Monstrous Love

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

"You know those rare moments in life you always remember?" Niall asks, gazing up at the moonlit sky.
"Uh-huh."
"Well, this is one of them." He tells me, taking hold of my hand. "For me, anyway."
"That's sweet."
"You're telling me you won't remember this forever?" He questions, turning over onto his side.
"Of course."
"All my memories worth saving have been with you." He reveals, pulling me even closer.
"It's the same with me."
"Does that make you sad?"
"Why would it?"
"Neither one of us have had the best start in life, have we?"
"It depends on how you choose to think about it." I say, reflecting on my childhood.
"How do you mean?"
"I guess I prefer to think of myself as being fortunate. I might not have had the privileges which other people my age have had but I know how to fight. I know how strong I can be and how to pick myself up again."
"How come you're so wise?" He asks, placing a kiss on my forehead.
"Practise makes perfect." I joke, nudging him playfully. "You should try it sometime."
"Smart ass."
I chuckle to myself and close my eyes, savouring each moment. We'll have to be heading back soon and the knowledge of this lurks in the back of my mind, threatening our tranquillity.
"We best get going." I say, sighing deeply.
"Five more minutes." Niall persuades me, taking hold of my hand.
"It would be pretty awesome if we could stay out here forever." I admit, enjoying the peace and quiet.
"That would be perfect." Niall whispers. "Just us."
"We won't have to wait much longer, will we?"
He knows exactly what I'm talking about and squeezes my hand tightly.
"I promise it won't be long now. I've been saving up and reckon it will only take three months before we can get out of there."

Niall is almost eighteen which means he'll be expected to leave the foster home as soon as he's an adult. I'm a year younger than him which means I'll be expected to stay for another year. Neither one of us want this to happen so we came up with a plan to prevent it.
Niall got himself a job as soon as he completed the community service he was forced to carry out. He's been saving up since he first started and we almost have enough to get out of here.
After his exclusion, I made it my priority to focus on my schoolwork, realising I needed my grades to make sure we have some sort of future ahead of us.
We never spoke about that day and Niall's savage attack on Joseph. He wouldn't talk about it with me so I stopped asking him to open up about it.
His rage unleashed something inside of him, something he didn't want to discuss and I had to respect that...

We stumbled across this field on our way home from school a few years back and we now call it our secret place. It's somewhere we can escape to and forget about things, especially our home-life.

I understand that there's still so much I have to learn about Niall, so many secrets he's kept locked away.

All I can do is hope he will open up about things in his own time...

It's a Friday night so we don't feel the need to hurry back, taking our time as we cut through the field on our way home. Jeremy is currently out of work again and has been particularly vicious, losing his temper with anyone who upsets him.
I try and keep out of his way, avoiding him at all costs. Niall is the only one who can handle him and I swear Jeremy is somewhat frightened of him now Niall has reached an age where he can take him on.
Jeremy knows how protective he is so tends to leave me alone when he's around. There's been a few times when Niall hasn't been there and Jeremy has been aggressive towards me. However, I've deliberately kept those occurrences to myself.

We go straight to bed once we get back seeing as it's so late and I fall asleep in a matter of seconds, wrapped in his arms.

I don't know what wakes me at first, trying to figure out what it was that disturbed me. Niall is still sound asleep beside me so it can't have been him.
Switching on my bedside lamp, I peer into the darkness. My room is only small so I can tell there's no one else in here.
I suddenly notice an orange glow flickering underneath my bedroom door and I climb out of bed, creeping towards it. My absence causes Niall to wake up and I hear him moving about, wondering where I am.
"Evie?" He calls out, panicking when he realised I'm not there. "Evie?!"
"Niall, I'm here."
"What are you doing out of bed?" He demands, crossing the room towards me.
"Can't you smell that? It's smoke."
I point towards the doorway, covering my mouth when I realise how much smoke is actually coming in.
"Get over here." He orders, pulling me away.
"There's flames outside the door!"
"Shit!" He growls, raising his voice. That bitch Patricia must have been smoking again."
I watch him grab the covers off the bed, shoving them against the gap underneath the door.
"We have to get out of here!" I cry, making my way towards the door.
"Not that way. We'll have to use the window."
"What?!"
"The fire has reached the hallway. Those flames aren't coming from downstairs."
"But what are we going to do?"
"Evie, we don't have a choice." He says firmly, cradling my face in his hands. "It has to be the window."
"Niall, I can't!" I wail, consumed by fear.
"Evie, we can't stay here."
"We'll fall!"
"I've been climbing in and out of that window since I was a little boy." He reminds me. "And you won't fall because I'll carry you."
"W-what do you mean?" I stammer, wondering how he expects to hold onto me and escape at the same time.
"Put your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist." He instructs, reminding me of the piggy backs he used to give me when we were small.
I do as he says and climb onto his back, tightening my grip around his neck.
"I can't do this." I murmur, shaking my head.
"You don't have to because I'll do it for you. Now hold on tight. No matter what you do, don't let go."
"We'll be ok, won't we?"
"Of course we will, now hold on."
Niall unlocks our window and swings it open, climbing onto the window ledge so he can take his first step outside.
"Shouldn't we call the fire brigade?"
"I'll call them when we get out of here and I know you're safe." He assures me.
"Niall, I'm scared."
"Evie, there's no reason to be. I'm right here, ok?"
He squeezes one of my hands before he lets go, reaching for the drainpipe which runs down the wall next to our bedroom.
"Oh, God!" I scream, locking my legs around his waist.
"Do you trust me?" He asks, awaiting my reply.
"I trust you."
We're halfway down the drainpipe when I hear it cracking, coming away from the wall while we're both attached to it.
"Niall!" I shriek, closing my eyes in terror.
"It's alright, I've got you."

That's the last thing he said to me before I fell, plunging into the darkness below.

By the time I woke up... he was gone.

I thought I was dreaming at first, trapped in a terrible nightmare I couldn't break free from.

Except it wasn't a dream.

This was my reality and as cruel as it was... Niall had completely vanished.