The Runaway ***NIAM AU***

Chapter 15

"Do you want me to come?" I asked hopefully, not really liking the idea of being home alone again, but Liam shook his head as he pressed a brief kiss to my forehead. 

"I need to do this by myself," he whispered, holding me tightly to his chest before he started for the front door. I followed after him and bit my lip. 

"Liam, call me...you know-," I started and he nodded as he headed down the street to the bus stop. I shut the door and swallowed hard. I knew Niall's gang probably wouldn't know about us, but they were still out there and who knew what they were capable of. I had just walked away from the door to go take a nap, when a knock came on my door. I frowned and hesitantly made my way over to the door, peering through the peephole to see three boys standing there. They didn't look familiar, but they also didn't look particularly dangerous so I opened the door. 

"Hi, can I help you?" I asked softly as I kept my hand firmly on the doorknob. 

"Do you know where we can find Niall Horan?" the middle boy with dark hair hidden under a beanie and piercing brown, hazel kind of eyes. 

"Are you with the police?" I asked and I saw the boys glance around in frowns before the curly haired boy piped in quickly. 

"Uhm..yes! Yes!" he exclaimed, but I already knew who they were. I tried to slam the door, but the boys were faster, pushing the door fully open and pushign me down to the ground. The other brown haired boy slammed the door, locking it and standing in front of it. 

"No...please...stop....what do you want!" I screamed, scrambling back and finally getting back on my feet. The boy in the beanie just smiled at me before signaling something to the other boys. 

****Liam's POV****

I was in a daze the entire bus ride to the station as I thought about what they'd tell me. They'd probably discuss all the murders and crimes Niall had committed and what he'd done the whole time he'd lived with me...which was nothing! He'd never hurt me and hadn't stole anything from me...that I could tell anyways. 

"Liam," the bus driver, Randy, said and I looked at him as he gestured to the police station out the window. I swallowed hard and nodded to him as I shakily got off the bus. 

"I'll be back in an hour Liam!" Randy waved as he drove off and I slowly walked the beaten path up to the police station doors. I cautiously opened them and was met by a team of HUGE security guards. I shrunk down as one of the cops that had been at my flat the day of the arrest pushed through and took me to a small room where I sat across from him and a few other officers. 

"Hello Liam," the cop said as he filed through some papers and slid a few towards me. I looked down at the papers and saw a picture of Niall and a description of him. 

"This is the boy who lived with you, correct?" the cop asked and I nodded, not being able to look at Niall's face. 

"And he didn't hurt you at all physically? He never inferred he was a murderer and part of a gang? Never stole anything?" the cop asked, pen in hand. I shooky my head and took a deep breath. 

"He didn't do anything to me or my friends....I don't understand," I whispered, running a hand through my hair as the cop jotted down a few notes before he folded his hands and rested them on the clipboard. He looked up at me and swallowed hard. 

"Well I suppose you'd like to know about your roomate huh?" the cop asked with a sympathetic smile. I looked down with a slight nod. The cop thought that Niall was just a roomate to me, but he was so much more...I was in love with him and he was basically my best friend next to Kate.

"Well a couple months so ago we found Niall James Horan at the small restaurant by the name of Carlo's Pizza Palooza with a handheld gun in his right hand, a knife in his left, and a huge wad of cash hanging out the back of his pocket while he stood over the owner, Carlo, who was lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. Niall was immediately put under arrest and sentenced for 30 years or more depending on what the jury said. Niall was brought to this prison and was put in a secluded cell. About a month ago, Niall had escaped from the prison and nobody had a clue where he could have gone, but we figured he couldn't have gotten out without the help of somebody, so it was automatically assumed he was associated with some sort of gang, or had connections to one. We had thought Niall had moved states, even countries, so when you called we were shocked. We never thought we'd see Horan again! He has a life sentence now though Liam, and he won't ever be able to hurt anyone again," the cop explained and I just let it all set in. So Niall really was a killer...a cold hearted, cold blooded killer. 

"What about the gang...are people looking for them?" I asked quickly, knowing that even though Niall wasn't on the streets anymore, others were. 

"We don't know for sure if he was with a gang, but we're of course arresting any suspicious gang behavior. You're safe though Liam. You don't have to worry," the cop smiled as he helped me up and walked me out to the front of the station. 

"If you see anything suspicous please call us, and if you ever have any questions please contact us! Thank you for coming in Liam, everything's going to be okay now," he said with a pat to my back as I headed down to the bus stop where Randy was already waiting for me. It hadn't felt like an hour, but it had been, what with all my waiting and filling out paper work. 

"You good?" Randy asked as I climbed onto the bus. I nodded slightly, looking out the window just thinking about the poor man that Niall took a life from...It wasn't fair and didn't make sense. I didn't care what the cops said, I couldn't see Niall as a killer, but I knew he was regardless of my delusional thoughts. Niall wasn't ever who I thought he was, and I knew that from the beginning, but still gave him a second chance...which I was beginning to wish I'd never done. 

"See you around Liam," Randy waved as I hopped off the bus and shuffled up to Kate's door. I jiggled the door handle and surprisingly found it locked. I frowned, knocking on the door knowing that Kate was probably just taking precautiously measures due to everything that happened to us. 

"Kate!" I exclaimed, but nothing happened. I sighed, ringing the doorbell and looking behind me to see if Kate's car was there...and it was. I began to panic a little as I knocked harder and even used my body against the door. 

"Kate! It's me! Kate please open the door!" I screamed, banging on the door with my fists, noticing a black van a few houses down that had never been in the neighborhood before. I frantically pushed at the door until I remembered the spare key Kate hid in the birdhouse by the front window. I quickly grabbed it was shaking hands and unlocked the door. I stumbled inside to find it eerily quiet and I immediately knew something was up. 

"Kate?" I squeaked as I grabbed a heavy lamp from the table and slowly started walking through the house. I got to Kate's room and I gasped, dropping the lamp and running over to her tied up body. I covered my mouth as I saw the dried blood on her head and the big, black bruises forming on her skin. 

"Oh my God," I whispered, shaking Kate to try and wake her up, but she was out cold. That's when I knew I was going to be taken and that Niall was in a gang and those gang members were in my house, ready to take me at any moment. I shakily grabbed a receipt from Kate's dresser and scrawled down a note on it before I slid it under her leg and loosely untied the ropes restraining her so that the gang would think she was tied, but she'd be able to escape when she woke up. I didn't know why the gang was waiting so long to take me, but I didn't care, the more time the better. I quickly scrambled out fo the room, running into a stone hard body. I looked up and saw a boy with a beanie on and devilish smile on his lips before I felt something hit me on the back of the head...hard...and then everything went black as hot blood oozed down the side of my head.