Painted Red ( One Direction )

Chapter 4

Sarah's POV

" How did you sleep last night? " Victoria asks as we walk outside, fresh cups of coffee in our hands. We were walking around the city, heading towards the park to just sit down and talk. She luckily recovered last night and was free to leave the hospital. Liam was relieved and finally got some sleep, and by some sleep, I mean sleeping in for the entire day.

" I um, slept well, what about you Casey? How are you handling all of this? " I put one hand in my coat pocket, my fingers ruffling through the note I got last night.

" Surprisingly, I'm doing fine " She smiles and takes a sip out of her thermal coffee mug. I scrunched my eyes brows a little, the park bench now a couple feet away. I looked down to see Casey was on her phone, texting an unknown number, too distracted to notice Victoria giving me strange looks.

" Hey, um, guys I have to take this call " We sit down on the bench, Casey immediately getting up and walking away with a small wave and smile, a fake smile if I may add. It was now silent. I sighed, my breathe against the cold weather making a puff of mist.

" What was up with that? " Victoria asks as soon as Casey was out of sight. Should I tell her? She's one of my best friends and deserves to know about the note but everybody has secrets, some of them that aren't mentionable to anyone.

" Well " One of her eyebrows goes slightly up as she continues to look at me. I just sat there fidgeting with my red coffee mug before speaking.

" Something, happened last night " I mumble. Before I was able to continue I heard a scream, not a scream of terror or help, but Victoria's girlish scream when she finds out that a dippin dots cart is around the block.

" You and that waiter! Are you two now a thing? No, wait. Don't tell me. You lost your V-card last night " She practically screams to the entire park, my hand firmly on her mouth as she says her last past of her squeal-fest.

" No! That's not what I was about to say and his name is Harry " I groan, an elderly woman winking at me as she walked by. I could feel my cheeks turning hot against the cold atmosphere.

" Then what is it? " Victoria chuckles. The air was now getting chilly as a gust of wind past by, my hands against the warmth of my coffee mug.

" A - " I begin but my focus was immediately cut off when I looked in the distance. Casey was talking to someone through a car window, the door opening, revealing a man walking out.

" Who's that? " I ask and Victoria looks at the direction of the car. The man had light brunette hair and blue eyes. He noticed the two of us looking, and turned back to Casey, pulling her closer to whisper something.

He then walked off, giving us a cold glare. I looked over at Victoria who was staring at the boy in thought. She then shot up, almost knocking the coffee out of my hands.

" Sarah! That's one of the detectives that I saw at Casey's house " She whisper-screamed even though the boy was now out of sight. Something about him was strange, he's also a familiar face.

" I don't think he's a detective " I mumble, loud enough for the two of us to hear.

" He goes to school with us ... Louis Tomlinson "

***

We sat there and watched as Casey was standing outside the vehicle, her eyes glued to her phone screen. Something wasn't right. Casey was talking to Louis Tomlinson, a boy her ex, Niall, would always get fights with in between classes.

I remember this one time in passing period Casey was feeling sick and Victoria agreed to walk her to the office. I was walking towards my history class when I noticed Niall's blonde hair peaking out through the darkness of the open door inside the boys locker room.

" Stay away from her Tomlinson, or else you know what I would do " Niall spoke through gritted teeth. I stood there for a second, Louis's eyes meeting mine in embarrassment and anger. I quickly walked away from the scene and went to class. Let's just say it wasn't easy focusing on the history of our government after that.

" Why isn't she coming back? Should we do something, walk up to her maybe " Victoria turned to face me.

" I don't know " I take a sip of my coffee, it was still warm inside the thermal mug.

" So what were you going to tell me again? " She reminds me about the note. The one I received in the middle of the night, attached to my mirror.

" I was going to tell you that - " I try to speak but get cut off again as two men in a black car pulled to the side right behind Casey. She was too busy, focusing on the content of her screen to see the men walk up behind her.

They grabbed her by her shoulders and covered her mouth with a napkin, which caused her to instantly get knocked out after a small struggle. One of the men looked over to us and started heading our way, making Victoria to immediately get up and grab my arm along with her.

" We have to get out and contact the police! " She silently screamed as the man started getting closer towards us.

" Victoria, we got to run " I panic and attempt to run but she stopped me for a second as she pulled out her phone and took their pictures, making the two figures now run towards us.

" Move! Now! " Victoria screamed and we both ran back towards Main Street, where there would be people and witnesses everywhere.

We could see them now speed-walking behind us as our feet touched the street. But we didn't slow our pace, we kept on running. When they were out of sight we slowed down, gasping for air.

" Who were they? What are they going to do with Casey? " Victoria speaks through her breath, pulling her phone out. There was a picture of the two men chasing after us, both of them had cold blue eyes and matching black jackets.

" I don't know, zoom in on the jacket " I asked Victoria, eyeing the small logo on each of their clothes. Her fingers were pressed against the screen as she zoomed in, the logo, CCW, imprinted on the black fabric in red.

" That's the construction place down the block " Victoria looks down at the picture.

" What are we going to do? " She asked, fear was evident in her eyes. I looked down at my own hands and they were also slightly shaking in fear and worry as well.

" Talk to Louis Tomlinson ".