A Howl In The Night ✔ » l.s

32

Everything was blurry when Harry forced his eyes open, the ringing in his ears subsiding gradually. He could smell smoke, soil, and blood. It took him a moment to feel his body again, arms trembling as he pushed himself off the ground.

All around him was dark billowing smoke, distant voices strained in panic, yells and cries from all directions. Harry's head spun painfully as he sat up, causing him to squeeze his eyes closed and just sit there for a moment, finally hearing his own ragged and shaky breaths. He touched the side of his head, wincing when he felt a sting. Pulling his hand back, his fingers were now covered in dark red blood.

Harry got up on his shaky feet, stumbling as he tried to walk—but everything was just too blurry, himself being too disoriented to do anything but walk aimlessly through the mess of debris, fires, and unconscious people. He racked his brain for any recollection of what had happened, eyes widening when he remembered he was with Perrie.

"Perrie!" Harry called out weakly, voice breaking.

As his shock slowly wore off, panic and anxiety was now taking over. His entire body trembled so much he could barely walk properly, head whipping around to find a familiar blonde. For all he knew, he was going around in circles, but there was nothing but ruins and fire, it was impossible to tell.

Harry felt a spark of hope when his eyes landed on his phone on the ground, half hidden by dirt. He practically dived into the ground to retrieve it, trembling fingers running across the screen. He sighed in relief when the screen lit up, Louis' name immediately popping up. Harry could cry.

"Harry! Babe, where are you?" Louis' voice said, immediately loosening Harry up and making him slump back against a large piece of cement, tears pricking his eyes.

"Harry, are you hurt? Please answer me," Louis' voice trembled, accompanied by several other familiar voices in the background. He seemed to turn to them as he said, "Fuck, he's not answering but I can hear him breathing. Shit—can we trace his phone?"

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but for some reason, his voice wouldn't come out. He just felt so relieved to hear Louis' voice that his body had suddenly fallen limp, his chest tightening from the smoke that surrounded him, weakening him even more.

"Baby, Haz, stay with me, yeah? We're on our way. Can you tell me what you see? How you're feeling?" Louis' voice was firm and comforting as always, but Harry didn't miss the slight tremor in it.

"F-fire," Harry choked out and coughed, eyes watering, "I can't see, it's—just smoke, I'm s-sorry,"

He could hear Louis' shaky breath, followed by his strained voice, "Okay, it's alright babe. Can you remember where you last were before the explosion?"

Harry swallowed hard, eyes scanning the distaster in front of him. He must've paused for too long because Louis called his name again, voice panicked.

"Sorry," Harry whispered, watching various shadows shift among the smoke, "uh, don't know—some chapel, I think? I can't find Perrie…oh god, she might be hurt! And Emily!"

Louis shushed him, but Harry continued panicking, unable to imagine how he was going to get out of here, thoughts drifting to the smoke completely suffocating him, or the fire swallowing him whole. Louis' voice was his only anchor to the real world.

There was shuffling and a gush of wind on the other line, then Louis' trembling voice came, "We're here, we're here. We'll find you—I promise. I promise, baby. I love you so much."

Harry was too busy watching several figures lurking behind destroyed trees to respond. He remembered what Perrie said—the Rock forest was one of the most beast-populated places. He could tell by the creature's movements that they were hurt, probably burnt and wounded.