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Hide & Seek (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter 5

(Thank you to everyone who has been helping me get Hide & Seek and Demons out there! It means more than you could ever imagine, seeing the support. I truly appreciate it. I'm still running low on reads and votes though so please help out by telling someone about H&S. I will do like a double - or triple - update if you guys help me out. Ily all xx) There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportion. *LOUIS POV* The house smells of rust and dust. Two unsavory components combined to form one massively disgusting odor. I cough dryly into my fist before closing the door softly. Taking precautionary steps I go into the kitchen where I imagine the other trace of humanity will be lurking about now. Harry is tying the opening of the trash bag into a knot. He looks up long enough to see me but too swiftly to demonstrate a care for my presence. "I um, brought food for you. The cupboards were empty in here." I speak first. He looks at me like a fox in the snow, tilting his head to one side in comprehension. "Thanks." He mumbles before walking past me armed with the black plastic bag. Geez. I'm trying to get along with you, man. I leave the food I'd allocated for him on the table before taking the remainder to my room. Hanayen is sullen, following me dutifully until we are behind the closed door. Hanayen eats like a human, and his uncertainty mixed together with his fear of supposed supernatural occurrences, does not tighten the corset around his appetite. I'm not hungry anymore though, and sit with my back against the cold wall nibbling on oily fries while my dog eats for the both of us. He rests his large head on my lap and exhales so that the furry flaps around his mouth vibrate. I comb my fingers through his hair, pondering over nothing. "Tired yet?" I ask twenty minutes later when my eyelids start feeling too heavy to keep open. He's already asleep on me and shifting isn't an option when you're trapped under a St Bernard. These dogs are monstrous in size and teeth. I sit there upright staring off into the lake outside the window when I hear a noise. It's irritating and relentless. Harry's turned up the volume on the useless television. I sigh and fumble out from beneath Hanayen who just rolls over to sustain his sleepy wonder. I unlock the door to my room and step out, careful to leave it wide open. Walking across the doorway I reach the living room and find Harry seated on the worn-out settee. He's not asleep, just sitting there staring at the wall like a blind person. "Harry?" I open my mouth before I filter my thoughts. He shakes his head like he's snapping out of a trance, before standing up to look at me. "Why is the telly so loud? There's no picture." I reinstate. He glances at the black box and frowns. "Sorry. I'll put it off." "I tried already." He goes to the object and simple taps one of the two metallic rods that protrude from behind. The entire things shuts down and I feel foolish for not randomly hitting things to get it to obey me. I remember him bringing up a hamster earlier but I haven't seen it around. "Where's your hamster?" I ask politely. He scans the room before turning to me. "Somewhere. His cage is broken so he finds escaping easy." Woah. Another big sentence. I decide to prod at this change in attitude, hoping to lessen the tangible tension in this relationship. "I can fix it for you." I offer. He shakes his head. "I can do it. I just haven't found the time." Oh. That's weird because I don't see Harry doing anything of environmental or domestic importance. "What time is it?" He suddenly asks rubbing his eyes with the ball of his palm. "Um.....just after six." I confirm after a quick glance at my watch since my phone is in my room with a sleeping dog. "When will you start working?" I don't know if he's being rude or not because he uses such a a straightforward tone. "Maybe tomorrow. I was going to put a handle on that door first thing." I point to the swinging glory hole door under the stair case. Harry stiffens and straightens his posture to exude a form of silent anger with his towering height. I lean against the wooden panel with my arms crossed over my chest. "You can't go in there." He says snidely. "I know. The handle will be fitted on the outside of the door, Harry." I try not to mock the guy, but he's making it so easy for me. The corner of his mouth twitches but he bites his lip to restrain it. It bothers me to think he may never have smiled. Or at least not in a long while. "What did you do while I was gone?" He looks right at me, green orbs burning into mine in intimidation. Luckily, my eyes are too tired to widen. "Stayed in my room. You said I can't look around." "Then how did you know the cupboards were empty?" "I went in there because I was hungry." "So you did look around. Where else did you go?" "Just there and the room you gave me. Your visits to town are really short." "That's my business." I hold my hands up in innocent defense. "Sorry." He steps around the couch, on a route past me heading for the staircase. "You should go to sleep, or stay in your room for the rest of the night." I let a confused frown form in the furrowing of my eyebrows. "Why?" My eyes follow his retreating figure until he is upstairs and entering a room I assume could be his, without answering me. The door closes and I am assured that my answer will never come. An idea pops into my mind and I slip past the staircase into the kitchen. The table's empty which means he either threw the food I bought away or actually abandoned his heartless facade - I'm not positive on whether it is a facade or not - for long enough to eat it. It was his to do with as he pleased, except that I paid twenty bucks for the whole arrangement. Hanayen is still frozen in sleep when I tiptoe back into our shared room. He is an excessive dead weight like this and I'm better off sleeping on the floor. The large volume of his mass covers the entire bed and had I been asleep under or next to him I wouldn't have had an issue with this. I sigh and ruffle his fur, his belly jiggles from the action and I leave him to rest. I manage to accumulate enough space on the mattress for me if I slept on my side, and I do while my dog sleeps like a king. The cilia in my ears are overly-active, picking up every slight sound or rustle outside. My paranoia hasn't taken any leap of superstitious faith, and I'm trying very hard to keep it that way. Night falls and I have nothing to do. I think about what I'd be doing now if I hadn't joined Zayn's posse one night ago. I'd probably be Scott free - in this tiny town - at one of Derek's vivacious and provocative parties. Marie. I cover my yawn with my palm, and I just close my eyes when I'm forced to re-open them upon the arousal of a significant and penetrating noise. I cover my ears hoping to block some of out but it's too resilient. Hanayen isn't awake, dozing in his urban wonderland. I flinch when my ears start to ache from the drum right in there, a soft ringing now ensues. The cruel noise has stopped. I slow my breathing, urgently glancing around the room looking for some cause of the painful interruption. None. Two seconds later I hear it again, but it's not magnified enough to hurt my ears like the first time. Screaming. That's what it is. A second addition, hoarse and desperate, can also be heard. This is the screaming I heard last night with the lads. I leap off the bed now anxious and fueled by rampant discontent to uncover the source of the noise. I'd ignore Harry's rules as I would ignore any other impediment laid before me as an obstacle. If something bothered me, I wiped it out. Surely he did the same. The stairs creak and stretch as the wood strains to uphold my weight bounding up higher. All the doors on this level are closed and their design is identical to their neighbor. I notice the difference from when I was downstairs. It's silent. I listen closely for anything worth my attention. Nothing again. Each hair follicle on my nape stand on edge too. The screaming resumes and I follow the sound. What the fuck is going on? I bang on the door I'm certain to be shielding Harry whose voice has the connotations of a petrified small child with a man's voice. The door is cold and the metal of the handle is colder. I slam my knee into the obstruction and it swings open under the pressure. Inside is dark, but not so much so that my vision is fuzzy. Harry has his back to me, head gripped tightly between his hands. He was rocking slightly and whispering under his breath. Shit. I knock on the door with the knuckle of my index finger but it is futile for it goes unnoticed by Harry. I stand there inwardly debating on whether or not I should go inside. "Harry?" I call softly. He looks up, anger plastered on every feature. I back away from the door but remaining in hearing range. "Get out." He says, not getting off the bed to forcefully order me away. "You okay, man?" I was troubled by the same thing he is rubbing his eyes for. "Go away, Louis." "What was that?" He stands and in the light from outside his figure looks hunched and undesirable of a great caliber. "Leave. Now." I obey purely for the reason that he must not turn into a bag of flaming hatred. I close the door and leave him in his lonesome while I retire to my room in the house. I'm wobbling by the time I reach the bed's end and fall onto it from unorthodox exhaustion. I'm too tired to examine the cause and effect yet. Maybe tomorr.......... *** I awaken to dead silence. My alarm clock didn't go off - or I probably forgot to set it again. My stomach growls from hunger and I moan rolling over to my side. My head hits something hard and I hiss. The iron headboard. "Fuck." I curse pulling away from the object of disaster. My back is sweating, I feel the droplets of perspiration roll discouragingly down my back under my shirt. I slept fully clothed last night so I guess the fault in this matter is my own. Hanayen's fat head rests on my back, so maybe just a fraction of the fault then. I raise my head off the pillow, stiff from being tossed into the clothes-washer with the cheapest and most ineffective bleach known to man. I sit up on the edge of the bed, rubbing some of the sleep out of my eyes. I sniff and turn to wake up Hanayen by pulling on his collar. While he slips in and out of drowsiness I choose to shower and stand to unbuckle these uncomfortable pants. I strip down the my bare skin before testing out the water in the shower. Not my most intelligent move across the board. It's surprisingly stable, and can be adjusted to my heating and cooling requirements which is more than I can say for most houses in Middleston. I leave my hair wet, and toss the damp used clothes in a pile on the floor close to my desk mentally marked: Laundry. Hanayen shakes the sleep away while I put on jeans and a faded band promotion T-shirt. Water has always been my make-shift hair gel. Hanayen accompanies me to the kitchen at 09h00 when everything outside is bright, alive and free of the nights wonder. Inside is old and dusty as it always is. I sigh. The cupboards are as they were yesterday and probably weeks before that. The fridge has milk and cereal though. It's like Harry's running a drought session in here. Maybe I could stop by my own house and grab some breakfast. "Why didn't you listen to me and not come upstairs?" A dull morning voice speaks without greeting. I turn to face Harry blocking the doorway with his body. He's eyes are red-rimmed and his hair has a few tiny white dust particles scattered all over. He's in skinny jeans - again - with dress shoes and a navy shirt. No bandana today. "You have no food." I point out, gesturing towards the fridge. "Answer me. Why'd you go upstairs?" "You were screaming." I shrug. "The normal human response is to go see what's wrong." He is silent for a short while before his voice cuts the pregnant break. "It was none of your concern." "It would have been none of my concern, had the noise not affected me as well." I bite back. He shoves his hands into his jeans' pockets and rounds his shoulders, a confused expression falling on his face. "You going into town?" I ask not wanting him to wander off in that tightly wound skull of his. "Why should I?" "You have no food." I repeat. "I'm not used to having company." "Still. You can't survive on milk and cereal, you don't even have sugar." He seems to be having an internal argument, eyebrows furrowed close enough to form a unibrow, lips pursed in concentration. I wait. He shakes his head. "No." "No what?" "If you want food then get it yourself. I'm fine with empty shelves." Fine with me. I shrug in defeat and watch him walk around the room to a cabinet painted green. He opens the door and pulls out a small, almost compact white television with an aerial. Where the feathers did that come from? He turns a small dial and presses the power button. The news comes on after a temporary state of static. The reporter is local, Heather Fox, she's married to the Deputy. Harry goes to the sink while I watch the working television set. The headline at the bottom of the screen holds my attention hostage. Middleston Sheriff Dead or Missing?? I hold my lenient stance against the dated refrigerator, carefully taking heed of all that Heather Fox says. Harry is at the sink, his back towards myself and the television. He fidgets with the lever connected to the tap trying to get water to fall freely from the steel pipe. "Sheriff Jacobs was last seen leaving the precinct without his Deputy, said to be taking the rest of the afternoon off. Word has just reached us that, this was the last time anyone saw the Sheriff. His Deputy, now presumed Sheriff, is carrying out an investigation to find any leads. I take out my phone from my pants pocket, Hanayen at my feet seated on his butt. Leaving the television to drone on the background I check the time. The station should be open. The Sheriff's disappearance drags several complications into my situation. But if I could hound the Deputy enough, I may even be able to free myself from this less than acceptable living condition. Harry is silent when I leave the kitchen, no movement either whatsoever when I close the front door behind me. Why the fuck did Sherry have to do a disappearing act now? I drive to the station with Hanayen riding shotgun. Out front almost everyone who has ever had land in this town, has their vehicles parked. I leave mine on the curb and hurry up the steps, hoping to get a word in with the Deputy. Inside the flickering lights are straining to provide enough visibility to everyone in the room. Officers are at their tables speaking to frantic and shaking people. What the Hell is going on? The Deputy is in his office speaking with someone, so I wait outside. Hanayen isn't allowed in so he's sat outside the door patiently. Anything to get away from that house, in his books, is a happy occasion. The glass door opens and a young woman steps out. She's crying but still trying to shove out full sentences. "Ma'am. We'll handle it. Give your report to Officer Dunhill right away." Deputy tries to dismiss her. She turns around, only briefly looking at me, before proceeding to obey the instruction of our second in command. Deputy's head hangs low in exhaustion, a sigh leaving his lips and fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. "Deputy." I stand in front of him. He looks up. "Great. Come in." We step into his office and he shuts the door soundly. I lean against his desk like I'm a family member, and cross my arms over my chest. "What happened?" I'd always know when something horrific happened in town. There was simply no confidentiality. He sits behind his computer and leans back. "Sheriff's missing." "I heard. Are you in charge now?" He snorts. "Hell no. These people want Jacobs. Look at them out there acting like he's St Patrick and they just cannot go on without him." "Got any leads?" "None. Got a warrant to check that house though." "Mine?" "Nah. A kid's house on Lost Lake." I'm not surprised strangely. "You don't even have a judge to issue warrants." "Yeah but we have our own rules. The highest authority of the Law here, can issue a warrant." "What are you searching for?" He looks at me, hesitating but goes on after a beat. "Elizabeth Hardy." I run a scan mentally of any folk I might know with that name. "John and Kathy's daughter?" He nods. "The very same. That was her friend in here bawling her eyes out." "Is she missing too?" "That's what her friend is saying. She also said that boy was the last person anyone saw with her." "He took her?" I fish for facts while Harry's face glues itself to the desktop of my brain. "Probably." He shrugs. "We'll go up there and check." "What about the Sheriff?" "As far as the Sheriff is concerned, he probably ran off with a guy or something. But we'll do some official digging so the people here don't think we don't give a crap." "Ran off with a guy?" I almost flinch. "He was an odd man, Louis. Pervert too. You never saw that side of him and I only think it's because the Sheriff had a great amount of respect for your mother." I stare at the floor and swing my leg back and forth for something to do. I cound each oscillation. "So, did you come here to lay a complaint, missing person's report or something?" "No." I say rising from the desk and heading for the day. "Later, Deputy!" *** Home. The real kind has always been a sanctuary for me. A place to run away to when the monsters came chasing after your retreating figure. I close the door leaving my set of keys on the inside handle fully aware that I was the only one present except Hanayen. The kitchen is in the state it's always in. Full of food and hardly time to eat any of it. I grab a packet of crisps from a shelf not too high above my head, and munch on each one in turn as I wander into the living room. I have to stop at the hardware store before driving back up to Lost Lake. I hope to get there after the Deputy's left because really, I can't take anymore mockery about me living with the town's single most creepy individual. *** Andrew's DIY is stocked to the ceiling with every piece of equipment a handy man would ever need in his entire maintenance existence. I've purchased three types of door handles and one silver knob that's creak-free and has no fancy engravings. Next stop: Andrew's Supermart. The DIY store and this place are twin buildings, joined by a concrete wall that's older than myself. I have no ideas that would conclude the reason behind my being here. Harry confirmed that having deserted shelves was satisfactory for him. I, however, would make this an act of selfishness and purchase the essentials I will require. I feel less than smug while I hand over the cash to pay for my groceries: peanut butter, a single loaf of white bread, butter, jam and a pack of tea bags. There's no one outside the house when Hanayen's routine of whining before we walk through the door begins. No police cars and no sign of the Deputy. Maybe they already left. It renders me a little less secure to find out that the person I'm living with for the next two months is accused of kidnapping. Whatever he did, he didn't do while I was around because I clearly remember the rule of no girls being allowed up here. The television is static as I left it in the living room, and everywhere else is in dead silence. I go out on a limb and call out for Harry. "Harry?!" At first I get no response, then a vibrating sound of footsteps approaches the staircase from upstairs. Harry appears at the top looking down at me angrily. "What was the need to shout?" He says pointedly. I shrug. "I didn't know if you were here." "My car's outside." Oh yeah. "I need to fix that door under the stairs. Do I have permission to touch it?" His mouth doesn't twitch, and he rests his weight against the pole of the staircase railing. "Do not go inside." "Why not?" I ask before my sense of not asking too many questions comes into play. "Because I said you-" An obnoxious delivery of three consecutive knocks on the front door interrupts what Harry was going to say. His eyes set on the tall object like he's a hunter out for the kill, deeply despising it for the noise. I sigh and reach for the handle. "No." Harry says sternly. He rushes down the steps and bumps me aside to knock off my grip on the door. "What the fuck, Harry?!" I hiss through clenched teeth. I hated people pushing me aside. "Go to your room." The fuck I will now, after he conveniently shoved me away. "No." He looks up slightly amused. I must add this to the list containing all the emotions discovered by Harry so far. It's a lonely list. "Go, Louis. Now." He uses a threatening tone. "You can't know who is at the door. What if it's for me?" His stare hardens. "Then you broke the rules. No one's allowed up here." I was pretty sure it was the Deputy on the other side of this door, nobody else. The 'friends' I spent my time in the company of wouldn't care enough to take on the expense of driving up here. I resign to my room, officially pissed beyond the description of words. I slam my door but open it again to eavesdrop on our visitor. "Sir?" Harry says softly, like a true patron. "Harry we need to search these premises." It's Deputy. "Why?" Harry's voice is hostile, not giving anything away. Maybe I should make an appearance now and shock the shit out of good ol' Harold. "Case of a missing girl. Elizabeth Hardy." "Never heard that name before, Deputy." "Well, her friend says you were the last person around her when she was last seen. Remember now?" Harry is silent for a short while. "Nope. I don't remember but you can come in and look around if you like." "Thank you, son." I hear heavy footsteps as the Deputy steps foot into this house. I leave my door open wanting to catch whatever tidbits of their conversation to follow I could catch. Hanayen sits in my bed while I grab the clothes strewn all over the room. I'm leaving this dump. I simply could not live with this piece of waste, he was insecure and boring. I'd go insane if I stayed here. Hanayen sits up on his front paws, ears erect and he whines. "What now, boy?" I ask zipping the last bag shut. He growls deep in his throat and I turn towards the door. Silence. It's been that way for too long, maybe they're outside. Hanayen leaps off the bed and bolts out of the room. I didn't need him getting caught somewhere, so cursing I chase after him. "Hanayen!" I scream. "Get back here!" I come to the staircase and find Hanayen poised on all four legs, teeth bared at something around the bend that I cannot see. I approach him after slowing down, gripping his collar in my fist tugging on his solid build. "Hanay-" I cut myself off when my eyes raise off the ground. I stare in utter shock and burning horror, my gaze set on the circumstance before me. With a soft thump the bowie knife drops the floor, and the tip of the blade faces me. It's coated in warm, dripping blood. My ears are ringing as I stare up at Harry. His face is composed with an emotionless mask but his hands are shaking, fingers quaking as crimson rivulets run down the ends. I gasp letting go of Hanayen's collar.

Notes

Comments

@Suman98
Can you please MAKE another one I LOVE THIS STORY

OopsHi123 OopsHi123
9/30/14

Amazing. ...

Amazing. ...

Only on the prologue, but I love it so far.

charlie2cute charlie2cute
9/14/14

@Suman98

Awe :) your welcome!
and...... oh my gosh yay!