doomed [h.s]

four: red hallway

"A shallow grave
A monument to the ruined age
Ice in my eyes
And eyes like ice don't move"
» Cold, The cure

✞︎

Rory and Harry ran back to the motorcycle, jumping on in a hurry and fleeing quickly through the streets. Harry's jaw was trembling, although it was clearly not the first time he had witnessed ghosts it was still an unpleasant feeling to have to see them.

Rory on the other hand was completely terrified, she couldn't get the empty, black-as-night eyes of those children out of her head, there was no trace of iris or sclera. She felt in her chest a sense of fear, rage, revenge, pain and drowning, as if she could feel the feelings of those spirits.

Harry parked on the sidewalk outside Rory's house, but they didn't move. She hadn't realized she was hugging Harry tightly nor that they had arrived home, she was lost in thought.

"Uh, Rory, we're here."

The girl lifted her head and looked towards her home, then released Harry apologetically as she realized her tight grip and got off the bike. Her father's car wasn't in the garage, which indicated that she would be alone until almost the night, it was barely close to noon. Harry had asked her if she wanted to go back to school but Rory refused, the least she could do now was pay attention to classes.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked as Rory took off her helmet and handed it to him. She nodded but her face expressed otherwise. "Have you been able to sleep this weekend?" He inquired now, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and a tired look with some accentuated blood vessels that indicated zero hours of sleep.

"No, not really." She admitted, looking down at the toe of her boots. Her eyes stung and her head hurt.

"I know it's hard but try to sleep.... You need t'rest to be alert. And listen, even if it's complicated don't show fear. They feed on that." Harry advised and Rory nodded, but truthfully she didn't think she could not be unafraid. What if sleeping they also disturbed her in her dreams?

"I'll try." She murmured.

"Tomorrow after school can we go to the library? Have to tell you everythin' I know about that house. There are some things too that I got that might be useful, you probably know some hidden books that might help us."

"Yeah, okay. I'll do some research on the internet too if there's anything that could help us solve all this mess." She said with a hint of hope. Harry smiled softly, somewhat hopeful as well but he had his doubts, he'd been in that situation for a year and didn't know if it was going to end, but Rory's help gave him faith. Two heads think better than one.

"Here, gimme your number." Harry handed her his phone and she typed her number. He texted her so she can add him back. "Rory, call me if anything goes wrong or you need help, don't hesitate, okay? No matter what time it is. You're not alone in this." He looked at her sympathetically and sincerely. Rory bit her lip swallowing the lump in her throat and nodded.

"Thank you..."

Harry muttered a goodbye and Rory took a few steps back turning around. But Harry was looking at her back impatiently and before she entered her house he called out to her again.

"Rory, wait."

"Yes?" She turned around with her arms crossed.

Harry gritted his teeth and looked into her brown eyes, opened his mouth but then closed it. He wanted to tell her he was sorry, for everything. He knew that even though they were in this together and could lean on each other, she still hated him and didn't trust him, he could tell. And he didn't blame her, he'd been a jerk to her.