[ 34 ] 2014

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"I will not call an ambulance. Everything is fine."

-

Little by little, all of the cheerleaders ended up going back to the hotel, leaving only Harley and her friends at the pizza parlour to enjoy the rest of the night. They ordered rounds and rounds of drinks, with even Harley joining in which was a bit strange since she hardly ever drank and she was still underage by a couple of months. It was Calum (Conrad) who continuously ordered drinks for their table, and was offering them to her, but he himself didn't really drink anything. He wanted to be within his senses to execute his plan. It would be the perfect explanation that he had in mind. A group of cheerleaders and their boyfriends getting drunk at a restaurant. Harley would stumble drunkenly onto the beach, him behind her, and they would both walk into the ocean to their deaths. Then he'd have his soul make the jump back into the past where he belonged.

No one would ever suspect a thing, they would think it was just an accident. Two drunk kids too intoxicated to think about anything. 

And it had been done before. While he had been in high school at St. Genevieve's, he learned in his literature class about an Argentine author who had committed suicide by walking into the ocean. No one would believe that someone had actually planned all of it. Much less that it was a boy who had traveled there from fifty years in the past. 

As the night went on, they stayed until the restaurant closed at midnight, and one of the servers informed the group that they'd be closing now. The group gathered their belongings, their cheer gym bags with the name St. Genevieve's on it, as well as their last name on it. Their medals from the competition were inside, since they didn't want to lose them while partying. The trophy had gone back to the hotel with their coach who would safe keep it until they returned to Sydney on Sunday afternoon. She would be the one responsible for take the trophy to school on Monday morning. Conrad offered to carry Harley's bag and slipped an arm around her waist to help her keep upright since she was too drunk to walk on her own. Her make up was smudged, her hair was a mess, and her cheer bow sat lopsided atop her head.

Niall and Andrea had disappeared first, eager to get back to Niall's hotel room. The hunters and the originals were next. Paul was hauling around three drunk teenagers, since he had drank in moderation and decided to be the responsible one of the group. Jack was already back at the hotel. He didn't want to go out, as he was the more secluded of the group. He was okay with spending time with the others. But since the whole cheerleading squad was going to be there, he didn't have the energy and quite possibly the patience to deal with a bunch of screaming teenage girls. He was nineteen like Paul and had other interests in mind. He just wanted to travel to Brazil, his biggest dream, and hide out in the Amazon forest with the natives. He had already done so before and it had been the greatest experience of his life.

Cindy and Billy were the last to separate from them, not really knowing when the others left them. The four were walking down the sidewalk slowly when the beach nearby and the sound of the crashing waves caught Harley's attention. Tugging on her boyfriend's arm, she said excitedly. "Lets go down to the beach for a moment." Her blue eyes were darkened with the dim moonlight shining above them.  

Billy and Cindy stopped walking too when they heard the other two stop, and Billy groaned tiredly. "I'm sleepy, booger. Lets just go back to the hotel and we'll come back in the morning."

Cindy nodded her head in agreement. That was the original plan anyway. Their coach wanted them down by the beach around three in the afternoon the next day so that they could take team pictures with the trophy down by the beach. After that, they'd have the rest of the weekend to explore and do whatever they wanted. But Harley was too intoxicated to remember that, and so were the others. All she cared about was going down to the beach and sitting by the edge of the water.

Harley rolled her eyes at her brother. "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Caaaaaaalum." She said drunkenly and with a hint of annoyance, stretching out the sound of his name. Like a little kid, she pulled on his arm and stepped onto the sand next to the side walk. But he was stronger than her and she was unable to pull him any further. 

Calum looked to Billy and Cindy, then to Harley who was desperately looking out towards the ocean. In his head he was thinking how easy things were becoming for him. She was practically placing herself on a silver platter for him. "Don't worry, mate." He said to Billy, who he quickly found out was Harley's older brother. "I'll take care of her and make sure she gets back to the hotel safely. Plus, I think I should kill some time since Niall asked me for the room for a bit." That meant that neither Billy nor Calum could go back to the room because Niall was there with Andrea.

Billy threw his head back and groaned again. "Fuck me."

At that, Cindy perked up, remembering something. "I planned ahead for this, baby. I booked us a room for ourselves. Presidential suite with all the perks. Since mom and dad don't pay any attention to me, the least they can do is pay for us to have a nice weekend."

"Wow, babe, thanks." Picking her up and placing her over her his shoulder while Cindy squealed with delight, Billy took off running towards their hotel at full speed. Harley was surprised that he was able to do that. Cindy Hemmings was definitely small and light as a feather, but her brother was athletic. He had lifted her so easily and was running without even breaking a sweat. Stopping a few yards from them, he turned to face Calum and Harley. "Take care of my sister, Hood. If anything happens to her, I'll murder you with my own two hands. And that's a promise."

Calum put a hand to his forehead and saluted Billy Quinn. "Understood."

With that, the two disappeared towards the hotel. As they reached the front doors and he set Cindy back down on her feet, Cindy bit down on her lip nervously. "Maybe we shouldn't have left them alone. I didn't really want to say anything in front of him, but Calum's been acting weird today."

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Billy reassured her.

-

They sat down by the edge of the water together, and Harley looked out onto the waves that just barely reached them. She thought about something for a few minutes before finally deciding to speak. "Is there something that maybe you'd like to talk about, Calum?" 

He turned to her with surprise. He had given her so many drinks that he thought by now she'd be falling asleep. But instead, she seemed to be growing more and more sober. He cursed himself under his breath for a moment. If he was going to do something to get her out of the way, he had to do it within the next few minutes. He pretended to be confused by her words. But it was clear to him now that she was starting to catch on about him. "What do you mean?" He decided to play dumb.

"Something about you is different. Something feels different. Like you're a different person." She pointed out with a sigh. She had started to feel it since that morning, but despite everything that happened in her life within the past few months, she didn't even fathom the thought that it was something way out of the ordinary. She only thought he wasn't feeling well, or that he was in another one of his moods. Ever since Calum had gotten a mechanical arm, certain things that he could do easily before were difficult to do now. Whenever he realized he couldn't so the same things with ease anymore, he'd easily become irritated and though he tried not to let it out on Harley or his friends, sometimes it was difficult. Sometimes he'd find himself snapping at them, and later apologizing for it.

Harley thought that maybe he was being quiet because he didn't want to snap at her and hurt her feelings.

He replied to her with a shake of his head. "Nah, I'm fine." Then pushing himself up to standing and dusting the sand off himself, he proceeded to get undressed. His shirt went first, and then his jeans. Harley watched him with confusion, but once he was down to his briefs, he stuck his hand out for her to take. "Lets go into the water, yeah?"

She thought about it for a moment, biting down on her lip nervously. It was the end of fall, nearly winter in Australia, and it was cold outside. She knew the water would be freezing and there he was, wanting to jump into the ocean with her. It was slightly romantic as she thought about it, but it was also a death sentence. But she decided to take his hand and she got back on her feet. Her hands went to remove her cheerleading uniform until she was in her undergarments in front of him. Having him seeing her like that wasn't out of the ordinary. Still, there was something about the way he was looking at her, like she was a piece of meat, that made her uneasy. But she pushed that feeling to the back of her mind.

With her hand in his, they ran and jumped without a second thought into the water. Harley immediately felt like a thousand little pricks hitting her, the water was that cold. And her arms curled around her own body to keep some heat in. But Calum kept going further in, as he was much taller than her, until only his head was above the water. Then he beckoned her over. "Come join me." He said to her, his eyes aas black as the ocean water beneath them. 

"I'll drown over there." She shouted back over the sound of the waves.

"I won't let anything happen to you." He promised from a few feet off. With the night, the tide was also rising and the waves were crashing against his back rather harshly. But he was like a pillar and he stood there without struggling to stay up. 

Harley trusted Calum, and she rolled her eyes at him playfully. Then she walked until the water was just below her nose and she had to keep on her tiptoes to stay afloat. "I can't go any further." She said to him, tilting her head back to expose her mouth above the water. But he held his hand out to her and she took it. Immediately he tugged her closer to him. Now she felt her heart pounding against her chest when she felt that her feet couldn't touch the ocean floor.

In the blink of an eye, Calum pulled his hand away from her and she sunk down into the ocean. She started swatting her hands and feet, searching for him. But her eyes were stinging against the salt water and her lungs were burning with the water she was ingesting. And she was starting to feel like the waves were puling her in, further out into the ocean. From close by, Conrad stood by, watching her struggle and smiling to himself. He didn't have to do anything else. Merely watching her die a slow and painful death as her lungs filled up with ocean water was good enough for him.

He felt like his heart dropped into his chest when he heard voices calling to them from the shore. They were a boy and a girl, the same ones who had been with them earlier. Billy--Harley's brother--and his girlfriend Cindy. Conrad rolled his eyes, knowing he had to save the drowning girl now or at least look like he was trying to.

With a sigh, he waved his arms above his head. "Billy! Over here! She's drowning!"

He then cut the distance between himself and Harley Quinn. As he grabbed her, she had now gone limp in his arms. And he heard Billy Quinn jump into the ocean, reaching them within seconds. "What the fuck happened?" He yelled at Calum as he hurried with Harley in his arms towards the shore. "I thought you said you'd take care of her!" Billy accused, on the verge of tears.

Conrad shouted back. "She wanted to go into the water. I didn't think she'd try to get herself killed!"

With the two boys, they managed to get Harley back on land and Conrad set her down in the sand. Cindy was crying hysterically nearby while Conrad pretended like he was going to perform CPR on her. But Billy grew impatient and shoved him out of the way, deciding to do it himself. His eyes blurred with tears, he compressed on her chest a few times, getting nothing. 

"Come on, Harley." He begged through his tears. "I can't lose you."

Conrad had gotten on his feet nearby and stood by Cindy, who started to pull out her phone to call emergency services. Though a low growl and a hiss, he mind controlled her, his eyes looking into hers. "You will not call an ambulance. Everything is fine."

Cindy repeated obediently. "I will not call an ambulance. Everything is fine."

"She's not breathing." Billy said in a shaking voice, but continued performing CPR on his sister.

He had gotten the same feeling in the pit of his stomach that something wasn't right when he left Harley and Calum alone earlier that night. But he ignored it as being an exaggeration of an overprotective older brother. Now he mentally kicked himself for leaving his little sister alone. None of this would be happening if he'd insisted that they all go back to the hotel together. 

-

another pretty filler chapter for you all. but there is more to come with only eighteen chapters left in this story. i hope you've all enjoyed all of this, and give it a nice little comment if you can.

i'm going to dive right into the next chapter. so hopefully it will be done by tonight or tomorrow morning. please stay tuned for that. 

i really hope you all have a wonderful day, a wonderful weekend, and a wonderful start of your week. thank you for always supporting me and my stories. and a tiny bit of shameless self promotion: please check out the other books in the MITM universe. they are located in a reading list called MITM right on my profile.

thank you, and happy reading!

-clary