Status: Hiatus
Of Suspenders and Curls
Resolution
Harry read through his history textbook but no matter how hard he tried to cram information into his head, he couldn't digest what was written on the pages. His mind kept wandering back to the horrifying encounter with Louis in the neighbourhood park. Thinking about it made Harry shiver in his seat.
It had been three weeks since the incident and Harry was now more than cautious. He stopped going to the coffee house, opting instead to walk straight back home after school. He refused to go out after dusk and slept with a bible underneath his pillow. His mum was relatively surprised about the bible as Harry wasn't considered a religious person. Nonetheless, she did pass him her extra set of rosary beads without questioning much, when Harry asked for them.
Harry's elder sister Gemma, however, was fine and well, just how Louis had promised him. She didn't remember a single thing that happened that night and there were no traces of her being bitten by a vampire as well, much to Harry's relief. He would have a hard time trying to convince Gemma that she was bitten by some kind of humongous bug in the park.
Gemma was curious as to why they were at the park. Harry had to think quickly, telling her that she was wasted and she ended up at the park instead of their home. Gemma didn’t believe it at first because she knew she didn't drink much, let alone get as drunk as she sounded. But after much conviction from her younger brother, she bought the story.
On one hand, Harry was relieved that Gemma didn't know about the existence of vampires. On the other, he wished that she knew so that he wasn't alone in this. He couldn't be going around telling people about vampires as he would definitely be considered a basket case.
Harry tossed the textbook on his bed and let out a loud sigh. He ran a hand through his curly locks and massaged his temple. He could never sit for his exam in his current state. Frustrated, Harry stood up from his study desk and walked over to his backpack to take out his juggling balls. He brought those to school occasionally as he liked to impress his classmates with his juggling skills. Besides that, juggling helped him to relax his mind, something which he was in dire need of at that moment.
A slip of paper fell off from his backpack while taking the balls out. Harry picked it up and realised that it was one of his study notes, on which Louis had scribbled his mobile number the very first time they had met in the coffee house. He remembered he had asked Louis how he was supposed to contact the older boy and Louis had simply said to look inside his folder.
Harry looked at the messy scrawl that was Louis' handwriting. Beside his number, he had doodled a smiley face. Harry couldn't help but grin at that. He must admit he did miss Lou and his mates. They were just so... likeable. Plus, he enjoyed their company and learning for his A' Levels was made more bearable with the lads around, even though Liam could be a pain in the arse sometimes with his strict teaching.
Harry shook his head to break out from his daydream. He couldn't ask them to tutor him after knowing what they really were. Harry couldn't simply ask Louis to step back into his life. That would be like giving himself a tight slap across his own face.
"Compose yourself, Harry," he said out loud into the empty bedroom. "They're vampires, hence they're evil."
But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself of this, his inner thoughts always countered back.
If they're truly evil, you wouldn't be alive right now.
"Louis, could you at least play a less sombre piece?" Liam pleaded. "You've been playing the same tune over and over again, I think I might just drop dead for the second time."
I paid no attention to Liam and continued tinkering away on the piano keys. I had been playing a part of Haydn's 'Adagio E Cantabile', which was also nicknamed Lestat's Sonata, as Lestat played that particular piece in the movie, 'Interview With The Vampire'. I had played various tempos of the piece, going from slow to fast and back to slow again. Most importantly, I was filling the entire flat with my depressed music.
I was dejected and hurt over what had happened between myself and Harry. The lads shared my melancholy mood for the first week or so, but it seemed that I was taking the moping a little too far this time around.
It had been three weeks since I'd made that stupid mistake of feeding from Harry's sister and revealing my true nature in the process. I had come home unkempt and disgruntled, much to the horror of the others. We vampires kept our appearance at all times, and coming home like I had been run over by a flock of sheep was kind of disgraceful.
"Loueh, you can't carry on being like this," Niall said, worry lacing his voice. He approached me slowly, a bag of warmed-up blood in his hands. "You haven't fed since that night and you refused to go hunting with us. You're surely hungry."
I ignored him and concentrated on the piano keys instead. The lads wouldn't understand why I was feeling this way.
You're not a failure, Lou.
I stopped abruptly, fingers hovering over the black and white keys and turned around in my seat. Liam was looking at me, a concerned expression on his face.
"Stay out of my head, Payne," I glared at him.
Niall was still standing awkwardly beside the piano. "Niall, could you put that away, please? I'll feed if I get hungry."
He gave out a loud sigh and shuffled back to the kitchen. Zayn, who was reading a book quietly at this time, suddenly spoke up.
"I know it is not the right time to be asking this, but when are we erasing Harry's memory?"
Our existence was never to be revealed to the world. One of the vampire codes stated that if a human were to discover the existence of vampires, that particular human needed to be turned into a creature of the night, or have his memory erased. Failure in doing so would have said vampire face the Elders of burning to death in sunlight. A gruesome sight.
I stared at him and felt my insides crumble. Trust Zayn to be the one who would remind me that I had pressing matters on hand. That boy sure was a mould of Liam.
"I-I don't intend on erasing his memory as I'm turning him into one of us," I replied hesitantly. "I'll find a way to talk- negotiate with Harry."
Zayn exhaled heavily and put down his book. "I'm not trying to disrespect you or anything, Louis, but it's been three weeks and I saw no effort being done on your part. All I see is you burying your distress behind dreary music and risking our presence if the Elders find out about Harry."
I felt a pair of strong arms around my shoulders, hugging me from the back. Without turning in my seat, I knew Liam had flitted my way to give me a consoling hug. The slight feeling of annoyance that I had for him earlier on had vanished.
"Zayn's right, Lou," Liam whispered in my ear. "If you can't bear to mess with his mind, let Zayn or Niall do it for you."
"I'm able to infiltrate minds at amazing speeds. Harry won't even realise what hit him," Niall piped up from the kitchen's doorway.
I gave Niall a small smile to show him my gratitude. He knew how agonising it was to erase memories. Erasing a human's mind wasn't like taking a stroll by the beach. It hurts both said human and the vampire who did the 'mind-washing'. The human would have his mind in a jumbled mess for a day, while the vampire was left with a splitting headache.
Liam had let go of me and was now leaning beside the piano, facing me. Niall and Zayn came over to us and the three of them stood in a semi-circle surrounding me. I was still sitting on the stool, but my eyes were focused on the piano's keys instead of their faces. I knew they were all waiting for my response and honestly speaking, I couldn't tell them how I was feeling at that moment.
"Lou, it's okay to speak your mind," Liam urged.
I took a deep breath and exhaled, an action deemed futile for vampires as we didn't need air to breathe. It was a habit that all of us kept in our undead lives, as it used to be a natural thing to do when we were once alive.
I looked up to each of their faces and grimaced. "I wanted this to work out with Harry as I can't deal with another disappointment. I feel like a failure. There was something about the boy which made me hope that he would join our coven without questions asked. He proved me wrong. However, I could have sworn he was the chosen one to complete our circle."
"You're not a failure, Lou," Zayn spoke up. "In fact, you're far from it. You're a great mentor and I'm glad that you're one of my best mates." He threw his arms around Niall and Liam's shoulders and they huddled me into a group hug.
"Don't you dare to ever think such thoughts again," Niall added.
See what I've told you, Lou? You're NOT a failure.
I grinned at Liam, while he gave me a wink. Niall and Zayn were smiling at me and I couldn't help but smile back at them.
Our happy moment was short-lived when the sound of the doorbell was heard. "I'll get it." Niall broke out of the group hug and rushed to the door. He threw it open without taking a look through the peephole.
And the root of my main problem was revealed- standing there, bringing me back to reality.
"Umm, hey," he croaked, brown curls falling into his eyes.
Harry.
It had been three weeks since the incident and Harry was now more than cautious. He stopped going to the coffee house, opting instead to walk straight back home after school. He refused to go out after dusk and slept with a bible underneath his pillow. His mum was relatively surprised about the bible as Harry wasn't considered a religious person. Nonetheless, she did pass him her extra set of rosary beads without questioning much, when Harry asked for them.
Harry's elder sister Gemma, however, was fine and well, just how Louis had promised him. She didn't remember a single thing that happened that night and there were no traces of her being bitten by a vampire as well, much to Harry's relief. He would have a hard time trying to convince Gemma that she was bitten by some kind of humongous bug in the park.
Gemma was curious as to why they were at the park. Harry had to think quickly, telling her that she was wasted and she ended up at the park instead of their home. Gemma didn’t believe it at first because she knew she didn't drink much, let alone get as drunk as she sounded. But after much conviction from her younger brother, she bought the story.
On one hand, Harry was relieved that Gemma didn't know about the existence of vampires. On the other, he wished that she knew so that he wasn't alone in this. He couldn't be going around telling people about vampires as he would definitely be considered a basket case.
Harry tossed the textbook on his bed and let out a loud sigh. He ran a hand through his curly locks and massaged his temple. He could never sit for his exam in his current state. Frustrated, Harry stood up from his study desk and walked over to his backpack to take out his juggling balls. He brought those to school occasionally as he liked to impress his classmates with his juggling skills. Besides that, juggling helped him to relax his mind, something which he was in dire need of at that moment.
A slip of paper fell off from his backpack while taking the balls out. Harry picked it up and realised that it was one of his study notes, on which Louis had scribbled his mobile number the very first time they had met in the coffee house. He remembered he had asked Louis how he was supposed to contact the older boy and Louis had simply said to look inside his folder.
Harry looked at the messy scrawl that was Louis' handwriting. Beside his number, he had doodled a smiley face. Harry couldn't help but grin at that. He must admit he did miss Lou and his mates. They were just so... likeable. Plus, he enjoyed their company and learning for his A' Levels was made more bearable with the lads around, even though Liam could be a pain in the arse sometimes with his strict teaching.
Harry shook his head to break out from his daydream. He couldn't ask them to tutor him after knowing what they really were. Harry couldn't simply ask Louis to step back into his life. That would be like giving himself a tight slap across his own face.
"Compose yourself, Harry," he said out loud into the empty bedroom. "They're vampires, hence they're evil."
But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself of this, his inner thoughts always countered back.
If they're truly evil, you wouldn't be alive right now.
"Louis, could you at least play a less sombre piece?" Liam pleaded. "You've been playing the same tune over and over again, I think I might just drop dead for the second time."
I paid no attention to Liam and continued tinkering away on the piano keys. I had been playing a part of Haydn's 'Adagio E Cantabile', which was also nicknamed Lestat's Sonata, as Lestat played that particular piece in the movie, 'Interview With The Vampire'. I had played various tempos of the piece, going from slow to fast and back to slow again. Most importantly, I was filling the entire flat with my depressed music.
I was dejected and hurt over what had happened between myself and Harry. The lads shared my melancholy mood for the first week or so, but it seemed that I was taking the moping a little too far this time around.
It had been three weeks since I'd made that stupid mistake of feeding from Harry's sister and revealing my true nature in the process. I had come home unkempt and disgruntled, much to the horror of the others. We vampires kept our appearance at all times, and coming home like I had been run over by a flock of sheep was kind of disgraceful.
"Loueh, you can't carry on being like this," Niall said, worry lacing his voice. He approached me slowly, a bag of warmed-up blood in his hands. "You haven't fed since that night and you refused to go hunting with us. You're surely hungry."
I ignored him and concentrated on the piano keys instead. The lads wouldn't understand why I was feeling this way.
You're not a failure, Lou.
I stopped abruptly, fingers hovering over the black and white keys and turned around in my seat. Liam was looking at me, a concerned expression on his face.
"Stay out of my head, Payne," I glared at him.
Niall was still standing awkwardly beside the piano. "Niall, could you put that away, please? I'll feed if I get hungry."
He gave out a loud sigh and shuffled back to the kitchen. Zayn, who was reading a book quietly at this time, suddenly spoke up.
"I know it is not the right time to be asking this, but when are we erasing Harry's memory?"
Our existence was never to be revealed to the world. One of the vampire codes stated that if a human were to discover the existence of vampires, that particular human needed to be turned into a creature of the night, or have his memory erased. Failure in doing so would have said vampire face the Elders of burning to death in sunlight. A gruesome sight.
I stared at him and felt my insides crumble. Trust Zayn to be the one who would remind me that I had pressing matters on hand. That boy sure was a mould of Liam.
"I-I don't intend on erasing his memory as I'm turning him into one of us," I replied hesitantly. "I'll find a way to talk- negotiate with Harry."
Zayn exhaled heavily and put down his book. "I'm not trying to disrespect you or anything, Louis, but it's been three weeks and I saw no effort being done on your part. All I see is you burying your distress behind dreary music and risking our presence if the Elders find out about Harry."
I felt a pair of strong arms around my shoulders, hugging me from the back. Without turning in my seat, I knew Liam had flitted my way to give me a consoling hug. The slight feeling of annoyance that I had for him earlier on had vanished.
"Zayn's right, Lou," Liam whispered in my ear. "If you can't bear to mess with his mind, let Zayn or Niall do it for you."
"I'm able to infiltrate minds at amazing speeds. Harry won't even realise what hit him," Niall piped up from the kitchen's doorway.
I gave Niall a small smile to show him my gratitude. He knew how agonising it was to erase memories. Erasing a human's mind wasn't like taking a stroll by the beach. It hurts both said human and the vampire who did the 'mind-washing'. The human would have his mind in a jumbled mess for a day, while the vampire was left with a splitting headache.
Liam had let go of me and was now leaning beside the piano, facing me. Niall and Zayn came over to us and the three of them stood in a semi-circle surrounding me. I was still sitting on the stool, but my eyes were focused on the piano's keys instead of their faces. I knew they were all waiting for my response and honestly speaking, I couldn't tell them how I was feeling at that moment.
"Lou, it's okay to speak your mind," Liam urged.
I took a deep breath and exhaled, an action deemed futile for vampires as we didn't need air to breathe. It was a habit that all of us kept in our undead lives, as it used to be a natural thing to do when we were once alive.
I looked up to each of their faces and grimaced. "I wanted this to work out with Harry as I can't deal with another disappointment. I feel like a failure. There was something about the boy which made me hope that he would join our coven without questions asked. He proved me wrong. However, I could have sworn he was the chosen one to complete our circle."
"You're not a failure, Lou," Zayn spoke up. "In fact, you're far from it. You're a great mentor and I'm glad that you're one of my best mates." He threw his arms around Niall and Liam's shoulders and they huddled me into a group hug.
"Don't you dare to ever think such thoughts again," Niall added.
See what I've told you, Lou? You're NOT a failure.
I grinned at Liam, while he gave me a wink. Niall and Zayn were smiling at me and I couldn't help but smile back at them.
Our happy moment was short-lived when the sound of the doorbell was heard. "I'll get it." Niall broke out of the group hug and rushed to the door. He threw it open without taking a look through the peephole.
And the root of my main problem was revealed- standing there, bringing me back to reality.
"Umm, hey," he croaked, brown curls falling into his eyes.
Harry.
♠ ♠ ♠
To those who did not watch Interview With The Vampire, here's the said piano piece which was mentioned in this chapter. I know Louis and Liam played a little bit of piano, so I decided to incorporate that into the story. I find it sexy when the pianist have to cross his hands to play this piece. I apologise beforehand if the said piece is cliché, since it's from a vampire movie (lol). But I've listened to a few 'dark' pieces and nothing fancied me as much as Lestat's Sonata.
The picture above inspired me for the scene where Liam came over to console Louis by hugging his shoulders. It's just, unnggff.
A special shoutout to my dearest beta, xpectashans! Thank you for checking everything and made the unexplainable, understandable!
Oh, oh! Do check out my co-written story Home Sweet Hole. It's a One Direction fic, portraying the lads as juveniles. The writers who are participating in this are pretty talented so do check it out, kays? Furthermore, it's a different take on the boys :))
I've rambled on too much. Do enjoy this and keep those comments, subscriptions and recommendations in!