Chapter Text
The city of Mount Hope harbored the last living people on this earth. The population was nearly creeping up to four thousand, and the goal was to keep it growing. Elder Lance has long since set rules to keep their city running, to keep them from failing yet again and actually succeeding this time in killing off the human race.
He set rules that all must abide by: Homosexuality is against the rules. Sexual intercourse out side of marriage is against the rules. Staying out past sundown is against the rules. Speaking to your elders without being spoken to first is against the rules. A partner will be assigned to you the day you turn eighteen, and you are to be expected to marry. If you choose not to, and choose to fight against the ones who are above you, you will be breaking a rule. Keeping secrets is against the rules, and most importantly, the rule everyone must abide by to survive; nobody is to go past the barrier of their city.
If one breaks a rule, no matter how simple it may seem, they will be taken to the castle upon the hill where Elder Lance lives. There, their memory will be wiped clean. They will not remember who they are, where they are, or what they wanted them to forget. Simple things such as walking and talking is to be taught again, and after twenty four hours of staying locked within the castle, you are set free, expected to survive and find your way through the failing world once again.
Nobody knows what happens to them, or why their memory must be erased, but what a snoopy teenager does know after listening in on one of his father's conversations, is that after twenty four hours, the chip that holds all memories will be erased. Who that person was, will be forgotten. So it is left to him to get that chip back before the twenty four hours pass, and restore the memory of the one he loves.
He has already broken all the rules, so why not add another one to it? Even if he is not only risking the memories only he has of the time the two had together, but also his life.
Harry Styles is willing to risk it all if it means he can finally get the one he loves, back.
Or
Louis Tomlinson is caught outside long after the sun has set. Already having a strike against him, Louis Tomlinson is escorted to the Castle where Elder Lance resides. There, his memory will be wiped clean. It is up to Harry Styles to save Louis, to help him get back his memories before they disappear forever. But what happens when in doing so, he will uncover secrets that were never meant to be uncovered? What happens when the happy City everyone thought was perfect, turns out to be based on lies?
The forbidden love Harry Styles holds may be the only thing that can save their City from crumbling to the ground.
Lies will be uncovered,
People will die,
And only then will the dark truth be revealed.
~~~~~~~~
Harry hid within the shadows, his steps quiet and his breathing even. He crept along the grassy path, fingers gliding along the wall until he came to the end of the bricks. Peeking his head out far enough to see the busy street, he held his breath as he watched the sun slowly setting, casting golden waves along the bottom of the clouds that had pink and purple shooting throughout them like lightning.
He had less than five minutes before everyone disappeared inside, before the sidewalks became empty and the lights within the city dimmed. Ten minutes before the guards came out to patrol the streets, and fifteen before they brought out the dogs.
The city that is beloved by many; is also hated by many. While the elders are more than willing to follow the rules, and expect the same from their children, they are blind to the fact that their kids risk the chance of losing their memories for simply getting caught up in a social activity that causes them to be a few minutes late. No longer will they remember their parents, their friends, their siblings, or even the most cherished first memories.
That is, if they get caught. Harry Styles has learned how to blend in within the city, to hide in its shadows and walk along the paths with no rocks or twigs. He has learned how to hide his scent from the dogs, and when not to walk on a path because he memorized the guards schedules.
He isn't the normal teen people think him to be. While in the daylight, people view him as simply being the supreme counsels son. They have watched him grow and turn into the young man he is today. Everyone knows who he is, knows the habits he wants them to see and he makes them think that he is the most respectful boy that this city has ever seen since that dreaded day three hundred years ago.
Parents want their kids to be more like him. They want their kids to follow after him, to learn from him in hopes that one day they too will be proper, noble, and respectful.
But in the night, he is none of those things. As the sun slips behind the walls and the city is blanketed by darkness, Harry's mask falls and he is left to be no one else but himself. Out here, in the darkness, he doesn't have to pretend. He doesn't have to be all they think he is. He can run wild. He can get dirty. He can scream at the top of his lungs, well, if he wants to get caught, but most importantly, he doesn't have to wear the itchy suits his father insists he wears day in and day out.
Loosening the green tie from around his neck, Harry crouches and places his hand on the ground to support his weight as he leans forward. Life out on the street is scarce, and Harry takes that as his chance to quickly crawl to the other wall across from him. His shoes make barely any noise as they shuffle across the grass, and he is proud of himself when the grass disappears and is replaced with a thin path of dirt and rocks and his shoes still make no noise at all.
Grinning, he flattens himself against the wall, now hidden behind a bush. The cool cement wall of one of the few grocery stores they have in their city, seeps through his suit jacket, past his buttoned up silk shirt and underneath his skin. Repressing a shiver, Harry eyes the sky. Less than two minutes to go before the sun sets.
Once again hiding in the shadows that the buildings and trees provide, Harry follows the path he has taken one too many times.
You should know he hasn't always been this way. When he was a young boy he respected the rules, respected his parents, and never would have thought to go against the word of Elder Lance. But then he reached the prime age of twelve and met someone who changed his mind. He began questioning everything then.
Who were they to say when he had to be home, and what he could do? Why did they get to choose when he did and did not speak, and why were they in charge of who he spent the rest of his life with, in who he loved?
It was nearly a year after he had met that special someone that everything began changing and he began to take risks. Sneaking out at night became a habit, loving someone he wasn't supposed to became an exhilarating rush, having sex with that someone quickly became necessary because he simply couldn't keep his hands off of them, secrets came with the forbidden relationship, and sneaking past the barrier of the city was simply for the thrill of it.
It wasn't until then that he learned that everything they knew, was wrong. Elder Lance was simply high with power. He craved having everyone squashed beneath his thumb, and when someone wiggled from beneath it, he erased their memories. He had to have utter control, and he made sure everyone knew what he was capable of.
Many people wonder who had put him in charge in the first place, or how old he even is considering he knows more about the falling of the world than anyone else does, but nobody dares ask him. Too many people fear him, but fear is often misinterpreted with respect by the old man.
Harry had learned as a child the true reason behind the rapid decrease within the human race, but he promised not to speak of it again, not to tell anyone. He had vowed not to, but even a vow can be broken when the right person asks. Going against everything he grew up believing, against what had been pounded into his head, he told the person he loved, the person everyone would say was wrong.
Three hundred years ago humans became entrapped by the devices. Not in the way that the devices lead to their death, and the devices alone. Cell Phones, laptops, ipads, they all became popular fairly quickly. Everyone wanted one, and that is what their government had wanted. This way, they could spy on the people without putting ridiculously large amounts of money towards it.
Then the fateful day came when people began to rebel because they realized, a little too late, what was going on. A war started. Blood was shed, people were killed, and numbers dropped. The few thousand that did survive the war that, as you all will know, nearly ended civilization, all vowed that it would never happen again.
Technology now is rare. Only the elders have it. Less than a hundred computers remain on earth, cell phones are even rarer than that, and tablets are the most common thing used. Children are not to use the devices, and if an elder finds out they did, severe consequences will be chosen by the parents the first time, and the second time there will be a nice white van outside their house with bulky men waiting to take you on a trip up the hill. It is feared here, within the walls of Mount Hope, because they believe it to be the root of all evil. They believe that it will corrupt their children and eventually lead to their death.
It's all a bunch of bullshit, though. Four years after learning this and Harry still believes that what actually happened is being covered up. He hasn't trusted Elder Lance for years, and still to this day, he doesn't.
A flash light flicking in his direction has Harry shaking off his thoughts and crouching down further into the bush. He holds his breath and waits several seconds before the stream of light disappears and he is once again left in complete darkness.
Exhaling quietly, he moves along the wall and ducks behind a bush on the side of the building, then falls down onto his knees on the soft, fake, grass. It takes him a second of searching to find the tiny lever nobody would ever be able to find unless they were looking for the specific thing. Looking left, right, up, down, behind him and in front of him to make sure he was alone, Harry pulls it open and drops down into the hole just as he hears the howl of a dog.
He lands with a quiet thud, his knees cracking in protest to the sudden drop, and closes the hatch quietly. With only enough room in this tiny space to turn around and bend down, Harry does so and with his arms and head first, he slides into the tiny metal passageway that was nearly too small for him.
His lungs become crushed and he is forced to breath scarcely as he wiggles his way down the tube. The faint yellow glow at the end of the tunnel lets him know that he isn't alone, that someone else was down here, in his hiding place. It doesn't take him long to figure out who. He has only told one person about this place, and even if someone did find it, how the hell would they know where to go after the first drop?
Below the grocery store, buried years ago and now long forgotten, was a bunker type thing. When you first enter, their is a tiny room with enough space for one person. Then, there is a tunnel that leads from there to another room much larger and more spacious with old furniture, food that has long since expired, and other things such as raggedy old blankets, a worn out bed, electricity from the store, and plenty of water. The only downside was the air was stale and the room smelled like... He didn't actually know the scent.
With a deep inhale, Harry falls out of the pipe and rolls onto his back in the dirt, his light grey suit turning a dark brown color. From the sudden, and not so graceful, drop, the dust comes to life and a cloud of it stirs around the room.
Coughing, Harry sits up and dusts off his legs. He doesn't even have to squint his eyes and strain them to see past the cloud of dust to know who the other person coughing is. "Jesus, H, you could warn someone," the usually soft voice says, though it's now rugged as they continue to cough.
Grinning, Harry stands up. "I'm coming in," he says, laughing when he seen the adorable scowl just visible through the now settling dust. "I would have, but I didn't expect you to be here so early. Your pansy ass usually waits until the dogs are gone before you sneak out," Harry walks further into the room and without needing his eyes to see, he plops down on the couch that he knows is there and relaxes back into it.
His parents really needed new furniture, ones that were as comfortable as this one. It was all fluffy and formed to your aching spin, unlike their couches that had thin cushions for the butt and that was it. His back hated him for days after he dared sit on one of those god awful things.
"I was out in the neighborhood," the other person says, shrugging. "Figured i'd beat you here for once,"
Harry grins as he watches his love sit down on the same couch as him, their feet instantly plopping in his lap. He laughs and pulls on the bunnies pink ear. "Nice," he said, "you look good enough to be in the presence of my father,"
Harry's father, Desmond Styles, is a man well respected in Mount Hope. He helped build this city into the place it is today, and everyone worships the ground he walks on. He is also quite powerful, which would be the why the person across from Harry froze and retracted their feet. "That's not funny," they said, eyes widening with genuine fear. "Your dad.. He would eat me alive, Harry. Tell him I won't be very good though. I'm all bones, see! Well, my butt is big and he can have that but the rest of me won't be very good because I just, I don't have a lot of meat on me," they rambled, which is what they always do when they get nervous.
Harry chuckled and leaned forward, quickly, but gently, placing a kiss on their lips to silence them. "I'm only kidding," he whispered, pecking their lips once again before he sat back.
His companion sighed and nodded, relief flooding their features. "I would tell you dad about your fantasies if you ever make me meet him,"
Rolling his eyes, and not at all amused nor threatened by the threat, Harry scoffed. "As if that's anything compared to the fact that you used to have a crush on him when you were a youngster. I would be more than happy to tell Desmond about the field of daisies you two..." A hand was placed over his mouth and Harry laughed, the sound muffled.
"God damnit, Harold, stop licking me!" the small person shrieked before quickly retracting their hand. They wiped the saliva across Harry's face, then settled back against the couch with a few unintelligible grumbles
Sighing, Harry's eyes moved over the other person's body and for the first time tonight, he actually paid attention to what he was seeing. Pink, fuzzy bunny slippers were paired with fuzzy white pajama bottoms that had red hearts littering them, and a red, long sleeved shirt that drowned them and Harry was pretty certain it was his shirt, though he would never let on that he knew.
Their hair that was usually styled in a high quiff, making their face look more mature than it actually was, was now brushed off to the side of their face, hiding their right eye and making them look younger, more innocent than they were.Smiling softly, Harry brushed the hair away and caught their blue eyes with his own. "I love you, Louis," he whispered, the words still sending an electric jolt down his spine even though he has been saying it for three years now.
Smiling lopsidedly, the boy cupped Harry's cheek. "And I love you," Neither of them paying attention to the fact that this, what they were doing, would end horribly wrong if they were ever caught, they leaned forward and pressed their lips together.
It was gentle and each poured all their love into it, leaving them breathless when they pulled back, both looking dazed as they stared into the others eyes. The fear of what could happen always hovered over them, and it put an obvious strain on their relationship, but they ignored it as best as they could.
Out in public, they were strangers to each other. They would only talk to each other if someone else in their group forced them, or if they simply bumped into each other at a formal ball that was thrown every third month. Other than that, no eye contact was made, no acknowledgement that they knew each other, but neither of them could promise not to stare at the other longer than a few seconds when they knew nobody was looking.
It was always a risk when they did so, but it was worth it.
"Did you hear about Rose?" Louis suddenly asked, his face flickering from relaxed to horrified. At the shake of Harry's head, Louis dropped his hand and scooted to the other side of the couch. "Her and David were caught behind the school. David, since this is his first warning, was let off but Rose stayed out late that one night so she got sent to Elder Lance immediately. She isn't expected to return back to school for at least another three months."
Harry now understood why Louis was so terrified. Rose's fate, was their fate too if they were caught. It didn't matter if Harry was Desmond's son, or Louis was son of Dr. Johannah Deakin. Everybody is to follow the rules, and everyone must face the consequences of said rules if they are broken.
Harry broke his first rule when he was twelve and was still new to the whole sneaking around thing. He had been caught the second his foot hit the ground outside his bedroom window, but since then he has been careful. Louis broke the rule of not speaking to your elders unless spoken to, and it didn't help that he only spoke to her with curse words. He was known as the city's nuisance. He doesn't respect as many people as he should, and he definitely doesn't keep anything to himself, so people look down on him for it.
Harry, on the other hand, loves him even more for it.
"I figured they'd get caught sooner or later," Harry sighed, eyes closing as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Less than a month ago he had walked in on her and him having sex in the men's bathroom at the school. Neither of them had seen him, or even knew that he knew about them, thank god, so Harry never brought it up.
He knew in that moment that they had been careless idiots and that he wasn't going to risk his relationship for them. He snuck out as quietly as he could through the way he entered, knowing that if they had seen him and got caught, his ass would be grass.
Once their memories were extracted, and later erased, one of the people inside Elder Lances estate go over the memories for solid proof, or possible proof of other rules being broken by other people. If Rose had seen him that day, and made him promise not to tell, then he would be found guilty by Elder Lance and his memories would too be riffled through before erased.
And call him selfish, but he didn't want to lose any of his memories he had with Louis, or risk having the other boy drug into it and have him forget who he was, who Harry was, and what they have shared together.
Head tilting to the side, Louis' lip twitched slightly, eyes bright with curiousness. "You knew about them?" he asked, eyes studying Harry's face. He was still in his seat, spine straight, shoulders squared and jaw locked. Determination flashed brightly in his eyes when they popped open and Louis knew then, no matter how much Harry trusted him, he wasn't going to say anything.
"It's best if you know nothing about it," Harry quickly said. Louis looked hurt, but he nodded and forced a smile. "Lou, you know I'm not doing this because I don't trust you. What happens if they find something in her memories and it points back to you? The less you know, and the more they believe that, the less likely chance you have of ending up like Rose."
Harry grew up surrounded by people on the council. He has snuck in on interrogations and witnessed first hand what happened to the people who so much as flinched when asked a question. Even if they weren't guilty, they were. He didn't want to risk telling Louis when, even if it wasn't likely, there was a chance he too would be questioned.
He wasn't worried about himself. Growing up in a place like that, with people always watching you and trying to tell what you're thinking, has taught him how to hide his emotions, how to keep emotionless and not give anything away. He's gotten quite well at it too, and it only ever fails when he is in Louis' presence.
"I know, Hazza," Louis said in a breath. "Trust me, I know," and he did. Harry's told him horrible stories, stories that still haunt him and he knows that if Harry is worried about something, he should be too. Harry was smart, possibly smarter than any elder Louis knew, and he sees things-- connections nobody else did.
Smiling sadly, Harry opened his arms and gestured for Louis to come forward. "Come here," he whispered, eyes closing when Louis laid on him and wrapped his arms around his torso while Harry locked his arms around Louis' back. He always craved Louis' touches, and always wanted more and more when he knew he shouldn't even think of such things.
Homosexuality was frowned upon. Stories have been told that it was the gays who led the people into war, who started the bloodbath that had millions slaughtered. So now, much like technology, gay people were feared. If erasing their memories didn't get rid of the attraction they had for the same sex, death was the only other option.
In Harry's sixteen years of life, there has only been two people accused of committing these "horrendous" acts. One of those two were publicly killed by euthanization, while the other one, a man named Robert, just disappeared. Nobody has heard from him since, not even Anne Styles, Harry's mother and Robert's sister.
There had been rumors--speculations-- the following year after his disappearance that Anne had helped him escape their beloved city, and that he is now the thing they see stalking the fence at night. Harry went along with it and let people think what they want. He didn't deny that his uncle was the man they see out there, because the focus wouldn't be on him. Only Louis knew that he was the "monster", and only Louis knew Harry snuck out there regularly in hopes to find his uncle.
Harry needed answers. He wanted to hear what his uncle knew, to ask him why they both had feelings for the same sex. He wanted to know if there really was something wrong with him, if all things people say about him was true. And the only person who would answer that truthfully, was the man who has been gone in the wind for the past six years.
The only man known to keep his memories, even after having them erased.
Focusing on the presence, Harry rested his cheek on top of Louis' head and let the feather soft hair tickle the tip of his nose. When they were together, he didn't care if it was wrong, because it felt so right.
"How late are we staying tonight?" Louis mumbled, his voice already becoming heavy with sleep.
Harry breathed in deeply, holding the faint strawberry scent in his lungs for as long as he could before he slowly exhaled it. "My father says they will be increasing security around 11 tonight,just so the guards can get a good lay of the land before morning. I didn't know what for until you told me about Rose, so I'm betting it's to keep the people under control while they transport her from the castle to her home," Harry explained, displeased with the entire ordeal. "So we should be leaving soon. I don't want to get caught in the middle of their security increase,"
Harry was tired of sticking his neck out on the line to be with Louis, only to get to see him for half an hour tops. "Will you be here tomorrow?" Louis asked hopefully. He pulled back at stared up at Harry, blue orbs going wide and pleading.
"Of course," Harry mumbled, placing a soft kiss on Louis' forehead before he jumped into the plan, proving to be the Supreme Council leaders son. "You should leave first. I think it's around ten, ten thirty now, so you should have at least half an hour to make it home before they show up,"
Louis nodded along, agreeing to what Harry said, even if his stomach did flip. He wasn't sure why he was so jumpy tonight, but he was. Swallowing thickly, Louis stood up from the couch and pecked Harry's lips before walking over to the metal tunnel. "Always watching my arse, Styles," Louis sighed, shaking his head with a fond smile. "Good that I have a man like you on my team, yeah?"
"It's about time your shitty team won," Harry said, winking at him. Louis smiled at him one last time before he hefted himself up into the tunnel, leaving Harry with one last eyeful of his ass.
This part, was always the hardest on Harry. He hated watching Louis go, knowing nothing he said or did could stop him. He'll be leaving for good in a year, Harry subconscious reminded him. Eleanor has already claimed him, remember?
Shaking out the annoying voice, Harry brushed off his suit once he stood, fixing the creases and getting rid of the remaining dust, then he followed after Louis. The tunnel was much easier to climb up then it was to go down, and for that, Harry was thankful.
"I love you," was the last thing Harry heard Louis say, followed by the click of the door closing.
He waited only a few seconds before he finished climbing up, elbows and knees screaming in protest when he fell into the dark, tiny room.
Straining his ears to hear past the continuous thump of his heart, he heard nothing but the faint sound of someone's voice.
It was too far off in the distance to be worried about it, but Harry still held that knowledge closely to his chest as he climbed out of the tiny room and out into the world. His lungs were filled with fresh, clean air and his head instantly became clear.
His eyes quickly adjusted to the dark and he searched for anything out of the ordinary. When nothing caught his attention, he moved to crouch behind the bush, back pressed flat against the wall and hand braced on the ground. He leaned forward, looking left, right, behind him, in front of him, up, down, then repeated, his heart slamming hard against his chest when a familiar stiletto came into view, with two people on either side of him.
"We have a seventeen year old boy here. He has brown hair, blue eyes and an attitude that would shock Elder Francisca -an old friend of Elder Lance's- back to life," one of the men said, voice deep and words hard.
Harry's hand curled into the dirt, fingernails throbbing when tiny rocks lodged beneath them and sliced through the sensitive skin. He shouldn't have let Louis go first. Harry should have been out here, should have scooped out the area before letting Louis leave his sight.
"Says his name is Louis Tomlinson, Johannah Deakins son," the same guard said, only he was speaking to the man next to him this time.
"Oi, no wonda the lad has as much sass as he does. A motha like that will do sometin' to ya," the other guard answered in a heavy Irish accent.
Harry went to move out of the shadows when a white van appeared and the two men grabbed Louis' arms, but then, even in the dark, electric blue eyes met his and the words were silently spoken between them. "Don't, I'll be okay. I love you," he stopped, froze with his body hunched forward and clamped a hand over his mouth to hide the sob that was building up his throat.
With one last tiny, forced smile, Louis was thrown into the van and Harry had to watch helplessly as it sped off. Tears clouded his vision and he wanted to run after them, to save Louis and his memories, but then his rational side kicked in. What good would it do them to have Harry locked up too? What chance did they have then at keeping their memories and staying alive? Running after them was only a suicide mission.
Heart now made of stone, Harry stood up from the shadows and watched the van disappear around the bend. A flash of lightning shot across the sky, matching his darkening mood.
As he stood outside in the first thunderstorm in years, eyes still focused on the bend the van had disappeared around, his entire world shifted.
Twenty four hours.
He had twenty four hours to save Louis and his memories before all Louis was, was wiped clean and forever lost.
The threat of their love being exposed seemed so little compared to the threat of forever losing Louis. He now understood what his mom had said all those years ago when he asked her why Robert had ran away.
"Love makes you do crazy things. One day, you will understand this, my sweet boy."