It's been two days since I got this case and now I only have two days left to complete it. I was nowhere closer than I was when I started. Why was he so memorizing? It's like I could stare at him for days. Years, even. But that's impossible. I can't be falling for him. I don't fall for marks. I just don't. I tried to convince myself that it couldn't be me. It's the case. It has to be. There had to be something wrong with this case. I couldn't figure it out. I need a professional opinion. I need to make sure there isn't anything in the files that tells me otherwise. I decided to give Aaron a call and see if there was anything in this case that I should know. He answered the phone, excited as always.
"Hey, Delilah," Aaron answered. "I've missed you."
"Hey Aaron," I smiled. "Is this line secured?"
He laughed. "It's my cell. Of course, it is."
I hesitated. I wasn't really sure how to ask. I usually don't ask for help.
"What's wrong, Delilah? You're never this quiet."
"It's just this mission. Something's up with it."
"Like what?"
"I'm not sure," I added. "Can you hack the system for me?"
"You know I could get in trouble for this, if I get caught."
"When have you ever gotten caught?" I joked.
"Good point." He chuckled. He started tapping at his keyboard. "Okay, what's op code?"
"OP-1D-P, I think."
He typed a few more strokes and then there was a loud binging sound.
"What's wrong, Aaron?" I probed.
"Nothing," he said, continuing to type. "It is just taking me longer to get in."
"What's that noise?"
"Security system," he laughed. "It's warns me that someone is trying to hack into my system. But I know that. It's me."
I chuckled, under my breath.
"Okay, I'm in."
"What does it say?"
"Uh...well...it's..."
"Aaron," I protested.
"Okay," Aaron let out a long sigh. "There are a lot of black lines across these pages. I don't feel right about this, Delilah."
"Anything out of the usual."
"Um...mission One Direction....must eliminate target before they leave before America... They cannot get to America...."
"Yah, I know that already. Tell me something I don't know. "
"Here's something else." He interrupted. It was silent for a few minutes. "Dammit."
"What is it," I asked. "What does it say?"
"There's an encrypted file on here and the clearance level is higher than even yours."
"Can you hack it?" I asked.
Aaron laughed, "Of course, I can hack. But this one is going to take me a little bit time."
I sighed, heavily.
"Delilah, be safe," Aaron demanded. "Kill him and out of there."
"Okay." I said. "Just call me when you got something."
"You know I will," he said. It sounded kinda flirty. I smiled, as I hung up the phone. Aaron was never the type to toy with me. But it was kinda nice to know that he cared so much.
I tried to get some sleep, but the night was a horrendous enchantress. The moaning wind rattled my window, while the shadows of the darkness danced across my bed. Neither was even close to the horror inside my head. There I was, walking towards my target. His black tuxedo suited his dashing smile. His hair was silky smooth and shined in the white lights of the disco ball. I stood in front of him, raising my gun.
He mischievously smiled, "You're not going to hurt me."
"I want to kill you," I replied.
I tried to shoot, but I wouldn't discharge. My gun was jammed. I couldn't pull the trigger. I checked my weapon. It was perfectly fine. Completely in working order. I tried again and nothing. It barely budged. He glided closer to me, with each failed attempt. He gently lowered my hand and stood there.
"You're not afraid of me." I asked.
"Of course not," he smiled again. "Why would I be afraid of my wife?"
I was shocked, stopping cold in my tracks. Wife? I'm not you're wife. I will never be your wife. I tried to fire again, but my gun disappeared. It was replaced with a bouquet of flowers. I looked down at myself. My black cat suit changed into a pearly white wedding gown. I looked around. I was in a chapel, surrounding by strange people. They sat motionlessly, staring at us. He took my hand and started leading me to the altar. The more I tried to pull away, the closer I got to him. I yelled, 'Get off me', but what came out was 'Stay with me'. I began to float above my body and noticed how happy I was with him. I can't be happy with him. I'm a failure. This can't happen.
I tried to wake myself up from this horrible nightmare but it repeated itself like awful record player. Over and over. I even tried to kill myself, but my dream wouldn't let me. I finally fell out of bed, sweating and breathless. It was the next morning. My heart was pounding harder than it was when I had my first kill. I was petrified. To make it worst, I wasn't even sure if I was more afraid of falling for him, or failing myself. I have never failed and I won't start now. I will kill him, if I have to kill myself to do it. It will be done. I was so frustrated, that it turned to anger. My body temperature was skyrocketing. Today was another day. Another chance. I won't fail. I will kill him.
I repeated that to myself continuously, as I took a shower and got dressed. 'I will kill him, I won't fail. I will kill him, I won't fail.' I figured if I did this, there was no way I would get anymore doubts. The hall remained quiet before I opened my door. I needed food. I was starved. I headed downstairs for a quick snack. Well, breakfast. I pushed the down arrow and waited for the elevator. When I stepped on, I heard a familiar voice.
"Hold the elevator." The voice said.
I held the open button and the blonde kid strolled in. Niall, I believe.
"What floor?" I asked.
"Uh...I'm going down." He smiled.
I laughed. It's the only way we can go. I thought. "So, lobby?"
"Yah."
I pressed the first floor button and waited for the door to close. The elevator ride moved extra slow, so I thought. And, there was an awkward silent. He was wearing a white tee-shirt, grey sweatpants and a red cap. It was better than the blue hearted pajamas that I was wearing. The elevator stopped at the 4th floor but no one got on. Then it stopped at the 3rd, still no one.
"Well, that's weird." I said, trying to make conversation.
Niall lifted his cap and scratched his head, "Nah. Ya get used to it, after a while."
It finally stopped in the lobby and we got off. I exited towards the café. He headed to the front desk. A group of girls were still dangling outside the hotel and saw him. They ran inside and swarmed him. Screaming, jumping, hugging and trying to take pictures with him. The hotel security wasn't much help. He tried to control one or two girls, but it didn't work. There were too many of them. Niall's face was cold. He was definitely scared. The kid was defenseless.
I wanted to leave him to his own business, but something made me go back for him. I guess I had a soft spot for the blonde. I fight my way through the girls and managed to wedge myself between him and them. He looked like a lost puppy, scared yet gracious. I don't know why, but I actually felt bad for him.
"Okay, everyone back off," I shouted, shoving a few girls.
The ones closest to me gave me this look, like they wanted to try something, but they didn't. It wouldn't have been in their best interest, if they had.
"Are you alright?" I asked Niall.
He nervously said, "Guess so."
Slowly, the girls started to calm down. Hotel security finally got their lazy butts over to the disturbance and gained control. The girls argued with them before being forced towards the exit. Niall looked like he wanted to say something but didn't.
"Do you want to take pictures with them?" I whispered.
He looked at the girl's disappointed faces. "Yea, maybe a few."
I turned around and yelled, "Ladies. If you remain cool, you can take a picture with him. If not, you'll have to leave."
The girls ran back over, excited but orderly. Niall took a few pictures with his fans and they all seemed happy. Much calmer than before. After all the girls left, I vanished into the restaurant. He caught up with me, inside.
"Hey. I just wanted to say thanks for that." He mumbled.
"No problem."
"What are you? Some sort of security or something?"
I smiled, "Something like that."
"You should come work for us. It be good to have someone nice on the eyes guarding us around." He joked.
I smiled. "I bet."
He blushed, lifting his cap to scratch his head.
"What is it, Niall?" I looked at him.
"Well," he mumbled. "Me and the other guys are having breakfast in my room. I don't know if you would be interested in joining us, but we'd like to have you. For breakfast, I mean...I mean, to eat breakfast with us. "
I giggled at Niall fumbling over his words. "I guess it won't hurt."
He smiled, from ear to ear. Worse than a kid in a candy shop. He's actually growing on me. I got a bowl of cereal and a spoon and followed him back upstairs towards his room. Niall stopped in front of the door and scratched his head again.
"What is it now?" I smirked.
"I guess I should warn you that the boys are...kinda crazy in the morning." He said, as he opened the door.
He wasn't kidding. I felt like I walked into a three ring circus. No, I take that back. The circus is more civilized than this.
"Give him back, Harrah." The shorter one yelled, holding a muffin.
"Give me the muffin and the bird won't get it." The curly haired negotiated, dangling a stuffed pigeon over the balcony.
"Are they like this all the time?" I whispered to Niall.
"Well, most mornings." He whispered back.
"I'm warning you, Harold. If you hurt him, I'll cut your hair all off." Louis said.
"If you try, one lucky fan will taking home a lovely parting gift."
"You wouldn't dare."
Harry raised his arm high in the air, smile profusely. You could hear the fans outside screaming for him to drop it.
"Kevin!!!" Louis shouted. Harry stopped. "Okay you win."
Harry grinned, "Give the muffin to Liam and I'll give you the bird."
Louis tossed the muffin to an average looking kid, sitting on the couch. Then, Harry threw the bird at Louis.
"Oh, Kevin." He said, petting the stuffed animal. "Did he hurt you?"
Harry closed the double door, leading to the balcony. He turned around and shook his hair, flicking it out of his face. "Oh, hello there."
Everyone turned to face me and Niall, still standing at the door.
"Hi," I said.
Zayn looked back and forth between at Harry's wide eyes and me. "Down, Harry."
Harry smirked at him.
"Right. Guys, this is Delilah." Niall announced. "Delilah, these are the lads, Lo..."
I cut him off, "Louis and his pet, Kevin."
"Kevin is family." Louis insisted.
"Of course," I smiled. "I remember Zayn..."
He slightly blushed when I spoke his name.
"...Liam," pointing to the plaid-shirt wearing kid on the couch.
"...and the one drooling must be Harry."
Liam snorted, throwing the muffin to Harry. "You would be right."
He caught it and tilted his head, "Delilah. Why does that name sound familiar?"
"She's the girl we told ya about." Niall replied.
"Oh, so you're the girl in the killer red dress," Louis smirked.
"That I am," I smiled, glancing at Zayn.
"You know, you had our lil Zayn here absolutely smitten."
"Lou," Zayn cried, covering his eyes with one hand.
He was turning red, as he shook his head. He was quite embarrassed. I thought it was sweet. I giggled a little.
Harry walked over to me and grabbed my hand, "Pleasure to meet you."
"Nice meeting you, too." I blushed.
"Alright," Zayn rolled off the couch and slapped Harry's hand away. "Stop gawking at the girl, Harold."
"Touchy." Liam stated, tapping at his laptop.
"Shut it, Liam." Zayn snapped.
Niall looked at both of us, kinda goofy. Then, he threw himself onto the couch next to Liam.
"It's alright." I said, smiling at Zayn. "So what's for breakfast?"
"Uh...we had muffins. But as you can see, Harry has the last one."
"What?" Harry asked, with a mouth full of muffin.
He stood there and tried to wiped the crumbs from his face. I shook my head, laughing to myself. Zayn lead me to the table to see what was left. There were a few silver bowls filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and omelets. There was also an empty plate, where the muffins probably used to be, and lots of forks.
"I guess I'll get a few pieces of bacon after I eat my cereal." I told Zayn.
"Do you need one of these?" he said, picking up a fork.
"No," I laughed. "I have a spoon."
No sooner did I say that Liam screamed, knocking Niall off the couch. The other guys all yelled 'No'. Harry and Louis ran over to me. Harry took the spoon from my hand and gave it to Louis. He held the spoon like it was poison, one finger at each end of the spoon.
"No," Harry said. "Spoons are not allowed in here."
"I'll take care of this little guy." Louis said, as he opened the door to place the spoon on the floor in the hall. "That's better."
"Sorry, if we scared you." Harry stated.
"It's alright." I replied. "I heard about the spoon thing but I didn't know it was that serious."
"Yeah, it gets that way sometimes." Zayn added, handing me the fork. "Um...do you want to sit down?"
I nodded, enthusiastically. He led me to a loveseat by the balcony door. I placed my bowl of cereal and fork on the coffee table in front of us. I realized I didn't have any milk. I looked back at the breakfast table to see if there was any over there. There wasn't.
I stood up, "I must go back downstairs. I forgot the milk."
Zayn stood up, too. "I can get some for ya."
"Why don't you call Paul?" Louis shouted. "I'm sure he has some in his room."
"Yea, he's got everything in there." Niall added.
Zayn picked up his phone. "Yah....Paul...Do ya have any milk? We are out of...uh huh...yah...right....yah...alright, thanks. He'll be down in a bit."
Zayn and I flopped onto the loveseat and waited for Paul to arrive. The guys were talking amongst themselves, except Zayn. He was awkwardly staring at me.
"Is the bacon any good," I asked.
"Yah," Zayn replied. "Would you like some?"
I smiled, "That would be nice."
He bit his bottom lip, and ran his hand through his hair. "Alright."
Zayn got the bacon and sat down next to me again. We sat and talked about...nothing. Absolutely nothing. But it felt like the best conversation. He told me about his family and the band. How excited he was when he auditioned, his many fans and supporters and his newly found brothers.
"I could never leave them. There my best mate." He said.
"I can see that," I confessed. "You guys seem really close."
"We are. We are."
Just then, there was a knock at the door. I was hoping it was someone with my milk. My cereal was starting to get old.
"I'll get it. It's probably Paul," Niall claimed.
It was and he walked in, strutting his bath robe. The guys burst out in laughter.
"You should really shave your legs, Paul," Louis teased.
"I will after I shave your head," He countered.
Liam howled, "Ohhhh. Good one, Paul."
"Now, who wanted milk," He asked, looking around the room. I raised my hand, ever so slightly. "Hello. I didn't know you boys had company."
"This is Delilah." Zayn quickly stated.
Paul walked over and shook my hand. He handed me the milk, before grabbing Zayn to the side. I read their lips as they whispered, "Now, you know there are no girls allowed in the rooms, right?"
"I know, but we didn't do anything."
"Rules are rules, Zayn." He replied. Zayn looked timid.
I stood up, "The boys just were thanking me helping them last night...and for saving Niall this morning."
"Saving you," Harry asked Niall.
"I didn't tell ya. Supergirl over here stopped a bunch of fans from ripping me apart. Saved me life, ya know." He said, in his thick Irish accent. "She's some sort of security."
"Yeah, we've been looking for some new help for our boys for this upcoming American tour." Paul announced, happily. "Of course, I would have to see your work experience and references beforehand."
"Oh, I don't know..." I cried. The boys all started whaling and begging. It was quite annoying. At that point, I would have said anything to shut them up. But of course, I knew they wouldn't make it to America. So I replied. "That would be awesome."
"Well guys, I need to get back to my room for my bath." Paul said. He whispered to Zayn. "Next time, you better tell me who's in your room before I catch them."
"But I wasn't hiding her." Zayn whispered back.
Paul shook his finger at him, "Don't argue with me. Just do it next time, alright."
"Alright. Alright." Zayn moaned, nearly pushing Paul out the door.
Paul graciously left and it was just me and them again. I overheard Harry and Louis talking about squash. I wasn't really sure what that was all about. Liam was looking at this thing called a Tumblr. Never heard of it, but I'm sure it wasn't worth my time. Niall was watching a football game and yelling at the screen, every few minutes. Derby was losing. Zayn and I went back to talking about his career.
"So, how often do you get a day off?" I asked.
"Not many," he said. "We're usually at the recording studio or at a singing or a press conference. It gets real busy sometimes."
"Must be rough."
"Sometimes. But I love what I do and I wouldn't have it any other way."
I chuckled under my breath.
My phone started vibrating in my pocket. I took it out and saw a text message from Aaron.
From: Ya Boy
To: My Girl
Message: Somehow this kid is connected to a company called So ArtA Records. It's a rival record company. They don't sound good. I'll txt ya when I get more info and be careful.
I put my phone away and look at him, "Hey Zayn."
"Yeah."
"What's up with you and 'So ArtA' Records?"
His eyes widen when I said the name. "How do you know about that?"
"Hello. I'm your biggest fan," I said. "I know everything about you."
"Humph," Zayn exhaled, touching his hair again. "That was a huge mistake."
"I know, but I'm a little unclear about what exactly happened."
"Can you keep a secret?" he asked.
"For you, of course," I replied.
"Okay," Zayn sighed. "When I was back on the X-Factor, this company approached me and told me they could sign me as a solo artist. At the time, I didn't get a chance to talk to them because Simon had us under contact with the TV studio. When I thought I got kicked off the first time, I called my mum and told her what happened. My mum, of course, called 'So ArtA' about our opinions before she knew we were thrown into this group. By then, I didn't want opinions. Not anymore. I liked being in the group."
Zayn stopped and sighed. "Then we were eliminated from the show, they contact me again. They still wanted me, but I turned them down. It's the first time I ever had brother and I loved them. I needed them as much as they need me. I wasn't going to sign a contract with another company and leave the guys on their own. 'So ArtA' wasn't very happy about it."
His hands were trembling, but he continued, "Then, they started threating my family. My mum. My sisters. They harassed them at all hours of the night. I told my mum it was just fans calling but it wasn't. Now, they seem to be everywhere. I feel like I'm being chased by the devil. They are always watching and waiting for me to fail, so they can have me. But I'm not going to leave my friends. Not ever."
"Are you serious?" I scoffed, raising one eyebrow.
"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess it was my own fault. I didn't have faith in us before. But now, it's not the boys and I. It's us. We're a team. We're family. We're stronger together than we ever would be apart and I'm stronger being here, with them."
Harassing. Stalking. Sounds like I'm chasing the wrong ghost. I, personally, wouldn't tolerant any of it. But I'm also very good at my job. They wouldn't even be alive to harass me.
I spoke softly to him, "If you wanted out, then you're out. No one can hurt you or your family."
Zayn smirked, "You know, I never told the boys any of this. I don't want them to think that I betrayed them or anything."
"Don't worry," I agreed, placing my hand on his. "Your secret it safe with me."
He smiled with his chocolate eyes. It gave me assurance that he was telling me the truth. I mean, what benefit would he gain from lying to me? My phone started to buzz in my pocket. 3 buzzes, 2 buzzes, 3 buzzes. I didn't need to look at my phone to know who was calling. It was a special 'Call Me Now' vibration from Aaron. He created it just for me.
I curled my bottom lip, "I'm sorry. I have to go."
"Right now?" Zayn pleaded.
"Yeah," I pouted. "I promised my friend I would meet them in town."
We rose from our seats and I was met with sadden eyes. He was like a puppy in a pound begging me to take him with me. I knew he didn't want me to go, but I had other plans for him.
"I'll be back to visit," I flirted.
"How about for Dinner?"
"Is that an invitation?"
Zayn flushed, "Yeah, have dinner with me?"
I rolled my eyes, playfully at his suggestion, "I guess we can do that."
"Great," he jerked. "I'll call you later, then."
He walked me to the door, while the other boys silently stared. He waved shyly as I walked down the hall to my room. As soon as he shut the door, I yanked out my phone to call Aaron.
"Are you okay?" he questioned, panicky.
"I'm fine."
Aaron exhaled, "You didn't text me back. I thought something happened to you."
"No, I'm fine. But I need my little tech genius to do me a huge favor?" I smooth talked him.
"Anything for you, Delilah," he said.
I smiled, grimly, "I need you to dig up everything you can on 'So ArtA Records."
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Hey Guys.
I want you thank you so much for your patience. This chapter is a bit longer than most but its well worth the wait. A lot of vital information is in this chapter, including the introduction of our boys.
Right now, Delilah is getting closer to her target. Not clear, if it is a good thing or a bad thing. But one thing is for sure, something major is coming soon. Unfortunately, you are going to have to wait until after the holidays. *wink wink*
~Imm1025
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