"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Cynthia asked, her voice trembling slightly in fear as she clasped her sweaty hands together in front of her, fidgeting constantly.

Amanda hit the send button as she assured Liam (for the hundredth time) that the three of them were safe; that if they needed help, they won't hesitate calling him. She looked up from the screen of her mobile, at her anxious friend who looked pale as a cadaver.

Sighing, she slipped in the mobile in the pocket of her jeans and pinched the bridge of her nose with her middle finger and thumb.

"Come on, Cynthia. We have discussed it before. We both; West and I are here with you. You don't need to be scared, okay?" Amanda cooed in her ear, rubbing her arm as they waited for West to come back from the parking in front of the police station.

"But don't you think they caught him too soon. Like, we just complained last night. And they have already got a hold of him." Cynthia shakily said, withdrawing herself from Amanda's caress.

"This is not even required." She had pleaded to Liam last night, taking him to a corner the moment she saw policemen sitting on her sofa.

"It is. You just don't realize it now." He had said with a shake of head. Then he had tugged her behind himself, leading her to the sofa, where the men at duty sat.

She had thought of lying, she had thought of not telling the whole truth; and she had done exactly that, but then she was told that the policeman already knew what had happened and were there just to ensure that they were being not being lied to about Zayn and his crew, who were already on police's hit list for being notorious, but never caught because they were sharp enough to make sure that they left no significant evidence behind them.

That scared her and she, consequently, blabbered out whatever that has happened.

And that's how she was here. At a warm afternoon, Sun shining in the sky as she stood in front of the police station's building with Amanda.

"Goodness, I don't see why it's a bad thing. You should be happy." Amanda said, rolling her eyes.

Cynthia's brows furrowed, lips pressed in a thin line. She looked away from Amanda, letting her gaze fall on the parking lot absent mindedly.

"I don't want to confront." She whispered after some seconds, watching the leaves of the nearby tree, which twirled and twisted as wind passed by.

Amanda sighed heavily, eyes softening, heart aching for her friend. Wrapping her arms around Cynthia's waist from behind, she rested her head on her shoulder and mumbled, "I promise I will buy you your favourite cookies after all this, and also help you get a job."

Cynthia smiled a bit at this, her eyes still set on the parking lot, where she could see West getting out of his car. Her eyes scanned the whole area unintentionally and just when she was about to turn around, her eyes caught the sight of someone familiar.

The person wearing a black hoodie walked on towards where West's car was parked, his back facing her. Along with him, another man was there, wearing a checked blue and white flannel shirt.

Cynthia turned rigid, her eyes narrowing at the man who walked towards the left corner of the parking lot.

A considerably stronger gust of wind came, and his hoodie came off slightly and one strand of his hair twirled in the air. The person lifted his left hand up and ran his fingers through his hair.

Cynthia's inquisitive gaze zeroed on his fingers instantly as they swiped the hair, swiping them back, away from his face. They were buried underneath the thick strands of hair he had, so it disappointed her as she saw nothing but then his fingers left the job of swiping the hair back, which they were doing so diligently.

He raised his one hand up in the air, and then raised his second hand up, grasping his hoodie's sleeve and tugged it, revealing more of his tattooed skin.

Rings. Lots of rings.

His fingers clad with a generous amount of rings looked familiar.
She was assured she has seen them before.

She was assured she has seen him before.

Her eyes then travelled down, towards his wrist, where tattoos sprayed across his skin made a display.

An anchor inked on his pale wrist captivated her attention.

Warning bells started ringing obnoxiously in her head as she found the tattoo brutally familiar. Her eyes, then, trickled down from the sight of the anchor and landed on something like a fish's tail. Then he abruptly put his hand down.

Cynthia jerked back to reality, her heart pounding in her chest. The man kept walking, passing by West, who was now approaching them.

"What happened?" Amanda's voice made her turn around abruptly.

"What?" She asked, a little breathless.

Amanda unwrapped her arms from Cynthia's torso and placed them on her shoulder. Glancing at her with worry shining in her eyes, Amanda inquired,"You went rigid. Is something wrong?"

Then, she looked at the parking, searching anything suspicious but found nothing, "What was there?"

Breaking out of her stupor, Cynthia almost jumped on remembering the familiar figure.

She hastily turned around, her widened eyes scanning the whole area to find the familiar looking man.

"What is it, Cynthia?" Amanda questioned from behind.

Cynthia hesitatingly turned around, forcing a smile on her lips upon seeing Amanda's concerned look.

"Nothing. I just thought that I saw someone familiar."

Amanda saw right through the façade but chose not to push it as she saw West finally approaching.

"Okay. Let's go in now."

With that, the trio stepped inside the building. However, Cynthia's mind still played the image of the anchor in loop; for it bothered her to not to know where she has seen it.

No one she knew had a tattoo, save Liam. But even if he had, she was assured that it was not an anchor.

Then why the anchor tattoo looked so familiar? Why that man looked so familiar?

She was deep in her thoughts, when someone nudged her. Jolted awake from the sleepless dream, she looked up at Amanda who pointed at the man dressed in a casual shirt and pants standing in front of them.

His blond hair styled to the sides, and brown eyes stared at her with utter indifference.

"Miss Edwards, I hope you know why you are here. Please follow me," he motioned her to follow him,"and both of you-" he said pointing at Amanda and West,      "-wait here till we are done." Before anyone could say anything, he started walking away.

Cynthia looked at her friends one last time, who gave her reassuring smiles, and then started walking away, following the police officer.

As she finally caught up with him, Cynthia quietly walked behind him, her mind still on the man she saw outside and a pang of fright hit her.

They then suddenly stopped outside a room. The police officer opened the door and motioned for her to go first.

Cynthia walked in, realizing that it was an office.

"Please have a seat, Miss Edwards." The police officer said while pulling out a chair for her to sit. She thanked him quietly, to which he replied with a nod and then rounded the table to sit on the chair placed across her chair.

Meanwhile, Cynthia was still busy thinking about the man.

"Where have I seen that anchor tattoo?"

"As said earlier, Miss Edwards, Zayn-"

"Who has a fish's tail inked on his hand?"

"-the man who had you at the gun point some two nights ago-"

"Who wears so many rings?"

"-is a notorious criminal. Now, I am sure that the man we caught is the-"

"An anchor and a fish's tail."

"-same man who threatened your life and killed the young boy-"

"Rings. Thumb ring."

"-we still need you to come along and verify if he is the same man."

"An anchor and a fish's tail."

"But I do have a request, Miss Edwards."

Seeing that she did not reply, Officer Rupert took it as his cue to speak on.

"I know this is a big favour I am asking you to do-"

"Rings. Thumb rings."

"-and you can always tell me no. But please, even if you do not recognize him as the same man who threatened you-"

"An anchor and a fish's tail."

"-still say yes."

This attracted her attention and snapped her out of her thoughts. With furrowed eyebrows, she looked up at the officer.

"What?"

"Yes." He replied," I know it's illegal. I know it's wrong. But Zayn and his crew; specially Tomlinson and Styles need to be arrested."

Cynthia stared at him with wide eyes, her heart pounding in her chest at the mention of 'Styles.'

Her head replayed his name like an old record player.

"Styles."

"Styles."

"Styles."

"Styles."

Then, she snapped.

"Harry. Harry Styles." she whispered to herself, remembering the way he had introduced himself.

Confused, Officer Rupert leaned forward and asked her, his voice laden with heavy confusion and eyebrows furrowed, "Excuse me?"

"Harry." Cynthia stood up, her eyes widened, breathing patten irregular." Harry Styles. "

"Yes, he works with Zayn. But cunning bastard is still out of our reach. What about him?"

Cynthia turned around hastily to look at the door of the office in front of her eyes, yet,the only thing she could see was the anchor tattooed on his skin, which she had seen when he grasped her hand, his ring clad fingers digging her soft flesh, and dragged her to where Amanda and Liam were searching for her.

"Miss Edwards-"

"He is here!" She screeched, her mind fogging with sheer panic and before Officer Rupert could say anything, she rushed outside the office.

Though, not a second later, she heard faint screams which gradually increased as the time passed by.

She froze for a minute, but then was about to run when she heard Officer Rupert exclaim from behind,"Miss Edwards!"

He grasped her forearm and she was soon dragged in and was made to sit on a chair.

"Stay here. It's not safe to be out there." He announced authoritatively and was about to step out of the room when a young man in uniform suddenly came in view and rushed towards them.

"Sir, we have a situation!"

"I would have never guessed." Officer Rupert snapped back, "What is it? What is this chaos all about?"

"It's Zayn."

Cynthia turned rigid.

"He ran away."

A/N: Please vote and comment if you like the chapter :) What are your thoughts on the storyline and characterization so far? Comment below, for I love to hear your thoughts :)

Thank you for reading :)