A Dream Come True

Chapter Nine

Lauren drove her car carefully through the busy streets and finds a good parking spot outside her building. They walk into the lobby and up the stairs to her door and into their empty place. Megan had already left for her horse-riding lesson outside the city, so she's always gone for at least five hours, spending half of it with a horse.

Lauren and Harry (Hadden) had taken off their coats and hung them up, and is now in Lauren's room, Harry sitting on the edge of Lauren's bed while Lauren leans against the wall, trying to figure out what to do.

"How bout we..." Lauren began.

"Get some food?" Harry finishes.

Lauren shrugs, "Sure." They walk out of the bedroom, across the living room, and into the kitchen. "Hungry for anything in particular?" Lauren asks.

"Hmm... Not really. I'm sure if we look around, we'd find something."

Lauren walks over to their fridge and tugs on the door, opening it. She does something in between a gasp and a sigh of annoyance. "What is it?" Harry wonders out loud.

Lauren ignores his question. "That bitch!"

Harry became louder, coming over to stand behind her. "What? Who?" Lauren turns to face him, clearly annoyed.

"Before she left, Megan had eaten the majority of what was left in the fridge, and we have mostly snacks and cooking stuff in our cupboards. We were going to go grocery shopping first thing tomorrow morning. I guess we have to go out to eat. Is that okay with you?"

Harry nods. They put their coats back on, and together they head out where it was beginning to get dark. Unsure of where to go, they agree on exploring, hoping to stumble upon a place.

***~***

By now night has fallen and it's getting harder and harder for them to see. They were walking for about 30 minutes, but nothing had seemed like a good place to eat at. Lauren pulls her coat tighter around herself, Harry had already offered his coat, but she kindly refused. They keep walking, when they turned a corner, and they both realize that they are lost.

"Umm... Do you know where we are?" Harry asks, attempting to sound calm. They were on a side street and there were only a few people around. And those people seemed wasted. Lauren looks around.

"No. Let's go this way," she says, tugging on Harry's arm to go left.

It had only been a few minutes when they heard voices behind them. The voices were whispering, so you could only know that they are there, but not what they are saying.

Harry and Lauren walked slightly faster, hoping to come across something that would tell them where they are or someway to escape the voices, which were getting louder.

Then when they sounded right behind them, they stop. This made the couple even more frantic. Lauren feels a hand on her shoulder, turning her around. She could see that someone's hand was on Harry's shoulder, and he looks scared.

The people behind them were two muscular girls who look pissed. One had blonde hair while the other had black. "Who are you?" The black haired one asks. Before she could answer, they turn to Harry.

"What are you doing here, cutie?" Blondie asks with an immediate change of tone. She sounds like a desperate slut. She even had taken a step closer to Harry.

Thinking quickly, Harry put his arm protectively in front of Lauren, then put himself in front of her. Harry didn't answer her question.

Looking furious, the two girls strode forward and grab the two of them. They are a lot stronger than they look. With their hands being held tightly behind their backs, Blondie pulls two pieces of rope out of her pocket. Knowing what they were going to be used for, Lauren starts yelling as loud as she can.

"Shut up!" Black Beauty screeches over Lauren's attempts. Lauren quiets down, but not before she let out a whimper.

Everything was silent for a moment, and then the girls gave each other a look. By now Harry and Lauren have had their hands tied behind their backs. Blondie takes a hold of Harry's tied wrists and drags him into a nearby alleyway.

Lauren couldn't see what was happening but knew it wasn't anything good. It was ominously quiet until a few minutes later when Harry starts yelling in protest to something Blondie was doing to him.

Some protective feeling comes over Lauren and without thinking she knees Black Beauty in the stomach. She doubles over in pain. Outraged, Black Beauty punches Lauren in the jaw, which was sure to leave a big bruise. Lauren was thankful that she signed up for kickboxing when she was younger. The two girls fight for several minutes, leaving marks all over each other's bodies.

"Hey!" Blondie screams as she rounds the corner. She ran to help Black Beauty. Now with Blondie, Lauren was hopelessly out numbered. Everything was happening too fast for Lauren to figure out what to do. Next thing she knew, she was on the ground lying on her side as the she gets kicked over and over again.

Once Lauren thought she was going to pass out, the kicking stops. She hears struggling next to her, but her body screams in protest when she moved. Then she heard two sets of feet running away from them.

Soon it was quiet again except for someone's heavy breathing above her. The rope fell away from her wrist freeing her arms. She feels two strong arms wrap around her shoulders and under her knees lifting her up and carrying her bridal style. Lauren slowly opens her eyes and was amazed to see Hadden staring down at her.

She tries to move, but Hadden just whispers, "Shhh, it's okay, try to stay still." She does, and eventually the darkness of night and the swaying of being carried lull her to sleep.

Harry continued walking for a little bit longer, his eyes scanning around the street. He finds an old worn out couch that was left for the morning pick up. He gently places her on the couch so she won't wake up feeling sore. He takes off his coat, even though he was already cold, and gently lays the jacket on top of her.

Now only in a T-shirt, he hesitates before taking off, leaving her there. He would've used one of their cell phones to get help, but the two girls took them when tying them up.

Even though it was so cold there was still snow on the ground and he was just in a long sleeve shirt, Harry plows on. Eventually, his arms along with the rest of him grew increasingly numb.

He looks down at his watch, showing the time was 12:43. He lifts his head and his gaze focuses on a tall dark figure ahead. He stumbles, almost tripping over his own feet as he hurried forward.

He reaches the object, an old phone booth. He plunges his hand into his pocket, digging around for some change. He found enough and pushed the coins into the slot, dropping some in the process. He dials the number and held the phone to his ear, praying for him to pick up.

"Hello?" A sleepy voice answered.

"He-ello? Li-Liam?" Harry stutters.

"Harry, why are you calling me at this time of night?"

"Look, it's an emergency."

Liam sighs. "If you're asking me for condoms again, then the answers no."

"No! No. Look, psycho fans attacked Lauren and me. Lauren was beat pretty bad and is out cold. And I'm freezing. Can you come pick us up?" Harry sputters.

"What? I'm on my way. Wait, where are you?"

Harry mentally face palms. "Um...not sure."

"Well, I'll call the rest the boys, and Paul. If we split up we may be able to find you faster. Do you have any idea where you are?"

Harry looks around at the graffitied, worn out buildings. "No. Well I'm surrounded by crappy buildings so in a bad part of the city." He hopes that helps.

"Okay, hope to see you soon."

"Yeah... bye."