The Soul Catcher (Harry Styles)

37 - Missing

"The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure."

― Cornelia Funke, Inkheart

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Time passed agonizing slowly after Nate's statement.

I was thrown back to the time I was sitting alone in my school's detention classroom, simply waiting for the time to pass. It was torturous, it was hell.

This really wasn't any different.

"What are you trying to tell me?" My voice was dangerously low and I tried my hardest to keep calm. However, it was more than obvious that I was about to snap any moment.

"Harry," Cassie began, putting one perfectly manicured hand on my forearm and squeezing it gently, "we're just stating the facts. None of us had ever had a connection to any of those lost souls."

"Well, this clearly isn't the case anymore," I snarled, snatching my arm away.

"Mate," Jonas began, but Cassie quickly shook her head.

A soft sigh pushed its way through Cassie's lips before she replied, "Obviously we're not going to just sit around and do nothing while Elaine is out there somewhere. We're on your side, Harry."

That honestly didn't make me feel any better. "So you can tell me where she is?" I knew I wasn't fair to her, or any of my friends for that matter, but I didn't care. All I could think about was Elaine.

She bit her lip and shook her head briefly. "But we're gonna find out."

"If you want this to work, you need to stop sulking and start working with us," Logan required, earning nods from everyone else.

"Fine," I huffed, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "I can't tell you much, though, I've barely been around for a few weeks."

"You know Elaine best," Jonas pointed out.

"How does this connect to the darkness?" I asked and arched an eyebrow, feeling my temper rise again.

Silence welcomed me. I wasn't too surprised. Just because I knew Elaine best, didn't mean I knew why the darkness was after her, or why she was gone now. I had no fucking idea, and it made me so mad, I could literally...

"Harry." Cassie's calm voice snapped me back to reality.

I looked around, finding everyone's eyes on me. Clearing my throat, I said "yes?"

"I'll quickly summarise what we know of the darkness so far: it creeps upon souls and then somehow takes them to Shadowpath. We don't know what happens to them there or where the darkness even originates from."

"So, basically, we don't really know anything?" I sneered, finding it hard to hold back my emotions.

"It's not like there's a book about it," Tim piped in.

Jonas laughed humourlessly. "That would be too easy."

I kept silent as a memory crept back to my mind.

"I absolutely have no idea what any of this means, but 'Obscuritas' is Latin for 'Darkness'."

I rolled my eyes. "Great, does this mean this is some kind of mystery book? Hence the black cover?"

"It seems more like," Elaine's voice trailed off for a second, but then she cleared her throat and continued, "this is an explanation of darkness."

"You don't know Latin, do you?" I asked no one in particular.

Four no's rang to my ear, Cassie was the only one who kept quiet. She was furiously biting her lip, surely drawing blood soon.