The Darkest Direction

Chapter 6

I wake to the sound of shouting and screaming. I quickly cover my ears and try to make out what's going on. The room is filled with people, mostly young girls, holding torches and pitchforks. One by one they crawl through the broken window and crowd me, screaming. Just then I realize what they're yelling.
"Kill Alice Cowell! Kill Alice Cowell!" With each repeat of those three gruesome words the group takes a step closer to my bed. One ten year old girl crawls onto my bed with a pitchfork in her hand. I kick her face and she falls to the floor. Another girl does the same, this one about 18. I try to kick but she pins my legs down, I can't free myself from her grasp. Another girl the same age grabs my arms tight. I scream as loud as I can, the mob just gets louder.
"She's the one who stole Harry!" I hear a voice scream.
"She should've died instead of him!" another one yells. The girl who grabbed my legs, which are now tied to the bed, gets on her knees and is handed a large dart gun by a member of the mob. She places a dart inside, cocks it, and positions it only inches from my head. I spit on her jeans and she gasps.
"Kill Alice Cowell!" she screams, louder than I've heard any voice scream before. She holds my shoulders to the bed and lifts her fist, ready to pound my face. At that very moment, she drops to the floor dead. The mob's screams die and they begin to part, revealing the door. At the doorway stands Niall, Louis, Zayn and in the center, Liam, who is holding an enormous and bulky machine gun. One by one, the mob realizes who they are as they slowly step out from the shadows.
"Liam!" One girl screams, followed by another. The girl pinning back my arms screams and lets go. The rest of the crowd recognizes them and begin to attack. As the first girl nears Liam, he positions his gun and shoots her in the stomach. Another girl runs to Zayn and Niall punches her to the floor. Louis begins to collect the piling bodies in a bag labeled "For Shootouts" and Zayn runs to untie me.
"Thanks," I say.
"That was close," Zayn mysteriously coos, shooting a dark wink my way. I grab my cucumber moisturizer from the side of the bed and rub my ankles where they tied my legs down. A little bit of blood splatters onto my calf. When I look up there's only three left. Two girls, one about 15, the other maybe 20. And one father, sobbing over his daughter.
"Suck it up," Niall says, with a hard kick to the man's side. Louis runs to the man, who is still alive, and stuffs him in the bag. Liam, who is panting, reloads his gun and walks to the corner of the room where the two girls are on the floor, crying and shivering. Liam slowly lifts the gun and points it at them.
"Wait!" the older girl shouts. She wipes a tear from her eye.
"Can-can I have y-your autograph?" She wipes her nose. Liam doesn't respond. She begins to cry again and Liam shoots her in the shins.
"Scat," Liam says, avoiding eye contact with the two girls. They quickly stand, the one with the shattered shins a bit slower, and scurry to the door, Liam shooting at their feet. Liam slides the gun into a holster attached to a strap that falls across his chest.
"You hurt, toots?" Liam asks, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"I'm fine," I say in awe of Liam. I jump up and run to hug him.
"Watch it babe, I got a funeral to go to, don't get any of your smell on me," Liam says pushing me away from him. I giggle and kiss his cheek.
"We have to leave soon, you slept in a little," Niall tells me with a smile. I look at the clock, 12:38.
"How does 1:15 sound on leaving?" Zayn asks us. We all agree on the time.
"And we found some clothes and a nice dress in the attic, you can wear it to the service. Don't worry, love. We've had it cleaned," Louis tells me.
"Come try it on." he grabs my hand and takes me into a large, empty room with mirrors for walls.
"Wow," I say, Louis laughs.
"It's like a dance studio!"
Louis slides a large plastic box over to me. "This is a box of clothes that might fit you, and here is your dress," he says, lifting a black dress from a hook on the door.
"I'll leave you to try it on," Louis says, leaving the room. I slowly step towards the dress.
"Boring!" I sing, turning away to check the box for anything better. I lower both knees to the ground and sit. The box of clothes is dusty and looks as though it's been a while since opened, the side is marked with an "M". I pop off the lid and take a look at the clothes, everything inside is neutral and bland. I rid the box of a few shoes and sweaters and I find a small wooden box with an "M" across the lid. I leave it out for later, I reach the bottom and a dazzling piece catches my eye. I pull out some clothes to uncover more of the bright white dress. It is covered with pearls and diamonds and draped with silk. I pull the dress out from underneath the mounds of blouses and pants and shoes. As it rises from the box, a beautiful wedding dress is revealed. The sleeves are composed of a snow white lace that covers the shoulders and lays across the chest. The dress is long and layered with a thin, flowing netting. I need something to wear to the funeral and this...this is perfect. I find my way into the dress and I'm beautiful. I picture Harry next to me saying "I do" and I rub my eyes before the tears can fall. I walk out of the changing room and all of the boys watch me as I go by.
"Alice, you look beautiful," Niall tells me. Liam looks at me and his eyes widen, he quickly walks away. What's his problem?
"You do. Wow," Louis tells me, his eyes glued.
"So uh, what are you wearing to the funeral?"
"You're looking at it," I say with a wink. I strut away with no doubt that all of the boys are staring at me.
"Hey Alice, we have another 15 minutes until we leave," Louis tells me.
"Sounds good" I say in excitement.
"And Louis?"
"Yeah?"
"My eyes are up here, thanks." I scoff and walk into the changing room, shutting the door behind me. I bend down and pick up some of the clothes and put them back in the box. All of the clothes are stylish but none of them really interest me. Maybe tonight I can ask Louis if there's anything more for me to wear. I put the lid back on and slide the box aside. I can't help but look at my gorgeous figure through the mirror as I stand. Something's missing, I need to shine. I need light. I leave the changing room and walk about 20 feet to my bedroom. I run into the bathroom and grab some candles and matches from around the bathtub and stuff them in my bra. I search the rest of the room for anything else that will work.
"Time to go Alice!" Zayn calls.
"I'll be there in a moment!" I call back as I rip a string of white Christmas lights off of the lounge wall and try to fit them in my bra. I guess I'll find some time to turn these on during the service and dazzle.
"Alice! Are you ready?" Zayn calls.
"Yes! Coming!" I yell down. I quickly brush myself off and try to ignore the Christmas lights digging into my chest as I hurry out of the room and down the steps. Zayn is by the doors in all black. We walk down the stairs to the doors where the rest of the boys wait for me, they're all wearing black. They could learn a lesson or two about fashion, I laugh a little.
"All ready?" Niall asks.
"Good to go," I reply, already knowing I woke up with a perfect head of hair and a full face of makeup like I always do.
"Alright!" Louis says.
"Let's go."

*************************************
I walk into the church and all eyes are on me. Everyone examines my dress and all I can think about is the moment I'm gonna pump this funeral up with my Christmas lights. I try to adjust the lights so my breasts don't look so lumpy but I feel them cut deeper into my skin. Trying not to breathe too heavily, I walk behind the boys and slide into an empty row. I can't help but feel extremely bored, everyone decided to dress in black and the air is filled with such a bland mood. I look over at Niall on my left and lean in.
"This funeral is such a drag," I say, giving a good chuckle. I notice tears in his eyes, wuss. I look around, no food. What kind of party is this? The only color in the room is the crap load of flowers. They make the place smell like poop though so they have no point. I look at Harry's casket even though it's hard on me. I can only see his hands and part of his face. I was really in love with Harry, and I can't even begin to think of how rich I would've been if we got as far as the wedding. I look down at my hand, the ring is still there.
"And what's your name, darling?" a woman asks me as she takes a seat on my right.
"Oh, Alice," I say looking up at the woman. She looks about 50 with short, chocolate colored hair and turd orbs. She smiles at me with sympathy, she knows I'm with the boys.
"Very nice to meet you, I'm Susan." She shakes my hand.
"Did you know Harry?" Susan asks me.
"Oh did I? We were-" I feel the tears and choke a little.
"It's alright, cry," Susan says with a warming comfort. She lightly rests her hand on my back.
"My life changed," I try to say through sobs.
"Before, I had nothing. This is my only happiness," I show her the ring Harry gave me.
"Were you recently married?"
"No. Engaged." I rub my ring with my right hand thumb.
"Well congratulations! Where is he?" I look up at Susan, eyes wide. I feel the fury coming.
"Oh! I am so sorry, where is she?"
"He is dead, in that casket over there." I say, my voice getting little louder. Susan is silent.
"Sorry, did you hear me right?" I stand up.
"I said dead!" I scream.
"He's freaking dead!" I kick Susan in the shins and run to the casket. The tears stream down harder and faster and I kick over the stands holding the flowers.
"Harry was going to be my husband and now he's freaking dead!" I spit on Harry's cold, dead face and people run to stop me. I start to shake Harry's lifeless body and scream at the top of my lungs. A hand grabs my shoulder but I just shake harder. I can hear people yelling at me to stop and I feel more and more hands grab me and pull me away. I realize that this is the perfect moment to show everyone how I dazzle. I try to pull the Christmas lights out from my bra but I can't get them out all the way so they hang down to my feet, I manage to turn them on. I feel around for the matchbox and candles and successfully pull them out. A man tries to take the items from me but I kick him in the groin. Someone attempts to lead me down the aisle from behind. I break free from the crowd around me and run onto the stage so that everyone can see me. I strike a match and light one of the two candles I brought. I try to strike a second match with the lit candle clutched in my armpit but the candle falls and so does the match in my hand. My dress catches fire and I scream, falling backward. Everyone gasps and cries out, unsure of how to help me. I rip the sleeves and neck of the dress and tear my right arm out. I get the zipper halfway down and crawl out of the dress. I quickly get onto my feet and toss the dress into a row of seated people. The crowd begins to roar and the church empties as people frantically rush out of the doors. The fire spreads and expands across the room. I stay still and watch the madness, wearing nothing but undergarments and Christmas lights. I look down at Harry and realize it's not too late to save his body and get out of the church in time. I run to the body and begin to pull him out by his head. I inhale the thick, stinging smoke and start to cough. Water fills my eyes as I grab Harry's neck to lift him from the casket. I pull back my wet hair and try to dry my eyes, I can hardly see. I stand up and bend down to lift part of the casket onto the stage. I drag it a few feet and fall to the floor, tipping it over. Water pours from the casket and onto my body. I grab Harry and hold him to me, pulling with all of my strength. At that moment, a sudden, rock hard jolt drops my body to the floor. Electricity swims through my blood and I'm shivering and shaking violently. I feel the sharp, lingering burn across my chest and down my stomach. The Christmas lights electrocuted me. I can't move, I give up. At least I know I'll be dying next to my true love. The sound of sirens and pouring water slowly resurfaces after the deafening shock. I can hear a man's cough behind the noise. It gets louder and rises until it's in my ear, he sounds like one of the boys. Well at least there was one person decent enough to stay and admire my sense of fashion. I try to lift myself and look for someone through the smoke. No one is there, I'm here alone. The coughing continues from below me. My body freezes, it hits me. I try to move but the only thing I can get to work are my eyes, which slowly sink to the view of Harry's dead body. I scream. I scream as loud as I've ever screamed before. I am so terrified. So truly terrified. So much more terrified than I've ever been. Really terrified. Like terrified a lot. A horrible fear comes over me and it screams louder than my own voice. I am not alone.

Harry is alive.