Another World

Hide & Seek

•---Harry---•

"Marcus we have to move faster!" I hiss.

"I know sir, I'm doing my best but we must not look suspicious in case we run into Zayn." Marcus says.

We stop at every corner of each floor before we round it. Liam and the others are on floor two. I only hope we mange to get there before Zayn does... According to Marcus, Zayn had been wandering the lobby when he came to warn me. That means Zayn is at least on the first floor now. We are on the third.

"I know but... I'm just worried sorry..." I trail off. Marcus nods and we slowly start to go down the stairs to the second floor. That was the amazing thing about Marcus-he understood me, perhaps better than even my best mate Louis does. Louis... Man I miss him. I can't afford to think of him now, I need to remain focused. I continue to follow behind Marcus impatiently. At last we reach the second floor. There was no sign of Zayn so we ran directly to the door.

"Sir, I'll keep watch... Be quick." Marcus said. I nod and swing the door open. I was not prepared at all for the sight that greeted me.

An empty room.

•---Niall---•

-10 minutes earlier-

"They are this way! I can feel it!" Louis said. We race down the hallway on level two. The whole castle looked just the same as it had four years ago when Liam and I had come here.
Ah the memories.

Getting in the castle had been much easier though-abnormally easy. There had been no guard at the door, which gave us the foreboding sense that this wasn't going to end well.
Yet we still decided to continue with the plan.

"Which door?" I ask.

"The one three doors away from the stairs!" Louis said,"I'll keep guard while you get them. Go!" I nod and Bradley and I race into the room.

•---Louis---•

"Go!" I say to Niall and Bradley as they race into the room. I figure I am the best man to keep watch. If anyone try's interfering in any way I can stop them with just a thought. One of the perks of being the most powerful wizard...
One of the few perks anyway. I am often overwhelmed by an awful feeling other species don't ever face...
Loneliness.

I feel so alone.
Despite the fact that I have all of these amazing friends, I miss my fellow wizards and witches. What happened to them hurts too much to think about... Ah... Stay focused Louis! Search for Leila.

I close my eyes and search the palace for the bright and warm presence of Leila. Her presence was something special in comparison to everyone else. Here's the way it looks to me-Werewolfs are always a hot orange. Vampires are cold blues and whites. Shapeshifters were a all too fitting crimson color-like all of the blood they spill has become apart of them. Humans typically were soft greens and warm browns. Wizards are-well used to be anyway-a fun playful yellow.

Leila on the other hand is an extremely bright pulsing yellow-almost like the sun. Liam is also a different color-a yellow that nearly matches Leila's.

Kinda weird, but so is life.
Everything is so uncertain in life.

Anyway, searching for Leila. Aha! She's on floor-I'd guess it looks like its floor twenty. She is all alo-wait... There's another presence down the hallway. It's-oh no-super dark crimson. It's him. I've memorized that presence by now.
Oh god no...
•---Niall---•

Liam looked up at me in surprise then smiled and ran to give me a hug.

"Niall! Your here!" He said.

"Yeah, of course I am. You okay mate?" I asked Liam.

"A little tired, but yeah I'm good." Liam responds. Bella and Josh were both grinning and they both give me hugs.

"How'd you get in here?" Josh asks.

"It wasn't as hard as I though it would be, there was no guard and I brought a team." I gesture to Bradley who gives them a small wave. "Louis is outside guarding. Where's Leila?"

Liam gives me a grim look. "I wish we knew. Harry took her."

"Well then we are getting her back. Now. Louis will be able to find her easily. Let's go!" I say.

We race out only to see Louis standing utterly still. The air was full of his tension.

"Lou? What's wrong?" I say.

He turns to me with a utterly hopeless expression. "Leila is in grave danger."

•---Harry---•

Empty.
The room is empty.

Liam and his friends are gone.

The most confusing part?

The scent that fills the room is not that of Zayn, nor another shapeshifter, but a werewolf.

A werewolf had taken them? That scent was so familiar...Could it be Liam's friend? The one who had come to my castle years ago with Liam?

I remember probing that wolfs mind. He has feelings for my Leila. Or at least he had four years ago.

The door swung open behind me, but I was still too stunned at Leila's absence to move.

"Sir what's-Oh." Marcus said.

"Oh" was right.

"Sir I can still smell the wolf-They're above us. Looking for Leila perhaps?" Marcus says.

Leila.

Her name gets me into action. I begin running and as I was I shouted back at Marcus to follow.

I do not care who this wolf thinks he is, he is not getting away my Leila.

He just has a stupid crush on her.
My love is much stronger.

•---Leila---•

That kiss.
Why can't I stop thinking about it?
I just did it to distract him.

Right?
It has to be. It's not like I like him or
anything.

Do I?

Shut up. I chide the voices in my head.
I sigh and sit down on the couch.
I am extremely worried about my friends and my brother. Even if Harry was serious about protecting me, that doesn't mean he can be trusted.

I miss Niall. I would do anything to have his arms around me right now.
He is always so comforting.
Whenever I'm with him, I feel perfectly safe.

I can't just sit here and wait around. Even if Zayn is wandering the castle, I can defend myself.
Of course having a weapon would be better...My bow and quiver!
I'd almost forgotten about my weapons being with me right now! I glanced down at my wrist to see if the bracelet was still there-though of course it was. Since we had found them at our burning house, they hadn't come off even when we tried to get them off. I was pretty thrilled at that-I lose things way too easily. I pressed the heart in the rhythmic pattern-taptaptap tap taptap tap- and my bow and quiver appeared. I grinned happily. About a month ago, I had discovered that my bracelet had the ability to shrink objects and hide them in it. I hadn't told anyone, not even Liam.

I pick up my bow and quiver and walk into the bathroom and grimace at the sight of myself.

My hair was a ragged mess and my curls were knotted, my purple shirt was in tatters, my jeans had a tear in one knee and my boots were covered in mud. Ew. I glance around the bathroom and finally find a hairbrush and get to work immediately. After brushing my hair out and washing my boots, I proceed to see what is in the closet, and to my surprise the clothes were all my size. Weird. I searched through the racks until I found a comfortable green tanktop, a pair of blue jeans, and a brown jacket. After this I pull on my newly cleaned boots.

Much better.

I sling the quiver over my back and start toward the door. I swung it open and glanced down the empty hallways. Left or Right? When Marcus had brought me up here, it had been too fast for me to see which side the stairs were on. Alright Leila... Think...

Well, you know what they say, right is right, left is wrong. I decide to head to the right. I tiptoe as quietly as I possibly can. I keep creeping down the hall and finally I come to another crossroad. I stuck with going right and immediately regret it. I freeze when I see the person in front of me. It was like my most terrible nightmares had come to life. I dreamt of this moment every night. Facing him all alone-it terrified me perhaps more than anything. And now here I was. And here he was right in front of me smiling that crooked smile.

The king of the Shapeshifters has finally found me.

"Well hello there Princess. It's splendid to see you again." I put my hands to my head and gasp in surprise.

I struggle with all my will, but him and I both know it is inevitable. The words he had just said rang through my head like he knew they would, triggering the flashbacks he knew I couldn't stop.

"No..." I choked out before I fell limply into his arms. The last sight I saw was his dark eyes looking down at me, full of utter triumph before I black out.