harry

Darkness illuminated the skies, cicadas singing in the black atmosphere as the moon and stars shined against my goosebump-ridden skin. My knuckles were clenched tightly as we ascended the staircase, white bones seeping through the distressed skin.

I exhale a smoggy breath when I raise my fist to knock on the door, but when my knuckles make contact with the wood the frame slowly opens and reveals a crack inside the apartment.

Z and I exchange a look before pushing the door wide open, revealing a messy apartment with papers, cushions, furniture and pictures in dismay all over the floor. We walk in cautiously, stepping over a few broken pieces of glass that had been shattered on the ground.

"Hello?" I call, a little cautious in my tone.

No one answers but shuffling from the kitchen alarms myself and Z, my heart races against my ribcage as we leap forward into the area.

As soon as those blue eyes landed on my own my heart dropped, my breath exhales almost instantly and my veins buzz as she smiles innocently at Z and myself. Lola was wearing the same clothes she had on this morning, only covering that navy blue top with an oversized black jacket and her long hair with a dark beanie. She had blood on her hands, running up the boney fingers and into the cracks on her fingernails.

"Hi guys," She smiles at me, worry in the blue of her eyes. "You're probably wondering what's going on here."

"Well yeah," Z chuckles uncomfortably. "It had occurred."

Her eyes fall on me, still wondering why I hadn't said a word. I couldn't, I was too worried what I would find out if I asked that question, and that anxiety pulsed into my bones and veins and held my tongue in place.

Lola relaxes against the counter behind her. "Same as you I guess, I'm looking for answers."

"What answers?" I finally speak and a hint of a smile laces her lips.

"About what the fuck is going on," she admits. "And who hurt Sean."

My body seems to lessen, relaxing in the cold air as she looks into my eyes. "Why are you here alone, Lola?" I ask.

"This is my fault," her eyes twist into a guilty state and I feel my heart tug. "I need to know how to fix it."

Before I can speak a few muffled voices outside the door startle all three of us, my body freezes in place but as Z rushes over to the front door to close it my worry dissolves. I turn to look at Lola again, those glassy blue eyes and stained hands broke my heart. I walk over to her carefully, exhaling as my skin graces against her paleness to raise the bloodied skin to my view. She sighs as I analyze a few small cuts, making sure she wasn't too hurt.

"I'm fine." She smiles.

"You better be." As I lower her hands our bodies hover closer and closer, her sweaty skin and red cheeks glisten under the light and I find myself drawn to her bitten, chapped lips.

"We need to find answers." She whispers.

"Let's do this," I tilt her chin, letting my warmth hover against her skin gently. "Together." Her blue eyes blink a stray tear down her cheek and as I kiss her lips, the tear soaks into my own cheek and our soul's mold as one in that perfect second.

After searching through the mess and chaos for nearly an hour we managed to find absolutely nothing. Lola had reassured us that Louis was always in Vegas around this time of year–a ritualistic holiday him and his father did–so we continued looking for yet another forty minutes. It seemed Louis was smart and kept his apartment neat and tidy, filling the rooms with nothing but classic furniture and unpleasant oil paintings that would have fit better in a museum.

I was leaned against the couch as Z and Lola finished up in the kitchen, packing away the pots and pans they had pulled out. I let out a tired sigh as my eyes skim over the apartment.

Nothing peaked my interest until my eyes landed on the bedroom across the hall. my veins buzzed as I noticed a floorboard sticking up near the doorway.

I choose to ignore Lola and Z as they continued in the kitchen, making my way into the room and kneeling down by the lifted piece of wood. The room had an ocean essence that ran deep within the walls, the scent filling my nostrils as I took a deep and agitated breath. I lift the board with my bare hands, my fingers and knuckles aching as I struggled to pull the piece up.

I manage to pull the wood from its place after a few attempts, letting it settle to the side as I look deep within the floor.

There wasn't much, just a folded up blanket that I assumed was for an infant as small bears decorated the faded material, and next to that was an old box with L.T. carved on the lid. I remove both objects, unfolding the blanket as I sit back against a cupboard behind me.

As the blanket unravels a small metal ring falls from inside, clanging against the floor loudly. I pick it up quickly, looking over the opal stone inside and the golden band it sat in.

"Harry?" Her small voice sounded worried as she echoed from the living room.

"In here."

My eyes scan over the ring some more, Lola's presence soon enters the room and I find myself staring harder at the stone inside. As I shift it to the left the color ignites a wild berry, but near Lola on the right, it turns an electric ocean blue that matches her eyes almost perfectly.

"What did you find?" Z suddenly appears in the doorway.

"A ring inside a baby blanket, and a box that seems to be locked," I reply, glancing at the two. "This ring changes color, have you seen it before Lola?"

She nods a no. "Never."

She kneels down and takes a closer look, picking up the baby blanket from the ground. "I think I've seen this before though." Lola shakes the blanket out, analyzing it with outstretched arms. "I've seen pictures of it; think it was Louis' when he was a baby."

"Okay?" Z shrugs. "What has this stuff got to do with Sean?"

I sigh. "Nothing I don't think." I fumble with the ring some more. "But something is off."

"Hey give me that ring," Lola's eyes were wide as I met them, that color of knowing inside. "I think it opens the box."

"Why would a ring open a stupid box, that's just-"

"Z, be quiet," Lola grumbles.

Lola takes the ring from my grasp, pushing it into the keyhole of the box and sure enough, the box clicks and the old door opens with a slight creaking sound. A gasp falls from her lips as she looks inside and my body bubbles with anticipation, I grab the wooden box from her hands and look inside to see a small handgun placed inside with a few bullets scattered around the weapon.

"A gun?" I almost laugh at the sight, of course Louis needed a gun. I move the box around a bit, letting the bullets roll against the wood on the bottom. "This doesn't help us I guess." I sigh.

That's what I thought anyway.

***

It's been a few days since we raided Louis' apartment, we cleaned what we could and made sure no fingerprints were evident inside before we left. Although guilty, Lola was happy to have broken some of Louis stuff like he had broken her and it was evident in her smile and glow under the spring sun the next day.

Now it was a cool and crisp evening, the hospital chilling in the air as time went by.

We all sat outside Sean's hospital room waiting for his mother to return.

Lola smiled as I grabbed her hand, the skin cold but comforting. Richard was next to me, fiddling his fingers anxiously as Sierra and Ethan watched that door with nervous color inside their eyes.

Sean had woken up two hours ago, so we were now waiting for the all clear to greet him.

It felt like hours we sat there, hours and hours of anxiously wondering what he was like when we finally got to walk through those doors. Through the mauve stains and scarlet stitches was he still the same guy I grew up with? Did his cheeks still flame when we talked about his crush and did his eyes still sparkle when he laughed with us as he held his stomach, was his soul still his soul?

But we never got to confirm that.

As Lola's tired yawn suddenly echoes in my mind, and my tired eyes scan across that metallic clock on the wall as it finally struck 9:54 pm, Sean's mother rushes out the door, along with Luke and his eyes full of tears that ruined his tan complexion.

We all stand, wide eyes and beating hearts. "Is everything okay?" Sierra steps forward and I feel Lola cling to my arm.

A few nurses rush into the room as an alarm sounds outside the hospital room, my body goes cold at the image of Sean's mother distressed and frantic in her words. Luke and her hold hands as the alarm sound halts and in seconds my ears hear the doctors yelling to each other in a frantic motion.

I wanted to vomit, my stomach bubbled in agony as tears fell down my cheeks and stained my shirt. The world was completely blank except for this waiting room, the silence killed me and the anxiety in everyone was circling around our souls.

As a doctor exits the hospital room with sober in his eyes–I knew, no matter what words he spoke I knew, so with it all running through my blood stream I fell to my knees and broke down.

"Miss Vaal," that voice, that calm and cruel voice would always haunt me. "I am terribly sorry to inform you that Sean suffered a brain hemorrhage and unfortunately we couldn't revive him."

I screamed, I cried and I begged as my fists punched into the ground again and again. Lola's arms wrap around me but this time her touch couldn't help, her touching wouldn't end my pain and her touch wouldn't bring back Sean. My heart was in my stomach and my throat was clogged with bile, anxiety, and grief, my eyes scanned over my grieving friends one last time before I brushed Lola off me and sprinted away from the scene.

***

IM SORRY! I had to do it okay 😭 but things will make more sense soon I promise.

Thank you all for everything, thank you so much.

-A