Abstruse | H.S.

Chapter Twenty Two

HARRY

"Just fucking pull him up already." I snap impatiently at Niall.

After leaving Liam's this morning, I immediately came to Niall's so he could dig up some information on this Jason guy. I know Ara said I was overreacting, but none of it sat right with me. And I don't understand how she could be so calm about it. The moment I saw that bastards face so close to Ara's, I wanted to kill him. And I would have. The moment he said my name, and the way he said it made my stomach churn. I just did not have a good feeling about this guy at all. And I need to figure out why.

Niall was pestering me about Ara. He wouldn't shut the fuck up. He just kept bugging and wanted to know what the fuck Ara and I were doing. I can't even answer that myself Niall. I'm going fucking crazy over here.

I don't know why I felt this constant need to protect her. I have never felt that way about anyone before. I don't know why I liked being so close to her, and I don't know why the thought of having anyone near her or touching her made me sick to my stomach. All I know is that I can't feel this way. I can't continue to see Ara like this or even, at all. I don't know what this girl is doing to make my head spin like this, but I do not enjoy it. She is so intriguing and I want to know more about her. I want to know everything about her.

I want to know why she's afraid of the dark, and what the story was behind her mother. I want to know what that guy was saying to her that made her flip like a switch and punch him dead in the face. I want to know what's going on inside her pretty little head. Girls are normally so quick to tell me everything on their mind that I could care less about, but Ara doesn't and it infuriates me.

But I can't tell Niall any of this in fear of humiliating myself. I'm not really scared of anything. But this is one thing that scares me. Ara.

"Alright, alright." Niall interrupts my thoughts as he begins typing at his computer, "I'm cross referencing his first name and the street you said he lives on. Do you know how old he might be?"

"I don't know. Couldn't have been much older than me." I shrug and lean in to look at the screen.

Niall doesn't say anything as he continues typing and clicking on and off on the screen. After a couple moments of what looks to be a file downloading, a mugshot pops up.

"This him?" He asks.

I look at the picture to in fact see the son of a bitch. Holding up a sign with his name and numbers. In the picture he had a black eye and a bleeding lip as he gave the camera a cocky smirk. His black hair was spiked up with loads of gel, and his ears were largely gauged.

"That's him." I tell him, "What did he go in for?" I ask.

Niall starts typing and scrolling, "Uhm," He continues, "Let's see. Jason Cox, age 31. Served twenty-one days in Los Angeles county jail for...sexual assault on five women. And," He stops and raises his eyebrows.

"What?" I ask.

"Well looks here that he was charged with vehicular manslaughter a couple years back but he took off. He was under the influence and killed a father and his six year old daughter. Then he went around drugging and raping women until he was caught after a girl came forward. When they found him he had a shit ton of drugs on him and they connected the dots that he was the guy from the car accident so they arrested him on all charges. But it looks like he made bail, someone paid it off for him. He got released sometime last year." Niall concludes, "What an asshole."

I nod, "What's his address?" I ask, not wanting to waste any more time.

He tells me the address and I quickly type it into my GPS.