I'LL COME FOR YOU ▹ dylmas

•chapter one•

Thomas groaned at the beeping sound of his alarm clock, lazily moving his arm around on his nightstand to find the off switch.

Six am was too early to be waking up on a Saturday. However, he had a flight to catch in two hours and he was not exactly the fastest person on Earth. He definitely needed all the time he could get.

He groggily sat up, and was immediately met with a pounding headache. He mentally calculated the amount of sleep he gotten, and sighed as he realised it wasn't even close to what he should have. Two hours was better than his sleep the day before though.

It was the same thing every single night: laying in bed thinking of the terrifying things that could happen to him any day, drifting off to sleep for an hour or two, then waking up at an early hour to catch a flight or get in a car.

That was the rule.

No staying in the same place for over a day.

Thomas looked down at his phone, squinting at the brightness.
October 14. It had been 36 days since it first happened. 36 days since all the nonsense began. 36 days, but who knows how much longer it'll last for?

Thomas sighed as he put his phone back down on the nightstand. He hated getting out of bed now. Although he never really enjoyed it to begin with, getting out of bed now felt like a death sentence. The blankets surrounding him made him feel protected; and losing them meant a murderer could jump out of the dark corners at any second.

Thomas had become very paranoid recently. He knew it was irrational to think that what had happened to the others could happen to him, because he had guards surrounding every hotel he stayed at. He never tweeted anymore, although he never really did in the first place, and he never gave off any hint as to where he was. However, he still felt completely and utterly terrified all the time.

It all started on September 8th.
A singer from Texas, that Thomas wasn't all too familiar with, was reported as missing. His wife had called the police the second she woke up, sensing that something was off. No one could find him. For five days, they looked and looked, but not even a slight trace of evidence was discovered. Fans were devastated, news reports went crazy, and his family was questioned. There was still no lead.

Nearly a week after the first case, it happened again. This time to a young dancer from Scotland that had been beginning to grow a large fan base. Her mother came into her room in the middle of the night because she thought she heard screaming, and when she opened the door, the girl was gone.

The same thing happened all over again. News reports on every device, fans crying, and her parents went into a deep depression. No one could understand what was going on.
Some people thought it was just a coincidence, but that suspicion was cleared when it happened again. And again. And again. And eventually it became a daily occurrence.

Once a day, a celebrity would be reported missing. The police couldn't find any of them. By the time the eighth celebrity had vanished, people started taking action. Before, celebrities had just been told to stay in their homes, but now they were being put under heavy protection.

It wasn't just these disappearances that were news any more either. Some celebrities couldn't take the stress and went crazy or committed suicide. Fans did too. Hollywood was crumbling, and so were studios all across the world.

Thomas had gotten a call around three and a half weeks ago, explaining the government's elaborate plan. Celebrities would be moved daily, and kept in hotels, to prevent whoever the culprits were from finding them. Of course their system wasn't exactly fair. The more popular and liked celebrities got much more protection than the others.

Thomas really didn't see how this would help. If the people responsible for the disappearances could track down celebrities from anywhere in the world, he was sure that moving around to different hotels every day wouldn't make a difference. However, he did appreciate the extra security. Guards were stationed around every hotel, and everyone was on lookout. Some celebrities brought their spouses or parents or families, but most went alone so they wouldn't endanger their loved ones. Thomas had broken up with his girlfriend a year before, and his family was safe in their own house, so he had no one to worry about. He often felt very lonely though, and savoured the rare social interactions he did have.

Today he would be going to a hotel in France. The French government had been setting up their hotels almost like "safe-havens." Unlike most of the hotels, where they would only allow one person to be under protection at a time, these hotels allowed people to be together. More than one celebrity would be allowed in them at a time, but they would have double the security.

Thomas just hoped that he wouldn't be put with any celebrities that he disliked. With a sigh, he crawled out of bed, and began to dress himself. He'd have a long day ahead of him, once again.