The Animator (Larry Stylinson)

CHAPTER TWELVE - PILLAGED

As it seemed to have become custom, Harry could not sleep and lay staring at the wall for what felt like forever.

It was long enough for Zayn, his sister and Liam to go to their own beds set up on the floor and still Harry lay uncomfortably on the floor wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of the castle and on the move once more to find the captain.

He finally sat up from the floor and put Ferdinand down on his coat before wrapping the blanket around his shoulders to keep himself warm against the cold of the breeze.

He wandered back to the window and leant on the stone ledge as he looked down over the dark town. He could see silhouettes of buildings at the bottom of the hill and there were no lights on anymore since everyone bar him seemed to be asleep.

He rested his chin on his hand as he continued looking down at the town before looking up to the sky. It was a clear night and the stars seemed to flicker as he watched them.

The moon looked large in the sky in an almost hypnotic way and since he was so tired he let his eyes focus on that, as he breathed in the cool air around him.

Perhaps it was the fact there wasn't so much salt in the air, but he loved the smell of land far more than he liked the smell out at sea. It was a feeling of comfort and home, something he didn't feel on the sea and he decided it would be good for him to take a walk around the castle.

He turned around and looked over at Louis and Niall who were both sleeping soundly, and then he turned to Liam, Zayn and Safaa being they too were all sleeping. He walked off to the way they had walked into the building, keeping his footsteps light and small so he didn't trip over anything in front of him.

It was so dark he could hardly see anything, but he didn't dwell on that. The dark hadn't scared him much before and as he slipped out of the hall and out into the open, he pulled the blanket further around him and turned to his left to walk around the ruins.

It felt nice to be on his own with his thoughts, he'd never really had much time to just stand think by himself. On the boat he may have been alone but he was usually occupied doing chores, otherwise he spent most of his time with Niall.

He moved to the edge of the castle to where the hill began to decline and he sat down on the grass and looked out at the view. The moon was reflected in the sea and he could see it getting distorted by the obvious waves.

There was something different about watching the sea from the land, while he was sat still watching them move rather than moving with them, and he found he quite liked it.

Slowly he lay back on the grass and looked up at the sky running his hand through the grass beside him and feeling the grass seemingly dancing around his fingers. He assumed it was the breeze and he smiled at the feeling, the tingling it made going all the way up his arm.

Even though the breeze was cold, he didn't feel that effected by it, the blanket was draped only over half of him from where it had moved as he sat down but it felt like just enough to keep him comfortable.

"I wondered where you'd run off to," Niall's voice drifted over to him. He was whispering but it sounded louder in the quiet of the night. Harry turned his head and watched Niall walking over to him also wrapped up in his blanket. "Thought maybe you'd run off without us but Ferdinand was still there so I doubted it."

"I couldn't sleep." Harry said turning back to look at the sky. Niall slowly lowered himself beside Harry and they lay looking up at the sky.

There had been times they'd sneak out of their cabin at night and go find some wine from the kitchens on the boat before making their way to the stern of the boat where they'd climb onto the peak of the boat and lay down looking up at the sky while drinking the bottle of wine.