Dark Shadows

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen 

Harry's POV

It was just like a dream. No, scratch that, where I was standing at the moment couldn't be described as anything else other than paradise. There was something nagging at the back of my mind, though. I had this distinct feeling I was missing something important. A light breeze ruffled my hair, reminding me that it probably was time to get a haircut. The bright sun shone down on me, warming my skin. Good. I could use a little bit of a tan. Living in Britain most of my life, I had always been pale, sometimes even to the point of resembling a ghost. Being a brit, I quickly returned to being pale as soon as my exposure to the UV-rays came to an end. 

But I was working on my tan now. I knew that the first parts of the tour would be in warmer latitudes, so it shouldn't really be a problem for me, keeping my skin a healthy bronzed hue. 

I smiled. We had discovered that I could become quite a fried chicken, the most fried chicken, in fact, out of the band. It would be interesting to find out what Lauren thought about that.

Lauren!

Of course! She was the important thing that I a while ago hadn't been able to put my finger on. 

Lauren. The beautiful angel that accidentally had stumbled into my humble life, painting everything in a completely new colour non-existent amongst those found on the rainbow. How could I have possibly forgotten about her? 

Speaking of which, where was she? Now that I thought about it, I couldn't recall where everyone else were either. The happy feeling warming my core instantly turned icy and cold as panic and worry pushed it out and took it's place, making itself real comfortable somewhere between my intestines kidneys. 

I couldn't think clearly. What was happening? Why was everything outside of this meadow so hard to recall?

Even more imperatively; why was I standing on a meadow - alone - without knowing anything about my mates' whereabouts?

C'mon, Harry! Think.

I forced myself to push against the barrier that prevented me from accessing my memories, sitting down on the soft grass and resting my head on my knees to be able to focus better.

My right hand fisted around some green grass strands, ripping them off in the process.

A park. We had been on a park. Yes, I could see it clearly now. We had all been there: Me, the lads, Lauren, her team, our team. Everything was crystal clear once I managed to pull it through from the other side. We had been learning self defense.

Why were we learning self defense?

Cause bad people were after us. They had taken Lux. And now they had got their hands on us too. 

With a heavy breath, I lifted my head from my knees. It started pounding with a horrible pain that pulsed along with my heartbeats. I pressed my palms to either side of my temple, desperate to cease the horrendous bass, but it wouldn't stop. 

From far away, as if someone was talking under water, I could hear voices. 

I recognised those voices! It was Liam, for sure! He sounded aggravated, panicky. 

I clamped my eyes shut.

The increasing ache along with his aggressive words, which were ever so slightly rising in volume, made me feel like my head was about to explode. It was way worse than a really bad hangover.

Suddenly the light behind my closed eyelids that coloured them red disappeared. It turned black. Confused, I tried to reopen them.

I succeeded on the third try.