Page 24 of Shatter

I pull the necklace out of its box and secure the clasp onto the back of my neck, loving the feeling of having him around my neck and shoulders. It'll be a constant reminder of him. And a part of me hopes he knows that and did it on purpose.

There's a note next to the box, so I pick that up next.

"Snow family - Thank you for the invite and night, but I had to fly back to the city for a work emergency. Happy Holidays - Harry."

My smile widens at the use of my nickname for him. I'm the only person who calls him Harry.

Smug pride and excitement burrow into my chest.

That, and my new necklace, make me think that he's not done with me, either.

Chapter thirteen

Harrison

There's a frantic pounding at my door.

Usually, in my nightmares, it's followed by the faraway voices of the firefighters who saved me that night. But the voices don't come. Just the pounding.

I lurch awake, heart pounding painfully against my ribs. The pounding isn't coming from my nightmare; it's coming from my front door. In a blind panic, I shoot out of bed and run to the door.

I fling it open without looking, and my heart sinks at the image before me.

Melody, barefoot, in a torn black dress. Her hair is wet, plastered to her head, and mascara streams down her cheeks. But the most chilling part? She's not crying. She obviously had been at some point, but she's not right now. She's deathly still. She's not even looking at me; her eyes are unfocused and staring through my chest.

"What's happened?"

Her blue eyes slowly rise to mine.

"I..." she starts before furrowing her brow and dropping her eyes back to my chest. A sickly chuckle falls from her lips, before more, before she starts to laugh manically. It's an unhinged, terrifying laughter that makes my skin crawl.

I grab her by the shoulders and drag her inside my apartment, shutting and locking the door behind us.

Something's happened, and she's losing it.

"Mel!" I shout at her, shaking her to bring her back to me. "Melody! What happened?"

Her laughter stops, and she looks up at me again. She raises her hand, closes it into a fist but leaves her forefinger and thumb an inch apart. "I'm this close to ending it, Harry. This fucking close."

I shake my head. Ending what? Us? Her? The thought of losing her is impossible. It can't happen. It can't ever happen. She might not be with me, but living in a world that's so cruel it made its sweetheart kill herself? I can't do it.

I pull her to me, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tight. I'll fix whatever this is. I'll keep her here, with me, forever if I have to.

When she finally melts against me and brings her hands to my sides, I release the death grip I have on her.

I dip a little to look her in the eyes. "Here's what's going to happen. You're going to go shower. I'm going to make you something to eat, and then you're going to tell me what happened. Okay?"

She nods slowly, but then her eyes drop to the hand holding her phone, the one that hasn't stopped vibrating since she got here.

She gasps, her eyes widening before she answers it.

"Parker?! Parker, oh my God, are you okay?"

I can hear his voice on the other line, but it's high and tight with panic. I motion for her to put it on speaker, and when she does, I catch the tail end of. "... I can't shake them! Oh my God, they almost ran me off the road, Mel!"

"Parker. Where are you?"

"Harrison?"