redemption: harry styles

Chapter Seventy Eight

**IMPORTANT**

THERE WILL BE TWO ENDINGS TO THE BOOK, AND YOU DECIDE WHICH ONE YOU PREFER. YOU CAN READ BOTH BC THEY END THE SAME BUT WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE IS DIFFERENT.

(P.S. I HAVE AN IMPORTANT IDEA THAT WILL BE MENTIONED AFTER THE SECOND ENDING OF THE BOOK, SO PLEASE READ)

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// 19 minutes before the incident //

According to Harry, Liam was hiding in one of the deserted houses with Perrie, Louis and Eleanor. They used snipers to eliminate anybody from the rival gang, having a huge advantage of being somewhere high. But then I heard female voices coming from the building, and then a shout.

Perrie rushed down the front steps of the house, followed by Eleanor and then Louis, her face masked in impatience.

"Where's Zayn?" she asked, deliberately keeping her voice steady. Eleanor looked apprehensive, at Louis as if he'd already been told the bad news. Dread and dejection gripped me and I lowered my gaze to avoid remembering Perrie's expression when she was told her soulmate died.

"Perrie," Harry sighed beside me and stepped towards her. I kept my gaze on the ground and fiddled with my hands.

"Harry," Perrie whines, sounding weary, and moved away from his outstretched hand. Her face turned red but she was holding herself together. "Fucking what?"

But Harry didn't say anything, turning to me instead. I held his gaze, feeling my throat close up as I tried to contain myself, then turned away.

Perrie blew out a breath she seemed to be holding and copied my actions. She covered her mouth and nose and stood, not breathing, for a long, eerie moment. It was like a ticking time bomb; no one moved or said anything, afraid they will cut deeper into the tension.

Her eyes were glassy but she wasn't crying. All eyes were on her, filled with unnecessary guilt. She refused to meet anybody's eyes and she held herself well, but she shook.

Liam wandered around us.

"Nicole?"

I grimaced and Harry cleared his throat beside me. He lightly shook his head and twisted his head to face me.

"I-it happened so fast."

Liam's face dropped and Perrie leaned her head onto his shoulder. He rubbed his temple and straightened, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"Mourning will have to wait," Louis said, masking a grim expression with a icy look. "We need to go right now."

Harry turned to me, his eyes glinting glassy. "Where's Niall?"

In the distance, a faint boom echoed and everybody shifted.

"Guys," Louis hissed, taking a step back. His hand grabbed Eleanor's.

"We'll go find Niall," Liam insisted, his voice quivering for a second. Nobody pointed it out. "Wait for us at the end of the street. Get the car ready, he isn't far-" He turned to me for confirmation and I pointed at the house behind us.

"He should be there," I said, panicking for some reason. Then-footsteps.

A man staggered behind us, his shirt soaked in what I assumed was blood. His hair was matted and blood gushed down his temple, reaching his neck. He shook vigorously, his lips curled back in pain and aggression. He held a pistol, the grip wooden, and cried out when he saw us.

More shouts, and the man lifted his gun up.

"Move," someone howled from beside me and I was yanked to the side as loud, ominous bangs resonated. From the corner of my eye I caught sight of Louis wrench out his own pistol and raise it with both hands.

The air was filled with gunshot sounds, my ears ringing due to the small proximity between myself and Louis and Liam--who were now both firing like crazy and rushing off the street at the same time.

"Split up," Perrie screamed, nearly hysterical. I was confused as to how that would help but everybody obeyed; Liam, Perrie, Eleanor and her mate following each other's back to the house they hid in.

"Find Niall!" Louis screamed once he was safe behind a collapsed brick wall.

Harry had his hand clamped over my wrist instead of using it to hold a weapon. The rest 'covered' us as we rushed back into the house Niall was supposed to be in.

My heart thumped inconsistently, my legs shaking beneath me. A spray of bullets fired from a gun much louder than the rest hit the side of the door we rushed through in before Harry slammed the door, preventing endangering us from getting shot in the back while we search for the blonde boy.

I froze as I caught a glimpse of a fresh stain of blood on the ground with no bodies, but another gun. I honestly felt as if I would throw up after seeing another gun.

"Evelyn?" Harry murmured. The lights were off and I could only see him due to the moonlight. His voice held confusion and desperation.

"H-he was here." I cleared my voice without using my vocal chords to try and stop stuttering. "So was Ashton."

Harry stiffened and held his arm in front of me.

"Did you hear that?" he whispered, his voice barely audible. I stood motionless under his gaze, straining my ears for a sound. I didn't even ask him what it was before he crouched down, picked the gun up and quickly but silently moved to the kitchen door. I followed close behind, honestly able to hear my heart beat in my own chest.

He turned to me. "Stay here."

I obliged. I watched as he peered into the room with a pistol raised in front of him. He stepped into the kitchen, giving me another look, before disappearing around a corner.

I fought every urge to follow him, bouncing in my spot. I counted in my head, first to ten; then twenty. I took a step forward to catch sight of him, motioning him over-I was terrified and I couldn't hide it. Being alone pushed me on the brink of insanity.

There was a grunt behind me and I whirled around a moment before a blade swiped towards me, and I fell back to avoid being stabbed. The man, young with a short beard and a healing stitch reaching from his nose to his ear, cried out and fell to his knees in front of me, lashing out with the knife. I screamed for Harry and raised my arm in defense, trying to roll to the side at the same time.

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Both Endings will be posted tomorrow.