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“Zayn, your friends are here!” Zayn heard his mom shout from her place in their kitchen. He was just finishing up packing because he and his three friends, Liam, Perrie, and Rey were going on a road trip for the weekend. He was super excited, because they never get to do anything together anymore thanks to college. He was definitely excited to hang out with Liam. Just as Zayn zipped up his travel bag, he heard a honk from his front yard and threw his bag over his shoulder before jogging downstairs.
“Bye, mom, love you,” he kissed his mom on the cheek and went outside. He smiled when he saw his best friend, Liam, leaning against his black Range Rover with his arms crossed over his chest, a toothy smile on his face.
“Hi, Zee,” Liam opened his arms for a hug, and Zayn obliged, wrapping his arms around Liam’s torso tightly. He hadn’t seen Liam in a couple of months, so this moment was everything to him. “You ready to go, love?” Liam pulled back from the hug and grabbed Zayn’s bag to put it in the trunk. Zayn just nodded and went to sit in the passenger seat of Liam’s car. He was met with Perrie and Rey in the backseats, Perrie staring at him with a knowing look.
“Still pining over Liam, Zayn?” Perrie teased her friend, and Zayn only blushed and nodded. So maybe he was still pining over his best friend. So what? They didn”t proceed the conversation, because Liam opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat. He started the car again, put it in reverse, and backed out of Zayn’s small driveway. “So, where are we going, guys?” Perrie asked no one in particular.
“I’m not even sure, but I’m just gonna drive, and we can stop at places that seem interesting.” Liam explained to his friends, keeping his eyes on the road. Zayn nodded and looked out the window mindlessly. He hoped this weekend would be fun. They haven’t all been together since Christmas break, and that was five months ago.
An hour passed quickly, and it just included them all singing along to the radio and playing ‘I spy’. Zayn really had to use the bathroom, but he just assumed they’d stop soon. Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong With Me’ was playing on the radio, and Zayn immediately started to sing along. He thought this song reminded him of himself, really. Not that he’d tell anyone that, but he wished he could sing it to a certain person. They all stared at Zayn while he was singing and everyone was just laughing and enjoying their time together. Liam’s bright smile reached his brown eyes as he peaked over at Zayn every now and then.
“All right, Liam, there is an exit coming up with a rest area, so you better take it because I really have to use the bathroom,” Rey yelled over the music, still giggling from earlier. Liam just shook his head and laughed, turning his right signal on to take the exit. Zayn was so glad they were finally stopping, seeing as he’s had to pee for the past thirty minutes. When they were there, Liam put the Range Rover in park and they all got out. While walking inside, Liam bumped his shoulder into Zayn’s, causing the raven haired boy to giggle. Zayn tried pushing Liam back, but failed miserably. Liam held the door open for the both of them, following Zayn into the communal bathroom.
“I was thinking we could just go somewhere and stay in a hotel tonight. What do you think about that?” Liam asked Zayn as he stood in front of the bathroom mirror. Liam didn’t need to use the bathroom, he just came in to wait for Zayn. Zayn didn’t reply until he started washing his hands.
“Yeah, that sounds good to me. You know I don’t really care what we do, Li.” Liam nodded, and waited for Zayn to dry his hands. They walked out of the bathroom, laughing over something Liam said. Zayn loved times like this one. Just laughing with his best friend, not having a care in the world. This is why he would never tell Liam how he felt about him. It would ruin an amazing friendship, and Zayn just couldn’t do that. “I’ll drive for a while if you want,” Zayn suggested.
“You sure? I can just make one of the girls do it,” Liam replied. Zayn hated driving, and Liam absolutely knew that. Zayn just smiled before jumping into the driver’s seat. Liam sighed, and got into the passenger seat. He felt like he definitely needed a nap, so that’s exactly what he did.
Two hours passed before Liam woke up, and everyone was sleeping except for Zayn. The sun was setting outside, so Liam got on his phone to search for hotels close by. The signal on his phone wasn’t working at all, and when he tried searching something up, it just said ‘error’. Liam furrowed his brows slightly, wondering what was going on. He tried for ten more minutes, but there wasn’t any difference. It also seemed like they were just driving in a forest, the only thing that told Liam they weren’t, was the road. Zayn didn’t seem to care at all, he just kept driving.
“Uh, Zayn?” the younger boy hummed in question. Liam continued, “where are we right now?” Liam finished, still looking like a confused puppy. The girls were still snoring in the backseat, and Zayn looked over with a blank expression.
“I actually don’t know, Liam. I was just driving,” the darker haired boy said. Liam nodded, refreshing his phone again. He couldn’t understand why it wasn’t working because despite the trees everywhere, he could still see a cell tower in the distance. Liam sighed loudly, harshly putting his phone down on the dash. He was about to speak when he noticed an old sign that read that there was an exit for a hotel in a mile.
“Okay, Zee. Take this exit to the right for this hotel, yeah?” Liam pointed to the sign and Zayn mumbled a small ‘okay’ and got ready to give the signal. Liam drummed his fingers on his thigh in anticipation, his nerves torn all to pieces because this was still strange. As Zayn slowed to take the exit, the girls started to wake up, asking where they were. Once they saw it was a hotel, they were excited, because they were finally stopping and getting out of this car. Zayn parked the car, and they all got out, stretching their stiff limbs.
After they stretched well, they all went back to the trunk to get their bags for the night. Approaching the old building, you’d really think it was abandoned, but there were a few vehicles out front, so Liam assumed it was open. It kind of freaked them all out though, because the lights kept flickering and the sign that read ‘open’ , had the ‘p’ missing from it.
Rey was the first one to the door, but when she went to open it, the handle broke off and hit the ground with a loud metal sound, causing them all to jump back slightly.
“Okay, this place is extremely weird, guys. I don’t like it already.” Rey rushed out quickly, silently cursing Zayn for driving them all here. She gave Zayn a death glare, but the boy only shrugged and pointed to Liam.
“Liam was the one who told me to come here!” Zayn defended himself. Liam opened his mouth to say something back, but the potential argument was cut short when a short elderly woman opened the door to the dingy hotel. She observed all of them strangely for a minute before speaking.
“Why are you all just standing here? Come in, come in,” her voice cracked and she sent them all a big smile. Zayn thought it was really creepy, and looked anything but cheerful. He scooted away from her a little, bumping into Liam. Liam looked at him with a look that was basically asking if he was okay. Zayn just nodded and they followed the woman inside. Even the inside made the hotel look empty. There were ceiling lights hanging halfway out of the ceiling, and the tile was cracked in most places. The old cream colored walls had cobwebs in the corners and dust covered like everything inside the lobby. It also kind of smelled really bad. Everyone cringed at the sight and smell. This place really was creepy, and Zayn definitely did not want to stay here. It all just felt off to him. “Now, what can I do for you kids?” The old lady asked, bringing them all out of their heads.
“Uh, we just need a room for the night. Could we get one with two double beds?” Liam spoke up because no one else was going to answer. The rest of the group just nodded and the old woman smiled that creepy smile again.
“Why of course you can. That’ll be room two hundred and twenty two, and here’s your key,” she held out a key to Liam. He took it. “If you need anything, just call.” She looked directly into Zayn’s eyes with that stupid smile he’d grown to hate already. He nervously chuckled before following his friends to the stairs, because of course the elevator didn’t work.
The walk up was scary, too. The stairs were made of old, rotting wood, and when they got to the hall, they noticed the old red carpet with strange designs on it. There was something about this place that just didn’t sit right with everyone.
When the group approached the door, Liam was the first to notice that the door was visibly cracked in multiple places, the key hole was bent to where you’d think the key wouldn’t even work. He tried anyway, and to his surprise, it opened.
“Well, it actually unlocked the door, so,” Liam paused, just looking at everyone. They all shrugged in sync, Rey being the first to walk in. The rest followed with hesitancy, Zayn cringing at the smell of the room. The girls went to drop their bags on their bed, so the boys did the same. Coughs went around the room because of the dust that came off of the sheets.
“I really don’t want to sleep here, it’s freaking me out.” Zayn said, looking around the room suspiciously. Not to be rude, but this room was absolutely disgusting. The shower had mold building up on the floor, along with the toilet. The ceiling had droops in it, drops of water leaking from from the lowest part.
This was just too weird, Liam thought. This place is in the middle of nowhere and his phone still wasn’t working. The old lady downstairs was creeping him out, and there were like ten cars outside, but no one was even here besides her. What was going on here? His thoughts could go on forever, but he was snapped out of it by a large bang downstairs. He looked at Zayn, seeing that he was already looking at him as well, eyebrows raised high.
“What the fuck was that?” Perrie ran from the bathroom, yelling. Rey came after, nearly tripping on a piece of hardwood sticking up from the floor. Liam jumped to go to the door, but Zayn stopped him.
“Oh, no you don’t. It could be dangerous!” Zayn tried reasoning with his best friend. Liam shook his head and ripped his arm from Zayn’s grasp, running out the door.
“Sorry, someone could be hurt!” Liam's voice faded down the hallway. Liam cared too much for others sometimes, and it really scared Zayn. What they heard was literally a gunshot, and something could be very wrong. They all waited nervously for Liam to return for over twenty minutes, and he wasn’t back yet.
“I really don’t like this, he should be back by now and you know it.” Rey spoke up, her leg shaking uncontrollably. Zayn knew she was right. Liam should’ve been back forever ago, but they hadn’t heard any more shots. He couldn’t take it anymore, so he ran out the door in the same direction as Liam. The walls were blurring and he almost tripped a couple of times, but he didn’t care.
When he made it to the lobby, no one was there. He looked around for a minute before he heard a scream come from the creepy looking door that was on the wall behind the desk. Zayn wasted no time, jumping over the desk and opening the old door. Once inside, Zayn noticed the wooden stairs leading down to what looked like a basement. He carefully creeped down the stairs, trying not to be too loud, but the sharp scream he heard made him stumble a little. That caused the steps to creak loudly. Zayn paused immediately, squinting his eyes, hoping he didn’t get caught.
“Who’s there?!” A deep voice asked. A voice that did not belong to Liam at all. Zayn’s eyes widened as the unknown person continued, “You might as well come out.” Zayn walked down the stairs wearily, not ready to see what was behind this wall. Rounding the corner, the sight in front of him made him visibly gasp. There was a man in a black mask holding a knife in his right hand, and Liam was hanging from the ceiling by his hands. They were tied with old rope, and it looked super tight. The beautiful brunette was now covered in cuts on his now bare chest. Zayn didn’t know what to do right now, he was frozen.
“Zayn, what are you doing? Get Perrie and Rey, and get out of here, now!” Liam shouted to his best friend with teary eyes. He didn’t want Zayn, or any of his friends to be hurt. Zayn couldn’t just leave Liam here in this horrible place with this person. He ran back up the stairs quickly, slamming the door behind himself. He wasn’t going to look back, afraid of what would happen if he did.
Once upstairs, he shoved their door open, only to find that Rey and Perrie were both gone, too. Zayn mentally cursed himself as he became more frustrated by the second. What was going on here? He had to help Liam, but he didn’t know what to do. When Zayn heard footsteps approaching his door, he hid in the small closet the room had.
“Oh, Zayn, where are you? I know you’re in this room, kid. I’m going to find you,” the still mysterious man said in a sing-song voice. Zayn was shaking, and his breaths were quickening. This was all going horribly wrong. Their trip was supposed to be fun, not terrifying. Zayn could see the guy's black mask through the cracks in the door, so he held his breath, just awaiting his fait when he heard a crash in the distance. The man ran out of the hotel room and down the hall to find out what the noise was. Once he was gone, Zayn rushed out of the room and ran back downstairs where he knew Liam was.
Going down the stairs, Zayn almost tripped several times, but he made it. There Liam was, still hanging from the ceiling with his shirt ripped up the middle, cuts all over his tanned chest and stomach, and what looked to be unconscious. Zayn felt his heart break for his best friend, but wasted no time running up to Liam and trying to untie the ropes. When he couldn’t get them, he searched for something to cut them with. After a few seconds of his eyes scanning the room, he found a knife sitting on a small table in the corner of the dimmed room. The dark haired boy ran to get the knife and went to cut the ropes from Liam’s wrists. Once they were cut, Liam’s limp body fell on top of Zayn, causing them both to hit the floor loudly. Zayn groaned in pain, rolling Liam off of him.
“Li, wake up, please. We have to hurry, Liam. Please be okay,” Zayn shook his best friend’s shoulders wildly, trying to get him to wake up. Liam was definitely breathing, so he was alive, but he wouldn’t wake up. Zayn didn’t know how much time they had, but he knew it wasn’t much, so he shakily raised his hand and brought it down against Liam’s cheek harshly. The slap echoed through the room, and Liam jerked up quickly. “Oh, thank god. C’mon, Liam let’s go, get up!” Zayn grabbed Liam’s hands, pulling him to his feet. He still had Liam’s keys in his pocket, but he had to find Rey and Perrie.
Liam couldn’t stand on his own, and it was literal hell trying to pull his near dead weight up the stairs, but Zayn managed. He had to get Liam to the car before anything else, so that’s what he did. He shoved Liam in the driver's seat and handed him the keys.
“If I don’t come out in twenty minutes, or you see someone coming, you drive away as fast as you can, yeah?” Zayn pointed his finger in the injured boys face, tears building up into his eyes. He just wanted to make sure Liam was okay, that’s all. Liam was too weak to argue, so he just nodded.
“Please be careful, love. I don’t want you to be hurt. Try your best to find the girls, but if you can’t, come back immediately.” Liam grabbed Zayn’s arm, looking at him with warning eyes. Without thinking, Liam leaned forward and kissed Zayn’s lips softly. “Be careful. Come back to me, Zee.” Zayn nodded, and ran back to the building. He heard an ear piercing scream come from inside so he rushed to grab the door handle that wasn’t broken. The screaming continued, and they were coming from upstairs so Zayn ran as fast as his legs could carry him up the stairs, hoping the girls were okay.
He didn’t get far, because he was tripped in the hallway, his nose hitting the ground harshly. Zayn groaned out in pain, looking around to see what could’ve happened, and when his eyes landed on a pair of black boots, he knew it was the person from earlier.
“Well, look who it is. You really didn’t think this would be so easy, did you?” The man chuckled deeply, taking his right foot and pressing into Zayn’s back roughly. Zayn’s breath hitched and he gasped for air but he just couldn’t breathe. “You’ve caused so much trouble in such little time, you know that?” His foot pressed harder. Zayn was dying for air, but he didn’t know what to do.
Just when Zayn thought he was going to die, he saw a figure in the distance ahead of him running— well, trying to run down the hall. It looked like Rey. She was hurt, but it wasn’t stopping her from trying to get away. That’s when the guy lifted his foot from Zayn’s aching body, running to catch Rey. Zayn was breathing harshly, trying desperately to catch his breath. Once he felt better, he got up and ran to the hotel room to see if Perrie was okay. He sure hoped she was.
All hope was gone when he saw her there on the floor, a gunshot wound in her temple. Zayn whimpered, hands coming up to cover his mouth. Whoever was doing this was sick. There was blood covering the wall of the room, splattered. Zayn cried for his friend briefly, before remembering he had to help Rey. He didn’t know where they went, but he was going to find his best friend. He went to the stairs that were on the other side of the building and quickly walked down them. There was a blood trail that drug across every step on the way down. Zayn prayed for Rey to be okay, he really did.
“So pretty, you are. Too bad you have to die, isn’t it?” Zayn heard that same voice ask from a distance. He wouldn’t let this happen again. The dark haired boy ran up to where the guy was holding a gun up to Rey’s head and jumped on his right shoulder, knocking him over. “What the hell?!” The guy struggled to get out from under Zayn, while Zayn was repeatedly punching the man over and over. Zayn doesn’t remember what happened, really. But he knows he heard a gunshot before they fell and he’s pretty sure Rey is on the ground beside them.
“No, no, no. You killed my friends, you bastard!” Zayn shouted with every punch. He was almost sobbing in anger, tears rolling down his cheeks. He couldn’t believe he’d lost his two best friends, and he didn’t even know if Liam was okay. The man struggled a little longer, but eventually he passed out. Zayn didn’t stop hitting him, though, no. That’d be too easy, and right now he was in a full rage and he couldn’t stop. When he snapped out of it, his first thought was Liam. First, he went to check on Rey, who had a gunshot wound in her stomach. Zayn grabbed both her cheeks in his hands, wiping her tears away with him crying himself. “You’re going to be okay, Rey. I just gotta get you to the car, yeah?” Rey used her energy to grab Zayn’s right hand and gently rub over it with her thumb.
“No, Zayn. You have to leave now, okay? There’s more people here. Very bad people. I’m not gonna make it, I can tell. I love you so much, but you have to go now.” Rey finished, hee voice getting weaker near the end. Zayn let out a heart wrenching sob, leaning down and kissing her forehead. He mumbled an ‘I love you too’ before getting up and dragging himself out to the car. He got in the passenger seat without a word, just thanking god Liam was still alive. Liam had his head leaned back against the headrest, his left hand on the steering wheel and his right on the gearshift. Zayn was silently crying, wiping the blood on his jeans.
“Liam, drive, please.” Zayn’s voice was rough, and he sounded broken. Liam opened his eyes, not asking questions as he started the car and drove away. Liam was afraid to ask what happened, because he knew it was bad and that Zayn would break down. Liam’s knee and whole upper body was killing him. He felt so light headed as he drove and his eyes were blurring more frequently.
It all happened so quickly. One second Liam saw traffic lights and the next he noticed bright headlights coming from the right. The Range Rover was hit right on the passenger side, Liam jumping to cover Zayn’s body with his. The car flipped seven times and they slammed into a tree in the end, the only thing heard was a large gasp from one of the boys.