_________________________________

T h e   H o l l o w s   I n
O U R  F R E E D O M
_________________________________

S K Y

"Noah."

I pulled a face.

Jameson was currently holding me, tracing circles into my shoulders and kissing my head every now and then, whispering things to me.

"What?" I asked, lifting my head to frown at him.

"His name is Noah." He told me.

I scrunched up my face, "He is not a he."

Jameson raised his eyebrows at me.

"Not that I know for certain," I added, watching Jameson roll his eyebrows at me. "And even if it was a boy, we definitely wouldn't be naming him Noah," I told him, pulling away from him completely so that I sat next to him.

He turned to face me, "What else would we call him?" He asked.

I sighed, "It's most likely not a boy." I told him.

Unconvinced, he crossed his arms over his chest, saying, "I don't believe you; we should get a scan."

I laughed, "It doesn't work like that, Gorgeous, we need to wait a little longer to find out the gender." I said, running my thumb over his knuckles.

Jameson laughed, "We should book the first scan." I nodded absentmindedly, still nervous about the whole concept. My mum is going to kill me. And even though Lexi said she wanted to see our model babies at the Academy, I can't imagine her not being disappointed in me, in us.

"Hey," Jameson said suddenly, bringing me back by lightly touching the side of my face, "remember what I said earlier? This is our baby; I'm going to do everything I can to help you. I love you."

I smiled, "You've told me before," Jameson shook his head at that, smiling too, "I love you too, though."

Jameson stood up suddenly, holding his hand out towards me, "Let's go." He said.

I looked up at him, petrified.

"We don't have to tell anyone yet," he said, trying to comfort me, "but they're going to find out eventually." I nodded, gulping.

With one last inhale and exhale, I grabbed ahold of Jameson's hand, stood up and left the room with my hand in his.

We bumped into someone immediately, though. Bria.

I frowned at her as she appeared frazzled, prompting her to begin talking.

"There's someone here." She said, catching her breath. Jameson and I exchanged glances but soon had to rush after Bria as she disappeared around the corner.

I walked in behind Jameson, seeing him go rigid before I could even see anything. I peaked around Jameson's shoulder as I walked in, a deep frown appearing between my brows.

When I saw who it was, I too went rigid.

Harrison Wilscombe.
Harry.

Harry was an accomplice of ours back when we were planning to leave the Academy last year. Now, almost April, that felt like years ago.

Harry was also a close friend of Jameson's in the Academy, who kept in touch with the boy, though never forgave him after he became Cassie's rapist. Harry was the father of Cassie's baby—Colton.

Looking at him now, I couldn't bear to meet his eyes. I felt as though I had inherited some of Alexi's views, who was one of the only people who voiced their concerns about letting him join the mission back in January.

She now stood half a metre away from him, eyes crossed and eyes narrowed. Jace stood behind her, eyes flickering between Lexi and Harry, and my mum stood opposite, mirroring Lexi's stance though with a lot more frost.

I walked through the kitchen slowly, eyes on Harry as I moved. His eyes caught mine eventually, and they seemed to cry for help.

I frowned, "Harry, what are you doing here?" I asked him, watching his eyes avert mine and instead travel all over the room.

"Your team is looking good." He said. I stared at him. Alexi huffed, stomping her foot against the ground, turning to Jace.

"Could you please take everyone out?" She asked him. I watched as his eyes flickered between her and Harry. "Please?" She added once more, and his eyes remained on her a few moments longer before he sighed.

Jace took mostly everyone out, leaving the original teams behind him. I watched as he left the room, looking dejected.

"Talk," Alexi demanded, and I watched as Harry's eyes glanced between her—always on the defence—and my mum—always frosty and a pain to annoy. Which made me dread telling her the news.

Harry looked down, "I heard that there was an explosion."

Lexi rolled her eyes, "There's been a few, your point?"

Harry swallowed. "I also heard that Cassie has a child...and that it's possibly mine."

We froze.

Kim stepped forward, her stance threatening, "Who told you that?"

Harry looked away once more.

"Harry." Kim spat.

"I don't know," Harry said.

"Bullshit." Lexi hissed, stamping her foot once more. I don't think she knew she did that; it only happened when she was annoyed, not angry, annoyed.

"I'm being serious!" Harry exclaimed, "I've been getting these weird cryptic messages for weeks now, and that's what one of them said. So I came here."

"Cryptic messages?" My mum asked, raising her eyebrow. But her eyes were not on Harry, they were on Lexi.

Harry nodded, "Yeah, I don't know, just weird things with no sender,"

"No sender?" Jameson asked, "Like letters?"

Harry nodded.

My mum pursed her lips, "Like the ones we've been receiving." She said, though to Lexi, who nodded in response.

"You've been getting them too?" Harry asked, exchanging glances with Lexi and my mum.

"Did they tell you where to find us?" Lexi asked, ignoring the question.

Harry nodded. Lexi hummed in response.

"So who did they sign off as?" Elle asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Harry shrugged, "Just random letters," he told her, "like Y.B.F."

"Y.B.F?" Lexi asked, turning around and throwing herself at the drawers before she began to rifle through them.

"Was it always Y.B.F?" Elle asked.

Harry shook his head, watching Lexi scribble something down on a loose sheet of paper. "There were a few other combinations—I.W.U and M.YM."

"Anymore?" Lexi asked, lifting her pen off the page.

Harry shook his head, "I can't remember anymore, sorry."

Lexi nodded, pulling her lip between her teeth—an expression that she often displayed when she was thinking.

"So," Harry said, after a few moments of silence, "are Cassie and the baby okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," Kim said, stepping forward once more, probably intending to intimidate him, "no thanks to you, though."

Harry looked away, uncomfortable. He swallowed, "Is it a boy or a girl? What did she name it?" He asked.

There was a moment of silence where we all just exchanged looks, not knowing whether or not this was information that Cassie would want us to share.

I sighed, "He is a boy, and his name is Colton—Colton Wilson."

It must've hurt to know that your child didn't possess your surname, but then Cole was not his child—he did not deserve such joy.

Harry cleared his throat. "Did you want me to leave."

"Preferably," Lexi responded, the reply slipping out of her mouth before she even took time to think. My mum rolled her eyes at Lexi, who shrugged in response.

My mum turned to me, her eyebrow raised. I then realised that she was asking me for my opinion. Me? I looked over at Jameson, who was also looking down at me.

I turned away and considered the implications of inviting Harry to live with us. To join our team.

I cleared my throat, "As you proved your trust by helping us to escape the Academy, I would allow you to stay—unless there are any objections?" I could tell that it was bittersweet for most. Harry was not intrinsically evil, he just committed an evil act. Nothing can excuse that—but we were not living in the past. The whole point of escaping the Academy was to also escape the past, and instead find freedom in the future.

I could see that Lexi perhaps would've objected but my mum's sharp stare silenced her.

I nodded. "Okay, Harry, welcome to our house, and welcome to our mission."

_________________________________

hi all it's 37° degrees Celsius in the U.K. and try to remember that this is the place that is usually 20° in the summer so we're all dead xx

hope you didn't want to meet any British persons ??

-evaporated

FABULOUS SONGS

Songs that played when I was writing this chapter (in order):
Half Light - BANNERS
Only You - Selena Gomez
Oh My My - Ruelle
Kiss Me a Thousand Times - RAIGN
Sirens - Fleurie
Once Upon a Dream - Lana Del Rey
sHe - Zayn
like that - Bea Miller
Ash Tree Lane - MS MR
Animal - Ellie Goulding
Everything We Touch - Say Lou Lou
Turns You into Stone - Fleurie
Walk on Fire - RAIGN
Devil Side - Foxes

END OF FABULOUS SONGS

Date written:
25/06/18
29/06/18 (I HAVE HAD SO MUCH HOMEWORK ITS UNREAL – 29/06/18)
03/07/18 (honestly what am I even writing anymore I can't remember – 03/07/18)

___________
Next update: Tomorrow hopefully
___________

CHAPTER EIGHTY SPOILER:
(new era!!)

As Lexi begins to lose hope, more clues are unearthed.

Who is writing the death lists?