21 Murders | Harry Styles AU (discontinued)

XX. Turmoil

turmoil (noun): a state of great disturbance, confusion, or uncertainty

While reading this chapter, please pay attention to the emotions and characteristics on both Harry and Noelle's characters. Development of such occurances isn't an over-night change; it takes time. Please, also remember to vote and comment! xx

Noelle's POV

Declining the menacing ache in the pit of my stomach, my feet furiously glide over the tiled floor and aim for the exit. My breathing tends to fog out the blundering chaos muffling my ears and my blood pumps at the speed of light, assuring me that I need to follow this man.

The cool metal door gapes open with my mighty force and emits a loud gasp sound, blowing air to puff at my stray wisps of hair. The long hallway echos dead silence, making the air painstakingly quiet. Gulping whatever lump has arisen in my throat, I drop my hold on the heavy door and step timidly into the long corridor.

No exits or hallways link off into different wards as I slowly make my way up to the only curve the hall has to offer. A left and a right hall leads from both sides and my instincts listen intently for any noise that could give off a hint of information.

Something about that man was feverishly unidentifiable. He was suave and slick and patiently driven; almost something like a business man in a novel or a looming silhouette. He was dressed in hospital clothing and very clearly seen as someone who must hold a lot of knowledge.

The only sell is that he wasn't entering the room nor leaving with a patient. He walked right around the incident, unnoticed, and nobody questioned his meaningful decisions to exit the area. I peak my head both ways- looking left and then right- but both sides are dead ends.

One an emergency exit and the other a supply closet. A tapping sound snaps my head to the ceiling, the air conditioning vent ticking on and causing the unsustainable amount of paranoia in my veins to subdue itself to an inexplainable high.

"Noelle?" A shout then leads down the hall, quick footsteps echoing and bouncing off the walls. I immediately turn around to face a panic-stricken Harry, his cheeks flustered and eyes wide. Relief washes over his facial features and leads me to blink rapidly. "Noelle, what the hell are you doing in here?"

His voice holds authority, the same kind that always makes me falter under his gaze. I choose to ignore his ever-growing amount of authority and look back up to the large vent over my head. "Someone was here,'' I tell him. "Someone who wasn't suppose to be."

"What?" His eyebrows scrunch in confusion. "Who? Who was here?" The curls at the nape of his neck bounce as he struts up to my side, glaring down both dead ends before making the same assumption I came to. "You think they left through the vent?"

"I don't know,'' my head shakes in post-event nervousness. My heart doesn't hold the same upbeat roar, but instead is ghostly hovering above itself and waiting for something out of the ordinary to happen.

"This doesn't make sense,'' I think aloud. "Why would someone leave through the air conditioning vent? How could someone fit in the air conditioning vent?" I roll my eyes at how pathetic I sound.

Maybe I just need fresh air.

The hospital's strong stench is clearly giving me illusions and causing me to think absurd thoughts. The sweat gleaming along my hairline is swept away as I rigidly swipe my arm across my forehead. "I need some fresh air,'' I decide, stomping past Harry and avoiding the protests of my name that fall from his lips.

Busting through the glass doors, freezing air hits my skin and causes goosebumps to arise all over my body. The constricting tightness in my chest increasingly diminishes into the air, my chest able to fall and rise in normal beats due to the open space.