Seven Minutes » stylinson

twenty-one // translucent

story: seven minutes
part: twenty-one // translucent

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Louis just stares at Thelma's face, her eyes are wide open, even though she is dead. He never much liked her ─ she was very harsh and thoughtlessly spoken ─ but he never wanted to see her, or just about anyone else, get killed like that. She must have endured so much as a young adult to turn as angry and bitter as she was. He pities her, he truly does. She didn't deserve that.

And, no matter how many he seems to see, corpses still terrify him. And he doesn't know what he's more scared of, except, perhaps, the two men in front of him and his soulie, flanked by men three times as big as Harry.

He can feel Harry's shaking, and that doesn't make him feel any better. "No, I don't think that's a good idea," Harry says, trying to get Louis farther away from both men, and what was previously Thelma's body, where her blood is making a steady stream towards their shoes.

Poe tsks, and leisurely takes a seat at the meeting table, his chair squealing on the ground, causing Louis to visibly wince, Harry to tense his shoulders. "Harry...," he says, picking up what was Thelma's water bottle, taking a sip, "Harry, Harry. While the woman did have a few... ha... fatal flaws... she was right about our need for negotiation. A compromise, perhaps?," he says, Williams joining him at the table, not taking a seat. "Do you not agree?," he asks, tilting his head to the side innocently, as if he hadn't just killed a woman in cold blood.

Harry clenches his fists to the point of pain. "What do you have in mind?," he asks, trying to calmly breathe out of his nose. He regrets speaking automatically as an ugly smile crawls onto both men's faces.

William pulls his sleek, black suitcase from beside their feet, and Louis flinches as it suddenly smacks down on the table. "We hoped you would say that," he says as Harry reaches behind himself, trying to soothe Louis, but still appear like he's stern, unwavering. "We'll leave these papers here for you to sigh, but first... let's go for a walk," he says, and Louis tightens his arms on Harry's shirt.

"No," Harry says, to Louis' relief, but then he says, "I'm not going with Louis coming" And Louis' jaw tightens. He isn't just going to hide and act like he's invalid while Harry does the dangerous things.

So, mustering up his courage, Louis stands beside Harry, entangling their fingers with a tight grip, ignoring the look Harry gives him. "I'm not letting you go alone," he whispers, trying to keep his voice level. Harry's eyes widen, and he grabs Louis by the jaw, forcing their faces close together, a look of anger on his face.

"You are not coming," he hisses, and Louis shakes out of his grip, even though their hands remain clasped. "What are you doing?," Harry spits, and Louis almost flinches ─ but he doesn't. He just presses his glasses further up his nose and scowls insistently at Harry. "This isn't one of those times that I cave," Harry growls, and Louis' fists tighten as he becomes desperate.

"I'm not a child, you can not tell me what I can and can not do," he bites, and they narrow their eyes as each other. "I'm not going to let you go with them alone ─ they just killed Thelma without blinking an eye," he says harshly, and Harry's jaw locks angrily. You can nearly see the fire in his eyes.

"Oh, you flatter me, boy," says Poe, and just the sound of his voice is enough to send an uncomfortable shiver down Louis' spine. He can only imagine how Harry feels, after everything that has happened to him, caused by Poe. "But, it doesn't bother me whether or not you come. I might actually enjoy looking back at your pretty little bod ─ "

Harry wraps his arm around Louis protect and possessively, startling the smaller boy by how tight he is actually holding him. "Don't ogle him," he snaps, temporarily forgetting his fear over the men in front of them.