lycanthrope ~ h.s

10

"Come on. I'll drive you home." He says standing up and reaching for my hand.

He clasps my hand in his large one and I smile as I stand up.

We walk side my side and hand in hand. I can't seem to wipe the ridiculous grin spreading on my face.

Spoke to soon.

-

Harry freezes.

I look at him confused.

"What's wrong-"

"Stay quiet." He says.

I look at him and Harry is looking everywhere around us. He stands up straighter and grips my hand tighter.

I stay quiet like he told me.

That's when I hear it.

A loud crunch.

Harry's head turns in the direction of the noise. And his face immediately stiffens.

"Harry can we please go?" I say getting pretty scared now.

His head snaps towards me and I gasp. His eyes are dark and he looks angry. His chest rises and falls dramatically. He doesn't look like himself at all.

"Harry?" I say but he still looks at me weirdly.

"Harry?" I say again pulling my hand up to cup his cheek. "Harry please. You are scaring me."

His face softens slightly but another crunch of leaves makes him freeze again.

"You need to come with me now." He says.

Harry pulls me along with him quickly towards his car.

We both quickly jump in and he starts the car. His hands grip the steering wheel tightly. His eyes keep shifting to the mirrors almost like he thinks someone is following us.

"F.uck." He mutters.

"Harry what happened?" I say quietly.

"I - I don't know." He stutters. "I'm sorry. Are you okay? Are you feeling okay- did you-"

"Harry I'm fine. I just got scared." I mumble.

He quickly puts a hand on my thigh and squeezes.

"I think we should go to the cafe or something." He says quickly.

"Okay...why?" I ask.

"No reason." He mumbles.

I stay quiet. I am so confused.

We pull up to the cafe and both hop out.

We order a hot chocolate each and sit down in a small booth quietly.

I can't help but stare at Harry's distressed state. His eyes wander everywhere, his hands grip his hair, his teeth bite on his lip and he occasionally snaps his head to look out the window.

I look down at his hands. One clenches his mug and the other is balled into a fist on the table. I then notice a small bit of blood under his hand.

"What- what is that?" I say and quickly grab his hand unclenching it. I gasp.

Small cuts dig into his palm from what looks like his finger nails? No this couldn't be just from him clenching his fist. Blood drips from some of them.

"What the hell Harry?" I say looking up at him. "How?"

He grabs a napkin from the table and wipes away the blood quickly.

"I'm fine. Just a cut." He mumbles.

"Can you excuse me for a minute? I just need to make a phone call." He says not looking into my eyes.

I nod and he leaves the cafe to go outside.

I can see him through the window as he furiously pushes numbers in his phone. He looks so stressed and angry as he talks to this person.

How did Harry make such deep cuts in his palm? It doesn't make sense.

I look back at him but he's already staring at me, the phone still pressed to his ear. He makes simple nods and mumbles to the phone and turns it off. He walks back towards the cafe and sits down.

"I'm sorry. It was Louis." He says and I nod in response.

"Do you want to go home now?" He asks and I nod again.

The drive home is silent. Harry is hiding something from me. I know it.

He drops me home and I get out of his car without a word, watching him quickly speed off.

I sigh and make my way inside.

How can someone have mood swings so frequently? Everything about him is so weird and different. He gets angry easily. That weird glimpse of a vision I got when I touched him. The blood on his hands and I almost forgot that shirt. The one covered in dried blood.

I was so scared when I heard that crunch on leaves but Harry's warm presence seemed to calm me slightly.

I still feel like he's hiding things. I know he told me a lot about his family and I'm grateful he opened up a bit but he still remains so mysterious. I shouldn't be so nosy, I know I'm not his girlfriend or anything like that.

Mum and Dad aren't home yet so I make myself something to eat and head up to my room watching tv. Time passes and when I look out the window it's already dark.

I go over to the window to close the blinds when I gasp in shock.

Across the street there's a dark shadow of a man staring directly at me. I quickly duck under my window, my heart pounding out of my chest. What the hell? My eyes are wide and I can't stop my heart from thumping. I wait a few seconds before I slowly poke my head out but he's gone. I breath out a sigh of relief until I hear a pounding on the door.

I freeze.

Very slowly and carefully I make my way downstairs. What if it's that same shadow I saw? What if he's here to kill me?

The knocking begins again as I slowly make my way to the door.

I grab the doorknob and gently pull it open.

There stands my mother.

"Mum?" I say. "Oh phew I thought you were a killer!" I say grabbing her in a hug.

"Sorry darling I think I must have left the house key here." She says and chuckles. "How was your day?"

"Average." I say. "I've already made some food so I'm gonna go to bed now."

"Okay goodnight Rose."

I go upstairs and snuggle under the covers. Thoughts swarm my head, Harry and the strange man across the street.