blue ✓

twenty nine

harry

Darkness illuminated the skies, cicadas singing in the black atmosphere as the moon and stars shined against my goosebump-ridden skin. My knuckles were clenched tightly as we ascended the staircase, white bones seeping through the distressed skin.

I exhale a smoggy breath when I raise my fist to knock on the door, but when my knuckles make contact with the wood the frame slowly opens and reveals a crack inside the apartment.

Z and I exchange a look before pushing the door wide open, revealing a messy apartment with papers, cushions, furniture and pictures in dismay all over the floor. We walk in cautiously, stepping over a few broken pieces of glass that had been shattered on the ground.

"Hello?" I call, a little cautious in my tone.

No one answers but shuffling from the kitchen alarms myself and Z, my heart races against my ribcage as we leap forward into the area.

As soon as those blue eyes landed on my own my heart dropped, my breath exhales almost instantly and my veins buzz as she smiles innocently at Z and myself. Lola was wearing the same clothes she had on this morning, only covering that navy blue top with an oversized black jacket and her long hair with a dark beanie. She had blood on her hands, running up the boney fingers and into the cracks on her fingernails.

"Hi guys," She smiles at me, worry in the blue of her eyes. "You're probably wondering what's going on here."

"Well yeah," Z chuckles uncomfortably. "It had occurred."

Her eyes fall on me, still wondering why I hadn't said a word. I couldn't, I was too worried what I would find out if I asked that question, and that anxiety pulsed into my bones and veins and held my tongue in place.

Lola relaxes against the counter behind her. "Same as you I guess, I'm looking for answers."

"What answers?" I finally speak and a hint of a smile laces her lips.

"About what the fuck is going on," she admits. "And who hurt Sean."

My body seems to lessen, relaxing in the cold air as she looks into my eyes. "Why are you here alone, Lola?" I ask.

"This is my fault," her eyes twist into a guilty state and I feel my heart tug. "I need to know how to fix it."

Before I can speak a few muffled voices outside the door startle all three of us, my body freezes in place but as Z rushes over to the front door to close it my worry dissolves. I turn to look at Lola again, those glassy blue eyes and stained hands broke my heart. I walk over to her carefully, exhaling as my skin graces against her paleness to raise the bloodied skin to my view. She sighs as I analyze a few small cuts, making sure she wasn't too hurt.

"I'm fine." She smiles.

"You better be." As I lower her hands our bodies hover closer and closer, her sweaty skin and red cheeks glisten under the light and I find myself drawn to her bitten, chapped lips.

"We need to find answers." She whispers.

"Let's do this," I tilt her chin, letting my warmth hover against her skin gently. "Together." Her blue eyes blink a stray tear down her cheek and as I kiss her lips, the tear soaks into my own cheek and our soul's mold as one in that perfect second.

After searching through the mess and chaos for nearly an hour we managed to find absolutely nothing. Lola had reassured us that Louis was always in Vegas around this time of year–a ritualistic holiday him and his father did–so we continued looking for yet another forty minutes. It seemed Louis was smart and kept his apartment neat and tidy, filling the rooms with nothing but classic furniture and unpleasant oil paintings that would have fit better in a museum.