17BLACK

Chapter 65

Freddy's Bar
London, UK

Bar fights aren't out of the ordinary at Freddy's. One drink too many and a few misheard words can have a glass (full or empty) chucked at your head. It's happened too many times to count, too many shattered glasses littering the floor to remember how many you even started with.

So when a fight breaks out late Friday night, no one even bats an eyelash. The cops are called just like always, the routine flowing easily by now. The two contenders in the fight are typical for a fight, too. A middle aged man with bushy, light brown hair and a young Indian man. The middle aged one is a usual customer at Freddy's and is usually sporting a dark grimace. He rarely smiles, but when he does it's nice and a bit goofy.

His name is Ben Gray.

The police are late getting to the scene, so the fight develops further than the usual brawl. Before anyone can break it up -not that anyone is sober enough to - a knife is pulled from under Ben's belt. This seems a little extreme for am argument about the next football championship, but they've both had way too much to drink and all clear thinking has vanished.

The knife draws attention from the crowd, and a few people jump in to pull the two angry men away from each other, but it's too late.

The knife is driven into the Indian man's chest one, two, three times and he collapses to the ground with a gasp. A red stain seeps through the fabric of his t-shirt that looks eerily like a rose.

The flashing lights pour in through the foggy glass windows just as the final pieces of life slip away from him.

He's dead.

Louis' POV:

"What the fuck to you mean he never showed up?" Beck hesitates.

I've never liked Beck. His standards for sex are at an extreme low and his personality doesn't fit well with mine. He once tried snogging my face off when he and I were at Will's, which ended up in an interesting conversation about how I don't do one night stands with a walking HIV.

Harry's interest in his girl's appearance isn't satisfactory either. Though I doubt he'll be exploring that any further, since his hands have had been drenched in her blood. Seeing a person give birth after half an hour of knowing them is a huge turn off.

"It's been an hour and a half, where the hell is he?" I'm getting angry, but most of all I'm worried. My hands are shaking uncontrollably and I am having trouble getting a clear breath.

"I told you, man, I don't know." Beck's eyes are wide. He must be worried too. If only he knew.

"Just fucking forget it." I throw my hands out in exasperation, annoyance and terror filling me completely. Where is Harry?

"Why are you freaking out? He's probably just caught up with the doctor's, like you said-"

"I said to forget it!" I yell at him. I almost feel bad for making him recoil. Almost. I would if I could think about anything off of the subject of Harry Harry my Harry in danger Nick fucking Nick Harry my baby where are you.

I turn away from Beck, walking away from the hospital and chewing on my lip. It's going to rain soon. I can tell by the heaviness in the air and the dark, brooding clouds above me. It suits the situation.

I pull at the roots of my hair, swallowing the lump in my throat. I'm not going to cry. I won't.

Instead I pull out my phone and dial Harry's number. A few rings lead into his voicemail.

"Hi, Harry here, leave a message after the beep, wait do they still have the beep-"

I feel my head clear a bit as a smile dares to form on my lips. He's a bloody idiot.