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"Okay, repeat it again. But slower." Zayn says.
I stood in the corner of the room, looking at the footage caught on security cameras. After what seemed like fifteen minutes alone for ourselves, Harry was calling us frantic to get down to the ER for Erica's safety. We had no idea what it was about, but I didn't want us to take chances.
"What else do you want me to tell you?" Erica almost sobs in frustration, as Harry brought her closer to his chest. In order to console her as best as he could, even though she's a wreck right now. "One minute he was there, next he's just gone as if he disappeared out of thin air."
Zayn signed while rubbing at his temples, as he stared at Harry for answers. Who didn't seem to have the slightest clue either about what's going on with her, and they really couldn't ask me either. Every since all of this stuff has been happening, we don't get much time to hang out anymore. So, I really couldn't give him a logical explanation, they can only say it was a scary moment of hallucination. Due to exhaustion.
Thankfully it wasn't serious where the police was involved, otherwise no one would've been able to show up. Zayn is already on thin ice, if he got another arrest then god knows what can go wrong. And we need him more than ever, at this moment just being in places like this can be dangerous for the both of us. Not just him.
A sigh had left me as I scrolled through each footage, before pausing while all of them had continued to talk. Erica is my best friend, and I know that we haven't been around each other a lot. But she wouldn't just make up some boy who apparently showed up to the hospital, yet Harry seems to think it's stress from her job and from worrying about all of us and Bianca.
But she couldn't have possibly saw a ghost, or made something up for attention like her boss said....
"Just take her back to my estate, make sure to rest for a couple of days." Zayn mumbles to Harry, as they decided to just cut the questions short. Clearly she wasn't in the right mind state to answer, which is hard for them.
My finger placed with the mouse, scrolling through hours of footage. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Being at our estate with things being hectic?" I asked once we had officially been alone, in the security office.
"You don't trust my judgement?"
I continued to press the button, letting the rest play and turning around to face him. He obviously knew better at certain situations, but putting someone in the middle of all this again isn't actually safe at all. Especially what my friends have been through, in order to not just protect me but also Zayn and everyone in that place. It just didn't seem like a good idea in my view points.
"Sometimes it's not good to attempt to protect everyone, because the hardest solution can end up being the best one." I mumble softly, before looking him in the eyes. "You're so giving and welcoming, and I appreciate that about you. Especially caring for my friends, knowing how much I love them."
Zayn remained still as I walked up to him, placing a hand on his neck and letting my thumb caress the inked skin. He just watched my actions as if he was a statue, and I had been admiring the most beautiful artwork that I have ever seen in my entire life. And funny enough, that was still very accurate.
"But adding yet another face to worry about in that house, it's not a good idea with my mom, Brooks and Floyd running around there. I don't want too many people around, that it consumes us instead of doing any good, you know I love having Erica with me. But is it really safe for her? When it's barely safe for us?" I asked while raising an eyebrow.
He sighed before rubbing at his face, my hand dropping. "I guess I didn't think about that part." The sound of his voice being defeated, as if he didn't know what else to do and hated the idea of turning a person away. But it's not our job to protect everyone, right now we have to worry about each other, and putting each other first. "Sometimes, I think I have what it takes to be in this position, then just get reminded of things like this and realize that I'm still that same kid. One who just can't get it right."
"Don't say that." I demand instantly, moving forward. The shape of my growing belly, poking into his side. "You're just a caring person, whether you want to admit it or not. That is not a horrible thing, and I love that about you. But sometimes, it is okay for us to be selfish, at least just once in this lifestyle."
Zayn remains quiet for the moment, looking behind me deep in thought. But allows his hand to caress my belly, as if he needed a reminder why he was doing all of this. And that lingers a lot longer, but I'd do whatever it takes to make sure that we have something a lot more easier, our plates not being so damn full.
"We will send them away for a couple of weeks or just until stuff dies down, and have a guard with them for safe keeping. Probably Floyd, if anything. Harry will keep watch of him, and right now it might be a good idea for him not to be around. Because I still have very little trust of him in the house."
The moment I was greeted by silence, it made me look up at him. The ghostly and rigid look on his face made me worry, just before turning around to follow his glances. Looking back at the monitor. I watched the footage as it sped through, showing a little boy on the floor with a hooded figure picking him up and leaving out.
My body grew frigid as Zayn quickly walked up to the monitor, rewinding the footage back and getting a closer look at the evidence. Which is proof that Erica had been telling us the truth.
I'm gonna say that no one believed her, only because there was an idea that no one could be after her. Bianca has been going after me and Zayn, there was no one else that she wanted...
Other than our son growing in my belly, only for the sake of vengeance. And having a brief connection with Zayn, no matter what, she wanted what I had gotten... the life with him.
But that wasn't the fact of our worries right now, we had something bigger to focus on at the moment. And that was the paused footage we could see clear as day with our very own eyes.
"That can't be real." I whisper in disbelief.
My heart pounded against my chest, as I had walked closer to the monitor looking at it with eyes filled to the rim with water. It was enough to cause my eye color to tint, bringing it to a bright red as he continued to look at the screen.
"It is....." Zayn says with his voice filled with a bunch of emotions, and the look of despair yet also confusion. Grief. And everything else just wrapped up into one. "That's Zahir." He says almost certain.
The idea was absurd. I would've laughed and called him crazy, if it wasn't for the fact that it actually did look like him. Only difference is the hair is a little shorter, and he looks a tad sicker than usual. But that's not what haunted me at all, it was the figure looking around while grabbing the sick and pale child off the ground.
It was the woman from before in Carly's building, the same woman I had thought was haunting my dreams. The one I sought to find, wondering if I could ever place a face to the one that seemed so damn familiar. And now I have it.
"And that's a woman who looks exactly like Carly." I whisper in disbelief.
