words and my eyes leak even more tears which I didn't even think was possible. My entire body is shaking on this cold metal chair and I can feel the blood drying around my wrists and ankles from my desperate attempts to get to Matt.
A video?
The thought of something so disgusting like that being sent to Harry has me wanting to throw up right here on the spot. I feel so sick and I can't tell if it's from being helplessly stuck here like this or from the words that Denver just spoke to me.
"You're fucking disgusting." I spit out, and he only laughs in response. "Ollie, I thought you'd like it. Don't you want your Harry to know how you are?"
Hearing him talk about Harry just makes me sob harder. I miss him so much, I need him so badly. My mind keeps going to him, my mom, Jenna, and Niall and what they all are supposed to do if I never make it out of here.
My mom. She'll be so fucking alone, she won't have anyone anymore. I can only hope Harry keeps her company, he's sweet like that. I can't do this to her, not when I finally just started to see her more and finally started to forgive myself for not being a better daughter to her for so many years.
I was so shit to her.
And Harry. He'll just absolutely break. He won't be able to cope, I know that. He finally deserves to be happy and instead all he keeps getting is more and more sadness everyday.
Thinking about all of that has my heart breaking and I know it's the last thing I should be worrying about right now but I can't help it. I don't even notice how engrossed into my thoughts I am until I feel Denver's hand hovering near my face and I immediately flinch back.
He looks like he is about to touch my cheek to wipe away my tears, and I feel the bile rising in my throat at the idea of him touching me like that. "Don't cry. You never did look pretty when you did."
I clench my jaw at his words, my hands tugging at the rope as they lay in my lap. I can feel the rope burning into my skin and I just know if I ever leave here, they're definitely going to need a few days of healing for them to look somewhat okay.
"Shut up. Just- stop talking. Do what you need to do and let Niall go, please. Hurt me not him." I almost plead out the last bit, hoping that maybe they'll feel just a little bad for me and listen. Both Victor and Denver stare at me, nothing but smug looks on their faces and I don't know how I could be so stupid to think that they'd even feel bad for anyone at all. They're emotionless bastards.
Right when Victor opens his mouth to speak, the door opens from behind me and I pray with everything that I have that they aren't bringing Niall in here. I don't want him to see a dead body, I don't want him to see what they've done to me.
He needs to stay safe.
"Did you boys start without me?"
I go rigid as I easily recognize that voice. One I've heard many times before and enjoyed having conversations with. One who I've been unknowingly telling about my life. Someone who quickly became a friend to me.
Karina.
My head whips around to watch her slowly approach me. She looks normal and unbothered which worries me greatly. She's acting as if everything is fine and and that there's not a dead body in here and I'm not fucking tied up with a bruised cheek.
I watch in shock as she walks over to Victor and plants a kiss on his lips before turning to look at me. "Hi Ophelia," she says, quickly glancing over at Matt before returning her gaze to me. "I see you've been acquainted with my dead ex-husband."
My mouth parts as the blood drains from my face. Ex-husband?
Holy shit.
"Y-You were the one Matt was trying to have kids with? You were cheating on him?" I sputter out, not believing what the fuck I'm hearing. I don't know how to digest this all. Matt had told Harry about trying for kids, he wanted to be a dad so badly. Harry even told me Matt was thinking of making him the godfather.
Karina laughs, "I never wanted kids, never mind with him. He was too fucking nosy, I hated him and he had to be eliminated, he cared too much for Harry and it made me sick." She scoffs, seeming so unbothered. "I'm sure Harry's mentioned meeting me and such, Matt used to invite him for dinner the odd time. Guess he didn't remember my name though, too hung up over killing his best friend."
"He didn't kill him." I bite back, my protection for Harry coming out in full swing as I glare at her. Seeing this new side of her just has me in utter shock. I can't even process my emotions towards it because I'm genuinely just taken aback by it all. Karina was always so nice to me, we were literally friends and she never once gave me a reason to think that she had anything to do with any of this.
She was so kind to me.
"I'm surprised you didn't pick up on it sooner seeing as I called him 'M' once by accident." I give her a look of disbelief, "why would I ever think that you were with Matt? You were my friend, I never thought you were like this." I scoff. "I never thought you were a cheating fucking bitch."
My words don't sit well with her and she charges up to me, yanking on my hair to pull my head back as she towers over me. "Watch your mouth Lia. I could easily go downstairs and make Niall's life a living hell, we've already got him restrained. Watch yourself."
I shake my head as best I can, feeling the fear creep back up into my body. "No, please don't. Leave h-him alone." Her red lips turn into a smirk and she throws my head forward, letting go of my hair. "You really care for him don't you? Good to know."
She turns around, when she suddenly remembers something and faces me again, crossing her arms over her chest. She smiles widely, the same smile that I saw the comfort of a friend in at one point in my life, but now all I see is pure evil.
"You're welcome by the way," she perks up, "for deleting that sex tape."
I feel my brows furrow in confusion by this new piece of information, I don't understand why she would do that. Karina reads my confusion and elaborates. "I may be a terrible person in your eyes, but I won't stand for non-consensual distribution of sexual acts, no matter who you are. Happened to my sister in high school and it fucking killed her. I don't care who you are, I won't allow that."
She says this as if it makes her any better of a person. Of course I'm thankful for it but it doesn't automatically take away anything else she's done. She's just as bad as the rest of them.
She's fucking crazy.
"Matt found out about it during his snooping, hence his death. He wanted to expose us all, he kept telling me how he was going to go to the cops and get us all thrown in jail for exploiting you and Harry like this and that he'd move away and adopt some poor kid if I didn't want a family after all. Too bad he never got the chance to."
I immediately let out a sob at her words, hating how vile she is. Matt just wanted to protect us, he was looking out for Harry. He treated him like his son. He didn't deserve what happened to him at all.
"Just about fucking killed her for that, almost blew our cover." Victor butts in, only making Karina let out a giggle as she grabs his cheek. "You'd never do that baby, you love me too much."
I turn my head away from them as they kiss and I look over at Matt again. I can't believe Matt was with someone like her, it seems like the same thing happened to him like it did with me and Denver. We both didn't fully understand just how fucked up our significant others were.
We were so blind.
All of this is making my head spin. I feel on the brink of passing out, I don't even know what's going to happen to me and now I've just lost someone who I thought was my friend at the very least but turned into one of the most twisted people I know.
"I'm going to go check on Niall and make sure he's still alive. Have fun babes." She smiles, sending me a malicious wave before walking out. I send her a glare as she walks past me, wishing I could do much more than that right now, before she opens the door and slams it behind her.
"Let's say hello to Harry now, yeah?" Victor says, walking over to Matt's body and kicking him to the side so that he's out of frame, making me wire my eyes shut at the sound. I hear him shuffle some boxes around too before I gain the courage to re-open my eyes, seeing them both already looking at me with sick lopsided smiles on their faces.
Punchable ones at that.
"At least this time you know you're being filmed," Denver remarks, making my cheeks heat in humiliation. Victor settles himself behind the camera as I begin to squirm in my chair, trying not to let myself panic about what's coming next.
I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not scared because I am. I'm fucking terrified, it's Denver and Victor, and they're absolutely psychotic. All of them.
Denver walks over to me as I watch Victor hit the record button on the camera, making my stomach drop. I keep my eyes focused on the lens and ignore Denver at my side, hoping that Harry can read how much I love him in my eyes. I don't want to show him how scared I am or how weak I feel, I just want to show him how much I love him. No matter what.
The feeling of cool metal presses against the underside of my chin and the pressure of it makes my head tilt towards Denver. It's a knife.
I feel myself go rigid as I take in the knife that's pressing hard against my skin, but not hard enough to cut me. My eyes trail up to Denver, taking in how calm he looks, how collected he is. This isn't fazing him in the slightest and that makes me sick.
"Hi Harry," he speaks, eyes still trained on my face. He glides the tip of the knife up to my jaw, trailing it up my jawline towards the hinge of it. The cool metallic feeling has me shivering, goosebumps arising all over my body. "It was so nice of you to lend us Ollie for a bit," he begins, trailing the knife down my neck, "we've had quite a time getting to know each other again."
I squirm under the cool metal, making Denver's free hand come up to yank my hair back. I let out a hiss, trying to keep it as quiet as I can so Harry won't hear it. I don't want him to worry but I know that's impossible. "Stay quiet you bitch." Denver spits, digging the knife into my collarbone and letting it lightly slice me. My face scrunches up as I feel my skin rip from the knife.
It stings a bit, but I don't want to show it on my face. I try my hardest to return my face back to normal, hoping Harry didn't catch that brief moment of pain written all over it. I won't let them have the upper hand in thinking they're hurting me. I feel a little drop trailing down my skin and I wish I could reach up to touch it because I know it's blood.
I hate the smell of it.
He continues to trace the knife across my collarbones, digging in harder in some places than others, leaving little cuts along the way. I feel the tears stream down my face as I realize that I'm going to have more scars but I take a few deep breaths to compose myself. I'm stronger now, I'll learn to love these ones too.
"It's been a little while since Ollie's been exposed to me like this, if you don't count the sex tape that is." He sickly says, bringing the knife back up to my cheek.
His words make me physically ill. I don't understand how someone can think it's okay to say stuff like this and get away with it. I also don't understand how I was with him for so long, he's so vile.
I swallow thickly and my mind races back to Harry. How he's everything that Denver never could be and never will be.
Harry is love.
He's kind, he's loving, he's compassionate. He falls for people, and when he does he falls hard. He's forgiving, and he cares so much about the people he loves, sometimes it feels like it's too much with the way he puts himself last. He's also too hard on himself sometimes, he acts out of impulse, and he'll put everyone before him. He curses like an absolute sailor, but it's what makes him Harry.
My Harry.
Elvis. Cooking. Criminal Minds. KISS. Derivatives. Skin to skin. Pranks. Skincare. Teddy. H.
The two of us, together, we're stronger. It feels like nothing can break us apart and nothing can tear us down. We're invincible. Right now though, I feel weak. I feel broken, I don't feel strong, and I feel far from invincible.
I feel defeated.
Denver makes his way around to my left side and holds my arm out, showcasing my scars. He takes note of my tattoo and traces it with the tip of the knife. "I thought I told you that ink like this would ruin your body." He says, tapping the flat edge against my tattoo, my tattoo that means so much to me. I send him a glare, "too bad I don't listen to abusive bastards like you."
I wire my eyes shut as I prepare for the slap to come my way, which it does at full force. The sound of his palm making contact with my cheek cracks through the room, almost deafening in my ear. I can feel my cheek already bruising, already matching my other one and the metallic taste in my mouth makes me quiver. I quietly whimper as my jaw clenches, but I can't stop the cry that escapes my lips as he slices my arm with the knife, over my pre-existing scars.
Looks like I've just earned myself another mark.
"Watch your mouth," Victor speaks from behind the camera, "we could do a lot more damage to you if we wanted to. Behave."
I can feel the blood trickle down my arm, the warmth of it making me feel sick. "It's true," I whisper, disregarding Victor's threat. "You're an abusive bastard who uses manipulation to control everyone around you, but then again so does Anna. A match made in hell." I spit out, watching Denver's face contort into one of anger. "Where is she by the way? Off fucking some guy who can actually satis—"
My head is suddenly yanked back and I go rigid as I feel the knife pressed up against my throat. My throat bobs against the knife and I know that just one wrong move will be the literal fucking death of me. "Shut the fuck up," Denver harshly whispers, pressing the knife even harder against my neck, tears leaking from my eyes. "Don't worry about her, she's taking care of Harry's little bitch boy. We'll have to figure something out about him soon."
I really fucking hate him.
He presses the knife a bit harder against my neck, letting it dig in just a tad before he pulls back, allowing me to exhale a large breath. I didn't even realize I was holding my breath in.
I'm trembling in my chair now, blood dripping from my neck, collarbone and arm. I peer into the camera, remembering that Harry will be watching this, and I let out a sob. I know this is going to make him spiral, he's going to lose it and it's all my fault.
Denver grabs my wrists and inspects the backs of my hands, giving the camera a sick smirk as he does. "Such a shame," he mutters, running his thumb over my scars. His touch makes me shrink, I only ever want Harry touching them like this. "Your hands used to look so pretty wrapped around my cock, but now I highly doubt Harry feels the same."
My head hangs at his words and he knows he's getting to me now. He's found my one insecurity that will wreck me. The one thing I was just beginning to love myself for. I try and wiggle my hands out of his grasp but he only clamps down harder, making the rope cut even more into my skin. I whimper at the stinging sensation as Denver trails the knife over my hands. "What a nice little show you're putting on for Harry," Victor remarks from behind the camera, sending me a smirk over the lens of it.
"Does Harry like your scars? Does he kiss them all over and tell you how pretty you are? What's it feel like to be lied to every night?" Denver spits out, tracing one of my larger scars, a wide dark purple one, one of my least favourite ones.
Bastard.
I harden my gaze as I look him in the eyes, silent tears still streaming down my eyes. "H-He doesn't lie. He loves them." I tell him, knowing that it's true. Harry wouldn't lie to me about them, he loves me too much to do that. Denver digs the tip of the knife into the scar, making me cry out and attempt to pull my hand away with no avail. "Don't lie to me Ollie," he warns, keeping the tip of the knife in my scar. "I-I'm not." I bite back, whimpering as he drags the knife further down my scar, reopening the wound, "I wasn't the pathetic fucking liar in our relationship and I'm still not one now."
I let out a scream as Denver slices through my hand, extending his cut past the scar he started on, creating an even bigger gash on my left hand. I can't stop myself from crying in pain, and not being able to stop the blood from dripping down my hand only makes me cry harder.
I hate that Harry is going to see this, I hate that I'm crying and that he's going to watch me be a pathetic whimpering mess like this.
I wanted to be strong.
I watch Victor go into the corner of the room where a duffle bag lies that I had failed to notice earlier, the lighting in here being so fucking shit. I anxiously watch him as he ruffles through it, ignoring the camera and ignoring Denver who's just dropped my hands and is now touching my cheek with the bloody knife. Victor turns around with a jar in his hand and the contents of the jar are just as deadly to me as the knife.
"This is a warning Harry," Victor says, standing beside me with a jar of peanut butter in plain view. "We know dear Lia here doesn't have her epipen, and we know that just one tiny spoonful of this is enough to make her throat close, for good."
It sounds pathetic when he says it, that I can be killed by a glob of fucking peanut butter but I was born with it, I didn't fucking choose this allergy. I let Harry take the piss out of it because it is funny when we're just joking and stuff, but it's not so funny right now, especially when he's right. I don't have my epipen.
He uncaps the jar and sticks his finger in, scooping up a good chunk of peanut butter onto it. The smell makes me gag and I go to turn my head away from it but Denver grabs my jaw forcing me to look into the camera, pressing the knife against my cheek to keep me there. The combined smell of my blood and the peanut butter makes me want to vomit, it sends the worst kind of shivers down my spine knowing that they could easily kill me right now and show it to Harry. I pray to god they don't though, I don't want him to go through that.
"Come back and sign your life away to the ring or we kill her. Simple."
They don't mention Niall.
That freaks me out because it'll just send both him and Jenna into another spiral about where Niall could be. They won't know that he's with me, they won't know that he's safe. For now.
Him asking Harry to come back to the ring has my heart beating even harder. I don't want Harry to have to go back to that, he deserves better than that. He was miserable for so long and now that he's free, I won't let it happen again.
Not this time.
Victor sucks the peanut butter off his finger before closing the cap and walking away back towards the camera. My cheek is throbbing, and my entire upper body is stinging from the cuts I've been given, from the scars that have been added to my body.
Before Victor stops recording, I mouth an 'I love you' into the camera needing to tell Harry that, no matter the punishment that would come my way for it. I needed to tell him, for both my own sake and his.
He hits the record button again, signalling the end of the video and I let out a sob at the sight, finally seeing the red light disappear. My tears mix in with the blood on my cheeks, making pink-coloured tears drip down onto my thighs. I'm in so much pain and my stomach feels like it's eating itself from the inside out, I'm so hungry.
"Let's see what Harry has to say about this, yeah?" Denver says, tucking my hair behind my ear. I flinch away from his touch, desperately just wanting them to leave me alone in this room with Matt.
I'm basically a hollow corpse anyways.
I just want it all to fucking stop, but most importantly, I just want my Harry.
Harry's POV
Waking up this morning fucking sucked. Technically I didn't even fucking sleep unless you count the 45 minutes I passed out this morning due to exhaustion, but I wouldn't.
I laid awake all night and watched over Jenna. She originally passed out right away, probably from exhaustion, but it didn't take her long to wake herself up from a nightmare. She had suddenly shot out of bed, crying and shouting out a "Niall!" I immediately shot up beside her, my hand going to rest on her upper back, rubbing small circles as she brought herself back.
"It's okay, you're okay." I tiredly whispered to her, pushing her shoulder back to make her lay down again. I laid beside her on my side, rubbing her shoulder as she regained her breathing. "Fuck, sorry." She breathed out, her chest heaving. "You're fine Jen," I told her, patting her shoulder "go back to sleep, I'm here."
I watched as she brought her hand up to squeeze mine before exhaustion took over again and she closed her eyes and fell back to sleep. I wish it was that easy for me, I envied her for that.
Last night I just kept thinking about Lia. I couldn't not think about her. She's always on my mind on a regular basis, but even more so now.
Was she okay? Was she cold? Was Niall with her? Is she hurt? Does she miss me as much as I miss her?
It felt weird to lay in bed and not have her cuddled up into my side, her arms wrapped around my singular one, her face buried into the side of my neck. I missed the soft puffs of her breath against my neck, ones that gave me goosebumps. I missed the feeling of her legs intertwining with mine and I missed tracing her scars, showing her just how much I loved her. I just missed her.
It's funny thinking back now to how I used to be. One of my fucking 'rules' was that no one was allowed to stay over at my place, and Lia broke that rule — among the others — her very first night here. I should have known back then that I was about to fall in deep with this girl.
I've never met anyone like her and I never will. She's the only person in my life who knows me better than I know myself. She's my rock, my person, my teddy. I trust her with my entire fucking life, and I would hands down risk my life for her, just like I know she would for me.
We're stubborn like that.
If I could, I'd take her spot in a fucking heartbeat. I'd trade places with her and have it be me who goes through whatever the fuck she has so far. I'd rather it be me than her. She didn't deserve this, not in the fucking slightest, but I did.
I should have been the one who was taken, this was my mess from the very start, long before I even met Lia. I should have fucking went with her to get that damn ice cream, I should never have let her go alone. I got way too comfortable with our new life and now it's biting me in the ass in the worst way possible.
I'm never fucking eating ice cream again.
All I want is to get out of the house, to do something and find them. I know they aren't okay, I can feel it. Plus it's Denver and Victor, they're sick fucking bastards.
I've been checking my phone nonstop, hoping that somehow I'll get a call from somewhere, maybe even Lia. I'm so desperate and miserable. Every second that's passing by is digging an even bigger hole in my chest.
I didn't even have the appetite to eat anything. A sick thought constantly runs through my mind that Niall and Lia haven't eaten either, and it immediately deters any appetite that builds up inside of me.
I've only been able to choke down a fucking smoothie, courtesy of Jenna. She wasn't hungry either but unlike me, she cared about our well-being during a time like this and knew that we needed to eat if we wanted to get through this.
"It's one of Niall's freak smoothies," she said with a light laugh, splitting the orange liquid into two glasses, "just pretend that he's yelling at you to 'fuckin' choke it down.'"
I could hardly get half of it down my throat before I had enough, sliding it towards Jenna. It just felt wrong to be acting like nothing was happening when this was something huge, and I should be doing something about it. I didn't even fucking know if Niall and Lia were being taken care of. I highly doubted it and that just made me push the smoothie further into Jenna's hands.
We've done nothing all morning, Connor just keeps telling us to "hang tight" but I can only do that for so much longer before I fucking lose it and go looking for them myself. It's taking everything in me to not leave but I need to think about the consequences. If it just affected me, I wouldn't give a fuck, but that's not the case. My actions affect Jenna, Lia, and Niall. I need to be smart about this.
I can't fuck this up.
I've been pathetically carrying Lia's shirt around with me everywhere I go, and Elvis has been cuddling up to me too, more than usual. I think he can tell something is wrong. While we drank our smoothies this morning, I found him curled up on top of Lia's shirt, telling me he missed her just as much as I do.
I just miss her in everything I do. I could barely brush my teeth this morning without thinking about how it's something we both did together. I missed how I wouldn't stop staring at her as she brushed her teeth beside me only to catch me doing it, and how her cheeks would flush.
I feel pathetic without her and it's only just been a day that she's not here. This pain hurts even more than when we broke up. That time I at least knew she was safe wherever she was, but now I don't know anything and that's eating me alive.
I'm clueless.
Even being at fucking Niall's place, I see her everywhere I turn. I see her in the pesto sauce he has in the cupboard, I see her in the moisturizer Jenna has on the bathroom counter, I see her in the fucking engagement ring Niall has tucked away in his drawer. I see her but I don't have her.
I've looked at the ring a few times now today, when Jenna was showering or making our smoothies. It's massive and pretty which I know will suit Jenna perfectly. When he brought up the idea of proposing to Jenna a few days ago, I had to laugh because I had been on a ring website when he had called me.
The both of us were in disbelief, not believing how in sync the two of us were but it makes sense when you think about it really. We're brothers.
Niall had an easier time finding a ring and I envy him for it. I couldn't help but to cry as I was looking at it again this morning because now I'm fucking terrified that he'll never get the chance to propose to Jenna, and I'll never get the chance to propose to Lia.
Makes me wish that one of my pranks was actually the real thing.
Both of them are so innocent in all of this, and it makes me feel even guiltier that they're the ones who were taken and have had god knows what else done to them. I can only hope that they have each other right now and are okay.
They need to be.
Jenna and I are currently curled up on the couch, Elvis in the middle and a blanket thrown over the two of us as we map out the possible locations Niall and Lia could be held in. So far, we've got it narrowed down to Power House, Vulture, Combat, the ring, or at one of their other businesses they're in cahoots with like Creamy Drippers.
That gives us a list of so many places, some which we might not even know, like one of their businesses. We didn't know about Creamy Dippers so who knows what other store is shady as fuck like them. It honestly terrifies me because all of these places can be littered anywhere in Chicago. That can mean that Lia and Niall might not even be anywhere close by right now and it's making me go insane.
"Well, we need to start with their main locations first. That would mean the gym, the club, all of that." I speak up, making a list of them on a notepad. I figured if Connor was going to force us to just sit around, I would at least start brainstorming shit for him, I couldn't just do nothing at all.
Jenna looks over at me, her eyes still a little red from the lack of sleep she got. I'm sure mine look exactly the same. "Yeah." She nods, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Do you think they would take them somewhere so obvious though?"
She makes a point about it. Would they do that? I don't know if going to those places means that we would be wasting more time or if it's best to check them first. I can't afford the first option because that only gives them more time for bad shit to happen.
I can't let them get hurt.
"Fuck!" I exclaim, dropping the notepad into my lap and running my hands through my hair. "I-I don't know what to do Jenna, I really don't. I just want them back but how the fuck are we going to do that?" I can feel the stinging of tears in my eyes, or maybe it's because of how exhausted I am, who knows.
"Harry..." Jenna says, reaching out to touch my shoulder. I lift my head up to look at her, and I feel fucking hopeless. This is all my fault and I can't even do anything to fix it. Right when she goes to open her mouth to speak, my phone beeps. I'm quick to scramble to pick it up, hoping it has something to do with Lia and Niall.
I look down at my screen and notice that it's an unknown number, making me furrow my brows. "What?" I mumble to myself and I can feel Jenna's eyes on the side of my face, before she moves closer to me so we can look at the phone together.
"Who is it, Harry?" She speaks up and I glance over to her, shaking my head with a scared look in my eyes. "I don't know.....but we're about to find out."
As I open the text, I see a link attached to it, one that has an uneasy feeling settling into my stomach. There's also a text attached to it. 'Deadline: Friday. 4pm.' That's in two days. From watching all of those fucking Criminal Minds episodes Lia has made me sit through, getting links like this can never be a good thing.
Ever.
I thickly swallow and look over at Jenna who reaches up to squeeze the side of my arm before nodding at me. "Go ahead, I'm here with you Harry. We'll do it together." I curtly nod and prop my phone up on the table to rest it against the centrepiece before I click the link, only to see that it's a video.
As soon as the video starts to play I immediately freeze up and feel my heart drop to my stomach. "Call Connor," I whisper to Jenna, my eyes not leaving the screen as I watch Denver toy with Lia. "Jenna, call him. Now."
I hear her fumble for her phone as she informs Connor about this but I block the sound of her shaky voice out and instead focus on Lia. She looks cold. She looks cold, scared, vulnerable and tired. She's fucking shirtless and that terrifies me too, I pray those sick fucks didn't touch her. She's looking into the camera, ignoring Denver's stare on her and I feel like she's looking at me. Into my soul.
My eyes begin to water at the sight of her beautiful face, one that I haven't seen in almost 24 hours now and I just want to cry. She doesn't look okay, she doesn't look anything like my strong, fierce little tiger.
I feel fucking sick knowing that I was right. Somewhere in the back of my mind I kept hoping and holding on to the idea that maybe she wasn't with Victor or Denver, that maybe it was something else, because nothing could be worse than what I'm seeing right now.
My eyes flicker over the video, trying to take in Lia as much as I possibly can. My brows furrow as one nagging thought in my mind makes me tense though, and it worries me immensely.
Where's Niall?
The worst thoughts come in my head about what could have happened to him, and I don't want to believe them. I kept hoping and wishing that they both were together, but from the looks of this video, it doesn't seem like it.
My throat closes at the sight of the knife in the video and Jenna gasps from beside me, her hand immediately grabbing onto my forearm, right above my teddy tattoo. "Teddy...." I whisper. I furiously blink my eyes, ridding away any tears. I need to have a clear vision as I watch this, I need to figure out where she is.
Seeing the dried blood around her restrained wrists and ankles almost has me flipping the fucking table. "Hi Harry" Denver's voice speaks out, making my hands automatically curl into fists. "It was so nice of you to lend us Ollie for a bit, we've had quite a time getting to know each other again."
I watch as he trails the knife over her jaw and down her neck, making me clench my fists so tight I can feel my nails indent in my palms. Lia squirms under his touch and it makes me want to sob, I never wanted her to ever come within two feet of him ever again, and now she's got no choice.
My eyes automatically squeeze shut as he pulls her hair back, I can't handle her whimper of pain. I can feel my body shaking. "Stay quiet you bitch" he spits out, making me wish that I could kill him with my bare hands right now.
I can't do this.
"Harry...." Jenna trails off, her voice wobbly and thick. I can't get myself to look at her, afraid that I'll miss something important that they'll do to Lia so instead I just blindly grab her hand, squeezing it in mine. We both need the comfort as we watch this sick fucking video.
As we watch him cut her skin, I feel the vomit in my stomach inch closer and closer up my throat, I feel physically sick. As he inches closer to her teddy tattoo, I feel myself tense up. I watch him trace over it with the knife, wishing that he tripped over his feet and impaled himself with it.
Sue me.
Lia is so fucking strong. Her words are anything but weak against him and it makes me so fucking proud of her. She's grown so much over these last few months and it's all because of her own strength and will. She's so fucking amazing.
The slap on her face makes me stand up, Jenna cries on the couch as we watch Lia cry out in pain, tears racing down her cheeks. I'd do anything to wrap my fucking hands around his throat right now. I can barely even see my fucking phone through my tears as I try and calm myself down, my chest heaving uncontrollably.
Jenna tugs on my hand to force me back down, and it takes everything in me to do so.
I want to fucking kill him.
Victor eventually speaks up from behind the camera, confirming my thoughts that it was the two of them that did all of this. I can't see his face from his spot behind the camera but I just know he looks smug.
When Lia speaks up and spits words out at Denver, I can't control myself and a sob escapes my lips. Her voice is full of hatred for him, something I've never even heard before. I craved the sound of her sweet, beautiful voice to ring through my ears again and I hate that this is how I'm hearing it.
As soon as he brings the knife to her throat, I freeze. I almost lurch forward as if I could reach through the phone and fucking strangle him myself. I hear Jenna gasp beside me and my entire body begins to shake as he presses it harder against her neck, drawing some blood.
Once he starts talking about her scars I know she's going to falter. My baby is so strong but I know this is going to push her over the edge.
"Does Harry like your scars? Does he kiss them all over and tell you how pretty you are? What's it feel like to be lied to every night?" Denver spits out at Lia and I watch him trace her scars with the knife, making my body shake. I need Lia to not believe him, I need her to know that I mean every single fucking word I tell her. They're beautiful, she's beautiful, and I love them. They're a part of her.
My tiger and her stripes.
My heart soars in my chest and I feel a small smile come over my face as she tells him that I don't lie to her and that I do love them. But my smile quickly fades into a frown as I watch him slice her hand, making me scream alongside Lia. "No, no, no, no," I mumble to myself, watching Lia in pain like this, watching the blood pour out of her restrained hand. I feel so fucking helpless not being able to do anything at all. This is the worst form of torture.
Jenna stuffs her face into the crook of my neck, turning away from the video. I don't blame her, I may fucking vomit at the sight in front of me but I need to keep watching, I need to make sure she's okay for the most part.
No matter how much it hurts.
Victor suddenly makes an appearance in the video and what's in his hands makes me gasp, causing Jenna to turn her head and look as well. I can feel the material of my shirt become soaked with her tears and my thighs are soaked with my own. I don't think I've stopped crying since I hit play. This is the worst fucking thing they could ever do to me and they know it. They know physically hurting me would never compare to the amount of pain I feel right now, watching them hurt Lia and knowing I can't do anything about it.
"This is a warning Harry, we know dear Lia here doesn't have her epipen, and we know that just one tiny spoonful of this is enough to make her throat close, for good." Victor says. I watch Denver use the knife to hold her in place, smearing her own blood onto her pretty cheek.
"Come back and sign your life away to the ring or we kill her. Simple."
All the blood drains from my face, fully believing that they will.
My entire body is shaking and my stomach is convulsing. I feel like I just had the worst fight of my life with how much fucking pain I'm in, and it makes me cry harder just thinking about the fact that Lia is probably in ten times more pain than I am.
I watch Victor walk back towards the camera but I keep my eyes on Lia as she stares into the camera, looking defeated.
Like she's given up.
"C'mon baby," I mutter under my breath, "be my fierce fuckin' tiger."
I take in her bruised cheek, her cut up chest and gashed hand before I return my gaze back up to her face. The last thing I see before the camera cuts is her mouth parting. 'I love you' she mouths, and I completely lose it.
My elbows rest on my knees as my hands come up to cover my face, sobbing into them as the video goes black. "I l-love you t-too," I sob out, feeling Jenna's hand rub over my back as she too, cries her heart out.
It's silent as I think about Ophelia and I. I can hear my heart pounding and my blood pumping in my ears. I can feel my hands slightly shaking and for a moment I forget where I am.
That was the hardest fucking thing I've ever had to watch, and I can't believe I even managed to get through it without becoming sick or running out the fucking door to hunt them down. Lia is strong, I know that and she knows that too, but she just went through a fuck ton of shit and I don't know if she'll be able to fully bounce back from that all.
I wouldn't blame her if she didn't, but I'd still love her all the same.
I let myself freely cry, not giving a fuck that Jenna is witnessing this. My chest heaves as I cry into my hands, wishing I had Lia's hands pressed up against my skin to calm me down. I'd do anything for one of our shirtless hugs right now.
Skin to skin.
"C'mon H, b-breathe for me, breathe for L-Lia." Jenna coos, her own breath hitching in her throat as she tries to calm herself as well. I feel her hand tangle in the strands that lay at the nape of my neck, strands that I wish Lia were touching right now.
She's right, I need to bring myself back down for Lia. I can't let my emotions get the best of me because I know now that I say and do shit I shouldn't when I let my emotions take control. I lift my hands off my face and use the sleeve of my shirt to dry my cheeks, my lips quivering as I attempt to take deep breaths.
"There you go," Jenna whispers, noticing the rising of my chest beginning to decrease in its harshness. I flip my phone down so I don't have to stare at the black screen Lia was just occupying and instead I focus on my tattoo, stretching my arm out to stare at it and trace it with my other hand.
I miss my teddy.
As I trace the tattoo and think solely about my Ophelia, I feel myself begin to calm down. I think about our relationship. I think about our showers, our cooking nights, our conversations, our sex, our laughs, our skincare routine, our pranks, our date nights, our pillow talk.....I just reminisce about it all. I think about how much I fucking love her and everything that makes up our relationship.
Elvis. Cooking. Criminal Minds. KISS. Derivatives. Skin to skin. Pranks. Skincare. Teddy. H.
Every part of that video was sickening. It was awful, it was disturbing, but what made it the absolute worst was that it was my Ophelia that was sitting there and having to go through all of that.
My sadness and worrying for Lia immediately transforms into pure hatred for Denver and Victor, the kind that I've never felt for someone before. The urge I have to just hunt them down and kill them right there on the spot is so strong and it's taking all I have to not just get up and run.
For Lia's safety.
"That was awful." Jenna cries out, shoving face into her hands as she cries into them. She has her elbows resting on her knees, looking down at her lap. "I-I hope she's okay." She hiccups out.
All I can do is squeeze her shoulder, completely understanding how she's feeling it. That really was something so awful, something I never want anyone to ever have to see. "I do too." I whisper out quietly.
We both silently sit here after that, trying to take in whatever we just witnessed. Lia's cries and whimpers keep ringing through my ear. Her beautiful face, now full of sadness and fear, keeps flashing in front of my eyes and I hate myself even more for not being able to help her at all.
"Why wasn't Niall there?" Jenna asks all of a sudden, slicing the silence we were once consumed by. I slowly turn my head to look at her, noticing the constant tears racing down her cheeks, not letting up in the slightest. "Harry, where was Niall? Why wasn't h-he there with Lia? H-Harry, where is he? Oh my god, he would b-be with her if he was alive r-r-right?"
Jenna's hands are shaking as she blankly stares at me and I feel my heart fucking shatter inside. She's right, where was Niall?
"Oh g-god did they ki—"
"Stop that." I tell her, hauling her into my chest. She lets out a heartbreaking sob as I let out my own as well, crying for Lia, crying for Niall, crying for Jenna....crying for me.
Jenna squeezes me tightly, her face buried into my chest and I can feel her tears soaking my shirt. I don't mind it though, if she needs someone to lean on, I'll gladly be that for her right now.
We both need each other right now.
I hope Niall is okay, wherever he is. I'm trying to deter away from the bad thoughts that keep flowing through my head and hoping for the positive side of things. I can't lose him, I physically can't.
This last year has been the most chaotic year of my life. I endured the most pain I ever have and felt the sadness to the lowest level of sadness a person can ever feel. But I have also been the happiest person ever.
Because of Lia.
I don't think I ever could have gotten through everything I did without her by my side. She always tells me that it's never someone else that can make a person better, that it has to be the individual themselves that have to learn to love themselves but I don't think that's true. At least, not in my case.
I was a hollow person. I was empty, sad, lonely, angry — all the things I didn't even know I was the last two years. I was simply living, existing in the world but not for anyone. Not for Ava, or Niall, or even myself.
Then I met Lia and it was the most beautiful accident of my life. It was chaos in the best way possible. It was exciting, it was fun and it was nerve wracking, but it made me happy.
So fucking happy.
She flipped my world upside down, she became my best friend, my number one supporter and I fell in love with her. I wholeheartedly gave her every part of me, put my heart on a plate and handed it to her without another look back at it and I have absolutely no regrets.
That's why it hurts so bad. Seeing her like this physically feels like someone ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it, leaving it on the ground to suffer. I couldn't protect her like I promised I would, I couldn't keep her safe, and I couldn't be her Harry.
I don't even realize I'm crying again until I feel a tear drop on my hand, breaking me away from my thoughts. I just miss her so fucking much. I sniffle and quickly wipe my face, knowing that Connor should be here any minute now.
Right on cue, a knock on the door rings out and I hurriedly rush to open it, allowing Connor, Elijah, and a few other random men to barge in with bags filled with shit that probably costs more money than I'll ever make in my entire life.
"I-It's on the table," I tell them, not even uttering a hello or doing any introduction shit, I just want them to trace the fucking video. I just want my Ophelia back. Elijah sends me a smile along with Jenna, and he goes to walk past us before he stops. "I'm sorry," he says, "I was just doing my job. I know I fucked you over a lot Jenna and I'm surprised you didn't fire me, but thank you. I hope you understand." Jenna sends him a soft smile, "it's alright Elijah, just find Niall and Lia for us please."
Jenna and I walk over to the couch and stand behind it, watching as Connor and his team set up all their shit on the table. "We're going to have to watch the video." Connor informs us, turning his head over his shoulder to spare us a glance. "If you don't want to watch it again, go to another room. It's okay if you don't."
My first instinct is to blurt out a 'no', that I don't want to fucking see Lia be tortured again as I helplessly watch on. My body wants to say no, not wanting to be put under that stress again, but my mind says to stay. I know I should stay, maybe a second time around will let me see shit more clearly, or maybe I'll just fucking spiral.
Wouldn't be the first time.
"I'm staying," Jenna blurts out as her arms wrap around my own, seeking comfort. "Me too," I add, giving Connor a subtle nod to which he just returns back.
Jenna and I silently watch them set everything up, all the wires, computers, and little box things that I have no idea what the fuck do, but hope that they do their fucking job in finding the people I love. It's silent for a few more minutes, other than my foot obsessively tapping on the ground. My teeth chew the fuck out of my bottom lip and I can't help but to smile at myself, Lia would rip me to shreds if she saw me copying her like this.
"Okay, we're starting it now. You need to stay quiet."
I silently nod my head and feel Jenna's hand tighten on my arm as one of the men press play, Lia immediately coming up on the screen. My hands curl into fists at the sight of her again, hating that all of these fucking feds are seeing her shirtless like this with her scars out, I know she'd hate that.
It's not any easier to watch this the second time around, and I find myself closing my eyes and turning my head away with every hiss or cry Lia lets out. Seeing her like this is my worst fucking nightmare and I really just can't fucking believe that I'm living it right now.
All that's heard is the sound of the video and the typing of keyboards Connor and them are using. If this is anything like the movies it shouldn't be taking this long to find the location, and that worries me.
Suddenly from beside me, Jenna lets out a gasp. "Stop the video!" She yells out, running around the couch, "stop the fucking video!" Connor immediately pauses it as I quickly shuffle towards them, my heart racing. My eyes rapidly flit from Jenna's to the screen, wondering what the fuck she's seeing that I'm not.
What am I missing?
"What is it, Jen?" Connor asks, staring at Jenna with just as much intensity as I am. Her hand shakily lifts up and she points to the top right corner where a faint poster of something can be seen.
"I've seen that before." She whispers, brows furrowed and lips pouted. It's silent for a few seconds as we wait for Jenna to continue, my stomach queasy and churning in nerves. I stare at Lia as we wait, using her to calm me down and not snap at Jenna to hurry the fuck up. I take in her pretty hair, her pretty eyes, her pretty lips....just admiring how fucking stunning she is and how lucky I am.
"Oh my god," she whispers. Her mouth parts as her eyes glance up at me, a smile taking over her face. "Oh my god!" She laughs, her eyes crinkling as she smiles — something she hasn't done all day.
"Spit it out Jen," I tell her, apprehensive of her knowledge. I don't want to get excited, I don't want to get my hopes up in case she's wrong about whatever knowledge she thinks she may have.
I need to remain calm.
"I've been in that room before," she explains, "when I got the security cameras for the bar, they had their extras stored in that room so the guy took me in there and I remember that poster because I thought it was a bit weird to have a Chicago Bulls poster in a storage room but I just overlooked it cause who was I to judge? I mean, I have a fucking Cubs one in the back room of Neon Gravity so I didn't really think I had room to jud—"
"Jenna if you do not tell me what the fuck you know right now..." I trail off, getting pissed at her rambling. Jenna reaches out to grab my cheeks, keeping her gaze on me as she speaks.
"Vulture. They're at Vulture."
Author's Note: Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Vulture we gooo.....
Are we finally getting a Hia reunion? But also chaos is just beginning......
Thank you for reading. Stay safe everyone, we love you!
See you Thursday!
A & S