Freak [Zianourry] - COMPLETE

Chapter 17

"There you are." Max muttered as I landed on the right computer five minutes later, turning into a tabby kitten that he could see. Fortunately, the room was empty, so Max got to work, leaving me to hover around the door, guarding.
Hearing footsteps, I flew over to Max, turned into a kitten on the desk, swiping his hand. Max nodded at me, covering the screen with a black cloth, as I turned into a bee, flying around the darkened lights.
The door opened and I held my breath as a man walked in, going over to a filing cabinet. "Here it is! The boy." Chuckling darkly, he left the room.
"I'm going after him. Two o'clock." I changed momentarily into a human, before I took off after the man, as a flying insect... Again.
He was walking briskly down the hall, muttering under his breath. From what I could hear, he was about to take that file to determine who was the 'mystery boy' in the picture, with a room full of people.
I couldn't let it happen. With seconds ticking by, I transformed into a human and did the only thing that would save Finn's life.
The arrow shot through the air silently, him dropping to the ground, wounded badly but not fatally. Putting the arrow back in my quiver, I took the file and morphed into an insect, flying back to the computer room. Computer thirty two was off, showing Max had finished his business.
A clock on the wall showed it was ten to two, so I went back through the vents, feeling sick to my stomach.
"Max?" I whispered, turning into a human. He materialised next to me, and I turned into a Pegasus again, starting the long flight back.
"It's good you got out of there." Max sighed. "I didn't tell you, but... I may have planted a bomb. Not a major one. Just a small one that will forever destroy their computer system. I scouted around, that's where every single computer in the building is, and I couldn't trace any forms of Finn's file being taken on a disk or emailed even. However, it has been printed once. Other than that, only one phone has got that picture on it. I took care of that as well."
When we landed behind the deliveries building, I transformed into myself. "I think I killed him, Max." I tried my hardest not to cry. "That was the picture, he had it. I - I shot him."
"It was him or Finn, Louis." Max said gently, placing a hand on my shoulder. "He's an evil person working for a corrupted organisation if he's prepared to help to hunt and kill Finn, who's probably the most honest person I've ever met."
"Yeah, still... It takes me down to their level." I swallowed. "I shot his back, where his lung would be, but it could kill him."
"You'll never know, and that's a good thing." Max smiled softly. "Get back to your dorm, Louis. Don't get caught. I'll see you around, okay? Good work."
"Thanks. You, too." With that, I turned into a butterfly and flew up to my bedroom, knowing I had left the window ajar. To my frustration, it was shut again. When I finally got back, using the lift, my hands were shaking so much that I could hardly open the door.
As soon as I locked it behind me, I broke down, collapsing to the floor as I wept. Hands dragged me upwards, taking my bow away, embracing me in a hug. "Louis, it's okay, it's okay." They whispered over and over, but what I'd done, seeing him fall to the floor, replayed in my mind again and again.
"I - I killed him." I sobbed, trying to back away from my boyfriends. "I'm a murderer, go away!"
"You're not a murderer, Lou. You didn't kill him." Zayn soothed. "He heals. I know."
"O-okay." I hiccuped, drying my eyes. "Wait! What are you lot doing here?" My plan had been blown, they knew, I was going to be turned in, and killed, then Finn was too -
"Zayn woke us up, boo." Harry murmured, stroking my hair back from my forehead. "He knew something was wrong."
"I saw you crying, Louis. I wasn't going to risk it." Zayn sighed. "Sorry, but - I - I love you, and your safety comes first for me."
"I love you, too." Giving him a hug, I tried to stop crying, but I couldn't. Tears kept on falling silently down my face. "C-can you destroy this file?"
"I'll burn it." Liam offered, taking it from me. He flipped through it. "Oh."
"What's wrong?" We all asked. Liam had gone perfectly still.
"Louis, who did you trust tonight? Today? This week?" Liam stared at me, frightened.
"Just Trixie, Josh, Max and Finn. Now you. Why?" Fear crept over my heart.
"J-Josh was killed last Sunday, Louis." Liam whispered. "It says so here. Josh Hutch."
"Shit." We all said.
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"The impersonator is going to be a shapeshifter." Niall paced up and down. "Josh - I mean, whoever - lives on sixty. Guess we just go find out who he is."
"Or her. I'll need to go." I sighed.
"Louis, you're last on the list to go." Liam bit his lip. "They're going to be waiting for you if they know you're the one who broke in."
"But, I'll need to get through their shields." I murmured.
"Then, I'll go. Liam and I." Harry pointed out.
"Why are we just charging in?" Zayn huffed. "Get some back up!"
"We can't trust anyone." Niall said quietly.
"Yes, we can." I thought. "You know what? Bye." I turned into a kitten, racing out of the partially open door as they shouted after me, climbing the stairs at a fast rate, shrinking into a bee as Liam followed me.
"For God's Sake, Louis..." He moaned. "Guys, he's either gone or transformed. We might as well get up there." Knowing it could be dangerous, I whizzed up the stairs at full pelt, arriving dizzily at floor sixty in record time and zipping under the door, finding Josh's bedroom in minutes.
Nocking an arrow, I kicked Josh lightly, aiming at his throat carefully. He stirred, sitting up, before he froze. "What do you want?" The impostor slipped out of bed, trying to subtly take a knife from the bedside, but I aimed my arrow at his hand threateningly.
"Who are you?" I asked calmly.
"Joshua Hutch."
"Josh Hutch died last Sunday. Who are you?"
"What?" Josh gasped. "Wait - who are you?"
"It does not matter." I replied quietly.
"Louis." Josh squinted at me. "I'm Josh Hutch Junior. My father is supposed to pick me and Trixie up tomorrow, to go home. He arrived last Sunday."
"And I'm supposed to believe you because...?"
"Because you have an empathy mutation, and can read my mind to know I'm telling the truth." Josh surrendered.
"Then, I'm sure you will be fully agreeable to just stepping outside."
"Where anyone could walk up the stairs and see us? Fine." He walked out of his bedroom, me following him carefully, arrow aimed at the back of his neck, where it would kill him if need be.
As soon as the door shut, I started to read his thoughts. There was shock, annoyance and hurt in the forefront of his mind, mostly directed at the Government. Reading deeper, I found that he was Josh, I thought, and that it was supposedly his father who was killed if a Josh Hutch was killed.
"Louis." Harry sighed, appearing beside me. Another mental attack on Josh appeared beside my own, much more brutal. Josh flinched, but remained otherwise still. After a few minutes, when we had both thoroughly explored his mind, leaving a whacking headache, I lowered my bow.
"It was his father who was killed." I told Liam, Niall and Zayn.
"Can I go get some paracetamol now? Or something stronger?" Josh pressed his fingers to his temples, shutting his eyes.
"I could heal you, if you wanted." Niall offered.
"Please." Josh sighed, so he stepped forwards, clasping Josh's wrist lightly. A few seconds later, Josh's face cleared. "Thanks."
"No problem." Niall retreated a few steps. Just then, movement on the stairwell caught my eye.
My arrow was already flying as I lunged to the right, a blade spinning towards me which I smacked with my bow, throwing it behind me as I jumped at the person, hitting them square in the head with my fist. They dropped to the ground, unconscious.
"Blimey, Louis! How'd you move so fast?" Liam stuttered a few seconds of silence later.
"He must be working for the government." I huffed, kicking Steve for good measure. "He got in the lift as I was coming up earlier, so he must know that something was going on, then took the time to find out."
"He's not alone." Suddenly, there was a knife around my throat as I was forced to my knees, blade digging in painfully. "Stay where you are and he doesn't die."
"Let him go, take me instead." Harry stepped forwards, and the blade tightened, a choking sound emitting from my throat as I begged Harry with my eyes not to.
"Take a step back." She said forcefully, so he did, as I took the willpower to lower one of my arms from trying to prise the knife away to reach into my quiver silently, drawing out an arrow. Surprisingly, none of their eyes flickered to my hand, giving my movements away, so I turned the arrow around so it was facing her, before I popped the cap off with my thumb, leaving a poisoned arrow.
Twisting, I stabbed her stomach harshly, the knife slitting across my throat as I did. We both cried out, meeting our weapons as people jumped into the fray.
"Your neck!" Niall dragged me backwards, running a hand over my neck, healing it almost instantly. The girl I'd seen earlier was already flat out next to Steve, Josh and Liam making quick work of tying them up.
Putting both arrows back in my quiver, I made a mental note to clean the two bloody ones, which was quite disgusting. "I'll take them down to main, report them for attacking with intent to kill." Liam sighed, easily lifting them both.
"I'll come." Harry offered, and they got in the lift, disappearing from view.
"Well... See you at breakfast." Josh smiled awkwardly. "Hope you're doing okay, Louis." With that, he went back into his room, locking the door behind him.
"We should try and get some sleep." Zayn eyed the blood stain on the wall wearily. "It's been a long night."
"Ok." I agreed simply, sliding down the wall of the lift. "That's the second person I've almost killed in one night."
"Neither of them are going to die because of you, Louis." Zayn said firmly, gripping my chin and forcing me to look up. "Besides, they were already trying to kill you or a friend."
"I think you're amazing, Lou." Niall crawled into my lap, wrapping his arms around my chest, leaning his head on my shoulder. Holding onto his waist, I let my forehead drop onto his right shoulder with a sigh.
"Floor twenty-eight." The robotic voice said and Niall stood up, both of them pulling me up. Zayn unlocked the door and crept in, scanning the room as Niall watched the stairwell, me nocking another arrow.
"It's safe." Zayn waved us in.
"We're getting paranoid." I sighed. "Can we just go to sleep or something?"
"Sure." Niall grinned at me. "Night, Louis."
"Night, Niall." He walked off. "Goodnight, Zayn. God."
"But, you're perfect to me." Zayn sung lowly in my ear as he embraced me softly, giving me a kiss before he headed off as well. Even after these months, my heart still beat a little bit faster.
I went into my room, changing into a onesie and storing my bow, quiver and suit in the case underneath my bed, plugging my phone on charge from where I'd left it and brushed my teeth, crawling underneath the covers and trying to settle.
Visions plagued my mind, and I started to sweat, tossing and turning more, blood and screaming overtaking me. "Louis, ssh." Harry slipped into bed beside me, cuddling up to my chest. "It's okay."
My breath was fast and frantic, as I tried to clear my mind. He pressed a kiss to my neck, and I wrapped my arms around him, holding onto Harry. "I love you." I whispered.
"Love you, too, boobear." Harry murmured and I finally slept.