Darkness Rises-Harry Styles

Chapter 9

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. And hate leads to suffering."

Rose's POV:

I stared at Harry with wide eyes, my body trembling in fear. He was watching me with guarded eyes, a serious expression on his face as tears began to build in my eyes. No. No it can't be.

"Someone I know in the palace hired those people to kill me?" I whisper, my voice barely audible from fear. Harry nods his head, walking over to me and putting his hands on my shoulder. "That's why I came to the Northern region. I knew that you would be here and I could get close to finding whoever this is. Someone and something dark is inside the palace and they want you out of the picture." he says and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying not to cry.

"I was lucky enough to run into you after I fought with someone." he tells me and my eyes open, looking at him expectantly. "Who?" I ask and he gives me a soft smile. "One of the men who was trying to kill you, I took him out but he was sneaky and caught my side." he says and I nod to him.

So he wasn't really telling a complete lie last night at the dinner table, in fact he was almost completely truthful.

I gave him a smile, trying to show him that I wasn't going to be afraid and he smiles back at me before his posture stiffens. He lets me go, looking around the forest with narrowed eyes. "What is it?" I ask him and he motions for me to be quiet. I nod to him, watching as he begins to walk away from me and towards another part of the forest. "I'll be right back." he murmurs, disappearing from sight and I gulp nervously.

I look at the place where he had been, anxiously waiting for him to come back. But he wasn't. I was beginning to think that something had happened to him and that I should go get James. I couldn't have Harry getting hurt, I just couldn't. I don't know why, but there was something about him that made me feel like I needed him by me, even more so now that he told me someone is trying to kill me.

Rustling in the bushes made me turn slightly, looking with wide eyes as I stared at someone's figure, them leaning back against the tree. "Well, well. Look what we have here. He left you alone. How fortunate for me, but unfortunate for you." the stranger says, coming out of the shadows so that I could see their face.

This man had golden eyes, his black hair spiked up slightly. He looked strong and masculine, his frame probably reaching 6'5. I began to shake in fear, stepping away from him as he pulled out a knife. "You're dead now, Princess." he snarls, jumping forward at me with an incredible speed. He must be a creature of the dark.

I gasped, regaining my composure and jumped to the side, dodging his blow. He laughs, turning to look at me with a grin. "You're surprisingly fast for a human. But no matter, as long as he's gone, you're as good as dead." he says darkly, coming at me again.

Before I move again, I see a flash of movement in front of me. Harry comes out of no where, kicking the man in the side and sending him flying through the trees. Vampire strength... I think as Harry glares at the man as he gets up, laughing as he shakes his head.

"So, you did show up. That's a pain in my butt. But no matter." he says and Harry begins to growl at the man. "So hostile." the man teases Harry and my heart pounds in my chest. "Get away from her." Harry growls darkly and the man smirks.

"What's the matter, Harry? I thought you don't protect anyone anymore..." the man trails off and I see anger coming off of Harry in waves. "Shut up." Harry threatens menacingly and I take a step back at his tone. I've never seen Harry angry...and frankly it was terrifying.

In a flash, Harry is right next to the man, gripping him by the throat and holding him above his head. The man begins to struggle for breath as Harry's grip gets tighter around his neck. "Such a shame, Dirk, that you would mention anything like that." Harry snaps at him before turning to the side, hurling Dirk into the forest.

I watched as Dirk tumbled across the ground several times before slamming into a tree, his breath knocked out of him. He falls to the ground limp and Harry huffs at him. "Bastard." Harry mumbled before coming over to me.

"Are you okay?" he asks me, his eyes no longer dark and threatening. I nod my head to him, still shocked over what just happened. "Let's get you out of here." he whispers, taking my hand and leading me away.

I look over my shoulder, seeing Dirk get up slowly, catching my eye and giving me a dark look. One that made me turn back around and get closer to Harry. My body is shaking from fear and remembering how violent Harry got in a matter of seconds made me shiver. I didn't want him to ever be like that again. But I had a feeling that he would be.

We got out of the forest, but before we went to James, Harry turned to look at me. "Rose." he says and I gulp, noticing his serious tone. "Yes?" I ask him and he offers me a small smile.

"Don't tell James anything that happened in there. We need to keep this secret for now." he says and I nod my head, a feeling of uneasiness settling in my stomach. "O-okay." I say and he gives me a quick hug. His head was right by my ear and I can feel his breath by my ear.

"I'm sorry you had to see me like that." he whispers before pulling away, taking my hand again and walking back towards James, who finally caught sight of us and gave us a relieved look. "I'm so glad you two are okay." he says thankfully and I give him a curious look.

"Why?" I say and he sighs. "I heard some rumbling and noise from inside and I got nervous. Did you two see anything happen?" he asks and both Harry and I shrug. "No." we answer simultaneously and James frowns.

"It must just be my imagination." he mutters and I poke his head. "Well, we all know how crazy you can be." I joke and he laughs. James shakes his head, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, I am pretty crazy." he teases and we all chuckle. The atmosphere was much lighter now and I didn't feel so worried, but I'd feel better when we got back to the palace, though I'm not sure how safe I was there either.

We began to walk back towards the palace, laughing and joking with one another. I looked back at the forest once or twice, saddened that my safe haven was indeed, no longer safe. I could now clearly see the dark aura surrounding the forest, the trees that once looked so beautiful and lovely are now veiled in darkness, a purplish black fog seeming to seep from the branches.

I swallowed nervously, looking towards the palace as we got closer to it. It was probably around one or two in the afternoon now, but I couldn't be too sure. When we reached the gates, James opened them for me and I smiled at him gratefully before walking inside, Harry and James behind me.

"I'm going to go to my room for a little bit." I say and turn to Harry, giving him a knowing look. He nods in understanding before turning to James. "I'll be going to my room as well, James. I'll be talking to you later." Harry says and James gives us a smirk.

"Uh huh. You two behave yourselves." he says jokingly before leaving us there, going back outside and closing the doors behind him. Not saying anything, both of us go to the stairs and climb them, not knowing how to start talking.

I stop by my room and look at Harry with worried eyes. "Will you come in?" I ask softly and he nods his head quietly, following me into my room. I close the door behind me and turn around, seeing Harry staring at me with guarded eyes.

"Please, Harry. Please explain." I ask him and he takes a deep breath, nodding his head. "Come over here, Rose." he says to me, motioning for me to come to him.

I walk over to him shyly, watching as he sits down on my bed and pats the spot beside him. I slowly sit beside him, looking at him with careful eyes as he lets out a breath. "Alright, I'll tell you Rose." he says and I nod my head, looking up at him as he meets my gaze evenly.

"What do you want to know?"

I probably won't be updating for a little while, but I hope you understand that. I'm just waiting for some more people to read this and actually Comment and Vote on it. So until next time!!