Sweet Sinister [A Ziam Fanfiction]

Chapter 4- The boy with the shatter and smiles

Hey! I know I'm a bit late but happy new year, everybody! ^-^

Guess who finally decided to get back on 'DDG'?! So yeah, that fic is officially off-hold now. The new chapter is also up. 'Unspoken', however, is still on-hold. I'm sorry but I'm terribly lacking inspiration for that one.

Anyway, here's another chapter. I hope you like it and thank you for being so supportive and giving such lovely responses on this and baring with my pathetic pace of updating. You're awesome. *tackles you into a hug* Things are really gonna take off from the upcoming chapters.

Chapie number 4....enjoy!

-Jenny aka LoveandHeartbreaks

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 Liam, Niall and Louis are exhausted to the core.

Cleaning this place has completely drained them. They started with it right from the morning at 7. They worked non-stop, but could only manage to clear up the kitchen and the main hall. The washrooms are yet to be done and so is the entirety of the second floor. The kitchen and the main hall needed a lot of repairing for which the electrician and plumber was called.  The taps are working perfectly fine now and so are the lights. They both had to be paid heavy tips because every other electrician and plumber was reluctant to enter the Manor, of course.

“I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.”  Niall groaned from where he was lying on the carpet of the hall.

“How tired can you be after barely moving your arse from the chair?” Louis said, rolling his eyes.

“Heyy,” Niall protested, “I was ‘supervising’.” Louis snorted.

“Some food would do us good, y’know.” Liam said, chugging down a glass of water. He feels like he exercised worth a month in just one day.

“Smart lad, Liam.” Niall prompted. “Level-headed. I like that.” Liam couldn’t help but grin.

“Alright, alright.” Louis said, waving his hand, “Let’s go grab some food,  I don’t think we’re left with much. I’ll call for a taxi.”

“Erm, I’ll actually stay right here. Promised mum to Skype her today, you how she is. Besides, she wasn’t exactly thrilled when I told her I was going to spend my holidays here in Heather Wood Manor.” Liam said, already taking out his laptop.

“She’s a total worrywart, isn’t she? Give our love to her, though. C’mon, Niall, let’s wait outside.” Louis said, putting on his coat and grabbing his wallet with Niall following close behind.

It’s been almost an hour since Louis and Niall went and Liam is still Skyping with his mum. She was crying for the past thirty minutes, so now is actually the time he properly gets to talk to her. He loves her mum, he really does, but it just boggles his mind how much she can cry.

“How’s Ruth and Nicola?” He asked.

“Oh, they’re doing great. You tell me, where are Louis and, what was his name—Niall! Yes, where are these two?” His mum asked, smiling through the screen.

“They’re just out and about to grab some food, will be back soon I’m guessing. They said hi, by the way.”  He replied.

“Do tell those lovelies that they must come over sometime for a proper feast maybe. And you do take care of yourself, Liam.” She began, in her motherly voice, “This is Heather Wood Manor, we’re talking about and I’ve not heard the most pleasant things about this place. Do you know what they say—“ She paused for a second and furrowed her brows. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Liam asked quizzically.

His mum adjusted her glasses.She blinked for a second or two and looked past Liam, over his shoulders. “I thought I saw somebody standing right behind you. Could it be Louis or Niall?”

Even before he turned around to see if it was indeed Louis or Niall, he felt a cool shudder trickle down his spine because he knew it couldn’t possibly be the two of them. The door’s closed and none of them have any sort of key to the house. There’s no way anybody could enter without knocking, ringing the bell or basically without Liam knowing.

However, when he did turn around, there was nothing. Nothing at all. He took a shaky breath.

He turned back to face his mum. “Oh, never mind, I’m just getting old day by day. I’ll talk to you later, alright, love? I love you, and take care of yourself and those little monsters staying with you.” She chuckled.

 “Goodbye, mum.” Liam forced a smile and shut down his laptop. He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face.

Only a couple of minutes before he was just about to take a little nap, he heard what sounded like a shatter of glass from upstairs. The sound of the broken glass echoed in the empty mansion and made Liam’s breath hitch. He couldn’t move, he felt paralyzed.

His pulse ramped up.  It’s nothing, he told himself. But then the floorboard beside him groaned once. Twice. He froze–all his breath trapped. Liam set aside his laptop, straining to hear, but his heart pounded too loudly and his breathing was harsh.

He made his way towards the staircase. The stairs creaked under his feet, settling an uneasy feeling in his stomach.  He clutched the banister and moved up. When he reached the second floor, he knew instantly that the sound came from the attic. Ever since he’s been here, the attic  has made him feel uncomfortable. It looked eerie even from the outside, he remembers.

Liam crept into the attic. It was empty… yet his heart wouldn’t settle.  Something wasn’t right here. He could feel eyes on him. He darted his eyes around frantically, but it was all in vain, he couldn’t see anyone.

And then, he felt the presence of a phantom hand on his shoulder.  He doesn’t turn around, no, but he feels his hair rise at the back of his neck. There’s a puff of breath on his earlobe.

“Welcome to Heather Wood Manor, Liam,” whispers a hoarse, heavy voice.

He  stands rooted in his place.  Silence. He feels light-headed all of a sudden, he cannot even work himself to stand anymore. He drops to the floor, fainting. He cracks one eye open as hes lying down.

 Liam sees a boy. The boy looks fairly around his age, maybe a year or two younger. He’s wearing some pretty ragged skinny jeans and a worn-out T-shirt. Liam sees the shine of the stacks of rings and chains the boy is wearing along with all the black ink smeared on his arms and collarbones. He lifts his gaze a bit more to find the silver moonlight coming through the window, illuminate the boy’s face.

He’s smiling at him—all teeth and dimples. His face looks a bit too pale to be considered normal, or well, living, Liam thinks, but his emerald green eyes glow with a mischievous glint to them. The boy flashes Liam another grin, running his long fingers through his dark and unruly hair.

Liam’s eyes flutter close.