Malicious // h.s. [Editing]

Chapter 7

"Harry?" I said quietly as I walked around to where he could see me. He looked up at me in surprise and his face changed expressions as he saw that I was in nothing but a towel. He shook his head lightly and cleared his throat before answering me.

"What?"

"I don't have anything to wear.." I trailed off and looked down at the towel covering me.

"Oh, right. Just a minute, I'll go get you something." He jumped off the sofa and ran up the steps, returning minutes later with a pair of sweats, boxers, and a baggy jumper. "Here, I don't have like, panties or anything obviously so you will just have to use my boxers until I go into town." A blush rose onto my cheeks after he said that and I looked away as I heard him chuckle under his breath.

"Yeah, um.. thanks." I muttered. "Is there a bathroom downstairs that I could change in? Or is the one upstairs the only one?"

"There is one down here, too, it's right down the hall, the last of the two doors." He directed with a small nod. I smiled lightly before turning to go down the hallway.

The first door was wide open and I saw it was just a plain bedroom, most likely meant to be the master bedroom. I wonder why Harry didn't use that one? I would prefer a downstairs room over an upstairs room if I lived in a house alone, personally.

I quickly changed in the washroom before hanging the towels on the door and returning to the living room. Harry was still in there, sat on the couch watching tv. I noticed it was switched to the news and I say down to watch it with him out of interest. I always hated the news channel but with the hopes of my case being on, I stayed to watch. Much to my luck, a news clipping of me flashed on the screen and then a reporter came on.

"Twenty year old Darien Taylor was reported missing earlier this week. She was last seen by her brother, Alex Taylor, on Friday May sixteenth at seven p.m.. She was said to be staying home alone for the remainder of the night and into the next morning as he was gone for personal reasons." The lady started, pausing to shuffle her papers.

"Maybe I should change this..." Harry trials off, lifting the remote to flick the station.

"No! I want to see this!" I demand and he bites back his anger and puts the remote down.

"When twenty-two year old Alex returned the next morning from his girlfriends house, the house was empty. Police say there was blood on the floors and a few items were smashed and out of place. Signs of struggle were found within the home. With the scene of the house and the unexpected disappearance of Darien Taylor, we have reason to believe that she was abducted between nine p.m. that night and two a.m. the next morning." The screen switched and a clip of my brother talking came on. My interest peaked even more and tears come to my eyes at the sight of him.

"I had called her in the morning to check on her and to tell her I would be home shortly but she hadn't answered. I didn't think much of it, assuming she was still asleep." He cried. Tears were streaming from his eyes, he looked so sad and upset. Seeing him cry made me sob relentlessly into my hands. Harry gave me a strange look, one that I couldn't decipher. It was a mix between sympathy and utter disgust, as if he felt bad but at the same time it sickened him to see us like this. It was as though he couldn't understand why we were both so upset,

"I came home about an hour later and when I walked through the door I saw the blood and my baseball bat lying in the floor. I clearly knew something was wrong right away and I panicked so I ran all over the house looking for her. Glass was all over the floor and things were knocked over. I called the cops as soon as I knew she was nowhere around." He sniffed and looked down for a moment before composing himself and looking back up at the camera.

"They looked around and set out a missing persons file, bringing us to where we are now. I need to find my sister! Someone, anyone, needs to bring her back to me! The police need to find the son of a bitch who took her and make him pay for laying a hand on her." He shook his head. I wasn't sure he was aloud to talk like that on national tv, but he did and I hope he didn't get in trouble for it.

"I shouldn't have left the house that night, I should have stayed with her.." He shook his head as more tears came. The screen flicked back to the reporter and I cried even harder than I was. He was blaming himself for this, and that killed me inside more than anything. This wasn't his fault, it would never be his fault.

"We don't have any leads on who the kidnapper may be, but the police are doing all they can to find the information they need. With the serial killer being in the loose, it is a good possibility that the abduction could have a tie to the murders, but the murderer has last no reason for us to believe that he is the suspect for this crime, as he has not done a thing like this with last victims." She paused again. If only they knew, I thought to myself.

"If anyone knows anything about the disappearance of Darien Taylor," a picture of me popped up on the too corner. "Please contact the police immediately with any information you may have or find in the future. Please remember to follow the rules and curfews that are still enforced due to the killings and stay safe. Thank you." She smiled and a commercial came on.

"He's blaming himself." Is the first thing I said when Harry shut the tv off. "Alex is blaming himself for this! It isn't his fault, it's not." I shook my head to myself. "It's your fault!" I raised my voice at Harry.

"Keep your tone down before you regret talking to me like that." Harry threatened. I rolled my eyes and stood up, not caring anymore what he said or did to me.

"This is your fault! You're the reason my brother is depressed and crying and blaming himself for something he had in control over! You turned my brother into a stressed out mess! He's at home wondering if I will ever come back, blaming himself for it all! If I don't make it home alive, he'll spend the rest of his life blaming everything on himself!" I yelled.

I was crying heavily but I didn't care, I tried to ignore the tears as Harry came closer to me. He was fuming, his eyes were like slits and his breathing escalated quickly. He was beyond pissed. I started to rethink what I just did as he swung his hand up and struck it across my face, a strong stinging sensation being felt across my left cheek.