WILD // (Harry Styles)

F O U R T Y F I V E

CHAPTER 45

HARRY

"This is the eighth house we've been to!" Niall bursts, knocking a dusty lamp off it's place. I'm starting to wonder about his bloodshot eyes. He seems so distraught that he might pass out any second.

"Niall, calm down! We have to keep going!" I yell, already on my way out of the door.

"What's the point? She's probably already dead," Niall wheezes, sitting down on one of the chair beside the broken lamp. I want to pull my own hair out, listening to him whine. I need him to pull it together. We have 3 hours or so until Yang has Claire's exact location, but we still have to keep looking. We can't just sit on our asses and wait.

"Enough! Get in the fucking car and drive, what is the matter with you?! She could be at the next house for all we know!" I shout, my frustrations reaching the surface.

3 hours.

3 hours until I know whether Claire will live or die.

"Get the fuck off the floor or I'm taking your keys and leaving without you," I say, standing firmly. He examines my eyes, wondering if I mean it or not. His tired body struggles to get up, so I help him. He finally walks past me, out of the house.

"What does the next few houses look like?" Niall asks, clenching his hands around the steering wheel. The sun has completely set now, and the headlights are the only thing keeping us from crashing, since the road includes many sharp turns. I look down on the list.

"The next house is 20 minutes away, it's an abandoned victorian house that's pretty worn down," I say, staring at the picture beside the address. It's right in the center of the blue circle.

The trees boom past us as Niall speeds up well above the limit, reminding me to put my seat belt on.

I close my eyes, having to take a breath again. I feel my heart beating out of my chest, a lump forming in my throat, my gut tightening...

I'm coming for you, Claire. No matter what, I'll find you.

Niall hits the gas forcefully, and I'm starting to worry about how fast we're going. I look beside me out the window, and the trees are going by so fast I can't seem to focus on anything.

"Niall, slow down," I say, clenching my hand around the handle above the window.

"What?! She could be dead any second! I'm not slowing down!" Niall's voice turns frenzied, as the white stripes of the road passes us so fast that the blur together.

"Niall, you'll kill us! We can't help her if we're lying in a ditch somewhere!" I try to reason with him, and I see a bead of sweat rolling down from his hairline. He is absolutely out of his mind.

I clench my eyes together, a growing feeling of nausea appearing in my gut. But I feel the car decrease it's speed, and I exhale heavily as my eyes open slowly, glancing over at the speed. We're below the limit again.

"Take a left here," I breathe. Relief spreads, and I swallow the lump in my throat as I see Niall's eyes decrease with intensity.

After about 15 minutes, I can see the house in the distance. It looks like it's 5 seconds away from collapsing in on itself. And I see...

"Harry, is that... A light in the window?"

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