Mirrored Exile (HS)

thirty five

chapter thirty five - need you now

Lucy Caddel

The air around this morning was making my nose irritated. I sat up in the bed and let out four consecutive sneezes. It hadn't stopped raining since yesterday, the occasional thunder passing through as well. It looked quite early, then again it could just be because it was cloudy. I had to get good at guessing the time because I didn't have my phone.

I woke up by myself today though, no Harry on his lounge in the corner. It was startling at first but I assumed he might've had something to do and didn't want to disturb me. Either way, last night's discussion with him was still fresh on my mind. I truly didn't believe I was safe. We know Samantha is someone we potentially cannot trust, so if anything, we should do the opposite of what she tells us. In other words, I do need him.

Zayn's house was uncomfortably quiet as of now though. I didn't know where either of them were and it was making me stressed the longer I thought about it. I slowly stepped down the hallway to the living room. The room was dark apart from the faint, gray light from the sky outside. My eyes scanned the room to a bottle of some fancy liquor sitting on the coffee table behind the lounge. Maybe Zayn left it out on accident?

As I wobbled over, shivering from the cold air, I peered over the back of the lounge to see a body.

Harry.

He is curled up with his eyes shut and a newspaper on his lap, crinkled from being squished. He looks peaceful and content as he breathes gently. The gray throw that was once on the back of the lounge, was now pulled over him and his head was tucked next to a red pillow.

I leaned down and took the newspaper off his lap to have a look. It unfolded on the page he was at and then there was a photo. The photo. The one I saw the photographer take. He and I danced right in the center of the dance floor as we so carefully watched our surroundings. The people around had a slight blur but the camera's focus was on us. That moment was as long as it was intimate. That night overall had felt like a fever dream.

I glanced at the empty bottle of liquor on the coffee table, which I now realized was whiskey. Did he drink all of that? I pick up the bottle and walk to the kitchen as quietly as I can to avoid waking Harry up. I pour myself a glass of water and take a sip, looking around the dark room. Suddenly, I hear a noise coming from the front door — footsteps coming up the stairs of the porch. It then turns to knocking. Very aggressive knocking. My heart starts racing as I quickly put down the glass and tiptoe towards the front.

The knocking awakes Harry too. He sits up and makes a direct beeline towards the front door, except his walk is unsteady. He looks at me, confused. His eyes are dark and his hair is messy. The stray curl falls over his face as he runs his fingers through to fix it.

"Open up!" The man's voice beckons from the other side. I peek through the window to a man who's tall and dressed in all black, a weapon in his hand.

I look to Zayn at the hallway who is now approaching us, worry flooding his face. "We need to get out of here now, they're at the back door too."

As he says this, he narrows his eyes at Harry and then to the bottle of whiskey I had left on the kitchen counter. Harry looks at him dazed and dreary, it looks as if not a single thought is crossing his mind.

"Lucy, take this." Zayn hands me a gun and my heart crunches at the sight of it. "You'll be okay."

"Why do I not get one?" Harry slurred his words in a whisper.

"Because you're off your face, your aim will be as good as a blind person's." Zayn snaps back at him as we walk down the hallway to the bedroom.

I help Zayn pack all the important stuff into a backpack and shove it on Harry's shoulders. A gun fires and I flinch, falling back into Harry's chest. He takes the gun from my hand and disappears down the hallway again. The sound of rain and thunder loudens which makes me think there's a door open.