Hunted: Harry Styles Fan Fiction

Harry

Chapter 13

I was distraught when I'd read the letter. It hurt so much to know that Louis thought that he didn't have an escape other than to commit suicide, but it hurt more to think that he was murdered instead. Although I was trying hard to hide it, I was terrified. If we really meant so little to them that they would take our lives for nothing, then I knew that my own demise was coming.

Sooner than I had originally expected.

I read the note several times, before finally being able to pull myself away from it. I was almost angry that Kate hadn't told me, but it was my own fault. I'd stopped her. I was more angry with myself now that I had frightened her. Her small body, nearly buried under my old clothes that were too big, cowered away from me, and I could feel my already fragile heart break a little more in my chest. I had lost sight of the situation over one small thing, and that scared me. Everything was a crisis now. Between Louis' death, and the immanence of my own, and trying to keep Kate safe and save my own life at the same time, I had so many emotions jumbled up inside me that I was more confused than sad.

More afraid than angry.

More worried than upset.

My mind raced at all the possible outcomes of this situation, and nearly all of them ended in my own death. I didn't have a way out, and it had shocked me when Kate had come up with a solution that I hadn't seen before. As she spoke, all of my doubts started melting like popsicle on a summer day. I would be able to get out of this, but I needed her intelligence, and she needed my insider information. 

We needed each other, and there was no other way out. 

A good portion of me still doubted our abilities. But it wouldn't hurt to try, would it? My fate was sealed if we didn't, but I might have another future if we did. More than anything, I just wanted to be out of this whole situation for good. I wanted to go back to the beginning, when I'd just gotten home from the X-Factor with Louis and never get involved; I wanted to go back to a time that was more simple. 

I guess simple just wasn't in my cards.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I barely registered that Kate had grabbed my hands, and was now pulling me from the couch's brown suede surface. I stumbled to my feet feeling like I was half asleep; it felt like my feet were stuck in molasses. Shuffling down the narrow hallway, Kate stopped abruptly to yank open the door. 

"Hang on a second," I said, as I realized that I wasn't wearing any shoes. Turning around I saw my trainers laying on the floor, their long slender laces tangled and knotted. Slipping them on, I patted the pockets of my pants assuring myself that I had my cell phone, and I went back to the door. I held the door as she walked out, and slammed it closed behind myself as Louis had always done. Half of it was to irritate the neighbors, and the other half was to keep the lock from sticking in the door jam.

Not a moment later,  I was already sending a hasty text message to the boys, letting them know that I would be leaving town for a few days. I stopped myself when I realized that I was about to add Louis to the message, and fresh grief flooded my mind. 

To: Liam, Zayn, Niall

Boys, I'm leaving town on the jet for a few days. Don't worry :) x

I tried to sound convincing that I wasn't having any real problems, although I doubted that they would believe me. I didn't want to worry them. God forbid they would chase me down and get tangled up in this too.

From: Niall

Haz, have you heard from Louis?

I couldn't bring myself to tell them what happened to Louis. There was no doubt that it was all over the news now, on every station from here to China. It almost made me angry that all I could think of was the bad publicity that we were going to get from this. How was the band going to stay together without Louis? He was our heart; he was our soul. That was the last thing I could think about right now. I already had too much anxiety about this situation. My fingers glided quickly over the smooth surface of the screen as I typed another message.