WILD // (Harry Styles)

F O U R T Y F O U R

"If she made the connection near where Zayn's keeping her, she is somewhere within the blue circle," Yang notes, and I hear my breath shiver as I look at it.

"When will you have the exact location?" Niall asks, walking to us. Yang turns to face him, taking a deep breath. A silence emits across the room, as the only sound that's noticeable are Niall and I's unsteady heartbeats. Yang walks back to her chair, sitting down slowly, intertwining her fingers.

"Five hours or so."

•

"Where do we start? The blue circle has to be covering tens of kilometers!" Niall nags as we get into the car. I haven't taken my eyes off the map, and I can just imagine how Claire is doing right now. She is at his mercy, and he might've already forced drugs down her throat. She could be gone for good.

And hope has proven to be a wasted emotion, it only brought me heartbreak. But I can't let go of it. I have to hope she will be alright.

"First, we'll go to Riverside Park to where she was told to meet him. You never know, she may have left a clue there." I determine, as I unlock my phone and open the picture Yang sent me of the exact spot where she met him.

"As you drive I'll find vacant residents in the area of the blue circle, that's what he used last time," I explain, and the car already drives out of the parking lot, and onto the road. I unlock my phone and find the area marked by the blue circle on Google Maps. I start looking for abandoned houses, vacant residents and empty buildings within it. But there are hundreds, I soon discover.

I notice Niall's sob next to me, as he clenches his hands around the steering wheel. Even though I'm hurting too, I feel bad for him. He has a possible future with her, after all. I don't.

A few tears roll down his cheek as we approach Riverside park, and Niall stops the car in a holt right on the side of the road, right next to the trees. I hop out with him, locking my phone. I start panting within seconds of running towards the red dot on the map. My body is pumping with adrenaline, but all those sleepless nights are catching up. I feel like I'm gonna collapse any second.

We reach a small bench, overlooking the river. I check on the map, and we are right on the red dot. This is where she met him.

"There's nothing here!" Niall shouts, checking over, under and beside the bench, near the trees, near the water.

"We don't have time for this Niall! We have to keep going! For all we know, her time could be up any second," I wheeze, my breath consuming my words. Niall's eyes grow panicked, tears streaming freely.

"I- I can't breathe, this is all my fau-" he gasps for air, his choked sobs preventing air from reaching his lungs.

"Niall, we'll find her, alright? But in order to do that, we have to go. We have to do everything we can," I try my best to calm him down, grabbing his shoulders to keep him steady.

"Just breathe, and let's go," I instruct, taking deep breaths myself. My lungs fill with air, and for some reason I don't want to exhale. I just want for time to freeze for a second.

"Ok," Niall finally nods, breathing properly again. He hurries over the grass, past the trees. I follow him, getting into the car with him as we reach the side of the room.

"Did you find anything before?" Niall asks, starting the car up. I grab my phone out of my pocket, unlocking it.

"Yes," I nod, putting on the seat belt. There are tens of addresses listed on my phone, and I figure we'll start at the top, and work our way down. According to Google Maps, it takes 40 minutes for us to reach the blue circle. I look up a route to the first address, staring intently at the screen.