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Avery Holmes
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July 6th unfortunately came quicker than we all would have liked.
By now, everyone was filled in on what was going on and fully aware of the situation. Some took it well, like Zayn and Louis, who were determined that the end result would be that Kate and Jake would go to jail, but others, like Harry, were plain terrified.
"I need to get somewhere with better service." Sam said. "If I can't make this call and get backup, we're done for. How many bars do you guys have?"
The most that anyone had was Harry, with a whopping two bars. The regular Motel 6 would have had a pool and free wifi, but since this one was so unpopular it wasn't equipped with any luxuries other than a crane machine and a table of stale food.
Sam pushed some buttons on Harry's phone and then left to the bathroom to make a phone call. We had spent most of the day in Niall and I's bedroom since we were given the biggest room in the motel.
"What's happening?" Aimee asked.
"Nothing." Louis quickly assured her. "I think we're all going to have a sleepover in here, though. Doesn't that sound fun?"
"No." She frowned.
"And why not?" He chuckled, petting her hair.
"Because everyone is sad." Aimee pointed out. Even though she was three, she sure seemed to pick up on a lot.
"You don't need to worry about anything." Louis reassured her. "Just let the grown ups worry about this. Here, you and I can watch some Netflix, okay?"
"I pick the show." She said. "Scooby Doo?"
"Yeah, that sounds good." He said, turning on his phone and opening the Netflix app. I didn't realize that I completely stopped listening to everyone discussing what to do and that I was zoning out listening to their conversation.
"What if the backup can't get here in time?" Liam asked. "We should have a plan B, maybe even C. This has to all go over well."
"Stop making me so nervous." Harry said, exhaling loudly while wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. Zayn patted his back and said something to him that I couldn't hear. Niall had his arm securely around my waist and I could feel it shaking.
"I can't stay here." Niall finally spoke up. "I'm supposed to die tomorrow and if I stay here I'll go mad. I need to get out of here now." You could hear the nervousness in his voice.
"He's right." Sam spoke up, entering the room again with his phone in hand. "We know that Jake and Kate only want to take away what makes Avery happy and that's Niall's life. They said if we leave, they'll follow, but what if we make it look like it's just me that leaves?"
"I'm not following." Liam said.
"I'm saying, what if I make it look like I'm... taking laundry to a laundromat. Or like I'm going to throw some garbage away at the dump. I just need to get Niall safely in the car without them thinking he's in there and get him somewhere safe."
"Wait," Niall said. "Just me?"
"Of course." Sam said. "You are the one who's life is in danger. Or maybe." His eyes lit up with another idea. "We can make it obvious that I'm driving away with Niall, only it won't be him. We can use someone else as bait- make them wear a hoodie of Niall's and dress like him. Then, they'll follow us and you all can sneak out when they're gone."
"I like that idea slightly better." Niall admitted. "But that means risking your life and one of my mate's lives. You know I can't do that."
Sam grunted and gave Niall the most serious look he'd ever given anyone. He got close to him, locked eyes with him, and for what seemed like a while he didn't say anything.
"Do you realize what's going on here? Pull your head out of your arse and realize that no matter what, someone's life is going to be at risk. All of ours are at risk, but if we have a plan like this, we can lessen the lives risked. Anyone here would do anything for you and you have to let them or something bad will happen."
I could feel Niall tensing. Sam was never the scary type- in fact, he was more of a strict guy but with no scary factor in him. I had never seen him be like this before and it only showed how serious this situation was.
"Niall and I are close in height." Zayn said. "If I make sure my hair is hidden and I'm dressed like him, I can make it work." He offered. It was terrifying thinking that he was basically sacrificing himself.
"Done. Niall, grab some of your clothes. White skinny jeans and the hoodie you wear most with some of those big white shoes you wear." Sam ordered. Niall hesitated, but then went to his drawer to get his clothes.
"The phone kept on breaking up, I can't get any backup." Sam said. "But, the closer I get to a cell phone tower the better, and I'll alert everyone. Hopefully I can get cops on our tail and they can get Kate and Jake. What car were they traveling in?"
"A beat up Toyota. The color was dark red." I said, remembering the trunk of that car that I was stuffed in only a few weeks before. "Bring a gun with you, I know for a fact they have one."
"Of course." Sam said. "Don't worry about Zayn or me, I have bulletproof windows. Perks of being a security guard. Also, perks of being a security guard, I can put sirens on and get away with speeding. They can't."
I was suddenly starting to feel a bit better about this plan. If everything worked, in the end we would all be safe and Kate, Jake, and Natalie would all be in jail.
"As for tonight," Sam continued. "We should all get a good night's rest. We have the sleeping bags and one blow up bed for two, plus the beds, so we should we alright. We'll carry out the plan right before Niall is supposed to go to Lakepoint View so we know that they will be watching for us."
"What if it doesn't work?" Harry asked anxiously.
"Mate, it will." Liam said.
I glanced over at Louis, who was laying in bed with Aimee. She was cuddled beside him, sucking her thumb as they both watched Scooby Doo. Her eyes were droopy and tired, and a loose curl feel in front of her eye. To think that this precious little girl's life was in danger made me sick to my stomach. But, I knew the key for this all to work out was to be positive and strong, and that's what I planned to do.
"Bed time, Aimee." I called. "You're going to go on a sleeping bag. We'll let Sam and Zayn take the beds." I decided, glancing back at the group. Nobody said anything, so I assumed that they all agreed with me.
"Are we camping?" She asked, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"If you call sleeping on the floor camping." I chuckled. "Yeah, baby, we're camping. But you need to go to bed now so you can have energy tomorrow. Do you have to go potty?"
"She went by herself a few minutes ago." Louis said. "I supervised, but she told me she could do it herself and made me stand outside the door." I smiled.
"I even wiped by myself!" Aimee said, sliding out of the bed and picking out a sleeping bag. We had unzipped them and put blankets on top of them so that more than one person could sleep there. I assumed that I'd share with Aimee and Niall would bring one to sleep beside us.
We all got ready for bed in silence. To be honest, I didn't want to even be here right now. I wanted it to be tomorrow night, or I at least wanted a glimpse into the future so I could know for sure that everything would work out. This anxious waiting was really getting to me.
Sure enough, Niall had grabbed a blanket, pillow, and sleeping bag and scooted himself next to me. Aimee was making her rounds and giving everyone goodnight kisses and then she had to get ready for bed, so we had a few moments to ourselves.
"You good?" He asked.
"As good as I'll ever be, I guess." I said. I watched him sniff his hands a few times and couldn't help but give him a funny look, not exactly sure what he was doing.
"Do you think my hands smell like dirty feet?" He asked, shoving his hand in my face. I swatted him away and glared at him.
"You're annoying." I laughed, rolling on my side so I was facing him.
"So are you." He teased back. "Please? I need your opinion."
"Just go wash your hands!" I groaned.
"I swear they smell like dirty feet!" He said. "Whatever, I'm goin' to bed." He sighed shakily. It then occurred to me that he might have been trying to just get his mind off of everything and I wasn't exactly helping. I couldn't imagine how he must've felt right now.
"Niall?" I whispered, our bodies pressed together. "You'll be alright. We're all going to get through this and end this. Remember that for me."
"I will." He promised. "And think of the bright side- if we end this tomorrow, we can go see my mum and dad and be free to do what we want, without worrying about people after us. We'll be free from them."
"Exactly." I said. "But there is no if's. We're going to win this thing."
"You seem pretty sure of yourself." He said. "I'm nervous as hell."
"You want to know a secret?"
"Mm?"
"I'm scared too." I admitted. "But I know that thinking about the worst that could happen will only make it worse. I also know that the anticipation can get to you if you don't handle it well, so I'm trying to handle it as best as I can and I advise you do the same."
I felt someone crawl over me and then saw that it was Aimee. She kissed Niall's forehead and whispered a faint 'goodnight' before crawling back over me and settling into bed. The lights were turned off now, but people were still conversing.
"Tell you what." I said. "I'll let you kiss me if you promise not to worry about this anymore. Think of things on the bright side and promise me that you won't think negatively about this. Think about this- tomorrow night we'll be on a plane to Mullingar to visit your family and little Theo will become Aimee's new best friend."
"That sounds so good right now." He promised, his breath fanning my face (thank God he brushed his teeth recently.) "Keep going."
"Okay." I chuckled, my voice now a whisper. "Think about our wedding day. It'll be in your hometown, in a beautiful church, and then after we'll honeymoon somewhere tropical. Then we'll have twins and name them something normal, not like Derby and Football. They'll grow up and fall in love and we'll watch it all happen. Then, we'll grow old and you'll have to help me eat my cereal. Aimee will get married and have our grandkids and we'll host Christmas and be together with the boys and their families. Oh, and Jake will rot in Hell with Kate and Natalie."
"Sounds amazing." Niall said, leaning in and giving me a quick kiss on the lips. "Makes me feel a lot better, too."
"I'm glad." I whispered, closing my eyes. "Now if you start to worry about tomorrow, just keep thinking about our future and how great it will be. Keep replaying that in your head until you fall asleep and don't think about tomorrow until it comes."
"You give some great advice." He said, draping his arm over me lazily. "Goodnight, love ya."
"Love ya." I said back.
I wondered what everyone was thinking. The plan was a good one, but there were holes in it. There were things that concerned me, like Zayn and Sam's safety, but if they thought it was Niall I knew for a fact that they would follow. Niall was the only one they were after now, they wouldn't stick around for us. And since Kate was in fact a serial killer I was sure that she loved the chase.
I turned and wrapped my arms protectively around Aimee, kissing her forehead. She was already asleep, her small fists curled up and her forehead wrinkled like she was having some sort of dream. She had been through so much for a small child and I knew that when this was all over I needed to get her some help. I needed to get us both help, because I owed it to her and myself to do that.
I fell asleep thinking about the future like I had told Niall to do, but in the back of my head I was absolutely terrified about tomorrow.
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a/n:
yes, i know that it has been like eleven days.
first off, i want to start but letting you in on something that a lot of people don't think about: i have a life. i have things to do and places to be and people to see. i don't spend my days writing and planning and thinking about Motel 6. i am sorry that it's been a while and my schedule is slowing down a bit so i'll be able to write more, but begging me for updates only stresses me out. remember, I HAVE A LIFE.
thank you to the people that understand that, i love you xx
- delilah