♡ chapter 27 - Rose ♡
Fear pulsed through my veins at the sight of so many guards surrounding us. I knew we would never get out that easily, but I'm more surprised we even got this far. However, our plan was not thoroughly thought through like it probably should've been. I suppose that's what happens when you're desperate for freedom; you rush to get it.
So much has happened in so little time, you'd think they would give us a little bit of slack. I did just find out that the boy I'm in love with is my brother, so it would be nice to have a day to just relax and let my thoughts roam. But I guess the Council is too selfish to even give us some privacy. Would it hurt to let us be for a while? Would it hurt to let us actually escape and then they come after us in a few hours or so? Even a bit of fresh air without guards in my personal space bubble would be nice.
While the guards kept their guns raised, four figures moved towards us from the building; the Council. The old lady—Cecilia—was in the front, the other three following her like lost puppies. It was then that I realized the male that had been staring at me was replaced with my mother. I stiffened as they got closer, not wanting to remember the horrifying information she had told me.
But then I squinted, and my mother was no longer my mother. She was now the creepy guy that had been studying me like a science experiment. The one with the sadistic grin and cynical eyes. And when he changed back, he still wore that infamous smirk that sent goose bumps down my spine.
And then it clicked.
Another shape shifter.
As if that wasn't shocking enough, my jaw nearly dropped to the floor when Daniel breathed out, "Dad?"
I hadn't caught the resemblance before, the sharp jawline and chocolate brown eyes. But the more I stared at him, the easier it was to tell they were related. To know that Daniel's father had pretended to be my mother was more than baffling; it was repulsing and absurd.
Cecilia began shaking her head the more distance she closed between us. "We gave you a warning, and you still tried to run off with a criminal—a disgrace." She scowled at Harry, her eyes patronizing.
Daniel was still gaping. "Dad, w-why are you—?"
He held up a hand to halt his son, a smirk gracing his lips. "Some colleagues of mine informed me of your... association with Marcus Styles. I'm very disappointed in you, Daniel. But I couldn't bypass the opportunity to keep another certain Styles locked up, like he well deserves to be. Something must have gone horribly wrong in your ancestry line, Harry Styles, because you and your father are quite the screw-ups."
"Hey, he's actually a decent guy," Daniel retorted, all of us now facing the leading members of the Council. "I've known him like four days and he's been there for me more than you have in eighteen years."
"It's called having other priorities," Daniel's father—Jordan, I think was his name—grumbled under his breath.
"Wait," I spoke up, narrowing my eyes at him. "So my mother wasn't here at all? This was all a stupid setup?"
Cecilia pressed her lips together, clasping her hands in front of her. "I prefer the phrase 'teaching a lesson.' There was no reason for you to be... frolicking about with such a distasteful human being when you're one of us, Rosalie. You are a pure, beautiful White Witch. None of us comprehended why—"
"I get the point," I cut her off, not wanting to hear her speak so crudely about Harry when he was far better than half the people standing right now.
Harry's eyebrows pulled together. "So basically, what I'm hearing is that Rose and I aren't siblings, and a dude pretended to be a female just to tear apart two people—one of which has quite the anger issue—just because you're afraid of the two different kinds of witches to be together?"
Well that's one way to sum it up.
Cecilia cleared her throat. "I'm afraid neither of you understand the dangers of mixing the two can bring."
"Not really," Harry and I said simultaneously, glancing at each other.
My eyes caught his gaze for a long moment, and I knew both of us were freshly relieved that we were in no way related. How I would survive if the lie had be truth, I don't know, but I quite frankly don't want to rewind to that. This was almost like a new start for us—but we had to get out of this guard circle first.
Harry reached for my hand again, and this time, I let him. He laced our fingers, locking our palms together and giving my hand a squeeze. I could almost feel the relief radiate off his body from beside me, and I'd be lying if I didn't feel the same. Harry and I could finally touch without complications, and holding hands was a beautiful start.
However, Cecilia did not approve of what she saw by the narrowing of her eyes as she glanced down at our locked hands.
"Guards," she snapped, glaring at me in particular. "Seize them."
And as if déjà vu was at its finest, the guards closed it on us, and that was that.
♡ Daniel's P.O.V. ♡
(somewhat of a bonus scene because Daniel is great and I thought of this and kind of just wanted to put it in here, so I did.)
My eyes frantically ran over the spastic guards, lunging for Harry and Rose as they did so. Harry was of course trying to be his normal Hulk self, struggling and slinging a few guards here and there. Rose just seemed petrified, and I remembered her mentioning not even knowing how to use her powers. Must suck.
Before I even thought it all the way through, I shifted into a tree to match the other shorts ones. I couldn't stretch (even when shape shifting) into one of the large pine trees, so hopefully I can pass by just being this little... stump. I can't even get leaves, which basically makes me a naked tree.
I might not have thought through what to change into, but I did know I had to be there for Harry and Rose. Harry has saved me more times than the jerk likes to admit, but he is a great person and it's only far if I try to save him for a change. And Rose, well she's just really sweet and she read The Fault in Our Stars, so she's naturally a queen through my eyes.
It pained me to watch Harry and Rose be dragged away in such an unpleasant way, but I would save them. I would hide as a tree until the woods cleared out, and then I would go after them. Rose is too pure, too sweet and far too beautiful to die this young. And Harry has been the hero for far too long.
Even heroes need to be rescued sometimes.
Once their shouting couldn't be heard any longer, I let out a breath. I guess it was a little odd that I was basically a tree with a mouth, nose, and eyes, but I feel like it could be in a Harry Potter movie or something. You know, people always choose to have odd villains and odd heroes. But who said being strange was a bad thing?
Then I realized there was one guard left, arms folded across his chest and his foot tapping the dirt before he let out a sigh. "Are you done playing hide and seek? You've gotta get locked up sooner or later."
My eyes widened briefly before I blurted, "I'm a tree."
He quirked a brow. "A tree with eyes, a nose, a mouth, and can speak? Hmm. Very convincing."
"What are you gonna do? Chain up a tree?"
"Not a bad idea, thanks." The guard smiled before another guard entered the woods, carrying an actual chain. They both swung it around the body of the tree that was me, locking it in place.
Well, I tried.
♡ Harry's P.O.V. ♡
I was pushed to my knees, my hands still cuffed in front of me. The hot sun scorched my bare back, the heat causing sweat to bead across my forehead. This was nothing new for me. This punishment I have received many times and the scars on my back are there to prove it. However, it still hurts like hell.
We were in the middle of the village, residents stepping out of their homes to see what the commotion was about. Many either went back inside with their children, or stayed to watch with pity filling their eyes. I don't understand why they would want to watch something they find so horrendous, or perhaps it was natural for something as gruesome as this to have an audience.
They had Rose off to the side where she was facing me, shackled to the fence so she could watch my torment. And then after my abuse, I would have to watch hers. It was how the Council dealt with situations like this. We were considered rebels through their eyes, and they weren't going to let us get away with it.
I'm not sure what they did with Daniel, but I mentally punched myself in the face for that too. Rose was shackled to a building, Daniel was God knows where with the guard's doing God knows what kind of punishment just for associating with me, and here I am about to be near my death bed.
This is why I tried to never care about people. The pressure to protect is always bound to failure.
I find out Rose and I aren't siblings at all, but now I'm going to die. Life is always throwing glorious things at me, isn't it?
"Well then," Cecilia said as she faced the gathering crowd, but I didn't dare lift my head—I kept it hanging in utter defeat. "Since most of you seem quite confused, here we have two typical rebels. Many of you have seen Harry Styles' face on the wanted posters hanging all over town, however you have not seen Rose's.
"Rose is one of us, although she contradicts it by loving such a distasteful human being. We all know the two witches should never mix. Purity is pure for a reason—because it has no darkness. If we were to allow evil to invade us, there would be no purity left." She sounded so confident, so wise. But I knew it was all just an act.
Cecilia turned her head back to the guard standing behind me. "Hugo, please demonstrate what happens when standard rules are not obeyed."
The sound of the whip cracked, and then it had slashed against my skin, tearing it open. I bit down, hard, on my bottom lip to keep from shouting out, knowing that's exactly what they wanted. I could stand pain. It was no different than plainly just living.
Cecilia must've noticed how I squirmed, however, because she soon ordered another guard to bring out the large cinder block that holds shackles on either sides. She didn't want me slipping away, and honestly, she knew me too well. I could easily turn around and kill this Hugo asshole without even touching him. Yet she must have forgotten that I wouldn't do it considering it would risk Rose's safety.
With my hands now locked onto the large brick, there was no way I could move anyways. Out of all the powers I had, inhuman strength was not one of them. I could kill and strangle people without even making physical contact, yet I couldn't lift over the weight an average human being can. My luck, I suppose.
Crack!
I arched my back, the force seemingly stronger than the last. I could feel the warm blood running down my bare skin, more scars being created where others were fading. I didn't even care anymore.
"Please, stop!" Rose hollered and I dared to glance over to see tears streaking her cheeks. She shouldn't be crying. It doesn't hurt as much as it seems. Or perhaps I'm just too used to it to know the difference.
Cecelia held up her hand. "Silence. He is only receiving the punishment he well deserves."
Even bystanders were cringing, looking away or desperately hiding away in their homes from the scene.
This was not punishment. This was just plain cruelty.
Crack!
They were repetitive, one after the other and I stopped counting at seven whips. My body was numb, my eyes drooping from the immense blood loss. Some of the innocent mothers were crying, shielding their children's eyes. Rose was crying, yelling for them to quit hurting me when really, it didn't hurt anymore. Not at all.
Right when I was sure another slap on the back was to come, it never did. I forced my eyes open, looking to the side where Rose currently was and saw that she was no longer in cuffs. The shackles were on the concrete, half broken looking as if they had melted off.
I would've gaped longer if it hadn't been for the drowsiness flooding me.
And I couldn't watch any further because my eyes had completely closed.
♡ Daniel's P.O.V. ♡
(extended scene of the bonus because why not)
"Dude, you've been a tree for nearly two hours now. Could you please just change back into a human form so we can arrest you and make this easier for everyone? Please?"
"Nope," I replied easily. "I quite like being a tree, thank you."
The guards groaned before one said, "How long do you plan on keeping this little charade up?"
"How long do you plan on standing there?"
"Until you change back to normal."
"Then I guess we'll be here for quite some time, now won't we?"
The first guard rolled his eyes. "Come on, kid. Enough of this. How come you can't cooperate like a normal person?"
"How come you can't comprehend that I don't fall into the category of 'normal people'?" I retorted, surprised that I could actually be this sarcastic.
Guess Harry's attitude rubbed off on me.
I could get used to this.
It was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, "Ready to change back now?"
A smirk stretched on my barked lips. "Nope."
They both groaned once more while I busted into hysterics.
Maybe I can even act like Harry and start making people bow down to me. After all, I like to consider myself flawless. And I'm kind of slaying these guards right now, so we'll just say I'm the king.
Yeah, Daniel the King.
Has a nice ring, so we're sticking with it.
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A/N: Idk, I just like Daniel :P But I do have a favor to ask! Please everyone go to @WattyAwardsFanfic and go vote for Half Bad in Best Harry and Paranormal! The link will be in the comments, also the chapter is dedicated to her so you can click on it (on a computer). Thank you bunches and I love you all to the moon and back!(: xx
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