(A/N:) again, didn't edit
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I remember when I was really small, we used to have a crazy old lady who lived on our street. Her name was Ms. Barnum and rarely left the house. She had her groceries delivered from the local shops and didn't seem to be part of any quilting or garden clubs. She lived all by herself and never cut the grass or weeded her dead garden. I remember my mates and I would dare each other to go knock on her door and run away, cause we thought she was a witch.
The first time and only time I spoke to Ms. Barnum was when I wanted to prove myself and go knock on her door to impress my friends. I remember I was eight at the time and it was a Tuesday in July. It seemed simple and I thought I could run fast enough.
When I knocked on her door, I froze. I was staring at the chipped green wooden door, hearing my best friend Will hissing my name behind a rosebush.
I couldn't move, for some reason. It was as if something was holding my feet to the cement, or my feet were glued to the ground. And then she comes out, staggering on her old cane. I was sure my life was over then, her just staring at me. I was waiting for her to shoot laser beams out of her eyes but she just stared at me. Her blue eyes began to water, out of all things.
"Oh you poor boy," she whispered, stepping forward and began to hug me. She smelt like mothballs and musty material. "There isn't much left," she whispered, her hands gripping tightly to my shoulders.
"Er, excuse me?" I stammered.
"Eleven years," she wept.
"What eleven years?"
"Eleven years left."
"Harry!"
I turn around to see my Mum walking up to the house with Will, who seemed to genuinely care about my safety.
"I am so sorry for Harry bothering you Ms. Barnum," my Mum said, glaring at me.
"Apologize Harry."
"Sorry Ms. Barnum," I mutter, staring at my shoes.
"He has eleven years Anne. Only eleven years!" Ms Barnum hysterically cried.
"I beg your pardon?" Anne asked, grabbing my hand.
"Eleven years! You need to keep him safe Anne! Eleven years!"
"Until what?" I shouted.
"When you'll be gone! When it will be gone! When everything will be gone!" Ms. Barnum yelled, beginning to cry hysterically.
"Harry, get back to the house,"my Mum had said sharply, holding Ms. Barnum's arm.
My friends had fled the scene, so I ran down the sidewalk, back home, still hearing Ms. Barnum's crying and wailing.
She ended up dying two weeks later, from falling down the stairs.
And I always have wondered…did she slip on the stairs or did someone push her?
"That is ridiculous Harry! She's old, and no one lives with her. She slipped, and no one was around to get help in time," Gemma replied when I told her my nagging worry.
~*~
"We need to get back to the campsite, it's nearly one twenty," JJ called.
I swear we had been walking in circles, calling George's name. Deep down, I knew, if George as anywhere close, he would have heard us or at least the others.
"It's a prank," Zayn muttered to me. "I told you."
"Probably Josh, Jaymi, Louis and Liam already found him and were to lazy to come tell us," Nial assumed, beginning to follow JJ through the thick branches.
