Lone [MATURE HS]

Chapter 29.

"What do we say to my mom?" I ask next to him on the passenger side of the car, watching him drive. Light eyes staring ahead, jaw sharpened by the way he bites down occasionally from tension, hands reluctant to stay stationary on the steering wheel of his car.

"I don't know. But we've got to get both of you out of there," he murmurs, eyes stationed in front of him but his thoughts aside somewhere around the topic of what lies we'll tell my mother. Lying to her does not set well inside of me, but for the time being it will do.

I stare aimlessly at the road, watching the light turn from red to green just as we reach it. "I could convince her to go to my grandmother's for the week as a short vacation."

"Where does she live?" He questions instantly.

"She's the only relative I could think of in Newport. Thirty five minutes or so away," I explain, flickering my eyes from the road to my bag, about to dig through to find my phone only to realize I've broken it when I threw it to the floor at Harry's apartment.

Harry doesn't seem to agree with my suggestion. My eyebrows furrow. "What? I can't just tell her let's move across the country. It makes no--"

"That's not what I'm thinking," he interjects firmly. "I'm thinking -- you're not safe. Neither of you are. My sister isn't. Katherine isn't, even Nathan..." his low voice falters until it comes to a stop, shaking his head and squeezing the steering wheel until his knuckles flush white.

Lips parted and eyes squeezing shut in a reaction to the way we're rationalizing with a situation as deeply concerning and dangerous and blatantly insane, I whisper, "We need to go to the cops."

"They'll say the same thing!" He shouts impatiently as I open my eyes, slamming his hand down to the front of the wheel with fury. I don't react. "They aren't going to do shit except make this JKP author highly aware that we're onto him."

"I doubt JKP doesn't know that by now," I respond restlessly, distress strewn across my face; narrowed eyes, furrowed eyebrows, grimace crossing my full lips. "Can we please just...calm down and talk about this."

The car comes to a stop as he parks into the parking lot of my apartment building. My eyes wander across it, staring into the window of the first floor. Where Kennedy lives, who also just happens to have eerily similar initials as the author of the articles.

"I don't know about this.." I breathe, feeling my heartbeat accelerate with slightly increasing adrenaline. My eyes find Harry's, and he watched me carefully with a hard gaze, stolid and unfazed. But regardless, he grips my hand in his, entwining our fingers and giving me a squeeze.

"I'm every bit to blame for this," he tells me quietly, inhaling deeply. "I love you enough to admit that this is a consequence of some unfathomable curse," he chuckles bitterly then, but the pain is obvious in the nervous details on his face, creating a frown as he quickly blinks.

A shaky breathe leaves my parted lips. "It's not a curse," I steady my voice, proceeding gently. "Obviously, someone wants to cause harm. And we can't possibly think we can handle the threats on our own. We have to tell someone...Harry..."

He's silent, leaning back into the carseat and tipping his chin up, shutting his eyes. His chest rises and falls in deep rhythm. I watch warily.

"We can tell Erin. Or Katherine, baby. These are people that will listen to you. Like I'm trying to listen right now. But we can't do this..this way." I unbuckle my belt and lean forward, pressing my hands against his jaw prickly with unshaven hairs, urging him to look towards me. He does, wary eyes gazing at me.