Ecstasy [h.s]

Chapter 44

Songs for this chapter
Fade into you by Mazzy Star

LIZ'S P.O.V

Being back in my apartment brought me this odd feeling of unfamiliarity, I couldn't recognize my own home, the same home I've dedicated my time to making it feel safe.

Some parts of the white wall in my room were still covered in pictures from my life, polaroids, film, and memories of my childhood that I had forgotten existed until I saw them plastered on my wall.

Some of them were Lexi's Polaroid pictures that I didn't even know she brought home from Carolina, some of them were secretly taken from afar. The idea that someone has been following me for most of my life sends panic through my body, what's worse is that I never even realized I was being followed.

The door to my room opens wide, Harry walks in with a stressed look in his eyes and his phone gripped in the hold of his large hand. He looks at me with pitiful eyes and parted lips, "We couldn't find anything about Zack, there's not a single record of him working for Whelve. Zayn thinks he definitely snuck in."

I manage to look away from him and instead focus my eyes on the small Polaroid in my hand. It was a picture of Zack and me by the beach near Lexi's house that Katherine took one summer when we were 16, the same sweet guy I looked up to as my older brother was the same one who was holding a knife up to my chest.

"How did Zack even know I had something to do with Candice's death in the first place?" I look at Harry, simultaneously throwing the Polaroid picture onto the messy floor.

"I don't know, Liz," He swallows harshly, eyes filled with sadness as he starts walking closer to me.

"And Whelve," I continued, pacing towards my bed where I managed to sit on the edge with Harry next to me, "How could he know about Whelve? What are the chances they hired him but there's no paper trail of it?"

"I don't know," He sighs deeply, inhaling a sharp breath as he pinches the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed. "Wheleve values contracts more than anything. From the moment they were created in the  20th century up until now there's a paper trail and documentation for everything. From the very first murder to the very last, every drug deal, every weapon bought, sold or transported out of the country is displayed on a document that Whelve has access to."

"But what if something changed?" I ask, hopeful.

"I doubt it, Liz," He looks at me with pitiful eyes. "Whelve makes you sign a contract for every job, if Zack refused he wouldn't have been there that night; chances are he just found a way to secretly sneak in."

I shake my head. I refuse to believe that Zack just snuck in that night, the gala was filled with security at every entrance and exit, and cameras and guards surrounded every corner of the place. There is no way he walked inside and nobody noticed him, Zack had help, I can just feel it.

"What if someone inside of Whelve let him in without making him sign a contract?" I ask hopefully.

If Zack knew someone on the inside he could've easily walked inside with their help and protection. Zack was blinded by vengeance towards me for what I did to his mother. I think he would've taken whatever deal he got that night just to kill me.

"You mean like an inside job?" I nod at his response, "I doubt anyone would betray Whelve and let an outsider in."

"Yeah, but- what if-," I pause, he looks at me patiently, "What if Adrienne bent the rules and let him in? Or turned a blind eye to whoever did."

"Liz-," I raise my hand, stopping him.

"She's been after me for a while now Harry," I begin to defend before he even gets a chance to speak up again, "There is a possibility she could've been involved. She owns Whelve, no one would bat an eye if she broke her own rules."