"You better cooperate baby, or both you and your friend are history," he whispered in my ear. At the mention of Korin I looked over at her and noticed that a different guy had her in the same position, with the gun pressed against her. I shuddered with fear. "As far as everyone else knows, you're my girlfriend. Don't make a scene or I'll be forced to use the shiny metal instrument you can feel pressed against your back right now. Got that?" He spoke quietly, but forcefully.
I nodded, too afraid to do anything else. I felt the pressure of the gun release as he slipped it into his jacket. He placed as arm around my waist and we walked out of the store, along with the other guy and Korin. Thoughts were running through my head the entire time. I was wondering if I was going to live, if I was ever going to see Brian, Alta, Karen, or Elissa - 4 of the most important people in my life - again. Wait a second. Elissa. I turned my head slightly and frantically searched for her as we started to walk away. Then I spotted her, sitting on a bench, looking very sick. Our eyes met, and I gave her a scared, helpless look. She started hurrying over to me, but I gave her another look, and I think she realized he had a gun, because she stopped dead in her tracks. I mouthed 'Get help,' to her, and she hurried off in the opposite direction. 'I just hope she's not too late,' I thought as Korin and I were led to an old, beat-up car.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elissa ran as fast as she could, searching for Karen, Alta, or a cop. She knew she didn't have much time. Then she spotted the remaining two members of Illusion, eating ice cream, and she nearly ran into them.
"ALTA! KAREN! KRISTY AND KORIN! WE GOTTA GET HELP NOW!!!!" she screamed, her words barely understandable.
Alta and Karen saw the fear in Elissa's eyes, and they immediately tensed up.
"Lissa, what's wrong with them?" Karen asked, afraid of the answer she would receive.
"They're being kidnapped by these two guys they walked out of the store and the guys had their arms around them and Kristy gave me this look like she was really scared and I started coming after them but then she gave me this different look and I realized the guys had guns and she mouthed for me to get help and we gotta get some!!!!" Elissa blurted out, all in one breath.
Miraculously, Karen and Alta were able to understand her. They all ran off, searching frantically for someone to save their best friends. After a few minutes, they found a cop and they quickly explained the situation to him. He called in more police on his radio as the 4 of them rushed to where Elissa had said they'd been going to. But when they got there, they discovered that the car was no longer there. They were too late.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I opened my eyes and glanced at Korin. We made eye contact and I saw the same fear in her eyes that I knew was in mine. A tear rolled down her cheek, and I swallowed hard to keep myself from breaking down. I had to be the strong one. No matter what, I had to be the strong one. I had been the strong one my entire life and I was going to be the strong one until the day I died. So, no matter what, I couldn't cry along with her.
There was a jolt as the car stopped. We were pulled out of the car and led into an old warehouse.
"An abandoned warehouse. How original," I muttered under my breath.
"Yes, isn't it," Korin agreed.
"What did you say?" one of the guys demanded as he turned around, pointing his gun at me.
"Nothing. We didn't say anything," I said weakly.
"Watch it, babe. Your mouth could get you a bullet," he said angrily.
I wanted to scream at him, to tell him not to call me babe, to tell him not to take advantage of me and my best friend, to tell him to leave us the fuck alone. But, of course I couldn't.
The same guy that had yelled at us led us into a dark room with no windows. He shoved us against the wall.
"Sit down," he demanded. We obeyed. "Don, you take first shift. These girls have mouths on them. If they try anything, shoot them. No hesitations. Got that?" he said to the other guy, apparently Don.
"Sure thing, Joe," Don agreed wholeheartedly. Maybe it was just my imagination, but he seemed to be just as afraid of Joe as we were.
Joe left and Don took a seat on a chair across from us.
"So, is kidnapping random girls one of your favorite hobbies?" I asked.
He pointed his gun at me and I bit my lower lip. He didn't shoot me. Instead, he lowered his gun and answered my question.
"Actually, you guys aren't random. We only kidnap when we can get some money out of it. We know very well that you guys are two members of 'the hottest new girl group around,' Illusion," he replied sourly.
"How much money do you think we have? Our album isn't even out yet, and our single was just released yesterday," Korin pointed out.
"Baby, it's been #1 on all the local radio station countdowns for the last 2 nights. Not to mention, you should see the reviews of you guys that everyone who's been to a BSB concert has given on the internet. Maybe you don't have much money right now, but in a few weeks, we'll be able to get some dough. And once we get that, we'll kill you. Very simple really," he answered.
I swallowed hard and tensed up. Then I quickly tried to cover it up. Even though I knew it was useless, I didn't want this guy to see how scared I really was. Korin and I exchanged terrified looks, both thinking the same thing.
"Now, why don't you girls get some sleep. You have nothing else to do anyway," Don said.
We wordlessly laid down on the hard cement floor. But I didn't sleep. I just laid there awake, thinking about the situation. I thought about how much I longed for my bed, even my tour bus bunk, anything, anywhere, other than this. I longed to joke around with my best friends, and have fun, like we always would. I longed for my family, and the thought that I might never see them again terrified me. I was an only child, my parents' baby, and I knew it would totally devastate them to lose me. I longed to feel Brian's arms around me I wondered if I would ever feel them again. I longed for him to kiss me, and hold me, and tell me everything was going to be alright. But he wasn't here to do that, and everything wasn't going to be alright. Figures. I finally get everything I dreamed of, and now I'm going to lose it all.