Chapter Text
Louis was in agony. Every nerve ending screamed, his joints stiff and displaced. Blood chilled on his skin, running in rivers and settling in the contours of his body. His eyes were swollen shut; the bruising and swelling of the previous endless hours forcing him into eternal darkness. He had no idea what time it was, what day it was. He had no idea how long he had been here or how long he had left to suffer.
His body spasmed involuntarily, jerking up and slamming back down into the cold wooden floor beneath him. His body ignited with pain; screaming through his bones. He tried to cry out, but all that left his mouth was a rasping breath. Water, he needed water. He remembered the rough fingers circling his neck, squeezing his windpipe until his tongue lolled out of his mouth, until he couldn’t thrash beneath the weight of him anymore. Every time he thought it was almost over, oxygen flooded his lungs, and he was dragged back into consciousness. Why wouldn’t he just let him die? Why was he playing with him?
Somewhere in the building, he could hear an animal howling. Deep, throaty screams that rattled the windows and sent a chill into his already thumping heart. That couldn’t be a human noise, there was nothing outside of hell itself that sounded so deranged, so horrifyingly feral.
“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU FUCKING CUNT! YOU MAKE ME THIS WAY!”
The floor vibrated beneath Louis’ broken body as somewhere in the house furniture was thrown against walls, wood splintering and glass shattering. He began to shiver, his nearly naked body breaking out in goosebumps as hot tears tried to force their way out of his closed eyes.
He wanted to run. He wanted to scream. He wanted to beg. He wanted to die.
But he couldn’t do anything except lie there and wait for the animal to return to him. He had to stay with his thoughts, live in the crippling pain inflicted on him.
The floorboards creaked, a door slamming. He was coming back. And Louis really hoped he’d finish him off this time.
With a strangled scream, Louis shot upright, sweat pouring from his scalp and running down his face, stinging his eyes and quickly cooling on his skin. His breath came in pants and gasps as he clawed at his throat, desperate to pull oxygen in. His fingers fumbled desperately for the lamp next to his bed; he needed to banish the darkness.
As the room began to glow in the dim light, Louis used his feet to pedal himself backwards into the corner where his bed met the wall. He pivoted his neck wildly, checking every corner through sleep crusted eyes, searching for any sign of an intruder.
As his heart finally began to slow, he buried his face in his hands and let the sobs take over him. His scarred body hitching as he folded into himself; trying to make himself smaller so he could disappear into nothing. He was alone, it was just another nightmare. Another flashback to his own personal hell. Two years had passed and still he could barely make it through one night without waking screaming and crying into the darkness.
His body had survived but his soul was dead. Louis had never made it out of that dilapidated flat where his blood soaked into the floorboards. He was just a shell when one brave, female police officer had ran into the abandoned building, truncheon drawn in an attempt to protect him from the beast that held him captive. She had saved his life and Louis cursed her every single day.
He allowed his body to try and regulate itself; felt the blood start to fill his limbs again bringing pins and needles in their wake. His heart was still skipping every few beats as it returned to its regular rhythm. When his breathing was steady, Louis lifted his head gingerly, taking another glance around the almost empty room. There was no one here, just Louis. He heard claws clicking along the hallway, his body considering whether it needed to go back into crisis. A shaggy black head poked around the door, tilting to one side as soulful eyes stared over to their master. Clifford pushed his way in, clambering clumsily onto the bed and settling into Louis’ lap. As his fingers sank into the soft curls along the dog's back, Louis let out the breath he had been holding.
“Just a nightmare, just a nightmare, just a nightmare,” he uttered under his breath. But he knew he was wrong. After all, nightmares went away when you opened your eyes.