Paper Birds

Chapter Fifty-One ; After

His eyebrows shot up. "An' who are you?"

Harry smirked. "The one who shot your brother."

Nightmare swallowed. "The- what?" Then he did something that chilled my blood to the bone. He grinned his awful, crooked, yellow-toothed grin. The one that resembled Talon so much I could've mistaken it for him if I didn't know any better.

Harry squeezed my hip as if to say, 'I got this.' At this point I wasn't so sure, but he seemed confident and it was the only thing I had left to hand onto. 

At least I thought so until a whole gang started to pile in behind Nightmare. About a dozen came in out of nowhere. Some were taller and packed with muscle, while others were a lot smaller but armed with at least a gun and a switchblade.

"We're fucked," I murmured, not able to tear my eyes off of them.

"Not yet," Harry said, taking in every one of them. 

"Just tell us what you want," I demanded a bit more boldy than I had intended to.

"First, we want all of the money dear old Tally boy owed us," said a husky man behind Nightmare. 

Harry glanced at me before flickering his stare towards them again. "Done." 

I clenched my fists, knowing I was the one who dragged him into this whole mess.

"Then I want to avenge my brother's death," Nightmare growled through gritted teeth, taking a revolver out of his inside coat pocket.

My lips trembled. "Not done."

Harry snatched me off of the ground unexpectedly, clutching me to his chest as he sprinted in the other direction. I focused on the his curls to keep calm, watching them fly back from his face. The cold bit at our cheeks, and everything seemed to moving much slower than it did before. 

I blinked, almost letting go of Harry when the wind came rushing back at my face at the speed of light. My mind snapped back to reality, moving much faster than they did just seconds ago. Harry was whispering something to me I couldn't hear over all of the yelling behind us. At the first gunshot, Harry whipped around the corner and slammed up against the wall, sinking to the ground. 

"Are you okay?" he asked breathlessly, not letting me go.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I replied in a hushed tone, my heart racing. He squeezed his eyes shut and tilted his head away from me.

"We need to split up," he said. My mouth dropped open.

"No," I sputtered, digging my head into his chest. "You can't make me leave you!"

He opened his eyes and looked directly into mine. "Clairedy, they're going to find us soon. It's our only chance of survival."

"How will I find you again?"

Harry squeezed my hand. "You'll always be able to find me."

He buried his fingers in my hair and pressed his lips against mine before getting up and running to the right, not looking back.

I blinked back tears and got up, creeping around the corner and jogging back the up the way we came. I prayed with all of my energy that they would never find either of us. I couldn't call for help. The police would do nothing to make it better. In fact, they'd probably arrest Harry and me for a number of charges.

Not the second I stepped out onto the sidewalk did I find one of Nightmare's guys just across the street, trying to look casual. I ducked into dentist office just beside me, breathing heavily. I glanced at the lady sitting at a counter who slid open the glass in front of her. "Need anything, miss?"

I swallowed. "No, thank you."

She raised her eyebrow at me. "Then why are you here?"

I cleared my throat, peeking out of the window to the street. "Uh, hiding from an ex."

The lady snorted. "Stay as long as you'd like."

I threw her a quick smile. "Thanks."

After about ten minutes the man left. I sighed in relief, giving the lady a curt nod before hurrying out of there. I didn't know how to get to my old house, and I really needed to at this point. I ripped my phone out of my jacket pocket, only to find it dead. I growled in frustration, stuffing it back in the pocket and jogging back down the sidewalk, searching for anything that seemed vaguely familiar. Nothing. 

My heart almost stopped when I heard the first gunshot. 

I sprinted in the direction I heard it, raw determination and adrenaline filling my veins with an unfamiliar strength. I refused to stop, the only thing on my mind being Harry. I stopped short in front of a vacant lot, another gunshot making my ears ring. I dashed down behind the concrete wall at the end of the lot just as the third bullet was shot. Shot into the one and only Harry Edward Styles.

He staggered backward, up against the concrete wall, smearing it red. Slowly he sank to the ground, another bullet peircing him right by the shoulder. His head turned to me, his eyes pleading. My whole body was shaking as his eyes closed and his body went limp. 

All I knew is that I didn't want to live without him. I couldn't live without out him. 

I ran infront of the only person who could make me happy, spreading out my arms like wings. You know how they say right before you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes? They were right. Every memory, every minute, every day came back to me like a rush of wind. I couldn't hear anything, couldn't see anything except for his face. 

A fifth gun was shot that night.

And so I fell beside Harry, staring up at the stars for eternity.