Unstable (Sequel to Twisted)

Chapter 32

Thirty-Two





"Claire, open your eyes. I want you to look at me."



Pain.



"Claire."



Mortification.



This was wrong.



This was so utterly wrong.



I could feel the bile building up in my mouth, the pain causing me to grimace and my fingers curled into tight, pent-up fists. My cheeks were stained with dry tears, and my eyes were now completely dry, as if I had no more tears left to cry.



"God damn it," Nathan grumbled as his finger wound their way into my hair; the burning in my scalp flared instantly, and my eyes opened as a reaction, and I found myself gazing up into Nathan's cold, blue eyes with a now approving smirk lighting his face. "Good girl, but if I ever tell you to do something, I expect you to do it without me having to force you." His fingers tightened, which only caused me more pain, and my mouth fell open in a silent whimper, my hands uncurling to reach upwards in an attempt to shake the pain away; however, his hold was tight and unrelenting, and his eyes darkly glinted in amusement at the pain written plainly over my face. "I want an answer, Claire."



I knew that if I spoke, I'd start to beg. I'd start to plead with him-to beg him to stop. And I knew he would never stop, no matter how much I begged.



He just liked seeing me writhing in pain.



"From what I've noticed, Harry hasn't taught you very well." Nathan stated with a disapproving frown, shaking his head at me. "Perrie, grab the next size."



"N-No," I forced out, my voice trembling and hoarse. I craned my neck to look down at my spread legs, my stomach plummeting when I saw the blonde pulling the dildo from my inner folds. I was panting now, and I would've reached down if Nathan hadn't grabbed both of my wrists, trapping me in place for a moment.



Perrie's face was void of any emotion, just like yesterday, and she lifted the next dildo which was larger than the last one, and I could feel my entire body freezing in horror at the daunting size. But I had no time to say a word before she was pressing the cold plastic to my swollen folds, and my knees began to tremble as she forced it inside of me, forcing my walls to stretch, which were having a difficult getting accustomed to the massive size.



"And what the hell did I say to you?" Nathan growled to Eleanor; I couldn't look over because my eyes were tightly closed now, and Nathan released my wrists, which fell limply to my side as Perrie continued to push the dildo inside of me. She had the courtesy to move it slowly, to give my body time to adjust, but it was hurting like hell. I felt like my insides were on fire.



I heard a slap fill the air followed by Eleanor's yelp from the pain, and my head instinctively whipped to see her now on the floor, clutching her cheek with Nathan standing over her.



"I told you to take your clothes off," Nathan snarled, his voice echoing through the seemingly empty room. "So tell me what the hell you were doing. Disobeying me, huh?"



"P-Please,"



I couldn't look at Perrie's face as she began pumping the dildo in and out of me; no, this was beyond insane, beyond disgusting-this was horrific. I'd probably never be able to look at her the same anymore.



I didn't even know how much time had passed; all I knew was that these few hours, minutes, or days-whatever, were the worse I had ever experienced. I always thought Harry was twisted and unstable, but no, Nathan was so much worse. He proved that in just this amount of time.



"Please! Don't!" Eleanor's shrilly voice was in the air; her voice sounded hoarse from heavy crying, too, and I knew she was in the same situation as I was when it came to being unable to cry anymore.



"Shut up!" Nathan growled.



"I'm pregnant!"



The outburst made Perrie even stop in her movements, and my mouth fell open in shock as I turned to look at Eleanor, who was still staring at the ground, her thick waves of hair falling past her face, hiding it from everyone.



"I'm pregnant." She repeated softly, her hands unconsciously clutching onto her lower belly.



When did that happen? Was she lying-just saying that so Nathan wouldn't touch her anymore?



"Leave her alone," I forced myself to speak finally. "Didn't you hear her? She's pregnant."



Nathan's figure was stiff and I knew he was staring at her, his back to us. It was a strange moment; his eyes were finally off of me, and I was finally staring at his back. He couldn't see what I was doing.



My instincts kicked in at that exact moment; Perrie caught my eye and shook her head, mouthing no but I ignored her, my eyes wandering around, looking for something that could be of use to me.



And that was when I saw the knife, sitting on the desk.



"You're pregnant?" Nathan asked quietly.



"Y-Yes,"



Perrie was reaching for me, shaking her head quicker now with more desperation, but I ignored her and reached towards the knife, my fingers falling around its cool metallic feel; for once, it felt like comfort to me, and I gripped onto the weapon tightly, my teeth gritting in fear mixed with anger, eyes falling upon Nathan, who still wasn't looking at me.



"I had a wife once," Nathan said as I took quiet, deep breaths. "I had a beautiful wife; we married right out of high school. She was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen, and I could never understand why she ever even agreed to marry. I worked at a local grocery store, and my wife started giving me hell when she got pregnant because, come on, we all know that working at a grocery store wasn't going to pay for a kid."



I was clenching onto the knife as I forced myself to my feet, which had hardened from the adrenaline rushing through my veins. Perrie wasn't even looking at me now; she was staring at her lap, biting hard on her lower lip.



"I made her unhappy. She needed a husband who could support her." Nathan muttered. "I tried my best to support her-I really did. I was so desperate to get a paying job that I tried to join a gang. I wanted to join One Direction because they were the most powerful, but as soon as I tried, Harry turned me down instantly."



I was approaching him silently behind, my eyes boring heavily into his back. Right now, I felt so much disgust and utter hatred for him that I couldn't even think clearly. I've never felt this way towards anyone before-ever.



"She left me. As soon as she heard that I tried to join a gang, she packed up her bags and left without even hearing me out." Nathan's voice sounded sad, and had I been in a normal mindset, I feared I may have felt pity for him.



But the bruises on Perrie's face kept me from feeling any pity at all.



"She left you," I said suddenly, reaching over his shoulder to let the ends of the knife touch his skin on his neck, "because you're bloody insane."



And with that, I swiped the knife, adding as much pressure as I could, and in moments flat, Nathan jerked from my touch and knocked me a few feet away. However, I instantly was covered in blood-blood had spurted from his neck, staining my hands and forearms, and I stared, wide-eyed, as he turned to me, blood spewing from his neck, drenching his clothes. I felt like I was inside a horror movie; I could see the gap in his neck from the knife, and I could see the pain flashing in his eyes, blinding him.



Oh my god.



I dropped the knife, letting it hit the ground, and Nathan was making choking sounds, his hands shakily trying to cover his wound. Blood was everywhere, and it got to the point when he simply gave up trying to cover the blood, and his body tipped backwards, landing heavily on the ground.



He was choking now on his own blood, and his body was jolting violently; blood was being coughed up from his mouth, staining his entire face, and soon, after a few long graphical seconds, his body went completely limp.



He was dead.



I killed him.



"Holy shit," Perrie was the first to speak, her eyes on me, lips turning into a wide grin. "Claire! You did it!"



I didn't quite hear her; my eyes were trained on the lifeless body, expecting him to come back to life somehow.



And that was when I started screaming.



It was a blood-curling screech, and I screamed loudly, staring at my bloody hands, realizing I was covered in his blood.



Realizing I had killed a human being-with a knife.



Knees suddenly weak, I crumbled to the floor and kept on screaming; my screams echoed in my mind, and I was positive people from outside the door were going to hear, and Nathan's men were going to come inside and kill us for killing their leader.



"Claire," Eleanor was on her knees in front of me; she was crying, although she had the hint of a relieved smile, and she was clutching me to her. I was fully naked but I didn't feel it, mainly because my entire upper body was soaked in scarlet blood.



A loud, thundering noise came from behind us-the opening and slamming of the door, and I knew it was over. We were going to die. But I didn't care; I was sobbing hysterically into Eleanor's chest, but she had pulled away to peer over my head, and her body had gone strangely still.



And then:



"Louis!" She cried this, exclaiming it with joy followed by a sudden sob, and she left me on the floor to dash past me. I was hiccupping on my tears, my brain trying to register what just happened, until I saw him.



Harry was crouching right in front of me, and as soon as I saw his emerald eyes, I started crying all over again.



"Claire," He whispered, and I only closed my eyes and pushed myself into his arms. I felt so much better in his arms, with them holding me, clutching me to his powerful body, and for a moment, I thought this may have been heaven. That maybe Nathan's men had killed us so quickly that we didn't even feel any pain. And I would've accepted that death, except for the fact that Harry's scent was all around me, and I could hear his heart beat from my ear pressed to his chest.



He was here.



He came.



He found us.



"Y-You came for me," I uttered finally, my hands grasping handfuls of his shirt, squeezing the material tightly.



"Of course I did," He replied huskily, hoisting me up so I was now seated on his lap. I clung to him like a newborn babe; no, if he thought he was going to let me go again, he was sadly very wrong.



"I thought I was dead, Harry, I thought I was dead."



Harry pulled away, which earned a yelp from me, but he forced me to look into his eyes. And his eyes were in horror upon noticing all the blood over me, and they darkened instantly when they saw I was stark naked.



"What the hell happened?"



"Claire killed him." Perrie spoke up with a hint of pride. "That's what happened."



His jaw clenched when he heard this information, and he mumbled, "That explains the blood." But his eyes looked pained almost when he wrapped his arms around me again, as if trying to hide my nude body from everyone else's eyes. I could hear people murmuring behind us now, mixed with Eleanor's sobs, but I didn't care.



"Here," Harry pulled away after a few moments, pulling his own shirt off his head, "put this on." His voice was rough now, and I had a feeling he was trying to control himself-for my sake. I was trembling all over, and oh god, I could taste the blood on my lips, and it wasn't even my blood.



"I-I had to kill him," I started saying quickly, my eyes glancing at his fallen form. "H-He was trying to-"



"Don't tell me what he was trying to do." Harry cut me off sharply, his eyes avoiding mine to pull his shirt over my head. I felt warmer and a lot better with it covering my chest. He then muttered quietly, "I have a feeling I know what he was trying to do."



I felt Harry shift under me and I started crying again-god I felt pathetic, but my body felt like it was out of control, behaving on its own. And I could even see I had Nathan's blood under my finger nails, and that made my stomach curl in disgust.



"Shh baby," Harry whispered, looking me in the eyes. "I'm just standing up, okay?"



"N-No,"



Harry sighed and tightened his hold on me before he slowly got to his feet, hoisting me in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his shoulder, leaning my head against his chest, and Harry took a moment to wipe some of my bangs from my eyes.



"You're safe now," He whispered. "It's over, Claire. We're going home."



Home.



"Yes," I whispered faintly, sniffling, "take me home."





~~~~





The water felt warm and soothing against me, and with Harry's fingers running through my hair, I could feel as if the horror I had witness for those past hours were slowly rinsing off of me, just like the blood.



"How're you feeling?" Harry asked softly from behind me, kneading his fingers into my scalp. His soothing tough was so different than when Nathan grabbed my hair earlier, and at first, I was afraid of Harry's tough, but then I remembered who it was. He was nothing like Nathan.



"Much better," I murmured, and I wasn't lying. Taking baths had always calmed me down in the past, but this was so much better, especially with Harry washing me.



"Harry," I said suddenly, turning to look at him over my shoulder; he was still shirtless and wearing his jeans, and his hands were dripping wet and soapy from washing my hair, "come in with me."



He cracked a dry grin, "There's no room, Claire."



"Nonsense." I frowned a little. "Please?" I wanted to be as close as I could to Harry. And for a moment, I thought Harry was going to say no, but instead, he sighed and started pulling off his jeans. I looked back around, rubbing my hands together, trying to get more of the blood off before I heard Harry stepping into the tub from behind me.



"Scoot forward," He whispered, and I did. He sat behind me, his chest pressed to mine, and he pulled me back against him, and I sighed in content. This moment wasn't intimate or sexual; it was so much different, so much more meaningful to me, really. And I felt Harry's chin rest upon my shoulder, his arms circling around my waist to wrap me in a firm embrace.



"I'm sorry," He murmured.



"For what?"



"I broke my promise."



"What promise?"



He paused. "I told you I'd never let anyone hurt you."



"You can't be seriously blaming yourself." Surprised, I turned to give him a wide-eyed look, and the pained look in his eyes confirmed my question.



"I'm taking more care of you from now on," He muttered. "I'm not going to let anything like that happen, okay? I promise." He sounded firm as he declared this, but to me it seemed like he was telling himself this.



"Harry, look at me."



I turned fully back to face him, having to straddle his waist now, the water sloshing around our naked bodies. He hesitantly peered up at me, confused, and I leaned down to kiss him softly.



"You saved me," I breathed, cupping his cheeks. "So don't blame yourself, okay?"



His eyes hardened from this and he brought me to his lips once again, kissing me more firmly and with more passion. I delved into his kiss, meshing easily against his lips and letting them move against mine, following his movements. His arms were circling my waist, but suddenly, he pulled away.



"Shit," He muttered. "I forgot-are you okay?" His gaze was worried again, and it looked like he was expecting me to start sobbing.



"I'm fine, Harry," I mumbled. I guess I should've been more petrified, but right now, with Harry, I felt so much better. Yes, the horrific images from what happened were still clear in my mind, ranging from how I had to give Nathan a blow job to Perrie having to touch me, but I wasn't about to let those memories rule my life, especially now that they were over.



"Are you sure?" Harry whispered, looking doubtful.



I chuckled, "Just shut up and kiss me again." Harry's lips cracked into a low smirk at my words, and he mumbled, "So fucking bossy," Before kissing me on the lips again. This time he fully wrapped his arms around my waist, pressing my chest against his, and my heart sailed when I could feel him hardening against my stomach.



And that was when someone knocked on our door.



"Hurry up you two blokes-there are other people living in this house, you know." Louis' teasing voice was muffled as he said this, followed by another range of three knocks.



"Leave them alone, Lou," A voice said, a lower one, probably one of the boys, and Harry and I grinned at each other when we heard them mumbling to one another.



And that was when Harry, his eyes glinting in happiness and nothing but fondness for me, smirked at me and said suggestively, "I say we take this back to the bedroom."