Shadows (larry stylinson AU)

At first louis wasn't concerned. At first it was just a few random noises here and there, but that's normal, considering he lives in the city, right?

One day louis was - to put it calmly- freaking the actual fuck out. He was playing FIFA with Niall and all of the sudden everything went haywire. His Telly cut out and and there was loud banging coming from god knows where.

He went into the kitchen after Niall had left and made himself some tea to try and calm himself down. That's when he heard it.

"Louis"

He looked around to see if Niall had forgotten something and come back to get it, but no one was there. He heard it again but louder this time

"Louis!"

He was beyond scared now and tried not to sound helpless but failed as he whimpered out a

"W-w-who's there?"

He didn't get an answer.

Instead he felt his eyes roll into the back of his head, as he felt himself falling. He expected his head to collide with the hard tile floors of his flat, but instead, some thing firm but soft caught him. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a dark figure, looming over him.

When he woke up, he was confused as to why he was laying on his couch. "Didn't I pass out in the kitchen?"

He asked himself.

His brain was still hazy from being out for at least a few hours, judging by the lack of sunlight in his living room.

But as his memory cleared up somewhat, he remembered the figure.

It was dark and tall, faceless to his memory. It was like whatever it was that caught his fall, was only a shadow.

And for a few days, this certain "shadow" was all louis was allowing himself to think about. "What is it?" "Where did it come from?" "will it come back?" were all questions that littered his mind.

He was pretty much brain dead from thinking about it so much. So he did the only rational thing he could think of, he called his mum. Surely she would know what to do.

When louis called her and told her of his tormenter, she didn't even pretend to sound shocked, it was more like she was far off, sort of like she was recalling something that happened long ago.

She said after a while

"So, old stranger is back, huh?"

At first he was very confused as to what the hell she meant.

She explained to him that when he was little, around five or six, he had an imaginary friend whom he liked to call "stranger" that she apparently grew to realize, wasn't imaginary at all. In fact, he was very real at the least.

He then recalled his old friend, he used to talk to him and stranger would always listen, and give him advice. But as louis grew older, the need for someone to talk to was replaced by friends or his mum, leaving little stranger behind in the dust.

Until now, he reckoned.

The next few days were focused on what he could do to communicate with "stranger" - louis thought that this was a stupid name, but he did name it when he was like, six- so he waited for something to happen, anything. He waited for stranger to speak, or show up once again. Then, on saturday, his wishes were granted. He was in the living room on tumblr when he heard it. "Lou?" "Can you still hear me?"

He looked up and with a start and almost screamed with surprise when he saw a boy sitting on his couch, he was dim, sort of like a hologram, as if he wasn't really there, he had quiffed curly hair, green eyes, and /god damn/ was he hot.

"Y-you're stranger, I'm guessing?"

The boy nodded. "Im louis" he said, " I know." Louis cheeks reddened because the boy hadn't once broken eye contact with louis.

" What are you?" louis asked him. "Nothing but a shadow"

These meetings occurred more and more often in the next week or so, either before louis left for work, or after. And to louis they were casual, normal even, well, if you count out that stranger was a shadow.

*stranger's POV*

How am I supposed to tell him? He thought.

He needed to, though, because he desperately needed help.

You see, he wasn't always this way. He had a life, friends, a name, and a family. But then he was bewitched by a voodoo master when his family took a trip to New Orleans. It wasn't that long ago, just a few years before louis was born, actually. Now he was stuck to roam the shadows, frozen in his age and appearance for good.

Unless, he could find someone with a pure heart to bring him back. He was a selfish person back before he was cursed, horrible and cruel. He was rude to everyone he met, and even to his own family, except for his group of "friends" if you could even call them that, they were only friends with him so he didn't push them around like he did everyone else. Everyone knew him as 'harry ( yes, that was his name) the big bad boy who doesn't give a fuck about anyone but himself' and that was the way he liked it, because if no one thought well of him, nobody would ever bother him.

So when the voodoo guy who was living on the streets in poverty ( zayn is what he introduced himself as, although harry wasn't really sure about anything he told him ) asked him for spare change, because harry was filthy rich, and let's face it, he didn't exactly try and hide it, he laughed and zayn's face and called him a worthless piece of trash that should go and live in a dumpster where all the other trash lived, zayn was infuriated and cast a curse on harry, that he should wander in the shadows alone, until he could find someone, who could love him for who he was, and change him for the better.