[A/N: I dissected a heart this week.....was tons of fun and I hope my grade expresses that. Woop. This is a cruelly short-ish chapter but it's super important. Thought I'd post it now to kill your suspicions and please know that this is NOT a dream. What is about to happen, is as real as it gets. Songs for this chapter are Bastille - Of The Night and Fight For You - Jason Derulo.]

Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.

*LOUIS' POV*

I wanted to be let down, so that I could say I was enabled in either running with Harry or standing there voluntarily. Harry's grip on me was crushing, and not about to let up so I stayed as I was.

"Harry." Jeff says calmly, posing no physical threat as yet. "This is it, my boy. You have to stop running."

I look between who I thought were my friends, taking in each of their reactions as they toy with the current situation. Marie is holding Zayn's arm who is standing behind Niall, they are all by a cop car I hadn't noticed earlier.

Fear and dread fills me. What are they going to do? Will they take Harry back to Psychera? I'll never see him again. Will they worsen his punishment? I grip Harry's jacket tighter like that's what will root him here, with me. He couldn't go away and they couldn't take him from me.
Harry's hold inexplicably tightens until I wince from not-too-subtle grinding against my rib cage. I don't try to move away though, knowing that Harry needed me to stay and wordlessly reassure him.

"Put him down, Harry." Jeff says slowly, not berating the order.

Harry's nostrils flare and I am unable to move my arms, but if I could I'd wrap myself around him to say that he didn't have to. I'd stay anyway.

"You know what's good for you, son. Louis doesn't deserve this life."

I look at him with frantic eyes. He didn't have to do anything for me, but he's staring straight ahead and I know he's deep in thought. He's doubtful and he can't be.

"Harry?" I whisper, my voice so small and pathetic.

He drags his eyes away from the advancing officers, to give me a weak smile and loosen his hold. His eyes were empty, his decision made. I open my mouth to speak but he stops me with a kiss to the corner of my mouth.

He said nothing with his mouth, but his eyes were a world of conversation. Following that, I didn't argue when he lowered me to my feet and positively did not grip his arm and question his sanity when he willingly went towards the officers with handcuffs. Only, I did.

"Harry? Harry, what are you doing?" My step forward is prevented by Niall who is uncharacteristically quiet.

"Let him do this, Lou." Niall whispers and I ignore him. Niall never had anything useful to say anyway.

"Unfortunately, Lou, you have to come as well. You were hiding a fugitive." Jeff announces with a sigh after consulting with a new face.

What? Fucking fugitive my ass. Harry is as alarmed as I am, but he shows his emotion by kicking his way out of the arresting officer's hold. "No! Louis didn't do anything! I didn't give him a choice-"

"Rules are rules, son." Jeff states firmly. "I'm sorry, Lou."

"Officer," Zayn opens his mouth,"I'm sure we can come to the agreement that Harry can be quite persuasive. Louis isn't at fault here."

What? This world is fucking lunatic! I can't get out of Niall's grasp on my shoulders and when I look to Harry, he is glaring at Niall with narrowed eyes and dark orbs. If he growled, only I heard him.

"You and I know that, Zayn. But I can't help him now. He's done this to himself." Jeff reminds blandly.

"Come on." One of Jeff's goons speak directly to me before releasing the leather bind that held his handcuffs to his chunky belt.

I was getting arrested? I didn't believe I wasn't at fault, for keeping Harry hidden, but I'm sure I was entitled to some form of defense. Unfortunately for me, my mind has floated off and I am unable to feel a thing when the handcuffs encircle my wrists, or hear any sound when Harry shouts for us to let go. I couldn't explain this wobbly state of mind, despite the reality of having to experience it so damn often.

When the fuzzy edges of my peripheral and sharp cuts of focus return, Harry and I both are seated unpleasantly in the back seat of a cop car. I still had his jacket on and the heater was on, but everything around this vehicle was pitch darkness. Where are we?

I catch Harry staring blatantly at me. "What?"

"Where were you?" Harry pins me with his gaze.

I didn't know that answer, so I shrug my shoulders slowly. With a frown I try to recall what had me so distracted the past few minutes. "What happened?"

"You weren't here. You weren't listening to me or saying anything. Are you okay?"

"I-I don't know." I fidget in my seat, the metal bites into my wrist. It's probably being arrested that's thrown off my mojo. It's happened before yet this time, it felt different.

"C'mere." Harry coaxes.

Now normally, one would give Harry an odd expression that questioned his motives. Not me, obviously, because I use what strength football has stored in my muscles to shift closer to him until I'm between his legs - however he managed that on the awkward car seat - and my knees brought up to my chest. He sandwiches me between his arms and that loss-of-mind constant evaporates.

"Awake back there, Louis?" Jeff - who I'd completely forgotten had a standing in this world - calls back.

I can tell Harry hates him. If the glare in his eyes and tightening of his hold were void indications then I'm sure the low growl he vocalized was signage enough.

I ignore Jeff, deciding that he wasn't a good guy after all. I frown. Jeff never really did anything wrong, except bend the rules for me on account and sometimes hid a few truths. Now that he's enforcing what is supposed to be done, I'm selfish enough to hate him. Hmph.

I was grateful for the handcuffs restricting my hand movements at my front rather than back, because I was free to wriggle my fingers without my wrist cracking-

The car jolts abruptly and we skid to a halt after a swirl, the tyres screech and we propel forward until a severe knock forces us into standstill. Harry and I both had flown forward in our seats, but the damage done to us was a lot less considering we had been - almost - braced for any impact.

"What the fuck? Des, get out there!" Jeff coughs wetly and it comes out hoarse. The man driving - Des - kicks out his door to have a look.

"W-What happened?" My throat clamps down on me and I battle to make a space to breathe.

"There was someone in the street. A woman." Jeff says, banging on his window and crawling out by opening the door handle on the outside. "Stay here."

I nod so slightly as he goes off. Harry's arms have whacked more than one thing, ideally creating several tiny cuts and blemishes across his skin. The skin of his elbows is flaking, and I feel the rapid thumping of his heart on my scapulla.

"You okay?" I crane my neck to see that there are no signs of physical hurt on his neck or face.

His pupils are wide-blown and distant, but he glances down at me when I speak. "We have to go."

"What?"

"We need to go. Right now, Lou." He urges me off his lap and kicks the door I'd gotten in with, open.

"Harry, Jeff is outside. He'll catch us."

"He won't." With the last of three shoves, the door falls off the frame of the car and crashes
loudly to the ground.

"How can you be so sure? If he catches us we'll be in even more-"

A piercing cry cuts the thin air, adding distress and panic to the air. The scream was male and cut short by the groaning of another man. Oh sweet fuck. Not again, please not again.
Harry hauls himself out the door before bending to grab my wrist and pull me with him. I take in the damage at the front, finding that we'd managed to crash into a sideline tree.

"Harry! What was that?" I turn back towards the wreckage in spite of Harry's feral tugging in the opposite direction.

"Nothing, Lou. Come now and stop looking at it!"

"Did-Did you do this?"

"No." He pulls me up to his stride and makes me walk ahead of him.

"Harry, I don't know where I'm going."

"Neither do I."

"What?!" I spin on my heel.

Everywhere is dark, evidence of the blank night all around us. I can only see the sky and the smoke rising from the hood of Jeff's cop car, given that the stars and the fumes are shades lighter than black. It's terrifying out here. The tree could pass for a limping man, and the bushes could be hiding Indians. The sand hurt my feet - the socks weren't of any help - and I was freezing. I hated the feel.

Crickets went off about mating in the distance and I paused for a moment. I knew this place. Maybe a half forgotten weekend trip with the lads from my 'past' life.

"Look." Harry points and directs my shoulders to something. "We'll go there."

Oh God. My jaw falls open, ignoring the cold gust of wind that hit the nerves of my teeth. I did know this place. "Harry- no."

"No what?"

"I'm not going anywhere near that house."

"And why not?" Harry becomes upsettingly impatient. He was twitching.

"I've seen this house before. In my nightmare. It's where you.....changed and I won't really put myself there in real life."

"Louis, it's freezing and the odds of your dream being true are favourably low. Look, the light is on so someone's home."

That just made the rising levels of terror stand to a peak. "Fuck no, Harry."

"Louis."

"I won't, Harry. And I don't want you to either."

"There's nowhere else to go! You need clothes and I need sleep. We have no choice, look around us!" Harry was on edge about something else and I knew it.

"Then we'll walk." I cross my arms.

"You'll get frostbite."

"If it's what nature intends for me- Harry!" I shout when he lifts me off the ground and over his shoulder. Manhandling wasn't a cause for hatred, but it sufficed when it came to anger.

"There's nothing in that house, Lou."

"Put me down! You're going to kill me." I was referring to what would ensue if he dropped me, but after hearing his intention I start squirming against him hoping to get free.

"Stop that."

"Then put me down."

"No."

"Then no." I curt then whine. "Harry, please. I don't want to go in there."

"I'll be there, Lou. Nothing's going to happen."

"You were there the last time." I mumble into the night, the sound of my words being swept away by dust flecks and sand grains blowing in the wind.

Harry sighs and I think that he's going to respond, but he doesn't. He keeps walking, against my protestations, towards the house and with each counted step my chest continues to get tighter. The air gets thinner and is harder to inhale, my nostrils close and make slight whistling sounds at certain breaths. My heart is of another standard, beating unhealthily in my chest as it tries to suppress the growing fear.

"Don't run away." Harry finally says, to me I assume, and his hands assist me in sliding down from his shoulder hoist.

I'm positively shivering, my entire body that's turned to a quivering mess is now standing in another unfathomable spot of blackness. We seem to be at the back of the house or maybe just the side. Harry was right, the lights are on and I even hear chatter from within.

"Put your hands on the block." Harry says, raising the glistening axe from the wooden chifferobe piece.

"What?" My voice comes out high and feminine.

"We have to get the cuffs off. Don't worry, Lou." He smirks and I only see it because of his
teeth.

I have the uneasy feeling that he's telling me not to worry because he's done this before, I am most definitely not rest assured.

I obey anyway because the metal has already begun cutting off blood circulation in some
places. He raises the tool to eye-level and concentrates before it slams down and my eyes screw shut in agony. No pain, no resentment. The cuffs were a cheap make and therefore fall away easily.

"Your turn." He spins the handle around for me.

"What? No." I step back. "I don't know how to use that."

"It's easy and I trust you. Just lift and drop it with some force on the way down, yeah?"

"But-"

"Don't want them to catch us now. Do it, Lou."

I hesitantly take the weapon and object of many Psycho movies - the irony isn't lost on me. I flinch involuntarily when its full mass weighs down on my wrist, before slamming it down.

"Louis, open your eyes." Harry's smug voice pisses me off. "See, still intact."

I roll my eyes and don't care for his narrowed look before tossing the axe and waiting for another fucking instruction. "What now?"

"We go meet the family. We'll leave first thing in the morning." He adds with a kiss to my temple when he notices how wide my pupils become. "I promise."

We stumble around the front, and I can't help but revel in the realization that the vibes of this home isn't nearly as horrifying as it was in my nightmare. Maybe it isn't so bad?

Harry keeps a tight hold on my wrist when he knocks on the door.

"Coming!" Someone shouts from inside, a woman who sounded alive and happy. There's some muffled sounds then silence before the doors drawn back on its hinges.

"Hi." A young woman, donning a cotton apron and ruffled dress answers with a bright smile.

"Can I help you?"

"Hello." Harry replies in his fake awkward tone. "We're uh....looking for a way back anywhere, really."

He flashes her a dazzling smile but she doesn't blush as I expected. Maybe she did and the caked on cosmetic application prevents us from seeing anything of the reaction. "Well, we'd gladly help but it's freezing outside and it would be cruel of me to let you walk out there like this. Poor dearies."

Harry smiles gratefully while I stay frozen by an active impulse to stare in disbelief. This isn't my
nightmare, far from it actually. Then why does it still not feel regular?

I try to find a fault in her appearance, posture, maybe a hint of something in her piercing grey eyes but everything is bleak and unfamiliar in a free kind of way. No threat.

"Come on in, loves." She moves aside for us to step in and Harry tugs on my arm for me to
oblige. "Dear Lord! What are you wearing?"

I didn't realise she was addressing me until she reached for my arm and spun me around. "Uh-"

"We'll get you something comfy to wear. Don't get visitors around here very often and you boys look right innocent, honestly. Have dinner with us and you can leave in the morning."

"Thank you, ma'am." Harry does a very subtle bow, maybe just a tilt forward of his head to acknowledge her courtesy.

"Oh pish-posh! Call me Olivia. My husband, John, is in the living room with the girls."
[A/N: To those who don't remember, Olivia and John (with their two daughters) were the second lot of people to be murdered in the house on Lost Lake. Spookier now, I'd reckon? O.o ALSO H&S's climax is around the corner! Literally. It'll be posted tonight and I'm absolutely gutted to let this story go :( Opinions maybe? No :( okay]

Notes

[A/N: To those who don't remember, Olivia and John (with their two daughters) were the second lot of people to be murdered in the house on Lost Lake. Spookier now, I'd reckon? O.o ALSO H&S's climax is around the corner! Literally. It'll be posted tonight and I'm absolutely gutted to let this story go :( Opinions maybe? No :( okay]