Goldilocks

The second the door shut I jumped up. Who the hell was this guy? You don't just invite the person who broke into your house to come live at your house. I thought of his friends downstairs and my mind immediately wandered to dark places. What if they had conned me into coming here to use me? It wouldn't be the first time...

I ran my hands through my hair. I needed a shower to rinse off the prison smell and clear my head. I walked into the ginormous bathroom and turned on the water, all the while thinking.
I don't think they're planning on doing anything too rash with me. If they had wanted to they wouldn't have let me almost leave. But there are five of them and they already admitted they're in the 1%. It would be the word of a homeless prostitute against theirs. And they were rich enough to get rid of me for good if they wanted - though it wouldn't be hard. The only person concerned about my whereabouts is an evil county sheriff.

I let out a sigh and stripped off my clothes. In the floor to ceiling mirrors my bruises and cuts seemed to leap out at me. I stood for a moment and ran my hands across my mutilated body.
No. The county sheriff wasn't the only one looking for me. Johnny was looking for me and would sure as hell not be happy when he found me.

I stepped into the shower, letting the hot water cleanse my body and allow me to think clearly.
So. Do I stay with the wealthy strangers who have been nice enough to welcome me into their home and pray they won't rape and/or kill me? Or do I run and take the chance that one of Johnny and his gang will find me?

I don’t know for sure that the boys will hurt me…thought I know for a fact if Johnny finds he sure as hell will.

But Johnny couldn't hurt me if he couldn't find me.

-

I jumped at the sound of voices coming from the other side of the door. I quickly looked in the mirror to check my appearance. My baggy shirt hung loosely on my shoulders making me appear scrawny and pointy. I grabbed my raggedy old flannel as I stepped out of the room and pulled it on to hide the bruises.

Harry hadn’t come up to get me yet, but I was pretty sure I could go downstairs. There was another burst of laughter causing me to nearly jump out of my skin. I started down the hallway quietly. When I got to the top of the stairs, their conversation was enough to make me stop dead in my tracks.

“Do…do you really think she was working the streets?” One of them said. I held my breath.
“I mean her situation is desperate enough,” another replied. “Have you seen how beat up she was?”

“Yeah she’s got bruises every were…”

I looked down at myself; stars, cuts and bruises covered my entire body. Of course they noticed. How could anyone not? Taking a deep breath I continued tiptoeing down the hallway, wincing whenever I head a creak. I wanted to get closer to hear what they had to say.

“Wonder where she got them…”

Someone snorted, “As if she’ll tell us.”

“How long are you planning on letting her crash here Haz?”

I heard Harry clear his throat and I imagined he shrugged his shoulders before saying, “I dunno. How ever long she needs I guess…”

“Do you think that’s smart? I mean think of the press—”

“Well what do you propose we do with her then? Throw her back out on the street?” Cried Harry. “She wouldn’t last two seconds out there without some creep snatching her up – or worse whoever’s been hurting her could nab her again.”

I felt my heat swell in my chest at Harry’s words. This was honestly the most anyone has cared about me since I was sixteen.

“Fuck yeah. She’s not goin anywhere.”

“I don’t want to kick her out either, I’m just saying we have to be smart about it.”

I had made it to the bottom of the steps now, just around the corner from where the boys sat in the living room.

"Have you told her yet?"

I paused once more, waiting to hear the response. Told me what?

"No we haven't."

"I like her not knowing."

Not knowing what?!

"Me too. It's a fresh change."

"I don't understand how she can't," said the Irish accent. "I mean after everythin we've done?"

What the hell were they talking about? Were they talking about me staying with them? Were they questioning how I could not know they were rapists or serial killers? I took a deep breath to settle my breathing. Clam down Kat. Get a grip. Besides even if they do want something from me...I can handle it. Except it always seemed that rich boys were the most psychotic.

"Katrina!"

"Oh!" I cried, as Harry and I nearly ran into each other. He had rounded the corner and taken my by surprised. I stepped back, attempting once again to slow my heart rate.

Harry just stood there smiling at me before saying, "I was just about to come get you! Pizza's here!"

"I can see that," I half laughed. I sat down on the only open chair situated the edge of the sitting area. I saw all five of their eyes shoot to the bruises an quickly pulled my legs up onto the chair in attempt to hide them.

Louis seemed to recover first. "What would you like? We have cheese, pepperoni, some weird concoction Harry thought up..."

I shot Harry a questioning look and he immediately broke into another smile.

"I didn't think it up," he laughed. Grabbing a slice and dropping it on a plate. He held it out to me and I hesitated only slightly before taking it. "But I wish I did!"

"Did you know there's a place in LA that puts whatever you want on the pizza?" I asked. "There's steak and fries...there's a taco one too. My favorite's the Mac & Cheese."

"On pizza?" Frowned the blonde Irishman. I nodded as I took a bite of the slice Harry had given me. Then with a full mouth I managed, "dis is mazin' wha are you guys talkin bout?"

They broke into laughs and Louis quickly stood up, "anything to drink love?"

I nodded and he left the room, allowing us to fall into an awkward silence.

"So the lads told us you're from the city?" Liam asked in search of conversation.

"Yeah. I've lived here my entire life," I replied. I don't know why they kept asking that.

"So since you're a native, you should definitely give us a tour," Harry said, before lounging back on the couch and running a hand through his hair.

"I don't think we hang out at the same type of places," I replied honestly.

"No hidden beaches or little local stores?" He mused. I turned to look at him once more. "Oh come on, there has to be some good hidden stuff around here."

"What are you anti-tourism?"

"Yep."

"Good. Me too."

"Well. I mean in some cities you can't not go to the famous places. But then I like to wander around and find all the hidden ones."

"You could take us to that pizza place," Niall suggested.

"If you like." I set the half eaten pizza down on the coffee table and pulled myself back into the chair.

The boys watched me as I did this and Harry immediately asked, "do you want anything else? We have-"

"No I'm fine."

"Are you sure? We can dig something up or go to the store-"

"I won't be able to eat it," I shrugged.

"Why not?" Frowned Niall, he suddenly looked very concerned.

"This might come as a surprise, but not every meal I eat is a feast," I snapped, annoyed that they keep pushing the subject. "My stomach's shrunk. If I eat it I'll just throw it back up. Trust me."

"Well we can fix that," Louis laughed as he reentered the living room, a fresh cup of tea in his hands. "Drink up."

I frowned slightly as he held the cup out to me. He sensed my hesitation and took a sip of the drink himself before saying, "There see, I didn't poison it! Geez..."

I let out a laugh despite myself and took the cup of tea. The boys all waited until I took a sip before resuming any conversation.

"What time are the girls coming tomorrow?" Harry asked randomly.

"Their flight lands at ten," replied Liam.

"Seriously Haz?" Scoffed Louis. "You don't know when your sister is coming?"

"I forgot," Harry grumbled in reply. I sat watching them all curiously. Their sisters were coming to visit them? Were they rich too? These boys and their way of living was ridiculous. I watched absentmindedly as Niall jumped up and begun pulling out cords and controllers form the TV.

"Der gettin in at ten?" Cried Niall. I nearly laughed at his delayed reaction. The other boys nodded and Niall frowned, "what da hell are they gonna do fer da whole day?"

"Site seeing and shopping," shrugged Louis.

"Would you want to go with them Katrina?" Harry asked.

I froze as all the boys turned to stare at me. I then raised my eyebrows in surprise. Were they being serious?

"Yeah the girls would love it!" Cried Liam excitedly.

"Um...that's okay I need to go into the city-"

"Great! They can drop you off after!" Exclaimed Niall, passing out the white controllers to the boys. I opened my mouth to protest but he had already started the game. I sunk down into my seat as some intense zombie survival music blasted through the speakers.

It was beginning to dawn on me that these guys would never allow me to leave without knowing that I was okay physically, financially, and mentally. I had become a prisoner again. Maybe if I convinced the boys that I was fine they would leave me be.

"Katrina do you want to play?" I turned to see Harry looking at me with raised eyebrows as he held the controller out.

"How do I do it?" I asked, moving over to sit next to him. I guess I might as well start now.

He broke into a funny little grin before saying, "this one here controls where you move. That one there shoots..."

I listened carefully as Harry explained the rest of the controls to me. They also helped me pick out my character before everything broke out into an all out war.

"Watch out for Lou...turn to the left...SHOOT! Ha nice one!...oh watch out!"

"Bad Haz! Stop helping her!" Cried Louis as I shot him for the second time since we began.

"Don't be a sore loser Lou," I teased. Louis shot me a fake glare before jumping up grab some beer.

"What other games do you guys have?" I asked out of curiosity.

"FIFA, assassins creed..."

"We also have the Wii games," added Liam. "Mario kart and Just Dance..."

"Just Dance?" I frowned.

"No! Last time we got into that we broke the table!" Groaned Harry.

"We'll move the table! Come on let's play that one! Is it like DDR?"

"DD what?"

"Dance Dance Revolution." I shrugged. "My friends and I played that all the time when we were younger."

Harry broke into another one of his funny grins and I knew I had won. Within minutes we had pushed aside the table and began the game. It was beyond hilarious to watch the guys dance.

"Alright Kat," giggled Niall as he handed me a controller. "Now it's your turn to embarrass yourself."

"Don't worry, I'll never look as silly as you," I teased.

The game was a blast. It was still the same idea as DDR, which made it easy to pick up, but there were a lot of new steps included. I kicked Niall's ass dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller and again in a weird Russian song. I was in stitches by the time we finished.

"There's no way you can be this good without having played it," laughed Louis as Niall and I collapsed back onto the couches.

"I told you I used to play DDR!" I smirked. "I've never played any of these games before."

"Any?" Quizzed Zayn. "Not even Mario Kart?"

I shook my head and watched as they shot each other bewildered looks. I rolled my eyes and stool up. "Come on Harry are you playing?"

"Yes ma'am," he laughed. I pulled my hair into a ponytail as he started some Spanish dance. I think I nearly died laughing.

Halfway through the dance I ripped off my raggedy old flannel to keep from over heating. Harry and I got very into the dance, more so then we probably should have.

As we ended the song I turned to Harry, breathing hard but with a smile nonetheless. Harry on the other hand was frowning at me. His wide eyes scanned my body, taking in every bruise, bump and cut. I turned to see the rest of the guys eyes trained on me as well.

I snatched up the flannel and quickly covered my shoulders as Harry whispered, "Katrina-"

"Don't," I hissed. "It's fine."

"That is not fine,” he pressed.

"Yes. It is."

Harry opened his mouth once more to reply but seemed to think better of it. Instead it was Liam who spoke.

"It's getting pretty late...we should probably head to bed."

The others nodded and together they began picking up the mess. I stood there feeling frustrated that they were really going to let my bruises ruin a perfectly good night.

"Come on Katrina." Harry touched my shoulder gently, causing me to flinch. "Let's get you to bed."

I gave him a small nod before following him back upstairs. This was it. Time to find out what these guys really wanted. My mind flashed back to the conversation I had overheard. Were they going to tell me their big secret now?

I followed Harry upstairs and my heart sank when he turned to the right towards his room rather than to the left where he had taken me before. Did he want me to sleep in his room with him? I followed hesitantly behind him.

"Here, you can wear this tonight."

I half expected him to pull out some risqué latex outfit for me to wear, but instead he tossed me an old raggedy Nirvana t-shirt. I stared at him for a moment.

"I-I'm sorry about earlier Katrina," he said quietly. "Let me know if there's anything else you need."

I nodded but didn't move otherwise. I was trapped in this house along with five very rich guys who had a secret. Maybe if I showed them I was willing do what whatever they wanted, they wouldn't hurt me.

With a deep breath I stepped up to Harry. He looked taken aback as I gently took his hand in mine. I leaned forward and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you Harry...for everything."

"Of course," he smiled. As I turned to the door I heard him add, "Goodnight Goldilocks."

Notes

Loooong chapter for ya
Hope you enjoyed it!