Harry pulls his jacket on and walks toward the front door, hair disheveled and eyes playing tricks on him. He hasn't slept in the past four days despite the lies he keeps feeding to Joshua stating otherwise. Astraya has barely come back to consciousness, but Josh keeps saying that she'll wake up any day now, and Harry keeps getting his hopes high every time she opens her eyes or mumbles something incoherently.
For a fraction of a moment, he considers walking out and meeting up with Uriah like he was ordered to do, but then his head tilts back to the staircase and he turns his back. With one hand still in his hair and the other one now just holding his winter hat, he walks up the steps and makes a sharp turn into his old bedroom where Astraya is still sleeping.
Her skin has more color now but her lips are still chapped and it looks like she's dehydrated. He nears her and slips his hand behind her head, letting her thick hair create a cape for his fingers as he leans down to press a chaste kiss to her forehead. He freezes when she groans under his lips, and then gently drops her back onto the bed before pushing the covers more over her body.
She tries to shove at the blankets, and he's quick to get her message. Swiftly, he tears them from over her and then sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. "I'm sorry. My mistake, I thought you were cold, but you're actually-"
"What are you doing?" A voice at the door interrupts the moment, and Harry feels his cheeks heat up before turning to see Joshua with his hair a mess on his head, right hand holding a glass of water. He has that look in his eyes like he's skeptical. "Are you...Are you talking to her while she's knocked out?"
"No."
"Yes you are. That's good, that's good. Because she can still hear you, ya know?"
He nods and steps away from her, eyeing the glass of water in Josh's hand. "She'll be up soon? 'S that why you have that?"
"Uh yeah. Yeah, I have to go downtown to pick up some stuff for when she's awake, so I was going to ask you to be here when she does. She'll be completely out of it and if she tries to get out of bed, she won't get that far out. She won't be ready for any physical-"
"I can't be here." He pinches the bridge of his nose, knowing well off what has to be done now. "I'll tell Liam to do it."
"I hate that guy," Joshua deadpans, and Harry nods in understanding. "He keeps eating my shit, Harry. And I know he sees my name; I know it. He just doesn't care."
Harry nods but his eyes trail over to the girl on the bed. Her face is stuffed against his favorite pillow and he rolls his eyes before leaning over to push her away so she doesn't suffocate herself. "I'll go tell Liam."
With that, he's out of the room, pushing his hair back to pull the hat onto his head. He makes a turn to the steps and immediately bumps into someone. With a groan, he steps back and then looks down at the sandwich Liam's holding in front of him.
"You need to keep an eye on Astraya while Joshua and I step out for a few hours."
His face is blank for a few seconds. Then something clicks and he nods as a response, taking a quick glance down at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat bread. Josh is the only one who eats wheat. "I'll protect her with my life. Swear it."
"Great. Make sure she drinks some water when she wakes up, because she'll be dehydrated and might pass out or something if-"
"I get it."
"And stop eating Joshua's shit. He pays a lot of money for the healthy stuff."
"I'm not eating his food."
"You're eating it right now."
◦
She's crying. She has her face buried between her knees while she sits against the wall; hyperventilating like she's locked in a room with a monster.
That's what he looks like right now because he has blood on one hand and a pistol in the other. She lifts her head just in time to see him take a step forward, and she gets louder, whimpering like the tip of the gun is against her temple.
He drops to his knees in front of her and frowns. The gun isn't even touching her. It's his hand resting on her temple, his fingers moving to work through the knots in her hair before the gun in the other hand drops onto her lap. It slips right off and out of sight.
"Please don't hurt me," she pleads. "Please. Please don't kill me. I don't want to die."
Her brother slowly morphs into Harry, green eyes livid and lips in a straight line as the gun reappears and is shoved between her teeth. "I think it's better this way."
Something that sounds identical to a gunshot wakes Astraya up, and she practically jumps right out of the bed before landing on the floor. She feels too weak.
Her eyes dart around the abnormally dark bedroom. She cautiously picks herself up and makes her way to the door.
Even the hallway is pitch black. She has a splitting headache and isn't sure if she's dizzy or not. Shadows are morphing together and her body feels like it's being dragged underwater, legs moving increasingly slower with how long she walks.
"Hello?" Her voice is hoarse. Fear takes root in her chest when something is heard from behind her.
As quickly as she can, Astraya chooses to walk toward the staircase, but a pair of arms keeps her from going any further. She's whipped around before her mouth parts, and sees Liam. He almost looks like he could be concerned. Something makes a noise downstairs and she clutches harder onto him, knowing she's close to blacking out again.
"Who's downstairs? Why are there...why is someone here? Where's Harry?"
His face hardens considerably but his grip is still light. "Shh, Astraya. You have to be quiet, okay?"
"Why?"
He says something but she's already out of it. Her legs give out under her but it wasn't unprecedented. If anything, it feels good to not force herself on her feet.
◦
Waking up the second time around hurts more than the first. Her body is heavy and sore. She tries to move but opens her eyes in alert when it's clear that she's tied up.
Her wrists are tied above her head, the top of the rope connected to the ceiling. Her eyes are wild as they move to take in her surroundings. Metal walls and a single lightbulb in the center of the room. The floors are immaculate but there's a rotten smell in the air. She tries to pull her arms but the ropes only dig into her skin and remind her that she's weaker than she normally would be.
Something across from her makes a sound and the only door there slides open. She shuts her eyes at the newfound brightness of the light behind the person who walks in, but opens them as soon as she hears the door close.
"Astraya." It's Uriah. He looks dirty with his hair sticking up in random directions, and clothes slumped over his body like they don't even belong to him. Two sizes too big.
She doesn't even know what to tell him. If anything, all she is is scared. She never thought she would feel so scared of her own brother.
"I need you to forgive me. You need to believe me when I say that I didn't know what I was doing." He reaches up to touch her hair. "These guys are ruthless. They'll kill anyone if they have to, and I thought I could be like that but blood is thicker than-"
"Please," she closes her eyes and tries to cower away from his touch. This isn't how she planned to die. Yeah, she knew it would happen because of him or Harry or Liam, but she didn't think he'd be the one to do it.
"I love you, Rah." He sounds desperate now. Voice cracking by the last word. "You believe me, don't you?"
The door behind him opens again and this time Astraya doesn't close her eyes. She looks at the sadistic old man and can finally see the resemblance in his face. He and Harry share the same eye color despite the dull look in his.
"What are you doing in here, Uriah?"
Uriah steps away from her with tense shoulders. His attention drops to the floor in front of her. "I wanted to talk to my sister."
"I thought you said she was nothing to you."
There's hesitation in her brother's eyes as they slowly meet her gaze. He looks apologetic. "I was wrong."
"And what are you going to do? Do you think you can save her?"
Uriah bites down on his bottom lip to keep quiet, a tactic he used to use when their parents were yelling at him and he wanted to say something that would get him even more in trouble.
A silver gun is removed from behind Harry's father's back. "Are you that weak that you'd let love keep you from doing what needs to be done?"
"Des, I was only talking to her."
Astraya doesn't even attempt to say anything. She just watches the situation unfold in front of her, eyes switching between Des and her brother.
"Did I ever tell you what I had to sacrifice, Uriah? How I had to kill my own wife because I loved her too much and she gave me an ultimatum that I couldn't meet?"
Her throat grows sore at his description. He killed his wife because he loved her too much, but spared Harry's.
"No, sir."
"Well the time seems relevant now more than ever to let you know. She was the love of my life but I had to let her go because she didn't love this part of me. The way I raised my kid or dealt with certain people."
Uriah's shoulders are shaking and she's having a hard time figuring out why.
"My point is that love is a distraction."
Harry's voice from the second time they kissed pops into her head. My distraction.
"Des."
"Don't worry, son. I have a solution. I'll do it for you so you don't have to die a coward. I'll do it."
"Please don't kill her."
She tries to struggle against the ropes harder than before, wrists burning as the rough material digs further into her skin. Tears she didn't even know were in her eyes are now running down her face. The saltwater slips into her mouth and all too suddenly, Uriah's body is shielding hers.
"Please don't kill her. She's all I have. We only have each other, there's no one else for me."
"Correction," Des announces, completely out of her sight. "There's no one else for her."
The gun goes off and her brother slumps to the ground like deadweight, blood spilling from his head where the bullet landed.
She screams but lets her body hang freely from the ropes. It feels like her heart has just been torn right out of her chest. An alarm somewhere in the distance gets set off but she's too busy looking down at her dead brother.
I love you, Rah.
"Do you know what that means? That sound?"
She just hangs her head and decides not to answer him. Keeps her eyes closed so they don't stumble across the body directly in front of her. The smell of blood invades her senses.
"It means my son's key was just used."
The door behind him opens, and part of her knows it's not possible that it would be Harry walking inside, but she still looks up in hopes that it is. A hot feeling overtakes her as she sees Liam standing in the doorway with a casual look on his face.
He looks at her, Uriah, and, finally, Des. He doesn't even flinch at her brother's crumpled body, or wince at the blood on the floor. "He's on his way up." He looks strictly at Des, ignoring Astraya's eyes as they work at trying to understand how he could betray her like this.
"I want you to take care of this...thing on the floor."
She shuts her eyes again but that doesn't stop the tears from coming through. Her brother's gone.
You believe me, don't you?
A hand brushes against the side of her face. She opens her eyes to Liam. "This is when shit breaks loose."
"What's wrong with you?"
He's stepping on top of Uriah's hand. "This all could have went differently if you chose me instead of him. You wouldn't be here right now and your brother wouldn't be dead."
Now she chooses to close her eyes without opening them. She focuses on her breathing and tries to ignore the scent of blood.
"So many people will die today, Astraya. I want you to remember that his death won't be the only one you're responsible for."
[kinda unedited]
(a/n: Happy Late New Year, guys! There are now like 2-3 chapters left of the story. Thank you all for reading Meanwhile, it's been a wild ride! Please excuse the errors in the chapter, I only proofread it once.
Also, I've been thinking about writing a story where Harry is basically Death and he falls in love with Life. It would be something different for me, which is great since we're starting a new year.)