›THE DEVIL YOU KNOW (Larry and Zarry)

chapter 2

Harry woke suddenly. No sleepiness, no slow warming up. Within seconds of realizing he had been unconscious he strained against something locking his hands behind his back. There's pain aching at the back of his head and it sent a feeling of fatigue over the rest of his body.

He looked around the room, noticing he's on a concrete floor, sitting against one of four cold walls. Other than the noise of the generator, the room was a silent concrete box. It could be anywhere. Harry craned his neck for a window, there was none.

For all he knew he could be deep underground, in some random room in an isolated prison or in someone's personal cell. Above the only source of light was an old fashioned bulb on a bare white wire and its switch was nowhere to be seen.

On the other side of the room he noticed a steel door with no handle, only a keyhole, and a doorway to a bathroom. Once Harry realized how much trouble he was in, he twisted his body sharply, looking to see the makeshift cuffs for himself.

The zip-ties around his wrist behind his back were tight, blood running over the translucent plastic, red on white. He struggled but soon realized his efforts were to no avail. As the terrifying helplessness of the circumstance tightened, Harry's alarm heightened likewise—his breaths quickened, thinking scattered, mind skipped. 

He sucked in more air to try and calm himself. He was freezing, and as he looked down he realized that he was no longer wearing Louis' leather jacket.

Louis.

How long had he been out for? Had Louis noticed his absence? Was he looking for him?
More and more questions kept popping up in his head. Why was he there? Who had done this? Where were he? Was he going to die?

Now, his whole body trembled with the force of each terrified inhale—small sounds beginning to escape alongside the gasps, scraping from deep within his throat. He tried to get on his feet, knowing he had to get out of there.

Suddenly, the metal door opened and in walked the man who had helped Harry at the parking garage. He wore the same outfit he had then, only this time he had matched his attire with a big and bloody baseball bat, resting it on his shoulder with a smug look on his face.

The stranger stepped aside to reveal another man walking inside the room. He had to be in his mid forties if not older, black hair styled back, a scruff dressing his lower face, blue eyes piercing and cold. 

"Ah, you are awake." The older man raised his hands in the air, grinning widely.

Harry was too afraid to speak. He could feel himself shake as the strangers approached him and moved back up against the wall.

"You must have many questions huh?" The man asked. -"I'll answer all of them but first, water." He snapped a finger and the younger man quickly handed him a bottle of water.

The older man opened it and held it out in front of Harry, who only looked back and forth between it and the stranger; not knowing what to do with his hands tied.

"It's alright. You've been out for a few hours, you need to drink something."

"Where am I?" Harry forced out, eyes careful on the man.

"No. Remember what I said? First you drink, then you get to ask questions." The stranger's voice was demanding, yet playful. He leaned closer and raised the bottle to Harry's lips whose breathing hitched, and he flinched ones the plastic of the bottle touched his skin.