Walking Through the Time Capsule

Chapter 56

Walking Through the Time Capsule

Chapter 56

*

*

Niall...

"How ya feelin'?" Louis asked, joining me at the edge of the pool.

"Like shit." I made no point in trying to lie.

"I figured."

"Why ask then?"

"I don't know. To distract myself from wanting to kill someone." He chuckled bitterly.

"Does everyone hate me?" I asked meekly after a few moments of silence.

"Absolutely not! What would make you say that?" He seemed shell shocked by my question.

"Because this is my fault. I got her taken, I ruined another summer, and in three days she'll have to spend another birthday in a horrible way." My shoulders sunk more and more with every word.

"Niall," he sighed, rolling his head back in a sigh, "this is not your fault. It's actually no one's fault. She got freaked out by a memory and ran out."

"I didn't stop her."

"Because you couldn't. She ran off too fast for anyone to do anything. If you wanna play the blame game, blame it on me then." He barked. "I already had a grip on her shoulder, and instead of tightening it, I let her go. It's my fault anyways." His shoulders dropped as his face sunk, eyes cast to the ground. His angry facade broke, and he looked almost more depressed than I was.

"Louis, I didn't know you felt that way." I whispered softly. "Is that why you've been so extremely angry this whole time?" I asked cautiously. He glanced up at me with soft, watery eyes, and that was all I needed to answer my question.

His voice cracked, and tears started breaking free from his eye lids. "I'm so sorry, Niall. I let her go."

"Oh, Louis." I pulled him into a hug, feeling my heart break for the man I always loved as an older brother. "Shut up, it's not your fault." I started crying myself.

"You're not mad at me?"

"Seriously, Louis?" I asked, flabbergasted. "How could I possibly be mad at you? You sometimes do a better job at protecting her than I do. And like you said, she ran off too quick for anyone to stop it." I comforted him with a heavy heart.

We fell into a sad silence, both staring at the reflection of the moon on the pool, until he broke it.

"I'm sorry you had to watch it." He whispered sadly, not taking his eyes off the water.

It took me a moment to realize he was talking about the video I was sent a few days ago. I decided to let his words hang in the air, not responding to them. Those images had haunted my sleep for the past four nights. Every time I even closed my eyes to blink, I'd see flashes of him on top of her. I would have rather been sent a video of her being beaten than that. Although, neither would have been sent if I had it my way.

Hell, if I really had it my way, she'd be here with me right now. None of this would have happened, and she'd be perfectly fine. We'd be cuddling on my bed watching any Disney movie she wanted, and I would constantly try to distract her with kisses, and she'd cutely scold me for talking over the characters. A slick tear fell down my cheek. I let it take it's course before dripping off my chin and into the rippling water.

"What if she's not even here? What if they took her back home, and we've been wasting this whole time." My throat tightened at the thought.

"No, there's no way that's the case." He said quickly. "American airport security is much higher. They would never have made it through. Besides, they left those pictures a couple weeks ago. They're still here somewhere." He assured me. It made me feel a little better.