Fireproof // H.S.

13. Lesson Two: Expect the Unexpected

Harry and I numbly sat on the motel bed listening to Bridget go on and on about how she was disappointed in us. She was furious when she found out we both took a dip in the lake and how Harry had a severe burn on his arm. Niall, tired of her lecture, then spoke up and what he said made me want to hug him and never let go. Thank you Niall!

"Why are you lecturing them? You on the other hand electrocuted me for no reason," Niall complained.

"Oh hush," Bridget said, shushing him. "Get used to it. If you thought that was bad, wait till you fight against Zayn and his crew. They won't be as easy as I was on you."

"Are you kidding me? You could've killed me! You electrocuted me three times. THREE TIMES. You could've stopped my heart!" Niall argued. Bridget and Niall then went on to bicker. Harry and I just stared at each other.

"Since the two of you are busy arguing, Violet and I are going to find a clothes store so we can change out of these icky lake clothes," Harry said, picking at his stiff shirt.

"We're not arguing!" Bridget defended. "Go ahead but do so quickly. It's getting late and I don't want to have to worry about you guys." Harry and I quickly took the opportunity to get away. Once we got into Harry's car, Harry finally spoke up.

"She's quite the talker," Harry remarked.

"Yes she is," I replied.

"Alright...let's see where the people who live here get their clothes." We drove around for a bit before finding a store. We walked in, surprised at the wide assortment of clothes they had even though this place was in the middle of nowhere. We quickly parted ways and found some clothes that we liked which we later purchased. We then went to a laundromat to clean our clothes. While we were waiting for our clothes to be cleaned, we went to get dinner.

"I feel guilty eating without them," I said guiltily.

"We got take-out for them. Don't worry," Harry assured me, holding up the bag for me to see. Once our clothes were clean, we climbed in the car, ready to go. Harry's phone went off and he went to answer it.

"Hello?" he asked. There was silence as he waited for a response. He then frowned and turned to face me. There was worry in his eyes. "I think something's wrong," he said in a small voice.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Bridget called me. When I said 'hello,' the line went dead." I suddenly got chills thinking of all the horrible things that could've happened. Did Zayn and his crew find them? Harry quickly started the car and drove off to the motel.

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We reached the parking lot of the motel minutes later. When Harry killed the engine, neither of us dared to move. We looked at our motel door which was open eerily. I quickly surveyed the parking lot and didn't see anything or anyone suspicious. I then broke the silence by opening the car door. Harry followed me and we both crept slowly towards our room.

When we reached the door, Harry held me back and took the lead. He slowly looked around the corner into the room. He then walked in and I held my breath expecting the worst. Moments later, I heard him call my name. I followed him in and was surprised to see our room ransacked. Bedding was strewn everywhere and our food and toiletries littered the floor.

"What on earth happened?!" I asked incredulously.

"I don't know," Harry responded.

"Where's Bridget and Niall?" As soon as I asked that question, we heard a thumping sound come from the closet. We froze in fear and the thumping continued. Harry finally gathered the courage to open the door to reveal a frightened Bridget. She was bound and gagged. I quickly knelt down to free her. Once I pulled the gag from her mouth, she started sobbing violently.

"What happened?!" I asked her.

"We--we were robbed!" Bridget said between sobs. I went to rub her back to soothe her. Once she calmed down, she began speaking again. "Someone knocked on the door and I went to open it thinking it was either one of you coming back. But no...I opened the door to find a man with a gun pointed right at me." She paused, shuddering at the horrible memory. "He demanded money and I told him I didn't have any. He then began rummaging through our room. At that time, I called you but he caught me and took my phone. He went to tie me up and gagged me with Niall's sock." She made a disgusted face. "He ransacked the room and eventually found my purse and took off."

Harry stood up abruptly. "Where is he?" he demanded angrily.

"He's gone. I heard him drive away," she said glumly. "Now I have no money and no phone."

"Where's Niall?" I asked. As soon as I asked my question, Niall walked in.

"I got food!" he beamed. Once he saw the scene, his mouth dropped to the floor. "What the hell happened?!"

"What does it look like?" Bridget asked bitterly. "We were robbed!"

"Oh no," Niall whispered. He quickly ran towards the mini fridge with a freezer and opened up the freezer. He then took out a box of ice cream and hugged it. "Oh thank goodness you're still here. I was thinking about you all day...." He then opened the ice cream and started eating it.

Bridget threw the sock that gagged her at Niall's head.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"We were robbed and all you could think about was your ice cream?" she yelled.

"We're on the run! We have no sh*t to steal," Niall retaliated.

"What about my purse? My phone?" Bridget challenged.

"Oh...." Niall said slowly. "Sorry. Why didn't you use your powers against him?"

"Because I had a f*cking gun pointed at my head! I couldn't think straight! And even if I could, I wouldn't have because I don't use my powers to kill. Not against a normal human being, no."

"For me, I wouldn't have cared. I'd whoop their ass."

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After dinner, Bridget insisted that we move to a safer place. Harry drove around the area looking for any motel or hotel. Meanwhile in the car, Bridget borrowed my phone to make a call to her bank to freeze her credit and debit card. Luckily she called on time and no damage was made but she no longer had money or a phone on her.

"There's a hotel up ahead," Harry said to himself.

"This area looks a whole lot better. There are more people here," Bridget exclaimed, eyeing the hotel cautiously.

This hotel was bigger than the motel we stayed at and a lot more inviting. It looked like it was recently built. We walked in and reserved a room for four which was luckily available. However there were only two beds, but it was okay because we finally got Niall and Harry to agree to sleep in the same bed. After much persuading of course.

We ate our dinner in peace and went to get ready for another long day tomorrow. Niall decided to turn on the TV against our wishes. We just wanted to sleep. He quickly flipped through the channels which annoyed me. Why can't he just settle on something to watch? Right as I was about to say something, he stopped on a channel playing the local news.

According to the weatherman, this is the warmest winter on record which is unusual. I was upset because I was hoping it would snow this year.

I went to close my eyes to catch up on sleep. The sound of the TV was a soft hum in the background. Right as I was about to doze off, Bridget violently shook me awake.

"Can't I just sleep?" I snapped at her. She retreated timidly.

"Sorry," she breathed. "We just heard something interesting on the news. We thought you'd want to know."

I sat up in bed but was an unhappy camper. "What news?" I asked. Bridget looked at the boys uncertainly before speaking.

"There's been a murder." At her words, I froze.

"Who's the victim?" I asked, fearing for the worst. Zayn and his crew couldn't have killed someone so soon already.

There was a long pause. No one wanted to answer and I didn't know why.

Harry finally spoke up. His eyes were dark and I could see pain in his eyes.

"It's--it's your aunt."