Monsters Inside Him (Completed)

Chapter 11: Fire Escape

Chapter 11: Fire Escape

“Open up, Darlin’.” He cooed kindly from the other side. I held back the urge to vomit and the thought of him being ‘nice’. I heard his deep knock on the door. I shrunk away from it. I pressed myself against the wall, as far away from HIM as possible.

“I have no problem breaking down this door, Darlin’. Open up now.” He called in a soft voice again. I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. I was never going to open up to him; I was sure as hell that I would never open the door for him.

“HANNAH!” He shouted, breaking his calm composure. I heard a loud bang on the door. It was his fist, no doubt. I was suddenly grateful for the wooden barrier between him and me. I couldn’t imagine if I had been there for him to slam his fist into.

“Fine! I’ll see how much you like staying in there for the whole fucking day! You’ll break eventually.” He laughed darkly. I waited for him to yell some more, but he didn’t. I peeked through the key hole to see if he was still there. He was.

Zayn was sitting on the floor across from the door with his back pressed up against the wall. He was still in just his boxers from the night before, which reminded me that I still had his shirt on. I ripped the unwanted fabric off my body and dumped it in the toilet. Stupidly, I was left in my bra and panties… Smart.

I slumped down against the shower door and bury my head in my hands. What have I done? I sit there quietly for about an hour before Zayn calls to me again.

“Ready to break yet, Darlin’?”

“Nope. I can go all day!” I called back confidently, although I didn’t feel like that at all.

“Somehow, I doubt that!” He teased.

“What about you? Can YOU go all day?!” I challenged.

“I was planning on spending the day in anyways, Darlin’.” He scoffed. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to ignore him.

“I’m inviting some friends over, so they can hang here while we wait for you to break.” He informs me through the heavy wood door.

“I’m so happy for you, Zayn! You have FRIENDS!” I shout sarcastically. I hear a low chuckle from the hall before Zayn responded.

“Just you wait until I get my hands on you.”

My heart skipped a beat as fear pumped through my veins again. I didn’t answer him, so our tense and bitter conversation was temporarily ended. I crawled across the bathroom floor and pressed my ear to the door to listen to whatever Zayn was doing.

“Hey, how’s it going?” I heard him speak. I didn’t hear a response, but Zayn continued to talk. He must be on the phone.

“Yeah, I’m just at home.” Zayn laughed at something said on the other line before continuing.

“Hey listen. I know we were going to head over to your place, but I’ve run into a slight, er, problem. How about you all come over to mine?” He suggests. There was a pause while the other boy answered.

“Yeah, can you call them all for me?” Another pause.

“Thanks, Lou. And, sure, you can bring El. I might need her help anyways.” I heard him hand up his phone. I peeked into the key hole to watch him stand up and stalk into his bedroom. I breathed a sigh of relief, but was not able to make a move before he came back. In his hands were some folded clothes. He abruptly slipped them on and leaned back against the wall across from the door.

As if he knew I was looking through the key hole he turned his stare right at me. I gasped and scooted backwards, like the distance could protect me from his intense gaze. My chest heaved up and down with each strained breath.

He was on the other side of the door. I need to relax…

I take a few minutes to steady my breathing. Just when I got the nerve to peak back through the key hole, I hear other voices.

“What’s going on? Louis said that you have a problem to deal with?” I heard one of Zayn’s friends ask. Harry?

“Yeah, Hannah went and locked herself in the bathroom.” Zayn complained as if I couldn’t hear him.

“You need to control your woman.” Harry chuckled.

“You’re telling me.” I rolled my eyes at their conversation, resisting the urge to throw open the door and slap the shit out of them. For some reason, I somehow predict that it won’t end well for me. I hear more voices enter the room.

“What’s going on?” I think Liam asked.

“Hannah’s locked herself in the bathroom.” Harry explains softly. I squeeze my eyes shut and pretend not to hear them. I debate turning on the water to block out the voices but then I hear one quiet voice that stands out from the rest.

“Louis? Louis, can I try talking to her? I can help.” Eleanor’s soft, feminine voice asked. I jump to my feet and rush over to the door. Without thinking I rip the door open and run out of the bathroom. As soon as I see her I engulf her in a hug.

“Shh- mind your own-” Louis was cut off by my actions.

Eleanor is shocked by my sudden attack, but gently hugs me back. Louis was standing right in front of El, so I may have hip-checked him out of the way, oh well. I see Zayn make a move towards me in the corner of my eye, and apparently Eleanor did too.

“Fire escape is in his study next to his room.” She whispered quickly, just as Zayn yanked me off of her. I allow myself to glance over Eleanor quickly, inspecting her injuries from the night before. She shows no apparent violence- did Louis not beat her? Maybe the bruising was in less exposed areas.

“Where did your shirt go?!” He snapped. I see all the boys turn around to look at the other room simultaneously, taking the hint that this was none of their business and they shouldn’t be staring. I glance down at my body and blush; oh right, only in my underwear.

“Oh, you mean the disgusting fabric you gave to me last night? In the toilet, just where all the rest of your shit should go.” I spit back at him. Anger flashes through Zayn’s eyes quickly. He grabs my arm roughly and shoves me towards his bedroom.

“Go put on some clothes. I’ll sort you out later.” He snapped. I roll my eyes and cross my arms over my chest.

“No.” I challenge. He turns back towards me with a look that had me questioning whether or not he would kill me.

“Don’t test me, Hannah.” He hissed. With that he follows his friends into the other room. I see El shoot me a quick glance of encouragement before she was tugged along gently by Louis.

I travel to his bedroom in ‘defeat’ and slip on some of his clothes, just so I don’t walk around half naked. I still wasn’t sure why Eleanor continued to help me; she only made it worse for herself. Nevertheless, I was infinitely grateful.

I quietly slipped out of the room and investigated the room next to Zayn’s. There were bookshelves from floor to ceiling, matching the dark mahogany wood floors. Behind a monstrous desk and a high-tech computer sat a large leather chair. I could only assume this was the study. I made my way to the window and glance down.

A fire escape.

I try to wiggle the window open, but it makes too much noise. I knew Zayn would come to investigate if I didn’t stop.

With a rush of adrenaline, I push the window open with a loud screeching noise. I heard shouting coming from the living room and then heavy footsteps. Before I chickened out, I climbed through the window and began the long descent down the escape ladder.

I could hear the office door being slammed open, but I kept going. I couldn’t stop, he’d kill me.

“HANNAH!” I heard someone shout above me. I didn’t look up; I kept going. I felt the entire escape ladder shake as someone heavy climbed on above me; this only made me quicken my pace.

“Hannah, I swear to god, if you don’t stop right now-” I cut Zayn off.

“If I don’t stop then what? I have a head start, you can’t possibly catch me!” I couldn’t help but shout back. My words were strained from running down, but I knew he still heard me. I took a tentative glance up to confirm my suspicions.

Zayn was racing down the fire escape above me. I could feel the anger rolling off of him. I saw the heads of Harry and Niall poking out the window, watching the whole thing but making no move to help. I would never understand their relationship.

I kept climbing downwards with not a moment to spare. I couldn’t let him catch me.

Of course he was in much better shape than I, so he was catching up.

When I finally pressed my bare feet to cobblestone I couldn’t be more relieved. I had reached the street. I took off racing in a random direction and didn’t stop running until I found a dark shop to slip in to.

I waited behind a bookshelf of the bookstore I was hiding in while the shopkeeper and customers stared at me as if I were a madwoman. Well, I guess that must be how I appeared- my light hair was in a disarray, I was out of breath and I was wearing man’s clothing. Whatever. It wasn’t like I owed the bystanders anything- they wouldn’t have helped me if they knew the true story anyways.

When I saw Zayn run by the store without giving it a second glance, I huffed out a sigh of relief. His muscular legs kept him flying through the crowd searching for me. I quietly left the shop and headed in the opposite direction he had run off in, but made sure to avoid his apartment.

I didn’t stop checking over my shoulder until the streets I wandered on familiar streets. When I stood in front of my own building, I thought that I felt some tears of joy brim to my eyes. I had escaped.

For now.