CHAPTER 44
HARRY
"Oh my god," Yang sighs, leaning back in her chair. She closes her eyes for a second, and I can feel the thick tension in the room.
"Alright, do you know where she met him? Do you have any idea where she could be?" She asks, already typing something into her computer.
"No," I shake my head, and she looks up at me.
"Well what do you expect me to do?" She exhales, taking her fingers off the keyboard. I can hear Niall breathe heavily behind me, and I notice him sitting down on a chair in the corner of the room.
"All my fault," he whispers to himself, burying his face in his hands.
"Is there any way to track her phone? She brought it with her," I breathe, placing my hands on the desk, leaning on it. I don't have the strength to stand up on my own, my muscles are weakening by the second.
"Maybe... If the phone is communicating with a cell tower, we can track it," She nods along with her sentence, making my heart race. I recite her number from my memory, and Yang types it into her computer.
I stare intently into her eyes, as they focus heavily on the screen, not even blinking. I see the screen brightening in the reflection of her eyes, and my heart jumps when a confident smile spreads on her face.
"Ok, there were two connections with a cell tower since you saw her last, Niall," she turns to Niall, and he gets up from the chair, his lips parting.
"Where," he demands, moving closer to the desk.
"Hang on," she stresses, putting her palm in the air. Her body quickens, her intense stare almost frightening me. Her eyes move to every corner of the screen, as she quickly moves her finger on the mousepad. She clicks once, waiting a few seconds.
"Riverside Park," she reveals, and my throat tightens. I get behind the desk, looking at the screen. It displays a satellite map of New York city, a dot red as blood placed on the green area.
"Well, where's the second connection?!" I say, my breaths getting heavier.
"It was... compromised," Yang says.
"What do you mean compromised?" I breathe, my heart beating like it never has before.
"It doesn't give an exact location," Yang shakes her head, and right when I think it's gonna be alright, my heart drops again, never reaching the ground.
"But..." Yang suddenly starts.
"But what?!"
"Maybe we can repair the connection," she reveals, already opening a coding terminal. I notice my heart start racing again, and I'm reminded of what happened last time I felt so uneasy. I had just had all my hopes crushed in a matter of seconds. I back away from the computer, and I sit down in the chair Niall was sitting down on before.
"It will take a few hours, though," Yang's voice is restless, and I block out every sound in the room to take a deep breath, trying my best to calm myself.
"This may not be her location, Harry. She could've made a connection and then went on to be taken somewhere else. But it's worth a shot," she continues, turning to me across the room.
"I don't have the exact location yet, but I can find a vague area of the connection," she mutters, typing something quickly then clicking the mousepad. The printer beside her starts up, printing an image.
"Here," she gets up from her chair, taking the paper out of the printer. She walks past Niall, and hands it to me.
"If she made the connection near where Zayn's keeping her, she is somewhere within the blue circle," Yang notes, and I hear my breath shiver as I look at it.
"When will you have the exact location?" Niall asks, walking to us. Yang turns to face him, taking a deep breath. A silence emits across the room, as the only sound that's noticeable are Niall and I's unsteady heartbeats. Yang walks back to her chair, sitting down slowly, intertwining her fingers.
"Five hours or so."
•
"Where do we start? The blue circle has to be covering tens of kilometers!" Niall nags as we get into the car. I haven't taken my eyes off the map, and I can just imagine how Claire is doing right now. She is at his mercy, and he might've already forced drugs down her throat. She could be gone for good.
And hope has proven to be a wasted emotion, it only brought me heartbreak. But I can't let go of it. I have to hope she will be alright.
"First, we'll go to Riverside Park to where she was told to meet him. You never know, she may have left a clue there." I determine, as I unlock my phone and open the picture Yang sent me of the exact spot where she met him.
"As you drive I'll find vacant residents in the area of the blue circle, that's what he used last time," I explain, and the car already drives out of the parking lot, and onto the road. I unlock my phone and find the area marked by the blue circle on Google Maps. I start looking for abandoned houses, vacant residents and empty buildings within it. But there are hundreds, I soon discover.
I notice Niall's sob next to me, as he clenches his hands around the steering wheel. Even though I'm hurting too, I feel bad for him. He has a possible future with her, after all. I don't.
A few tears roll down his cheek as we approach Riverside park, and Niall stops the car in a holt right on the side of the road, right next to the trees. I hop out with him, locking my phone. I start panting within seconds of running towards the red dot on the map. My body is pumping with adrenaline, but all those sleepless nights are catching up. I feel like I'm gonna collapse any second.
We reach a small bench, overlooking the river. I check on the map, and we are right on the red dot. This is where she met him.
"There's nothing here!" Niall shouts, checking over, under and beside the bench, near the trees, near the water.
"We don't have time for this Niall! We have to keep going! For all we know, her time could be up any second," I wheeze, my breath consuming my words. Niall's eyes grow panicked, tears streaming freely.
"I- I can't breathe, this is all my fau-" he gasps for air, his choked sobs preventing air from reaching his lungs.
"Niall, we'll find her, alright? But in order to do that, we have to go. We have to do everything we can," I try my best to calm him down, grabbing his shoulders to keep him steady.
"Just breathe, and let's go," I instruct, taking deep breaths myself. My lungs fill with air, and for some reason I don't want to exhale. I just want for time to freeze for a second.
"Ok," Niall finally nods, breathing properly again. He hurries over the grass, past the trees. I follow him, getting into the car with him as we reach the side of the room.
"Did you find anything before?" Niall asks, starting the car up. I grab my phone out of my pocket, unlocking it.
"Yes," I nod, putting on the seat belt. There are tens of addresses listed on my phone, and I figure we'll start at the top, and work our way down. According to Google Maps, it takes 40 minutes for us to reach the blue circle. I look up a route to the first address, staring intently at the screen.
"Take a right here," I start.
I will find you Claire. Just hold on.
•
•
CLAIRE
"What are you thinking about?" Michael asks, as I sit by the door, looking at the stripe of light gleaming through it.
"I'll never go back home," I say, staring at the stripe. Michael gets up from the mattress, walking over to me. He sits down on the other side of the stripe, facing me.
"Claire, listen to me," he says, taking my hand.
"If I get out of here and you don't..." he starts, and I'm immediately glad that he accepts that as an opportunity. He has to, in order for him to escape. Only one of us are getting out of here, that's what I came here to do.
"I'll never stop looking," Michael says, squeezing my hand.
"I will search for you until I'm dead, alright?" He insists, and I fight the urge to shake my head. I gave myself over to Zayn to save him. And Zayn will never let him go until I completely surrender to him.
"I'm sorry Michael," I say, looking down. It's time to be the friend Michael deserves.
"Zayn!" I shout, standing up. Michael's eyes widen as he realizes what my intentions are. No more than five seconds pass before Zayn opens the doors, widening the stripe of light. He smiles at me, his eyes glowing in the dim light.
"I'll do it, I'll eat anything you give me, just please let Michael go," I breathe, and Zayn's smile fades into the wicked smirk I recognize from a month ago.
"Claire, no!" Michael raises his voice, shaking his head. Zayn grabs me by the arm, kissing my temple.
"There's my girl," he whispers into my ear, making my shudder at the sound. He tightens his grip on my arm as he backs out of the room through the door.
"Claire, don't do this!" Michael's voice breaks as Zayn slowly shuts the door, leaving Michael alone in there.
"I love you, I'm sorry," I cry, and I savor the sight of his face for the last time.
"You have to let him go," I say to Zayn, as he drags me down the hallway.
"Oh I will, after we have our fun," he taunts. He takes me up the stairs, the wood squeaking as he steps forcefully up them. He takes me into another room, and I cast my eyes on the bed that rests beside a window. He throws me down on it.
"What are you gonna do to me?" I whimper, my muscles quickening and my body stiffening when I think of what he almost did last time.
"Ahh! The things I'm gonna do to you," His devilish voice awakes fear in the depths of my being. His eyes turn vicious as he moves to me, grabbing my hips. He sits down on the bed, pulling me on his lap.
"Please don't," an unsteady whisper escapes me, my fingers trembling on my thighs. I have been through a lot, but I don't think I could go through that. Just having his hands on me, overwhelms me with panic.
"Aw why baby? Are you scared of me?" His voice turn crazed, tightening his grip on my thighs, pulling me close. I try to push him away, but he slaps me across the face, pinning me against the window.
"Don't fight me!" He shouts with all his might.
"You don't want me to put a bullet through your friends head, now do you?" He threatens, making my heartbeat accelerate. I stop fighting, trying my best to relax my muscles.
"There you go," he crows, kissing my neck.
"Ah, fuck!" he spits suddenly, grabbing my neck. He suddenly lets go of me, turning his back towards me, taking a few steps into the middle of the room.
"You drive me fucking wild," he says, pulling at his hair. He moves closer again--this time grabbing me by the waist. I let out a groan as he kisses my neck.
"Shut the fuck up, baby."
A/N
EYY chapter 44! Crazy to think I wrote so many chapters in 5 months... Only 6 left! It's all coming together... There are so many reveals lined up holy shiiii
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