The Silence That Surrounds: Screams of the Damned

Narrator’s POV:

Sophia’s breath hitched in her throat as another bullet sounded, whizzing just past her head, like a low hum whoosh.

“They’re toying with us,” Louis whispered, Sophia’s body weight still in his arms. He seemed to be considering something and listened again in the dark, head swinging around eagerly.

Another bullet whizzed past, barely missing Louis.

“Mother sons of bastards, the lot of em’,” Louis growled, swinging his head around to the water knowing they were closing in and he could not see. “Flower, darling? I’m apologizing about this now, because I’m about to throw you into the ocean. Swim and don’t look back.”

Sophia’s eyes widened.

“Louis, I can’t swim!” Sophia exclaimed in a hiss, leading Louis to panic a little.

“What? What do you mean you can’t swim?!” Louis whispered back, a rush of breath leaving his mouth, another shot and a pained exclamation leaving his mouth. “Fuck me, that hurt! Lass? I just had a bullet graze my arse, we’re running out of warnings. I’m sorry, but – FUCK MY MOTHER!” Louis screamed as he felt another bullet, this time hitting him in the meat part of his ass and exiting.

“You’re going to have to learn.” Louis decided, throwing her body sideways into the dark water without warning and jumping over the wooden fence mesh right behind her, another shell barely missing his head.

“Find them! I want them alive!” Elliott yelled, his men oblivious of that command grunted and ran towards the water where Louis and Sophia had gone under. In the dark, the water kept the two gang members shielded, a place where the night vision goggles could not penetrate.

Sophia thought she was dying. It could have been possible with how fast her body ripped across the shadowed land of secrets. Louis had her firmly by her good wrist, dragging her briskly under the water and holding her down so they would remain undetected.

Sophia could hear Louis swearing and despite the water logged rant he was having to himself, she knew that he had her survival and wellbeing in top priority.

Feeling her lungs burst in anticipation of fresh air she let out a strangled gurgle, prompting Louis to raise to the surface and steady her body from sinking under.

“Breathe.” Louis murmured, his one hand rubbing at her back while she inhaled the sweet ocean smell of air.

“I can’t swim!” She panicked, turning around to throw herself around Louis’s neck in panic. His arms wrapped around her waist tighter, their faces inches apart.

“You don’t have to, I’m right here; stop panicking,” He told her sternly, his head turning when the sound of swimming could be heard some ways behind him. “Fuck me. Sophia? We got to move, hold your breath and just let me do my thing, yeah? Something agreeable like?”

Sophia nodded and before she knew it, they were back under the water and zipping through it at a fast pace. Truth be told, Sophia felt like she was being dragged behind by a mermaid with how quick Louis seemed to be gliding them along.

What was even more impressive was the wound that had to hurt from getting shot in the ass.

The chase behind them went silent a little bit away, Louis popped his head back up from the water and grabbed Sophia into an embrace so she didn’t sink to the bottom.

“I’m losing blood, lass. We need to commandeer a vehicle and get home, those bastards shot me in the arse. I need to see Liam as soon as possible; can you drive?” Louis asked breathless, struggling to keep them above water.

“I got my license, but…dad always told me to take the limo if I needed to go somewhere so others wouldn’t think we were common.” Sophia gulped, trying to remember the last time she drove, which was her at her driver’s license test - when she was sixteen.

“So you can drive?” Louis clarified.

“Y-yes?” Sophia gulped again.

“You don’t sound too sure. Can you or can’t you?” Louis pressed, getting agitated. “Because I could really use the help right now, flower.”

“I can, sort of. I’ll give it a try, I promise. I’ll just have to remember what dad taught me before the test.” Sophia tried to reassure, Louis pulling her along.

“The first thing we’re doing, lass, is teaching you how to swim. This is ridiculous!” Louis dismissed her, feeling her arm wrap gently around his neck.

“Should I apologize about that too, Lou? Because I’d be happy to; even though it’s not quite my fault. My father believed that swimming was unwomanly. Long story short, only poor people swam or those less cordial with manners. So I was never allowed to learn. My brother would sneak to the lakes with his friends and learn. He tried to teach me when we were eighteen, but I almost drowned. Dad had a fit.” Sophia recalled, her body and Louis’s easily gliding through the water.

“Good story, lass. Truly. Now, tell me how you didn’t learn to cook or clean or whatever the fuck women do nowadays.” Louis spat sarcastically.

“Oh, I can cook and clean. Just don’t like to.” Sophia couldn’t help but smile at Louis’s swear.

“We need to find a way out and a vehicle, preferably something easy to hotwire,” Louis said, looking around the open water, grunting, his one hand going to where he was shot, wincing. “Liam is going to have a field day with the sewing thread and hot needle technique.”

“Does it hurt?” Sophia asked, spotting some rocks up ahead, her wet cast coming out of the water to point. “Over there! Rocks! We can climb out!”

Louis winced at her yelling.

“I’m right here, luv. There’s no reason to scream in my bloody ear,” He cringed, continuing on with his main point. “Alright let’s make our way over and yes it bloody hurts, what did you expect getting shot in the arse would feel like? An orgasm?” He responded to her offset question.

The embankment of rocks where the incline was, wasn’t so steep. In fact, it was only about half a football field away from where they were, leaving Louis to gather up his strength and make their way over.

“Louis?” Sophia questioned after a moment, her bad hand trying to wade through the water so he wasn’t using all his strength keeping a hold of her.

“Stop flailing your arm, I got you.” He told her sternly, determination brewing in his eyes.

“I was just trying to help.” She said, her breath a little worn.

“Yeah – don’t. I find it’s easier to haul you around without you moving so much. Now, what did you want?”

“If I went with Andros and Lily, would you have run? To avoid being killed, would you have run too?”

The question was one she had been curious of, because she didn’t take Louis for a coward, but death provokes uncertain actions.

Louis remained silent, the only sound was the sound of his splashing, eyes dead ahead on the rocks.

“No. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have fought like hell though. I wouldn’t have just let them shoot me, because I’m not a coward and as Harry’s second in command, I would need to be there to protect him,” Louis let a small smile fall over his face. “Besides, I knew you weren’t going to leave, so I wasn’t all that worried.”

Sophia’s eyebrow popped.

“Oh? How were you so sure I’d stay? I could have run.”

Louis snorted.

“You said it yourself, you lost your family and Damien would never stop searching. He would search the ends of this Earth and the next, take and destroy those closest around you. Lily, Andros and Aiden would never be able to have a normal life and there’s one thing Sophia Stone, that I know quite extensively about you, beautiful.” Louis said, full on smirking this time.

“Yeah, what’s that, Tomlinson?” She challenged, her body feeling the adrenaline tamper out of her body.

“I know you wouldn’t allow anyone to suffer intentionally. I know that you are selfless and kind, I know that you and Harry have something going on beneath the surface and his own desperation to his need to get you out of here suggests that he too feels something. Sophie, I have been with Harry for many years and he has never once shown mercy. You? There was something about you that intrigued him from the start and now, we have a lot of work to do if you have a spec of a chance at surviving.” Louis said, the last part dropping his lips into a frown.

“You have little faith in me then?” Sophia asked, her own mouth in a frown.

Louis sighed, kicking his feet a little quicker.

“I have little faith in our combined abilities, Soph. I’m going to be honest with you, alright? Harry told me that we have limited time in your training, he was worried that you wouldn’t be able to make the deadline and wanted to get you out. Honestly? I didn’t want you to leave, but I would have made you if I didn’t believe there was a chance.” Louis smiled again.

“So you believe in me?” Sophia questioned, making sure she understood.

“I do, but you got to believe in yourself too, luv. I can teach you; you just have to find your inner strength and though it’s been crushed, with a little bit of spit shine, you will be as good as a new pence in no time. I’m confident you will.” Louis promised.

The rocks up ahead were a mere couple of feet away now.

“Once Damien sees what I could do, will I become a part of the group and be allowed to do dangerous things like you and Harry?” Sophia asked, blinking to get the salt water out of her eyes.

“Unfortunately. That’s part of the job, so, yes. However, Harry might want you staying in the shadows. I can only teach you what you can physically do, lass. Like for me, I hotwire cars, pick pocket, pick locks, cut electrical power to buildings, shoot- “Sophia interrupted him then.

“Shoot a gas cylinder and make my parents mansion explode.” She scowled.

Louis huffed.

“I already apologized about blowing your mother and her group of church goers up. How many times do I have to apologize for that? It was an accident, occasionally we have them on missions. Hell, one time, Harry was completely piss assed drunk and broke into a department store and stole a woman’s dress – well, he stole a mannequin thinking it was our target. This was in his teenaged years, but I think he might still have the dummy and dress somewhere in the basement. Imagine how pissed Damien was when he brought back a tied up dress doll. That boy got a good forty licks with Damien’s belt for that one, sobered the lad up pretty quick.” Louis recalled, not smiling, but not frowning either.

“He tied up the mannequin? Where were you?” Sophia questioned reaching her good hand out to a rock to steady herself.

“I was out on another mission, but Zayn explained to me what happened when I got back and yes, Harry tied the dummy up – quite the funny sight to see to be completely bloody honest,” Louis chuckled.

“Damien sent me and Zayn out to get the girl. It was Zayn’s first mission if I’m not mistaken. Damien gave him rules and what would happen if he escaped and then off we went. This mission happened to be Perrie. Now that lass was a handful.” He recalled fondly.

“So it is possible to find love? That means I could find it, right?” Sophia asked, helping Louis get out of the water.

“You can find love in the most desperate of situations, Sophia. It will never last though, because they always leave. So, you will need to decide if that’s something you want to risk,” Louis grunted, pulling himself from the water and onto a rock, looking up to see the incline, knowing it was going to take a while to get up there. “Let’s get climbing, flower.”

“What about friends? We can have friends, can’t we? I lost my family and, I – “She couldn’t finish before Louis grabbed her arm to stop her from tumbling.

“We’re a team, lass. I will be there to catch you if you fall, but emotional attachments are a dangerous thing to have in this business. Harry and I are friends, because I can protect him – except with the cage incident, but that was different. Zayn and I are smoking mates – maybe even friends, I don’t know. He hates all of us pretty much and Liam is the dad of this little group when it comes to medical, running around and fixing us all up and whatnot – Niall, I’d say he’s the wife, always in the kitchen cleaning and cooking.” Louis lists, taking a step onto a good sized black rock and helping Sophia step onto it before going to the next.

“Can I be the annoying sister you lads never had? Dylan always told me I was the annoying sister he wished he never had.” Sophia chuckled.

Louis frowned, staying silent for a while.

“We can’t be friends, Sophia. Because if you die, the emotional attachment will hinder me – us all really from doing our job and carrying on. You are special, lass and that’s what makes you so dangerous to this group. You bring in humanity that otherwise would not be here.” Louis explained, trying hard not to hurt the girl’s feelings.

Sophia nodded, understanding where Louis was coming from.

“I understand, but can we at least pretend to be friends? If you’re going to help train me, I want to be able to trust you and if I can pretend – at least think were friends – “Sophia trailed off, gingerly letting Louis lead her onto another rock.

“I’m your protector, Sophia. Just as I am Harry’s. I won’t ever let you fall; you have my word, flower. If it is easier to picture us as friends, then, I don’t see the harm. Just don’t ask me to break down and cry a river if you get hurt or killed. No emotional attachments.” Louis warned, grabbing her to him when her left foot slipped on the rock, the action knocking them both over, Sophia on top of Louis, staring down into his face.

“Alright, agreed,” She smiled, bending down to kiss him on the cheek. “That was for helping me wake up.”

Louis scrunched his face up.

“Thanks, now come on, we need to get home. I don’t want to pass out and I am very close at this point.” He let her know, the way he easily fell suggested he was losing his strength.

Sophia nodded and proceeded to follow Louis up the small embankment of rocks until they reached the top.

Once both of them were safely on the ground, they looked around to discover they were quite a way down from their car and no other vehicle seemed to be in sight.

“What do we do now? If we go back now, Elliott will catch us. What about hitchhiking?” Sophia suggested, the air around them quiet, no sounds of cars coming from either direction.

“Yes, that’s a perfect idea! Hi? Listen my mate’s been shot in the arse, but can we catch a ride out a few hours from here to the woods while he profusely bleeds on your upholstery? A hospital? Nah we’re scientologists, the power of Christ compels us - seriously, what are you going to tell them when we refuse a hospital?” Louis ranted sarcastically.

Sophia rolled her eyes.

“Okay, one: that’s from The Exorcist and I’m pretty sure a demonic possession has nothing to do with Scientology and two: we could always try telling them the truth. Sometimes the truth sets you free.” Sophia reasoned.

“Yeah? Sometimes it gets you killed. Jimmy Hoffa, perfect example. Poor bastard is human metal in someone’s driveway right now.” Louis argued, crossing his arm over his chest while the other put pressure on his bleeding backside.

“We can stand here arguing or we can start walking and trying to find a car. Up to you, mate.” Sophia hugged, her arm sliding across Louis’s back, using her good arm to take some of his weight.

“I don’t need your help.” Louis refused, the strength in him leaving at a rapid pace and causing him to stop to catch his breath.

“Yes you do, Lou. I may not be well on my feet either, but you are losing a lot of blood. Let me help.” Sophia insisted, tightening her arm around Louis’s small form.

Louis groaned, but let her lead him slowly down the asphalt in direction they had swam from.

“Can I ask a question?” Sophia began again as they made their way at a snail’s pace.

“You just did, but go ahead.” Louis said, attempting to joke, but even Sophia could see it was forced. All the guy looked like he wanted to do was fall to the ground – and it looked like he would at any given second.

“Will you teach me how to hotwire a car and pick pocket? Maybe even cutting electric? I want to do what you guys do. I want to be an equal member of this team.” Sophia insisted as they moved along.

Louis grunted, knowing she was just trying to distract him from the blood loss.

“Yeah, I’ll teach you; but first: you’re going to learn how to swim.” Louis said, leaving no room to negotiate on the matter.

Sophia nodded, knowing if her brother couldn’t teach her; these men would probably tear their hair out trying to get her to learn.

“How do you knock someone out without killing them?” Sophia questioned, her ears picking up at the sound of an approaching car.

She looks at Louis, his mouth opening to answer her.

“Wait, I have an idea. I think I remember what my brother taught me, come here.” She insisted, dragging him in the middle of the road and shoving him to the ground.

“Fucking hell! What are you doing!?” He yelled in panic trying to pick himself up.

She kicked his arm out from underneath him and bent down, a look of confidence passing over her features.

“Trust me, this idea can’t fail. I’m getting us a car, but you need to lay in the middle of the road here.” She explained, Louis’s eyes going wide.

“Are you bloody nuts?! Merry Christmas from Mars, hello!? It could be Elliott! What if it isn’t and they don’t stop?! I’m going to be Louis kill, nu-uh, you lay in the road if you think -HOLY SMURF MUFFINS!” Louis screamed, the car tearing around the bend towards them.

Sophia popped up and flailed her good arm in the air, the car’s speed decreasing in speed with a slam of its brakes, stopping just short of them by a few feet. The driver got out, slamming the car door hard as he got out.

“The bloody hell!? What happened to – what the…Sophia?! Sophia fucking Stone?!” The young man exclaimed.

Sophia’s mouth opened in surprise. She did not expect to ever see the boy again, much less out here of all places.

“Asher? Asher Heart?! Oh my God, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” She smiles timid if not almost shyly, her face flushing slightly.

Asher was beautiful, as beautiful a human being as you could lay eyes on. A God among men – that’s what her first thoughts were the moment she met him. Frozen in place as her father stood in front of his father with a friendly smile and firm handshake.

“Meet my daughter, Sophia. Sophia? This is Leighton’s son, Asher. Say hello.” He ordered her firmly, watching as her cheek grew more pink.

“H-hi. I’m Sophia Stone, you must be Asher Heart.” She murmured gently, her voice so soft spoken that it come out merely above a whisper.

It was somewhat loud in the room, the noise fading into the background as their orbs locked. The first thing Sophia was aware of was how her heart fluttered as his hand reached towards hers and his face contorting up with a movie star smile that lit up the sky. Their skin touched, the spark between them ignited into flame as his hand lifted hers up to his lips, bright blue eyes full of youthful glee shining like two studded diamonds that seemed brighter than the whitest clouds in the heavens.

“The pleasure is all mine, my lady.” Asher greeted, his posh Londoner accent coming in a wave that assaulted the neither regions of her loins, dampening them to their core.

Sophia’s father cleared his throat, breaking the trance between her and the beautiful blonde headed boy in front of her.

“Shall we? I bet there is much to talk about. A girl as beautiful as you? I am sure this evening won’t disappoint.” He smiled brightly, catching her father’s underlying message to get lost.

Sophia nodded and allowed herself to be led out to the balcony, a stern look from her father as she left.

“Hello!? Sophia! Earth to Sophia!” Asher yelled, his hand waving in front of her face while she stood frozen in flashback.

Louis was on the ground looking up at her silently, the expression clearly one of concern. After a few moments he relaxed when she blinked and shook away the past memories.

“Asher, listen, we need help. My friend L – “She gulped, catching the warning look Louis shot her. “Leon, he was badly shot. I need to get him back home so our roommate, Lenard, can fix him up. Our r – “She was stuttering and Asher was looking skeptical as he folded his arms across his chest.

Louis palmed his hand into his face and gave a shake of his head.

“Sophia, the only place you’re going I’m afraid is downtown to police headquarters for questioning and I know damn well that bloke on the ground is Louis Tomlinson and you are in cahoots with Harry Styles. I keep up with the news, luv. Now, do you want to give me the truth or would you like to continue making up lies?” He asked, his voice as beautiful as ever. If she wasn’t so worried her ears would bleed pure bliss from hearing the smooth tone of his God-like vocals. She supposed it came with the territory of being a musician.

“A-alight. The truth i-is, I was kidnapped and held for ransom and my father wouldn’t pay, so they were going to murder me, but it’s okay now because my father is dead because I killed him – wait, no, I mean he…uh…this looks bad, doesn’t it?” She scratched the back of her neck awkwardly.

“Lass? You are not very good at explaining things, that’s not going to help you in the future. Here, let me. Look, mate, long story short? Richard Stone is an asshole, he traded Sophia for a debt to Damien Styles he had no intention on paying back and because f it, Sophia was almost killed. Harry took pity on her and so she’s with us from now until she dies. Richard is dead, which settles his debt and her mom I accidently blew up. Sophia and Dylan had nothing to do with her death.” Louis finished in one breath, flinching at the dulled pain.

Sophia gulped and took a step forward.

“Listen, Dylan is dead. My family, including my uncle are dead and if you don’t want to have the same fate, like I don’t want you to have – you need to let me have the car. I need to get Louis back to get patched up before he ends up with an infection.” Sophia explained, stepping forward as the posh musician stepped back.

“Sophia – “Asher warned, making her stop in her tracks.

“Fine, help me get Louis in the car and you can drive us to the police station if you believe that is truly best.” Sophia relented, her blue eyes growing dark in agitation.

She may have like the bloke, hell he made her positively wet between the legs, but she didn’t have time to play around. Louis was losing too much blood.

“I can call the police and they can give you a lift if you like? That Lamborghini Centenaro 750 is worth over five-hundred-thousand. The upholstery alone is over fifty grand. I’m not taking a bloody common criminal and his whore to a police station. The police are good enough to come and take you there themselves.” Asher folded his arms over his chest.

Sophia’s eyes blinked with hurt, he had never spoken that way to her before, even when their father’s deal fell through. He was a perfect gentleman to the very end.

“Oi! Watch who you call common, twig-dick!” Louis glared, slowly making his way to stand.

Asher sighed.

“I don’t have time for this. I need to return home to my wife, she must be getting worried.” Asher responded, pulling out his phone.

Sophia took a step forward and grabbed his hand, panic in her eyes.

“Listen, I don’t know what happened between our fathers those few years ago, but I’m sorry for whatever my father did to upset him. However, I am begging you to help us. I don’t want you to get hurt, truly, I don’t. You jammed with my brother a few times, you were ever so kind. Please, Ash, trust me on this and don’t get involved.” Sophia pleaded, her blue eyes fluttering with worry as Louis moved beside her and stared unblinking.

“I can’t not get involved. I saw you. It is my duty as a British citizen to turn over suspected criminals. Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles – what the hell is wrong with you, Sophia? You could have escaped and gotten help.” Asher glowered, watching her shake her head desperately.

“I couldn’t. I – they were letting me go, but I can’t go and I don’t expect you to understand. I know you won’t. I just need you enough to trust me, that’s it. If I can just borrow the car, I’ll return it.” Sophia begged, Louis still unmoving.

“No. You hang with criminals; you need to own up to the consequences. Put your hands behind you, I’m making a citizen’s arrest.” He told Sophia sternly, going back to the dark glittering green Lamborghini and leaning in to his toolbox, finding what he was looking for when he opened it, pulling out a roll of duct tape.

“Louis, is he serious?” Sophia whispered, watching Asher’s lean, built body hanging in the car, rummaging through the back of it.

“Looks like he is, too bad he doesn’t know the punchline about to hit him.” Louis said, his eyes keeping on the younger bloke.

“I can hear you two, you know? Musician’s ear, comes in handy at times like these. Try anything and you will be sorry.” Asher warned.

Louis glared, eyeing the roll of tape Asher held in his hands. He ignored Louis and headed straight toward Sophia, lifting her wrists together, eyeing the soaked cast.

“What happened to you?” He asked blankly, opening the tape.

“Elliott Dawson kidnapped us.” Sophia replied, watching from the corner of her eye as Louis tensed his hand into a first.

“Elliott Dawson? Why would you be involved with him?” Asher asked, putting her good hand over her soaked cast.

She held them there, making eye contact with the beautiful creature in front of her, even if he was being a grade A dick.

“Because for the past few months, my life has not been my own, Asher. Something I clearly remembering coming up the night we met.” She flinched and he started wrapping the duct tape around them.

“Different place, different time – different person.” He answered.

Louis calculated how hard he had to hit Asher in the temple without killing him, he was stuck on pressure 3 or pressure 4. Four was a little more powerful and would keep him asleep for a few hours more than three would.

“Look at my back, Ash. Maybe you’ll see what happens when I tried to help myself. I didn’t want to stay with Damien Styles. I had no choice. What Louis said was the truth, my father sold me into this life without paying Damien what was owed.” Sophia begged, flinched as his teeth went to the tape, cutting it with ease.

His hand smoothed around her wrists so the tape stuck, turning her around, giving Louis a view of Asher’s side as his fingers lifted up her shirt, his eyes going wide.

“Oh my G –“

That’s all Asher got out as Louis’s knuckles forced their way to the sensitive spot on his temple, knocking him out cold.

“I was wondering what was taking you so long.” Sophia glowered at Louis, who was now glaring down at Asher in a sort of hatred, hands reaching for Sophia’s bound wrist.

“And I was wondering why you were letting him tie you up.” Louis retorted, kicking Asher in the chest and spitting by his feet.

“I knew you were going to Louis-fu him. Decided to let you do your thing since you know how to fight. Besides, not many girls can say they got tied up by Asher heart and it made him feel like he was doing something important, arresting the big bad criminals and all that.” Sophia chuckled, flinching when the tape was ripped off, pulling arm hair with it.

“Lass, we need to go. I’m really dizzy.” Louis moaned, going to the passenger side of the Lamborghini, about to crawl in.

“Wait, you need to change into dry clothes, Louis. It will cut down on getting sick.” Sophia said, bending down next to an unconscious Asher and began removing the clothes from his body, but not before pulling him to the side of the road so he didn’t get run over by accident.

“His clothes won’t fit me, he’s taller!” Louis protested, but that didn’t stop Sophia from taking the leather jacket and white button down shirt from him, leaving his perfectly waxed chest to rise and fall evenly in plain sight.

“Holy – “Sophia ogled.

Sophia, please.” Louis practically pleaded, seeing the girl freeze.

Sophia snapped back with it and reached down to unbutton his pants.

“Do you want his boxers?” She asked, once she had stripped him down to the Southern necessities.

“No! For God – Sophia we have to go! You strip him completely naked and you’ll be standing there drooling over him all night, let’s go!” Louis yelled, his eyes going wide when Sophia gripped his boxers and tore those from his body, running to the edge to the ocean and throwing them in.

“What was the bloody point of that?!” Louis practically yelled, taking the clothes from her.

“He called me a whore. A little public embarrassment will hopefully put some things in perspective for him on not being an ass.” Sophia justified herself.

Lois shook his head, saying nothing.

She helped strip Louis’s shirt and pants with ease and helping him dress in record time, the long coat falling over Louis like a leather blanket.

She discarded Louis’s old clothes in the back and ran back to Asher.

“You done enough to the bloody bloke!” Louis exclaimed, seeing her pick up the roll of duct tape, forcing his hands behind him, rolling the tape over his wrist and repeating the same to his feet and completing it was a long piece for his mouth.

With that done, Louis slammed his car door shut, Sophia going to the left side and hoping in and putting her seatbelt on.

“Okay, seatbelt?” She listed the checkoff, reaching over Louis and buckling his.

“Turn on the lights.” Louis told her, weakly bending over with a groan to turn on the beams.

“Start the engine?” She questioned, her hand going to the key and turning it on.

The car started with a smooth hum.

“Good now –“ He watched her pull down the leaver and slam her foot on the accelerator.

The car started going backwards at a high rate.

“MUMMY! WRONG LEVER POSITION! WE’RE GOING BACKWARDS!” Louis panicked, the car slamming to a stop, making him groan in pain, though the adrenaline was now taking over for dizziness.

“I never drove one of these before, my limo driver drove me everywhere. I certainly never been in a car this expensive!” She panicked back, griping the wheel.

Louis reached over and positioned the stick into drive instead of reverse.

“Now ease your foot on the accelerator, do not slam your foot onto it, it’s not Harry’s dick you’re trying to kick. Go easy, like playing footsies under the table; step very, very gentle on the pedal.” Louis instructed, shaking his head to clear the blackspots from his vision.

“Sophia eased her foot onto the pedal as instructed, the car going forward.

She smiled, her hand going to the wheel to make sure they stayed straight. The only problem was, they were going five KM an hour, which meant they’d get home sometimes between three to five days if she didn’t go the speed limit.

“Look, a pigeon just walked passed us. You need to do the speed limit. I think it’s sixty-five km around here. Ease your foot down.” Louis carefully instructed.

Sophia pressed down, her foot going to the floor, the engine roaring and picking up speed.

“EASE YOUR FOOT! EASE, TAKE YOU FOOT OFF THE FLOOR!” Louis screamed, slamming his own foot on the floor where the brake would be out of habit.

Sophia slammed on the breaks and made both their seatbelts lock to keep them in their chair.

“You said ease my foot down!” Sophia argued.

Louis gritted his teeth.

“Your bloody father better be thankful he’s already dead or I’d murder him!”

Sophia bit her lip.

“I’m trying here, Lou. I told you, I failed my driver’s test.” Sophia murmured, looking over to Louis whose face completely dropped.

“No you didn’t. You told me you hadn’t driven since you were sixteen.” Louis glowered.

“My dad paid off the instructor, I got my driver’s license because dad could buy failure and turn it into success. I just happened to be the failure, so he bought the license to make sure I succeeded.”

Louis sighed, closing his eyes.

“Okay, we can do this. If Harry learned to drive when he was thirteen, you can learn at twenty-two. Okay, flower, angel, sweetheart – I need you to ease your foot about quarter of the way down. I really need you to focus right now.”

Sophia nodded and did what Louis said, smiling.

“This is easy. So I keep the wheel straight?” Louis nodded, his eyes looking around, seeing a stop sign up ahead.

“Okay, now stop at the stoplight.” Louis instructed.

Sophia eased her foot on the brake, stopping at the stop sign.

Louis went silent, both sitting there for a few moments.

“Soph? You can go. No cars coming.” He said, watching the crossroads.

Sophia eased her foot back on the pedal, coming upon another stop sign and stopping again. She looked before pulling forward, seeing a ramp and going forward, picking up speed.

Louis tensed.

“Why are we going up this ramp?” Louis asked calmly.

“Isn’t this the way back?” Sophia questioned.

“No, lass. In fact, this ramp takes us all the way across town the wrong way. Now, I don’t know if you are aware of how they drive in America, but they drive on the wrong side of the road. Currently WE are driving on the wrong side of the road. In other words, TURN THIS DAMN CAR AROUND BEFORE WE GET INTO A HEADON COLLISON!”

Sophia slammed on the brakes, stopping them on the ramp, facing oncoming traffic when there would be some.

“Okay, first lever position.” Sophia guessed, switching the lever to reverse and easing her foot down halfway, looking behind her, her hands not on the wheel.

“SWEET BABY CARROTS! God? If you get me out of this alive, I promise, I will join a ministry –

CRASH

They hit the divider, the sides scraping against the concrete.

“I thought the wheel would remain straight!” Sophia panicked, slamming on the brake again.

“Okay, driving lessons, check. Swimming, check. Anything else I need to know?” Louis asked sarcastically.

“I can’t sing, but the radio helps calm me down; can I turn it on, please?” Sophia begged, Louis giving her an incredulous look.

“No! We need to get out of here before more cars come! Turn around!” Louis exclaimed, flinching when she panicked and slammed her foot on the accelerator, the side scraping even more.

“TURN IT AROUND, TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE FLOOR!”

CRASH

The end bumper hitting a metal railing sticking out from the divider, indicating the start of where they started.

Louis groaned.

Sophia shot her hand forward and threw it in drive, going forward before slamming the brakes on again and reversing.

“NO! We’ll – HOLY SMURF COOKIES!” Louis exclaimed seeing another car coming their way – which happened to be a cop car.

“That’s not good.” Sophia bit her lip, reversing down the ramp as the officer drove closer towards them, getting nearer – actually, Louis ended up awkwardly waving at the stunned face of the police officer as he grabbed his radio and began speaking into it, turning his lights on.

“Lass? You see those really pretty blue lights flashing? It means we need to pull over.” Louis sighed in relief, but noticed Sophia was not pulling over.

“Lass, we call Damien, he comes and gets us. No big deal, we need to – MUMMY!” The car accelerated quickly, Sophia going down the ramp, turning the wheel, the officer not letting up.

“PULL OVER, THIS IS THE POLICE!” The officer in the car yelled through the amplifier in his car.

Louis gulped and shrugged slowly at the officer, pointing to Sophia, putting his finger to the side of his head and moving it around, mouthing ‘help me’

“Not funny, Louis.” Sophia glowered, her casted hand set easily against the wheel, her other one gripping the wheel as hard as she could.

“Sophia, the worst Damien will do is yell. We just have to call him and this all goes away. Mr McMichaelson is head of the police precinct. Damien owns him we could –“ Louis never got to finish his sentence as she suddenly cut the wheel and spun it and threw the car into drive, shooting forward the right way.

“God? You really have a sense of humor; you know that? Oh God, I’m dizzy.” Louis moaned, his heart pumping faster, causing black spots to enter his vision. This time he couldn’t fight it.

“Lass – pull over. P-please.” Louis begged, his head dropping to his chest.

Sophia bit her lip and slammed on the brakes, causing the officer in the back to slam into the back of them at full speed.

Sophia grunted, waiting for the officer to come up to the window, in fact, she simply rolled down the window to make it easier for him when he was done being angry and hitting his steering wheel in anger, by the looks, she could be sitting there awhile.

*

A few hours later at Lucilius’s cabin:

Harry woke with a start of his phone ringing out in the middle of the silent room, making him curse.

He answered it on the third ring.

“Hello?” He asked, half asleep.

It was Damien, he sat up a little straighter, listening to Damien’s low pitched growls as he ranted on the other end.

“Wait, Sophia? What was she doing driving a Lamborghini?” Harry asked, throwing the blankets from his body and standing up, opening the door to see Lucilius rubbing sleep from his eyes by his door, looking at the phone Harry held.

“What does he want this early?” Lucilius practically growled.

“Sophia,” Harry murmured, getting up to get dressed. “Louis? What was he doing in the Lamborghini with her?”

There was yelling, causing Harry to jerk the phone from his ear.

“I haven’t been there; I don’t know what goes on at the cabin when I’m away. Maybe Louis was teaching her how to drive?” Harry suggested, throwing a black button down top on and pausing when it came to his pants, dropping them in shock.

“Three AM? I don’t know either, Damien. I wasn’t there.” Harry was getting annoyed, standing up. “Naked? How do we know Louis and Sophia were even involved?”

He paused to hear Damien’s explanation.

“Louis had the bloke’s clothes on? Maybe there’s an explanation?” Harry reasoned.

“I don’t know why! What do you want me to do, Master? Put Louis on a lead? Christ!” Harry exclaimed, stomping his socked feet on the carpet, closing his eyes to let out a few breaths to calm down.

“Are they still at the police station?” Harry asked calmly.

He paused, Lucilius still eyeing Harry like a hawk.

“Okay, I’ll pick up Sophia at the station and Louis at the hospital and be around the Playhouse with everyone later this morning. See you then.” Harry hung up and groaned, Lucilius’s lips twitching into a smirk.

“Want to explain to me what that was all about?” Lucilius asked, chuckling, voice still thick from sleep.

“Not really. I got to go pick up Sophia from the station, she got arrested for – driving without a license and they found Louis passed out in the driver’s side. McMichaelson is making the problem go away. She should be ready to go when I arrive.” Harry explained, grabbing his keys from the nightstand and heading out the door.

Lucilius just smirked.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” He asked, watching Harry’s boxer shorts moving with the lad’s hips, pants completely forgotten.

“No. I got to go get two idiots out of trouble, goodbye uncle. Finish off Kaiser for me, hm?” He said, reaching over to give his Uncle a hug, which he returned with a chuckle.

“Goodbye, lad. It’s always a pleasure to see you.” He said, watching Harry jog down the hall, to the door, shutting it with a slam.

“Let’s see how long it takes him to notice.” Lucilius smirked, hearing Harry start his car and speed off.

Notes