The Opportunity of a Lifetime

Chapter 44 (Hailey's POV)

"Hey guys, I think I'm gonna stay behind on this one. Catch up on some sleep, maybe," I say.

Pete raises his eyebrows. "Why haven't ya been sleepin? Have you been up doing the frickle frackle with Pattycakes?"

I slap myself in the face and Patrick shoves Pete, sending him flying into a chair and falling over in it, slamming to the ground.

"No, dumbass, I was just having trouble sleeping."

Pete glares at Patrick, rubbing his head which was slapped by the unforgiving ground.

"Damn, Patrick's got muscle," Joe exclaims, chuckling. He heads over to Pete, holding out his hand. Pete takes it, and Joe jerks him up, a strangled noise emanating from Pete. I can't hold in my laugh, and Pete just glares at me. Oops.

"Anyway, guys, we'd better get going or else we'll be run over by fans," Patrick states, checking his phone.

Everyone nods, walking off the bus. Cheryl and Patrick stay behind, walking up to me.

"You sure you don't want anyone here with you? I can stay behind, too," Cheryl asks. I shake my head.

"No, I'll be fine, go enjoy the show," I say confusedly. Why wouldn't I be fine?

Patrick nods, walking off, but not before kissing me quickly. Cheryl just looks at me worriedly, finally walking off the bus. Why is she so worried?

I shrug, walking to the couch and just collapsing onto it. The old leather has never felt so comfortable. I find myself slipping off into sleep, and I welcome the feeling, letting my muscles relax and falling into a dreamless sleep.

----------------------

I hear a noise, making me jerk awake. It doesn't bother me at first, but once I realize I'm the only one on the bus, I sit up ramrod straight, feeling the presence of someone else in the same room as me. I'm just about to stand up and look around when I feel a sudden, excruciating pain shoot down my head, and I feel myself fall to the ground. I don't really remember anything that happens after that, feeling myself fall into the black wall of unconsciousness.

----------------------

*Cheryl's POV*

Something is wrong. I can feel it.

I've been sitting anxiously through the whole show, counting down the minutes until it ended. I usually sit and enjoy the music, but I can't today. I have that sick feeling deep down in my stomach telling me something has gone very, very wrong.

As soon as the guys step off the stage, I sprint to them, almost running into Andy.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" he asks.

"We have to get back on the bus, now. Something happened, I can feel it. We shouldn't have left Hailey on the bus alone. We have to-"

"Whoa, whoa, wait. We can't just leave, all the fans are expecting us to be there. We can't just let them down," Pete says.

I narrow my eyes at him. "You care more about people you don't know than your best friend?"

"You don't even know for sure if something's happened, Cheryl," Joe tries to reason with me, only making me more mad. Were wasting precious time.

"Fine, go talk to your fans. I'll go check on my best friend."

With that, I run off, ignoring the guys calling my name. This isn't just a feeling. I know something has gone wrong.

Running back to the bus seems to take forever, but I finally make it, bursting through the doors and stopping dead in my tracks. Hailey isn't here.

I run through the whole bus; still no sign of her.

She isn't here.

Panic rushes through my body, sending my pulse shooting through the roof.

Its my fault, its my fault, its my fault.

I should have known Allie would try something when Hailey is alone. I should have-

I look down, seeing a piece of paper laying on the counter. I pick it up, raising it to my eyes, trying to read the scribbly handwriting.

"I warned you. You didn't listen. I gave you a chance, but I'm not one for chances. Your best friend is now in my care, but don't bother calling the police or she won't be in anyone's care but Death's. You should have just listened. Poor unfortunate soul.

Allie"

Anger boils up to my throat, making me want to choke. She has Hailey. My best friend. She won't get away with this.

I hear the door swing open, and I whip around, expecting to see the face of the monster that kidnapped Hailey, but its the guys, running in and looking around worriedly.

"I told you," I mutter.

"What? Where's Hailey? What happened?" Patrick asks, his voice rising with each question.

"She's gone, Patrick. Allie has her." I show him the note, and his face contorts in numerous emotions: fear, anger, sadness.

"Were getting her back," Joe says determinedly.

"How, Joe? Where the hell would she be? If we call the cops Allie will kill her. Why Hailey? She did nothing wrong!"

Patrick suddenly breaks down, his knees giving out and sinking to the floor, putting his head in his hands. He sits like that for a while, then screams, jumping up and grabbing the nearest thing to him, which is a TV remote. He chucks it, the remote crashing into the window, breaking the glass. All of us jump, not used to this anger outburst. Pete leans down, putting his hand on Patrick's shoulder, but he shoves Pete off of him. Pete looks really hurt, but Patrick doesn't see. He just runs off the bus, sprinting away from sight.

"What just happened?!" Joe asks after a second.

"He's going after Hailey," Andy says. Oh shit.

"Fuck," I exclaim, punching the wall. "We gotta go after him, and then were going to save her together."

Everyone nods, and we all run off the bus, in the direction of where Patrick ran.