RED ROOM [H.S]

16.

Harry hesitated for a moment, his stare landing on me once again. He eyed my shaking body and tears, with no remorse or guilt etched on his face. "Make sure she doesn't make a scene when she comes out," he told Niall, who only nodded in agreement.

Harry disappeared out of the door after that, and I took another gasp of air. My shaky legs couldn't hold me anymore and I slid down the wall, covering my mouth as I sobbed. Despite not having a gun to my head, I knew my near death experience was far from over. Niall hadn't pulled the gun away from Harry for my benefit, nor did I think he would allow me to run away from any of this. He watched the door for a moment, before he turned to me with heated annoyance.

"Would you stop crying?" He growled, shaking his head. He ran a hand through his hair, before sighing loudly. "You're giving me a bloody headache."

I took a couple of shallow breaths, before hiccuping. "H-how co-could I not c-cry?! I-I almost-almost died!"

Niall didn't care for my tears. He stared at me like I was that child who cried in the middle of a movie that you just wanted to snap at. He rolled his eyes at me, before grabbing my coat and throwing it in my direction. It landed in a heap by my feet but I made no effort to pick it up. "Almost being the key word. You're alive...for now anyway, embrace it."

I winced at his words, and shut my eyes tightly. For now echoed in my brain and I suddenly felt numb all over.

"Put that coat on and wipe your face. I don't want to leave him out there for too long."

"I just want to go home," I said weakly, trying to catch my breath as my tears stopped. I knew it was a long shot at convincing him that I wouldn't utter a word to anyone, but I had to try. "I-I promise I won't say anything about this..."

Niall snorted and gave me a funny look. "Bit fucking late for that one, don't you think? I need you to hurry up, I've got no time for your shit."

Not wanting to argue with him, I did what I was told and put the coat on. I had trouble with the buttons as my fingers shook, only earning me another sigh of annoyance from Niall. Turning on my feet, I stared at myself in the mirror on the wall, and I did my best to wipe the mascara off from under my puffy eyes. I hesitated for a moment before turning to an inpatient Niall who kept looking down at his phone and frowning.

"Did he know?" I asked quietly.

Silence filled the room, Niall not bothering to even look in my direction as he read something off his phone. After an agonising sixty three seconds of me staring at him, he looked up and caught my eye, letting out a long and loud groan.

"Did he know what?" He asked impatiently, crossing his arms.

I hated how calm he was, like the scene that had just unfolded was completely normal. Other than the irritation he had with me, he seemed bored. It scared me how inhumane they both were.

"Did he know it wasn't...wasn't loaded?" I asked stiffly. As the words left my mouth, I wasn't sure I actually wanted to know the answer. "Was it just to scare me?"

Niall's eyes drifted from the top of my head all the way to the bottom of my feet. It wasn't a matter of checking me out, I had gotten enough of those looks to know it when I saw it, this was different. Almost if he was sizing me up, judging me. He merely shook his head.

"You wish it was a scare tactic," he said with a dry laugh. "Do you want to know a little secret?"

I hesitated. Was this some sort of trap? Why he would want to trust me any sort of secret after everything that had just happened?

He saw my hesitation and laughed. "I'm going to tell you anyway because one, it'll be fun to watch your ass squirm, and secondly, because it's not like you can run off and tell anyone this. Unlike Harry, I know when to keep my mouth shut to the wrong types of people."

I winced at the dig, opening my mouth to speak. I wasn't even sure what I was going to say, so I was somewhat relieved when he put a finger up to silence me.

"Harry's got two sides of him, and you've now had the pleasure of seeing both. The manic side, is one he can't control, one where he really isn't himself. Not completely, at least. The quiet and more...shy side, is Harry on a day to day basis. Let's just say that Harry harbours a lot of...guilt or remorse when he harms someone he doesn't necessarily want to hurt. Once he's calmed down and he's back to himself, he drowns himself in guilt. To ease the guilt and to put it down to chance, he puts a single bullet in and leaves it up luck. If the bullet kills someone, he says it was the universe and moves on like nothing happened."

I gaped at him, making a small smirk to coat his lips. Like he said, he was happy to see me squirm.
"To put it simply, no he didn't know it wasn't going to kill you," he finished wifh a shrug. "But I can't say I won't kill you when we're alone for triggering him and bringing that side of Harry in a public place."

I gulped, and looked down at my feet. "When was the last time he pulled the trigger?" I asked slowly, wondering what my odds actually were to getting shot. I momentarily wondered what would of happened if he had pulled the trigger himself. Did Niall know the bullet wasn't going to kill me? Did he count every time Harry pulled the trigger on a victim? Was that why he stopped Harry? So many questions ran through my head.

Niall shrugged. "Don't know, don't really care. As long as that bullet didn't go through his skull, I don't really care. You're lucky he didn't get to pull the trigger on himselfthough...if he got the bullet instead of you, I swear, I would of made Ted Bundy look like a fucking saint with what I would of done to you."

—

The car ride was one of the most anxiety fuelled moments of my life, apart from you know, almost dying. Niall drove like a manic through the traffic, cursing and snapping as people crossed the road, delaying our arrival at our unknown destination. I was seated directly behind Niall and had a clear view of Harry in the passenger seat. I watched him in curiosity, but mostly just fear. He seemed to be calming down from his manic state. His shoulders were relaxed and his eyes were trained on the passing lights of Vegas.

Neither of them spoke to me or even acknowledged my presence though, and I think that's what frightened me the most. The fact that I had absolutely no idea what was in store for me, or if they were even planning on letting me have my freedom.

I say quietly and counted the buildings I passed, watched the smiling and drunken people stumble together and saw how couples held hands and touched each other on the street. It was a world I would never be able to experience again. I glanced at Harry again, and had the sinking feeling in my stomach that my thoughts were right.

The car stopped abruptly, causing the seatbelt to press against my throat as I was jolted forwarded. I squeezed fist together to stop anything from coming out from my mouth, not wanting to show them any more fear than I already had.

I glanced out the window, only to find that we were outside of my apartment. I narrowed my eyes in confusion.

"What are we doing here?" I asked quietly.

The hope that they were just dropping me off to my shitty life swelled in my heart. Please God, I begged. Please let this be it.

Niall put the car in park, and nodded over at Harry. Both moved in their seats to stare at me, a wicked grin spreading across Harry's face.

"Niall will come up with you to get your stuff. You're coming with us."