Leaving Dreamland [Book One]

3~ All Hell Breaks Loose

"Come on, Shyler, you've got to keep up!" Lou shouted from about ten meters in front of me, breathing heavily.

"I'm trying!" I panted, but I was growing more and more tired by the minute. I was never very good at running, and having a heavy backpack on wasn't helping me much either. However, Louis wasn't losing any ground at all; if anything, he was gaining it. I couldn't understand how he could run so fast in the first place, especially since he was dragging my suitcase along with him. Maybe he just had to run away from Directioners so many times in the past that he got in tiptop shape and became a great sprinter. The thought made me smile, but I reminded myself to focus on running, and then, if I escaped these crazed fans, I could think about all the funny Louis stories I wanted later.

The lunatics were still hurtling towards us, screaming Louis' name over and over again. If anyone else in the airport got in the way... well, let's just say they didn't get away without any injuries. This was getting way out of hand. Why aren't there any securit--?

"EMERGENCY SITUATION! ALL SECURITY, PLEASE REPORT TO TERMINAL THREE IMMEDIATELY!" a voice boomed over the intercom.

Well, speak of the devil. All of the sudden, tons of security guards poured into the terminal from all different directions. Now it seemed like a full on battle, with hardcore One Direction fans biting and clawing and kicking and punching all of the security guards, while the guards battled back at full force. There were more fans than there were guards, but the guards had weapons; I think I saw a couple use Tasers, but I wasn't quite sure because I was still trying to outrun the fans that had gotten past the guards, as I didn't want to get trampled like many other bystanders had. It wasn't looking very good, though; the fans were on my heels, and I was starting to get a cramp. To my relief, however, another wave of security guards flooded in, and I regained hope. The fans behind me began to battle the guards that had just arrived, and even though I probably could have slowed down, I didn't want to risk it. Then I realized that while I was trying to not get trampled to death, I lost Lou in this whole mess. This could NOT be good.

"Louis?" I called. Shit, where did he go? How was I supposed to find him now? For some reason, I felt very protective of him, and if he got hurt now, I felt like it would be all my fault. It didn't make much sense, as I had only just met him an hour before, but... I don't know... I just felt like I had known him all of my life. Well, I guess it helped that I was a huge fan and spent a lot of time on the Internet finding out all about him and the other One Direction members. But I wasn't so obsessed that I would camp out at the airport all day and trample random people just to try and catch a glimpse of Louis these crazies did. Now that was just plain scary.

"Come on Lou, where'd ya go?" I called again. I guess it wasn't much use, anyways. I mean, if he answered me now, some of the stalker fans would hear him and go try to kidnap him. I might as well give up now. Maybe I'll get my suitcase back somehow? I sighed. That was pretty unlikely. I mean, how was Louis supposed to know where I lived or my number or anything? I didn't have that on the suitcase anywhere like some people did, and I never told him any of my information besides my name. Ugh. The best day ever was now turning into the worst one ever. Well, not the worst one ever, but pretty close. Most of everything that I needed was in that one suitcase, and I wasn't going to get it back anytime soon. I'm so screwed.

I walked around until I finally found the exit to the parking lot of the airport, where I looked around trying to figure out which bus I needed to take. Hmm... Was it that one? No, I don't think so... But maybe... No, it wasn't that one. What about the other one over there? Err... Crap. I couldn't remember. I pulled my phone out of my purse and pressed speed dial 1 one, then held it up to my ear. No one picked up. Great. This is just great. My mom isn't picking up her phone, I don't know which bus to ride, I don't have my suitcase, and I'm tired from running so much today. I decided I might as well just sit on one of the benches for now, as I had nothing better to do. I sat down and put my elbows on my knees, and then leaned my head into my hands and closed my eyes. Surely this nightmare was going to be over soon, and then when I woke up, everything would be back to normal. It's just a dream, it's just a dream, I told myself. You'll wake up soon enough, Shyler.