Chapter 36

(This is NOT the last chapter. Please read the end note.)

It's amazing how sadness and relief can be mixed together. How you can feel at ease but at the same time feel like your whole world has come crashing down, like nothing is in color anymore. Everything is soundless and people just continue to move on with their lives.

There was a ringing in my ear as I stared at the two officers, the sound so loud it was drowning out their voices. The world seemed to be spinning, you know like when you're on those rides at the fair and you're laughing because everything just feels so weird. But this, this was not a ride and I could not get off of it.

I saw blurs of the boys jumping off the couch and their muffled shouting as I slowly sunk to the floor and brought my knees to my chest.

I placed my forehead on my knees and held my breath hoping that if I did for long enough it would feel like I was underwater in a pool. Where it's calm and you can't hear anything and there's no problems at all. Everything is peaceful and serine.

"Niall? Niall?" I felt myself being shaken as I let go of my breath letting it slowly seep out. I looked up to see Liam, his eyes brimmed red but no tears in sight. He was holding it in. "Mate, are y-" He paused and just stared at me. He brought his hands up to cup my face and pulled me into his chest. "It's alright."His voice was muffled and everything in the room seemed to melt.

I felt like i was falling through the floor, through everything, away from everything. But, when I pulled my head away from Liam's chest and looked around the room I realized that I wasn't falling at all. I had already fallen and now I'm laying on the ground bleeding and hurting all over.

I'm not sure how long we sat on the floor together just staring at each other. Storm was crying through the baby monitor but none of us wanted to face her. Or more so see her face.

The front door opened and all our heads turned to see Ed walking in. "Is it true?" He sounded breathless. "I-I had been listening to the police scanner ever since you called and said she had gone missing. And I heard that they found to 17 year old girls dead in a warehouse. Is it true?" His voice cracked at the end and it sounded so painful I had to look away. No one said anything as Ed came over and sat down next to me.

The world may still be moving but my world has come crashing down in flames and I'm not sure how to recover it.

Abigail was dead and there was nothing I could do to help her anymore.

"She's gone. She's really gone." I mumbled looking up at the boys drawing their attention toward me. "Just when she got her life together she's fucking gone. She's actually dead like right now she's laying lifeless in a morgue." I let out the saddest chuckle of my life before i felt hot tears running down my face. "Oh my god." I curled up into a ball just laying there, everyone else silent.

No one knew what to say. No one knew what to do.

It's almost relieving knowing she's dead. As crazy as that sounds.

Knowing that she won't have to live in fear anymore. That she wouldn't have to worry about the safety of her baby. She's finally at peace. She would have never found peace if she was alive. So in that I take comfort. I take comfort in her being at peace and I hope she died knowing she was loved and cared for and that her baby will forever be taken care of and loved immensely by everyone and that nothing will ever harm her for as long as I live.

I remember one time finding a small notebook in Abigials room when she first moved in and one of the pages had her horrible handwriting over it and as I read it, my hands shook. It was from the night I first met her, at that nasty strip club.

"I've seen the eyes of the devil for so long I was shaken when I finally saw the eyes of an angel tonight."

It's ironic, she thought for so long that I was her angel coming to help her but tonight and for the rest of my life she's my angel. My angel watching over me because now i'm the one who needs it.

Okay so I know I said this was going to be the last chapter but I hadn't updated in so long and I left ya'll on a huge cliffhanger so I just wanted to get this short chapter out. Next chapter will be the final chapter and it'll be long and explain EVERYTHING. So make sure to comment and vote. Also I may be doing an alternate ending instead of an epilogue so stay tuned!

Definitely comment and vote for the next chapter!!! Should be up by the end of this week!

(comment anything you're confused on and I'll explain it in the next chapter)