We were running down the hall and Zayn never let go of my hand. Actually, he tightened his grip on me. The hallway we were in was so long and after a long time of running, we didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. I was out of breath and my head was pounding. “Zayn. I need to take a brake.” I coughed out, trying to catch my breath. I stopped in my tracks and Zayn tugged my hand. “No, really. I don’t feel so good.” I double over, groaning. 

“Niall, I don’t know just what the hell is going on in here, but that- that was Louis back there!” He jabbed a finger down the the hallway. I gulped and turned down the hall. It was like we didn’t even move six feet. It all looked the same. 

“Maybe we’re just seeing things. You know? Maybe-“ I was hoping this was just some weird, extremely weird, nightmare. 

“That was f.ucking Louis, Niall. Don’t play with me. What the hell happened to my friend?” He asked, anger and confusion in his voice. Even though he was confused and shaking, he was still holding fast to my hand.  

“I-I don’t know, Zayn.” I shook my head back and forth. My lungs were starting to feel better, but I still felt uneasy standing there in the hallway. I looked around and tried to stifle my gasp when I saw more paintings surrounding us. This place was full of them. The people in these ones though were older, with formal attire. They were definitely not the rest of our group, thank god. “Alright, let’s go.” I started to walk again and Zayn followed me. We stayed close and watched everything around us. A chill ran up my spine when I felt another painting’s eyes on us. 

They couldn’t be watching us. That was impossible. I mean, those big paintings were inanimate objects. But every time I turned, a new figure was staring at us. While our hands were still together, I leaned into Zayn and he leaned back into me. We made our way slowly down the hall, eyes watching us from all around. 

Time passed by slowly and I was kicking myself that I hadn’t gotten a watch or anything. I was so reliant on my phone for the time, but all of our phones were missing. They were stuck in that damn painting. Most of the windows in the place were covered with large, thick curtains. I let go of Zayn’s hand and he made a small noise in response. “I just want to see outside.” I said. I started to walk away and Zayn stayed behind, watching his surroundings. 

I came up to the window and pulled back the thick curtain. It was covered in dust and smelled musty. I expected there to be a bright sun beam when I opened the curtains, but it was nothing like that. It was just black. Pitch black. “This doesn’t make sense.” I turned to Zayn. He was staring at the wall again. I looked at what he was looking at and it was another painting. “Zayn, what time do you think it is?” I asked, trying to break him from the trance he was in. 

It had to be at least mid-afternoon. When we woke up it was early and some sun was shining through my window in my room. It had to have bene hours after that. I didn’t know exactly since the time was all wonky, but it felt we were there for a really long time. Also, I didn’t know how long I was passed out for. Must have been a while if I had been moved to a completely different area of the hotel. 

I noticed that Zayn hadn’t answered my question about the time. I ignored the black window for the moment and turned back to Zayn, who had stepped closer to the painting on the wall. He had been watching it for a while by then. “Zayn?” I called out to him, going to his side. He was squinting at the painting, as if he was trying to find some hidden detail. I did the same and took a step closer to look closely. “What are you looking at?” I asked, not seeing what Zayn was looking at. 

“In the background.” He pointed at the painting, fingertips brushing against the surface. “Right there.” He stopped over the part he wanted me to look at. I looked closely and just saw a dark figure in the back. 

“It’s probably a smudge.” I pulled away, looking back to the window. “Come on, we have to find the others. Maybe we can find Louis too.” I said with hope. Zayn turned to me, anger in his eyes. “Zayn?” I took a step back, stumbling slightly on the debris in the hallway. 

“Do you really think we’ll find Louis?” The tone of his voice was completely off. He was having another one of those moments. The Zayn I knew was never like this. “Do you really think that, Niall?” He took a step towards me. “Really?” He was only inches away and I had my back up against the wall. 

“Zayn, you’re scaring me.” I was being honest. The look in his eyes was dark. I didn’t need any more of this. I just wanted to go home. I wished that I never said yes to this stupid trip. What was I thinking? Did I really think that I could mend things together with Zayn? After what he did the night before, or was it even longer ago, when he kissed me forcibly? He wasn’t himself. Even when he wanted something, Zayn would never be this way. 

“This place is scaring me.” He breathed, lips dangerously close. I slammed my eyes shut and just looked away from Zayn. He pinned me to the wall and breathed into my ear, his hot breath tickling my skin. “You were right.” He finally said, stepping back and leaving me still against the wall. I opened my eyes and saw him walking away. 

“I was right about what?” I asked. 

“That this thing between me and you wouldn’t work.” He was still walking away, getting farther away from me and farther away from my comfort zone. I chased after him, afraid to be by myself. 

“I-“ I paused, not sure that I wanted to go that way. I gulped. “I never said that, Zayn. You were the one that pushed me away.” It was true. Zayn and I entered high school and everything changed. “Plus, it doesn’t matter now. Why are you acting so weird?”

Zayn stopped, holding his head. “I don’t know.” He said in an almost pained voice. I saw his body tremble and I rushed to him, helping him stand straight. “This place is messing with me. I don’t want to feel this way.” He pushed my help away and stumbled forward. 

“Zayn, are you okay?” I asked, glancing behind me only to see the “smudge” on the painting we were looking at had changed. It was now more defined and that’s what scared me, because it looked like a person running from the background to the front of the painting. It was changing before my eyes and looked a hell of a lot like Louis. I decided not to say anything to Zayn because he was already freaked out beyond control. I just turned my attention to him and made sure he was okay. 

“I feel ill.” He groaned. I immediately pressed the back of my hand to his forehead, much like I did for Louis when he was ill. Zayn had a hot forehead, signaling some sort of fever. I pulled my hand away and rubbed his shoulder. 

“Let’s keep going.” I urged him. I was going to put his actions behind me. He wasn’t himself. I made sure to keep a good eye on his to make sure he didn’t disappear like Louis did. If we lost another one of us I don’t think I could hold it together as well as I have been. We walked for a little longer, finding a dead end, then turned around to see another hallway that we had mysteriously missed on our walk. 

I grabbed Zayn’s hand again and gave him a tight squeeze. He sighed and walked with me at a normal pace. I only slowed down when I saw someone sitting at the end of the hallway we had found. I could recognized that curly mop of hair anywhere. “Harry?” I dropped Zayn’s hand and ran to him. Thank god we found someone. “Harry!” I yelled. He was sitting against a wall, head in his kneels and curled in on himself. 

I kneeled next to him and he was muttering. “It’s not real. This isn’t real.” He kept muttering to himself over and over until I grabbed his shoulder and shook him. He freaked out, flailing his arms out, hitting me in the chest. I stumbled back. “You can’t take me! I didn’t do anything!” He shouted, completely crazed out of his mind. 

“Harry! Calm down!” I smacked him across the face and his vision cleared up. He finally looked at me and a wash of relief shown on his red face. 

“N-Niall?” He blinked a few times. “Oh my god, man. I’ve been looking all over for you.” He reached forward and pulled me into a hug. “I don’t know what’s going on.” He whined. I patted his back and helped him to his feet. Zayn was standing there, forehead shining with some sweat.

“What did you mean when you said they couldn’t take you. What happened?” Zayn asked. Harry began shaking his head, eyes wide with fright. “Where’s Liam?” He asked. “Was he with you? What about Louis?”

Harry shook his head again. “I haven’t seen Louis. But Liam… I was just with him and then next thing I know he’s just gone.” Harry shakily grabbed his camera that was somehow still around his neck. “You have to see this though.” His hands shook as he handed me his camera. The screen was bright, but when my eyes adjusted I saw what he was freaking out about. 

There was a painting positioned right int he center of the picture. It was blurred slightly as if Harry was running and taking the picture at the same time. The blur had a shape in it though, that wasn’t part of the painting, but looked as though it was coming out of it. 

“What the?” I looked closer and the form was abstract, but you could make out some of it, a thumb, a palm. It was a hand. A goddamn hand was coming out of the thing! 

“I think it grabbed Liam.” Harry said in exhaustion. 

“No way.”

This place really was haunted. 

A/N: Heyo! I;m back from vacation and have full internet access now! I also posted some other stories, both Ziall. Theyre called Tainted Attraction where Niall is a teenager living on his own, making ends meet by whatever means and Zayn is a weatlhy business man. And then there is What Are We Waiting For, which is a story about Niall being sick and Zayn being the new guy in the nieghborhood. 

As always, please vote and comment! Check my stories out and have a wonderful day! 

Much Love

Jachxx