Diana

Twenty-One - The Hunt Begins

Previously

Before I could get out of that place, he threw something at me, which hit me at the back of my head. A few seconds later, there was a smell that made me dizzy. Is this kidnap? Sure it is. The last thing I saw was his masked face. The last thing I heard was Louis calling out my name from outside. 'I'll miss you ', I whispered. My eyelids were heavy and eventually, they shut down, hopefully not forever.

Present

Louis' POV

It wasn't easy for any of us to take in this. We thought everything was getting better 'till this happened. After everything we've been through, our happiness was drained into this sorrow.

Everything fell apart.

I don't know what happened during the last two hours. The flight we had to board had long gone. I searched every nook and corner of the entire airport to find Diana. Every authorized person was asked if they had seen her. Every surveillance camera has been checked. No success.

I have no clue where the others are. I walked into the next room along the corridor, though I already came here. With the hope to find Diana, I opened the door.

"Hey," I vaguely said to the lad sitting on a chair with his face buried in his hands. He didn't respond.

"Harry, please. Trust me. We can find her," I tried to make a difference in his mood, and I failed.

He slowly lifted his head up and his eyes looked dead, his pupils as dark as night.

"Louis, I'm sure she's not in here. She has been missing for more than 2 freaking hours. Do you think she is safe? Absolutely not!!" Harry yelled at me, though I knew he didn't mean to.

Zayn entered the room with a similar face, which said he did not find her.

-

We decided to go back to Diana's guest house and tell her mom, Emma about this. I still had her bag with me, her tiny bag, which brought back an inside joke we shared. A smirk came on my face, it felt like it has been forever since I smiled.

-

After all that travelling since the past weeks, we came back to where it all started. This house was the first place Diana brought us to when came to India.

Liam opened the front door and the rest of us followed. Mrs Emma was in the living room, she had a pleasant smile on her face. It killed me as I knew that in some time, she won't be smiling. Her eyes were first fixed on Liam, then Harry, Zayn and Niall. By the time it shifted towards me, she didn't smile anymore. Her smile faded away, her eyes turned a dark shade of grey, realising Diana wasn't with us.

-

"I assured her that we'll find Diana and bring her home. I asked her not to worry," Zayn said as he entered the room after having a talk with Mrs Emma.

We settled down on different chairs around a table, but our hearts and minds were still unstable. Mind the rhyme.

" As we discussed earlier, we first need to contact the city's police," Liam said.

"I'm calling them right now," I took my phone out of my pocket. As I unlocked it, a notification sprung up. I did expect this from him.

New Message from 'Sam @$$'

It wasn't the end, I told ya!

Don't even think of contacting the police!

Coz you know, I know, who's with me

And you know, I know what I can do

I threw the phone on the couch, my mind was numb, I couldn't sense a thing. My body felt sore and heavy. So I lay on the couch and shut my eyes.

-

Diana's POV

My body finally recovered from the dizziness. I opened my heavy eyelids only to see a pitch dark room. There was a window a few meters away from the ground, the bright sun produced a beam of light that travelled through the window and hit the ground. I had no clue how big the room was, all I could see was that beam of light. Obviously, I didn't know where I was. I crawled on the dirty floor and lay on that bright spot, I needed light right now. I felt something in my back pocket. It was Louis' cap, his Doncaster Rovers one. I was glad that I still had it. I held it very tightly. I felt a bit relieved, I felt home.

-

Louis' POV

The next thing that I remember happening was the lads discussing something.

"It doesn't make sense at all," Harry exclaimed

"Maybe it will once we use our brains properly!" Liam replied.

Listening to this conversation inflicted a gush of anxiety in me. So, I quickly got up and joined that discussion.

Liam saw me but ignored me and went on, "Guys, chill. Let's focus."

"Here, Louis, for you to catch up," Niall gave me my phone. Wow, I didn't even realise that I didn't have it.

Unknown number

Has a fixed position

Around many other possessions

Blue is beautiful to admire

Crowned to no Empire

See ya, Losers!

x

"This is for us to solve?" I asked them.

"Looks like that," Liam replied.

"By Sam? But it's from an unknown number," I said confused.

"Who else would?" Nial said.

"But do you think we can save Diana by solving this?" Harry questioned.

"Maybe," Liam replied.

"I don't want 'maybe' in here. If this won't do anything, we need to contact the police," Zayn said firmly.

"Zayn, Diana is WITH HIM. We cannot risk anything," I reminded him.

He came forward and looked me in the eye and said, "Do you think Sam won't harm her if we do this?"

"At least it'll lead us to something rather than being aimless," I tried to make a point.

"Okay, then. We'll try this one out. If it doesn't help, we are contacting the police," Harry stated.

"Yeah, trust me," I assured them.

"So we are playing this 6-year-old scavenger hunt game to find Diana?" Niall summed up the conversation.

"If it's worth finding her, then yes we are," I said as confidence gushed down on me.