January 21st 2005…
Harper unlocked her locker and saw 'Lying Slut!' spray painted on the inside of the door after opening it… and grabbed her books, putting them in her new black, white and red backpack as her blue one had been stolen.
She heard snickering and saw Juliette… but it wasn't just her now former friend.
Stood near Juliette were the blonde's snobbish friends, Eloise and Vivienne… and having had enough, Harper took Sly's old baseball and threw it.
Eloise yelled in pain, the raven haired girl putting her hands to her now bleeding nose as Harper picked up the baseball and put it in her own backpack after wiping the blood off.
"Tu peux enfin avoir le travail de nez que tu voulais, salope coincée!" Harper shouted furiously.
"Harper, c'est quoi ce bordel?!" Juliette yelled.
"C'est toi qui écarte les jambes pour l'un des professeurs, Juliette! Comment est-il juste que je sois victime d'intimidation pour ta stupidité?!" Harper retorted.
Vivienne guided Eloise away to the nurses office, the brunette and raven haired girls plotting revenge… and Harper and Juliette's confrontation escalated to a physical one that spilled outside of the school.
A familiar silver Corvette screeched to a stop and Harper and Juliette were pulled apart, Brayden helping Harper to the car before they got into the car and left.
"I don't ever want to go back there." Harper responded.
"I don't blame ya one bit. The bullying is getting worse and you shouldn't have to go through that, no one should." Brayden replied, handing a tissue to Harper and her brushing her tears away.
"I was just trying to protect her by reporting him… she doesn't realise that it's gonna screw her up for the rest of her life, he took advantage of her and who knows how many other female students." Harper responded, Brayden lightly rubbing her left shoulder.
They found themselves at his apartment as she was not ready to face her family, Paul having yelled at her after the last fight she got into at school despite her explaining the truth that she was defending herself from a boy who had pulled her blouse up.
'He's not himself anymore after what happened to Susan.' Harper thought as Brayden grabbed some peroxide and cotton, cleaning Harper's scraped up right hand and bandaging it after closing the peroxide and throwing away the used cotton.
He called Jenny and explained what had happened and then handed the phone to Harper.
"I'll be over there in a bit with some things. With the angry mood Paul's in, you don't need more stress." Jenny explained.
"I take it Susan's not doing any better…" Harper responded.
"I'm sorry, kiddo, I wish the news was better." Jenny replied.
Harper had a feeling that the damage done to Susan was irreversible.
But as she saw the snow starting again, she also had a feeling someone else was following her.
Outside, AJ walked into the nearby phone booth and put 75 cents in it before picking up the phone and dialing a number.
"Hello?"
"Remember that job I asked for you to do? There's another $3000 in it for you to grab someone else." AJ explained.
"I'm already leaving the airport to meet up with you after you called yesterday, flight just got in. Describe the person to me."
"Sixteen years old, short honey brown hair, hazel eyes… not exactly sure how she got to Paris from Port Charles but she'll be of use to us. Do not harm her at all or I will find you and kill you." AJ responded before giving the address and the call ending, AJ hanging up and looking up at the building across the street. "Maybe everyone finally drove you crazy enough to where you fled America entirely… can't say I blame ya, Lily. I also can't believe I'm resorting to this but I have to get Michael back." He replied quietly.
But he had no idea what he was about to find out…
Present time…
Drying off after her shower, Harper put the towels up and applied antiperspirant to her underarms before she pulled on a pair of boyshort panties and then got into her warm pajamas before blow drying her hair.
She shut her hair dryer off, unplugging it and letting it cool before walking into the living room… and her and Brayden hugging for a few seconds.
He noticed her glancing outside and lightly rubbed her left shoulder.
"Hey, no one's gonna hurt you anymore. You're safe here. If that person that was watching you from a distance earlier today has any sense, he's hightailed it now." Brayden responded as they sat down on the couch.
"I got a good look at him after I got off of the bus earlier today. 5'10", black hair, brown eyes… but he was looking at me like he knew me. I don't know him… and if he's mistaken me for someone else, who knows what he'll-" Harper replied before the power went out. "Damn it!" She hissed, Brayden grabbing the flashlight and flicking it on.
"Well they said on the news to be prepared for any outages. Got some food and drinks that won't go bad and any other supplies we'll need." Brayden responded, switching on a battery powered lantern.
And sensing that something wasn't right about the power outage, he switched off the lantern and got Harper to crouch down behind the bar that separated the kitchen and living room before grabbing the Desert Eagle .50 he had hidden and joining her as she shut off the flashlight.
Faith snuck into the building and saw AJ, immediately rushing to him.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Faith hissed.
"Something I didn't tell you over the phone is that she's hiding here with someone. I have no idea how she met him but something doesn't feel right!" AJ responded before they reached the door.
AJ picked the lock and him and Faith snuck in, the two with flashlights of their own… and Brayden giving Harper a signal to go after Faith after handing zipties to her.
Harper stayed low as she crept closer, bashing the flashlight into the blonde's head and Faith falling to the floor and AJ jumping in fright.
"Hey, what the hell-" AJ tried to ask before feeling a gun pressed against his back as Harper tied Faith's wrists together… and AJ nervously looked over his right shoulder and saw Brayden.
"I don't know who you two are but you're not leaving here with my friend!" Brayden replied through gritted teeth.
"Your friend?! That's my little sister!" AJ responded as Harper dragged Faith up to her feet and forced her to sit down before using another ziptie to keep her restrained to the chair.
"I've never met you before this, mister! You and blondie here have the wrong information!" Harper replied.
"Blondie?!" Faith responded in an indignant tone, Harper forcing Faith to look at her.
"Listen you little bitch, I am short on manners and patience tonight! I don't know what that suited up jackass told you but you have the wrong information, I'm not related to him in any way!" Harper replied before Brayden got AJ to sit down and tied him up too.
AJ and Faith looked at each other, knowing that they were way off… and were in a lot of trouble.