devious • n.s

Chapter 4

Niall

"Harry?" I mutter in utter shock, my pocketknife going back to its place on the back of my jeans.

"We don't have time. There are more of them coming." He grips my forearm to pull me with him again, this time towards the hallway that leads to the house's two bedrooms.

"What. Are. You. Doing." I say through gritted teeth, emphasizing each word as I try to tear my arm from his grip. It'll certainly leave a bruise.

"Saving your fucking life. Now, hurry." He pushes me inside the room where I have been sleeping during the past week or so, locking the door and running to open the window. Everything is happening so fast I can barely cope.

"C'mon. Jump out." He holds the window open, impatiently waiting for me to go first and my eyes go wide.

"Harry, my mom and uncle are back there, we can't- Ah!" Out of a sudden, he unexpectedly takes me on his arms and literally throws me outside, making me land on the snow on all fours as he also jumps out.

The sound of someone putting the door down is loud and clear in the background and Harry doesn't even give me time to breathe as he helps me up, only to throw me over his shoulder and run towards what, some steps later, I make out to be his car. More gunshots are fired in our direction as he tosses me on the passenger seat and rushes over to his, instantly stepping hard on the pedal without a second glance back.

"Make a turn, Harry." I can't just leave now, I have to go back.

"Are you fucking stupid?" He glares at me for a few seconds before diverting his eyes back to the road, his eyebrows creased and his stare incredulous as if I've gone nuts.

"I'm going back, Harry. I have to."

"My ass you're going back! I almost died to save your damn life, Niall." He's infuriated and I can see where he's coming from but he just doesn't understand.

"I- I can't just leave my family behind, Harry. I can't." I sigh in desperation. This can't be happening. I push my hair back and out of my face as I let more tears run down my cheeks.

"I'll make some calls after we find somewhere to stay the night and send someone to fetch your uncle. They'll probably take your mother though but that's not what you should be worried about." He says, not taking his eyes off the street ahead as he takes the road out of Landerwood, surrounded by a thick, frozen forest.

"What the fuck, I can't just not worry about her! Who are those people, what do they want and how the hell did you come to know about all this?"

"They won't kill your mother, Niall. They need her alive to get to you. We'll get her back. Trust me, don't worry about that." My eyes go wide and I turn to him in my seat.

"Trust you?" I shout at him, my hands flying in the air in front of my face. "How can I trust you? I don't know you, you haven't answered any of my questions and-" Something from the seat under me pokes my butt and I lift my leg a bit to take out a pacifier. A fucking pacifier. I look at the rear-view mirror mounted on the front windshield and see a baby seat on the back seat that I hadn't noticed back when he drove me home. "This fucking car isn't even yours, is it?" I throw the small, colorful pacifier at him in frustration and he groans, exaggeratedly loud.

"First of all: you're hurting my ears with all the shouting. Fucking stop it. I'll explain everything to you later, once I find a damn motel we can stay the night." He can't be serious!

"I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me-"

"I knew Bobby." He sighs and I stop everything at the mention of my dad.