I took a step out of Harry's car, standing in the blazing sun. It was surprisingly quiet out, considering the location. I paused for a second as the black car which held Harry drove away, taking in the fresh air. I listened to the sounds of cars whizzing by and people rushing along the sidewalks. No one had noticed my presence. No paparazzi had followed us; I was alone. And it was nice, for once, to be alone.

I looked ahead of me, using Harry's identification card that was attached to his hotel key to get into the back door of the hotel.
He must stay here a lot if he has his own card to enter from the back... I thought to myself.

I wiped the card across the scanner and waited. It beeped twice, a green light flashing after five seconds. The speaker said, "Welcome back, Harry," and the door automatically opened in front of me. I unsteadily walked forwards.

The hotel looked very nice, inside and out, even at the back of it. I walked around, following signs that lead me to the front lobby. I ducked my head down and went up to the main desk.
"Can I help you, miss?" A blonde haired woman said to me. She looked to be in her early to mid thirties. She was very pretty, but had too much make-up on.

"Um, yes, could I have some directions to the gift shop, please?" I spoke quietly. I noticed that she was wearing a nice black jacket and a tight pencil skirt. Her name tag said 'Linda' on it. It was obvious I didn't fit in here; my oversized sweater and skinnies were in contrast to all the people in the lobby. That included both guests and staff - everyone looked extremely rich.

"May I see your I.D. Miss?" Linda said, looking at me oddly. She knew I didn't fit in here.

"Sure, but it's not my I.D. card. My boyfriend let me borrow his." I dropped the keys by accident, fumbling around on the floor to get them.

"Miss, I'm afraid that's not allowed here. Do I need someone to escort you to the exit or can you do that yourself?" The woman politely asked me. She was frowning.

"I'm sure you can make an exception just this once, for me." I slid Harry's I.D. card across the desk, and watched her eyes grow wide with an expression that was fear-like. Why was she afraid?

"I'm so sorry dear, I should have let you go through right away. I'll page someone to lead you to the gift shop," Linda looked as if she was being very careful with what came out of her mouth. She handed me back Harry's I.D. card with an apologetic smile.

"Sure, whatever you think - I just need to get to the gift shop. Please be quick." The lady paged a boy named Ben to the front desk. He scurried forwards, emerging from one of the long hallways. He also looked very afraid.

"How can I help you, Ma'am?" He asked me, politely. He was small, and looked quite young to be working at a place like this. Was he new here?

"Please, call me Miss. Would you mind giving me directions to the gift shop?" I told him.

"Um, just walk down that hallway, turn to your left, go down those stairs -" The blonde haired lady cut the new employee off halfway through his sentence.

"She means she would like you to bring her there. Is that correct, Miss?" I nodded as Linda corrected Ben.

"Oh, sorry, follow me then." He turned around and started walking down the long hall from which he emerged from beforehand. I followed him down a series of long hallways, steep stairs, and many corners. Eventually, we were at what looked like a small, old gift shop. No one was in it.

"I'm sorry, but is this the right place? I mean, is there not a nicer gift shop on the main floor?" I asked Ben politely. He shook his head and sighed.

"I have my orders, Miss. I am only allowed to bring priority guests to this shop," He told me. I nodded my head and walked into the empty shop. I was a priority guest? Or more so, Harry was. That made sense, I said in my head.

I picked up a few baseball hats, two pairs of dark sunglasses, and a light scarf to wrap around my head. I grabbed myself a packet of mint gum and went up to the register. No one was there, so I rang the bell beside a bowl of hard candies.

"Hello? Anyone? I'd like to purchase these items..." I said, impatient. This was taking way too long. I grabbed a handful of candies and put them into a paperbag. There was a pile of paperbags behind the bowl of candies, obviously for the purpose which I was using them for.
A man ran out the back door to the desk and quickly scanned all my items.

"Your total will be $54.60. Cash or debit?" He said quickly.

"Cash, please," I said, grabbing the wad of cash that Harry gave me from my pocket. I took out three $20 bills and threw them at him, too impatient to count out any coins. "Keep the change," I smiled, grabbed my bag and ran out the door.

I eventually found my way back to the front entrance. Remembering to keep my head down, I flipped out the shades from my bag and slid them over my eyes. I took a deep breath and pushed open the doors.

Immediately, I turned to my left and started walking. I pulled out the bandana and tied back my hair. Ducking my head, I crossed the road in front of several buzzing cars. Was it rush hour already?

After walking a few blocks upwards, I started to recognize where I was. Why was Harry staying so far away from me?

I lived in a regular town just east of Manchester, New Hampshire. Where I was right now registered to be over an hour away from my hometown.

Well, what am I supposed to do now? I thought to myself.

An idea popped up in my mind. I walked to a busy street and called for a taxi. A bright yellow one came speeding by, and stopped right in front of me. I opened the door and stepped in.
As soon as I sat down, the driver started talking to me.

"Where to, Miss?" He asked me, acting quite bold.

"Is it possible for you to take me to Pawtuckaway? Or is that too far?" Pawtuckaway was the state park in NH. Just outside of it was my favourite forest, the one I always spent hours in, no matter my mood.

"The State Park? Sure, but it will cost you a lot. It's over an hour to drive there," The man told me. He had a slight accent, sounding almost Irish.

"Sure, whatever, just take me there."

He started driving and I laid my head against the window. It was hard and uncomfortable, but the sun had warmed it. I was aching for warmth.

Sooner or later, I started to doze off. I closed my eyes and imagined myself back in Harry's arms.

"No one gets away with murder in this town," someone whispered in my ear. What? What?!
I looked down at my feet and realized that I was alone in the middle of a barren field. The grass was old and dead, and was turning slightly red. I saw smoke in the distance... I was very confused.

"You've been a very bad girl, Aubrey," the black haired girl from the hall said, walking out front behind me. I looked up at her, angry and frustrated. "What, you don't remember what you did? Look at your hands, idiot bitch."

I held my hands up in front of me and saw that they were covered in a thick layer of dried blood. Discovering fresh blood on my shirt, I searched the ground for something, anything, to clue me into what I've done.

I stood very still as soon as I saw the body laying in front of me. I gasped and fell to my knees when I finally recognized the face of the man laying in front of me. He looked so cold, so pale. He had to be... Dead.

"Harry," I gasped, trying to catch my breath. "N-n-no-no no nO NO!" I was hyperventilating now. "This is not happening! He is alive! I didn't do this!" I screamed at the ground.

"Yes, you did this. You did this to him," the girl behind me said in my face.

"No. No. No..." I told her, losing my emphasis as I went. I stopped talking to her and started talking to Harry. "Harry, no. Harry... I love you, come back. Come back to me baby. Harry... No..." I whispered to him. I put my hand up to his neck and felt no pulse, just complete ice. His warmth that was once mine had left with his soul.

I started to weep, and soon began to lose my mind. I screamed his name, over and over again. I cried more and more, and a headache started pounding against my skull. I slowly backed away and shut myself up.

"You did this to me. Why did you do this. WHY. TELL ME!" I screamed at the girl's face. She smirked and laughed an evil laugh.

"You did this to yourself, bitch. I already told you this. Now you can suffer the consequences."

"BRING HARRY BACK TO ME!!" I screamed again and punched her in the cheek. She took a few steps backwards, but recovered quickly. She tied her pitch black hair back into a ponytail and brought back her arm. The last thing I saw was her fist coming to my head.

---

I gasped and quickly jumped up from my seat in the taxi. I hit my head on the roof of the car and collapsed against the chair.

"Well, now that you're awake, I thought I'd tell you that we're almost there," the taxi driver said.
It was a dream?! I thought to myself. Thank god. I miss him so much...

My wrists started aching. They craved for the razor once again. I had to rub it constantly, hoping it would go away. I would not let this affect Harry while he was still in the U.S.

"Miss?"

"Yes, sorry," I told him as he pulled up to the gates of the state park. I threw $200 over the seat and got out. I walked forward and continued restlessly into the forest.

After about 20 minutes of stepping over large mossy logs and listening to the dead leaves crunch beneath my feet, I finally started to see my favourite spot in the forest. Most of my energy was gone by the time I had dodged all the branches. I could just collapse in the middle of the forest if I wanted...

My favourite spot had several low trees and mossy rocks. I was usually the only one who came here, so anything I left stayed here. I had a worn out blanket, and old sweater and a bottle of water that had been left behind from the last time I was here.

I took a few steps forward and swung my leg up onto a branch of my favourite tree. I only had to climb up 4 branches before hitting the biggest, most comfortable branch. It was thick, and had the perfect angle so it wouldn't hurt my back.

The sunlight peeked out from the forest tops and spread across my face. I pulled off my sunglasses and threw them to the ground. I looked up and watched in awe as the deep green leaves swayed back and forth, in and out of the light. It was absolutely stunning.

I was alone in the forest, like usual. The birds chirped every once in a while. After some time of just staring out into the deep wilderness, I got down off the big tree and walked forward for another 10 minutes. My legs had brought me to my absolutely favourite place.

It was a small meadow, with tall grass and butterflies. The birds chirped more here, and I even saw the odd squirrel.

About a year after I moved to this town, I set up a hammock connected to two old stumps. Even after going through several years of wind and mossy conditions, the fabric had indeed survived.

I walked up to the hammock and laid my exhausted body on it. I pulled off my bandana, letting my hair fly free. I curled up into a ball, turned onto my side, and snuggled up against it. The sunlight went away and I fell into a deep sleep.

THE END

Notes

I know this isn't very satisfying, but I'm not really sure how else to end it without wanting to write more. I may or may not turn this short story into a full one, depending on how I feel and what you guys think.

Any comments guys? Any suggestions for my next short story?

I'd love to hear what you think! :)