I awoke the next morning to find Chelsea gone. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I crawled out of the bed and headed to the bathroom. That is where I found a note taped to the mirror. It was written in a messy scribble that was almost as bad as MY handwriting. It said simply:
‘Hey, I had to split for a while. No one knows where you are or how to get a hold of you. I trust the girls but told them you were at the Super 8, you know, just to be on the safe side. I hope to be back in a few hours and will bring food with me. Lay low and play Nintendo or something. I’ll call if there are any problems.
Hugs – Chels’
“What the fuck?” I scrunched my eyebrows. “Where the bloody hell could she have gone?” Taking in a deep breath, I left the bathroom to grab a change of clothes. I took a long hot shower to relax myself and sort out my thoughts. Afterwards, I was more relaxed but had gotten none of my thoughts sorted. I wasn’t even sure why they needed to be sorted. All I knew was that I could barely think straight and that my life seemed to be on a continuous downward spiral. I settled in for a long day of watching TV and playing video games. I couldn’t help but wonder what she was up to or if I even really wanted to know.
Now, of course, I can’t really tell you what went on with her that day. Just like the last chapter of this book, I have to call her in, to tell her side of the story. I guess, when this gets published, I will have to put her down as a co-author. So, wouldn’t that make it, NOT an auto biography? It couldn’t be a biography, either, because I am writing the majority of it. Hmm, I guess I will have to do some research on that. Oh, sorry, I guess that’s not really important, right now. Here Chels, take the pen.
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I am not exactly sure why I let him suck me into writing more but oh well. I had gotten up early that morning and met the girls at their house. The meeting was to be held at 9 am and about 45 minutes from their house. We picked up Dani and all the other girls at the airport (we had quite a few rental cars too) and headed to the meeting spot. I was anxious, to say the least. My thought kept going back to someone blurting out that I knew where Nick was. Dani obviously had to have figured out that she was right about JR being Nick and that I had run off with him to come here. Plus Erika and Kelly knew about it, too. I was a tad bit stressed over the whole situation.
“ATTENTION, PLEASE!!!” a short, chubby blonde screamed over all of the voices. For the first time, I came back to reality and realized just how many people showed up for this. Let’s just say that I was floored! “Everyone settle down! We need to talk business. As you may have figured out, my name is Sharon and I am the one who sent out the emails.”
“How do we know you aren’t faking us out and really on their side?” someone from my left shouted.
“Boy, wouldn’t that be dumb? I mean you guys outnumber me, how many to one? Anyways, I have spied on my brother a lot the past few days. Since it is something I make a habit of, he didn’t even notice,” she laughed. “I am pretty much the only one in the family that doesn’t have some sort of ties into a gang. So, needless to say, my brother was stoked when I told him I was interested in finding out more about the gang he leads.” She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, “I have spent the last three days hanging out with these freaks and TRYING to act like I was interested. Ugh, but I was able to get a lot of information that will help us.
“The day I found out about the hostage location, I went right to the police station. They told me they would ‘look into it’ and according to the news, I haven’t seen any action. That is why we are here. If they would have done something, then we would just be sitting around eating cookies and exchanging stories but they didn’t and our Boys need our help! So here is the plan. Whoever is still game by the end of this meeting will gather back here at 10 tonight. All those who show will then be split up into groups and each group will have a specific assignment. We will initiate our plans at midnight, the gang members will be fewer and half of them will probably be snoring or too stoned to notice anything. This isn’t going to be easy girls and is potentially dangerous. Everyone needs to think about it before joining on the mission because once the plan goes into play, we CAN NOT have anyone back out! Even one person bailing on us during the operation could cause the whole plan to unravel…so think about it and don’t join unless you plan to commit 100%! Any questions?” This girl was really long winded but she seemed to be very sincere about the whole thing. Her eyes were filled with a combination of anger and determination.
“Aren’t they going to have guns?” one girl, whose ‘Hello my name is…’ tag read Jenny, asked.
“Probably,” Sharon replied. “That’s why our plan’s main objective is to catch them off guard.”
“Can’t we take in guns? Wouldn’t it be easier?” Jenny questioned.
“Absolutely not! We are not going to kill anyone. If we have to inflict pain, that is one thing, but I am not going to risk ANY of us going to jail for murder!” Sharon’s answer was firm.
“How many of them will there be?” I couldn’t see this girl’s name tag but she was tall, skinny, and had short black hair.
“From what my brother was saying, there are usually only 15 or so guys there at night. That is why we are doing it so late. I know it seems like a lot of guys to take on, but they are scattered through out the warehouse that they are keeping the guys in. They won’t all be together in the same room. I think there are only five guys in the room with Brian and AJ, at night.”
“How will we find each of them?” Dani shouted from behind me.
“We will take them down as we find them. There will be at least five girls to a team, so it should be pretty easy to overpower them,” Sharon shrugged.
“How do we know AJ and Brian will trust us?” someone shouted from the back of them room.
“I have a plan for that, as well,” she smiled.
“What are we going to do with the gang members as we take them down?” I questioned.
“There will be a couple groups just for that. They will be in charge of duct tape and rope,” she laughed. “Plus, we will be informing the cops of our actions once things get underway. Once they arrive, they will be able to take care of the gang members. But that is all in the plan that we will discuss tonight,” she explained. “Anyone else?” Silence filled the room.
“You said to meet at 10, right?” some guy shouted. I was a bit surprised that a guy showed up for this. Hmm, I guess some men aren’t afraid to admit liking the Backstreet Boys.
“Yes. Everyone should wear black pants that are not baggy, black shoes…NOT HEELS…have your hair pulled back, girls, and I would recommend that you not wear any jewelry. We don’t want anyone getting their baggy pants caught on something or an earring pulled out. Remember that this is a top secret mission that needs to be taken seriously. Brian and AJ will not be interested in a black mini skirt and hoop earrings if you are lying on the floor dead! Be reasonable and think Die Hard or Mission Impossible, not Charlie’s Angels…we are not fighting in tight leather and heels…this is for real,” she emphasized her point with a sense of authority and urgency.
“No cell phones or pagers either,” I added, “it would be pretty humiliating if we are in the room only moments away from saving them only to have to whole thing go to pot because a phone starts playing Red High Heels or something.” A couple people laughed and I just shrugged.
“Very good point,” Sharon nodded. “Just use your heads okay everyone? With all that said, I will see you tonight. Any more questions can be addressed then, too.”
“This is going to be so awesome,” Dani gushed as we climbed in the car to leave from the meeting.
“Yeah, totally cool,” I rolled my eyes not caring that my voice dripped with sarcasm.
“You aren’t amped up?” Dani questioned.
“Adrenaline wise, I am sure I will be. I will be happy if the whole thing is successful, but I don’t think it’s ‘cool’. I think it’s messed up that it is resorting to this. I mean, why are the cops not doing anything? They said they were going to do everything in their power but yet, when given the location, they do nothing!?! It’s fucked up.” I replied getting a bit annoyed.
“I just hope we all get out of this alive and no one gets hurt. I agree that it is completely messed up that we are having to do this,” Kelly piped up from the driver’s seat. I was sitting passenger while Erika and Dani were in back with another one of our friends, Meredith.
“The authorities are supposed to take extra good care of celebrities. Why aren’t they doing it for the Boys?” Erika questioned.
“Who knows,” I shrugged as we pulled into the driveway. “I will see you girls tonight,” I waved to them as I got into the driver’s seat. I pulled out and started heading towards the hotel where Nick was hiding. My nerves were on end. Excitement, nervousness, anxiousness, fear, and uncertainty all coursed through my veins as my mind reeled over what was to come.
Deciding to pick up food at Burger King, I went through the drive up and ordered food for us and some extras for Nick to eat later, if he got hungry. As I got close to the hotel, I decided to stop at the gas station and stock up on drinks and snacks. It only took me a couple minutes to arrive at the hotel. Slowly, I made my way up the stairs. I was constantly looking over my shoulder and checking my surroundings as I made my way to our room. I even went up to the next floor then took a different stairwell back down. Maybe I was going a bit overboard but I was petrified that someone would find out about Nick and follow me to where he was. Shuddering at the thought, I shook those thoughts from my head as I took one last look around me. I walked in to find him passed out on the floor with a controller in hand.
“Food is here,” I shouted only a few inches from his ear. He jumped about two feet but grinned when he saw the bags of food. We sat and ate. I was surprised that he didn’t ask about where I had been; although, I knew, he was thinking about it.
“Thanks,” he smiled at me.
“You’re welcome,” I responded. We sat in silence. Inside my head wasn’t silent, though. My thoughts were screaming at me. I had to work on preparing myself for the night that lay ahead.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks to everyone who had been reading! I appreciate all the feedback, too. ;-) I hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think.
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