Diana [Liam Payne Fan Fiction]

2: Strangers in the Night

Being shot was a horrible sensation. An unearthly creature wiggled around under my skin, burning every cell it touched. Liquid fire poured into my hand while blood flowed out of it. I stumbled a bit, not sure if I would ever get up. Somehow, adrenaline carried me forward and I found the strength to keep running. I stuffed the injured hand into my sweatshirt pocket, biting down on the distasteful pain. I sprinted around the corner before he could shoot at me again, momentarily blocking out the pain.

Good thing he was drunk, I thought, Or he might've hit point blank. I never even knew Dad kept a gun with him!

It's over now, I told myself. Don't look back. Just keep running.

~*~

To say I was exhausted was an understatement. My body had gone numb hours ago and the wound in my hand felt like it was starting to fester. The constant trickle of sweat running down my face was the only thing that had kept me awake. Now, it felt like I was being drowned on that one drop of sweat as fatigue set in.

The world around me started to spin as my vision went blurry. I forced myself to sit down on the cold concrete. I gasped for breath and then remembered my water bottle. I groped around inside of my backpack until I felt the smooth cylinder between my fingers. Slowly, I poured the cooling water down my parched throat. I slowly pulled my hand out of my pocket. The sight of it made me gag as I poured a little water onto the wound. I cried out softly when the cool liquid made contact with my hot, bloody skin. I let the water wash out the wound until I could no longer bear the sting. After burying the hand back in my pocket I took a few more sips before tossing the bottle back in the bag.

My head cleared just enough for worries and doubts to surface: Am I far enough yet? Do I need to keep going? Where am I?

I quickly answered all of the above: No, yes, doesn't matter. I would know when the time was right. For now, I just needed to pick myself up and keep going.

An hour later, the fatigue was back. I had slipped back into my delusional state, spinning and tripping and not caring. It was so early in the morning I could hardly see my hand in front of my face.

Suddenly, all the darkness before me diminished as the world was flooded with light. I sqinted and stared in awe at the center of the light that was moving towards me. A loud honk sounded right before the light became within spitting distance of me. I instinctively recoiled before my vision went dark again.

~*~

"We've killed her, Lou! We've killed her!"

The low cry bounced off of my eardrums, giving me a horrible migraine and fishing me out of unconsciousness.

"We didn't even hit her!" another voice yelled. This one was much higher than the first, sounding almost feminine.

"We gave her a heart attack! We've killed her!" the first voice groaned again. "Oh, what are we gonna tell Paul?"

Confused and already hurting from the conversation going on above me, I mustered the strength to crack open an eye. Two men were crouched over me and three more were behind them. I couldn't make out any faces, but the man with curly hair was pacing about and mumbling to himself. I figured the first voice I had heard belonged to him. The one with the black hair suddenly gasped.

"She's awake, lads!" he whispered.

Everyone's attention was immediately diverted to me.

I got claustrophobic very fast.

"Hey, don't mind them, just take deep breaths," said a man with short brown hair and the beginnings of a beard. He must've noticed my labored breathing from when I start to freak out. He held my hands in his and encouraged me to keep breathing. As I opened my other eye and my vision cleared, I could see that I was lying on the sidewalk. A black van was parked on the curb, assumingly belonging to the five guys.

"Wh-what happened?" I groaned, attempting to sit up.

The man helping me turned red with embarrassment. "Um, well, we sort of-"

"Almost ran over you," the blond-haired boy in the back piped up.

"Yeah, sorry about that," said the one with the high-pitched voice, rubbing his neck. "I wasn't really paying attention since I didn't think anyone would be out this late."

"Or walking in the middle of the road, for that matter," mumbled the black-haired one. He looked Middle-Eastern, while the others were definetly Caucasian.

The brown-haired one shot both of them icy glares.

"Hey! I said I was sorry, didn't I?" yelled Girly-voice. Only then did I realize they all sounded a little funny.

"Um, would you mind me asking who you are?" I asked hesitantly. I already felt uncomfortable in the presence of five unknown men.

The man who helped me blushed again. "Oh, right. I'm Liam-"

"I'm Louis!" exclaimed the one with the high voice.

"I'm Niall," Blondie said.

"And I'm Zayn," the Middle-Eastern one said, smiling. "Oh, and that's Harry."

"Hi," the boy with the curls said shyly.

"And what's your name?" Louis asked me.

"I'm Megan," I replied tentatively, still unsure as to who exactly they were and what they wanted to do with me.

I started to lift my hand up to brush the hair out of my face, but screamed instead. The boys were immediately at my aid. Liam slowly examined my bloody hand as the others gasped in horror. He stripped Louis of his scarf and wrapped up the wounded hand.

"She's been shot," he whispered in disbelief.

"Shot? How?" Niall asked, mouth agape.

"Uh, that's not important." I struggled to think of an answer that would satisfy them.

"Of course it is!" exclaimed Harry. "We need to take you to the hospital!"

"No, no that's a bad idea. Very bad idea," I stuttered. If I went to the hospital, that meant the nurses would look at my medical information. Looking at my medical information meant contacting my legal guardian: Dad.

"Why? What's wrong?" Liam asked, his voice full of sympathy and concern.

"Nothing! Everything's fine!" I yelled, my voice cracking from anxiety.

The boys gave each other skeptical looks before Liam slung me carefully over his shoulder and carried me to their car.

I panicked. I kicked, screamed, punched, and tried in vain to wriggle out of Liam's strong hold on me.

"Let me go!" I screamed as he set me down inside the van. The other boys piled inside, one on each side of me and one behind.

"Tell us what's wrong and what we can do to fix it," Louis demanded, turning around in the driver's seat to face me.

"I told you! Everything's fine!" I retorted. "Just... leave me alone!" I was starting to sound hysterical.

"Either tell us what's wrong or we're taking you to the hospital," Zayn threatened from the backseat

"No! No hospital!" I cried. "Anywhere but the hospital!"

"Anywhere?" Harry and Niall said in unison, both wearing mischievous smiles.

Liam raised an eyebrow at Louis from the passenger seat, and he nodded slightly. All five boys were grinning from ear to ear.

"Guess she's coming home with us, boys!" Liam announced.

A/N:

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote if you loved it and want the next chapter soon! Comment if you're excited to see what the boys have planned for Megan! :D