murder house / h.s

nineteen.

Harry's POV

"You're lying." I said, almost at a loss for words. Her stare was cold, and her eyes were full of fear. That's how I knew Avery wasn't lying. She was never a good actor, and if she looked afraid she was afraid.

"Harry, we need to get to higher ground." she said, urgency in her voice. I was become anxious with every growing second, the weight of the situation slowly sinking in. If we didn't get to somewhere higher soon, we were going to drown in this mansion and it would be game over.

The first place that came to my mind was the grand staircase. It was in the main room, and God knows where it led to. It was worth a shot though; better off getting higher and hitting a dead end than staying where we were than dying a foolish death.

"Let's see where the main staircase leads to." I said firmly, taking the initiative. Avery nodded with a small smile, the corners off her mouth twitched like she was trying not to grin any wider. Words cannot describe how much I wanted to just lean in and kiss her, to show that full smile of hers, but I stopped myself. We were in danger.

We took off in a sprint down the halls, and I felt my heart pounding against my ribcage. My lungs were burning for air I couldn't quite catch. My legs ached and told me to stop but my mind told me to keep going or I would meet my death.

"Stay strong, Harry." Avery's smooth voice said. It calmed me down a little, but still I was a little nervous. The puddles weren't even puddles anymore; it was a thin layer of water that made splashes every time we took a step.

"I'm scared." I said, and it was the first time that I had been fully open with her. Never in a situation like this would I have told Louis or Niall that I felt like pissing my pants. But I told Aves.

"It's alright, Haz." she said calmly, even though we were running as fast as we could. I was fully convinced by her endearing statement, and that's when we got into the main room.

Aves took off for the staircase first, and I followed. A girl with long, black hair was already making her way up the stairs, but then she tripped and fell to her feet. Aves stopped right in front of me.

"Shoot her." she said. Her tone wasn't full of malice or greed, but it was obvious she knew it would be best for us. "Harry, shoot!"

I felt a lump in my throat at the thought. Still, after all that we had been through so far, I hated the thought of killing someone. But she wanted me to do it, so I did. I pulled out the handgun and shot her dead. She let out a strangled scream and fell to the ground.

"That was Sophia, I think." I told Avery. She nodded and gave me a short kiss on the cheek.

"That was really brave of you to do that." she cooed, but in the meanwhile my cheeks were getting considerably hot. I knew that my cheeks were red at the unexpected gesture from her.

"Thanks, Aves." I sighed, feeling starstruck even though she wasn't famous in any fashion-- with this cursed game show as an exception.

We ran up the whole of the staircase, avoiding Sophia's dead body. Just passing it gave me a cold chill, making me feel weird and uncomfortable inside. And apparently Aves could tell, because she gave me a kind smile and slowed down to meet my pace.

When we got to the top, it was a narrow hallway like downstairs. Except the floors and walls were velvet carpet. Who knew that walls could be materialized with carpeting? I sure didn't.

"We can hide out here and check how much the water is rising from up here." she told me, and I was fine with that. I leaned over the balcony to see that about ankle deep water was getting higher with the passing time.

"This is scary." she mumbled.

"I can agree."

"Who knows how high they're willing to take the water?"

The thought scared me. What if they were doing this just to wipe us out? After all, we were the ones who had gone against the whole system. The anxiety was getting worse, and I felt like all the air was being knocked from my lungs.

"Are you okay, Haz?"

"Yeah." I lied, but I was still panting to grab a good amount of air. My attempts were unsuccessful.

"You're scared we're going to die like this." she said calmly, like she was so sure of herself. I didn't blame her, because her accusation was correct. I wasn't ready to die.

"I am, Aves." I sighed. "I don't want to die like this."

I could see her face reddening and tears threatening to come out of her eyes. When we looked down, the water was up to the third step. There were about twenty steps.

The thought of us bobbing above the water's surface to get air filled my mind. I felt ready to cry myself, but I couldn't. Like Aves had said, I had to be strong for her. I had to show her that I could hold back the emotions.

We stood, leaning over the balcony in silence, and soon the depth went from three steps to ten. It was getting too close, and the speed it was increasing at seemed to get more rather than less. I honestly feared we were facing our demise.

"Aves." I whispered, my breathing shallow. I would have rather died from passing out than drowning. It would've been much easier for me to withstand.

"Harry, don't worry." she said in a whisper, and I felt her lips against my ear. I shuddered at her soft touch and let out a quiet hum. Her attempt to soothe me surely was working, leaving me as the submissive once again. I certainly wasn't used to it, but God did I love it.

When I looked down, the water was pooling at our feet. My heart was beating relentlessly against my chest, and I could feel the pulsating hum throughout my body. There was no way this was going to give us mercy. That meant someone was safe. Someone was higher than us. But how?

"We need to move, babe." I said in a low voice, and Avery didn't have to give me any gesture or word to know that she was with my plan as well. We took off in a swift walk along the halls, which thankfully were lit. The only downside to this would be the fact that the water would soon reach it. We really needed to get higher or else we could even be electrocuted.

Finally there was a door on the left side of the hall. Avery opened it without precaution, since now the water was to our ankles. It was a storage closet, and the lights were out. I stepped in first, and I could feel her hot on my tail.

"Welcome."

My eyes widened in fear, and without either of us touching it the door slammed shut. We were thrown into complete and utter darkness, and to make it worse we were in the same room as an unknown person. It could've been Grant, it could have been Jonah. The second possibility struck me with fear.

"Harry." Avery whispered in my ear, and her voice calmed me just a little. Still I was breathing heavily and short breaths escaped my chapped lips.

In that minute I could feel something cold trickle against my unmentionables. It couldn't be. I prayed to God that it wasn't. It was water.

"Oh, Harry." a boy's singsong voice said. I wanted to let out an ear piercing scream, but I was stricken by silence. I couldn't breathe.

"Want to play a game?"