Stain [H.S] - Major Editing

Chapter Twenty One

I woke up abruptly to the sound of my alarm clock blaring through my bedroom. It was eight thirty in the morning. Last night's events were still fresh in my mind; some were too painful and frightening to keep, some I wanted to throw away, while some I wanted to keep forever as blissful memories.

I pushed Houdini out of the bed and he plunked down on the floor, his slumber unfazed. I kicked the bed covers off me and stumbled towards the bathroom. While washing my face with cold water, my phone rang and I ran to get it, my face still dripping wet.

It was Fry.

"Fry!"

"Alice!" He sounded anxious. "Where are you?"

I wiped my cheek with my sleeve. "Home. Why?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. I am." I said slowly. "Fry, you're scaring me. What's going on?"

"I'm sorry but can you pl—give me that..." there was a rustling sound and it hurt my ear. "Alice."

"Zayn?" I said, surprised.

"Meet me at The Cap right now. I'll be waiting for you at the gates." His words were rushed, as if he was using the momentum to gather courage. "I'm sorry, but this is really urgent."

"What's going on?" I asked again, my voice cracked.

"I'll answer your questions when you get here. Just hurry up." He said.

"I'm on my way."

.

I arrived at The Capitol and saw Zayn leaning against a stone pillar, his hands in his pockets. He looked troubled, and I began to feel uneasy. I hurried towards him. "Zayn!"

His head jerked to my direction. "You're fast." He seemed impressed.

"Is everything alright?" I said as I followed him through the park.

"I've been ransacked—actually, we've been ransacked. Liam's apartment was completely run down, Harry's cabinets were obliterated, and Fry...well...his place was spit out by a tornado." He said, looking at me over his shoulder. "I think we've been too lazy with our safety."

"What?!" My heart raced for a moment.

"Well in my case, I decided to go for an insomnia walk last night, and I forgot to lock my front door. I know, it was stupid and I should have been more careful, but hey, we all make mistakes." He shrugged ever so casually. "I'm just thankful nothing really bad—aside from my missing IDs and a havocked dresser—ever happened."

"Who would do such a thing?" I said, furious.

"After connecting the dots, it's Morrison's men no doubt."

I gawked at him. "You know?"

His jaw tightened and he ran a hand through his messy hair. "Morrison threw up a heavy smokescreen at us. Fry told me everything this morning."

We walked further into the park, by the bike route and benches, and I first see Harry sitting on the bench of wisdom talking with Fry and Liam. He was wearing a grey sweater and his curls peeked out of his hat, which was put on backwards. There was always something about casual Harry that I really, really adored.

"Alice's here." Zayn said once we approached them.

Fry ran towards me and tackled me with a bear hug. "Ally!"

"Whoa, what's with the over-the-top display of affection?" I squeaked. "It's nice seeing you too, beeswax."

"I was really worried about you." He murmured as he rested his chin on my shoulder. I tried to catch Harry's eye, but he refused to meet my gaze. "I thought they'd hurt you."