♡ chapter 28 - Harry ♡

            Harry, please wake up."

            The voice sounded distant, somewhat far off but the repeated shaking patterns on my arm continued. Groaning a bit at the pain that struck down my back, I peeled my eyes open to find Rose sitting in front of me, paler than a ghost. The village people were frantically running behind her, trying to keep their distance.

            And then I remembered she had used her powers to get free.

            And to save me.

            It hurt when I sat up, but I managed as Rose helped by grabbing my upper arms. A cool breeze nipped at my bare skin, stinging my back as if I had multiple open wounds. And then I remembered I indeed had open wounds.

            "We need to go," Rose said as she began tugging me with her.

            She sensed I was struggling to move as she draped one of my arms around her shoulders, half running and half stumbling to keep up with my staggering pace. I could still feel blood running down my back, but tried to pay no mind to it as I focused on walking. Rose was right—we needed to go.

            I grunted with each footstep. "Where's Cecilia?"

            "She ran off to get backup, I think. Everyone kind of freaked when they saw lightning bolts shooting off of me," she muttered.

            "Lightning bolts, huh?" I mustered a smirk. "Sounds pretty badass."

            Rose chucked. "I didn't mean to—it just happened. Like all the other times. But I really think we should talk about this when there aren't hundreds of guards chasing us."

            "Good idea."

            Stumbling into the woods, I tightened my grip around Rose's shoulders a bit to keep my balance. Blocking out the pain was almost easy as I focused on the adrenaline running through me. We were escaping, and for that I needed to be prepared.

            But that's when we came upon a guard staring up at a tree.

            A tree with eyes, an awkward nose, and a crooked mouth.

            "Oh hey, Harry! Hey, Rose!" It was Daniel.

            The guard whipped around and, using the little strength I had, I wrapped my free arm around his neck, gripped his chin, and snapped his neck. It was a little difficult one-handed, but I made it work. One guard down... too many to count to go.

            "You two don't look so good," Daniel commented, and it was weird to stare up at bark. "But thanks for getting rid of the whole guard thing. He's been there the past four hours. Come to think of it, I'm getting a bit stiff keeping this position for so long. But, I think I can qualify as a badass now."

            "We don't have time," Rose said. "Guards are closing in on us."

            "Oh right." Daniel morphed back into his own body, wiggling his limbs a bit as if stretching. "Well, let's go."

            And with that, we all took off once more. It was a bit easier to run now, although my back still hurt like hell. I knew I was slowing the two of them down as I had to pause just to step over fallen branches. It was an unbearable pain to try and jump over them and land on my feet. I felt quite pathetic.

            By now we could hear the guards hot on our tails. They were shouting, snapping twigs and attempting to shoot arrows as if in hopes they would hit one of us. Their aim was off by a long shot, but considering arrows can't shoot all that far, it was obvious just how close they were getting.

            And that terrified me.

            But we kept moving, and the more distance we covered, the safer we got.

***

            Night was engulfing us by this time. We had lost the guards a few hours ago once we got out of the Council's grounds. To say I was exhausted would be an understatement, and the pain in my back had only increased. Needless to say I was still restless from the blood I had lost.

            We had found a little spot by a stream when we stopped running. Rose was in the midst of rinsing out the whip slashes in my back to keep them from getting too dirty. The last thing I needed was an infection on my hands, not to mention the cool water sent a sting and somewhat soothing sensation throughout my body.

            However, I did have to lay on my stomach and that was something I was not fond of. What happens if a guard pops up? It takes me twice as long to get to my feet. I can't see all the way around like I can when I'm on my back. I can't look behind me, and that thought alone sends chills down my spine.

            Rose kneeled beside me, brushing hair off my forehead gently with her fingers. "They aren't really that bad, you know. At least they aren't blistering."

            "I guess I'm used to it."

            Rose frowned. "No one should be used to that."

            Daniel was leaning against a tree, humming to himself before he glanced over at us. "Are you two going to have another adorable moment? I mean, I'm kind of in the mood for a cliché romance right now. Do carry on."

            I glared at him. "How are you even classified in the male species?"

            Daniel shrugged. "I have a penis."

            Rose crinkled her nose, and I almost laughed at how cute and disgusted she looked. However, the smallest movement pained me, so I went against it and laid flat instead.

            She fiddled with her hands. "Where are we supposed to go now? The cabin has been ransacked, most likely. What are we supposed to do?"

            I sighed, managing to lift my head some to look at her more clearly. "I'm used to this, Rose. What we do now is simple—we keep running. That's all we can do. When you live in a world like this with people like us, you never do settle down." I rubbed my forehead. "You just keep running."

            Rose said nothing and a small silence had fallen over us. Each of us were most likely still thinking about being constantly on the move. But as long as I had at least Rose by my side, I didn't care about the never-ending stress. And even if Daniel decides to stay with us, at least I'll have someone to pick on for entertainment. In the most honest and pathetic way, these two don't make life so bad anymore.

            Groaning, I sat up and laid my legs out in front of me. Rose frowned in my direction, and I held my hand up to stop her from scolding me. "That was awfully uncomfortable, Rose. I'm fine, I promise."

            She sighed, but said nothing.

            "Maybe we should get some sleep," Daniel suggested. "I'd like to at least look beautiful when I'm being chased by gruesome guards."

            I rolled my eyes, but mustered a smile. Daniel had snuggled up against the tree stump, wrapping his arms around himself as he closed his eyes. I wasn't particularly tired, so I leaned back on my palms and let the moonlight soak into my skin. It was a cool night—one that felt incredible soothing on my aching back. It was beautiful, and I didn't want to close my eyes to ruin it.

            Rose laid on her back, her head resting on my thigh as she stared up at the sky. "Whenever my mom was with us, we would always watch the stars at night," she said quietly as she folded her hands on her stomach. "Whenever Dad would come home drunk, we'd go outside to gaze up at them. She always told me that stars couldn't shine without darkness. I always thought it was common sense until I got the deeper meaning." She turned her head to look at me and smiled.

            "I think everyone is their own star. The darker your past, the brighter you'll be in life. Not like book-wise, but maybe more experienced. Maybe because when you stumble out of those dark things, you see life a different way. A happier way. And for that you'll forever be brighter—happier." She chuckled. "I don't think any of that made any sense at all."

            "No, it did. I like it."

            Rose grinned. "I guess it kind of made me think of us, in a way. We've been through a lot of darkness, and I don't know... I think we'll shine in the future, regardless of all that's happened."

            I smiled, but said nothing more as I did not think any words were necessary. Sometimes silence speaks for itself.

***

            I woke up on my stomach, my arm draped across Rose's shoulders as she curled into me. I realized I liked the feeling of having someone next to me—to help keep me warm. Almost literally, considering I had to sleep without a shirt to let my cuts breathe and work on healing.

            My heart faltered as I noticed how close our faces were, and before I processed it, I had leaned forward and pressed my lips to her forehead. It was odd and relieving to be able to kiss and hold her like I've wanted to for a couple of months now. Has it honestly been that long? Nonetheless, I liked the feel of my lips on her skin.

            Her eyes opened at the contact, a sleepy smile spreading on her lips before she let out a comfortable sigh. "This ground really sucks to sleep on."

            I smirked. "Such a beautiful way to greet someone in the morning."

            Rose laughed, pushing herself off the ground and out of my grasp as she stretched. Carefully, I stood as well, biting my lip as I tried to stretch without straining myself too much. Rose gave me a soft smile as she grabbed my shirt that she had picked up in the midst of us running and handed it to me. I thanked her quietly before slipping it over my head.

            And that's when I noticed Daniel was asleep with an actual rabbit laying on his face.

            "That is the cutest thing ever," Rose said with a little screech.

            "Hope that thing didn't shit on him."

            Rose gently slapped me in the chest as a scold before walking to the stream and splashing a bit of water on her face. I watched her in a daze, her brown locks falling in front of her face before she flicked them back. How a single person could be so beautiful was beyond my knowledge.

            Daniel began to squirm, scrunching the little bit of his nose I could see before he sneezed, the rabbit taking off. He shot up, eyes huge. "What was just laying on my face? It had fur! What did you do, Harry?"

            My jaw slacked. "What makes you think I did something?"

            Daniel gave me a look.

            "Point taken." I pursed my lips, holding my hands up for reassurance. "But it wasn't me, I promise."

            "You had a rabbit laying on your face," Rose said.

            "Aww, a bunny?" Daniel pouted. "Dammit, come back bunny! Let me love you consciously!" He actually stood, looking around the bushed for his now lost companion.

            I laughed, shaking my head. "We better start walking before they catch up."

            Daniel frowned. "But I'm hungry."

            "Turn into your food and eat yourself."

            "But Harry, I told you that's cannibalism!" he yelled.

            Rose and I started walking, laughing as he stumbled behind us.

***

            "Shh. Do you hear that?" I paused, holding a hand up as if to signal Rose and Daniel to do the same.

            Daniel's eyebrows pulled together. "I don't hear anything."

            Rose was quiet for a moment before her eyes bulged some. "Someone is following us," she said in a whisper, the sound of boots crunching sticks still coming from behind us.

            Running was pointless (and in my situation quite impossible), so we stood together much like we did when the guards had surrounded us. If this is how life is going to keep continuing—by repeating itself—we might has well stop escaping. Or kill everyone so they can't get us.

            I prefer the latter.

            Except it wasn't a bunch of guards that stepped out of the woods, nor was it any hierarchy from the Council. The person who stepped out of those woods was a person I had despised for majority of my life.

            Jessie.

            I sighed, rubbing my forehead as I hung my head. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

            He just wouldn't leave us alone.

            Jessie smirked. "I don't know how many failed attempts to escape will finally show you that you aren't as slick as you think, Harry."

            "Yeah? Let me snap your neck and we'll see how fast you catch us."

            He let out a humorless laugh. "I don't think that would be very wise of you considering there's hundreds of guns aimed right at your chest this very moment."

            And to prove he wasn't bluffing, multiple red dots scattered across my torso. I clenched my hands by my sides, snapping my jaw shut. I had to give him props for being smart—Jessie never came unprepared.

            But I can guarantee that if these guards weren't protecting him, his little ass would not be this confident in confronting me.

            "Now, if you'll ever so kindly let me continue..." He narrowed his eyes at me. "You've received your punishment, however—" A smirk stretched on his lips, "—your darling Rose has not."

            "You won't touch her," I spat through gritted teeth, instinctively taking my place in front of her petite frame—Daniel behind her.

            "I beg to differ," Jessie snarled, snapping his fingers like some kind of royalty and two guards were at Rose's side in an instant, gripper her upper arms. Before I had processed it, they were holding her still with her arms in the air.

            I would've grabbed for her if it weren't for the gun barrel pressed to her side.

            And then Daniel and I were also being cuffed and brutally held onto. I didn't try to struggle because it wasn't the time. When necessary, you can bet Daniel's love for Augustus Waters that I'll kill these two in a heartbeat. If they try to hurt her, no one is going to stop me from saving her.

            Just like she had done for me.

            "Well..." Jessie grinned mischievously. "...this will be quite the entertainment."

            My glare flickered to him. "What are you going to do to her, Jessie?"

            "Hmm... have you ever heard of the medieval torture system called strappado? I think that would fit the occasion nicely."

            My eyes bulged. "Don't you fucking dare!" I struggled against the guards, but only more came out to overpower me. My hands were soon cuffed behind my back, a large hand gripping my hair from behind and pushing my head down to where I fell on my knees. The more I struggled, the more guards come to hold me down.

              Both guards holding Rose latched her hands behind her back, another slinging a rope over the third highest branch in a tree that was nearly fifty feet, it seemed. Jessie snapped his fingers once more, three guards coming out with a large weight attached to shackles in their hands. They connected the shackles around Rose's ankles, and my heart nearly flew out of my chest from beating so fast.

            The Strappado is a form of torture in which the victim's hands are first tied behind his or her back and suspended in the air by means of a rope attached to wrists, which most likely dislocates both arms. Weights may be added to the body to intensify the effect and increase the pain. It was commonly used during the late 1600s to torture accused witches during the Salem Witch Trials.

            Jessie seems to want to bring back the tradition.

            In an agonizingly slow pace, they begin to lift Rose up in the air. The tips of her toes were barely touching the ground and her face scrunched up, as if she were fighting back tears when the pain had hardly begun.

            "Stop!" I shouted, my voice cracking some. "Jessie, please, just stop it! There's no reason for this!"

            Jessie leaned down to where his face was level with mine, his smirk prominent against his features. "But I think it is. You broke the rules, Harry. Just like Mother and Father did. And for that, well... you have to pay for your crimes."

            Before I could stop myself, I spit in his face.

            He flinched, mouth snarling before he slapped me across the cheek. "Raise her up higher!" he yelled, swiping at his eyebrow where I had hit him.

            As Rose continued to get higher in the air, she let out a deafening scream that I would never forget. My heart practically broke with the crack in her voice, and I could hardly see straight. Livid would be an understatement. I don't think there's a word in the dictionary to describe how irate I truly was in that moment.

            And without fully thinking, the cuffs holding my hands together snapped behind me. I tossed my arms out to the closest guard, snapping his neck before letting him fall to the ground. Another reached out to grab me, but I dodged before landing a punch square in his jaw, then flinging him halfway across the clearing. I was acting monstrously as I fought them all off, but that didn't matter.

            What mattered is that Rose was in pain and I hadn't saved her yet.

            Right when I heard the click of guns, multiple other figures appeared around me. They weren't guards nor were they part of the Council or village. And to be honest, I was surprised they were still alive nonetheless free.

            The boys.

            Ryan, Niall, Liam, Max, Zayn, Louis, and even John.

            I wanted to cheer with joy at the fact that I now had skilled people helping me, but there wasn't time for that. Questions would be asked later, when everyone was safe—if there was even such a word in this world. No one is ever truly safe. Anyone could die at any moment. Life is presumably unpredictable.

            While the boys helped with the guard issue, I ran over to get Rose down. She was far enough off the ground to where the weight dangled, but I hadn't heard her shoulders pop. Hopefully they were still all right since she was decently close to the ground and if not, well... It'll be quite painful to put them back in place.

            "Rose, calm down. It's okay," I cooed as I noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks. I burned the shackles off of her ankles, shaking my hand afterwards to rid of the heat in my palms before I touched her.

            Before I could get her down, the tree began to shake. My eyes widened as I glanced over to the bulk of it, trying to see what was happening. But that's when I noticed the tree was not actually a tree.

            It was Daniel.

            "Who knew trees could be so helpful?" He grinned to himself and I caught Rose right when the branch faded away to nothing.

            "How'd you get that big?"

            Daniel shrugged, a smug smirk on his lips. "I don't know. I mean, it did hurt but hey, I'm finally the hero for once."

            I smiled, nodding in appreciation to him before spinning around to take sight of the battlefield raging on before us. Arrows were flying, blood was covering the dirt, and bodies scattered everywhere—thankfully the guards' bodies.

            "That guard almost caught me though," Daniel said. "He thought I had invisible powers. Funniest thing ever, I swear."

            "Right, well when you're finished being hysterical, could you please help me out?" I groaned as I shifted Rose in my arms, nodding towards her shackles.

            Daniel waved his hands frantically before running over. "Oh wait. How do I get them undone?"

            I huffed in annoyance. "Hold Rose."

            Daniel hardly had time to answer before I shifted her over to him, her eyelids droopy just the slightest. I grasped the chains to the cuffs, burning them off before repeating the previous action. Daniel watched in amazement before he handed Rose back over to me, and I almost grinned at the slight admiration I caught in his eyes.

            It feels nice to be admired for a change.

            The whisper of an arrow flew inches from my head, smacking into a tree further back. I ducked, gripping Rose tightly before maneuvering behind some bushes to keep a generous amount of cover.

             Daniel followed, crouching down next to me. "So what do we do now?"

            "We need to get Rose out of here," I said as I glanced down at her, her eyes fully closed. "She's still breathing but that crap that pulled had to have worn her out and bruised her muscles. And I think her arms were on the verge of dislocating or they did dislocate."

            "How do we fix that?" Daniel frowned.

            I bit my bottom lip. "Snap them back into place. But we have to get her somewhere safe first."

            Daniel nodded. "I can stay here with the others while you go with Rose. Maybe I can turn into a dinosaur or something. I haven't tried it before, but you never know."

            I smirked. "Sounds like a plan."

            Daniel grinned, nodding.

            "Hey, Daniel."

            "Yeah?"

            I smiled. "Be careful, all right?"

            The grin that stretched across his lips was priceless. "You too, Harry."

            And then he was gone.

-

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A/N: wOW GUYS THIS CHAPTER WAS NINE PAGES IN MICROSOFT WORD. That's the longest I've ever written holy fudge :O This is a late update, but I mean... THIS HAD TO MAKE UP FOR IT RIGHT? I started this last night too cx Love you all (: xx

Check out the fan art on the side by @crazy1perla and a beautiful trailer made by @TwerkingForBananas for my upcoming story Anarchy Amor! xx

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