Gone (A Larry Stylinson Story)

Chapter 22

♥Harry's POV♥

"And sometimes when you lie to me

Sometimes I'll lie to you and there isn't a thing you could possibly do

All these half-destroyed lives aren't as bad as they seem

But now I see bloode and I hear people scream

Then I wake up and it's just another bad dream..."

I sang along to the Argent Orange tune of my iPod, feeling as if the familiar lyrics had crossed the line from being just another self-consciously disturbing song to being too close to describing my life.

I was in the fire station not exactly enjoying a lonely lunch. Niall was....well, I never seemed to know where NIall was anymore. My friend-was that word even appropriate? My friend Niall was a shadow who came and went, sometimes joking like his old self, sometimes sitting sullen and watching DVDs he'd seen a million times before.

In any case, he wasn't there for lunch at the fire station, despite the fact that I had made enough soup for extra mouths.

Perrie materialized silently in the doorway. She looked discouraged.

I realized I'd been singing aloud and, embarrassed, dialed down the music and pulled out my head phones.

"What did you find, Perrie?"

"If she's anywhere in town, she's doing a good job hiding, Harry." Perrie said. "We've looked. We've talked to everyone. Cara's gone, her dog is gone. She was in Elwood's house, then she was gone."

I tossed my music player on the table. "I have soup. Want some?"

Perrie sagged into a chair. "What's the song?"

"What? Oh, it's called 'A Cry for Help In A World Gone Mad.'"

We shared a mordant laugh.

"Next I'll dial up that old song, what's it called?" I searched my memory. "Yeah, REM. 'It's the End of the World as We Know It.'"

"It is that," Perrie commented. "I've been searching for a girl who can heal people with magic, and taking some time to learn how to shoot a machine gun."

"How'd that go, by the way?"

"I got four boys that can more or less handle it, counting Niall. But, man, we aren't exactly marines, you know? Kid named Tom starts shooting and he almost shot me. I had to dive into a pile of dog poop."

I tried not laugh, but neither of us could stop once it started. It felt good to laugh with Perrie, something neither of us had done in awhile.

"Yeah, you think it's funny. Wait till it's you." Perrie said.

I was serious again, "I don't know what's holding Liam back. It's been two days. What's keeping him?"

"What's the hurry? The more time we have, the more we're prepared."

"Dude, tomorrow night I'm out of here," I said.

"You don't know that for sure." Perrie said, embarrassed that she forgot.

"I just wish I knew what was going on up at Coates."

Perrie caught on immediately. "You talking about spying them out?"

I pushed my soup away. "I don't know what I'm talking about, Perrie. I'm halfway thinking we should take it to them, you know? Go up there and do this."

"We have guns. We have guys that can drive. We got, in addition to you, four other mutants with powers that might be useful. You know, powers you can fight with, not liket his one girl where she can disappear but only if she's really embarrassed."