With Flecks of Gold

Maybe if I closed my eyes and forgot to breathe everything would disappear.

I could make Niall disappear,

I could make my mom disappear,

I could make Harry disappear,

I could make everyone and everything just disappear with the clouds, slowly drift away with the wind. Too bad that can’t actually happen.

I could tell Niall wanted me to say something, anything, but he was willing to wait for me to get myself together first.

“So…” I was forcing myself to speak the English language at this point. “You’re telling me…” I continued, giving him one of those: ‘You-Better-Not-Be-Shitting-Me’ looks. “That we’re all gonna get killed… by the government.”

“Somethin’ like dat’, yeah.” I placed two fingers at my temple to steady my thoughts.

“There are still so many things that don’t add up, though.” I was using my hands to emphasize my words, again. “If they’re planning to save everyone that they feel is important, how the hell are they going to do that if they gas the entire planet?”

Niall sighed again and I could tell that another wave of information was about to come flooding into me.

“Have you ever seen da’ movie Wall-E?” I furrowed my brow.

“Well, yes…” I could tell what was coming next but I decided to wait for him to explain further.

“Okay, so here’s a follow-up question, have you ever wondered what man has been doin’ on da’ moon all these years?” He was confusing me.

“Well, no, not really.” Niall laughed again. A menacing laugh.

“Ever heard of a ‘moon-base’, love?”

“Maybe in TV shows, why?”

“Well, we have one.”

“Okay… and?”

“Da’ governments’ gonna use it to keep all da’ ‘important’ people alive while everyone else on Earth gets killed off.” I tried to ignore that last part.

“So where do you come in, then?” I pushed, making sure he noted the suspicion laced in my words.

“I was offered a spot.” He looked down at his lap, like he was ashamed of himself.

“A… spot?” I felt almost betrayed. The government didn’t think I was good enough, but somehow, this teenage pop star got first-class.

“A spot. A place ta’ live at da’ moon-base. Dey’ offered all of my band-mates a spot.”

“Did you take it?” I felt obliged to ask.

“Do you think I would be livin’ out in da’ wilderness if I took it, Lauren?” I could tell he was irritated but I was too angry to care.

“Then why are you out in the wilderness, huh?” I began to raise my voice at him.

“Lauren, dammit have you even noticed where we are?” He yelled in response.

“Fucking Wyoming that’s where!” I was at full volume, now, and so was he.

“Yeah, and guess what’s in Wyoming, Lauren?!”

“Fucking what?!” Tears were brimming my eyes, I was so overwhelmed.

“Yellowstone Park that’s what! God dammit! I refused to take the fuckin’ spot so I came out here in hopes to try and find a way to stop da’ damn eruption and I figured dat’ da’ best way ta’ do dat’ would be ta’ camp near da’ outskirts of da’ park, and snoop my way around da’ fuckin’ volcano so I could find a fuckin’ way in!”

“A way in?! Why the hell would you want to go in a volcano?! How is that gonna stop it?” This might have been a competition to see who could be the loudest.

“I already told ya’, Lauren, da’ government is workin’ under da’ volcano to try and see if dey’ can find a way ta get it ta’ erupt!”

“Like… Like what?! A fucking secret base?!”

“I’m assumin’ so!”

There was dead silence. How come I couldn’t just jump into the water and swim away right now? It would be so easy, too easy.

“What happened to Harry, then?” I allowed my voice to become quieter, perhaps too quiet. He took a deep breath and attempted to match my tone with his answer.

“He took da’ spot, Lauren. And based on everythin’ dat’ you told me about him I think it’s safe to say that he has taken things a little too far and is workin’ to make dis’ plan go a little faster. He was probably workin’ undercover to help set da’ plan underway.”

“What about the rest of your band?” I asked, genuinely wanting to know. Niall scoffed.

“Ta’ hell if I know. After we got da’ news we all got in da’ biggest fight and just split up. Haven’t seem em’ since.” I paused before responding.

“How long ago was that?” Niall pondered the question before answering.

“Bout’ a year.” I gasped. How long have they been planning this whole thing? If they gave the information to a bunch of popular teenage boys an entire year ago, I could only imagine how long it has been since they first thought of the idea. It was mind-blowing.

“So, now what?” I rested my head in my hands, defeated.

“Well, we gotta go back ta’ da lab, first of all. I’m assumin’ dere’s a lot of things dere’ dat’ would be more den’ helpful ta’ know if I’m plannin’ on stoppin’ dem’.” I stared at him in disbelief.

“You seriously think you can do it all by yourself?” I mocked.

“Well, nobody else is gonna help me.” He stated simply.

I thought about it for a couple of minutes. I wasn’t even sure if I believed all of this but a lot of it did add up. The article, Harry, my mom. But, at the same time, a lot of questions I had were still left unanswered and most of the things he was telling me were just plain crazy.

But, for some reason, I trusted him. Maybe it was the kiss we shared, or the fact that I had just turned into a mermaid and me convincing myself in that moment that pretty much anything is possible.

I had made up my mind.

“I’m probably gonna regret this… but---“

“Don’t even.” Niall interrupted me. I glared at him. How rude! “Don’t even begin ta’ say what I think you’re gonna say because da’ answer is no. I’m not lettin’ ya’ come with me.”

“But what the hell makes you think that you can do this alone?” I mocked him again.

“Well havin’ a bratty little girl with me isn’t gonna help me dat’ much, now is it?!” His words hurt me. Apparently he didn’t appreciate or care about me the way that I thought he did. A tear slipped down my cheek. I think he pretended not to notice.

I looked down at the crystal clear water and longed for it. It took all of my strength not to just dive in.

I knew I was gonna regret that kiss.

“I’m gonna get you home and you can just leave everything to me.” He declared in a much calmer tone of voice.

***

The rest of the ride to shore was silent, long, and painful, but before we knew it, we had arrived at the canal in which I had first entered the water a couple days ago.

Niall docked the boat and I took note of the ripped up dirt in which I assumed was Harry scrambling for land after I had sprayed him with water.

“Wonder what happened dere'. ” Niall mumbled to himself as he located what I was staring at. I shook my head and shrugged. He may change his mind about me being a ‘bratty little girl’ and maybe even think that I’m unique or useful, if he knew my secret.

The nerve of some people, really.

We trekked and sliced our way through the bushes, shrubs, and trees, barely making small talk on the way there besides him asking me if anything looked familiar or if I thought we were going the right way. I would just reply with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. It wasn’t too difficult. We finally made it to the emergency exit that I had dragged myself out of earlier. I peaked inside and noticed that all the blood and chemicals had been cleaned up and replaced.

Typical.

“Now what?” I sighed bluntly. “Do we just walk in and introduce ourselves?”

Niall laughed sarcastically. “Correction.” He stated, taking my arm and dragging me to the front of the building. “You just go in and introduce yourself, I shall sneak in behind ya’.” I rolled my eyes.

“We’ll see how that turns out.”

I casually, yet nervously, walk up to the front door and glanced up. ‘Selnad Research Labs’ the bulletin board above the building read in large, black, unfriendly letters. I took a breath and pulled on the door.

It creaked open with an eerie squeak and I peered inside.

It was pitch black, the place looked abandoned.

“Hello…?” I called unsurely into the darkness.

“Is anyone dere’?” Niall asked me from outside the building. I shrugged and turned my attention back towards the dark room. I took a step inside and the door slammed shut behind me with a startling:

THUNK!

I began to grow frightened as I attempted to open the door again, it didn’t budge. Niall banged on it a couple times from the other side but after only a few knocks the pounding subsided.

I gulped and swung myself around again to face the darkness.

“Hello…..?” I called again, all the confidence in my voice now gone.

“Hello, again, love. Fancy meeting you here.” I froze. I knew that voice from anywhere.

Harry.

I squinted and braced myself as a light in the middle of the room flickered on, revealing a very smug Harry leaning against a lab table.

I swallowed hard as he began to advance towards me. Every step he made forward led to a step that I took in the opposite direction, that is, until I hit a wall.

Fear bubbled and swirled inside me as Harry braced both of his hands on the wall, beside my head. He trapped me in.

“Where’s my mom?” I demanded, ignoring his close proximity.

“That’s a good question, sweets.” Harry cooed, running a large finger down the side of my jawline. “Certainly not looking for you. That’s for sure.”

A sinister smile covered his face and I was trying so desperately hard just to keep my eyes open and not pass out right there. Who knows what he would do to me if I had passed out, right?

“How do you know?” I challenged, using all of the strength I had just to make him feel like less of a man. I don’t think it worked.

He simply chuckled at my abrasiveness.

“Well, considering the fact that we have many larger issues at hand, I’m afraid you just weren’t important to her.” My lip trembled. Harry was feeding off of my fear and sadness. His smile grew larger. “She’s long gone…” He temporarily broke eye contact to focus on a loose strand of hair that he proceeded to gently tuck behind my ear.

I closed my eyes, but reopened them when I felt his burning gaze once again focused upon my face.

“She left you all to me.” He concluded, shoving his body into mine and pinning me against a wall.

“Please, don’t!” I squeezed my eyes shut and let a lone tear carve a path down my cheek. Harry placed a large, warm hand around my neck.

“That’s right.” He coaxed. “I wanna hear you beg for it.” I tried to block him out, but it was too much. It was beginning to become more and more difficult to breathe.

As I was struggling for consciousness, He traced an overly confident finger down my hip and just about to my mid-thigh.

He laughs mechanically as I squirm for life in his tight grasp.
“You’re just too easy…” He declares, allowing his fingers to begin searching for the zipper in my jeans. He smiles as my body begins to go limp in his hands. “This is gonna be fun.”

Notes

Yo!

So please, please, please, tell me what you guys think of this chapter.

Or really just the entire story in general, I wan t o hear all of it. :)

I'll update soon!