Ripped Away (A Harry Styles Fan Fiction)

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

“Now, I know this will be difficult for you, but I need you to tell me exactly what happened that night. Any details, no matter how small, will be able to help us.”

The black-haired policewoman was kind, but assertive. She understood the fragility of the situation, but she also had a job to do, and critical information was needed in order to do it.

Harry looked down at his clasped hands, his thumbs squirming restlessly. Relax, man. Keep it together.

Closing his eyes, Harry took a deep breath. He allowed his mind to walk him through exactly what he had seen the night of Crystal’s murder. Although an entire week had passed, the memory was just as vivid as when he had experienced it firsthand.

He vocalized his visions, informing the policewoman of his exact motions from the time he picked Crystal up to the moment he proposed to her. He told her about how she left for the washroom to wipe the smeared makeup from her face, and how he called his band mates to tell them of his engagement.

“They were expecting a call, so we just chatted a bit as I waited for her to come back. And, that’s when the woman walked in. She...she didn’t knock on the door, so I assumed it wasn’t an employee because I believe they’re required to knock. And, when I looked up, I saw that it was a young woman, moderately tall, and she was wearing a floor-length black dress and she had long brown hair...and it was curled. It looked as if she was dressed up for something.

“It was a bit odd at first, since I had no idea who she was or what she wanted, but I could see she was holding something in her right hand. She then, slowly, raised it up...but in a weird way, like it wasn’t pointed at me. She was more trying to show it off I think. It was...dripping with blood.

“Once she had dropped it, she just left. And I was able to put two and two together to figure out what she’d done. I dropped my phone and ran down the hall into the bathroom, and...” Harry paused, visualizing the horrid scene he had burst into, seeing Crystal writhing and shaking painfully as she bled out on the bathroom floor. It was hard, even now, to get past that image. It haunted his dreams every night.

The policewoman gave Harry a tight, knowing smile. “It’s okay. I need you to know you’re doing really well. Everything you’ve just said is a huge help.” She stopped, making sure Harry was okay before continuing: “Was this woman wearing gloves?”

“No. Definitely not. I saw her long, red nails. She did not have gloves.” He answered firmly.

“We will continue searching for fingerprints. At the moment, there hasn’t been much traceable evidence which makes your memory of the event crucial. Is there anything else you can tell us about this woman? Did you see her anytime after that, or was that the last time?”

Harry shook his head. “That was the last time.”

She nodded, choosing her next words carefully. “So, Harry, do you think it might have been possible for this woman to have returned to the room to retrieve her weapon?”

Looking up, Harry peered into the officer’s eyes. “Are you asking because you can’t find it?”

“It’s true that we weren’t able to locate the murder weapon. And if what you’re saying is true-”

“What, do you think I’m lying? I saw her drop the knife and leave. That’s what I saw. I have no idea what happened after that, but I know for a fact that the knife was on the floor in the room when I left it.” Harry grew impatient and slightly offended. Was this police officer serious?

She picked up on his tone. “I am not accusing you of anything, in fact I believe you one hundred percent. She did drop the knife on the floor. However, it is unlikely for her to have returned to retrieve it and risk getting caught with it, so our job is to discover where it was taken, and by whom.”

Harry was taken aback, since he had never considered anyone else involved in the murder. But if the woman hadn’t taken the knife with her, then who would? Who was helping her to kill someone completely innocent without any personal gain whatsoever? This was all so ridiculously pointless. Crystal didn’t need to die that night. No one would have earned anything through her death. Maybe she was just an unfortunate victim in the wrong place at the wrong time. But then, how would the woman know to inform Harry in the way that she did? How could she have even known they were going to be there that night? “There’s nothing. Nothing at all.” He mumbled to himself.

The policewoman seemed slightly confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“There was no reason for killing her. Nobody even knew we were going to be there. So many questions that just don’t have an answer...it’s just a big ball of nothing. I mean, you don’t actually think this was random. It couldn’t have been. It makes no sense.”

“We will figure this out. You can trust us, okay? It’s our job to bring people to justice. We will find her, Harry, and whoever else may be implicated. I promise.” She stared into his eyes as if to validate her promise to him, and he slowly began to nod, comforted and reassured.

Harry stayed at the station with Paul to fill out a witness statement and other legal documents that needed to be taken care of. It was a lot of trouble dealing with a murder. A lot of tiresome, unnecessary trouble.

In the car, Harry remembered that he hadn’t heard of the media getting a hold of this story. It was a bit odd, since the boys could barely sneeze without getting on the front cover. Now the love of his life was brutally murdered and not a word was leaked? He decided to question his manager. “Paul, why isn’t any of this on the news? Surely someone would have found out by now.”

Paul was caught off-guard by the question. “Well, um...I suppose since no one knew you’d be here, no one thought to follow you with cameras. It makes sense, really, that this has been kept from the world. Not sure how much longer that will last, though.”

“Right,” Harry agreed. “So we need to tell them, then. The fans, the news corporations. They might as well hear it straight from us so that rumors don’t start spreading.”

Paul seemed to shrug him off. “Ah, it’s not something I’d worry about.”

It put Harry off a bit to see his manager so nonchalant about the topic. Normally, he would want everything under his control to ensure the boys’ safety. This wasn’t like him.

Decidedly too tired to argue, he laid his head back and watched the trees pass the window in a blur.

What a mess.

~~~

Bonjourno!

How are y'all doin'?

I, for one, am mucho exhausted but I really wanted to post this tonight so forgive me if it's not that great of a chapter.

I would love to hear feedback on what you think of the story so far! Do you have any ideas about what's happening, or what's going to happen? (I'm asking this because if you're able to figure it out, I need to change a few things as to not give it away haha!)

Thanks for stoppin' by! See you next week!

Crystal xx