the purge // n.h. (au)

fifteen

A/N: I have one thing to say, and that is to please not murder me for this chapter! Haha I love you guys, and thank you for all of the comments and votes. Keep doing what you do, and I'll update soon. (; x

Niall

It all happened fast, way too fast.

In seconds the knife that Axel gripped onto was being plunged into my chest, giving me almost no time to react. I tried to prevent it from entering my body, but by the time I went to stop it it was too late.

As soon as the sharp tip of the weapon pierced my flesh, the pain came. I had always imagined what it would feel like to be stabbed with a knife, but never did I ever think of it to be as bad as this.

It was nearly unbearable, and no matter how hard I tried to hold it in I couldn't prevent the scream from escaping my lips. It felt almost like fire, a burning sensation fleeing through my veins as my body fought to keep the blood circulating to my heart.

Axel had stabbed me close to my heart, but not directly on it. I knew that he had done it on purpose too. He wanted to see me suffer first. He planned on seeing the life being drained out of me slowly but surely, hoping that I wouldn't be able to stand the agony and that I'd beg and cry for him to get it over with.

He twitched the object in his hands, causing me to groan loudly as the tip of the knife dug even deeper into my skin.

"I told you I'd find you, Horan," he whispered, smirking smugly at me. "You can always run, but you can't hide. And now you're going to suffer. I was thinking of getting it done with, but after what you did I'd rather see it happen this way."

"Go to hell, Axel," I spat, spitting in his face.

He just laughed coldly and let go of the knife, causing me to fall backwards onto the ground with the object still sticking out of my chest. "Gladly."

I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to focus my attention on anything else but his presence and the agonizing sensation currently spreading throughout my body.

I was beginning to drift off into unconsciousness when Axel suddenly screamed, a loud boom filling the silent atmosphere that was surrounding us.

I opened my eyes again and tried to lift my head up to see what was going on, but I could barely do so. And it didn't help that it was nearly pitch black where we were, as the power was still out from earlier and I guarantee it won't be coming on anytime soon.

Another gunshot filled the room, and I could only pray that Julissa and Maddie hadn't left the bathroom. They had to be okay. I had made a promise to their mother, and I wasn't about to break it. I was going to keep them safe, no matter what I had to do.

Someone then fell onto the ground, probably into a lifeless heap. Moments later brown hair filled my vision, along with that all too familiar pair of warm hazel orbs.

"Oh my god, Niall," Julissa choked back a sob, looking down at my chest wound with wide eyes. "No, this can't be happening."

"Jules," I breathed, weakly reaching out to her and cupping her cheek in my palm.

She sniffled and closed her eyes for a moment, pressing her face further into my hand. "You can't die on me."

I shook my head, wanting nothing more than to reassure her that I was going to be okay. I wanted to be able to say I was going to live and that it'd be the truth, but I wasn't so sure about that. "I'm not going anywhere, baby. I'm right here."

This time she shook her head, tears already starting to run down her cheeks. "No. There's still a couple hours left. We won't be able to get help until this is over, Niall. Y-you won't be able to wait that long."

I was about to reply but coughed suddenly, liquid coming up when I did so. It was warm and tasted like metal, the taste making me wince. I didn't have to be told to know that it was blood. I was bleeding from the inside, and Julissa was right. I unfortunately couldn't wait that long. I'd be dead long before the time was up.

"Shit," I muttered, wishing that she didn't have to see me like this, gradually dying.

She began to sob then, not knowing what to do to help me. "I can't stand seeing you like this. Why couldn't it be me instead? God, Niall, this isn't fair!"

"Sh, babe, please," I begged quietly, my eyes filling up with tears at the sight of her so broken down and scared. "It'll be okay. Is Maddie still in the bathroom?"

She nodded, biting down on her lip to try and stop herself from crying even more. "Yeah, I told her to stay in there and lock the door. She's fine, but you're not."

"Yes, I am-"

"Stop, just shut up, please. Stop lying to me. You and I both know that you're anything but fine," she whimpered, glancing back towards the knife and then back at me. "Should I pull it out? It won't stop bleeding.."

"No, no, it'll only make it worse," I gasped, sucking in a breath as my stomach churned suddenly. I tilted my head to the side and vomited, the bile being a mixture of stomach acid and more of the crimson liquid from inside of my body.

It was absolutely disgusting, but I couldn't stop it. It was all apart of the process of dying like this. I had seen it before. It wasn't much different, except now it was happening to me.

Julissa held back a cry and took my hands in hers, holding them to let me know that she was there for me and wasn't leaving. "Just let it out, Ni. Y-You'll feel better, okay?"

I nodded faintly and looked back at her once I was done, giving her hand a light squeeze. "I told you that if one of us had to get killed tonight, it was going to be me."

She scoffed as more tears fell, causing me to regret saying what I said. "Don't you dare sit there and tell me that. I didn't want this."

I sighed, closing my eyelids. "I know, babe. I didn't either. But I had to do what I had to do to protect you."

She smiled sadly through her tears and leaned forward, gently pressing a kiss to my forehead. "If you don't survive this, I want you to know that I'm glad that Maddie let you in earlier instead of leaving you outside. I'm so glad, because otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to meet you."

I smiled, slowly bringing her small hands up to my lips and kissing her knuckles, my breath becoming shallower as the seconds ticked by. "I'm glad she did, too. I am so glad."

"Niall, please stay with me. Please, just fight," she cried, her bottom lip quivering as she spoke. "I know you can get through this."

"I will, Julissa. I'm not leaving you without a fight," I whispered, meaning every single word that I said.