Trust [h.s.]

XXII

"Harry!" I shrieked in sheer terror as the thudding of bullets made continuous contact with various points of the room; bouncing off the surfaces of walls and windows, then clattering onto the floor.

Instinctively, Harry's hands were grabbing my waist, pulling me into him, then dropping us both onto the floor.

"Stay down!" He ordered us all, Niall and Louis crouching down as well to avoid being shot.

"Harry, what's going on?" I begged, clinging to him desperately as panic built within my chest. I wasn't entirely sure of who was outside trying to shoot at us, but I knew that once they attained access to the house, I would be separated from the rest.

"Baby," Harry grabbed my face, leveling it with his own and staring deeply into my eyes. The vulnerability within his forest irises shone as visibly as the gold flecks that swam in his ponds of green. "I need you to listen to me, alright? I need you to go into your room and hide, can you do that for me?"

I shook my head, eyes widening in fear as he spoke calmly to me.

"No," I pulled away from him, listening as the sound of footsteps came nearer to the front door. I knew what was to come. I knew this was almost the end. "No, I can't, Harry! I'm not leaving you."

"Ellie," Harry's eyes were wide, wild. They darted back and forth as the outside forces worked to break down the door. "Please, Ellie. I need to keep you safe. I need to know you're safe."

"No," I shook my head once more, shaking away a few fallen tears that had slipped down my cheeks without my consent. "No, I can't stay here knowing that something's going to happen to you."

Harry's hands reached out to cup my cheeks, looking both relieved and distraught by my confession.

"Nothing's gonna happen to me, alright?" He spoke calmly, gently. "I promise I'll be okay. Please Baby, jut please go into your room and hide. You're who they want and if they can't find you, they'll leave."

His words both confused and terrified me, but above all, they clarified a nagging thought within my mind. By hiding, I would not only keep myself safe, but Harry, Louis, and Niall, too. I knew I had to do it, and I knew it wouldn't be easy.

In a swift motion, I cupped Harry's cheeks and smashed his lips onto my own, sloppily intermingling our mouths as a form of goodbye. Harry understood, and as we pulled away, I stood up and darted into the other room.

It was only moments later that the door burst down, and the sounds of loud, hostile voices rang throughout the house.

 "Where is she?!" A deep voice shouted, his voice sounding as impatient as his words.

 "She isn't here." Harry replied in a equally menacing tone.

"I'm not fucking around here, Styles! Tell me where she is or so help me I will shoot you in the fucking head!"

My stomach dropped.

"I'm not fucking with you, she isn't here! You and I both know what happened to her." Harry's voice had not leveled, if anything, it had increased in volume and intensity, proving to his attacker that he was not afraid.

"Enough of that bullshit, Styles. We all know she's alive. Now, you either tell me where she is, or I'll blow your brains out and find her myself."

I felt a familiar build-up of tears sting my eyes as I listened to the conversation unravel in a downward spiral. Surely this man is bluffing, I thought, he has to be.

But he wasn't, and when I heard the cock of a gun, I didn't think twice before jumping up and racing into the room.

"I'm here!" I shouted as a few loose tear drops fell from my eyes. "I'm here, please don't shoot him!"

The man with whom Harry had been speaking stood looming over Harry, who still kneeled on the floor. A gun was pointed to Harry's forehead, the man's pointer finger resting daringly on the trigger. Upon my arrival, an evil sneer contorted his dark features, staring at me as though I were his prey.

"Well, what do we have here?" The man mocked.

"Damian," Harry spoke through gritted teeth, his jaw locked tightly. "It isn't what you think."

"Oh?" The man, Damian, quirked a brow. The other men that had arrived with Damien-all of whom had guns pointed in our direction-chuckled just as Damien had done. "It seems to me that your little captive, the one you claimed to have killed, is not only alive, but is risking her life to save yours."

"She's not." Harry stood slowly, keeping his dark eyes trained on the gun still position before him. Once he reached his full height, the gun was aimed directly at his chest. "She's just obedient."

Again Damian laughed, shaking his head at Harry's blatant lie. Everyone in that room knew that I was not crying for my sake, but for the thought of Harry being shot.

"Enough of the bullshit, Styles." Damian said harshly. "Now," He poked Harry's chest with his gun. "If you, or either of your friends move, I will shoot you." Harry nodded.

Damian nodded his head at two of the men who surrounded the perimeter of the room. They reciprocated the gesture, seemingly understanding each other with such a simple jerk of the head. The men retreated from their positioning, slowly making their way over to me with malicious expressions on their faces.

"Ellie," Harry spoke urgently, causing my eyes to dart over to him. "Look at me, just keep your eyes on me." His expression was pained, as though he knew what was to come, but could not bear the repercussions. Damian's gun was still pointed directly at him, but its positioning had shifted to aim back up at his head.

"Harry, wha-?" I gasped loudly as I saw the men from the corner of my eye attempt to grab me. I ducked, backing up slowly to avoid them and what they held in their hands; a cloth, a single white cloth whose chemically soaked surface burned my nostrils as the smell reached them.

"No, please," I begged, tears welling up in my eyes. The image of the chloroform cloth immediately brought me back to the night that began all of this madness, the night Harry held the same cloth to my nose and thus began our journey together.

As I backed away from the men, they followed me slowly, waiting for their moment to pounce, and when my back hit the wall, I knew there was no where else to run. Without a moment to spare, one of the men grabbed my arm, pulling me forward, distancing me from the wall. Tears burned my cheeks as I cried in panic, repeating the words no, stop, please, as if they were the only phrases in my vocabulary. But alas I could not overpower them, and as one of the men hooked their arm around my squirming frame, the other lowered the cloth onto my face, overwhelming me with the chemical smell.

I held my breath for as long as I could manage, but I knew that I needed to breathe. A single tear slipped from my eye as a small hiccup burst forth from my lips, forcing my mouth open, and the chemical dyes to seep into me.

"You bastards!" I heard a voice yell as my eyesight began to fade, the room spinning around me as I slipped away. I heard struggling, I heard fighting, but most prominently, I heard the sound of a single gun shot as the waves of unconsciousness lapped over me, dragging me under with their tremendous force.

Author's Note: Sorry this update is short, I'll post another chapter in a few days to compensate. I'm super excited to finally have gotten to this point in the story!! There's lots of exciting things to come and lots of secrets to be revealed :)