It's frustrating to remain unsure of all that has happened recently. Harry won't tell me anything, which further carries on the fact that he is only following orders. On terms of following orders, I can't find any good reason that would persuade him to drop his orders. It just irritates me. I want to know -- I deserve to know -- why they are looking for me.
The dawn began to set, the sky turning almost purple, lighting to a breathtakingly beautiful blue. A dry desert remained outside the truck windows, but there were small houses beginning to appear now. People that live on the outskirts of Brownsville, Texas would turn their heads to stare at our truck. We went through mere government officials who are in charge of immigrants on escape.
Harry asked for a man named Davis, and was granted immediately entrance to the United States. I had fallen asleep for most of the ride, leaning my head against the window and feeling the odd angle quickly effecting my neck.
"We are almost in Brownsville, Texas." Harry informed me. I knew that, though. I decided on remaining quiet and not giving him any response, which he seemed completely fine with. Most likely glad I hadn't opened my mouth to annoy him.
I pressed my finger against the window, drawing irregular shapes on the slightly dirty glass. The outside was painted with a few marks of dirt and spots of white paint. Only the corners were not as immaculate as the rest of the window, which allowed me to see outside just perfectly fine. I became interested in the window.
My throat felt dry and I swallowed. In a two hours we'd arrive at the tip of Brownsville, Texas, where Harry will drive the rest of the way to Bryan, Texas. It will take another six hours to reach that destination. The state was so huge, and the cities were so far apart. I'm a little interested to see what the state has to offer. Although I won't be granted much freedom considering there are people looking for me.
I won't be staying with Harry anymore, either. Which is somehow relieving. He has made this trip much harder for the both of us. I'm well aware he doesn't like me at all, in a friendly manner, of course. But, I can't help but feel bad about it. I want him to like me and to see me as a friend. However, it seems as if Harry isn't the type to have friends.
There was a few bumps in the road, the desert road became concrete now. It reassured me that there might be a bigger chance at getting to safety than I thought a few hours ago. I'm hungry, dirty, and thirsty. I don't mean to sound like a whiny brat, but traveling without things I'm used to is hard to just adapt to in hours.
I sighed deeply and dropped my finger from the window. I turned to Harry and watched him drive. Harry had his hand on the shift and the other on the wheel, leaning back as usual. His face was cold and stolid, displaying no emotion. He was so cold hearted. I wondered how someone can just be that cold without a single trace of regret or remorse.
"Stop staring at me." He said carelessly, his husky voice has changed, raspier than usual due to the lack of water.
"I'm sorry," I grumbled, turning away from him. There was a tint of heat on my cheeks because I had been caught.
He was silent once more, ending our small interaction there. That man irritates me to an awful extent. I feel compelled to hit his face several times, and I want to scream at him to give me something to work with. He remains mysterious and unknown even when he has showed me constantly he doesn't play any games.
My eyes were locked onto the dashboard. "How long do you think it will be when they find me again?"
Harry didn't answer right away, as I expected. Although it shocked me he had a few seconds afterwards because I expected no response. "What makes you think they'll find you?" He asked dryly.
I let my eyes peek at him and his serious facial expression. His eyes were burning into the road ahead of us. "They just will, Harry. They always do, and that is why I'm relocated every week."
"Well, I won't be here so it's not up to me."
I let my lips drop into a tight frown. "I thought you were here to protect me. That you only care what happens to me and not anyone else."
"I don't care about you," he said quickly, and quite annoyed already. "But because of your father's orders and the rules I have to follow, I have to care about your safety."
"So if it weren't for your orders, you'd let them kill me?" I asked bitterly.
Harry merely nodded. "That's how it works."
Such an asshole that man is. Then again I can't expect him to care. He kills my hopeful mood, drenches me in loath when I'm faithful, and tears my expectations apart. He has no reason to genuinely care for me. This is a job, and he is my protector. He volunteered and had been assigned to do the job out of bravery.
"You're an insensitive asshole." I muttered to him lowly, looking away from him and staring ahead at the road, my hands on my lap.
I heard him chuckle humorlessly. "I've heard that one before many times."
"And you're also a sick bastard. Kills people when they don't deserve it." I continued to insult him, which was futile because he isn't effected at all.
Harry shrugged. "You kept whining about being tired. I got your sorry ass out of the dirt, Dollface."
I cringed at the pet name. "And you make me want to vomit. Your personality is a drag and you have a peculiar way of showing commitment."
"Very observant," he nodded nonchalantly, as if nothing I was saying was factually offensive. "Anything else you want to ask me?" He mocked.
"You mock me every chance you get. You lower my hope. You're a pessimist at heart." I snapped angrily.
"Oh, no," he dryly reacted.
"I just can't stand you. And quite frankly I don't care what happens to you either," I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest.
Harry kept nodding. "Perfect. You can stop getting angry because I said you don't matter to me, now."
"That's not why I'm angry!" I shouted suddenly, defensively. "I just can't fucking stand you!"
"What a shame!" He exclaimed unenthusiastically.
Grumbling and inhaling deeply, I spat, "Go fuck yourself."
His nostrils flared and he glanced over at me. "I should have been warned about your whiny brat instincts and --"
I lunged forward at the large impact that sent both of us forward a few inches. My instincts were too quick and I shrieked in horror, my head following Harry's and turning to look behind us. There was a car with two men dressed in dark clothes at the front seats. I felt my jaw become slack as I peeked at Harry, seeing he was already turning around and possibly creating a plan in his head with impressive speed.
I quickly fixed myself in my seat, avoiding speaking and letting my heart thump violently in my chest. If we weren't so caught up in our argument, we would have been able to see the car that had been quickly trailing behind us. I inhaled sharply, seeing Harry rapidly press on the accelerating pedal.
"What are we going to do?" I asked exasperatedly.
"I'm going to make them tip over the side of the road. I'm aiming to keep at least of them alive," he explained to me quickly, and quite firmly.
There wasn't a second of hesitation as Harry began to slow the car down in a heartbeat, turning the wheel and moving us to one side. In the slight second, the car behind us accelerated and failed to realize that Harry was trying to tail gate them.
I watched with parted lips, grasping the seat's arm rest with both of my hands, fully alert and watching the car in front of us now. It was slowing down as well as Harry swerved the car, causing my body to move at the abrupt, forceful move. My breath hitched when I was lunged forward again as Harry hit the back of the black car.
"Do you have a seat belt on?" Harry asked me, his eyes however focused in front of us.
"Yes," I answered back quickly, feeling that even a half second of hesitation could be life threatening.
As the car before us had increased it's speed, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the jet-black metal pistol. He rolled down the window and let his arm out with the gun aimed at the tires of the car, I suppose. Without missing a centimeter, he had accurately shot both of the back tires right before my eyes. The sound of the bullets echoed inside of my brain, bouncing against the walls of my skull.
Harry took the opportunity to hit the car once more, only hitting the end on one side. It caused the car to swerve furiously, spinning over on it's side and tumbling further down the road as Harry rapidly backed up our own car to avoid collision. It landed in a few seconds after two flips, my eyes falling wide with astonishment at the scene before me.
The imagery was purely insane. It seemed like a movie playing before me. But this was real. It was reality playing before me. Two men in that car have experienced a car accident that Harry had effortlessly caused.
He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, watching the car before us. There weren't any people around as we've entered an area far away from the recent areas there have been people. I squinted a bit, trying to see into the now shattered windows of the car.
"Do you think they're dead?" I breathed out.
Harry shook his head. "They're still alive. Maybe unconscious, but not dead." He unbuckled the belt and cocked his gun once more. He opened the door, turning to glance at me with a stern look. "Stay here."
I nodded slowly, watching as he walked down the road towards the car. He crouched down to the shattered window on the driver's seat. The car was occupied by only two men that were surely armed. It was tipped upside down, so as Harry looked through the window, he had bent down to be able to observe.
He reached in with both of his hands, and seconds later pulled out a man that had blood dripping from the side of his face. The velvet red liquid made me cringe at the sight. Harry seemed completely unfazed, which was quite expected. I saw Harry pick up the gun he had set down and roughly press the conscious man into the car.
My breath stopped when Harry aimed his gun at the man's head, watching the victim cough and watch Harry with much fury. Harry gripped the man's neck, almost threatening to tighten his hold. Even though there are many ways to push Harry off of him, the man made no attempt as they talked face to face.
I couldn't hear anything, so I carefully rolled down the window on my side, curious as to what Harry was asking.
"Who do you work for?" Harry roared quite loudly, almost unaware that I could be listening. I don't think he cared much at this point, however.
The man with a trimmed beard and a long nose coughed in Harry's face, shaking his head and gulping. "That is none of your business, Styles."
Harry gripped the man's neck tighter than before, causing him to cough loudly and Harry to growl in anger. "I'm sure it isn't, but you're telling me anyway." Then Harry made no hesitation to shoot the man's thigh. An urgent, pained cry left the man's lips. "Now," Harry began lowly, "Who do you work for?!"
In pain and a sour frown on his lips, the man stared at Harry in agitation. "I work for Hannah."
"Hannah?" Harry asked in wonder.
"Yes. Hannah Diamond. They call her the Woman of Diamonds," the man grunted, obviously still in pain from the bullet in his leg. I frowned in confusion and slight fear. This must be another mafia group I hadn't heard of.
Harry watched the man slowly. "What does Diamond want?"
"The same thing everyone wants. The girl in your security," he spat.
Angrily, Harry pressed the barrel of the gun to the man's temple. "I'm going to kill you in about a minute. However, I need to ask you a question. Diamond has nothing to do with Gates, so what does she want from his daughter?"
The man chuckled bitterly, and Harry kneed his injured thigh. He cried out in pain, groaning as Harry tightened his grip around the man's neck. I felt my clammy hands slide down my thighs out of concern for somehow Harry's safety.
"You don't know why they're looking for her either, do you, Styles?" The man breathed in mockery. Harry remained silent as my mouth parted again. He doesn't know? So he wasn't following orders. He has no clue why he's protecting me and what's the cause for it. He hasn't have an idea why I'm considered valuable.
Harry clenched his jaw. "Well, you better talk or I'll put a yet another bullet in your other leg," he snarled.
I watched as the man coughed again, wincing and spitting out, "I'm sworn to secrecy. I know you'll kill me anyway. But I'll give you a hint...it's a mystery they're trying to solve themselves. If I were you, I wouldn't let a second fly by without her in my sight."
Harry hadn't said a word despite the threat behind the man's words. I shuddered in my seat, grasping each of my hands in my lap with anxiety. The thought made me nervous. Every second was filled with more tension that built on and on in an endless path to peril.
I jumped in my seat when the gun when off in Harry's hand. I shut my eyes just as I saw the man drop to the ground, a bloody whole where the bullet hit right through his forehead. Harry was merciless when it comes to other peoples' lives. Somehow I felt bad for a man who only had bad intentions for me. I pitied him, to make it simple.
He shot the other man who remained unconscious in the other seat to make sure he was dead. Once that was finished, Harry climbed into the car again. He slammed the door shut and angrily threw his gun at the dashboard. I gulped when he turned on the engine, driving around the mess and moving us further down the road.
I stared at my lap for long minutes, thinking about what I just heard. The window was still open beside me, and I mentally cursed myself because now it was obvious I had heard everything.
"You don't know why they want me?" I asked him quietly, turning my head to look at him.
He drove in silence, clenched jaw and furrowed eyebrows. Obvious anger plastered on his face. He hadn't answered me, and I figured he wasn't going to. My father must not know either, then. Because Harry is his "right hand man" and anything that is important would be handed down to Harry as well. Both Harry and my father have no idea why these people are after me.
"Those men back there weren't from Blackpool. They were from Diamond's mafia. It fucking means that there could be various of different people looking for you, which makes no sense. Why would they go through so much trouble to get to you?" He wondered out loud, seeming like he could burst with anger.
I was silent as he continued.
"And not to mention the fact that they know you're not alone. They can find you like it's nothing, so how is that even possible?" He ranted, shaking his head and slamming his hand against the middle of the steering wheel. I jumped lightly in my seat as the loud horn went off.
My eyes watched him with a frown on my face. "I..." I began slowly, shrugging my shoulders. "I think they believe I have something they want. Or...like I'm valuable to them for some odd reason."
"Well no shit. That's obvious," he spat.
I shook my head. "You don't have to be so rude." I argued defensively. "We can find out. There has to be something we can do."
"This isn't some fucking mystery game. Alright? Your life is on the line here, and my job is to get you from Mexico to Texas. That's it," he snapped. "The rest is for us to worry about. Not you."
"I'm worried about my safety. About my life. So I think that gives me the right to feel compelled to know why they're after me in the first place," I shot at him.
Harry huffed frustratingly. "No, it doesn't. You're a fucking fragile little thing and you can't hurt a fly if you wanted to," he hissed. "You stay home, and don't you dare start meddling with this."
"Harry, I --"
He interrupted me. "Because if you do, I myself will come for you from Italy to put you in your place." Harry finished angrily.
I've never been treated more like a pet in my life. I feel like an animal, not a person. The way he speaks to me is like a father towards his eight year-old daughter. I don't like the way I feel when he says such things to me. It makes me want to rip the curls from his head and pick up the gun and shoot him myself.
But he's right. I can't hurt anything that moves and breathes.
"Don't patronize me!" I shouted suddenly. "If you don't want to help me, then I'll find out myself."
"Are you seriously going to put yourself through this? These men, once they find you, will get what they want, kill you, and then throw your dead body into a dumpster. They don't play games. They're cruel and assholes." He remarked hotly.
"Kind of like you, right?" I gnarled.
Harry fumed, inhaling deeply. "Listen, Catalina," he snapped, "I'm saving you from them, but if you weren't anything important I would have killed you, too. Just like the man who used to own this truck."
"I don't care. I'm going to figure this out. And you can't do one thing about it." I knew what I was doing. I was pushing my limits and crossing the line with him.
He hit the breaks so suddenly, I lunged forward for the third time today. I gasped when he turned and stared at me with so much anger and cruelty that it made his beautiful pale green eyes seem almost deadly.
"You won't fucking do shit!" He roared, a vein becoming prominent on his neck. "You stay where you are supposed to and you leave this shit to me and your father, or I swear I'll fucking drop everything and --"
Harry's phone rang out of nowhere, the tune cracking the tension rapidly with a simple disruptive element. I watched with my arms over my chest as it heaved up and down, fired up from yet another argument with him.
He stared at his phone, probably realizing that since we were closer to the city, that there was little reception here. He slid his finger on it and pressed the device to his ear.
"Hello?"
The muffled voice on the other line was irritatingly hard to listen to. Harry then replied. "Are you fucking kidding me? I can't just change my route, I'm near Texas already. I can put her in the hands of someone else."
A chuckle was heard, and I heard a voice said, "Is she screwing with you that bad? Jeesh."
"Zayn, I'm in no fucking mood for this. Just give me the new plans."
A minute flew by as Harry started the car again, his side of the conversation giving me clues as to what's going to happen now. We're changing plans. I'm not going to Texas anymore.
When Harry was off the phone, I quickly went to ask him, "What's happening?"
He sighed heavily. "It looks like we're going to the nearest airport and flying to Italy in secret. We need to meet your father there. Blackpool seems to already know where you're heading. They've relocated your sister just in case. She's on a plane to Sicily right now. I have to get you on the next one."
"Are you going to Sicily, as well?" I asked quietly.
Harry nodded. "I have to make sure you get there safely. Your father wants you with me at all times."
I laughed a little. "Guess you're stuck with me."
"Go fall asleep or something," he snapped, shaking his head in annoyance.
note // change of plans then. more Harry and Catalina moments ;)
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