"When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout." 

— Herman Wouk 

/ / e v e l y n / /

I lean against the wall in the hall and clean the dirt from underneath my fingernails. I listen to the sound of the shower water running and take a deep breath. We're all taking showers. We need to clean ourselves up. All of us are covered in blood and we smell sour. Zayn volunteered to take his shower first and I made sure the water wasn't too hot. He liked the temperature and got in the shower without any problems. I'm taking mine next and I thought it wouldn't hurt to sit out here and wait. Louis constantly walks around the apartment, checking every room for Harry. He's frightened. If Harry comes back, we won't know what to expect. 

I lay my head back against the wall as Louis comes back from his third cycle around the apartment. He doesn't stop to acknowledge me. He just keeps it moving and I'm afraid he'll lose his mind if he keeps doing this. I want to tell him to stop but he looks too determined. If I tell him to stop, he might find a way to convince me to let him continue. I just watch him and make sure he isn't stressing himself out. 

When he comes back down the hall, I smile at him, "I think you should take a break for a little while, yeah? I don't think he's coming back anytime soon. Zayn scared him off." 

Louis looks down at me as if I've lost my mind and he goes right back to what he was doing. I close my eyes and mentally slap myself. He probably isn't going to stop until it's his turn to get in the shower. Maybe I should tell him to get into the shower next? I shake my head at my own idiotic thought. If he wouldn't take a break, how do I know he will stop looking around to get in the shower? I move my hair out of my face and look at the wall in front of me. 

The bathroom door opens and Zayn comes out. He looks down at me and his hair's soaking wet. Some of it sticks to his forehead and I had no idea how long it was until now. He has on the same clothes as before and his shirt is wet. I wonder if he used his shirt to dry off, seeing as how we don't have any towels or anything. Zayn offers me his hand and I take it as he helps me off of the floor. I smile at him and he smiles back. 

"Thank you for earlier," I say. "I never got the chance to thank you and if you hadn't done what you did, I would probably be dead—"

He smiles and shakes his head at me before walking away. My jaw slightly drops and I'm surprised by his actions. He didn't let me finish. He usually lets me finish my sentences. I close my mouth and look down at the floor. Zayn did not want me to talk about the possibility of me being dead. I should've just thanked him and ended it there. I walk into the bathroom and shut the door behind me, locking it. 

I immediately strip out of my clothes and turn on the shower water. I wait for it to get warm enough and step inside. I run my fingers along my body, getting rid of any blood on me. My fingers touch the bruises on my side and I wince in pain. I remove my trembling fingers from my now throbbing skin and just stand there. I cannot really wash my body because there is not any soap. The only thing I can do is rinse my body off and get out so Louis can get in. I let the water rinse me off and I turn around to let it get my hair wet.

Laughter fills the bathroom and the lights flicker on and off.

My body tenses and my knees feel as if they are about to give out. There shouldn't be anyone in here with me. I locked the door when I came in. It's impossible for anyone to get in here without breaking the door down or picking the lock. I would've heard someone pick at the lock, though. I don't turn the shower water off. If I do so, the person in here might think I know they're in here. 

"You know, Evelyn, I can smell your fear." 

Harry.

"W-What do you want?" 

My voice's shaky. Is he back to finish what he started? Is he back to kill me for real this time? 

"I need your help," he sighs and it sounds like he is standing up from the...toilet? If he was sitting on the toilet, how long was he there? How long has he been in here with me? His hands wrap around the end of the shower curtain and my eyes widen. I grab the other end and cover myself up. There's no way in hell I'm going to let him see me naked. "You see, I got myself into a little trouble and since you're the only one in here, you're going to help me clean myself up." 

I look at him and he is covered with blood. "Whose is that?"

"It doesn't matter," he shrugs. I look at his face and he looks like he's in pain. Why would he be in pain? He killed someone and it was his fault. "She's long gone."

"You killed someone?" I shriek and he covers my mouth with his bloody hand. I nearly vomit at the smell.

"Oh, come on now. Don't act so surprised. You know me by now, my sweet ray of sunshine. You know killing is in my nature," he laughs. "Now, now, now, I'm going to need you to be quiet. I don't want the others to know I'm here. Just help me clean up and I'll be gone." He removes his hand from my mouth and I try not to get any of the blood in my mouth.

"Forever?" my eyes lighten up. 

"Fuck no," he shakes his head at me. "You're my meals, darling. I'm not just going to leave you alone. What kind of dumb ass question was that? I swear, you humans are so stupid." 

I bite my bottom lip, somewhat ashamed of the question I had asked. He's here because he wants me to clean him up. I'm not going to clean him up while I'm naked. The only person here who has seen me naked is Louis and I want to keep it that way. Harry doesn't move from his spot and he keeps a tight grip on the other end of the shower curtain. If he pulls it, I'm going to be exposed. 

"Okay," I murmur. "I'll help you clean yourself up." 

"Good," he smiles but still doesn't move. 

I try to keep my cool, "I need to change back into my clothes." 

"Okay," he doesn't budge. "Change, then."

I frowned, "You're going to watch me get changed?"

He shrugs, "You're not the first naked woman I've seen and you're most certainly not the last." He smiles and I want to hit him. I'm not going to let him see me naked. I have to think of something. I open my mouth to scream but Harry puts his bloody hand right back over my lips. "If you scream, I won't hesitate to kill you. You won't be the first woman I kill tonight so don't feel special." I shake my head and his hand drops from my mouth. The shower water is still running and I lean forward to rinse the blood off of my face. I don't know whose blood this is and the thought of not knowing makes me queasy. 

"Let me get dressed," I say. "And I'll help you get cleaned up."

"Fine," he lets go of the shower curtain and backs away from the shower. My clothes are on the floor and when I look at them, he laughs. "You want me to hand them to you?" I don't respond but he bends over and picks them up anyway. He tosses them into the shower and I panic when the water begins to soak them. I turn the shower water off and get my clothes off of the shower floor. My bottoms are all right. However, my shirt is soaked. I make sure Harry isn't watching and he is looking at the wall. I really wasn't expecting him to look away. 

I quickly put on my underwear and bra before putting on my shirt and bottoms. My shirt sticks to my skin and I'm pissed that he threw my clothes into the shower knowing they would get wet. Harry turns around when I step out of the shower and he sits back down on the toilet. I swallow hard and examine his body. Blood covers both of his hands and there are scratches on his arms. Why is he a human right now? I want to ask him but from the look on his face, I have a feeling I will not get a pretty good answer. 

"Turn the shower water back on," he demands. 

I'm quick to shake my head, "I'm not going to give you a shower. I refuse to see you naked."

"Shut up," he rolls his eyes and stands up from the toilet. "Turn the shower water on. I'm not asking you. I'm telling you." I turn the shower water back on and when I turn around, Harry is pulling his shirt over his head. 

"What do you think you're doing?" my eyes widen. 

"I'm getting in the shower," he says and I back away from him. "Relax, I'm not going to be completely naked. I'll keep my boxers on just for you." He laughs but I don't find anything funny. I step to the side as he steps out of his jeans and looks at me with a smirk on his face. My eyes are wild and if I had a bad case of anxiety, I would probably be having a panic attack right now. He takes a step toward me and I try to back away from him. I nearly trip over the toilet and Harry grabs my wrists to stop me from falling. His green eyes look me all over and when his gaze meets mine, he smiles. "You know, I wasn't trying to hurt you earlier."

I pull my wrists out of his grip and scoff, "Right. Like you didn't mean to kick me repeatedly and choke me. I'm sorry. It seemed to me your intentions were the exact opposite." 

He laughs and places a hand on my side. I wince in pain and he taps his fingers where the bruise is located, "Does this hurt?"

"What do you think?" I say through gritted teeth. I'm trying not to make him angry. I'm trying not to make him want to hurt me more than he already has. It's so hard when he's doing stuff like this, though. I want him away from me.

"I think you like the way I make you feel. I think you crave it." He leaves me standing there with my jaw dropped as he gets into the shower. He pushes the shower curtain back and nods in my direction. "Get this blood off of me." 

I step forward and grab his arm. He watches me and I put his skin underneath the water. It washes some of the blood off but I have to use my hand to get the rest off. I don't understand why he needs me to do this when he's highly capable of doing this on his own. The water mixes with whoever's blood this is and it's a light shade of red as it goes down the drain. Harry presses the side of his head against the wall as I continue to get the blood off of him. I'm careful not to do anything that will piss him off. I don't know what that could be, though. Maybe I could accidentally scrub his arm the wrong way and he would decide to kill me right now and right here? 

"You're hands are too soft," he scoffs. "You aren't getting anything off of me when you're touching me like that. Be rough."

"W-What?" I choke, letting go of his arm.

"Ugh, you're so useless," he tells me. "Make yourself useful, then, and leave the bathroom. Cause a distraction until I'm able to get cleaned. I should be gone by the time you come back." 

I hurry out of the bathroom and shut the door behind me. My heart is pounding and I try to calm myself down. I hear the bathroom door lock behind me and I remove myself from the door. Louis is still walking around the apartment and he stops when he sees me. He looks me up and down and he crosses his arms across his chest. 

"Why are you soaking wet?"

"I...I just got out of the shower." I say and he leans forward. 

His lips land on my nose and he kisses me softly. I watch him carefully and he slowly looks up at the bathroom door. I smile at him, trying to distract him from the sound I know he is hearing. 

"You left the shower water running?" 

It sounds more like a question rather than a statement. 

I shrug, "You're supposed to be taking your shower. I thought I should leave the water running so all you would have to do is jump in, rinse off and get out." 

He walks around me and puts his hand on the doorknob. My heart nearly stops and I back away from him. What if Harry is still in the shower? I bite my bottom lip. Should I tell him? How will he react if I tell him Harry is in there? He opens the door and I stop tugging my bottom lip between my teeth. I thought Harry locked it when I left? Louis walks into the bathroom and I hear him pull the shower curtain back. 

"Evelyn," he says from inside the bathroom. "You got water all over the floor."

I sigh with relief, "Thank God."

"What?" 

"Oh," I rub the back of my neck. "Uh...sorry? It's probably from my hair. I'll get it up." 

"With what?" he asks me and appears in the doorway. "We don't have anything. Don't worry about it, though. The water will evaporate and no one will trip and break their neck."

He leans forward to kiss me on the lips and when he backs away from me, my lips ache for him to come back. He closes the bathroom door and doesn't lock it. I back up until my body presses against the wall and let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I slide down the wall and sit down with my legs spread out across the hall. 

How did Harry get out of there so fast? As a matter of fact, how did he even know Louis was going to go in there? I go back to tugging my bottom lip between my teeth, suddenly deep in thought. Some of the blood was still on the shower floor. If Louis saw it, why did he not say anything? I put my head back against the wall and close my eyes. Of course he didn't say anything. We're all taking showers to get the blood off of us. He probably thought it was my own blood. I move my wet hair out of my face and open my eyes to see a very happy Zayn looking back at me. I gasp and pull my knees up to my chest. His smile widens and he takes the opportunity to sit down beside me. 

"Hey," I say, looking at him. 

"Hi," he looks back at me and smiles, showing his teeth this time. "Zayn feels better now. He's all nice and clean. He wishes he had new clothes, though. These feel sticky and...nasty." 

"We'll talk about getting new clothes when Louis gets out of the shower." I tell him. "Then you won't have to worry about wearing those sticky clothes anymore. I bet you would like that, yeah?"

He nods, "Oh, yeah! Zayn would like that very much. Um...but how will Zayn get the new clothes? Last time he went to get something he wanted, something bad happened. Will something bad happen if Zayn gets new clothes?" He looks worried and this bothers me. I'm tired of seeing him worried. I am tired of seeing him scared all of the time. He didn't ask for this. He didn't ask to be this way and it hurts me to watch him struggle. It hurts me to watch all of us struggle. 

"We'll find a way," I reassure him. 

"How?" he asks and I sigh. "Zayn used to get his clothes from the thrift store. Are we going to the thrift store to get our clothes?" I think about it and tilt my head to the side. The thrift store is the last place someone steals clothes from, right? Once Louis comes out of the bathroom, I'm going to have to talk to him about this. 

"You're a genius," I grin. 

"Really?" his eyes lighten up as he smiles. 

"Yes," I say, wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug. "You are."