Ripped Away (A Harry Styles Fan Fiction)

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Harry trudged along the icy path, observing the winter scene around him. Everything was covered with a blanket of snow, forming a white, open space stretching out for miles. He saw that his breath formed thick clouds and began to shiver violently. It was freezing.

He kept walking, now beginning to wonder why he was there. Were they doing a photo shoot and he got lost? Was he on vacation, now waking from a sleepwalk? Whatever the reason, he knew something wasn’t right.

The cold was seeping into his bones, chilling him to his core. If he didn’t get to warmth soon, he might freeze to death.

Stopping in his tracks, he looked all around him. He could see nothing but white. There were no buildings, or any sign of activity. Maybe if he started running back from where he came, he’d find someone.

He then noticed something, like a distant thudding. It was consistent, and then became slowly faster. Harry looked all around him to find the source of the noise, but there wasn’t a thing in sight. He felt a vibration under his feet, as if the thudding was making the ground shake.

He glanced down to see if perhaps the ice on which he was standing was beginning to crack. Instead, to his complete horror, he saw Crystal, wide-eyed and completely submerged under the thick layer of ice. She was pounding on it with all of her might.

Harry, suddenly panicked, dropped on all fours, trying to think fast on how he could free her. Crystal’s expression was anguished and terrified. She was drowning in ice-cold water without any hope of escape. The ice had to be a foot thick, or thicker, and Harry began mindlessly flinging his weight at the ice, trying to break through. Of course, his efforts were wasted. The ice was simply too thick.

Thinking again, he looked frantically around for someone, or something, to help him. He began to scream out, just in case someone was nearby to hear him. He knew Crystal couldn’t have been under long, so surely she slipped under from somewhere close and drifted away from the hole. His eyes scanned the ground, but there was no trace of any interruption of the smooth, clean surface of the ice.

Looking back down at Crystal, her eyes began to flutter as her body ran out of oxygen. Cursing loudly, Harry stomped hard on the ice, giving all his energy to break it, but alas, it would not budge.

Crystal was now floating just below the ice, motionless. Harry dropped down once more and screamed his lungs out, begging her not to go. Her lifeless body then began to sink down into the cold, black waters as Harry watched, screaming, crying, and pounding viciously against the solid ice.

~

“Harry!” Liam said forcefully. Harry sat up quickly, panting, covered with sweat. He looked around and saw that he was in his hotel room with Liam, who was beside his bed, looking groggy but worried. He was having another nightmare.

Harry pressed both palms to his face and waited to catch his breath. He looked back at Liam, now more composed. “Sorry, mate. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.”

Liam smiled and reached for Harry’s glass of water that was resting by the lamp. “Don’t be sorry. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Appreciative, he smiled at Liam before taking slow, calming gulps of water. He felt like he just ran a marathon. “What time is it?”

“Three a.m.”

Harry winced at the lateness of the hour, truly sorry for waking Liam. He also didn’t want to have to fall back asleep, despite how exhausted he was.

Liam’s yawn was so strong it looked painful. “I’m keeping you up. You should go back to bed.”

As if trying to fake being awake, Liam protested. “I won’t fall asleep until I know you’re okay.”

Harry smiled. “I appreciate your concern. And I can assure you, I’m okay.”

Nodding with his eyes half-closed, Liam patted Harry’s shoulder before returning to his bed, and nearly passing out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Knowing that he’d be better off trying to scrounge up a few hours of sleep, Harry shifted his body so that he was lying overtop his covers, suddenly uneasy with the idea of being underneath them.

~

“Harry? Harry…” Louis’ soft voice rang through Harry’s ears as he stirred awake. “Hey, morning. How you feeling?”

Stretching out, Harry glanced over at the clock. 9:23.

 “I’m alright, how are you?” He answered.

“Oh, you know, can’t complain. I heard you had a rough night.”

Harry snickered sarcastically. “On the contrary, it was a completely normal night.”

Louis’ features were broken with sadness. Harry missed his goofy, carefree personality. He understood that Lou would probably never be the same, but he hoped he’d at least recover.

“We could see a doctor, you know. They’d probably have something to help you sleep.” Louis almost whispered as if he didn’t want to say it too loud.

“I’m fine, Louis. Really. The nightmares are getting better.” He lied. Louis saw right through him, but he didn’t feel right calling Harry out on it.

Harry proceeded to get ready shortly after Louis went back to his room. They were going to be flying home soon, but first, they were stopping by Crystal’s house once more to say their goodbyes. Harry had a sick feeling that it would be the last time he’d see the inside of that house.

When they arrived, Crystal’s parents were keeping themselves busy with various tasks around the house. Anne offered Karen her help, but she refused, stating the work was there to distract her.

“We’ve kept her room the way she had left it when she moved out, so there’s still a lot of her stuff in there. Feel free to go inside, if you’d like. Jim’s just finishing up cooking and we’ll all eat.” Karen explained briefly before returning to her cleaning.

Everyone turned to Harry and gave him encouraging smiles. They all understood the need for him to have a moment to himself.

He took a deep breath. “I won’t be long.”

Louis patted him lightly on the back. “Take all the time you need.”

Once he felt prepared, he forced his legs to carry him down to the end of the hallway where Crystal’s old bedroom resided.

He licked his lips and swallowed, slowly raising his hand to delicately grasp the doorknob. Turning it ever so gently, he pushed on the door and stepped inside the master bedroom, exposing himself to a tidal wave of memories.

~~~

Good tidings, my dear friends!

I had different plans for this chapter, but I felt the need to add another nightmare sequence to spice it up. I can assure you that there is a juicy plot brewing, so stay tuned!

I've also realized that I never say this, but thank you to everyone who has supported me in this journey! I truly appreciate all of you who read, comment and vote, it really means a lot! Never forget how much I love you all, because without you, I probably would have quit doing this long ago, and what would be the fun in that?? :)

See you next Friday!

Crystal xx