Laura

Chapter 8

"Hhmm... I think I saw this girl."

"Really?" Laura's hope eventually turn into fire. At last, someone saw her best friend. There is someone who can lead her to find Louise. She is so worried. She can not sleep peacefully, knowing that something might have happened to her best friend. She blames herself for not accompanying Louise all the time.

"Yes. I can lead you the way," the guy said.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Just call me, Mat."

The guy started to lead them the way, and Laura was about to follow him when suddenly Kurt grabbed her hand.

"Hay! Laura," he whispered, "are you sure about this?"

"I am willing to take all the risk just to find Louise."

"We cannot trust that guy. He looks suspicious."

They were whispering when Mat turned to them.

"What? Are we going or not? You are wasting my time. I am just here to offer you some help."

"S-sorry. Let's go." Laura was furious about finding Louise, so she insisted on following Mat and quickly grabbed Kurt's hand without knowing that Mat was leading them on another problem.

+++

"We are here." Mat opened his hand wide, and a group of gangsters suddenly showed up.

"W-what is the meaning of this? Where is Louise?"

"Oh! Your friend?" Mat took out the flyer that Laura handed him and showed her. "You mean this girl?" Mat tore off the poster that led Laura into tears.

They all laughed and made fun of her. Laura felt like dying. She was trembling. Laura was so stubborn and didn't even bother to listen to Kurt. She felt useless and stupid because she understood that Mat had tricked her.

"We are just after your boyfriend." Mat slowly walked towards Laura and quickly grabbed her hand. He pulled Laura and pushed her to those gangsters without further ado.

"Hey! Let her go," Kurt said.

"Kurt!" Laura was so afraid of what was about to happen. She knew that it would be trouble for Kurt. Laura didn't even want Kurt to get hurt. She really thought that it was all her fault that they were now in that dangerous situation and whatever happened to Kurt, all she could blame was herself.

"Sorry, but we cannot let your girl go unless..."

Mat has decided to take revenge on Kurt. Kurt didn't know anything about Mat, but Mat has lost his career due to Ion's popularity. It turned out that they used to be rivals back then, and Mat's band didn't gain much attention, which turned them into quitting.

"Don't touch Laura, or else--" Kurt tries to threaten Mat's group, but he knows that they are now in a complicated situation. Sacrificing himself is the only way to solve their problem.

"Or else what?" Mat's group laughed as if there were no tomorrow. "Don't try to threaten us, you fool," Mat warned.

"You only want me, then stay Laura out of this." Kurt has no choice. So, he surrendered freely and let them do their job on him in the end.

"Fine! As long as you stay still."

Mat walked towards Kurt and started to punch him on his stomach. Kurt felt the pain and spits blood out of his mouth. Then another punch on his face and all over his body. He thought he was about to pass out when suddenly sirens from the outside panicked Mat's group, and they quickly ran off the place. Laura rushed to Kurt's spot and carefully held him in her arms.

"Kurt, stay awake. Help is coming."

Then police officers rushed to the site and looked for the suspects, but they were too late. They are all gone. The medical team came towards us and started to carry Kurt on a stretcher, and we rode on an ambulance. We rushed to the nearest hospital where Kurt's doctor was assigned and checked for internal bleeding, and luckily he was fine. A few minor bruises and scratches only injured his body; no more, no less.

+++

"Kurt, I'm sorry for causing so much trouble. If I didn't insist, it would never happen. Laura covered her face as her tears were about to fall when Kurt pulled her right hand and enclosed it into his fingers.

"No worries, Laura. As long as you are safe, it's more than okay with me. I am just here to always protect you. Always remember that." Kurt kissed Laura's hand before Laura decided to put back a smile on her face. She felt she was the luckiest of all. She has Kurt on his side and assures her that he will always love her no matter what happens.

"Thank you, Kurt. Thank you."

+++

After two days of being confined in a hospital, at last, Kurt was back into his career. Laura decided to let the police officer do their job searching to Mat's group, and as usual, she continued looking for Louise day by day. Laura believed that Kurt needs time also for himself and his career and should not be left off. The Ion band must maintain their popularity to maintain their number one ranking in the music industry.

Laura also posts pictures of her best friend on her social media accounts, hoping that someone out there has seen her best friend. Some people give her a direct message saying they have witnessed Louise, but Laura should pay the price for the little information they are offering. In the end, Laura was scammed. She already learned her lesson never to trust anyone on the internet.

Laura leaned her back on a chair in a coffee shop, waiting for the last person to give her pieces of information about Louise's case, hoping that it would be an answered prayer. But this time, she was alone. She never wanted anything terrible to happen to Kurt again.

"Excuse me. Laura?" A girl with long black hair and a pair of blue eyes distracted her.

"Yes? Are you?"

"Shane Miller." At first, Laura couldn't believe her eyes because it was far from the Shane Miller that she was about to meet up. A few days ago, the Shane Miller that she had conversations with was a fat girl with short hair.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked.

"Let me explain myself after I gave you information that may lead to your best friend," Shane said.

Laura didn't know that Shane would be her last hope, leading to her best friend's justice.