Ravaged // h.s. au

12.

Harry

The heat was brutally pealing my skin, layer by layer. The screams, the yells, were loud, deafening, but somehow, I couldn't quite hear them. I could see Zayn's hands being thrown into air as he gave frantic orders, attempting to minimize losses, after he had realized how impossible it was for him to save everyone. Louis was laying on the ground, eyes closed, blood all over, with Niall and Liam attempting to revive him.

Excruciating pain spread through my figure, but I couldn't allow the darkness to take me away yet. I had to find her first. She was there. I could feel her. My eyes passed over them all, one last time, everything moving in slow motion, painful seconds refusing to pass us by, in order to lengthen our agony. And then, as soon as my eyes met her own, and my vision widened, to see Joshua, holding a gun to her neck, and throwing himself backwards, to fall into the pit of fire, taking her with him, all that had been refusing to move, passed me by all too quick, and she was gone.

" Harry!" I thought I had heard her say, but I was shaken awake, by Zayn's firm arms. My chest caved and expanded, with the air that my lungs couldn't take in. My frantic eyes searched our surroundings, attempting to find that thin line between my persistent nightmares, and the reality I found myself having to endure. Finally, my eyes lifted to hold Zayn's, and his eyebrows were furrowed in blunt concern.

" I'm fine. Bad dream, that's all. What's up?" I questioned, running a hand over my sweaty face, to finally convince myself, that all I had seen wasn't real.

" We need to head to Gypsy's house. She called Louis, someone broke in again, and she's pretty shaken up." He said, walking out of the office. I didn't have the time, or the energy, to process any of it, as I threw myself out of the chair, and followed Zayn. I had this horrible, nauseating feeling at the pit of my stomach, and I barely managed not to collapse, seeing both Zayn's police car, and Liam's, driving down the road. Mere minutes passed, before the old house came into view. The ache I felt in my heart intensified, the trembling in my lips became less manageable, as I lurched myself out of the car, and into the house. The door was opened, and she was sitting on the couch, her chin resting on her fisted hands, as she spoke to Louis. I stood there, watching her, and for the life of me, I couldn't move. I couldn't pull myself into that house, in fear of it collapsing, taking us all with it. It had been so long since I had been in here, since I had last seen her on that couch, on which we laid every night, watching some black and white movie, and rehearsing our accents. Zayn, Liam, and Niall, pushed past me, each finding his own destination through the house. And that was when her eyes lifted, to hold my own. They were fearful, hesitant, and so incredibly dull. My legs found their way towards her, as she stood, crossing her arms against her chest, and I knew, she needed her space.

" Are you okay?" I whispered, to which she weakly nodded.

" Are you?" She then asked, and I was once again, bewildered by how easily she managed to read me. I cleared my throat, attempting to pull myself together, but I couldn't find my voice, so I nodded too, hoping that it would be enough of an answer.

" Where is Hazel? Is she alright?"

" She's spending the night at a friend's house. Thank God for that, I don't- I can't have her here now."

" What about the guarding officer?"

" I sent him with her. She's been terrified since that time they came in for her." She could barely get those words out without crying, I could see it, how she bit her lips so fiercely that I feared she'd draw blood.

" So what happened here?" I asked, although, internally, I was screaming for her to just lie to me, to not tell him how scared she was, or how deeply they had managed to scar her.

" I slept for two hours or so, and then I went to drive Hazel to her friend's house, with that guard. He took us there, and I asked him to stay, and I walked home. When I went upstairs, I- the walls were-there were pictures, everywhere. Some were burned, and- I know he's trying to get under my skin, but Hazel- she's not safe here, Harry. I just want it all to be over." A single tear strayed against her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away, sniffling, and sighing, before shaking her head, as if ridding her mind of reoccurring images.

" I'll go see the room if that's okay with you."

" No. No, Harry. Don't- don't do that to yourself."

" Do what to myself, Gypsy? I have to see for myself in order to be able to think this through."

" Not this time. Just- listen to me."

" What is up there, Gypsy?" The fear behind her eyes was heightening ever since I mentioned going into the room. Desperation laced her tone as she spoke to me. And her hand had fallen onto my arm, to keep me from moving away from her. Something was wrong, and it wasn't simply the break in.

" Harry-"

" What is it, Gypsy?" I repeated, pulling myself away from her. She shook her head, giving it one final plea, but I was already climbing the stairs, rushing towards the room, where we had spent our first night together, as well as our last. Niall and Liam were standing by the door, frowns between their eyebrows, hands covering their mouths. I walked in, and the walls were covered in pictures of a baby's sonar. Some were burned, as Gypsy had explained, to the point of being completely deformed, and the others, were only slightly burned, as if to remind us, that we'd never fully heal, that we'd burn to ashes, every single day, because that fire, could never be extinguished. My chest physically hurt where my heart was supposed to beat, and my eyes blurred with tears that I was desperate to swallow away. Everything hurt, as I collapsed onto the bed, that was too, covered with those brutal images. I took one in my hands, running my trembling fingers over the small figure, that I never got to hold, or love, or cherish. That figure, that I only got to lose.

Under the picture, was a single statement, drawn in blood, that almost brought me to my knees.

" Burn, baby, burn."

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A/N: in case anyone was confused, the first two paragraphs were a nightmare, not a real occurrence :)

ily x