Hiding in the Open

I ran.

And ran.

Then ran a little more, progressively speeding up.

When I didn't hear his footsteps behind me anymore, I stopped and looked around taking in the features of the little park. How green the grass was and the yellow swirly slide that was attached to a pathway from various sets of stairs and monkey bars.

After a while of taking in the features of the park, I remembered why I was here.

Where did he go?

I started retracing my steps, slowly but surely.

There were so many trees and I knew he'd be hiding behind one of the bloody trunks, plotting a way to make me pee myself.

I searched for a minute or two until I heard the faint crack of a stick behind me. My lips curved into a smile as I twirled around, "There you ar-" I stopped. This wasn't the blue eyed boy that was just chasing me.

This guy was completely different. A black hoodie covered his torso, the zipper undid and the hood up. The hood covered his eyes, but I could see the smirk that showed off deep dimples, that left me speechless.

"Ash! Ash! Where'd you go?!" His Irish voice sounded petrified, the exact way I felt as I stood in front of the hooded figure.

The stranger lifted up his right hand and pressed his pointer finger to my lips, hinting me to be quiet. He removed his fingers and stepped around my frozen body, following the voice that called for me.

A tear fell from my chin landing on my chest, adding to the chills up and down my spine. I raised my hand to a blonde strand of hair, pulling it behind my ear before wiping the tear streaks from my cheeks.

I didn't know what I felt, let alone how to feel.

I was lost.

I was trapped.

I was lost and trapped within the voices of my mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sat up in my bed gasping for air. It was only a nightmare.

I looked over to my right and noticed my Irish hunk. The way his blonde hair stuck out all over the place. The rise and fall of his chest. The soft snores. The way his mouth was slightly parted as drool slipped past the corner of his perfectly sculpted lips. I just wanted to cuddle against him and listen to the drumming of his heart.

Suddenly, his arms stretched over his head and let out a rather loud yawn. I quickly turned over and pretended to be asleep, not wanting to be caught watching him sleep.

I felt his large hand rest on my hip and he leaned over, gliding his nose down the side of my cheek bone.

"Well good morning, Niall." I giggled.

"Good morning love," he whispered into my neck.

When I turned over it wasn't Niall. It was the hooded figure from my dream. I fell out of the bed and started scooting myself away from it, never taking my eyes off the stranger. My back eventually came in contact with a wall, and as he stepped closer and closer, the lump in my throat grew. I opened my mouth to scream but nothing came out.

He stopped and crouched down in front of me. "Ashland, what's wrong?"

All I did was whimper as tears brimmed my eyes. He cupped my cheek in his hand and repeated his question, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head and looked down, closing my eyes. His finger tips brushed down finding my chin and tilting it up to face him. I opened my eyes and he was staring intently at me. His beautiful green gems calmed me and gave me the courage to speak. "W-what's your name?"

"You don't know?" He gawked at me with a cloud confusion.

"No. I had a dream. I was with Ni-" I glanced around the room. "Where's Niall?"

He stood up and put his hands behind his head, fisting his brown curls between his fingers as he sighed with frustration.

"Why won't you answer me?"

He shot me an unreadable look, striding over grabbing my wrist and yanking me up. "My name's Harry."

"Harry?"

"Yes."

"Where's Niall?"

"He.. He's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean gone?"

Harry dropped his head, slightly shaking it. Bringing his tongue between his lips in nervousness he spoke. "He's dead."

My heart stopped. Everything stopped.

"What?" I choked out, holding back more tears.

He shook his head again, still staring at the floor beneath him. "Please don't make me repeat it."

Coward. He can't even look me in the eyes! Then it hit me. "You're the one who killed him, aren't you?"

Silence. The silence was all I needed.

"You did!" I pried my wrist from Harry's grasp and shoved him, putting one foot in front of the other and running.

I don't know how long I ran for. I never took in my surroundings as I was running. I blacked out and was only focused on getting away from Harry. My legs were giving up on me and I finally stopped and placed my hands on my knees, gasping for air.

When I was finally able to breathe properly I stood up straight and started searching for a bench. That's when I realized where I was. I was at the park.

Instead of finding a bench, I fell where I stood, breaking down and sobbing in the middle of the sidewalk. 'You can't sit here and cry, get up and stop acting like a baby' I thought to myself. I brushed myself off and forced my body up off the ground. Taking a deep breath I started walking towards the wooded area where I last saw Niall in my dream.

As I approached the wooded area, I saw Niall. I sprinted towards him and swallowed him in a hug. "Ni-Niall, I-I thought you were d-dead."

"Why would you think that, Ash?" He grabbed my forearms and pushed me away so he could look at me.

Niall was covered in blood. His white shirt was soaked in blood. His face was smothered in a mixture of mud and blood. His arms were filled with tattoos of cuts and bruises and, of course, blood.

Then I woke up.