Hunted: Harry Styles Fan Fiction

Harry

Chapter 17

As I realized what Kate was saying, I felt like I had been glued to where I sat; turned to stone, or frozen in ice. I just stared at her as she flew the plane as if she’d been doing in years, in some ways amazed, and in others terrified of her ability to think on her feet. I eventually tore my eyes off of her slender face, which was now covered in scabs and cuts, and glanced down at the body of the man who had been the pilot.

Kate was right, he, too, had a cuff.

A chill shimmied its way down my spine at the thought that I could effectively trust no one apart from Kate and myself. I would never be able to know who was, and who wasn’t on my side. I had thought that the plane would be safe, and instead, I had put us right in the hands of Havener’s men. For all that was worth, I should’ve just stopped running from them in the terminal of the Heathrow Airport. It would’ve been far less terrifying to let them capture us there, than to be jolted awake as the plane fell out of the sky in the middle of the night. I came out of my thoughts as warm rays of sunshine lit up my face and momentarily blinded me. I just closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. I was almost relaxed by the warm silence until I heard the scream of one of the flight attendants as they finally came to the front of the plane.

My head snapped up to look at her, and she covered her gaping mouth with one hand as she stood in front of me on the verge of tears, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. I was guessing that this was her first brush with death. I was almost surprised that I felt no sadness. Losing Louis had taken all the sadness from me. All that remained was anger; a slowly burning fire that would eat away at me until he was avenged. I stood up, and put my hands in the air trying to show her that it was okay, but she spun around and raced for the other end of the plane. I stood up to follow her, slowly, since there was effectively nowhere for her to run. Kate never looked up from the controls as I climbed over the shattered wreckage of the door and snack cart. I almost laughed at how much of a mess there was. It seemed more like a movie set than anything else.

But the image of the corpse flashed through my mind, constantly reminding me that this was my reality now.

The cabin of the plane didn’t look too much different aside from some dishware being broken on the floor. I walked through the carpeted cabin to the rear of the plane, careful to avoid the broken shards. As I reached the attendant’s quarters, I stopped in the doorway where the carpeting met the grey linoleum. I stuck my head around the corner trying to figure out where she was. I glanced in, and saw the small hand coming at me just a moment too late. She smacked me hard across the face, and I rubbed the sore skin for a moment before I lashed out, my anger boiling over. I grabbed her by her wrists, and pulled it toward me hard, yanking her into the cabin where I could see her more clearly.

“Stop!” She yelled loudly in my ears, but I said nothing for a moment. I held her wrists tighter in my hands, trying to get her to stop struggling. I just needed her to sit down so that I could explain. I gave her no chance to protest. I tugged her to the set of chairs along the far wall, where Kate and I had been only hours earlier, and shoved her into one of them. After she promised me that she would listen, I tried to get her up to speed in some coherent manner.

“You see this?” I held my arm so that she could easily see the cuff. “This is a cuff. It might look like I’m free, but I’m not. The stuff inside the bracelet will kill me inside of a minute if it gets in my blood.” She gave me a stunned expression, and I stopped to let that sink in for her. I didn’t like the idea that I could be putting this woman in danger in order to protect myself, but what choice did I have? I didn’t need to have American police as well as Havener and his goons after me. I also had to think that if this woman didn’t believe me, then I could risk becoming a prime suspect in Louis’ murder as well. “There are people after Kate and I,” I started to explain again. “They recruited the pilot to help them, knowing that we would try to flee, but he refused.” Once again I paused, and the woman said nothing. She waited expectantly for me to continue speaking. “It cost him his life, and if I tell you anything else, it could cost you yours.”

My last remark earned a shocked gasp from the flight attendant, and she tried to mask the expression on her face, but it was no use. I could tell she was scared to her wits end, but was it of me or the truth? I didn’t know. She didn’t say anything in response. She offered no sympathy or kind words, and she didn’t volunteer to help out. I wasn’t entirely convinced that she believed me, but couldn’t force her to. I had no choice but to hope that she did, and accept that soon, I might be forced to run from three parties instead of one.

“What do you need me to do?” A small voice finally escaped her lips and dragged me back to reality. I almost wasn’t sure that I’d heard her correctly. Was this woman offering to endanger her safety for us? My faith in humanity, which had been dwindling recently, was restored as I realized she was dead serious about her offer.

“Just stay quiet,” I answered, as a miniscule breath of relief escaped my lips. I thanked whoever was upstairs looking out for me, and for the first time since I’d woken up, I relaxed.

“Ladies and Harry,” Kate’s voice sounded over the loud speaker onboard the plane. “I encourage you to take your seats, as the plane will be landing shortly.” I almost laughed at the ridiculousness. Then it occurred to me: how was Kate going to land the plane? She didn’t know what she was doing, and she didn’t know where she was going. There was still an immanent chance that we could all die, and all the effort we’d gone to in order to survive could be a waste. I darted out of my chair and into the cockpit to try to help in any way possible. I reached the doorway just as the plane began to jostle violently back and forth in the crosswinds, and Kate said, “Hang on to your seats, because I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.”