17BLACK

Chapter 44

Harry's POV:

"Is this even legal?" I try keeping my voice even, attempting to act as if doing illegal things is no big deal to me even though I'm feeling sick standing here in front of Nick as he fiddles with the lock.

He laughs and continues messing with the combination until he is able to pop the lock open.

"One is only charged with breaking and entering. We are entering. I happened to see the real estate lady enter the combination, so I'm not breaking anything."

We are standing in front of what looks like an old abandoned elevator, rust littering the chains as Nick shakes them free. The attempt to keep visitors out is very low, all that is holding us back is a lock and a fold-in metal fence.

"You so stole that from Paper Towns," I say, recognizing the words from Margo Roth Spiegelman. Nick doesn't strike me as the John Green type.

He shrugs. "I used to work for the school newspaper and had to do an article on a book. That one seemed small enough. What's your excuse?"

"I had to read it for school." And I did. What I don't tell Nick is that I was the first one in the class to finish it, only a day after the book was given to us.

Nick smirks and tosses the lock onto the ground. He pushes the metal foldable fence in on itself, the thing obviously old and worn as it squeaks in protest to being moved.

Once the elevator is empty to us Nick steps through, motioning me to follow.

"We're going up?" My voice shakes involuntarily. This doesn't seem safe. Once when I was with my uncle I was stuck in an elevator for three hours, and standing here in front of this raggedy thing makes me feel all of those emotions all over again. I don't have a phobia with elevators, but I know for sure that I am completely terrified of entering this one.

Nick laughs. "Scared Styles? Maybe that should be your new nickname. It has a good ring to it." I stay where I am, not commenting on his teasing.

"Oh come on, I've already been up before. It's completely safe." Nick surprises me by grabbing my hand and yanking me inside, hitting the button to shut the doors before I can even protest.

"See? It's fine." It doesn't sound fine though, with the machine screaming in effort as it lifts us with the unsteady looking ropes above us. The entire thing is mainly glass, which makes the experience all more terrifying. I make a mental note to hit Nick for dragging me in here.

"Once I come up with the money I'll remodel most of it," he explains. The elevator stops a minute later, the doors opening with a small ding.

So this is his future club location. Nick didn't tell me this on the way here in his car, all conversation being drowned out by the music.

I exit the old elevator quickly, Nick laughing at my jitters.

"It's not funny. That is so unsafe. No wonder nobody wants to buy this place." Except Nick, of course, but I came to the conclusion a long time ago that Nick has exceeded the level of saneness for an average person.

I turn around to see that Nick has moved into the middle of the floor of the building. I notice now that we are in the middle of what looks like a ballroom. The floors are cracked and covered in a thick layer of dirt, the ceiling also cracked where a chandelier once hung. There's intricate patterns on the floor that had probably once been a work of art. Now, however, I'm half expecting to see a rat scurry across the room. Four large windows sit on each wall, revealing the city below us. We are as high as the parking garage at my apartment complex. The wallpaper has obviously seen better days, half of it ripping completely off of the wall.