The Color Line

Abort Mission

"Alex?" My voice comes out as a hoarse whisper. He raises his head, revealing a tear stained face.

"You need to go Harmony."

"No. I'm not leaving you out here alone. Not like this."

"No Harmony. I mean you need to leave this town," he grabs my face and rubs the pad of his thumb over my cheek. The simple gesture causes my body to erupt in flames. "It's too dangerous. Things are getting really serious. You have to go before..." He trails off.

"Before what?"

He turns his face away from me and more tears break free from his eyes. "Before they kill you."

"Before who kills me?" I almost scream.

"My dad and his clan. They want to kill you and your family. It's some sacrifice type shit that they plan to do. I can't let you stay here."

"Did your dad do that to you Alex?" I reach my hand up to touch his blackened eye.

He looks away from me and nods.

"Then I can't leave you here. I'm not going without you."

"Harmony please..."

"No. You can come with me. Just think, if my family and I leave they'll know that you told me their plan. They might kill you then."

"I don't care. All that matters is that you're safe. Who cares about me?"

"I do Alex. I care about you. And I'm not leaving you here."  

He runs his hand angrily through his hair. Then he starts to pull at it violently while pacing.

"Alex stop," I semi yell as I step forward to grab his arm. Looking into my eyes, he finally stops and slows his breathing.

"You can come with me. I'm not leaving you here."

"Fine," he huffs. "Tell your family. We need to start packing."

"Wait!" I stop him from walking. "What about the other families? Even if we leave, people will still be lured here."

"I don't mean to sound like an asshole, but we honestly don't have time to worry about that now. We just need to make sure your family gets out of here safe."

I nod my head, feeling a pain rush to my heart as I think of other families who could be at risk. But Alex is right. I need to save my family because at this moment, we're the ones at risk.

I give Alex a tight hug. I know he has to pack, but I don't want him to go back home. Not after what his father did to him.

"I'm going to be okay Harmony," he says when he notices that I won't let him go. He pushes me back gently and grabs my chin, pulling me into a kiss. That same fire ignites in my body again and I don't want him to stop. He pulls my body into his and I can feel myself molding into him. He stops the kiss way too soon, leaving me breathless and hot.

"Go home and tell your family. You guys need to pack quickly. I'll be there in an hour okay?"

"Okay," I tell him and peck his lips before heading home.

Alex's POV

Harmony kisses me before disappearing in the direction of her house. I want to stop her and hold her in my arms a little longer. I also want to lose myself in her all night long...

I shake the indecent thoughts out of my head before heading home. There will be plenty of time for that after I get her out of here safely. Right now I need to focus on an escape.

My hand is hesitant to turn the key in the lock as I stand stupidly in front of my own home. I don't want to be here, not because I'm afraid of my father, but because I honestly don't feel like this is my home. My parents don't give a shit about me so why should I be here? The only people to ever care about me have been Harmony and her family.

Walking to my room seems like a walk to hell. I open my door and the first thing I see is the massive hole that my father punched in the wall this morning. My eyes trail to the dozens of other holes that have been patched up, some made by my father and some by me.

Once I've packed a decent amount of clothes, I say goodbye to my safe haven that became a war zone over the past couple of years. I hope that the next place that I lay my head at night won't cause me as much emotional distress as this one.

As I plop down in my car, I smell Harmony's beautiful scent. It fascinates me how long her scent seems to linger in my car, or maybe I could just be hallucinating.

I start the car and make my way towards Harmony's. It's a very short ride but I can't help but reminisce on this hell that I grew up in. The memories are unpleasant but I can't help but remember them.

I remember when I was about ten years old and a family moved in where Harmony lives now. The family consisted of a mom and dad and a little girl that was about Eve's age I think. The little girl had wild, curly hair just like Eve and Harmony have, except hers was bright red.

My dad had promised to beat me if I ever went near them and a couple months later my dad's clan hung the litte girl's parents before shooting her in the head. I remember the screams I heard from the girl as she watched her parents die. I had no idea what she was saying because they didn't speak English. The language was pretty weird and sounded way different from the one that Harmony's friend, Rosy, speaks.

After that, there were just more and more families to come in and meet their doom. Each family was different from the last and way different from the ones living in this town. Foolishly though, I thought that the town might spare Harmony because of me. I thought their intimidation of me could scare them off and then later I thought that my affection for her could change how they viewed people who were different from us. I was stupid to think that anything would change this place.

I pull into the Waters' driveway and proceed to hop out of my car and knock on the door. Jessie answers and smiles when he sees me.

"What's up?" He beams

"Are you guys ready?" I ask, confused at his cheerfull demeanor.

"Ready for what?" Mrs. Waters walks up, wrapping her arms around her husband's waist.

"Harmony didn't tell you? Where is she?"

Mrs. Waters grabs Jessie's shirt and her eyes go wide with fear. She just realized something and I'm afraid of what she'll say next.

"Jackie what's wrong? Say something sweetheart" Jessie tries to coax her.

She swallows nervously and she looks up at me. "Harmony said she'd be with you."

Taking a step back from them, I start to feel a tight feeling in my chest. "No...no. She was supposed to be here. She was coming home to tell you to pack. She..." before either of them has a chance to speak, I dart towards the sidewalk and run down the street yelling her name. Two kids on bikes start to snicker at me. They know. They have to.

I run towards them and yank one from his bike just as they attempt to ride away.

"Where is she?" I growl while holding the boy's shirt. His eyes double in size as he starts to cry. I couldn't care less about his tears right now.

"Where the fuck is she? I'm not gonna ask again." He cries even harder while his friend stands behind frozen with fear. I lift my fist to his face, causing him to cover it with his arms in defense. That's when I notice that he's holding Harmony's phone in his hand.

Author's Note

This chapter is super late, I know. I've been so busy with school, finals, projects, exams, etc. But guess what? I'm out for summer which means I can write more! This time I'll seriously try for a weekly schedule, especially since the book is almost over. Don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts. I love you guys!