Twisted

The next day passed by in a blur. My mind felt like it had fully shut down, and all I could think about was what was to come.

Was Harry going to kill me?

I tried my best not to think of that. By doing so, I cleaned my entire apartment to the fullest. I mopped the floor, picked up every scrap of trash, cleaned all the dishes, dusted the desks and furniture, and changed every light bulb in the place. When that was all done, it was only around 1 in the afternoon. So, not knowing what else to do, I made lasagna.

Yes, lasagna.

I am a big fan of Italian food. Any pasta was good in my book, unless it wasn't properly prepared of course. So I spent my time on my lasagna, and when it was done, I ate it with a sick stomach.

It was 4. Harry told me he'd be coming around evening. What was evening? Fix? Six?

When I was finished, I put the leftovers in my fridge and decided to go get dressed. Miserably, I wondered if this would be the last time I would ever choose my clothes. So I chose my favorite blouse, which was simple, nothing drastic, along with my most comfortable jeans. I ran a hand through my hair and untied it from the bun, running a brush through it. My hair splayed past my shoulders. Years of growing it out worked, though I supposed I needed a haircut soon; that is, if I made it that far.

Maybe I was being melodramatic. I don't know. All I knew was that I was terrified. All night I had nightmares of the day before—being stuck in the dark. I still had yet to even see the guy in the light. What did he look like? I sure knew his voice, but that was about it.

His voice alone haunted my dreams. I hated to think of everything else about him. I pictured him with dark, shrewd eyes and an evil mustache or something.

I watched TV, trying to keep myself calm. However, nothing could stop my rapid heart rate or stop my hands from trembling. I kept shifting in my seat, glancing at the door. I was expecting him to knock it down and make an appearance. But that never came.

I nearly jumped when my phone rang out, signaling a text message. I hesitated, taking a deep breath—hoping it wasn't him—before checking. It was from Francine.

-Good luck girl! Wish I could be there for you. If you need any help, just call me.-

I knew it wasn't the most comforting thing in the world, but it felt a little better knowing she thought about me. She was the only one in this entire town.

Kym called multiple times last night, probably to talk about her date. But I didn't answer. I couldn't answer.

How could I talk about a date if I had the leader of a notorious gang coming to my house the next day?

I stared at the TV for a few seconds but then my doorbell rang without warning. The door bell sounded like the chiming of my death. I stared at the door for a few moments, clicking mute on my TV.

Please tell me it was just my imagination. He wasn't here.

It rang again. I was too young to die.

I took a deep, steady breath, closing my eyes. I stayed put on the couch, silently telling myself to be brave.

I was an American, I'm from a whole other country; I'm not native here. Why should I be afraid?

With that last thought, I forced myself to go to the door and I looked in the peep hole. What I saw made my mouth fall open in pure shock. This had to be some kind of mistake. This most definitely was not the guy I pictured. Surely this wasn't him.

There was a guy—no older than me, with brown, curly hair. He was looking down, probably waiting for the door to open. But all I could do was stare at him in shock. He wore a plain black t-shirt that showed a lot of his neckline and dark jeans. He wasn't wearing tons of jewelry like gangster's I've seen, nor did he have thousands of tattoos. He just looked like a normal guy.

He brought his head up and his eyes looked right into mine.

A bit startled, I flinched away, my heart racing again. Was that…him? It couldn't be. There was no way.

Numbly, I unlocked the door—which wasn't easy because my hands were shaking so much—and opened it slowly. When it was fully opened, the guy looked at me without offering a smile. He had an expectant look on his face.

Shit. It was him.

Without thinking, I went to close the door real fast. But it was caught on his foot, which he struck out just in time. His eyes—which I noted were a forest green—narrowed drastically.

"Claire," He said with the familiar husky voice, "that's no way to treat your guest now is it?"

I swallowed thickly and let the door open. Harry stepped his way inside, keeping his eyes trained on me, and closed it behind him. For a moment his eyes flickered off of me, glancing around my humble apartment. He didn't say anything further.

His curly hair was much more noticeable now, and I got a much better look at him. He really didn't look older than me at all, which still shocked me to my very core. I didn't know what it was, but something gave me an ounce of courage. It wiped away the fear I once held. This was my home—not his.

"You're not my guest." I said, once again without thinking. "You practically forced your way here."

His eyes flickered to mine, widening in surprise. However, that look of surprise washed away with a smirk, one that almost sent shivers down my spine.

"Yeah, I know." He replied smoothly, not at all bothered with what I said. He licked his lips, ducked his head for a moment, and said, "But I do recall treating you as a guest. I suggest you treat me the same, Claire."

He sounded threatening, as if he was warning me.

I narrowed my eyes. Maybe I got my sudden courage from the fact that I wasn't meeting him in the darkness. I could fully see him—there was absolutely nothing to hide.

"You didn't treat me like a guest." I hissed in a whisper. "You had your boys drag me there unwillingly."

"Exactly." He replied smugly, still not fazed by my 'rudeness'. "And I can do it all over again if I wanted to."

I glared at him for a few moments, clenching my teeth. Then I turned on my heel, made my way to where his jacket was, and brought it back to him. When I returned Harry was examining my shelf with a lot of my photo albums quite closely. I cleared my throat loudly and he looked. I practically threw his jacket at him, which he caught it easily. I thought it would've been a bit more "epic" if he had dropped it. Well, that's what I was going for.

"There." I stated bluntly. "There's your jacket. You're welcome to leave now."

He held his jacket on one arm and his eyes slowly made their way to mine. He cocked his head to the side for a moment and asked softly, "You're not afraid of me, are you?"

The look he was giving me was strange. He looked almost fascinated, as if the idea of someone in this world not fearing him was amusing to him.

My heart skipped a beat. Of course he had no idea how terrified I really was of him. After seeing his boys drag someone off the street, and me having to meet him in a dark run-down building, I was absolutely scared of him. But I could put up a show, an illusion. I could make him think I wasn't scared, and maybe he wouldn't want to bother me after this. It was the only card I had to play.

Just maybe.

"Why should I be afraid?" I said, my voice stronger than I felt. I crossed my arms over my chest, keeping my eyes on his.

He only smirked again. "You were afraid yesterday."

Damn it. He knew I was? Well I did suppose it was obvious. I could barely speak yesterday.

"So," He continued, circling around me slowly—like he was the shark and I was the boat—"you're either putting on a little show right now, or you're just incredibly stupid."

"I'm not stupid." I mumbled, feeling a bit nervous now that he disappeared behind me. I looked over my shoulder quickly, seeing him watching. However, his eyes were now concentrated on my body. And he didn't even bother to hide it, even as I caught him doing so.

I quickly turned around, my cheeks blushing profoundly. "Keep your eyes to yourself." My voice shook.

Yeah. Nice comeback, Claire. Keep your eyes to yourself?

"This is a nice show you're giving me." He murmured, his eyes lingering on my chest where my arms were crossed. I pursed my lips in mortification and uncrossed my arms, my hands balling into tight fists. I have never, in my entire life, had someone look at me like this.

It was so…degrading!

"I'm not afraid of you." I told him again, my eyes lowering into a glare.

"You're not?" Harry spoke, his eyes finally falling on mine. I felt a bit better now that his eyes were on me again. He stopped circling me now and gave me his full attention.

"Why would I be afraid of someone who hides in the dark?"

For some reason, Harry busted out laughing at this. It wasn't meant to be funny; I meant it quite the opposite. But Harry laughed as if the idea itself was absurd.

I quirked an eyebrow at him, my anger infiltrating.

"What's so funny?" I snapped, not understanding his humor.

"I don't hide in the dark." Harry told me when he was done. His face turned suddenly serious.

"Yes you do!" I exclaimed, pointing at him accusingly. "Every time I've seen you before this, I could never see you!"

"Claire, define darkness to me." Harry stated suddenly, his eyes trailing to the ground. He looked like he was waiting.

I hesitated. Was he serious? "Darkness is…you know…" I trailed off, waving my hands impatiently. Fed up, I huffed, "How the hell do you not know what darkness is?"

He smiled cockily and said, "Darkness does not exist."

I just stared at him. "What?"

"Darkness is nothing." Harry stated, his eyes burning into mine. I shifted my feet uncomfortably. "It is literally the essence of nothing."

"Why are you telling me this?"

He ignored me. "In fact, darkness is lack of light. That's all it really is. I wasn't hiding in the dark."

"You're not making any sense." I said, ultimately confused. He really wasn't making sense. And weren't gangster's supposed to use much more crude language? Bluntly, I stated, "You don't even seem like a gang leader."

"Oh really?" His eyes glinted. Anger? "Why's that?"

"Well, for one, you don't look like one."

Harry's jaw clenched tightly. My breath halted in my mouth as he approached me. I began backing up until my back was pressed into the wall. But Harry made no move to touch or harm me. He just stood directly in front of me.

"My gang," He hissed in a low whisper, "is nothing like the ones you have seen."

The ones I've seen? Was he talking about—

"The ones you have seen are low life scum." Harry stated matter-of-factly, though there was an obvious edge to his voice. In fact, did I see absolute disgust in his eyes? I did. "Don't even compare us to them, Claire. Don't."

"Then what are you?" I whispered breathlessly, my eyes now widening.

"We don't fight for money or drugs." Harry replied simply. "The gangs you've seen are like children. It's all a fight for something, a gain on each side. We don't need drugs or money."

"Then what do you want?"

Harry didn't reply. His eyes flickered down to my chest again and that anger I felt earlier surfaced again. He had absolutely no right looking at me with no shame like that. It was incredibly rude.

"And stop looking at me like that!" My voice was unfamiliar to my ears. It was high and shrilly. I nearly slapped him, and I even went to do it, but Harry's hand caught my wrist at the last second and the look in his eyes made me weak in the knees.

"I can look at you," He said overly calm, "however I want to."

"Y-you have no right." I stuttered, eyeing him cautiously. I wondered if he heard my beating heart, tasted my fear.

His lips turned into a twisted smirk. "I don't need the right. I own this town. And since you're here," His voice lowered seductively as his eyes trailed down my neck—ever so slowly, "you're also—"

"—don't even finish that." I protested, breaking my hand away from his. I hurried away from him, putting as much distance between us as possible. I honestly was at a loss for words. Was he just about to say what I thought he was going to say?

He retained that twisted smile and watched me. "What're you going to do? Run?"

I took one look at him and then turned on my heel, running from the room. I ran into my kitchen, but just as I turned to the other side, I was face-to-face with Harry.

I flinched away, startled, but his hands seized my wrists and he held me close, his hot breath fanning across my face. I didn't smell drugs or alcohol from him.

"Running is useless." He told me, his eyes making my stomach twist. They were much too intense…that fear crept back to me, remembering how I could see his eyes even in the pitch darkness.

"Nobody is going to help you." Harry continued, his grip tightening on my wrist. "I already told you, Claire. I fucking own this town. I tell them what to do, and they listen to me. So if you think for one second that you know of anyone that will backstab me, tell me, and I'll have their necks sliced open."

I saw that he meant what he said, and that made me want to faint even more.

What the hell was I dealing with?

"Look, you have your jacket back." I stammered nervously, the color draining from my face. "W-what else do you want?"

Right that second, my phone began to ring. My head whirled towards the sudden noise, but Harry didn't even give it a glance. He was still staring at me.

I couldn't even move when his arms found their way around my waist, and I didn't dare flinch away when he leaned into my neck.

"You have a light in you," He murmured, muffled by my neck. I stiffened up but listened. His head then rose up, his eyes inches from mine, and said, "I want to put that light out."

He really wasn't making any sense. He was supposed to be a simple gangster, just here to demand for my money or sex. Yet here he was, talking complete nonsense to me.

And then he pulled away with that damn twisted smirk again and said, "We have a few things to talk about."

And when his eyes once again flickered to my chest, my eyes rolled into the back of my head and I fainted unexpectedly into his arms.

Notes

I'm so sorry, I haven't updated for a while and forget about the deal.

;) what'd ya'll think? Yes I know Harry is a bit...twisted right now...but hence the title to this story ;p

Things are surely about to get interesting though. Trust me. Just stick with me guys! Also, I wanted to update much earlier but for some reason, the website keeps going in and out. Sometimes it just won't even load D: I hope it stays on now!

AND THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE VIEWS :D :D :D Also, sorry if this was a short chapter. I just didn't want to make it TOO Long xD