“Great show. Well done guys.” Liam turned and said to the others as they walked off stage. Liam led the way, followed by Louis, Harry and Zayn. His face dropped immediately as he realised that there were only four of them there. The other picked up on his facial expression and turned to see what was wrong.
They turned around just in time to see two masked men bundling their Irish friend into the back of a van. All four of them ran to the doors but as they approached they were bombarded by fans, blocking the way- screaming and asking for autographs. They tried to break through the crowd, flailing their arms in an attempt to bat away all of the obstacles but it was no use, their voices being drowned out by the thousands of hormonal teenage girls. Liam fell to the floor in horror, allowing himself to be trampled by the fans. Zayn continued to move forwards in a vain attempt to rescue Niall.
Louis and Harry both went to help a distraught and broken Liam up from the cold and dangerous floor, as their management and guards made their way over, ushering all of the fans away from the scene. Liam’s sadness and shock turned to anger as he ran over to Paul and started hitting him repeatedly, screaming at him for not looking after Niall- after all it was his job to keep them safe. Harry and Louis prised their friend off and restrained him, dragging him back and into his dressing room.
Zayn returned a couple of moments later, out of breath, tears streaming down his face. He regained his breath before reeling off “R643 HTY”. The other boys turned and looked at him gone out “That’s the can registration number. I managed to catch up with it just n time to see it speed off around the corner.” For the first time in a few minutes hope filled the other boys’ eyes, but they knew they had to act fast.
Louis ran over to the desk to grab Liam’s laptop but was stopped on his way. There on the arm of the sofa was a note.
£1,000,000,00 or you’ll never see your friend again- not in one piece anyway! LOL. Deliver it to the Car Park behind the arena at midnight. If you tell your management or anyone about this little arrangement….. we’ll blow his brains out on the spot.
Liam gasped in terror as the note was read out. “We don’t have that kind of money. Nobody in the fucking world has that kind of money.” He whimpered, starting to cry.
Harry walked over to his friend, putting his arm around his shoulders and saying reassuringly “We’ve all got a couple of million in the bank. We’ll put that together. They’ll have to make do with that. I’m sure it will be fine. Besides, we have the van’s registration so as soon as they drive away, we can have the police track them down.”
They had to admit it was risky, but what else could they honestly do? It was the only option.
Zayn rang their accountant and ordered for all of their cash to be delivered discreetly to their room straight away. The accountant didn’t argue; it wasn’t really his place to. Sure, he was there to advise the boys, but it was still their money at the end of the day.
Less than thirty minutes later the money arrived in three briefcases. Louis counted the money and declared that there was a total of £12,000,00. The boys looked at their watched and realised they only had ten minutes. They picked up the cases and darted outside, ignoring their managements shouts as they went in search of the Car Park.
IN THE VAN
Niall sat in the back of a darkened van, his mouth gagged so that he couldn’t speak and tears streaming down his face. He squirmed, trying to escape but it was no use- his hands, legs and feet were all tied together, almost cutting off the blood flow.
The more he squirmed and cried, the more the man opposite him laughed. Niall growled at the man, although due to the gag it came out as more of a squeak. He threw his feet against the side of the van, trying to make as much noise as possible when the man watching him stood up and walked over to him “I wouldn’t do that if I were you mate!” he chuckled, snarling at the young innocent boy. It was then that Niall realised there was a gun pointed right at his head. He stopped completely still, not even daring to breath. Tears began rolling down his face, faster and faster. He was certain he was about to die and just lay there completely helpless, praying for his four friends to rescue him- in particular Liam; he would do anything just to see Liam’s face.
As if by magic the door to the van swung open, startling the man and making him drop the gun. In walked Liam, throwing a bag of money at the scary looking bloke and lifting Niall up off the floor. The four boys undid the ropes and helped their friend up. They jumped down from the van and ran away as fast as they could. With that the van sped off, only to be stopped by the police about 100 yards down the road.
Niall started crying again, but this time in relief as he hugged all of the boys, leaving Liam until last. Liam was a blubbering mess too and both boys clung onto each other tighter than they had ever held anything in their life, almost as though they were afraid that if they let go they would fall off the edge of the world. The other boys decided to give them some space. After a good few minutes, both boys loosened their hug, but not letting go completely. “I love you, Niall” Liam whispered “I didn’t realise it until I lost you, but I really need you.” Niall melted into his arms at those beautiful words, whispering “I love you too.” Back to Liam, before relaxing into the crook of the taller boy’s neck.
