Invisible || h.s.

42: Silent Treatment

Harry

Approximately three months earlier

After leaving Hope behind in my Rover, I slowly began to approach the house. Each step I took heightened my unease to the point where I considered going back to the car and getting us both the hell out of here. My gut was usually infallible, and right now, it was screaming at me to run for the hills. Something was way off—Julia Frazier's car should not have been in front of her house at this hour. However, being the curious bastard that I am, I chose to proceed as planned.

As soon as I reached the backdoor, I hesitated, noticing that it was slightly cracked open. Again, bad sign. Niall and I had been watching this family for weeks, and not even once had they left the door open by accident. With this thought in mind, I chose to walk around the house instead, eventually using one of the side windows to get in. 

The first thing that struck me was the complete silence in the kitchen, which did nothing to alleviate the tension I felt. Nevertheless, I slipped into the hallway with my gun aimed forward, eventually stopping at the edge of the stairway to listen in for any sounds coming from upstairs. Still, there was none, which made me slightly more confident in my decision to move forward. 

The upper floor was bathed in shadows, and I shifted my body to press against the wall outside Julia Frazier's study. She was in there; I could feel it. Sometimes, you don't have to see something with your own eyes to just know. Years of practice in the field taught me that in some situations, it's best to rely on my instinct alone. And this time, it was telling me that Julia Frazier was not a threat to me. 

"Who are you?" a female voice rang out from behind the door. I looked around warily, trying to identify how she knew I was there, but she beat me to it. "I have just finished installing cameras around the house. You thought it was going to be so easy to deal with a helpless woman, didn't you? Well, think again. Where are your buddies?" 

My forehead furrowed in confusion. Cameras, buddies… Just who exactly was this woman? Cause she sure as hell was not an ordinary librarian. 

"I'm alone," I spoke calmly, "Why don't you come out so we can talk? I am not your enemy." 

"And get shot? Do you think I'm daft? Leave the gun on the floor before you enter the room. Hands up, and no funny business. I can see you." 

I caught sight of the camera on the painting on the wall, and I raised my gun in the air in the gesture of surrender, before placing it on the floor like she had instructed. Hopefully, this would be enough to convince her of my good intentions. 

"Please don't shoot, I am harmless!" I joked loudly, soon entering the room with my arms up. 

The sight that greeted me was… Interesting, to say the least. Julia Frazier was stood in front of her desk, gun aimed straight at me, a mess of different metal parts, powders and wires laid out on the floor around her. It took no more than a quick glance for me to realise what the content of the box laid on the desk is. 

A bomb. Granted, a poorly made one from the looks of it, but it could still end us both in a second. 

"It's just insurance," Julia smiled mockingly, "that you don't do anything stupid."

"Had I planned on hurting you, I would have come in guns blazing. May I lower my arms now?" I quipped. 

Instead of answering me, her eyes stayed focused on my face, seemingly inspecting every single inch as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "You're ICE, but there's something off about you. They wouldn't have wasted their breath on talking to me."