Chapter 22: 21

'There's nothing holding back' - Shawn Mendes

Unedited

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Zayn's head was slammed painfully on the ground. The culprit - or culprits - pulled his arms behind him, almost yanking them out of his sockets. They kneeled on his back, his chest squeezing against the pavement, constricting his breathing. Zayn's head vibrated with pain, so much that he forgot he could barely breathe. He gave himself a few seconds to regain his senses, then begun struggling. He wasn't going down without trying. He slowly begun bending his knees, trying to get into a position of prostration to try and relieve some of the pain, to try get some control. His second attacker wouldn't have it though and begun kicking at his legs, hard.

"Okay, okay. You got me," Zayn wheezed, gulping in air like he was dying of thirst.

His attacker, or muggers or whatever they were, laughed at him.

"We know that," one spat out in between laughs.

Zayn took advantage of their slight distraction, and moved himself so now mid knees were in between the ground and his front. He also managed to free one hand and hid it in front of him, so they couldn't yank it again.

Zayn's patience wavered.

"What the fuck do you want, fucking cunts." he growled.

The laughter stopped, and now Zayn could hear urgent whispers being exchanged. It sounded like there were three of them, but one was slightly off to the side.

"So you don't remember us from the bus?" the one who had been kicking his legs said.

Shit. He'd totally forgotten he had angered those roadmen. He had been walking on no-mans land though, so he didn't see the problem.

"Maybe we need to remind him. At least this time there's no where for him to chicken off too," sneered the one above him, making the others laugh.

Something seemed off. Roadmen don't stay to chit chat. They stabbed their opps and then legged it. I'm fact Zayn didn't even think they had their shanks today.

An idea popped off in his head,

"I knew we would cross paths again. I was actually going to fight for your folks," Zayn informed, this time reigning in his frustration.

Again urgent whispers were exchanged. Zayn prayed for them to hurry the fuck up; his arm was cramping now and his head was still spinning slightly.

"Fibbing ain't gon get you outta dis, cuz," spat the one who was slightly away.

For fucks sake.

"I'm not lying. In fact, why don't you take me there? Better than going round and asking, which is what I was essentially coming to do," Zayn reasoned.

The bloody whispering again. Zayn tried to focus on it but his head was still pounding. He needed to get up.

He was suddenly yanked up by his hood by the one who was kneeling on him. Zayn raised his head to see the third one was standing with a large knife to one side. Of course, they never leave their homes without their precious weapons. They were probably going to take their sweet time to inflict pain on him.

"If we find out you're lying we'll just end you there and then. No explanations. Man don't have time for that," he sneered into Zayn's face.

Fucking pussies hiding their faces, Zayn thought. We should fight them.

Before Zayn could reply, one came forward with a rag, brining it to his face.

Chloroform! his mind screeched.

Zayn twisted and turned, holding his breath, fighting with every ounce of his begin. His captors just cackled and one held his head still while the other brought it to his nose and mouth, muffling his senses.

And everything turned black.

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A bright light shone at his eyes, making Zayn squeeze them tightly and look away. He felt groggy, his body felt floppy. His jaw was slack, like he couldn't speak properly. His head ached dully, clouding his thoughts.

"Rise and shine," said a cheery feminine voice to his left.

Zayn held in the urge to reach out and slap her. Her voice was so annoying.

"Fuck off," Zayn growled, his voice scratchy.

Zayn sat up slowly, finding himself laying down on a metal slab. He gingerly held his head, closing his eyes as another wave of pain and dizziness enshrouded his head.

"I can give you a paracetamol for that," she chirped again, sounding closer than before.

"So you lot can drug me with some other shit? No thanks," Zayn snapped.

He didn't know why he was being rude to her, but manners were the last thing on his mind when he just woke up from being drugged and taken to an unknown place.

Speaking of which, he finally opened his eyes to take in his surroundings. He was in the middle of a room which had dark walls and metal countertops against all side of the wall, except for where the door was in the corner across from him. There were cupboards above the countertops, also metal. Tf, he thought. He finally saw the annoying girl. She was probably the same height as Syra, with blonde hair. She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet.

"What am I doing here? Who the fuck are you?" Zayn demanded as her eyes widened upon seeing him spot her.

She ignored his rudeness and answered in that same voice that made him want to pull his ears off. That still wouldn't stop you from hearing, stupid.

"Behind Stonebridge station, where street fights happen. I'm Marionette, but my friends call me Mary," she stated way too cheerily.

"Well, Marionette, who brought me here?"

This got her nervous. She stopped rocking and begun fiddling with the ends of her hair, looking anywhere but him.

"Well, it's not really my place to say, you see,"

"No I really don't-"

He was interrupted by the door bursting open. Ilyas, Ahmad and Syra rushed in. Syra. He forgot where he was temporarily and just felt happy that she was here. He had seen her today but missed her whenever she wasn't around. His insides lit up; the pain fading away for a bit. He swung his legs down and she ran to him, hugging him gently, before drawing back.

"Zayn, I've been calling you for ages," she breathed.

Zayn looked over her to Ilyas who just looked pissed and then Ahmad, who looked wary and suspicious.

"I dunno what happened. I was walking down Harrow Road, was heading to Sudbury and I was attacked. These three guys held me and then drugged me. I ended up here," he narrated.

He carefully left out some parts of the story; he'd fill her in later. He squeezed her arm gently and gave her a look and she nodded, understanding him.

"Why would they drug you. They're roadmen. They would just shank you," demanded Ilyas.

Nosy bastard.

"I didn't say they were roadmen. They were covered up. And I don't fucking know," Zayn retorted.

He felt Syra move next to him, squeezing his arm once. He calmed down a little.

"How did you guys find me?" Zayn asked.

"I tracked your phone," Ahmad finally spoke up.

Syra begun drawing patterns on his arm, distracting him.

"How did you know to track it? And you Ilyas?"

Zayn was getting really agitated now. No one was telling him anything and they have brief answers to his questions. Meredith, or whatever her name was, had also made herself scarce.

Syra answered him,

"After I begun panicking, I decided to head home from college. I came across Ahmad on the way, so I told him and he tracked you. Ilyas - well it seems like he was already here, or in the area at least."

Zayn nodded slowly, his gaze landing on Ilyas with a challenging look to his face.

Ilyas scowled.

"Well aren't you going to explain yourself?"

"I was just around. And now I'm going back home with Syra," he announced and stomped over to seize her by the shoulders and march her towards the door.

Under other circumstances, Zayn would've fought him but right now Syra needed to be far away. Zayn stood up walked over to Ahmad.

"That wasn't actually the full story was it?" Ahmad asked, eyebrows raised.

Zayn answered him, sighing,

"They were roadmen I had encountered few weeks ago in the bus. I managed to avoid theme ever since. But I think Anwar thought they were from Harrow so I assumed that too, so I went down Harrow Road to head to Sudbury. There's not much fighing where I was, it's kinda belongs to no one. So I was safe. But they must've been waiting till I was outta Wembley, cuz next ting I know I'm getting attacked by them three. One had a big ass knife - nah, more like a bloody sword - and the other two held me down. Were prolly gon take their sweet time to carve me up until I was like imma fight for your team -" he glanced sideways at Ahmad, watching his reaction wearily.

His cousin took notice and said,

"Syra told me that you planned to get back in. Not the same way, but different contacts and location. It's not really my place to say jack, but at least you stopped the drugs." explaining his lack of reaction.

Zayn continued,

"Well they didn't believe me. So I'm like take me there with you. And those motherfuckers drug me and I wake up here. Legit just before you lot came. And that bitch Merry was killing my head, saying - bruh, I don't even know. And - where the fuck are we?" He was getting really annoyed now. He blamed it on the fact that he had been drugged.

"Some place behind Stonebridge station. It's seems like these folks hangout. But it was empty. A few other rooms, also bare. No shit that might've even hinted they were here,"

What the fuck. Why had he been brought here? Where the fuck had Merry come from? Speaking of which, where had the sket gone? His mind raged.

"But I found a used needle. Looks like they used it in you, because they were very recent. Looked like some hardcore shit. I got rid of it - they probably had planned to get you busted or something," Ahmad added.

This stunned Zayn. Maybe this could actually be the reason why he was being so aggressive. And the only pain he had felt was in his head, not anywhere else even though the roadmen trio had banged him up pretty hard. He didn't know what they could have put in him, he didn't care to be honest, and Ahmad wasn't exactly too experienced in this department.

"What did you mean by that bitch Merry? Is that some sorta name for the drug they gave you?" inquired Ahmad suddenly.

Hadn't he seen her? She had been right there.

"Didn't you see the blonde chick chatting to me when you came in?" Zayn asked, confused.

"No? You were alone?" Ahmad made it sound like a question.

He didn't care right now. He just wanted to be in his bed and call Syra. He owed her an explanation and he knew she would be upset that he just let her be taken away by Ilyas like that.

"You know what, who fucking cares. Let's leave this shithole," Zayn burst out.

Ahmad just nodded, acting as if Zayn's explosive behaviour was something he had always dealt with.

"Sure, follow me,"

They walked in silence. Ahmad probably did not want to trigger Zayn. Which was fine because Zayn really needed to sort out his thoughts. Something didn't sit right with him. This whole situation seemed so bizarre - who would drug him and leave him here? And he was definitely sure he had not imagined Merry, he had never seen her before and that annoying voice still rung in his head, pissing him off. How had Ahmad not seen her? Now that he thought of it, Ilyas and Syra has not reacted to her presence, as if she had not been there. He was missing something but he would find out. He would get to the bottom of it. But first he really needed to begin fighting. His stationery balance was giving him anxiety about his future and he needed it to be rising, even if slowly.

But first he needed to fucking sleep. He would not speak to Syra in this state; just send her a quick text and then pray that the drugs would stop having an effect on him quickly.

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Filler chapter & writers block. So that's why it's prolly not very interesting.

2110 words.