Shadows

Annalise's POV
I pull up to school, Harry returned my car this morning. I considered not coming today but the alternative was sitting at home, doing nothing. That didn't seem like fun.
"Hey Annie," Harry calls out as I get out of my car. I look over to see him waving at me from across the parking lot. I wave back shyly and smile before turning and walking into school. I get a few curious glances but I've grown used to people staring at me since Catherine went missing. Without her they are all curious about me, the little sister who had been living in Catherine's shadow. I ignore their stares as I walk into school, wrapping my arms around myself to try and avoid their uncomfortable gazes.
"Hello Annalise," a brass voice sings out. I turn around in surprise to see Louis jogging towards me. Now even more people are staring. Oh gosh.
"Uh hi Louis," I respond as he catches up to me, a cheeky grin on his face.
"Oh Anna Anna Anna," he sings out and throws an arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer than I was comfortable with.
"Can I help you?" I ask, trying to keep the awkward rudeness out of my voice.
"Why did you leave my party so early?" He asks with an over exaggerated pout. "And you've been ignoring me."
I blush with the straightforwardness. He called me a few times over the weekend and texted me on top of that, I never responded and always sent him to voicemail. I guess Louis is just too popular to play it cool.
"Oh yeah," I mutter and fumble for an excuse to get away. Thankfully, one saunters right towards us in the hallway.
"Hey Lou," Harry says in a friendly tone but his face is hard. Louis must not take notice because his response is cheery and bright.
"Hello Haz," Louis says. "I was just asking Anna here why she's been avoiding me," he squeezes my shoulder, pulling me closer to him.
"I'm sure she has her reasons Louis," Harry's voice grows darker, the tension in his words palpable. I look up at Louis and see a surprised look on his face.
"I thought we were on the same page Harold," Louis says, his eyes narrowing.
Well now I'm confused.
"Some things change," Harry says with a shrug.
I wiggle out of Louis's grip and duck past Harry while the two stand off. Whatever is happening between them probably has nothing to do with me anyways. I shake my head to rid myself of the confusion as I walk to my locker, leaving the guys behind me.
"Hello there bestie," Maggie appears at my side, a content smile on her face.
Weird, I thought she would be mad at me.
"Uh hi," I respond, plastering a smile on my face.
"Did you get home okay after the party?" Maggie asks lightly.
"Yeah, did you?"
"Oh yes I did," her voice is laced with hidden meaning as we reach my locker.
I'll definitely have to ask her about that later. I turn the lock, keying in my combination. Maggie leans on the locker next to mine, her face disappearing behind my locker door as I swing it open. I shove my backpack into the tight space when an oddity catches my eye. Something is different.
A piece of thick white card stock is taped to the inside door of my locker, standing out among the various photos I have taped up. I reach out and tentatively touch the rough paper as Maggie babbles, but her words are drowned out by the beating of my heart. Something about this is terribly, terribly wrong. A churning in my stomach makes me feel nauseous.
I peel the note off of the door slowly and open it, obscuring it from Maggie's view by hiding it in my locker.
Catherine was pretty, but so are you
I made a mistake, grabbed sister one not sister two
I made one mistake, but I won't do it again
You're the one I want, Of that I'm certain.

See you soon Annalise.
Anonymous
The hall around me begins to spin wildly and I brace myself against the cool locker. What the hell does that even mean? I can't help but feel unparalleled fear at the note. It isn't exactly a love letter from a secret admirer. It almost sounds like Catherine was killed by mistake... That whoever anonymous was meant to kill me instead.
"Annalise? Annalise are you okay?" Maggie's concerned voice brings me out of my reverie. I shove the note in my open back pack and turn to her.
"Fine," I say suddenly. "Let's get to class or we will be late," I grab my books and slam shut my locker, following Maggie down the hall.
~
I reread the note for probably the billionth time today.
I made a mistake, grabbed sister one not sister two.
Well that must be referring to Catherine and I, she was the oldest--sister one. The note is anything but cryptic. In fact, it's fairly straightforward. That's why I'm beating myself up trying to find some hidden meaning. This must be a prank. Some horrible, cruel prank. I bet there's someone laughing their ass off right now knowing that they freaked me out.
But who would do something this mean?
A thought enters my head before I can stop it and I storm out of my bedroom quickly, grabbing the note and shoving it in my pocket as I rush over to Harry's house. I slam my hand on the door, rapping on the heavy wood loudly.
"Annalise?" Harry's mom answers the door in surprise.
"Hi Anne," I plaster on a fake smile that I've perfected in the past few months. "Is Harry here?"
"Why yes he is, come on in!" She exclaims cheerily, stepping back to let me into the warm house.
"He's just upstairs in his room, go on up," she says with a smile. Anne has never been one to ask questions, and I'm extremely thankful for that right now.
I nod a quick thanks and jog up the steps quietly, kicking my shoes off at the front door. I rap on his door nervously, my confidence in coming over here wavering. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...
Before I can continue to second guess myself, his door swings open. Harry towers above me, his curly hair in disarray and no shirt on. My eyes widen as I take in his muscular chest.
"Annie? What are you doing here?" He asks confused.
"I um.." I struggle to find words, too distracted by his bare chest. "Can you put a shirt on?" I blush as I blurt the words. That's not an awkward thing to say at all Annalise.
He chuckles and walks back into the room, holding the door open for me to come in. I stand in the doorway uncomfortably while he pulls a thin t-shirt on, his back muscles contracting as he lifts his arms over his head.
"What can I do for you Annie?" He asks with a pleasant smile.
I shut my eyes briefly, trying to convince myself that this is the right thing to do, no matter how much it hurts.
"You and your friends took it too far this time," I say softly, squeezing my eyes shut tightly.
"What are you talking about?" He says and I force myself to look at him.
I shut the door behind me and lean against it, I don't want Anne to overhear this.
"You guys really know how to be cruel, don't you?" I ask softly.
"Annie I have no idea what you're talking about," he defends himself.
"I just don't get why you would go to all the trouble of pretending to be my friend," I stare at the ground. I can't look at him anymore.
I hear his feet pad across the floor until he's standing right in front of me. I stare down, his feet the only part of him that I can see.
"I'm not pretending anything Annie," his voice is sincere and I almost believe him.. Almost.
I pull the note out of my pocket and shove it into his chest.
"What's this then?" I ask angrily.
He grabs the note with furrowed eyebrows and I watch as he reads it, his eyes widening in the process.
"When did you get this?" He asks softly.
"It was in my locker this morning," my voice wavers in fear. If he was the one who did this he would have admitted it by now, right?
"Annalise this wasn't me I swear," his green eyes are sincere.
"Then who was it?" I whisper, finally believing him.
He shakes his head. "I don't know."
"What do I do?" I ask and stare at him. His green eyes soften at the fear in my face and he crosses the room to wrap his arms around me.
"We are going to tell your parents about this," he says and stands in front of me, so close that I can smell the soap on his skin.
I find myself shaking my head wildly. "We can't tell them," I insist. Telling my parents right now is not a good idea, they've already got enough to worry about as it is.
"Okay," Harry's voice is soothing, like I'm a wild animal he's trying to keep from attacking. "Then we can go right to the police."
I find myself nodding along in agreement before I stop myself. "We?"
"Yeah of course Annie, I'm not going to let you do this alone," he wraps his arms around me and I realize that my entire body is trembling.
He holds me until my phone ringing in my pocket breaks us apart.
"Hello?" I say, answering the call.
"Annalise," my mothers grief filled voice carries through the phone.
"Yeah mom?" I ask, glancing at Harry as I pull out of his embrace. I move to sit on the edge of his bed and he sits next to me, the bed sinking under his weight.
"Anna the police just talked to us, your sisters autopsy report came back," she sobs. My parents had been in the city with the police all day, I'm guessing they're on their way back as we speak.
"Oh," I mumble, bracing myself for the news I know I'm about to receive.
"Catherine was murdered," my mom sobs over the phone. I hear a quick shuffling before my fathers calmer voice comes over the phone.
"Your sister was killed two months ago," dad's voice is is soft and I can hear the slight tremor to his words. "We won't give you the details but that's only because we didn't get them ourselves, they just told us that it was bad."
I shut my eyes and Harry's arm wraps around my shoulders in a gesture meant to comfort me. I lean my head against his shoulder while my dad continues talking.
"It was a fluke that they found her," his voice cracks. "Her body. But they can use the information to help find the man who did this. They are opening a formal investigation for her murder."
I turn my face into Harry's shoulder and feel the wet tears slide off of my cheeks and into his shirt. I cry silently. I don't think there will ever be a time when I don't cry in front of Harry.
"Shhh," Harry mumbles into my hair.
"The funeral will be in two days," my dad continues. "Your mother and I will he home soon."
"Okay," I manage to say.
"We love you," he says finally and the line goes dead.
"She was murdered," I whisper into Harry's shoulder, the phone falling from my hand and on to his bed. "And people are breaking into my house, I'm getting notes."
"The police will get this guy Annie," Harry soothes, trying to convince himself as well as me.
"I'm scared Harry," I whisper faintly.
"I won't let them hurt you Annie," he replies softly. "It'll be okay."
"What if this note wasn't just a prank," I let the fear seep into my voice.
He doesn't respond, simply pulls me closer to him. I inhale the smell of soap and fresh linen on him, letting it calm me down. He wraps both arms around me and we just sit there. I wrap my arms around his neck as I cry wordlessly into his shoulder.

Notes

What do you think about the note?