Sold // Harry Styles

Chapter 41

I grasp the doorknob in my hand, checking behind me several times as my fingers fumble with the small lock that keeps the door in place. I can feel the cool air begin to seep in through the tiny crack below the door, making my already numb toes shrivel up in my sandals.  My heart is beating erratically and I know that as soon as I get out of this house, I’m going to collapse in the cornfield with overwhelming thoughts of relief.

I glance back at A.J. once more.  Nothing has changed.  He still sits on the couch, the TV continues to play, and the clock on the wall continues to tick with no real purpose other than acting as a metronome for no one.

I turn my attention back to the knob in front of me before I ever so slowly begin to yank the door open.  The loud siren suddenly wraps around my head, dancing through my ears and electrifying my body.  Everything seems to happen in slow motion.

My hand immediately drops from the handle before I frantically run to the bathroom, thrusting myself in between the half open door.  Despite the loud ringing in the air, A.J.’s loud footsteps and angry mutters still seem predominate over everything else.  He walks past me, solely focused on shutting the security system off.

He presses the 4 digit passcode, making the house fall silent.  My ears start to ring with the sudden change of atmosphere (although I suppose it could be from the amount of anxiety I have at the moment).  My legs tremble and I have to put all my weight on the wall behind me just so I prevent myself from falling down and drawing unnecessary attention from A.J.

He pulls the curtains away from the window, glancing outside, searching for the intruders.  When he sees no one, he turns around slowly, looking high and low for anything out of place.

“Damn wind,” he utters under his breath before turning around and walking back to the family room.

I don’t move an inch from behind the door.  I don’t think I could even if I wanted to.  My head is dizzy with cloudy thoughts and it stays that way for the next few minutes.  It isn’t until I know for a fact that A.J. is settled and unsuspicious of anything that I finally allow myself to move from my hiding spot.

I silently creep up the stairs, looking frantically side to side for any signs of Harry.  Each room I come across is completely empty.  The white halls are vacant and the doors that I hesitantly open lead only to hallway closets and more empty bedrooms.  An eery silence, aside from my footsteps, floats around the second story floor--the only sound coming from the quiet hum of the TV downstairs.

My breathing starts to turn into hysterics as I see no head of curly hair and hear no sounds other than my seemingly loud footsteps and jagged breaths.  I walk back the way I came, quickening my steps and looking up, down, left, and right.  The hallways are dimly lit from the lack of sunlight that hides behind the clouds.  Shadows dance along the walls and even my own shadow seems to swallow me whole.

I turn into a room, pressing my back up against the wall before sliding down to burry my head in my hands.  I force the tears back in my eyes, knowing that if they fall, my nose will start running.  And if my nose starts to run, then I’ll have loud sniffles.  And if I have loud sniffles, A.J. will surely hear me.  And if A.J. hears me, he will surely come looking for me.  And I don’t want to continue with this stream of bad thoughts because I know it’ll only scare me more than I already am.

My fragmented thoughts begin to muddle with one another, pushing my emotions to the brink of delirium.

A.J. Alarm.  Escape.  Harry.

I rock myself back and forth, covering my hands over my ears.  The words and shapeless thoughts grow louder in my head, swirling around my body and exerting a heavy force on my shoulders.  My lungs are struggling to keep up with my breathing and my heart feels like it’s ready to pounce onto the floor.  And my thoughts continue to increase in volume until I’m ready to scream.