One Deception

Chapter Seventeen

 Written by Kay (TheCrazySide)

Chapter Seventeen
Harry

By the time we got back to the house in the woods, everything was falling apart. In my eyes (and likely the others) it was as if the world we’d known for so long was literally crumbling, leaving nothing but that damned house and those two people inside it. 

Somehow I knew, too. Somehow, I knew deep in my gut that walking into that house at that moment was going to result in something drastic, lifechanging. That stupid bitch Zayn loved so much was going to die as he watched, and then he himself would follow. One Direction would never be the same without him, sure, but it was for the better. It would give us a fresh start and I would lead the remains of the others, rebuild them into twice the men Zayn had made them.

“All of you, stop and listen to me,” I halted the others before they could enter the house, being sure to be stern and strong. It was obvious that all of them were unnerved and on edge, and a leader was only as powerful as his followers, so their weakness was my own. I had to give them a pep talk, get them to calm down and revert back to the killers they all were by nature. “What happened back at that mental institution; forget about it. The girl is dead, and sure, we had some complications with that nurse, but we took care of her too.” 

The three only continued to look back at me with dead eyes, and not the type that I wanted. 

“We have two more to go and then we can leave,” I decided to reveal my backup plan, the one that seemed to have the most logic to it. “We can wipe this place clean from top to bottom just in time for the American tour and start working there. We’ll change tactics, cover our tracks better, and be more efficient than ever before. Sound good?”

They still remained silent, lingering in it for a moment before Liam dared to speak. “Harry,” he said slowly. “You’re sure that’ll work? Leaving England and going to America for the tour, will it really throw off anyone looking closely enough? And will the fans accept just the four of us with Zayn gone?” 

Liam was speaking like Zayn was already dead, which was a good sign. It meant he had already accepted it was going to happen, which would make the whole process easier. “Internationality will throw anyone off,” I conceded. “And we’ll just say we have to continue on because that’s what he would have wanted. We may need to stay for just a little bit longer to ‘mourn’ but it won’t be long enough for any idiots here to catch up with us.”

The three of them seemed satisfied at that, only exchanging calmer glances before nodding. 

“Okay,” Louis said. “I guess the sooner we finish this then, the sooner we can get out of this country.”

“Exactly.”

As the four of us then silently headed inside the house and for the basement door, I felt a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from following Liam and Louis. When I turned, all I saw was Niall, nothing but reddened cheeks and darkened eyes. It registered then that he hadn’t spoken at all during my pep talk, and though that was unreassuring, I knew Niall didn’t have enough leadership to be a problem. 

“It’s Zayn, Harry,” he simply said quietly, and it wasn’t even a warning… it was a plea. 

“I know, Niall, “ I simply said, forcing myself to remain solemn for his sake. He didn’t want me to kill Zayn obviously, but we were all too far gone to go back. Zayn had to die today, leave so I could rise from his ashes and begin anew for all of us. 

By the time Niall and I actually got to the room Zayn and his toy was being held in, Louis and Liam were only standing along the wall, stances firm and sturdy. They avoided looking at our captives though, almost like they were ashamed… and there was no room for shame in this band, not anymore.