Rupture // h.s au

10. Everyone's worst nightmare.

Harry

I rushed back to the dungeon, to find Zayn carrying Autumn on his shoulder, before laying her down onto the ground. Her eyes were sealed shut in agony, as she mumbled a few curse words beneath her breath.

" What do we do now?" Zayn asked, noticing my sudden return.

" We have to clean the wound, but it's going to hurt like a bitch." I breathed, falling beside them, to carefully watch the barely alive, Autumn.

" Delightful." I heard her weakly comment, causing Zayn to roll his eyes at her consistent objections.

" I am not wasting any pain killers on her." Zayn declared, standing to his feet. I glared at him furiously, as she groaned in pain again, telling me that this was no time for our bickering.

" Fine, get me some alcohol from the clinic to clean the wound with, and lots of bandages." I demanded, my eyes lingering upon the sweat forming on her forehead, causing her hair to stick to her skin.

" I don't work for you, Styles." Zayn said, crossing his arms over his chest.

" Are you fucking serious right now?" I challenged, receiving a nonchalant shrug from him.

" Fine, get the fuck out of here. Guards, someone go to Tomlinson's room, and tell him to come urgently, without leaving the intruder behind!" I called, watching as one of the guards rushed out of the dungeon, while Zayn rested his back against the window, seeming indifferent.

" It'll be okay, we'll heal this." I assured her, involuntarily running my hands over her hair.

" I am not ten, I know what this is, you don't have to sugarcoat shit for me." I rolled my eyes at that, but my hands remained in her hair, for whatever reason.

" On a scale from one to ten, how bad does it hurt?" I questioned, noticing how hard she bit her lip, how faded and unfocused her eyes were becoming.

" Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up, you're making this worse." She brought her knees closer to her chest, letting out one, consistent, scream of pain, before turning to her side, her back facing me. I felt a sense of incompleteness settling in, helplessness of some sort, because she seemed like she was in so much pain, pain that I couldn't possibly ease, nor spare her from.

And why would I want that?

I didn't know.

I had no idea what was happening.

It wasn't that I necessarily cared for her, it was simply that I cared in general. I would never want to witness the suffering of any other human being. She was no exception.

" Here, bite down on this, it'll ease the pain a bit." I ran a hand through my hair, removing my bandana, before handing it over to her. She aggressively took it from me, putting it to her mouth as if she had been waiting for a release.

Louis and Niall came running through the door shortly after. Niall's eyes widened, when he saw who was curled onto the floor.

" Holy shit," He breathed, remaining by the door, as Louis approached me, bending onto his knees.

" What the hell happened to her?"

" She has an infected wound, it doesn't look good at all. And sir dickhead over there, refuses to get me the supplies we need." I pointed an accusing finger towards the nonchalant Zayn, as Louis' moved his eyes between Autumn and I.

" Is she passed out?"

" Unfortunately not. You people are impossible." She replied, rocking back and forth, without releasing a single sound of agony. Louis' eyes widened slightly, before he chuckled, shaking his head.

" Louis, focus, we need alcohol, and as many bandages as you can carry."

" Wait, we're helping? We're helping! Why are we helping?" Niall went from stunned, to enthusiastic, to confused, as he stared down upon us.

" You two, go get the things I asked you to, or so help me God," Louis quickly rose from the floor, rushing towards Niall, pulling him by the arm out of the dungeon.

" They'll be back soon, don't worry, it won't hurt for long," I brought my lips to her ears, which were framed by her messy hair, pierced in several positions, without having anything in them to fill the holes. She hummed in response, her eyes closed, and I couldn't help but think that it was to hide whatever pain she refused to reveal. I looked up, to see a questioning Zayn, staring down at me, as if I had grown a second head.

" What?" I shrugged weakly, receiving a head shake from him, but his eyes remained casted on Autumn and I. True to my words, Louis and Niall returned shortly after, with all the supplies I had requested.

" I'll sit you down now," I informed Autumn, before putting a hand to her arm, another one beneath her, lifting her light body off the ground. I rested her back against the wall, her arms falling limply beside her.

" I'll put this on the wound now, it'll hurt but-" Before I could finish the sentence,  she snatched away the bottle filled with alcohol, opening her eyes slightly, challengingly almost, as she put the bottle to her mouth, taking three large gulps, before splashing some of it onto her wound, pulling a loud painful scream out of her. She quickly put the bottle back to her mouth, as if to muffle any expression of her pain.

" What the fuck are you doing?" I accused, as soon as the bottle departed her lips.

" Alcohol, cleans wounds, therefore, you don't need this shit anymore. Just, bandage me up and we'll be fine."  She slurred through her words, and it made me wonder, if it was due to the effect of the alcohol, or the pain. I stared at the bewildered Louis and Niall, who gave me a mere shrug, handing me the bandages.

" Lay down, then." And I pulled my hand out to aid her, but she shoved it away, laying herself down slowly, wincing, without allowing us to witness it, before putting my bandana between her teeth again. I sighed quietly, bandaging her wound, but all the other scars, burn marks, decorating her stomach, caught my eyes, along with letters, engraved into her skin, like an eternal reminder, of something I had no knowledge of, and I found myself wanting to know the story behind each one of them.

Perhaps not today, when she was the enemy, and I was the one who held her as prisoner.

Perhaps some other time, when I wasn't the target, and she wasn't Autumn Griffin; everyone's worst nightmare.

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A/N: so, 700 reads, not much, but enough for me to keep going, so please keep reading and commenting to let me know what you think :)

lets get this to 1k reads asap!

ily x