Human

Chapter 36:
Harry's P.O.V.

"...you grew up hating a man you never knew, and how foolish you became because of it. You spent your years searching for the end of the rainbow, but what happens you get there? Where's your pot of gold?" Richard bored me with his metaphors. He wasn't getting out of this situation, alive. And that was definite.

"Don't you realize that there are enough people to hate in the world already without you working so hard to give us another?" I took a deep breath to keep my temper down. "Stop making up idiotic stories and start giving me the answers to the questions." I forcefully commanded.

"Repeat the question."

In a monotone voice. "Who were you with when you were caught and where were you?"

"A loading dock not far from here, James." He said with hesitation.

I'll let him pass his one now, but later I with force a truthful answer out of him. "Was it hard killing my mother?" I tried to compose myself in front of him.

Richard grinned as if recalling a memory, "The easiest thing in the world."

I lashed out and smacked him across the face. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and tugged him real close, allowing the restrictions on the chair strangle him. "Don't you ever talk about my mother like that!" Throwing him back down, I jabbed him in the stomach. Watching him cringe felt good. Letting your anger out always does. So I slapped him again, and again. "You are worthless, you've always been."

Richard coughed up blood. "So what do you want of me?" He spat blood on my floor, so I slapped him one more time. "What was that for?" He belted.

"Don't contaminate my floors." I retorted.

"Okay Harry, what do you want from me?" He bellowed.

"You made me live through 16 years of hell without anybody. I survived all by myself, what can you do? Cry for me to let you go?" He sat there, defeated. "Cry a bit louder, would ya?"

That was a breaking point for him. He thrashed his arms around. A hopeless battle for him against the chair. "You're gonna do this to your own dad? Really?"

I tightened the straps too the point where he could no longer move at all. "Really." He mumbled something under his breath. "What was that?" I gripped his jaw and flicked it towards me.

"That's not how I raised you." He had some balls to say that to me.

I punched him in the jaw. "You raised me? You murdered my mom, for God's sake! You think you raised me one bit? You tried to murder me too, you fucking offal bitch."

"I put you through all those challenges to better you. I hoped one day you could take this business over. " he lied straight to my face.

"And what would make you think I'd want to do that after everything you've done to me?" He was absolutely pathetic. It irks me how he thinks lying to my face will get him out of this situation.

"I'm your old man." He grinned, showing off his smoken and drugged teeth. Filth in his eyes.

"And old man who murdered his family." I started walking towards the door.

"That was a mistake, I didn't murder you! Come on Harry." He pleaded.

I stopped, and waited, before slowly turning around. "Not physically, but you murdered me the day you murdered mom." And that was the end of the day for me.

Everything else seemed numb. He takes so much out of you. He sucks everything out until there's nothing left, and that's how he gets his power. All I want right now, is the one person who can put the life back into me.

"Move please." I tried to be proper as Paris would wish, as I pushed through some nobodys in the control center. "Where's Paris?" I stopped Louis in my hustle.

"I don't know, upstairs with Niall I think. I'm making a dinner date here tonight because we can't go out... can I have the spare room?" Decorated and cleaned, that room would be excellent.

Can't believe I hadn't thought of going there with Paris yet.

"Yeah sure. If you see Paris, let me know." I continued on by. Everybody seemed to be getting in my way. Slow elevators, poorly placed bystanders, moving boxes, equipment, idiots who don't know how to share a hallway.

Paris's door was slightly ajar and dark. Creeping towards, it I heard a scream. Instinctively I burst in and raced to find Paris. "Harry! You scared me!" Paris jumped from the couch and threw her pillows at me. "Look, you made me spill my popcorn." She crossed her legs and pouted.

"Why the hell did you scream?" I was a bit breathless, but relieved, none the less.

"I'm watching a movie, and something popped out and scared me." Paris defended.

"Well you don't have to give me a heart attack like that!" I almost smirked, almost.

"I didn't know you were there!" Paris threw her hands up. "Now I think you could make use of yourself and pick up this mess."

I sighed and got on my fours, picking up tiny, countless kernels of popcorn from her fuzzy rug. To make matters more uncomfortable, Paris had kicked her feet up and continued watching her movie as if I were her foot rest. "You know, I have a better idea." I removed her feet and walked to her kitchenette to make some more popcorn upon returning for a different movie.

Paris rested her head upon my shoulder and snuggles in close while watching a new movie. She hates "scary" movies, but I couldn't help myself. She's so precious when she's scared. No make up, messy hair, baggy pajamas, and she was absolutely beautiful. I couldn't keep my eyes off her. Before meeting her, I never knew why people could just even steal glance at someone and feel complete happiness and joy.

"Paris?" She paused the movie and turned toward me, sensing importance in my tone if voice. I froze, pausing for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Did you have something to ask me, maybe an idea?" Paris tried to spark my memory.

"All I could ever ask of you is to stay. Just stay." A soft rain drizzled down the darkening window.

"Nothing would be the same if you didn't exist."

Paris snuggled in closer to my chest. Our bodies barely able to share the couch. "I think you're beautiful, and I really do admire everything about you. I want to be able to demonstrate and communicate how much you mean to me. But the wires in my brain aren't meeting up in the correct way, and that makes everything so much harder."

To me, that sounded absolutely pathetic. But to Paris, it probably sounded "sweet" "caring" or "lovely". But at the end of the day, the only person those words should matter to -besides myself- is Paris.

She pursed her lips. "Harry, tattooed and scarred, you're still one of the loveliest and gentle people I have ever come accustomed to."

Called it.

"You know, when I designed this place, I thought it had everything we needed. All the "toys" had been installed and we had more than enough to keep us occupied. But more and more I realize you need interaction with humans..." I weighed my next words. "I think we'll be safe if we all go out soon. Make something to remember outside of these walls." But before we could go out, we had one job that had to be scheduled. My father still perched, foreseeing his future.

"Paris, I hate to do this, but I need to go."

Leaving her side is never easy, but realistically I need to meet with my boys. Fortunately, they were all awaiting my arrival in the observation portion of Richard's interrogation room.

"Louis, I know you have a dinner date to attend to so you can be dismissed. And I stole a glance at your setup, make it special." I smirked, sometimes I do have a heart.

"Thanks Styles, means a lot." He rushed right out. Surely one of the other boys knew his opinions.

"I'm just gonna cut to the chase, he needs to leave soon. He adds so much edge to everyone." Liam suggested.

Zayn chimed in then. "Louis and I studied the surveillance videos from the night we got Richard. It seemed to be like a sacrifice to turn himself in. I don't presume inhabiting him behind our walls for much longer."

"It still behooves me how they seized control of him. " Niall chimed in. "I mean, we haven't seen any signs of weakness from The Noxious before."

"I conceive this is all a big hoax. The longer we hold him here the worse these conditions are gonna get. Someone is playing us, let's get rid of him before this dilemma gets out of our control." Liam insisted.

"So what do you suggest?" Zayn reentered the topic.

Niall answered for me. "I say we figure out a way to force Richard into revealing-"

"-stop. Don't you guys understand what this "gang" was all for?" I stepped in. "I formed this group to find Richard and get rid of him. We have almost fulfilled that idea. After he's been eliminated, this whole thing can stop."

Zayn jumped back in. "Then what?"

"You guys all have futures and careers you can pursue. I don't know what I'm going to do, but you guys won't have any problems going somewhere." They all are smart individuals who without a doubt have a good life to live. Most of them have at least part of a college education
beneath their belt and have no problem with the ladies.

"We've all invested years of our lives in this for you, and you want us just to moves past it like nothing happened?" Niall and the boys couldn't fathom the concept.

I nodded and watched as they all held a disgusted expression. "What about you Harry? What are you gonna do?"

"Honestly Zayn, I don't know. Don't worry about me. Take this as a warning, you might want to start looking for jobs or a new place to live, cause soon I'm closing this place down. "

"Whoa, wait Harry. " Not everyone was content with this plan. "He's still here, when do you plan on getting rid of him? Cause it's gotta be soon. But we need a few weeks notice about moving out."

"Tomorrow let's all go out, until then, I would recommend searching for future plans. I'm sorry guys, but this is it. I never got the chance to plan further."

And that's how not to drop a bombshell.

Notes