I'm stupid. I am the most stupid female to ever walk this planet. Scratch that. I am the most stupid person to ever walk this planet. I'm just so damn stupid.
I can't seem to comprehend the amount of danger that I've put myself in. I should have filed a complaint when Heidi gave me my assignment. I should have stayed home with my Twilight and tea and made Shane walk his ass home. I should have never met the curly-headed person sitting beside me, his hands tight on the steering wheel, knuckles white.
"What's your name?" The words fell from my mouth thoughtlessly. It broke the tense silence that had ensued around us, yet I received no answer. He didn't even glance in my direction. His eyes were staring straight out the window. I wondered if he was blatantly ignoring me or just very focused. I was hoping the latter.
I was thrown forward suddenly, the seat belt tightening painfully against my chest, as the car squealed to a stop. I hadn't been paying attention to where we were headed but we were now sat in a broad alleyway between what looked to be two warehouses. This was a darker part of town, one that I shouldn't be in. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be here, but nothing about my life seemed normal these past few days.
"Stay here," he mumbled swiftly as he ducked out of the car and locked it behind him. I frowned in confusion but remained in my spot, only twisting my head around to see what he was doing.
I noticed the other figure leaning against the blank wall face then. He was familiar, the jet black quiff atop his head recognizable... it was one of the others in Styles's gang. He was smoking a cigarette, gazing calmly at his fellow gang member as he approached. I wished I could hear what they were saying, because as soon as Styles started talking, the Quiff was putting out his cigarette and shoving away from the wall, an angry expression playing on his features.
I turned forward abruptly as Styles turned around and headed back toward the car, but instead of opening the driver's side he yanked open my door. "Come on," he said, his voice low and gruff. But I didn't move. I was frozen. So much had happened in the past ten minutes that it was hard to process. I couldn't seem to fit it all together.
First, the mysterious stranger who had saved my life a few days after I'd saved his had shown up at my work and demanded I stayed indoors at all costs, no exceptions. A gunshot proceeded to go off and I'd hopped in the stranger's, who I could only identify as 'Styles', car and now I was here, sitting in an alleyway with two gang members who both looked livid. I am most definitely stupid.
"I don't have time for this." The words came out of his mouth so fast and low that I wasn't sure he'd really said them, but the next moment the seat belt was snapping away from me and I was being tugged forcefully out of the car. As soon as I was upright Styles released me and I had to grab onto the open passenger door to keep my balance.
He stepped away from me and I moved just before he closed the door and began to stride around the side of the car back toward the Quiff. I hurried to catch up, wanting to know what the hell was going on, but I only caught part of his sentence. "--and dangerous. I'll take care of her."
My ears perked up at that last bit. Considering I was the only 'her' in the vicinity, I had to assume he was speaking about me. But why would he have to take care of me? What the hell was going on?
The Quiff hesitated. "You sure, man? We can help--"
"I've got it," Styles growled. "Just go."
The Quiff let out a sigh but nodded as he accepted the keys from Styles and got in the car, speeding away from us the moment the door swung closed. I stared after him until the car was completely out of sight. When I looked back, Styles was looking at me, his expression unreadable.
I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, wondering what I should do. I felt like I was standing at a fork in my undeniably twisted path. One side led to dark chaos, and the other the same. Both were mysterious. Both were uncertain. And both I feared.
"Harry."
I frowned, confused by his sudden statement. "What?"
"Harry," he repeated, his eyes lightening by a fraction. "That's my name. Harry."
"Oh," I murmured. I hadn't expected him to actually give me his name after he had promptly ignored me in the car and then proceeded to drag me out of it. He was guarded. Mysterious. It was something that both annoyed and intrigued me. "I'm Alice."
"I didn't ask," was his sharp reply. I struggled to keep my face neutral when, in all honesty, he had offended me a bit. Wasn't it the polite thing to say your name in reply when someone gave you theirs? "But it's lovely," he added softly.
My cheeks heated up immediately and I looked down, surprised but also pleased by the unexpected compliment. "Thank you."
"Come on, princess," he said, his voice still soft. "It's not safe out here."
I looked back up at him. His eyes were dark, his expression blank, and I knew he was serious. I nodded, curious now as to where we would be going. He'd just given our ride away to the Quiff, so I hoped it was in walking distance.
I was surprised when he turned and opened a heavy metal door behind him that I hadn't noticed before. It seemed to almost blend in with the brick wall, or maybe I just wasn't being as observant as I should be under such circumstances. He motioned for me to go ahead of him and I almost tripped on the staircase that immediately followed the threshold. I heard him chuckle behind me but I chose to ignore it as I headed up each step with extra care so as not to further make a fool of myself.
As I reached the top I found that the door was locked and I frowned, opening my mouth to tell Harry, but he was already bending around me, key in hand, to unlock it. I froze in place as his bare arm brushed my shoulder. The contact made me feel queasy.
He pushed open the door and slowly leaned away from me. My muscles relaxed almost immediately.
I was standing in one big, spacious room. There was a television and white leather couches nestled into one corner, and a little kitchen in the other. A massive rectangular dining room table occupied most of the space in the room aside from a grand piano that didn't seem one bit out of place. The whole room surprised me. It was luxurious, something that I had not expected.
An open door straight across from me led into what was clearly a bedroom. I could see half of what seemed to be a queen-size bed. The covers were messy, one of the pillows actually on the floor.
"Nice place," I commented as I trailed my fingers across the shiny wooden tabletop.
"You sound surprised," Harry murmured. I looked back at him still standing in the doorway, his dark eyes following my every move.
"I am," I admitted. A smirk curved his lips and he shook his head in amusement before stepping over the threshold and closing and locking the door behind him. I gulped noiselessly, watching his turned back with wide eyes. All my confidence had suddenly flown out the window. Just two seconds ago I was perfectly at ease, but now, not so much.
But the thing was, I had never felt true confidence since that gunshot was fired. It was all fake, something to make myself feel better, but the heavy walls I had put up to keep all the bad out were slowly crumbling. Everything had been so surreal, but it seemed that as that lock clicked into place, so did the fact that I was seemingly stuck in the middle of something very dangerous.
"Why did you bring me here?" My voice was dripping with fear, something I didn't want to show. Fear was weakness. I wasn't weak. I had been through too much to be weak.
"You could call this the Princess Protection Program," he smirked as he walked forward with deliberate slowness. I knew he could tell I was scared. I was sure that if my voice hadn't given it away, my face had. There was too much danger to not be fearful.
"Ha ha, very funny," I muttered. "But I'm serious."
"So am I," he replied, now just a foot away from me, his smirk gone and now replaced with a serious expression and tone to match. "I think you're realizing how dangerous your situation is."
"And what situation would that be?" I narrowed my eyes at his vagueness.
Harry let out a breath and his eyes drifted up to the ceiling momentarily. "I'll let you know when I find out."
My mouth fell open. "You don't even know what the danger is, yet I'm being held hostage here?"
Harry's eyebrows raised immediately at my small outburst. I suppose I was acting a bit bipolar at the moment, but under the amount of stress I had on my shoulders, I think I was permitted a few mood swings. "Held hostage? You're not being held hostage."
"Then I'm leaving," I replied shortly, but before I could barely take a step forward Harry was right in front of me, his chest almost touching mine.
"That wouldn't be very smart, princess," he said in a low, dangerous voice. "I'm not someone to mess around with. Go ahead and try to leave. See what happens." It was a challenge, but in the darkest way. Now, I'm a fairly stubborn person when it comes down to it, but I didn't think that Harry was someone I wanted to go up against. Ever.
He waited patiently for me to make a move but I stayed drilled to the spot, avoiding his dark gaze. Finally he took a step back when he was sure that I wasn't going to try anything.
"Don't try to leave, princess," he said after a silent moment.
"Why?" I mumbled as I crossed my arms protectively across my chest. "Is itdangerous?"
"Precisely."
"It's dangerous in here too," I reminded him quietly. That seemed to stump him. He stared at me, his eyes pitch black. "And haven't you told me time and time again that you want me to stay away from you? You're contradicting yourself now."
He leaned down slightly so that his eyes were level with mine. It was impossible to tear away from his penetrating gaze. It terrified me and intrigued me at the same time.
"I didn't contradict myself," his words were so quiet that they were almost inaudible. "Maybe I'm just a liar."