Killing You (Ziall)

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

“L-Liam?” Niall asked, dumbfounded.

“In the flesh,” the taller boy responded. His large hands slid into his back pockets, where they rested comfortably.

“This—this is impossible. You’re dead…Zayn, he—he killed you. All of you. I saw it with my very own eyes.” Niall stammered. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy to see one of his three very best mates alive; it was just that it was impossible.

“But did you really see it, Ni?” Liam asked, the dark edge leaking back into his tone and seeping into every bone in Niall’s body. “Think about it,” he purred. “You weren’t there when Zayn supposedly killed us, were you? He had you out of the way, locked in that dusty old dungeon of a basement if you’ll recall.”

“N-no! Zayn’s not done anything wrong! I don’t know what the fuck it is you’re playing at or how the hell any of this is possible, but Zayn’s wouldn’t lie to me. He—he loves me!” Niall cried, tears rushing to his eyes as breathing became painful due to the painful squeezing in his chest where his heart was.

Liam let out a thundering laugh and threw back his head in feigned glee. “Oh no, you’ve got it all wrong, Nialler. Zayn’s got nothing to do with this; he’s just as dumb as you at this point.”

Niall let the insult slide and thought over Liam’s words, hoping more than anything that they were true. But he trusted Zayn more than anyone; there was no way he would be in on a plot to break Niall. The two boys loved each other, that much Niall was sure of. There was simply no way to fake what the Irish lad and the Bradford boy shared.

“But wait! What about Josh? And—and Joey? There’s no fucking way in hell they survived after what he did to them,” Niall said, referring to the other personality Zayn had now learned to suppress since Niall had come into the picture as the darker lad’s boyfriend.

“You have me there,” Liam agreed with a humourless chuckle. “They were never part of the plan. They simply were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unfortunate casualties, if you will.”

“Josh was one of my best mates and you know that,” Niall hissed, not even bothering to try and hid the venom dripping from his voice. This Liam stood before him was definitely not his Liam, the boy who had been his closest friend in the band. This Liam was menacing and to be quite honest, a total dickhead. Niall didn’t like him one bit.

“Oh Ni, you know I was always your very best mate, though.” Liam stretched out a large hand to caress the younger boy’s cheek, a touch Niall definitely didn’t find any comfort in, as he would’ve before this whole nightmare began.

“Don’t fucking touch me.”

“But I’m your best friend; am I not allowed to show my favourite Irishman a little affection after not seeing you for months?”

“NO! YOU’RE NOT! You can’t just fucking waltz into my life after having me absolutely sick with grief, thinking you were dead and expect me to let you touch me like nothing happened. What the hell is going on, Liam?”

Liam stood his ground and kept his lips sealed, a cruel smile making Niall madder and madder the longer it stayed on his ex-best mate’s face.

“TELL ME OR I SWEAR TO GOD—“

“Babe, why are you scr—“ Zayn cut himself off quickly when he saw who Niall’s shouting was aimed at. His face drained of all colour almost immediately and for a second, Niall could swear he was about to run away and leave him to fend for himself. But that wasn’t his Zayn.