Golden

Chapter XIX: Back To You

The sound was over as soon as it came and the dead of the night was back. Tires squealed outside and it faded into silence once again. At least, as silent as the neighborhood allowed.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked Selena. Her ears were still ringing from the multiple gunshots. She nodded her head.

As far as she could tell, the shots weren't aimed at them.

"Shit, we need to get out of here!" Liam exclaimed. "This place will be brimming with cops. We can't get mixed up to that."

"Grab everything we need," Harry instructed. They had prepared to leave at a moment's notice. They didn't even really unpack and only had a few perishables in stock. They were always careful not to leave any traces behind. It took some time for Niall and Selena to get used to but they picked up on what to do quickly.

They were inside their cars before the police came and were zooming out of the scene. Selena barely even glanced at the house next door. She couldn't believe her first instinct now wasn't to call for help or even actually help others herself.

But she needed to flee. Survive - that was her mantra now.

"Where do we go?" Niall asked over the speaker phone. He was on another car with Liam.

They needed to get out of the dark streets quick. Harry could already spot a few Damned but they hadn't noticed the Golden's presence yet.

"Drive to the shop we went to earlier," Selena dictated. "We'll meet you there. Stay safe."

"You too," Niall said before he hung up.

It was a good thing she was already behind the wheel in Harry's car. She sped towards Zayn's auto shop, with Harry keeping a lookout for any tails.

The tires screeched when she parked in front of Zayn's shop. Liam's car was behind Harry's minutes later.

She grabbed her phone to call Zayn. He had slipped his phone number on the files he gave her. She didn't think she'd need to call him this soon.

She didn't think she'd be back this soon.

Before the first ring even finished, the front was flooded with lights and a door opened.

Zayn was there and signaled for her. "Come on!"

"Go!" Harry said, his gun on his hand. The longer Selena was in the dark, the more the Damned could sense her presence.

She took a deep breath and ran towards Zayn. He enveloped her in his arms as he pulled her inside.

The three other boys were hot in her heels and they all trooped inside Zayn's well-lit shop.

Selena remained in Zayn's arms, her heart pounding with adrenaline.

"Shhh, you're fine, yeah?" Zayn said as he patted her back gently.

"Thanks, Zayn."

Niall cleared his throat. He had placed himself between Zayn and Harry as the latter was glaring at Zayn.

Selena took a deep breath before she detached herself from Zayn's comforting arms. She took one look at Liam's smirking expression and she suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Uhm, this is Zayn. He's, uhm, he's my friend."

"Hey, dude. Name's Liam."

"Niall. Nice to meet you."

Zayn looked a little surprised to see Harry. It was like he had known him before. But Zayn quickly masked his surprise. Everyone waited for Harry to say something.