Midnight Memories

t h i r t y // t h r e e

"For you were made from dust, and to dust you shall return." - Genesis 3:19

"Where are we going?" I asked Paisley. "Somewhere in Boston?"

She nodded. "Derrick's favorite place in the whole world. The place he proposed to me. The bell tower at Harvard. He told me that when he was at law school there, it was his escape, to just get away from it all. I bet he's forgotten I know that."

"You think that Remy, Niall and Grier will be there?" Asked Ryder.

"Well," She bit her lip. "It's as safe a bet as any."

"How far is the campus from here?" Asked Louis. "It's a bit outside Boston, right?"

"We should get there in about ten minutes. Everyone just pray that it's not too late." Paisley said definitively.

We drove in complete silence, me grasping Louis' hand in my right hand, and Ryder's in the other. If Niall, my best friend in the entire world, and Remy and Grier, who had done so much to help, were dead because of me, well I didn't know what I would do. There was no way we stood any chance against Sloane without them.

Finally, I saw a brick sign that read "Harvard University". Paisley made another turn, driving up a road that lead onto the campus. "There's the bell tower." She pointed at a tall, thin structure, which sure enough, housed a shiny brass bell. "What's the plan? Are we all going to go in there together?"

"Ryder and I will go." Said Louis. "Stella and Paisley, you guys go somewhere safe and wait for us."

"No way!" I frowned. "Didn't we just say we were all in this together?"

"She's right." Said Paisley. "I vote we all go in there together."

"Well we need to have a plan of action, then. Derrick probably has the place swarming with his henchman." Ryder chimed in.

"Okay." Louis sighed. "Here's the plan. Paisley, there's only one way in and out of there, right?"

Paisley nodded.

"Okay, so we'll all four just charge in at one time. That way, there's a slim chance at least one of us will make it up the stairs to the boys."

"That's not much of a plan, Lou. That's more like winging it." Paisley frowned.

"Well, do any of you have a better idea?" He asked.

We just stared blankly.

"That's what I thought." Said Louis, one hand on the door of the now parked car. "So are we ready?"

"Let's do this." I nodded.

We all four got out of the car, Paisley locking it behind us. The campus was crowded with students heading here and there, giving us some sort of cover as we headed up the small hill to the bell tower.

"Try to blend in." Said Louis, looking around nervously.

"Are you crazy? We've got one girl covered in blood, one in nothing but some boxers, and a felon with a barely functional leg. How the hell are we supposed to blend in?" Ryder asked irritably.

"Just try, okay? One wrong move and we're done for." Louis reassured him.

"Look!" Paisley nodded towards the bell tower. "Louis, it's the man that brought you to the warehouse."

Sure enough, a man with the unnaturally large stature of Bane from Batman was lurking not too far from the tower, his eyes obscured by a pair of sunglasses, despite the fact there was no sun.

"Dude, that guy is the size of Hagrid." Said Ryder. "How the hell are we supposed to get past him?"

"Um..." Louis seemed at a lost for words. "Hey!" He reached out, grabbing the arm of an impossibly pretty girl who was walking by. "I'm sorry to bother you, but can you do me a favor?"