Chapter 9
Despite the fact that they let Louis go and things seemed to be going better than I expected, I could tell that there was something they weren't telling me. Why did these people have to use everyone I'd ever loved against me? I couldn't stand it. I wanted to just stand up and attack Havener right here, right now, but I couldn't. He had the power to kill me, and Kate, if he found her again, and I wouldn't dare do anything to jeopardize that.
It wasn't worth it.
Havener just smiled when I'd agreed, an eerie, creepy smile. It sent shivers down my spine to see it. He'd clearly already gotten what he'd wanted out of me: my cooperation. I wasn't going to work with him, and I hadn't planned to. I wouldn't hurt Kate, if it was the last thing I didn't do. But I didn't know how to protect her from something I couldn't fight. These people were smart, and I didn't know anything about survival or protection. I was barely seventeen for Christ's sake. All I knew was that I needed to get out of this hospital bed and go look for her. Wherever God forsaken place she was at. If she needed me, I was going.
I had gotten lost in my thoughts, angry at how this whole situation was turning out. The loud clicking noise of a cuff snapping around my wrist was the only thing that brought me out of my thoughts. My eyes shot from the cuff to Havener's face, and back again in an instant.
"No backing out now," Havener said, almost in a whisper. A disgusting smile pulled at the corners of his mouth until all of his jagged teeth showed. I just glared at him trying to seem menacing, although I doubt that I did being as banged up as I was.
"What is that thing," I growled at him.
"That, my little devious friend, is a nanite cuff," he laughed, seemingly amused with my attempt at scaring him away from me. "The bracelet monitors what you do, say, and think while it touches your skin. If you try to tamper with it, it will release the nanites into your blood stream, and they will slowly suffocate you from the inside out while they destroy your red blood cells." My heart nearly stopped in my chest out of pure terror. He must've noticed as the heart monitor I was still connected to started ringing loudly, bringing a nurse running into the room.
"What's going on?" She yelled looking from my face, which was frozen in shock, and Havener who just stared at my reaction, hardly able to contain himself. How disgusting. "Harry, are you okay?" I turned to look at her slowly, not really aware of what I was doing. She came to the bed side and just looked at me, curious and confused.
"He's fine," Havener growled at her. She looked at him frightened, and turned away from me. "Just a little shocked is all." He finally laughed a horrid cackle at the sight of me, and all the pain he was putting me through.
"Sir, you need to leave." The nurse, who I recognized as Molly from earlier walked over near him, and gipped his arm tightly. I watched as she escorted him out of the room. He kept glancing back over at me from over his shoulder. I guessed he was checking my reaction, before he finally pulled out his phone and messaged someone. Probably his conspirators, I thought to myself, full of venom. I bet they're checking the cuff's functionality. Want to know what I'm thinking, huh? How about this, assholes. Fuck you. I sat in the bed a few minutes longer before sitting up quickly, undoing the leads to the IVs that were stuck into the back of my hand.
I unlatched one of the bed rails and flopped my feet over the side. They dangled for a moment before I shoved my body off the bed. I stood up, holding still for a moment as I got lightheaded. My blood pressure stabilized, and I righted myself after nearly toppling over. I tried to keep my mind blank. They weren't going to get anything out of me, and I was absolutely determined to make sure of it.
Unclipping myself from the rest of the monitors, I grabbed what was left of my belongings from the table at the foot of the bed, and ran out of the room. I darted down the hall, and into the staircase. I stopped for a moment to change out of my hospital gown in relative privacy. I finished and ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time nearly the entire way. Where in the hell had Louis gone? He should've come into the hospital. Maybe he was still in the parking lot trying to recollect himself, and if he was, I needed to talk with him.
I reached the first floor, and I burst through the door into the hallway. It was a lot more conspicuous than I wanted it to be, but I wasn't sure I had a choice if I needed to be fast. I sped down the hall, getting to the automatic doors in the front before they had a chance to open for me. I waited, tapping my foot anxiously on the floor while they pulled themselves open slowly.
Come on, come on! It felt like I stood there for an eternity waiting on those stupid doors. When there was enough space for my wide chest to slip through, I escaped through the opening. I stepped outside, and a large gust of wind blew into my face. I shivered more now especially since I was missing half a head of hair.
I turned and jogged down the street toward the parking lot where I noticed Louis' black Porsche was still parked. Hurrying over to it, I nearly tripped over a curb while I tried to examine my cuff. I was afraid that Louis would have one too, and it scared me to think that we'd both be monitored. I didn't know how to get out of this situation, to be able to talk to people about what was going on and to try to figure out a plan of action if we were always being watched.
I arrived next to the car and crouched down to look into the windows. I saw my own reflection in the darkened glass before I decided to knock on the window. I was about to put my knuckles to the glass when Louis rolled the window down.
"Harry, where've you been, lad?" He looked up at me, his blue eyes bloodshot. He appeared as if he'd been crying. Louis looked about as bad as I felt. I held up my wrist so that he could clearly see the cuff around it.
"I need to talk to you," I said solemnly. I heard the shiny black car door unlock. I walked around to the passenger side of the vehicle and pulled the small door open before sliding inside.
"You got one too, huh?" Louis voice quivered as he spoke. He hung his head low as he pulled up the leg of his Coca Cola pajama pants, and exposed his ankle. Clasped around it was a shiny cuff, with a long, curved glass tube containing some lethal nanites. I shook my head. I looked him in the eyes again, nearly bursting into tears myself to see him this way. It hurt me more to know that I was the reason that he'd been pulled him into this in the first place. He could've been safe from Havener's men, but since I couldn't wait to talk, now he could die any moment. It was hard to face. I could hardly keep the tears from spilling over, each droplet burning in my eyes.
I wanted Louis to comfort me, and tell me everything was going to be alright, but we were both stuck in this together, and there was no guarantee that we were going to survive it at all. He finally sat back in his seat, rubbing the tears from his eyes with balled up fists before he spoke again.
"So what do we do now?" I looked up from where I'd put my head in my hands, glancing at him through my remaining hair.
"I don't know, Lou," I squeaked out. "I don't know." He did nothing except shake his head in response. He seemed like he was far away in his mind, lost deep in thought. He didn't seem like he wanted to share; he just stayed so quiet and still. It was really unlike him, and it made me nervous.
"I wish we could just give up," Louis whispered. "This isn't our fight. Why do we have to be roped in? I think we all know how it's going to end anyway." He was right. I didn't want to accept it, but it was the truth. I couldn't fight this battle, which was one I didn't know anything about. I wasn't apart of it, and the only reason I was mixed up with it in the first place was because of my emotional ties to Kate, which I was going to break sooner or later when I was force to betray her.
Why did this have to be my fate?
We were going to die. The only question was: how were we going to spend our last moments? If I helped the enemy, my life would end quicker, and we'd have less of a chance of stopping them from killing millions of innocent people. But how were we supposed to stop them anyway? We couldn't fight them when our every move was being monitored.
Louis finally put the key in the ignition and started to drive back to our flat. It was all a blur as I thought of ways to get rid of the cuffs. Havener had said that they monitored our thoughts and feelings while they touched our skin, but what if we put something between the two?
I started to form a plan.
As Louis slowed the car while he pulled over to park, I flung the door open and scrambled out. I had several rubber bracelets in the drawer of my dresser, and I wanted to try something. Louis called to me from back at the car, but I didn't stop running. I took the stairs quickly up to the third floor where I came face to face with our front door. I picked up the key holder from the base of the fake plant that stood outside and cracked it open, pulling out the spare key. I shoved the door open once I'd unlocked it and went inside, glad to finally be home. It felt like forever since I'd seen the familiar red walls of home. The life size Iron Man figure still scared me when I walked into the living room, and the pinball machine flashed at me from the corner where it sat.
I continued down the hallway into my bedroom. The door creaked as I pushed it open. It felt like I was intruding into someone else's space, almost as if I didn't live here anymore. The room was still a mess, but I didn't have time to clean it. I carefully picked my way over my spilled things while I approached the dresser. I yanked open the drawer to reveal my bracelets. I picked the biggest one I could find, and I slipped it over my wrist. It was a tight squeeze to get the band between my skin and the metal of the cuff, but after working on it for a few moments with come grunting and groaning, I made sure there was no way the band could touch my skin.
"There," I said quietly, feeling satisfied with my hard work. I waited for something to happen to prove that my theory was working. I don't know what I'd expected, but it definitely did not happen. The room was silent. There were no flashing lights, alarms, or any kind of craziness happening.
At first.
It was such a quiet sound I almost didn’t notice it. I stood entirely still for just a moment, trying to be as silent as possible, and that was when the faintest of beeps was heard. I pulled the cuff closer to my ear, and I noticed it even more. It almost sounded like the ticking of a clock. A huge smile of triumph formed on my face. All that mattered was that I’d found a loophole. I could still have private conversations, although, I didn’t know how feasible it was going to be to have privacy often, but every little bit helped. I turned around, and for the first time, I noticed Louis standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. His red pajama bottoms sagged slightly, torn at the end. His once white t-shirt now had patches of dirt on it. Louis’ looked melancholy and exhausted. I ran over and gave him a much-needed hug. It had been a long few days, and I’d missed my best friend.
“I’m sorry about everything, Lou,” I said, bending down slightly as I hugged him hard. He felt soft, and his back bent backward a bit as I impacted. “I really am.”
“It’s alright,” he said quietly into my remaining tangle of curls. His hand patted me on the shoulder as I pulled away. He gave me a halfhearted smile, his usually brilliant blue eyes now dull and dreary. “I’m actually going to go out for coffee. I need a little more alone time to deal with all of this.” Louis waved his hand around in the air in a circular motion. I nodded, and our eyes locked for just a moment. I swear in that moment, something I saw flash in his eyes surprised me. Was it sadness? Anger? Disappointment? It came and went so quickly I nearly missed it altogether. I didn’t want to ask any questions. I trusted him not to do anything stupid that he, or let alone I, would regret.
But never in my life did my gut wrench harder than when he walked out that door for the last time.