WILD // (Harry Styles)

E I G H T

CHAPTER 8

HARRY

I gave up hoping for the police to find her. When I was at the station last, it didn't seem as if they have made any progress. And I can't just sit around and get drink the pain away anymore, I have to act. I have to make an effort. I have to bring her home, because it doesn't seem like anyone else will.

That's why I, once again, stole security tapes from the apartment building.

I don't need to be lectured by the police about it being illegal. I don't care. All that matters is getting her back.

I have seen cameras all over this apartment building, and I figured that there must be tapes of other places than the elevator. And there was.

Tapes of the reception, the lobby, the entrance, the entire first floor. And I have yet to see them. I'm just staring at the first image, not daring to press play. The first tape is of the reception, which depicts the woman behind the desk, soon to be tied up and forced into the room behind her. But I'm not interested in seeing that.

I skip ahead till I see Claire, in Zayn's relentless arms, dragging her towards the exit. And that's the last from this camera. So I eject it and put in the next one.

It takes while to load, and I see my reflection on the black screen. I look like a mess. My eyes are bloodshot, the tip of my nose red, stuffed and shiny. My hair is greasy, strands pointing in every direction. I have never felt worse.

It starts playing, and my worn face disappears.

The footage is of right outside the building. My heartbeat accelerates as I sit in suspense. I fast forward to when I see Zayn pull up in a car.

It is dark blue and a normal size. Looks cheap, maybe a rental or something. Blood rushes to my head when I look down at the license-plate. The letters and numbers are clear as day. I write them down and pause the video. I search it into an engine, and it's tagged as stolen.

Damn...

I resume the video, and I wait a while before I see Claire being dragged into the car. I feel a shudder induce me as I see her hair thrashing around, fighting to get away. Both the doorman and the receptionist were tied up, and it was around midnight, so there was close to no people on the streets. She was completely helpless.

The car soon drives away, with her in the trunk. It disappears out of the frame, and I'm again left with nothing.

No clues, and no way of finding her.

This is exhausting. I haven't slept properly in nearly a week, and if I have to survive another day without her, I'm afraid of what I'll do. I feel like I'm going insane.

Not just because we're apart, but because of what she is probably experiencing right now. She is in the arms of her assaulter, and he has control. There's no way she can stand up to him, and there's no way I protect her from him. I feel useless.

I'm about to shut off my laptop before I see something laying on the ground near the glass-door entrance. I zoom in on it on my laptop, to what seems like a folded up piece of paper. Somehow it catches my eye, because it seems out of place. I rewind it to when they exit, and there it is, falling out of his pocket.

I jump out of my seat, a rush of adrenaline coursing through me as I make my way to the elevator. My knees tremble with hope as I impatiently wait for the doors to open to check if it's still there.

Once they do, my shoes clink to the marble floor as I pace to the entrance. I head outside and my sight shoots to the exact spot where I saw it was on the tape.