Winter's Peril

Chapter 11

The Police had notified Louis that he could enter his house again but he wasn't sure if he could handle it.

Louis wanted to walk to his house instead and Harry decided to come with him. Together they slowly walked through the snow. As usual, they walked quietly down the road. Only the crunch of their feet against the snow could be heard due to the wind dying down by now. The snow had stopped falling but there were still grey clouds in the sky. Halfway through Harry went to hold his hand and he didn't pull away.

When they got to the house, Louis just stared at the place he once dreaded to go back to. His heart raced when he saw the house. The place had snow covering it from head to toe. It looked as though there had been no traces of life at all.

They walked towards the front door and Louis shakily pulled his keys from his pocket. They felt heavy in his hand. The dread and anticipation began to get to him as he twisted the key. Once he opened up the door, he bore witness to a room shrouded in darkness. His eyes flickered to the ground and he took in a deep breath.

"Lou, will you be okay by yourself?" Harry asked. Louis stayed silent as he continued to imagine Dill's body on the floor. He jumped when Harry put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just come and find me, if you need help. I promised I would go and help Jonothan today," Harry muttered and Louis nodded.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Harry leant in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Louis' lips parted a little at the movement and watched when Harry slowly pulled away. As Harry was about to leave, Louis pulled him in for a long kiss.

He didn't look at him once he stepped back. "I'll call you if I need you, bye Harry."

"Goodbye," he said.

Harry wrapped his scarf around his neck just as he opened the front door. Louis winced at the cold air and quickly shut the door behind him. He turned his back and rested his body against the wooden feature. Louis let his head bang lightly against the door while taking in a deep breath.

It looked like nothing had changed and he felt glad that it had remained the same. However, it still brought back the memories of seeing the dead body on the floor. Louis tightly squeezed his eyes together, his body sagging down as he let out a huff.

Louis hadn't realised that he had tears on his face. Only once he noticed his shaking body and hands did he try and remove the tears. It seemed as though everything wanted to come back to him at that moment. The trauma, the heartbreak and the fear amalgamating into one distressed emotion.

He couldn't do this anymore. He hated it. He hated the empty feeling inside of him.

Louis stood up on shaky legs and made his way towards the mantelpiece. He gripped tightly onto it, staring down at the fireplace beneath him. After some deep breaths, he still didn't feel calm.

He glanced up at the mantelpiece. A small china vase rested on the wooden ledge and his first reaction was to throw it. So he did.

Once he heard the shatter of the glass on the floor, he felt a sense of relief. His anger dissipated a little when he saw the sharp shards spread out beneath him.

So he picked up more things and started throwing them. He tipped over chairs, ripped blankets from the sofa and dragged the tablecloth onto the floor.

Only once he got to a photo of both him and Dill, he began to properly cry. He held the photo close to his body and sank down to the floor. His eyes blurred over with tears as he laid there tired on the floor.

~~~

Two hours later he found himself at the church. Even though it was still cold, he headed inside to be at least a little warmer. This time the priest wasn't there. Instead, Louis sat on one of the pews and stared up at the stained glass window of Mary holding up one hand with a sorrowful look on her face. Some light shone through the glass onto his face.