Nefarious [H.S]

00

October 18th, 1989.

If you asked me how I came to be involved with Harry Styles, I wouldn't know what to say.

I wouldn't know where to start when the events that could've been the final signature, the one deeming my soul as condemned to Harry, are seemingly endless. A whirlpool of former memories with details that'll never become hazy.

But what I would say? Is that it was the biggest mistake of my life.

Because here I was, out on a night in the club, sat on a stool that kept creaking at every small shift of my body, with the deepening awareness of a set of eyes glaring at me.

I couldn't see them.

I could never see them.

But ever since I was liberated from his hold those years ago, I could feel them. Ever present on my silhouette and tonight seemed to be one where there were people around.

Specifically, my friends.

Nice change of scenery though, much better than my apartment.

But I couldn't quite delve into the true fear of the sinister fact I'd been followed with an entourage present next to me, because said group then spoke up.

"God, I hate him! You don't even understand Marcel!"  The girl beside me huffed, whose choker that read 'Lucy' was telling enough of her name. Sipping on her straw as she peered over my shoulder to the boy perched to my left.

"Break up with him, ditz," Marcel said in response, causing a scoff from her end and a request for another round of shots.

"We aren't even an item. How am I supposed to-- Stella are you even listening?"

I hummed in surprise and twisted to face her. "Uh, duh? I love listening to your relationship problems." And with a smile of satisfaction emerging onto Lucy's face, she continued.

I'd met Lucy and Marcel in my first year of university. Lucy being my dormmate, and Marcel being a stranger who had an unintentional mishap of walking into the wrong room, which was ours.

From there, we never left each other's sides. Planning our routines around everyone's schedules and almost every night sleeping in the confined space of my room.

Even with the Harry fiasco, they adhered to my side. And I'll forever be grateful.

Except for now, when the once docile girl by my side begins to nag me with pleas for us to move onto the dancefloor. And whilst usually, I would agree without a second thought, I'm abashed with the thought that every single person on that floor could be it.

The pair of eyes.

So, instead, I bring my palm to my head and start groaning. "My head hurts, Marcel."

If I'd said it to Lucy, she would've neglected my facade and dragged me into the crowd herself.

Immediately as expected, worry floods his face as he frowns. "It's probably from the music, I know you don't like loud noises much."

That practically manifested my lie to become true, my body suddenly going rigid at his inadvertent mention of the past.

"Uh. . . yeah, I don't. I kinda wanna go home. But Lu--"

Marcel stands from his stool and pulls me up with him. "Don't worry about her. I'll handle it, okay? I can drive you back if you want."

"No way," I shake my head without hesitation, "I don't live far from here, I'll be fine."

In any other circumstance, it's understandable to persist in an offer of driving someone home. Though for me, it was the last thing anyone wanted to do. Considering what happened the last time when my misfortune involuntarily implicated them.

The man simply nods, giving me a hug goodbye and walking me to the club's door.

/

The brisk air envelops me as a whole, goosebumps scattering on the flesh of my arms as my heels click against the cobblestone pavement below. It's calming being out at night alone. It used to be a terrifying concept, one where I would be paranoidly checking behind me every second to see if I'd perhaps been followed. Though now, I didn't care. I know I'd be able to protect myself against anything.

Well. Maybe not everything.

Click. Click. Click.

The dreamscape of my thoughts had sucked me in too far because, at the very last second, I realized something; those sounds weren't mine. I accelerate my speed at once, not caring if whoever the person was grasped that I knew because soon enough, they hastened their pace.

The thing about footsteps is that you usually can't decipher them. You can't tell one person's stride apart from the other, it's a basic fact none of us really bother to look over.

But with Harry's? You knew it was him. From the confidence in the taps of his soles to the leisurely yet menacing pattern that he composes. You just could distinguish it urgently if you had the misfortune of ever having to.

And at this moment, I felt it. I sensed the same pair of vision boring into the skin of my back. I felt the nostalgia too. Albeit, I angle my head to the space behind me.

It's empty. 

The rhythm from somebody's loafers had come to a screeching halt and the perpetrator was nowhere to be seen.

That's my cue to find my getaway. I'd been in this situation numerous times, yet this has been the only time I've barely been able to feel my legs as I run. I keep sprinting, dashing at a speed I'd barely ever gone before.

There's an alleyway. Just a few steps away from me. So I take an abrupt turn, scampering around the corner.

But before I could comprehend what was transpiring, I'm stopped; my body falling backward as I was met with a hard surface. And only when a strong clutch has taken hold of my arm, I realize it wasn't a wall at all.

"Now, that's no way to greet your old friend, is it?"

The air I had once been panting was ripped from my lungs entirely, my jaw going slack in trepidation and my eyebrows raising.

"You thought you could run, didn't you?" He awaits my answer, gripping my jaw in his palm with his lips curled into a sadistic smirk. "Cat got your tongue? You gonna say anything?"

My lack of response in the shape of my lips parting in complete and utter startlement earns a chuckle to erupt from his throat, all whilst his grip on my chin tightens.

"Fine, I'll answer for you." His eyes keep direct contact with mine, except for the few beats in between when they waver over the stretch of my frame. "You did. But, I found you. I think we both knew I always would. Miss me, Stella?"

A:N: AHHH the prologue is here! i am SO excited to start this story and share it with you guys. i really love it and i hope you enjoyed the prologue <3