The Place To Lose Your Fears *A Ziall AU*

CHAPTER 1

<<flash forwards to present time (for the story that is)>>

<<Zayn's POV>>

I woke up to me friend, Liam carrying a 6-pack of 6 glass quarts of milk.

"Top o' the mornin' to ye, Liam!" I greeted. Liam, with his thin arms full, smiled and continued to walk down the street to a boarding school. Liam's father died, jest like mine, but he has no family at all. I felt really bad for that lad. Poor Liam, he lost everything and is basically a slave for the school. I'm pretty sure he's got in a relationship with Louis, the servant to a grumpy, rich neighbor. Louis said that the neighbor is actually really nice, but he puts a façade and because of him, Liam is warm at night and has enough to eat.

I do go hungry sometimes, but not like Liam. Lady Trisha, me stepmother, makes me do all od the slave labour o' her home. She degrades me, but I get enough to eat, since I cook. She is worried since Father died in a carriage accident, we got everything he owned, enough miney to go for at least a decade, but we let go of all of the servants and moved to a small townhouse in the middle of town. We used to live in a big Victorian Mansion in Northern Ireland, but we moved doon to Dublin a few years ago.

Our house has only 2 bedrooms, one for old Lady Trisha, and one for her two daughters, me stepsister, Waliyah and Doniya. I slept anywhere in the house at night, thankfully, I only need aboot three or four hours of sleep to fully function, I have a special gift. I also have many other talents, like I'm really good at drawing I love to sing, especially aboot love. Louis says I'm a good singer and me voice is like an angel. Liam and Louis also like to sing but we're all going one direction with our careers though, which is labour. I'm 16 and almost fully grown, I'm small but strong from me labour throughout the last four years.

Liam is the same age and Louis is a year or two older. His family died and was in deep debt and he had to work for his old, grumpy master. I've seen his master and he's nowhere close to a kind man, yet Louis says he is. I hum a song as I roll up me quilt that used to belong to me actual mother. Father told me she quilted it for me when she was pregnant for us to cuddle on cold nights. Then I wrap up me cloth bag filled with bits of wool, fur, cotton and feathers I used as a pillow behind the sofa.

I hummed a song as I got up to make some muffins. They're not going to be up for another hour or so. I licked the bowl clean of the leftover batter. Then as it baked on the black Franklin stove, I rolled up me sleeves. We live in Dublin because it has cheaper food and rent is less. We have a wooden rocking chair and a sofa by the fireplace. I either sleep on the sofa or on the floor next to the window. I took the muffins off, which are more like teaspoon bread. I put some honey on them and let them melt. I heated a pot of water and put the bread on wooden slabs with some silverware and poured 2 glasses of milk and a cup of tea, which was what the hot water was for.

I put in some honey in the tea and put everything on a wooden slab. I served Lady Trisha. Her room was small, had a bed, a desk, a drawer with a mirror and wardrobe, which has her most prized valuables, her clothes. It included feathered hats with real dead, stuffed doves, fur coats and her crinoline dress.

"Top o' the mornin' to ye, Lady Trisha!" I greeted. She was already awake and like usual, didn't say anything jest scolwed and put her glasses on. Next, I served me 2 stepsisters upstairs. I stepped over all the clothes and junk strewn around and set the tray on the nightstand and opened the curtains up.

"Wake up, it's morning!" I said. They groaned as they went to sleep too late last night. Doniya was nursing a hangover from too much whiskey.

I quickly leave and watered our little garden in the back. We grew some cabbage, mint and potatoes. I watered them and since it was summer, I added some fertilizer I collected from horse manure in the street in front of our home. I fed our three chickens and collected their eggs.

"Well I got four eggs today." I said to meself.

After aboot a half a hour, I went back and collected Trisha's dish and collected the stepsister's dishes as well. I carried them to the sink and washed them while singing a song I came up with.

"I'm seeing the pain, seeing the pleasure, nobody but you, 'body but me." I sang. I dream of someone who will protect me and care for me. I've had to care for other people for so long. I long for a protector.

"Bane!" Trisha screeched. I nearly dropped the plate because of the pitch of the screech. Trisha calls be 'Bane' because I'm an annoyance to her. Nobody here loves me, will anyone love me enough? I ran to see Lady Trisha. She stood in her petticoat.

"Put this on." She demanded. I quickly helped her put her crinoline on and tied her corset. It was aboot one and a half meters in diameter. She put on her makeup and perfume. "Give me my pigeon hat" she ordered. I went and retrieved the hat and gave it to her. It was the one with the stuffed pigeon. I already knew what she needed I went and got her spool-shaped heels and put them on her lacy legging covered feet because she couldn't with her corset and crinoline. I carried her purse and walking stick, the one with the emerald on it.

I walked behind her and pushed her crinoline through the door. When she left I gave her the purse and walking stick. I went back to drying dishes when I heard another shriek for me name. I knew it was Waliyah because she actually calls me by me actual name. I ran up and see what she needed. Waliyah and Doniyah pretty much needed the same thing that Lady Trisha needed.

"Pick up all the clothes on the floor!" ordered Doniyah. It was humiliating having to serve me younger sisters. Doniyah came over and kicked me with her thick heel. I felt me rib bruising. She fell over on the impact and I had to pick her up. Waliyah was laughing her arse off. I quickly gathered the sashes and pelts as Doniyah screamed a temper tantrum. 

"You Bane!" she wailed. She picked up a paperweight stone and chucked it with all her tiny might at me. I tried to move, but it scraped off a layer of skin on me jawline. I yelped and ran to the bathroom, falling twice doon the steps. I got a rag to staunch the blood flow and picked out the bit of the sandstone out.

I could hear arguing. Waliyah yelled at her younger sister for doing that. We were actually pretty nice to each other when Father was still alive, but she was always very spoiled and mistreated our servants. Doniyah was pretty much a Trisha mini-me but not as much self-control. They both were corrupted since Father died.

"Come back Zayn!" Waliyah called. I stumbled and wondered what they could have possibly called me for. Maybe it was to apologize, no they've never done that, except for a few times to Father. I fianally reached up the steps.

"Take off yer clothes." Doniyah instructed. I stripped that doon to me light undergarments, I already know what was going to happen. It's happened many times before.

So, this is my first fanfic, sorry if it sucked. I hope this is a good one. I'm not European and so I hope the accents and all are historically accurate, lol.