Parson Upton
Year 2023, Month August
Somewhere in Illinois
~~

“Parson,” I was nudged on the shoulder but I knew that I didn’t want to wake up―I didn’t even want to open my eyes, “Parson…” I groaned and a large hand grabbed onto my shoulder, his thumb digging onto my collarbone. “Parson! I am trying to be patient with you!” I shot my eyes open and came face to face with the man that kidnapped me from Jared’s… and the one that killed Louis… then it hit me hard; L-Louis is dead… I don’t know why I’m hurt, but I honestly am. It hurts me everywhere, because I actually had feelings for Louis. Yes, I used him, but only because I needed to run. I needed to get as far away from everyone at that damned mansion before I started to feel for them all. I even had a sweet spot for Celia… but not anymore. In my head, I am somewhat thanking this man, Zayn, for stealing me away from that hell-hole, but then again, I am hating him because he’s taking me to Harry. Of all people; of all sinister, egotistical assholes, he’s going to take me to this one. “You don’t listen to anyone, do you?” Zayn asked me and I bit my tongue, still feeling the guilt of not saying sorry to Louis… before he got killed… the sounds of his body hitting the floor is still echoing through my mind… it’s all I can hear.

“I don’t have to listen to anyone,” I snapped at Zayn and he arched his brow, a smirk creeping upon his face.

“Sassy,” he muttered, shaking his head and making a ‘tsk, tsk’ sound with his teeth, “Shouldn’t be that way around anyone in this world. That will get you into a heap of trouble. Especially where you’re going.”

“I’m not going to Harry’s,” I retorted to Zayn and his dark hair fell onto his forehead, his hand running down his stubble-covered chin.

“Well I’m sorry, Parson, but I don’t think you have much of a choice. I killed six men for you, and two of them happened to be the top men of The Celia Plantation. I had to have a lot of balls to do that, and I did it, because of you,” he said and I crossed my arms, him leading me down the side of the street with his hand pressed to my back, making me wonder why in the world we didn’t have a car, “I murdered the second largest slave owner in the Northern states for you, and now you’re going to thank me.”

“Uhm… thanks?” I said, but it sounded more like a question.

“Styles is going to pay me four million dollars for your body,” he said and my mouth dropped open, making me look at him from over my shoulder, “Styles is a rich man, and he knows when he’s spending his money wrong and when he’s spending his money right. Obviously there was something about you that made him want you… because he’s never paid me that much money to retrieve a woman before.”

I scoffed. “What are you? Some kind of hitman?”

“I’m the man they all get a hold of when they know that they can’t get things themselves. So you know now that Styles is a very dangerous man, right?” he asked and I nodded, “Well, think about it. Styles is the most dangerous, richest man in the North; almost North America, and he sent me to do his bloody work. So how dangerous does that make me?”

My eyes widened and I quickly shut them, unable to listen anymore. I managed to shut him completely out so that he couldn’t tell me anything more about Harry, or about himself. I didn’t want to know anything about him because I could tell that he was going to be my next Louis. He was going to have to watch after me like a puppy, and I was going to have to risk my heart again by falling for him… but that’s not going to happen. Zayn is obviously uninterested in me from the way that he’s so comfortable around me. Louis was always so distant with me… like he was refraining back from something… but I’ll never know what, because he’s gone.

“Parson!” Zayn screamed in my ear and I flinched, bringing one of my hands to my ear and scowling at him. “Fuck woman, do you zone out to everything that I say?”

“Not everything. I mean, I only zone out if it’s not important,” I said.

“Everything that I say is important,” he barked and I laughed a little, looking down as we stopped at a crossroad in the street.

“Well then I block out everything you say,” I admitted and he chuckled in my ear as he looked down to the right, making sure that there wasn’t anyone coming I guess.

All of a sudden, a car pulled up beside us and Zayn opened the back door, lightly pushing me into it and sitting down beside me once I was situated. “Parson,” Zayn said, pointing to the driver and the driver looked back at me, his brown eyes piercing my skin and somewhat making me feel uncomfortable, “This is my companion. He’s the man that helped me find you. He’s an expert hacker, and he’s the one who snuck into the back of Jared’s mansion to make a diversion while I snuck in the front. He’s almost as good as I am.”

I rolled my eyes at Zayn’s cockiness and looked at the driver again who smiled at me in a way that made me think of him differently. He looked… too sweet to be in this type of community with all of these murderers and kidnappers.

“I guess you know my name, I’m Parson,” I said to him, loud and clear so that he could hear me and so that he would share his information with me.

“Nice name,” he paused for a moment and I frowned because I thought he wasn’t going to tell me his name; then again, why would anyone tell me their name around here? “I didn’t think that any of us should’ve told you our names, but hell, why not?” he held out his hand and I grabbed onto it lazily, making him shake it harshly while saying, “I’m Liam.” When, Liam, leaned forward and put the car in drive, he looked at me again and said, “You might want to rest for a couple of hours, it will take less than a day to get where we’re going.”

I glanced at Zayn before I curled into a ball in the seat and drifted off to sleep… slowly finding myself having a dream about Louis…

~~

I jumped awake when Liam was hovering above me, getting ready to carry me out of the car because we had stopped.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my tone becoming harsh and his expression changing because of my attitude.

“Whatever the hell I feel like,” he spat at me before grabbing my arm and forcefully pulling me out of the car, “Follow Zayn. He’ll lead you to the House. I’ll be there and in your room when I am ready. I have to show you around because Mr. Styles isn’t ready to speak to you yet.” Then he shoved me forward and I scoffed when he smirked and walked off.

“Looks like the nap you received wasn’t very helpful,” Zayn said when I stomped up to him and I saw a path in the corner of my eye. Do anything you can to survive. Just as soon as I was about to take off and escape, Zayn put a knife to my jaw and chuckled, “I know what you’re thinking, and if you try to run, I’ll slice your throat. This isn’t Parson’s world anymore, this is man’s fucking world, and you’re going to follow all of our orders whether you fucking like it or not. You’re going to get used here, and you’re going to get beaten here, but trust me Parson, it’s just a way of life,” he stopped for a moment and made me face him, flipping his knife closed and putting it in his pocket, “Try anything fucking stupid, and I won’t hesitate to take you to Styles, and he’ll do worse to you. He’ll do things to you that you won’t even be able to imagine.”

My mouth was agape and he chuckled again, “You’re going to dinner with him tonight, so you might want to be prepared for a life of fucking hell. This isn’t going to be easy anymore, Parson. We’re not going to treat you like the princess Louis treated you like. You are a pearl to us, but pearls have to be beaten and shaped to be beautiful. You are going to be beaten almost to death until Styles thinks that you’re ready to live in the House with him. Your room might be in the House, but you’ll barely be in there. The only time you’ll be in there is to change clothes, bathe, and to sleep. That’s it. This is going to be hard as shit for you, and I’m not going to be nice. None of us are going to be nice to you because you have to be built, you have to be strong.”

“You don’t think I’m strong?” I asked through gritted teeth and he took a step back from me and cleared his throat.

All of a sudden, his hand raised up and he smacked me hard on the jaw, making me fall to the ground and surprised tears fall from my eyes. He grabbed my jaw and pulled me up, shaking his head and clicking his tongue many times. “A strong person would have never cried over something like that, Parson,” he said, “You have a lot to learn.”

I rubbed where he hit me as he led me up to the mansion I was supposed to be placed in, and where I was supposed to be having dinner with Harry. “Dinner with Harry? I’d rather be in hell instead,” I mumbled, hoping that Zayn wouldn’t hear me but I knew that he did.

“Oh Parson,” Zayn said when we stepped in front of Harry’s eight-story mansion, “You entered hell as soon as you let me put a bag over your head.”

Notes

Feedback please? I love writing this story :)


Kal xx