The Silence That Surrounds: Screams of the Damned

Narrator’s POV:

Daylen’s hand was sticking out the window as the wind and rain blew forcefully through his small fingers. It entertained the younger blonde boy and made him smile.

“Jace, we’re goin’ ‘ome?” Daylen asked for the third time in the span of only ten minutes.

It was almost like he needed to be reassured this was real.

Jace sighed softly beside Louis, rubbing his forehead tiredly, but also with relief, his eyes watching his brother’s hand to make sure he didn’t put it too far out.

“Yes, Dy, we’re going home. I promise, I swear by this time tomorrow we’re going to be on a plane and on our way back to Oklahoma.” Jace reassured gently, glancing at Louis and shooting him a look.

Louis didn’t miss the subtle look and nodded.

“He’s right, lad. This time tomorrow, it will have been all a night –“ His words stopped dead in his throat when a muffled exclamation and a sharp kick to the boot caught his attention. “Bloody smurf cookies and dog shit. He shouldn’t be awake for another hour and a half; not good.”

Jace was already cocking an eyebrow up at the older man.

“Who’s in the trunk? Did you kidnap someone else?” Jace demanded, folding his arms across his chest suspiciously.

Louis chuckled and ran his hand through his damp hair.

“Yes and no.” He kept his answer vague.

Jace shook his head.

“Who did you kidnap? Are they being released with us?” He continued on, ignoring Louis’s vagueness.

Daylen pulled his hand inside the window, now interested in the conversation his older brother was having with their kidnapper.

“No, but I’ll pay you to take him off our hands. Just tie him up, stuff him in your luggage and if he trips off the scanners at the airport, report him as a stowaway and make sure McMichaelson is the arresting officer…if he’s still alive.” Louis smirked, although behind his façade the sadness in his troubled blue eyes was still great.

“Why would he die?” Daylen asked, moving his feet out to stretch.

“Might have gagged him with my socks…and Asher Heart is well prepared evidently for another citizen’s arrest as he had several rolls of duct tape in his boot. So, needless to say, those socks are staying in and with any luck, Zayn will pass out from the taste. Might also not have had a chance to change them for three days…possibly four. I don’t know, I do know though that I wouldn’t wanna be him right now.” Louis hummed with a small chuckle when Daylen let out a mortified ‘ewww’.

Jace could almost feel a bout of sympathy come from the barely beating organ he called a heart, but then he remembered that they were all responsible for him and his brother’s abduction, so that emotion went straight up the elephant’s arse.

“Seems rather crude.” Jace defended Zayn, earning a snort from Louis, his foot pushing down on the pedal to increase their speed.

He just wanted to unload the kids off on Grear so they could have a chance to escape before Damien found out and sent reinforcements.

“He killed my ex-girlfriend. Zayn Malik is lucky that is all I did to the bloody bastard. If I had a used spare sock, the third one would have been tied under his nose.” Louis huffed, his good mood souring by the moment.

Daylen giggled despite what happened earlier; the ride felt genuine and calmer. Louis wasn’t a bad man – well, not entirely. He was willing to help them and that’s all Daylen knew. He knew Louis was good because he was letting them go home.

“Dad told you about laughing at inappropriate moments, Day. Don’t encourage bad intentions.” Jace chastised, although he was more on alert than his younger brother due to being taught never to accept food on a silver platter. It may look good, but the person serving it may not always have the best intentions.

“But da’ don’t gots a sense of ‘umor. ‘e’s a tight ass.” Daylen folded his arms across his chest and making Louis chuckle.

“I’m afraid your brother is lost to the dark side. Lucky for him though, he still has a chance of making ethical choices and lad? Do me a favor, hm?” Louis glanced at the older brother before putting his eyes back on the darkening skies.

Jace turned to glare at the side of Louis’s face, keeping silent to let him continue uninterrupted.

A heartbeat of silence is all it took for Louis to continue without confirmation.

“Get the little tyke out of here the moment you reach the hotel and do not linger about in London. It isn’t safe and if Damien Styles gets word or even a scent sniff that you haven’t left, then you have very little chance of getting out at all. If it takes leaving without your father, so be it. Just get the fuck out of England and don’t ever come back, you hear me, half-pint?” Louis spoke, announcing each word in calm and gentle tone.

“After this bullshit? Mom will probably forbid my father from even taking Daylen here to the mall. Trust me, you have no worries about us coming back, but what will happen to you once Damien finds out?” Jace asked with a slightly cocked eyebrow, continuing on to feed Louis a little tidbit of information. “Especially when he finds out that Kevin didn’t try to stop me from leaving.”

Now it was Louis’s turn to be confused.

“Kevin? Niall’s pigeon-gopher-rat thing?”

Jace’s confusion only deepened with his frown.

“Huh?”

Louis shook his head.

“If you ran into the short brunette fuck, that would be Liam, brown hair and brown eyes. If you ran into Niall – which, by the way, he has issues with blaming imaginary animal hybrids when he gets in trouble – he’s the dyed blonde…which I may need to speak to him about as I think the dye is beginning to kill his braincells. Kevin is his gopher-pigeon-rat-flying monkey squirrel thing or whatever it is to him at the time of freak out.” Louis explained with a shrug.

Jace simply folded his arms tighter around his chest.

“Well, he saw me and froze, nodded at me to go on, I nodded back at him and ran out and saw you guys, but he said something about Kevin being in a lot of fucking trouble.”

Louis waved him off.

“Kevin will be just fine, it’s Niall I’m concerned about. Idiot didn’t try to stop you and when Harry finds out, he’s not going to be a very happy curly. He’ll find out, because Niall panics and blames Kevin, hence the problem.” Louis muttered.

“An’ you?” Daylen asked after a short pause, his hands folding in his lap.

Louis smiled, shrugging in response.

“Life, death and in between, little one. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me or the others, but I do suspect that when Harry unravels the trail of lies I set out that he will go atomic bomb on all of us – except for Zayn, he’ll probably issue him an apology…though, he’s Harry so, probably not.”

Jace chose to look out the window and say nothing else. It wasn’t his problem and he didn’t care what happened to the older man or even Sophia. It may have been cruel, but they had kidnapped them in the first place.

“Tha’ don’ seem fair.” Daylen emphasized with a frown. His innocence alone was enough to melt even the blackest hearts.

“Well, sometimes life isn’t fair, lad. You got to pull your knickers up and go with what you’re dealt. Which brings me to my next point,” Louis began, scratching his head in slight annoyance. “Damien owns the monopoly around here and I cannot emphasize enough not to get London’s finest involved, because Damien controls them on a level that goes deep below the surface. Mr. McMichaelson is the head pig, which means: if you want Damien to know you’ve escaped your cages, then by all means, go and file a report. He’ll call Damien and then Satan’s protégé will come in with guns a blazen’ and scary blokes, which will most likely end in the death of your old man and you being taken hostage again. I know you lads, nor I want that, so….” Louis trailed off his rant, the car going back to tense silence once more.

He warned them, the rest was all up to them to get back to their dad and leave London.

“Wha’ ‘appens if da’ wants to send a report?” Daylen asked, his head turning slightly sideways to show his curiosity.

“Nothing good.” Louis deadpanned, his face contorting to annoyance. He would need to make sure Colton did as he instructed and got those damn kids the fuck out of London before it was too late.

“So ‘ow can we stop ‘im?” Daylen frowned.

“We can’t,” Jace huffed, eyeing the older man in challenge. “Besides, I think he’s lying. I think he’s just trying to save his own damn preservation.”

Louis let out a long huff of compressed air in a loud laugh.

“Did I NOT just say that you are free to make a report? Little dude? For being younger, I’m pegging you the most intelligent sibling in this situation. At least you’re asking the important queries here. Jace, mate? Use your FUCKING BRAIN!” Louis exploded then, all masks of humor or amusement gone from his face, replaced with an explosive rage that had even quieted Zayn – which Louis guessed was listening in on their conversation.

“I could give a fuck! I mean, you KIDNAPPED US! Just because Sophia and you are helping now, it doesn’t excuse what you’ve done.” Jace gritted his teeth to keep his voice from growing louder and scaring Daylen.

“I don’t need to be excused from anything, laddy. What I need is for you to tone it down a bit, hm? Your brother doesn’t need to be present for your dramatics. If you want to make a report, by all means – do it, that then means my efforts and Sophia’s would have been for nothing and that’s the equivalent of dying for the same reason, but do what you want, I don’t give a fuck.” Louis waved him off, genuinely not caring. The way he was feeling, a bullet to the brain would be a great relief. He just didn’t have the guts to pull the trigger himself.

“Maybe I will.” Jace grumbled.

“Good, by all means. I mean, it’s only Daylen’s life on the line, right? No big deal.” Louis rolled his eyes, speaking in the most obvious sarcastic tone he could muster in hopes of jogging some common sense from the younger man.

Jace’s head snapped to Louis, his chocolate orbs growing darker.

“How dare you.” Jace growled.

Louis snorted.

“Yeah, how dare me. Mate? As much as I would LOVE to explain to you how everything works in the underground, I don’t have the time, nor, do I care to. What you need to know is; sometimes, the abductors aren’t always the bad guys and sometimes, maybe stop to think they don’t have a choice either,” Louis trailed off to let his words sink in, continuing after a short pause. “Having explained that, this conversation is now over. Go back to being a pain to your own arse, because mines already been beat enough these past few days and the very sound of your voice is grating on my last nerve.” He finished with warning, glancing to make sure Jace wasn’t going to attack him.

He wasn’t. He was back to staring out the window.

“Can I ‘ave some?” Daylen asked after a few minutes of silence, shifting to pick the items up from the ground.

Louis glanced at the items in his small but growing hands.

Two bottles of water.

Louis nodded.

“Help yourself, lad. They aren’t mine we stole this car – so, long as they’re sealed, go for it.” Louis gave him permission, hearing Jace scoff and mutter under his breath.

“What was that, laddy? I couldn’t hear you, buttercup. Poor hearing and whatnot.” Louis smirked, challenging the older brother.

Jace chose to use his right and remain silent.

“’e said ‘course ya did.” Daylen helped innocently.

“Thank you, Daylen. Now, let me emphasize on that statement; Harry’s car, yeah, I screwed the tree hole on that, but Asher Heart is a multimillion dollar musician. He can buy another one. I did not steal from some poor bastard like I am almost sure you assume I did. I stole this baby from a rich bastard and he deserved it for trying to get me arrested.” Louis defended himself.

“Who cares? You stole it, that’s the point. It wasn’t yours to take and I don’t care if he was the richest person in the world. It was wrong.” Jace stood by his moral ground and stomped his foot on the floor to make a point.

“You wan’ ‘ne, Jace?” Daylen interrupted, having been used to his father and brother arguing at home, which made the argument between Louis and him just another normal thing as Jace was always saying something to warrant being yelled at – from a kid’s perspective at least, it made sense. This argument was a lot less intense than it was when it was dad and Jace.

“No, it’s stolen property.” Jace growled in annoyance, not wanting to snap and hurt his brother’s feelings. He loved his sibling, even if the kid was dad’s favorite. It was hard to hate Daylen and from the time the little squirt came around, his mom always involved him with the younger boy’s raising and that in turn formed the attachment the brothers had. He’d die before he let something happen to Daylen.

“Okay, then can I still ‘ave ‘ne since Louis said it ‘was?” Daylen made sure to ask, holding the water bottle to the front. “Give this ‘ne ta Zayn cause ‘e’ll need it.” He offered as an afterthought a second after asking his brother permission.

Louis laughed.

“What makes you so sure that I’ll give him the water?” Louis challenged the same time Jace gave Daylen permission to drink.

“Cause ‘ou’re a nice person.” Daylen shrugged, dropping the other bottle between the two adults and continued to open his and gulp it down.

Louis said nothing, he simply moved the bottle to his side of the door.

Jace put his large hand outside the window and moved it up and down in a wave so the wind hit his skin.

“Please give tha’ ta Zayn.” Daylen nodded, sucking the top of his half-drunk water.

Louis continued to drive silently, though sighed when he felt the boy’s hand reach over to his shoulder and pat it, expecting the older man to answer.

“Fine, I promise.” Louis gave up, figuring the kid was going to bug him until he did it.

Jace let out a small snort type laugh.

“Always with the innocence, Day-day. Leave the abductor to his driving, because the sooner he gets us to where we need to go, the sooner we’ll be back with dad.” Jace reasoned.

Louis gritted his teeth.

“Listen here, you pretty boy model reject – if you don’t put a dummy in it, I’m going to makeshift one and superglue it in! Christ, you and your snarky attitude. No wonder your brother is the family favorite, because at least he doesn’t argue with everything everyone says! I say tomato, you’d say tomata – I’d say the sky is orange and you’d say it’s –“

“Gray.” Jace interrupted, making Louis slam his hand against the wheel.

“See?!” Louis accused, slamming his foot on the brake, making the car’s tires to lock to a skidding halt.

When he did that, Zayn’s body was thrown forward and a satisfying smack sounded from the back to give Louis some weird satisfaction when Zayn’s cries of pain and frustration started up again with the other man kicking up against the boot and yelling, which was muffled by the socks in his mouth and duct tape over his lips.

“Shut the fuck up, Achmed!” Louis yelled, grabbing Jace’s collar and pulling him so their faces were nose to nose. “Listen here Matilda and listen bloody well. If you want to die and drag Daylen with you, I can’t stop ya, but since I like the little lad, I don’t want to see that happen,” He shoved Jace away and hit the childproof locks on his side of the door. “And since you don’t understand big adult words, let me talk teenage American to you for a moment, yeah?”

Jace made to open his mouth but Louis was quick in slapping his hand over his mouth, pushing so Jace’s body was trapped against the seat.

“Nope, the adult is talking here – let’s see how the teenage yanks talk…” He trailed off in thought, shaking his head when he couldn’t even start to guess. “Never mind. Here’s the scope, Francesca; you or daddy call the police, you will rue it. You will die, that’s not a threat it’s a guarantee. So, get your stuff, get to the airport and get on the plane. If you don’t, you. will…die. Did I get through to you, Jennifer?”

Jace let out a curse through Louis’s hand, making him press down a little harder.

“Let’s try that again, Janice. Do. You. Understaaaaaaaaaand? Nod if we’re on the same page.” Louis waited for confirmation.

Jace’s brown eyes were as dark as bark. He was pissed, but he nodded.

Louis smiled and released Jace’s mouth, patting his cheek patronizingly.

“Good girl. Now, let’s get to our destination without resorting to anymore violence. By the way? I hate putting my hand over people’s mouths.” Louis muttered, wiping his hand on his shirt and starting the car again.

Jace just looked at Louis like he had lost his fucking mind…which was a starting possibility.

Louis glanced at Jace and snorted to his bewildered expression.

“If you’re going to act like a girl on her rag, I’m going to call you as many female names as I can think of, that okay with you, Clarice?” Louis antagonized, noticing in the rearview mirror that Daylen kept his stare in the direction of the boot, completely ignoring the men in the front.

Jace remained silent and stared ahead.

Louis smiled in triumph.

“I’m glad we understand one another now, Bambi.”

Daylen looked up to the front with a wide-eyed smile.

“I love that movie.” He said, getting in on the conversation again.

“Do you?” Louis asked, hearing Zayn kick the boot again, his interest going back to trying to escape the trunk.

“Yep, Disney is my favorite, when da’ actually lets me watch it.” Daylen replied back with a beam, turning and using his body to stretch across the backseat.

“Daylen? It’s time to hush now, okay? We just need to be quiet.” Jace reprimanded sternly, his own brown eyes going to stare the younger boy down.

Daylen huffed in defeat, but nodded and looked back at Louis in the rearview mirror with a shrug.

“Okay, Jacey. I’ll quiet.” Daylen agreed, settling back and waiting for the long and awkward ride to be over.

*

The rest of the hour passed by slowly and when they finally reached the crossroads, they realized that Colton still wasn’t there, which was a major setback.

“Fuck my dead aunt Christine, where is that fucker?” Louis muttered, throwing the shift into park and hitting the door to undo the childproof locks. “Out.” He ordered, stepping from the car.

Jace followed Louis’s example, opening Daylen’s door to help him.

When the two brothers were out they stood awkwardly at the side of one of the crosses, the small rustle of nearby trees fluttering through the breeze with the sun slowly setting in the horizon.

“Idn’t it pretty, Jacey?” Daylen pointed to the fire beginning to set across the sky.

Jace spared a glance at it with a scoff.

“Yeah, absolutely fucking breathtaking.” Jace replied sardonically, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the stolen car to watch their captor.

It was around twenty minutes later that another car could be seen traveling at a high speed down the road from the opposite direction towards them.

Louis squinted and saw it was a black sedan with tinted windows, which made seeing inside impossible.

The captor shifted and rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, because that’s not inconspicuous. That just screams ‘hey, I’m an attention whore, rob me!’” He muttered, seeing Jace walk and stop beside him to observe the car as well.

“Not my first choice in transportation, but it will do.” He agreed, watching the car stop a few feet from them.

Daylen ran over and took hold of the older sibling’s hand and waited to see what happened.

It surprised all three members when two car doors opened instead of just one.

When the passenger stepped out with Colton, shock registered on Louis’s face, before he stepped protectively in front of the two younger boys.

“What the hell is this, Grear?” Louis growled, his eyes slitting to deep opals of crystalline blue.

“An old friend. I’ve known him a long time, you and the boys can trust he is one of the good guys.” Colton assured eyeing Tomlinson wearily, his hand up as if it would calm the situation.

“Fuck my – you know what? I think my imaginary family has been fucked enough by random animals and things, so allow me to extend the invitation to say fuck you. I don’t trust pigs, never have – never will. Back off Doctor Who wannabe or I will kick your bloody – “Louis was dumbfounded when the passenger extended his hand and took a few steps forward.

Louis responded by stepping between the brothers and pulling them back a few steps to keep the distance between the pig and his hostages.

“Chief Edward Quinan Renault, Mr. Tomlinson. I wish it could be said that it was a pleasure, but I’m afraid I have little experience in criminal mischief on your kind of level of expertise.” Renault greeted cordially.

Louis snorted.

“Yeah, bullocks, mate. You’re the king operative of criminal roguery. Nice try, thanks for playing, come again, bye-bye.” Louis waved him off like an annoying fly.

“Louis, I worked with him on cases with my father and he’s a good man.” Grear tried to calm the uptight gang member, but Louis wasn’t having any of it.

“If he’s a good man, then I’m a harp playing, tap dancing angel. Dude? Do I LOOK like a moron to you? I said not to involve the barnies. If McMichaelson even gets word of this, he’ll tell Damien and then everything will be all fucked to hell! Don’t you get it? DAMIEN OWNS THE FUCKING POLICE! He’s going to rat.” Louis looked accusingly at the older bloke.

Renault put his hand to the side of his head and scratched it.

“I’m aware of Damien Styles. However, I am not in his circle. I put away Jems Radafoggle, one of his best human traffickers.”

Louis’s eyes furrowed, he remembered Damien being pissed about it and sending someone into the prison to ‘take care of’ Radfoggle so he couldn’t snitch as he was about to testify for a lesser sentence.

“You’re the bloke that made Damien a mad raging bull in a china shop? Thanks, asshole. Because of you putting away his best thug we all had to go hide in a corner for a day. I remember him losing it over that. He also had help from McMichaelson to prematurely end his visit on planet Earth. Stop interfering with shit that you couldn’t begin to understand.” Louis warned with a growl.

Renault’s eyebrow quirked as he looked at Colton.

“Is he always this argumentative?”

Colton shrugged.

“I don’t know, but he is one off bloke.”

“Damn fucking straight I am, especially when Sophia specifically asked that you personally come to get them. I was entrusting them to you and you alone, but it seems my expectations were much too much,” Louis glowered, folding his arms across his chest in challenge. “Fuck it, I’ll drive them to London. It’s only my life and Sophia’s on the line. No big fucking deal or anything.”

He went to take a step forward, stopping only when Daylen’s hand shot to his wrist.

“No. Please?” Daylen begged, his large brown eyes wide in fright.

Louis stood there and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. He honestly never thought his anger could boiler over his sadness, but a least in the moment, he was feeling something other than grief.

Jace took that as his que to reach out and guide Daylen back to him so he was no longer touching Louis, because Louis looked about ready to transform into a fire breathing dragon and consume everyone around.

“Mr. Tomlinson? If you wish to check my phone or any other information I can provide, I will offer it freely to you.” Renault said, trying to calm the situation down so they could get the kids back to their father safe and sound without any more trauma to them than need be.

“Is that before or after you arrest me?” Louis sneered, deadpanning on Colton.

“He is not going to arrest you. I brought him with me because we want to go with the best course of action after we get the kids delivered back to their father. He can keep Damien from finding out and offer his security to them until they are safely out of London.” Colton explained, getting agitated that the criminal wasn’t taking him at their word.

“Louis? I trust him.” Jace decided, looking at the salt and pepper haired man. There was just something to the chief’s eyes that he knew he could trust.

Louis looked at him with a scoff.

“Of course you would, Patricia. Because you didn’t just meet him or anything.” Louis chastised sarcastically.

“At this point, truthfully? I just want to get the fuck away from you! I’ll take my chances with them, because you are absolutely insufferable to be around.” Jace argued, making Daylen finally groan and stomp his foot.

“You are being imsuffaterable! ‘e’s tryin’ ta ‘elp us go ‘ome an yer bein’ a jerk! STOP IT!” Daylen yelled, shoving his older brother and walking in front of Louis. “An’ yer all bloody annoyin’!” He concluded in a huff and turned, walking off down an opposite road.

Louis couldn’t help the smile that formed over his lips. He was proud of the little kid, mostly because he learned his first British word, which was bloody – which was the equivalent to fuck.

“I am going to severely miss that lad.” Louis decided, chuckling at the incredulous look that Jace was giving him.

A heartbeat of silence followed before Jace shook his head.

“You’re not right.” Jace concluded and ran to catch up with his little brother so he didn’t get lost.

“Speak for yourself, Paula Dean!” Louis called, seeing Jace raise his middle finger in the air and wave it.

“As entertaining as this has been, Mr. Tomlinson, it is clear the children need to return with us so that we may get them out of London. If you wish to discuss this further, I am more than happy to oblige, but we’ve come to an impasse I believe and anything further would be moot. Tell me I am incorrect to assume this?” Renault gestured, making Louis grin ruthlessly at the man with the guarded green eyes. In fact, it was like looking at a forty year older Harry, his eyes were the same sort of jaded green as their leaders, though this one was medium built and not as muscular or tall.

“Oh, you’re correct. I trust a rattler with a ‘fuck me I don’t bite’ sign more than I trust the chief of pigs. No offense or anything.” Louis waved, watching Jace finally catch up with Daylen and hug the younger brother to him tightly.

“And I trust a criminal even less with a moral compass on his shoulders, so it appears as though we are not going to see eye to eye. That’s okay, but you will have to take my word that I do have the children’s best interest at heart.” He insisted, shifting his weight to his other foot.

“I don’t have to take anything.” Louis retorted.

Renault sighed in frustration now, looking at Colton to finish this. He was done trying to argue with stupid and he viewed Louis as a very stupid criminal.

Colton got the message and stepped in.

“No police reports from internal sources. If Mr. Atwater wishes to file one, we will have to take the statement, but will wait to process them until the family is safely back home. Please trust that we will make sure nothing happens to those boys.” Colton promised, following Louis’s stare.

This process felt like taking a toy off a stubborn infant where Colton was concerned, but it was obvious the criminal in front of him had morals, if not slight empathy. He wanted to make sure they were delivered safely and he could respect Louis for that.

“You have the number Sophia contacted you on, yeah?” Louis relented, his walls slowly breaking down, whistling for the two boys to a bout face and head back to them.

Jace and Daylen wasted no time and in turn, he went to the boot of his car and wedged open the trunk to stare down at Zayn.

“Yeah, why?” Colton approached the now open boot to Louis’s car.

“Make sure when you text to let me know that they’ve been dropped off that you use the name Zayn. Don’t leave your details, just say ‘They’re back safe with their father, Zayn.” Louis ordered, sneering down at the bloke in the trunk that looked half conscious.

Colton’s eyes widened and his hand shot to his mouth.

“Oh my God! Why is he in there?!” Colton exclaimed, stepping back in shock. “And what the fuck is that terrible stench?!”

Louis cocked his head with an amused glance, looking down.

“That smell would be my socks in his mouth and would you believe we were playing a game of cops and robbers that got slightly out of control?” Louis tried, chuckling when Colton’s incredulous look never faltered.

“No!”

Louis shrugged.

“Was worth a shot, but on a much more serious note, mate – don’t meddle in our affairs; it could lead to an early grave. Now, if you want to make yourself useful, grab his legs and help me get him in the front seat.” Louis ordered.

“What?! I am NOT being an accessory to kidnapping.” Colton crossed his arms over his chest and looking down at the poor guy.

“Too late, Shaggy. You and the Scooby-Doo Captain Morgan hybrid dude over there are already involved. I need to get Zayn back to Harry in forty minutes or less. It sounds like a pizza delivery, but it isn’t. I’m setting shit straight and you two assholes were late.” Louis ranted, reaching in to haul Zayn out of the truck.

Colton saw Louis struggling a bit due to Zayn’s weak struggles.

“You need to get those socks out of his mouth. Christ, they stink.” Colton gagged, helping to lift Zayn into the front seat of the passenger side on the left.

“I will, once we are making our way down the open road back to our secret hideaway and you are making your way back to the posh up your arse, London.” Louis compromised, sparing a look at Renault. He was standing much straighter and his disapproving stare made the gang member to smile and do a small finger wave.

“Why are you being such a dick?” Colton asked genuinely, helping Zayn on with his seatbelt and patting the dude’s shoulder absently while his attention was fully on Louis.

“Because I like who I am. If you don’t, well, fuck you. How’s that for an answer?” Louis challenged, slamming the passenger door closed to see Daylen and Jace walking up to them.

He grabbed Daylen and ruffled his head.

“You be good, eh?” Louis bid goodbye, making his way to the driver’s side, looking at Jace when he saw the older lad was watching his departure with a dark glare.

“Take care Petunia, try not to let that skirt hick up too far, you can’t afford to show those goods.” He winked, opening his door.

“Fuck you!” Jace growled in agitation. He was getting tired of being called girls names.

“No thanks, Sarah. I fuck many things, but if it has a dick – not really my thing. Later Maddie, take care of your little brother.” Louis finished with a wave, popping inside the driver’s seat and shut the door.

He waited patiently as Colton and his ‘friend’ gathered up the kids – though it took Jace a little bit of prodding as his fists were clenched together and he was yelling fruitlessly at Louis – who really had no idea what he was saying, nor did he care.

Eventually though, Colton ushered the boys into the back and they backed out and turned back around the way they came.

When then were out of sight, Louis closed his eyes and heaved a sigh of relief.

“Finally. Finally, something turned out bloody right.” Louis murmured, his eyes opening when Zayn let out a pathetic grunt.

Louis reached over and took hold of the strips of tape and yanked them harshly from his face.

Zayn’s yells escaped around the dirty socks as the harsh film peeled away, revealing irritated red skin beneath.

The first thing Zayn did was use his tongue, much to his disgust to push the dirty cotton from his mouth, gagging while simultaneously trying to get fresh air from the stink and aftertaste of wet, muddy feet.

Louis eyes the water Daylen had made him promise to give his fellow gang member, but he wanted to let him suffer a little while longer.

Instead, he turned on the car and drove it back around toward the cabin again.

“Y-y…” Zayn gasped, choking on the aftertaste.

“Catch your breath, Z. Wouldn’t want you passing out before I get you back to Harry.” Louis hummed happily.

“W…wa – “Zayn gagged, heaving and buckling forward.

Louis rolled his eyes, slammed on his brakes and twisted open the cap to the water bottle that was already in his hand.

He forced Zayn’s head straight and forced the bottle into his mouth, tipping it up.

Zayn gulped down the water vastly to try and get the stench of feet out of his mouth.

Needless to say, it only seemed to make the water as stagnant as Louis’s feet.

Louis pulled the bottle away and capped it.

“Better, Achmed?” Louis asked with a sarcastic grin, the outlines of rage peaking just below the orbs of his intensely cold steel blue eyes.

“F-f…fuck you!” Zayn finally managed to stutter out, his lips moving against his will to try and clear the taste, but like the water, it wasn’t helping matters much.

“You’re lucky my moral ground has better plans than acquiescing to your request. Otherwise, I’d shove my foot up your arse so you can get a better taste of those socks from the other end,” Louis threatened darkly, thinking on the thought for a moment. “However, my fist is feeling a little flirty and its attracted to your face.”

With that his hand balled into a fist and before Zayn could even blink, his knuckles were smashing into the right side of his jaw, making the younger man see stars in his vision.

Louis didn’t pause and sent another brutal punch just inches from the side of his lip.

Zayn let out a pained groan, desperately wishing he could cradle his face with his hands.

“That’s for Eleanor, you stupid fuck!” Louis yelled, the anger releasing from his body felt like a rush, replaced by adrenaline.

Louis slammed his hand against Zayn’s throat, squeezing it tightly until he could barely take in a breath.

“You killed my bird and you threatened Sophia. That hurt my feelings, mate. Truthfully, it did. So, I’m going to see how long it will take for me to see how close I can get to crushing your windpipe before you choke to death.” Louis said, keeping his voice deadly calm, which was the opposite of how he currently felt. If you could feel the anger Louis was projecting you would recoil in fear and if Zayn could do that now, he would be running.

For the first time Zayn’s own grief broke and was replaced by the raw emotion of fear. It was terror he had not felt for years and just today alone, Louis managed to reawaken that very emotion in him.

“I – I’m s…” Zayn gasped desperately when Louis’s hand tightened a little more, slowly cutting his breath off completely.

“Nope, you don’t get to apologize. You get to experience how I felt when I saw my ex on the ground and bleeding from her head. I wasn’t your enemy, Zayn. I was being your fucking friend! I WAS NOT INVOLVED WITH WHAT SOPHIA DID, BUT YOU DIDN’T STOP TO THINK ABOUT THAT, DID YOU!?” Louis screamed, using his other hand to throw another punch into the side of his face, this time causing a hard enough contusion to make Zayn’s nose bleed.

Zayn was gasping desperately to take in air, his windpipe feeling the immense pressure of Louis’s rage come to surface.

Louis saw the tears of agony pooling from Zayn’s eyes and just for a moment, he could almost feel pity for his younger counterpart, but just as quickly as it came, it was gone again.

He could see Zayn’s eyes rolling up into his head and since Louis needed him somewhat conscious he threw his hand from his fellow gang member’s throat, choosing to slap him across the face to stop him from going under.

Zayn coughed when his brain realized it could breathe again and it wasted no time in alerting Zayn of that fact either.

He took in a precious gulp of air, eyes widening to life once more. His eyes blurry with white hot pain and flashing stars, but he was alive, Louis stopped himself just in time and he was more than thankful for that.

Louis forced his hand over Zayn’s mouth to assure he didn’t relish in the feeling of oxygen for to long, but he didn’t try to choke him again.

For a moment both men froze, one not knowing what to say – although with Louis’s hand over Zayn’s mouth he couldn’t say much of anything.

“This is what I’ve planned for you and you better damn well believe that Damien’s punishment will be more merciful than what mine would be.” Louis started, his tone a calm dead suave to what it had originally been. He was speaking with restraint.

Zayn’s fearful eyes met Louis’s and he listened to what the older man had to say.

Louis let the silence linger deafeningly for a moment, his stealthy glare never leaving the other man.

“You are going to confess to letting those kids go.” Louis told him, enjoying the way Zayn’s eyes widened larger to the whites of his eyes could be seen clearly around the light honey dew color of frightful irises.

He let out a grunt, attempting to shake his head no.

Louis smiled, his teeth showing in a wide pearly line, gritting together with a snarl when his upper lip lifted slightly.

“No? Tell me, Achmed; did you get sexual gratification from me choking you or something? I mean, did you enjoy it that much? Because I’ll be happy to do a ‘do over’ and continue until you quit breathing or pass out. From there, I will drag you to an undisclosed location and I will play the greatest game of confession you will have ever experienced. I’ll start by pouring boiling water down your throat and from that point on, I’ll snap each limb one by one. Harry’s punishment wouldn’t even compare to what I would do to you.” Louis promised, grabbing Zayn’s hair to stop the bloke from struggling.

“Mmf!” Zayn seemed to plead, his eyes widening.

Louis rolled his eyes and shoved the other bloke’s face away, resuming to wipe his hand on his shirt again with a disgusted look.

He continued to drive, making sure to speed towards the cabin as he knew he would be pressed on time by the time he got back, given that he was at least thirty minutes off schedule.

“You can’t do – “Zayn started, going quiet when Louis burst out in forced laughter.

“I can. I can because you hurt someone I cared about, you took your anger out on my friend. She was one of few people I strived to protect from who I am, but that’s been all fucked to hell. I mean, she moved on, she found happiness beyond me and I couldn’t even be happy for her finding that. I guess because I wanted that happiness to be with me in some fucked up way. Stupid dreams, right?” Louis ranted, finishing with a rhetorical question.

Zayn swallowed, he could relate to Louis’s words as that was the exact same thing he felt with Perrie.

“N-not stupid.” Zayn replied hoarsely, coughing to clear his throat.

“Don’t try to play the innocent understanding one now, Zayn. Go on and tell me what’s really on your mind, pal.”

Zayn shook his head, no going for Louis’s challenge.

“Oh, but Zayn, I want to know.” He continued to antagonize with a brewing hatred that he couldn’t seem to swallow away.

“I loved Perrie, alright? I loved her like you loved Eleanor and if I couldn’t have my bird, why should you feel accomplished? Why should I be the only one going through this alone?” Zayn challenged, not really displaying his feelings, this retort was more or less to piss Louis off again.

“But I didn’t have her, Zayn! YOU KILLED AN INNOCENT!” Louis was back to screaming, slamming his hand into the wheel to stop from hitting the other man again.

“I killed someone who meant something to you. That was satisfaction enough.” Zayn swallowed, seeing anger boiling to Louis’s surface.

He expected Louis to hit him again, but when he didn’t and instead asked the question that Zayn didn’t even have an answer to.

“Why?” Louis finally whispered, all the energy of rage dissipating to sadness. It was like someone suddenly let the air out of his balloon.

Zayn faced the window and decided to turn his glare out to it, the night skies arising from the dimming fire that was quickly going out across the sky, the clouds tucking in the sun for the long darkness ahead.

“Why!?” Louis exclaimed after a few minutes, making Zayn jump.

He remained silent on the subject and instead, returned Louis’s query with one of his own.

“I could ask the same. What ever happened to the rules? Whatever happened to no lies between us? What the fuck happened to this group?” Zayn demanded, flinching when Louis slammed his foot on the brakes and grabbed the duct tape from between them.

“Do you want gagged?” Louis challenged, ripping a long piece off.

Zayn frowned, realizing Louis didn’t want to believe the answer and it was so blatantly obvious that it hurt.

“Sophia is manipulating you like she is Harry and you can’t even see it. Her innocent act, turning one against the o –“ Zayn was cut off when the tape went over his mouth, the sticky film hold secure to his jaw when Louis pressed it across his jaw.

“Sophia isn’t the problem, mate.” Louis denied, continuing to drive on at a faster speed, hoping to get to the cabin by the time Harry knew his car had been stolen.

Zayn switched to breathing painfully through his nose, deciding that silence was the best course of action; unfortunately, Louis wasn’t finished.

“I bet you didn’t know this, but I know where one of your sisters is.” Louis hummed, figuring he could fuck with Zayn for a while.

It certainly got the younger man’s attention, his head snapping to Louis, although cautiously because he knew it could just be him playing mind fuck games.

Louis chuckled.

“I’m not lying, bro. I know where the oldest one is and all you have to do is tell Damien and Harry you set those kids free. I mean, if you don’t believe me – that’s okay, but you’re right, Z. What has happened to this group? What with all the lies and distrust going around?” Louis mocked.

Zayn let out a small protest, tears coming to his eyes. His family was a sore subject and if there was any hope of ever finding his sisters, even just one – he’d take it.

“You have about twenty minutes to decide mate, because if we have to do this the hard way, I have the power to end your life – the same as I can play God with your big sister. Think about that and get back to me when you’ve got the full perspective, because I can promise you that you won’t like the consequences if you refuse. Either way, you’re confessing or I’m doing it for you, at least you’ll know what happened to your sister if you take the easy way, if not – then I suppose no one will ever know but me and Harry.” Louis finished with a purr, happy that Zayn is feeling the same helplessness that he was.

It made them far from even though.

Louis didn’t have a clue about Zayn’s sisters. He could find out, but, why would he? His goal of hurting the other male was accomplished and as far as he was concerned, it was only just beginning.

Although, nothing could prepare them for the shit storm that lied dead ahead and none of them even saw it coming.

While Louis was racing back home to beat their leader’s observation, Eli was venturing toward the same direction with her men, danger and death creeping towards the gang second by second.

Notes