Louis

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Chapter 7

I had just woken up. I shuffled out into the hallway of Harry and I’s flat. I creaked open the door, peeking to see if he was home yet, but his bed was still empty, and the flat was silent. I was starting to seriously get worried about him. What if he’d gotten himself hurt? It was only nine am, so I decided I’d make a small bowl of shredded wheat, while still lounging in my Coca Cola pajamas. My phone buzzed from its place on the coffee table, creating a loud clattering noise. I jumped, not expecting the sound.

Reaching over, I picked it up off the table finally seeing a message from Harry appear on the small screen. Finally, I thought. It’s about time that he told me where he was.

From: Harry

I need to talk to you. I’m in Accident and Emergency downtown. Hurry.

I started to panic again, and this time for good reason. Harry was seriously injured, and I needed to get down there. I flew off the couch, causing the milk from my cereal to slosh over the edge of the bowl and land on the floor. I’ll have to clean that up later, I thought. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed the keys to my car, nearly tripping over my own feet in my haste. Flinging open the door, I sped down the hallway, still in my pajamas, to the car. I jammed the key into the ignition of my black Porsche before speeding out of the parking garage with the tires squealing.

The drive downtown was a blur, and all I could think about was what I would do if Harry died from his injuries. Hot tears sprang to my eyes, and I swiped them away. I tapped my thumbs against the steering wheel as the drive started to feel like it was never ending. I just wanted to be able to be there already, to be able to be there for whoever needed me. What if I got there, and Harry was dead already because I was too late?

“He’ll be fine,” I said to myself, only half-heartedly believing it. “Don’t be dramatic.” I could finally see the sign for the hospital up ahead. I floored the small car, and it zipped down the road. I turned hard into the parking lot, the car skidding sideways. I slammed the brakes on again, allowing them to squeal some more. I was probably drawing a lot of attention to myself, but I didn’t care. I had to be fast. I pulled to a stop, and threw open the door. Stepping out, I turned to walk inside. I started to do a light jog to the door, hoping not to be spotted by any passing fans. As I neared the door, I saw that there were a couple of large men dressed in black leaning against the building. I tried to skirt the edges of them, without it being too obvious. I was about to push the door open when a strong grip yanked at the collar on my shirt. I choked for a moment before falling over backwards. The men threw me over their shoulders, and carried me off, farther away from the door while I yelled, calling for help. I clasped my hands together and smashed my elbow into the back of the head of the man that was carrying me. He threw me down as he reacted to the pain, grabbing at his head. I landed with a thud on the concrete sidewalk. The breath was knocked from my lungs. I stood up immediately, every cell in my body screaming at me to run. I took off, trying to get back to the hospital door. As I ran, another man popped out of the parking garage entrance in front of me. The others must’ve called for backup, I realized. He reached out an arm for me, and I ducked underneath it while I ran. I felt smug as I avoided his grasp, until he somehow swung around and clocked me with a hard punch in the back. I was overrun with pain for a split second, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I kept running.

I could feel my drawstring pajama pants starting to come down. I pulled at them, but I missed the strings. They slid down a little on my bum, and I stepped on the leg causing me to trip. I fell headfirst onto the concrete, smacking my head hard. I could feel the world around me go fuzzy. I tried to sit up, but it felt like my body wasn’t working. Come on! Get up! My mind raced faster than my legs ever could’ve. Before I knew what was happening, I could feel myself slipping into blackness, though I tried to fight it. I wavered in and out of consciousness as I felt large hands pick me up by my clothes.

One moment, I was outside the parking garage, and the next moment, I was engulfed by the black interior of a large van. Shaken up, but not seriously hurt, I sat in the back after scuttling over into the corner. I attempted to put a good amount of distance between myself and the other men. They just stared at me, like I was some kind of zoo animal. I started to check myself over, and look at my injuries. I pulled on the collar of my shirt, looking down to see several large bruises on my tanned skin. It was only then that I noticed the cuff around my ankle.

“Don’t try anything you’d regret,” one of the men said, looking at my puzzled expression. He held up a small black remote, and waived it in the air. “One wrong move, and you’ll be wishing you hadn’t.” I had to figure out a way to escape, but I didn’t want anything to happen to me. I examined the cuff a little further. It was a mostly clear ring aside from a small section that was metal. It appeared to be filled with some sort of silver liquid. I shook my foot and watched as the liquid quivered inside the small tube.

“Those nanites in the cuff will kill you,” another man spoke up, a hint of a smirk in his voice.  “If they get in your blood, they’ll attach to and destroy your red blood cells, and your body will suffocate as you lose the ability to carry oxygen to your tissues.” My head shot up to stare at him. I tried to sit up straighter, my muscles aching. I was getting ready to give a snotty retort when a phone rang. One of the men pulled out a sleek iPhone, answered the call, and shoved the phone against my ear.

“Hello? Louis?” Relief washed over me as Harry’s voice reached me through the phone. I hoped they hadn’t hurt him.

“Harry?” I said when the line went silent for a moment. I thought the line might have gone dead, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want Harry to do anything for these people, no matter why they were after us. “Don’t do it, mate. Whatever it is, just don’t, okay? You can’t let them hurt Kate, or anyone else.” I said it, trying to sound heroic, but it came out half-hearted. I wasn’t sure I meant it, if it meant I would die. I feared death, and if I had to go, I didn’t want it to end with my body shutting down on me. It would be gruesome, slow, and probably painful. I tried to push the thoughts out of my mind. The man pulled the phone away from my ear and hung up, and the dim light of the screen ceased.

The next few minutes were spent in utter silence. No one made a single sound, aside from quiet breathing. Suddenly, one of my captors received a message on the phone, and the next thing I knew, I was being thrown out of the back of the van. I nearly tripped over my pants again, but I caught my balance before I tumbled. I almost started running again, but I had to wait for a moment for my eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight, and I had to reorient myself to the landscape.

“Oh, and Pajamas,” one of the men called to me. “Don’t try to mess with the cuff. Tamper with it, and it’ll automatically release the nanites.” I could feel all the blood drain from my face. That eliminated my chances of getting out of this mess without a fight, and I’d seen plenty of movies to know what would happen next.

More than enough to know that I would die in the end, regardless of how much I fought it.

The best friend always dies in the end; either the bad guys kill them after they use their lives to blackmail the main character, or they kill themselves accidentally by doing something stupid. It’s all collateral damage, I suppose. The way I saw it in that moment, was if I had to go, I was going to choose my own way out. I had to prevent them from using my life against Harry again. This wasn’t going to be easy.

But you only die once.

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