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‘It makes me wanna go back in time / I know you remember when ...’

Kayleigh frowned at her phone screen as the in-car Bluetooth system kicked in and interrupted Nick’s ode to the millennium. As usual, the highway was jammed with people trying to get out of the city. Singing at the top of her lungs was the only thing that made Kayleigh’s commute tolerable. It was also the only time that she dared to pretend that she was actually capable of hitting a note that wouldn’t make her husband, her kid, and her cat run for cover.

“Hello? Helloooo? Kay? Are you there?!”

“Yeah, Soph, I’m here.” Kayleigh winced as her friend’s voice blasted through the car’s speaker system. She hastily turned down the volume and returned the majority of her attention to the slow-moving traffic. “What’s goin’ on?”

“ThewebsiteistryingtomakeAJanalcoholicagain!” Sophia shrieked; stringing her words together into an almost unintelligible mess. “What the fuck is wrong with people?”

“The website?” Kayleigh repeated as she struggled to make sense of what her friend was saying. “I don’t know what ...”

Kayleigh made the connection as she watched the driver in front of her force his car into the other lane. Of course, Sophia was talking about the Backstreet Boys and the creepy competition website. Hell, it was all anyone was talking about. Even her sixty-something year old boss had mentioned the boys’ unsettling situation during their afternoon meeting. Kayleigh had checked the website right before she had left the office, but the new poll hadn’t been uploaded yet.

“Is the new competition online?” Kayleigh inched her car forward and dropped her eyes to her phone that was propped up in the centre console. Her fingers literally twitched against the steering wheel as she mentally coached herself not to reach for it. The logical part of her knew that she couldn’t afford the fine, or the three demerit points, associated with a distracted driving charge. The die-hard Backstreet Boys fan part of her; however, was desperate to check-in on ‘her boys’ and make sure that they were still okay.

“People are voting for AJ to have a drink.” Sophia delivered the information at a more reasonable speed. “He’s in the lead!.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Kayleigh struggled to keep at least some of her focus on the road as her brain tried to digest the notion that people were voting to for a recovering alcoholic to break his sobriety. “Who’s in second place?”

“Nick.” Sophia sighed. “But, he’s behind by more than a thousand votes. There’s no way that he’ll be able to bump AJ out of the top spot. More than five thousand people have already voted, Kay, and I don’t think that many of them are fans based on the outcome of this poll.”

Kayleigh’s stomach flipped. She had been a Backstreet Boys fan for almost twenty years, and the thought of any of them getting hurt filled her with an overwhelming sense of sadness. These five men had provided the soundtrack to her life and she, along with the rest of their fans, had a duty to protect them. It was time for the Backstreet Army to rise up and protect the boys who had given so much to them.

“The police need to hurry up and figure this shit out!” Kayleigh’s anger was growing by the second. “Did you see those two dumbass detectives on the news last night? They said that they currently have no leads! Do you believe that shit?! We can watch them online twenty-four hours a day, but the police can’t find them?!”

“I really think that whoever is behind this whole kidnapping mess clearly doesn’t think that they’re ever going to get caught. This is the first real game, or poll, or whatever it is that they’re calling it, and people are being given a whole day to vote. These creeps certainly aren’t in any rush.” The anger was also seeping into Sophia’s voice. “A bunch of girls who are super active on Twitter have already started to organize a group to try and coordinate the fan vote. I guess we aren’t the only ones who think that what’s about to happen to AJ is complete bullshit.”

“I’ll check out the Twitter thing when I get home.” Kayleigh promised. She could finally see her freeway exit in the distance, and she hastily turned on her signal to merge into the right lane of traffic. She was already debating about taking the next day off of work so that she would be home in time to see the outcome of the poll. “Who knows, maybe AJ won’t even have to drink anything. How are they going to force him to take a drink if he refuses?”

“I dunno ...” Sophia's heavy sigh reverberated through the speakers. “... but, I’m pretty sure that we’re going to find out tomorrow.”

“3 ... 2 ... 1 ... ding, ding, ding; I’m the winner!” AJ allowed the iPad to slip out of his hands and onto his stomach. He rubbed at his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He hadn’t slept at all last night; none of them had. “When do you think I’m gonna get my prize?”

“You’re not going to drink anything.” Kevin glanced quickly at the now inactive bar graph that was still displayed on the tablet and shifted positions once again. Thanks to the handcuffs, he had long since lost all feeling in his hands, arms, and shoulders. “If they hand you a bottle of liquor, I’m just going to hurl it against the wall. They can’t force you to drink it.”

“They could tie him up and force it down his throat.” Nick interjected from his position by the door.

“Thanks, Nick.” AJ rolled his eyes in the blonde’s direction. “That’s a comforting thought.”

Nick shrugged. “Also, Kev, you can’t throw anything because of the handcuffs.”

“That’s it! I’m gonna kill him.” AJ sat up and looked at each of his friends in turn. “Do you think our captors would be upset if I killed Nick before they decided to do it themselves?”

“Jesus.” Howie shook his head while trying to conceal a smirk. AJ’s comments were completely inappropriate, but at least they were providing a distraction to the stress of their current situation.

“Nobody is killing anybody.” Kevin was seriously resisting the urge to slam his head against the cement wall. “Just like nobody is getting drunk.”

“Are you sure about that, Kev?” AJ nodded in the direction of the door as the massive deadbolt suddenly clunked into the ‘open’ position. “Because I’m pretty sure that these guys have other ideas.”

“You’re right, AJ. We do have other ideas.” Angelo pulled open the heavy door and stepped inside. He was wearing a balaclava to conceal his identify from the tens of thousands of people watching the video feed, but he could still see the fear criss-crossing the faces of his prisoners through the small opening around his eyes. “We can’t disappoint your fans. We’ve promised them a good show.”

“You’re sick! Do you know that?” Howie challenged; his shaky voice betraying the fact that he was acting a lot braver than he felt. “You have mental problems!”

Angelo laughed as Carl stepped into the room behind him brandishing a very large and very impressive looking gun. “No, Howie.” Angelo lifted his own gun and pointed it directly at Nick’s head. “Shooting Nick in the face for no apparent reason would indicate that I have mental problems. Seeing as how your little blonde buddy is still alive, I think it’s safe to say that I’m only slightly unhinged.”

Nick feverishly darted his eyes back and forth between the two men. His feet were rooted to the spot; his body paralysed by fear as he looked into the barrel of the gun. Of course, it didn’t really matter if he moved. There was nowhere for him to hide even if he managed to convince his body to run. What was he going to do? Dive behind Kevin and hope for the best?

“Let’s go.” Angelo smirked. He could practically smell the terror oozing out of Nick’s body as he motioned for him to step forward. “You and AJ are coming with us.”

“Where are you taking them?” It was Brian’s turn to issue a challenge as he stood up from his cot and took a step forward. Unlike Howie, his voice was strong, determined. “I thought there could only be one winner.”

Angelo clucked his tongue in amusement. He had practically forgotten that the little southern thing existed; he had been so quiet up until this point. “AJ is the winner, but we need one of you to come along as ... insurance.” Angelo paused to size up the tiny man with the brave face. “Are you offering to go instead?”

“If that’s what you want.” Brian stood his ground. “Nick can stay and I’ll go.”

Nick pulled in his breath and turned to look at Brian. He may have been putting on a brave face, but Nick could see through his façade. The lines around the corners of his eyes were just a little too deep and his chest was rising just a little too fast; Brian was scared and Nick knew it. What Nick didn’t know was why Brian was offering to go in his place.

“Nobody is going anywhere.” Kevin stepped in; his voice dangerously low. “You can’t make any of us go with you.”

“Is that so?” Angelo loved a challenge. With one fluid motion, he dove at Nick and swiftly captured the youngest boy-bander around the neck. He tightened his grip as Nick squirmed against his fingers, relishing in the sounds of him gasping for air. “Are you going to stop me, Kevin?” Angelo pressed his gun into Nick’s temple and licked his lips. “Our plan will still work with just the four of you.”

“Kevin!” AJ held out his hand to prevent the older man from getting to his feet. Part of him was actually glad that Kevin was still in handcuffs as he watched a look of murderous rage cross his oldest friend’s face. “It’s okay. If they want me to go with them, I’ll go with them.”

The prospect of having a drink was actually starting to sound good to AJ. He didn’t know how many more times he could deal with seeing one of his brothers being threatened with a gun to their head. Just like with Brian, AJ was fairly certain that their captors weren’t actually going to kill Nick. However, just like with Brian, AJ wasn’t willing to take the risk. He would do whatever it took to ensure that he wasn’t responsible for getting someone else killed. If he happened to die in the process, then so be it.

“I knew it. I knew that you would agree.” Angelo couldn’t stop the smirk from stretching across his face as he indicated that AJ should go first.

He looked at each of the other men in turn as AJ took a few halting steps toward the door. The tiny Latino looked like he was on the verge of tears, the feisty southerner seemed to be debating about whether or not to try and be a hero, and the brooding old man was still struggling fruitlessly against his handcuffs. Angelo was intrigued by their respective reactions, but he didn’t have time to dwell on his thoughts. He didn’t want to hang around long enough for one of them to realize that they should be trying to escape.

Angelo waited until Carl had curled his fingers around AJ’s scrawny, tattooed upper arm before he began to drag Nick in the direction of the door. The fact that the blonde wasn’t even trying to put up a fight was strangely satisfying. “You boys be good until we get back.” Angelo gave the three remaining Backstreet Boys a final glance as he followed Carl and AJ out of the room. Their looks of petrified anger were even more satisfying than Nick’s compliance. “We shouldn’t be gone too long.”