Second Time Around

- Chapter 15 -

~Nick~

Alright, I was starting to lose a little patience. I was starving, the pizza was looking to be a lost cause, and Kev and I couldn't find AJ. The jerk. He was probably having a better time then I was.

"Nick, you wanna head back? He's probably already up there."

"I doubt it," I answered.

"You wanna go back anyway?"

I shrugged. It was just as boring down here as it was upstairs. "I guess."

"Yeah, let's go. C'mon."

I pulled myself away from the window. Yeah, that's how successful we were, we were wasting our time staring out the window.

I got this funny feeling when we we started back down the hall. I can't really describe it. It was just something in the pit of my stomach. I glanced behind me, but no one was there.

"We being followed again?"

"Shut up," I muttered, rolling my eyes. He had to be sarcastic. You'd think he might be worried that right at that moment AJ could be in the hands of some crazy deranged psycho who wanted to get money or kill us. But no. He had to be sarcastic.

I shook my head and followed Kevin to the stairwell slowly. So shoot me if I thought something might be wrong. I thought we'd agreed it was better to be cautious? Well I was just being cautious.

"Nick, no one is following us. C'mon. We gotta get started."

"What if AJ's really in trouble?"

"What if he's upstairs with the guys getting pissed off that we all have to get ready for the show now and we're not there?"

"What if-"

Kevin grabbed my arm and pushed me through the door before him. Fine. Okay. I just had this feeling that wouldn't go away. For Kev's sake, I'd ignore it.

By the time we reached the door upstairs, I had pretty much convinced myself that I was wrong. That I was just being stupid. AJ was fine. Let the show go on. I let Kev step in front of me and open the door.

"Shit," he muttered. I frowned and looked up. Shit what? I tried to look over his shoulder but he pushed me sideways. What the hell?

"So another returns," I heard someone note.

That voice . . .

Frank.

Shit. My stomach clenched.

"Nicky, go. He didn't see you," Kevin hissed. "Git."

"But-"

"Go," he repeated, giving me a harder shove. One look at his face and I took off back down the hall toward the stairwell as fast as I could.

No, no, no. This wasn't supposed to happen. And what was I supposed to do? I didn't like leaving them. What if he'd already done something to Brian and Howie?

My stomach twisted and I hesitated on the stairs, trying to breathe steady. Should I go back?

And what, fight Frank? Not likely. Then I'd be stuck there too. At least this way I could try and get help. My legs felt weak but I forced them to move and hurried down the stairs.

~AJ~

I was making my way back around to try and find the stairwell I'd come out of when someone grabbed me from behind. I nearly screamed.

"AJ! God, Jay. You'll never-"

"Get off of me, man." I tried to shake Nick off, but he had my arm in a death grip. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Bone, he's- he's back. Upstairs. He's- They're- . . ."

God, the boy was getting a lot better with those acting skills.

"Funny, dumbass. Let go of my arm."

"I'm serious. Frank's upstairs," he said shakily. He had that scared wide eyed look. I frowned.

"Then how'd you get away?" I wasn't going to fall for his stupid jokes that easy.

"Me and Kev were looking for you down here, we left Bri and Howie up there. We gave up on you and went back upstairs and when Kev opened the door . . . He- Frank only saw him."

I stared at him and suddenly felt a little dizzy. Okay . . . "Is it just Frank or are there more?"

"I dunno." Nick shrugged.

I glanced up and down the empty halls and felt a cold feeling travel down my spine. How did Frank even get in? Hell, I couldn't even get out if I wanted to.

"What're we gonna do?"

"First you're gonna give me back my arm, kid."

He loosened his grip but he didn't let me go.

"Did you see anything while you were down here?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I was just hanging with the band but they had to go get ready so I thought I'd come back."

Nick narrowed his eyes. "It's about time."

"Whatever. Look, we'll just go on a search for security, tell them what's up, and let them worry about it." I tried to act calm even though my stomach was telling me a different story.

"What if Frank killed them all?"

I stared at him. "Are you serious, Nick?"

"How else did he get through though? Didn't you ever see that movie with that guy that-"

"God, no. You're not gonna watch any more movies." No wonder he couldn't sleep at night.

"Well what if we can't find any? We can't leave them up there."

"I know, I know." I tried to think. "Then we'll have to come up with our own plan to get them out of there."

Nick nodded slowly. "Okay . . ." He started down the hall, pulling me with him. "C'mon."

I tried not to freak out as we walked. Freaking out wouldn't help anything. We would find security and they would know exactly what to do. Everything would be cool. And look on the bright side, we didn't have to wonder where Frank was anymore. We knew.

Oh yeah, that was reassuring.

"Phone." Nick suddenly stopped and moved toward the payphone. I hadn't even noticed one was there. He grabbed the reciever, holding it up to his ear. His hand hovered over the numbers. I rolled my eyes.

"Nine, one-"

"There's no dialtone. Shit."

"Maybe it's disconnected."

Nick gave me a look. "Yeah, you think?"

"Shut up, you prick."

"Now what?" Nick sighed.

"We keep looking. I don't know, Nick. I don't know what to do."

"Okay, let's just keep looking. We'll try and thinking of something."

Something, something.

I had no clue. I was scared out of my mind just thinking about the guys back with Frank.

-

- Chapter 16 -

~Brian~

I didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed when I saw Kev come through the door. I felt better having him with me and Howie, but it also meant one less person on the outside who could get us out that room.

And where was Nick?

I chewed on my thumbnail anxiously and watched Kevin as Frank approached him. I couldn't hear what either of the two of them were saying. We needed to get out of this. I swallowed and scooted closer to Howie on the couch.

"Howie . . ."

"Yeah?" His voice was in a whisper like mine.

"I'm thinking of a plan."

He stared at me.

"To get us out of here." Need I elaborate more?

"Just run anything through me before you do something stupid, alright?"

And I could feel the trust he had toward any of my ideas.

Maybe he was just sick of the numerous times in the past half hour that I had told him I'd count to three and we'd make a run for it. What was so bad about that? It could have worked. Frank wasn't quite all there.

"Alright, so now there's three of you," Frank said as Kevin dropped down on the couch next to me.

The guy had good math skills.

"Welcome to the party," I said softly, leaning against Kevin.

"Hey, buddy," Kevin answered evenly. His eyes were checking out the room. "You guys okay?"

I shrugged.

"I guess," Howie answered.

"It's alright, we'll get out of here soon," Kevin started. I nodded.

"I know, I'm thinking of a plan," I told him. He gave me the same look that Howie had given me before and I frowned. "What?"

"Nothin'." Kevin shook his head.

"Kev?" Howie looked up. "Where's Nick?"

"He's okay, he just got out of here before Frank saw him."

I nodded slowly. "You didn't find AJ, huh?"

Kevin shook his head with a frown.

I frowned too. If me and the kid only didn't have a stupid little fight over who knows what. I sighed. God.

"Maybe they'll get help-"

"Guys, guys, guys ..." Frank stepped forward and shook his his head. "We were off to such a great start as friends, don't ruin it by talking."

We stared at him.

"And if you think your friends downstairs are gonna help you out ..." He chuckled and my stomach tightened. "You can go on thinking that I guess. But I'm not the only one in on this you know. Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Yes," I answered. I couldn't help it. But he was in my face.

"Listen," he hissed, grabbing onto my shirt and giving a shake. "I don't want to deal your shit! Keep your mouth shut or else. I'm only gonna tell you once." He cuffed my head roughly and backed off.

And then Kevin hit me too. He smacked my leg hard and I looked at him.

"Don't start, Brian."

I just stuck out my lower lip.

~Nick~

Alright, we weren't getting anywhere. Rescue team Nick and AJ was failing. But only because no one in the world was around. Nobody that we could see.

"Stop looking behind you, man. God, you're starting to make me paranoid."

I glanced at him and frowned at his tone. He'd been getting less and less social in the past half hour. "Sorry."

He just shook his head. "God. Why the hell isn't there anybody around?"

"I don't know," I said softly. I stopped walking and went to a window. AJ only took a step more before he turned and came to stand next to me.

"Sorry, Nicky, I don't mean to be short with you ..."

"That's okay," I said absently, leaning my head against the window. I squinted down at all the little people below.

"I'm just kinda pissed at what's going on now. That's all, not at you." God, now he felt bad or something.

"Me too."

"So if I'm mean to you, you can just hit me or something, okay?"

I smiled a little and turned my head to look at him. "Okay, Jay."

He just rolled his eyes. I sighed and turned my attention back outside. We needed to think of something ... I looked over as I felt AJ sink to the floor next to me.

"We gonna stop for a bit?" I asked.

He nodded and stared at the tiled floor.

There was a pause.

"If worse comes to worse, AJ, you know what we can do?"

"What's that."

"We can disguise ourselves and leave back here and go up front and try and find somebody."

AJ looked up at me, amused. "Yeah, Frack. I'll let you go first."

I kicked him. "It was just an idea."

"Alright, alright. Geez. Don't kick me, boy."

"You told me if you were mean to you I could hit you."

"I wasn't being friggin' mean! And who said anything about kicking?"

I shrugged with a small smile. "Details."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, punching me in the leg tiredly. I slid down to the floor next to him.

"Jay, what're we gonna do?"

"Beats me." He rubbed his eyes with his hands. "Damn ... This doesn't seem real yet."

"Yeah ..." I trailed off. Wait a second, I heard something. Like footsteps. "Do you hear someone?"

AJ listened for a second and started to shake his head. "No- wait, yeah." He sat up a little. "Somebody's coming."

We both pulled ourselves up off the floor and waited for the footsteps to come nearer.

"A guard?" I whispered, staring at the older guy coming around the bend in a dark blue suit and a walky-talky at his waist. I touched AJ's arm.

"He doesn't look like one of ours," AJ agreed softly. "What do we do?"

What do we do? Oh God.

"Run?"

"We don't know if he's bad," AJ whispered.

"Well how are we gonna find out?" I hissed.

"I don't know, but I'm sure as hell not running!"

"But-"

"Boys?"

Our heads shot up. The guy was right in front of us. I shot AJ a glare. Nice going, dimwit.

"Thank God, we've been looking all over for you guys."

We both stared at him.

"We took care of this whole security fiasco, don't worry. C'mon, I'll take you back upstairs to get ready for the show."

"Who're you?" I didn't trust this guy.

"Henry." He stuck out his hand. I ignored it and moved closer to AJ. Henry cleared his throat. "C'mon. You don't have a lot of time."

"Okay, okay. Sorry. C'mon, Nick."

I stared at AJ. Was he crazy?

"I'm thinking of something," he mouthed.

I just nodded.

-

- Chapter 17 -

~Kevin~

Damn humming.

Frank was sitting over to the side with his back to us, humming.

And as if it wasn't bad enough that he was humming in the first place, he wasn't even humming a tune. He was just humming.

And Brian was starting to hum with him. Great.

Brian I shot a glare at, but his eyes were shut. Howie made a face at me over his head.

"Torture," he mouthed.

I nodded. Yeah it was. "Brian, stop it," I hissed.

His eyes remained shut, but the humming stopped.

"You know," Howie said softly. "This is three against one. We should be able to get out of this."

"Yeah, but-"

"But pow," Brian cut me off, opening his eyes. He stuck out his pointer finger like a gun.

Howie and I stared at him a second, but it was true and we knew it. Who knew what that man was hiding. If it was simply a battle with strength, not weapons, then the three of us would have the upper hand. But on the other hand if he was armed ... I didn't even want to think about it.

"We'll think of something ..." I felt like that was all I had been saying the whole time. But we would.

Howie just nodded. "Yeah, something."

He didn't sound so certain.

Brian, on the other hand, was worrying me with his certainty.

"We'll just count. One, two, three, and then go. Or we can go on three, which might be even better because then he wouldn't be-"

"Are you serious," I interrupted. He looked at me solemnly. "Brian?"

"Yeah. No."

Alright then, kiddo. I just nodded slowly and started to turn back to Howie. Brian touched my arm.

"You can use the bathroom thing again. I was thinking ... about last time." He said it uncertainly, as if he was afraid to bring it up if we had blocked it out.

The bathroom thing.

"Yeah," Howie said softly, glancing quickly at Frank out of the corner of his eye. The humming continued and his gaze came back to us. "Ask if you can use the bathroom and he'll have to go with you. Or we'll all have to go, but at least we'll be out of here."

It could work. Unless he'd gotten a little smarter in those couple of months.

I shot a glance at the humming man with his back to us. Not likely.

"Then," Brian started in a whisper. "We can count to three and -"

"You're gonna be counting to three in a second," I interrupted. "Enough with that."

His blue eyes narrowed slightly.

"Anyway," Howie eased in, clearing his throat. "It's worth a try, either way."

The humming suddenly stopped.

A pause.

"What's worth a try?" came Frank's voice. He turned around slowly with a frown. My stomach suddenly felt like it had dropped to the floor.

"Well you know what they say ..." Brian's beginning of a comment didn't seem to surprise me. When he got nervous he either clammed up or got mouthy. There wasn't really an in-between point for him.

"Don't," I warned softly. He quieted.

Frank shook his head at us with this odd look in his eyes. "Please. No more talking."

And as we stared at him, silently, he turned back around and the humming resumed.

~AJ~

"Where are we going?"

"I told you, back to the room."

"Well we passed the stairwell for the room a couple minutes ago." I exchanged a look with Nick.

"They changed rooms," Henry said after a pause.

"Yeah right," Nick muttered. I cleared my throat.

"We don't change rooms," I said.

"Well you did this time." If Henry was trying to be nice to us before, I don't think he was anymore. His voice sounded annoyed. "For security."

Ah, security.

Yeah right.

"Well we-"

"I have to go to the bathroom," Nick interrupted.

Henry and I both stared at him. Nick stared back innocently.

"What?"

"You're gonna have to wait," Henry said as I smiled slightly. I got it.

"Are we gonna have to go upstairs?" Nick asked.

"Yes ..."

"Then I can't wait." Nick gave the dark older man a sweet smile. Henry glowered back.

"You're gonna have to."

"I can't." Nick shook his head.

"You're gonna-"

"I can't, okay? Listen you guys can go up, tell me where you're going and I'll meet you up there."

Henry let out a heavy breath. "We'll all go."

"No, AJ needs a long time to get ready," Nick lied. "So I think-"

"I think we'll all go," Henry finished, giving him a look. I didn't trust this guy one bit. I could see Nick swallow.

"Yeah, uh, okay. You can come if you want to." He glanced at me and I just shrugged. Nice try, Nicky. Time to think of another plan.

It took about ten more minutes of walking around until we did actually come across a bathroom. Nick paused with his hand on the door when he saw Henry just one step behind him. And I was just one step behind Henry because there was no way I was leaving that kid alone with him.

"I can take a piss without any help, thanks." Nick gave Henry a look and the man actually backed off. I stepped back too, unsure.

"Window," I mouthed to Nick. He frowned for a second and then nodded. I glanced at Henry but he was staring across down the hall.

"Okay." Nick disappeared through the door and I leaned against the wall. I noticed Henry looking at me after awhile and tried not to do anything rash.

"So what's up, man?" I said easily.

"Nothing," he said. I think he was going to say something else but the walky-talky at his belt crackled.

"Henry, come in," a voice said unclearly. "Did you catch them?"

Henry glanced at me before grabbing the walky-talky and bringing it up to his mouth, saying something into it. My heart had started pounding a little too hard for me to hear.

Catch them.

If the voice had said 'get them' or even 'find them' then maybe I wouldn't be so worried after all. But 'catch them'?

Time for something rash.

"Hey!"

Okay looking back I suppose that taking a shaky swing at the guy might not have been the best game plan right then but the only thing really on my mind was get away. Fast.

However I knew it wasn't really a good idea when the larger man slammed me up against the wall and my head made impact with it.

Ow.

But I did the only thing I could - shoved him away as hard as I could and scrambled for the bathroom door. I got through quickly and shut the door behind me, hoping for a lock.

And there was.

I turned the deadlock as pounding on the other side started. Shit.

"AJ?"

I looked up and saw Nick coming away from the rows of sinks. He stared at the door with wide eyes for a minute before looking back at me questioningly.

"He's not a guard," was all I said.

"Surprise, surprise," Nick mumbled. He looked kind of pale.

"Well Nicky-boy, it's always been one of my wildest fantasies to be stuck in a bathroom with you," I said slowly, giving him a weird smile.

"Don't even, AJ."

-

- Chapter 18 -

~Howie~

Oh boy.

I had this weird feeling that getting out of this room wasn't going to be such an easy task. I was also beginning to realize that Frank was a little over the edge. I mean, he had to be to begin with, but now?

I stared at his back as he sat there humming.

Definitely over the edge.

I picked at some loose threads on the couch cushion and tried to think. I was beginning to think that we didn't have much of a choice besides Brian's idea. One, two, three.

Yeah, but one, two, three, what? Run? Attack?

I glanced oveer at Kevin and Brian, who seemed to be lost in their thoughts as well. Brian suddenly looked up and caught my eye.

"Are we gonna do something?" he whispered.

"I guess, but what? Just count and go?"

"Yeah. We'll sneak up on him. Jump him."

I rolled my eyes.

"One," he mouthed, holding up one finger. Two fingers. "Two-"

Kevin enveloped Brian's fingers in his hand. "Hang on," he said softly. He pointed to the table next to the television and my eyes widened slightly as they caught on to what he was bringing attention to.

A cellphone.

One of our cellphones was sitting silently on the tabletop, taunting us.

Damn.

Sitting right there, just out of reach. It was closer to Frank then it was to us. I glanced at Kevin and he gave me a shrug.

"Should we get it?" Brian whispered softly.

It seemed like our only option right then.

Kevin nodded slowly and I guess he figured the same thing.

"I'll distract him," Brian said to Kevin in a soft voice. "And you and Howie can get it."

"I don't want you to distract him."

"Then how else are we gonna get it?"

"Shush," Kevin interrupted. "Howie, what do you think?"

"I think Bri's right, Kev. We gotta distract him somehow or else he's gonna see us."

"Not if he's like that," Kevin argued, motioning to the humming, rocking figure that we were all afraid of. Ironic, wasn't it. I glanced back at Kevin and tried to think of a way to convince him that one of us was going to have to risk it.

"He's not gonna stay like that when he hears us get up," I said. "And the table's too close to him to just take a chance."

I could tell that Kevin was debating it in his head.

"Oh, I'll go get it," Brian muttered. "C'mon, I'll be there and back before he hums the next line of his song."

The humming suddenly stopped and the look that Kevin gave Brian was priceless. Brian chewed his lip, looking away from his cousin's eyes.

"So what are we talking about, boys?"

Frank was crazy.

"Oh, c'mon! We're all friends. You can share whatever it was with me." He was spinning something on the table, I heard it making a noise against the wood.

We were silent.

"Don't stop talking now!" The voice that was soft only two seconds before was now almost yelling. "What were you talking about?!" He stared at us and his eyes were bloodshot.

Brian tried to save the day. "I was just saying I gotta go to the bathroom."

There was a pause.

"You have to go to the bathroom," Frank repeated, his voice strained.

Brian nodded.

"You'll die if you don't get to the bathroom, huh?"

We stared at him and Brian was silent.

"Well!?"

"Yes," Brian said quickly.

Frank laughed and I knew that was the response he had been waiting for. "Then why don't I just kill you now?!" He grabbed the spinning object and raised it up quickly. I felt Brian jump in surprise.

A gun.

He was holding a gun.

There went any doubt of him being unarmed. We stared at him and he stared straight back, unblinking. The hand that held the gun was trembling slightly.

"Well, c'mon," he said suddenly.

C'mon? We stared at him questioningly.

"You have to go so bad, c'mon." Frank raised up from his seat, the gun falling to his side. I heard Brian let out a soft moan. "Let's go!"

Brian didn't move. "I don't wanna go anymore," he whispered to me and Kev. He looked like he wanted to cry.

"It's okay," Kevin started lightly, but his voice didn't really make it sound like it was. "Just do what he says. No 'one two threes', alright tough guy?"

"Right," came the soft answer. Brian sighed and slowly got up, following Frank to the door. I could tell he was trying to keep about a ten foot range, but Frank didn't seem to want to move unless Brian was at his side.

The second we heard them down the hall, our attention was on the cellphone. We both jumped up to grab it.

~Nick~

I have had tons of nightmares about getting trapped in places.

In an elevator, on the bus, in a closet, lots of places. But in a bathroom?

I had never imagined I'd ever get trapped in a bathroom.

"Man," I muttered.

The banging on the door suddenly stopped and I froze. Was that good or bad?

"AJ?"

When I didn't get an answer I turned to look at him, but he was standing there rubbing the back of his head with a pained expression. I frowned.

"Jay, you okay?"

He groaned. "Pretty much," he mumbled. "I just hit my head."

"Right now?" I frowned some more. "How?"

He looked up and stared at me for a second. "No, dumbass," he said slowly. "Not right now. When I got away from that guy out there."

Oooh.

"Are you okay? Are you dizzy?"

He shrugged. "I'll be fine, man."

He sat down right there on the dusty tiled floor and I knew he was feeling a little dizzy. I didn't say anything though since I knew it would make him more pissed. If he wanted you to worry about him then you could, but if he didn't, then forget it.

So I just sank down in front of him, sitting in indian style. He looked up.

"So what's the deal, Nicky? What's our plan?"

"He stopped banging."

"What?"

"The guy outside stopped the banging," I repeated. "You think he went away?"

"Maybe he went to go get a key."

Maybe AJ liked to scare me.

"Jay-"

"So did you find some place outta here?"

"I didn't get much time before you came barging in. I didn't even get to take advantage of the facilities."

AJ smiled at that one. "They're all yours now, buddy boy. Go ahead."

I shook my head. "No thanks. There's a window." I pointed.

"Good job. There's two windows."

I rolled my eyes. "Well if you really want to be specific, then there's three windows," I said sarcastically. "If you count that little one over there."

"Three windows then," he said with a chuckle.

"And they're kinda high but I guess if we got them open we could climb out, right?"

"Right ..."

"And so that's the only way out that I see."

"Yeah, I think you're right. Unless you wanna go peek out the door?"

"You can go peek out the door."

"Alright then, no door. Let's see if we can get these windows unlocked."

Don't ask me how I got picked to be the one to climb up on the sinks and try and get the first window open. I sure as hell didn't volunteer, but there I was, struggling with the damn window and hoping I wouldn't fall and break a leg.

"It's not opening, AJ."

He gave my leg a swat. "Use some muscle, little man."

"I am. They're like painted shut or something, AJ."

"You want me to try?"

"Jay, you're not gonna get it open."

"Okay, then c'mon. We'll think of something else."

Yeah, something else.

"These window sills are disgusting," I said as a side note. "Just so you know."

"Thanks for sharing, Nick. Now get your ass down here before you fall and break it."

"Right. Thanks for caring." I managed to turn and get back down to the floor with no major problems. "So now what?"

"Now we ... I don't know, kid, back to the drawing board I guess."

I sighed. There was no other way out besides those windows. If we couldn't get them open, then we were stuck.

-

- Chapter 19 -

~Brian~

Why.

Why did I have to open my mouth.

I didn't even have to really go to the bathroom and now look. I had a crazy guy walking me there with a damn gun hanging out of his hand.

I really didn't think that things could possibly get any worse. Not unless aliens came and took us to outer space to do experiments.

"I can go by myself." I really didn't want Frank pointing a gun at me in the bathroom. It was uncomfortable enough outside of it. He just stared at me. "Okay? Just give me five minutes."

"Two minutes," he said quickly. Paranoid.

"Four."

"Three."

"Five and a half."

"Okay," he agreed.

God, he was stupid.

"Don't try anything or I'll blast your brains out," he said when I was halfway through the door. I just bit my lip and let the heavy door close behind me.

Never underestimate the stupid.

I glanced around the bathroom for something, but don't ask what I was hoping to find there. Escape. A plunger maybe. That could work out to be quite a weapon. Beware of Brian- The Plunger Man.

Yeah. Right.

I knew I didn't have much time, but I was pretty much trying to stall as much as possible to give Kev and Howie a little time to grab that phone and call somebody. Anybody.

Watch, they were probably sitting there quietly doing nothing and this whole entire thing would be a waste. They would do that too. I would kill them.

There was a janitor's closet in there so I opened it up and pulled the string attached to the lightbulb dangling from the ceiling, glancing around at the room's contents. Things useless to me lined the shelves. Paint, extra lightbulbs, a bucket, cleaning supplies. Why didn't the darn janitors in this place carry weaponry?

I heard a heavy knock from the bathroom's outside door and Frank hollering something.

"Just a minute," I called, looking around the small dusty closet desperately. There had to be something I could use. Anything.

But nope, of course not. Things wouldn't be that simple, would they.

I lingered in there for a few more minutes, getting a little more frantic in my search. I needed to find something.

"Hey!"

I jumped about a foot, slamming into one of the shelves and knocking a hundred things to the floor with a clatter.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Um ..." I stared at Frank with wide eyes. I had never even heard him come in. "I'm looking for ... soap. They ran out of soap."

For I minute I swore he was going to hit me or shoot me and so I started saying a prayer, but instead he grabbed me by the arm and yanked me out of the closet.

I thought it was all good.

Until he slammed me up against the wall.

"What did I tell you?" His voice was low, almost like a growl. I swallowed slowly.

"I -"

"Not to try anything or ...?"

He trailed off as if he wanted me to finish the sentence, but I kept silent. I stared into his bloodshot eyes but it was only a second before I had to look away.

Then I felt something on the side of my head.

Something cold and heavy.

Something metal.

My eyes widened and I glanced to the side quickly, catching a glimpse of his shaking, trigger-happy finger about an inch away from shooting me. My head grew light and my legs suddenly felt like jelly.

"Or ...?" Frank hissed.

"I was looking for soap," I said in a whisper, shutting my eyes for a second. I didn't trust my voice.

"Or?" he repeated, growing louder. The metal pressed against me harder.

I could have said it. 'Blast your brains out'. Simple. But I was afraid that that would be the magic words, like okay, I know he knows so now I can shoot him.

I opened my eyes and strained my eyes to the side. His finger was resting on the trigger now, shaking like mad. At this rate he'd shoot me even if he didn't want to.

I swallowed. Come on, Brian. You're not dumb. Find a way out of here.

There was a tiny click from the gun that made me make my move. You know the sound in movies, when they press down on the trigger slowly and you hear the long cliiiick?

So when I heard that, I freaked and twisted away from him, just as the gun went off. I don't know whether he was actually going to shoot me or if my movement just caused him to press it accidentally, but all I know was that the bullet hit the wall about an inch away from my face.

And I ran.

I felt like I was moving really slow, but I was running as fast as I could down the hall, unable to breathe. It's hard to run when you can't feel your legs.

~AJ~

I glanced at my watch and shut my eyes again, leaning against the wall. The opening acts should be going on any minute, and Nick and I were stuck in a bathroom together.

Simply delightful.

I can't say that it would make me enjoy it, but if my headache would go away then it would be a little more pleasant. But as it was, here I was sitting on the cold tile floor listening to Nick sing to himself and trying to think of some way out of here besides the window and the door.

Yeah right.

Neither of us could work up enough courage to unlock the door and look out. Maybe that was exactly what that Henry guy was waiting for. Maybe there was a whole army outside the door now. We just didn't know. And didn't really want to find out.

"AJ?"

"Yeah, Nick?"

"Think of anything yet?"

"No, Nick."

I heard a sigh.

"I'll tell you if I do," I said. "At least we're safe here, right bud?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but what about the guys?"

I couldn't say the same thing wasn't running through my mind.

"What if Frank is like ..." He trailed off and I sucked in a breath.

"You see that mop over there? If you don't stop worrying I'm gonna attack you with it," I said. Nick smiled slightly, but then his eyes lit up.

"That's it!"

What was it? Me beating him with a mop? I frowned. "What are you talking about, Nick?"

"The mop! We can use it to break the window open."

The kid was already on his feet and grabbing the mop from the corner. I stood up slowly and followed him back to the rows of sinks.

"Be careful," I warned.

"Isn't it a good idea?"

"Yeah, it is," I said, giving him a smile. He grinned. Why hadn't we thought of it before. "Here, gimme that before you climb up." I took the mop from him and gave him a hand up to get on the sinks.

"Okay, maybe you should stand back when I do it," he started. "So it doesn't hit you."

"Yeah, okay. Watch your eyes and face, man, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah."

I backed up and watched him as he brought the mop back and slammed it forward, using the end of the wooden stick. The glass cracked.

"Do it again and watch your eyes," I said.

"AJ, I know," he said. "Geez."

I chuckled. "Just looking out for you, Nicky."

He had to do it several times in order to get out the whole pane of glass from the window. When he was done I moved closer again.

"You okay?"

"Yup. I'll see what's on the other side if I climb through, okay?"

"Yeah. Watch your hands this time."

"AJ, I know, I'm not - Shit," he cursed suddenly, pulling back the hand he had just put on the sill to pull himself up. He had cut it of course.

"Dammit, Nick, I just told you, man."

"Shut up."

"Is it bad?"

"No."

"Are you just saying that?"

"Shut up, AJ," he said, looking down at me from up there. "It's fine."

"Then why's it gushing blood, huh?"

He glanced down quickly at the hand and then glared at me. "It's not gushing, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, not wanting to argue over it. "You want to rinse it off before you keep going?"

"No, just give me something to get the glass off of the window first. I can use the mop if you give it to me."

I handed it up to him and watched him brush the shards of glass off of the sill. He tossed the mop to the floor when he was done and grabbed the sill to pull himself up through the window. I heard his sneakers hit the pavement outside and waited.

"Okay!" he called after a minute.

I pulled myself up on the sinks and hoisted myself up by the sill through the window, dropping to the pavement. I looked around. We were in some back parking lot. There were dumpsters along one side of the building. It looked deserted.

"Okay, so now what," Nick was saying.

"Lemme see your hand," I said, turning on him.

He held up the good one and smiled.

"Funny, dumbass, now c'mon." I grabbed the other one as he rolled his eyes.

"It's not bad, AJ, it just looks that way."

"Yeah, okay." I wasn't any doctor anyway, but it didn't look great to me. There wasn't much we could do though. "Alright, I guess we'll just walk, alright? See what we come to?"

"Yeah," Nick answered, pulling his hand back from me. "Which way?"

I shrugged. "The left."

Hopefully we'd come to something that would get us out of here.

-

- Chapter 20 -

~Kevin~

"Maybe if you try-"

Any idea that Howie might have had was cut off by the door to the room flying open and hitting the wall behind it with a resounding thud. We both jumped, and the cellphone clattered to the floor.

Brian.

Forgetting the phone, I was on my feet and grabbing him, glancing out the door for any sign of Frank. Brian was already pulling the door shut and fumbling at the handle for the lock.

"Bri, what happened?"

"He ... There's ..."

"Brian?" I could feel him shaking.

"There was ...He shot me," came the empty voice.

My heart skipped a beat. I held him at arm's length, looking him up and down and expecting to find blood everywhere. I didn't see anything.

"What happened?"

"He sh-shot me."

Was he in shock? What happened?

"Kev, he shot me."

I frowned.

"Where?" Howie said from behind me.

"The head," Brian was saying. "He shot me in the head-"

"Brian, listen," I started softly. I cupped his face in my hands and looked him in the eye. "He missed, alright? You're okay, you're fine. No damage. We're okay, right?"

He nodded slowly, the shock in his eyes slowly disappearing. I saw his face fall and I pulled him into an embrace.

"It's okay, we're getting out of here," I soothed softly, rubbing his back. I was mad now. Frank had passed the line. Well he'd passed it a long time ago but scaring the hell out of Brian was what got me. "It's gonna be okay." I released him slowly.

"Why don't you sit down?" Howie touched Brian's shoulder. He did still look shaky.

"I'm okay."

"You sure?"

"Yeah ... I will be." He glanced toward the door as if making sure it was shut and locked, and then back at us. "Did you call somebody?" His voice sounded pleading.

"We tried," Howie said slowly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The damn battery's dead."

Brian was visibly disappointed. "Oh."

"You know what ..." I ran a hand through my hair and tried to think rationally. Forget rational. We had tried rational and it wasn't working. "Let's make a run for it."

"A run for it?" Howie looked at me like I was crazy.

"Yeah. Open the door, check if the coast is clear, and run as fast as we can to the stairs."

"Just like that," Brian said skeptically. I nodded. "Did you hit your head or something, Kev? Because-"

"No, listen. Sitting here isn't doing us any good. I think we should just take a chance."

Brian and Howie were looking at each other now, as if each other's expressions would help them decide.

"What if Nicky and AJ come back up looking for us?"

"I think we're gonna be the one's looking for them." I honestly hadn't thought that it would take them as long as it had to get some help. For all we knew, Nick was still wandering around looking for AJ.

There was a long pause, and I let them think. I wasn't going to force anything on them. I wasn't so sure it was the greatest idea myself.

"Alright," Brian said finally. I hadn't expected him to be the first to agree after his last time out in the hall. I expected Howie to maybe agree and then we'd have had to convince Brian. Howie was nodding soon enough after.

"Okay, just get to the stairwell and we'll take it from there, right?"

They both nodded.

"Alright, let's go."

~Nick~

We weren't getting anywhere.

I was tired, I was cold, it looked like it was going to rain, my hand hurt, I was scared, and we weren't getting anywhere. And it was getting dark outside too. There were these lights at the top of the building flickering on that had bars around them, and the building looked like the outside of a jail now. It was almost spooky.

"AJ?"

"Yeah." We hadn't said anything since we first got outside and started walking. I think we were hoping to get to the front of the building. But it was like this labryrinth of different wings and parking garages.

"You think maybe we should find a way back into the building?"

"You don't think we're getting anywhere either, huh?"

"No, not really." I kicked at the ground and stopped walking. "It's getting dark."

AJ stopped a few feet in front of me. "Yeah, better get in before the vampires come out."

He thought he was so funny. I wouldn't give him the pleasure.

"What do you think they're tellin' the audience?"

"They might still be on opening acts," AJ answered, looking at his wrist in habit. But he wasn't wearing a watch. It had to be past eight now at least.

"Maybe."

"C'mon, we'll go up through one of the parking garages and find our way back in."

"And then?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. You decide."

Me decide. Sure. I just shook my head and started walking towards the overhang of a massive parking garage. I heard AJ coming behind me.

There were signs for elevators and stairwells up ahead, so I just moved past the rows and rows of cars toward that. I shivered as I felt a breeze. It was even damper in here then it had been outside.

I heard a noise from across the garage and stopped short. Everything echoed in here. AJ moved in behind me and grabbed my sides, pushing me forward slightly. "Keep going."

"Did you hear something?"

"Like what?" He let me go and kept walking ahead. I had no choice but to keep up with him.

"A noise."

"Obviously a noise. What kind of noise?"

"Like a ... something dropped."

"It's probably just the wind," AJ said, but I saw his eyes scanning the broad garage too. "C'mon, man, we'll just go quick."

A car door slammed.

"It's just people," AJ said softly, his voice a whisper. He moved behind a van, pulling me with him.

"Then why are we hiding? If it's just people."

"Just because."

Right.

Footsteps echoed from up ahead. From where we had to get to.

"It's probably no big deal," AJ said slowly.

"Right ... Probably not."

"But I'll go check it out for us, alright?"

"AJ, no ... Don't."

"Nick, c'mon, man. Then what?"

"We'll stay together."

"It's easier if you stay here and I come back for you. Or vice versa."

"AJ-"

"I'll be right back. Just stay put."

"What if you don't come back."

"I'm coming back," he answered with a frown. He hesitated. "Alright, listen. Ten minutes. If I'm not back in ten minutes, then you can come after me."

"A hell of a lot can happen in ten minutes, AJ, what if-"

"Nick, my man, stop. Ten minutes. Stay right here."

"I'm not going anywhere," I said, rolling my eyes. "Go."

He looked at me a second and then disappeared around the side of the car. I heard his soft footsteps moving away and waited.

And waited.

I got a weird feeling in my stomach after awhile. Something must have happened. I didn't have a watch, but it felt like hours had passed. At least ten minutes.

I rested a hand on the side of the van and moved along the side of it slowly, trying not to make any sound at all. I didn't even breathe.

I got about three cars down before someone grabbed me from behind. Someone big. I tried to scream, but their hand was over my mouth before I could even open it.

"Be quiet," a deep voice said slowly. I breathed in deep through my nose. God. I was going to die. "Are you going to scream?"

I shook my head no and the hand came away from my mouth. It hovered there a second but I stayed silent and it dropped down. The hold on me didn't let up though.

"Where's AJ?" the low voice questioned.

"I don't know, what'd you do with him?"

"Which way did he go?"

"Towards the signs over there. Did you hurt him? If you hurt him I'll kill you."

The man chuckled deeply and I frowned. What was so funny?

"C'mon. Don't fight me or I will hurt you."

Great, just great. He started pulling me with him, heading towards the direction AJ had disappeared to. Well, AJ, it had been ten minutes and now look.

-

Chapter 21

~Howie~

We sat in the stairwell a second, trying to catch our breath. Well we had made it. This far at least, but we were out of that room and getting somewhere. That was the major step.

"You guys okay? Howie?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Brian? You alright?"

"Mm-hmm." He moved against the door and felt the handle. "Is there any way we can lock this? At all?"

"I don't think so ..." Kevin looked the door up and down. "No. You guys want to rest a minute or keep going?"

"Keep going, he's gonna come and -"

"Bri, relax, buddy." Kevin turned around and faced both of us. "It's gonna be fine. We're okay."

"Yeah well let's just keep on moving so we stay that way," came Brian's answer as he pushed away from the door and started down the cement steps.

Kevin let out an exasperated breath and exchanged a look with me. I just shrugged.

"C'mon, let's catch up with him," Kevin said, started down the first step. I glanced back at the door before starting forward and he saw me. " 'D, c'mon."

"I'm coming ..."

Brian was waiting for us around the next flight down, arms akimbo. "You know, if Frank follows us he's gonna think we went to the first floor-"

"And he'll be right." Kevin dropped his hands on Brian's shoulders and tried to move him forward.

"No, then maybe we shouldn't do what he expects." Brian tried to twist away from the hold. "Maybe we should go on the second floor or something."

"Brian, now's not the time to get into the head of a psycho."

"I'm not, I'm just saying ..." Brian trailed off and let out a breath, getting that look he always got when somebody didn't see his way. And I knew what was coming next. "Howie?"

I caught his look. "Yeah?"

"Howie, don't you think I'm right?"

He was whining now.

"Bri, I don't think ... Look, I see your point but I don't see how that's going to help us any either." I think he was still spooked from before.

"It will help us ..."

"No it won't," Kevin broke in. "It won't, Rok. We're just gonna go to the first floor ..."

"You just hate to be wrong, don't you?" Brian turned and glared at him. "You always have to be right. I'm always wrong."

"This isn't about who's wrong or right." I could tell Kevin was trying to be patient. Brian was just acting weird, I think from before. "Look, I don't want to argue with you-"

"Then don't."

"- but we're not gonna run around floor hopping just to try and outwit this guy. No way. Honestly think about it, babe. How is that going to help us?"

"It will." He didn't sound so forceful this time. He sounded tired.

"It won't. C'mon. We're wasting time just standing here."

Brian let out a sigh and then gave me a look as if to ask why I couldn't just agree with him. I shrugged.

"C'mon guys ..."

Kevin hung back next to me as we started down the next flight. Our footsteps echoed in there. "You think he's okay?" His voice was low.

"He's freaked."

"Yeah ..."

"He'll be okay."

"Yeah," Kevin said slowly. "He better be."

~AJ~

"Don't move."

I froze.

Shit.

"Turn around slowly."

I turned slowly and found myself facing two darkly dressed guys with sneers on their faces. Damn. I hadn't even heard footsteps. The taller one moved toward me and grabbed me by the arm roughly.

"So we finally meet ... Where's the blonde one you were with?"

I didn't answer.

"Where?!" He waited a minute and then shook me a little. "I don't think you understood me. Where's the other kid you were with?"

"I don't know who you're talking about. Nobody's with me."

"Like hell!" He hit me and I sucked in a breath. "Where is he?"

"I don't know!"

He stared at me a second. "If we run into him down here, both him and you are gonna be sorry."

I just stared back at him, setting my jaw. I just hoped that Nicky would have the smarts to get out of there and not play hero.

"Damn, man, c'mon," the other guy started. "Let's hurry this up."

The guy with the grip on my arm started dragging me to the elevators and I fought to get away with him. It wasn't that easy. Before I knew it he had me up against the hard wall and a tight hand on my throat.

"Listen here kid-"

A shot rang out from out of nowhere and I jumped. The guy's partner fell to the ground with a thud and I saw a growing red stain on his chest. My stomach rolled and I looked away.

The man holding me turned without letting me go. "Who's there?"

I held my breath.

"If you don't show me who you are I'll shoot the kid."

I squeezed my eyes shut and felt like I was really going to be sick.

"Listen, whoever you are, if you really think-"

Another shot rang out, echoing in the garage, and the hand on my neck grew limp. I stared in horror as the man's eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped away from me. I moved away quickly. Ugh. Ugh.

Lord.

"AJ?!"

Nick's voice came around me, but I was feeling kind of dizzy and I couldn't tell what direction it was coming from. I heard another deeper voice telling him to shut the hell up and frowned.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. Two dead guys. Just like on TV. No big deal. Not at all. Didn't bother me. Nope. Not at all.

I heard Nick telling the guy to 'let me go you big ape' and he must have listened because then the kid was right there next to me.

"AJ? AJ, you okay?" He grabbed my arm.

"Yeah, Nicky, fine. You?"

"Yeah ..." Nick frowned and glanced behind him with a nervous look. "Except this big guy is gonna kill us, so we gotta get out of here, c'mon. He shot those two guys that had you, but I don't think ..."

"T?" I stared at the large man behind Nick in shock. I'd recognize that face anywhere. How could I forget.

"Hey AJ."

And that deep voice ... I frowned.

"You know him?" Nick asked incredulously. "No you don't. What the heck, AJ, c'mon. Let's get outta here."

"No, wait, Nick-"

Nick had tried to move past the man and pull me with him, but T had another plan in mind. He caught Nick's arm again. "You're not going anywhere, kid ..."

"Yeah I am."

"No you're not."

"Yeah, I-" Nick cut himself off and looked back at me. "AJ?"

"Nicky, this is T ... Remember I told you guys?"

"T?" Nick repeated. He looked at the man in surprise, but I don't think he was trusting me one hundred percent. "I thought 'T' was dead."

"Dead?" T repeated. He looked at me.

"You were all ... You got shot."

He chuckled that deep low laugh. "It takes a lot more to get to me than one bullet."

Nick looked back and forth at the two of us. "That's great ... Super. But I don't think -"

"Both of you are staying with me," T interrupted. "End of story."

"AJ," Nick tried. He gave me one of his 'are you crazy' looks and then frowned. He shook his arm out of T's hold. "AJ ..."

I shrugged at him. How was I going to convince him that this guy could be trusted? I mean he had saved Howie and my life, what more could I tell him?

"AJ, c'mon." Even T was losing patience.

I looked at T and back to Nick."Nick, just trust me on this one okay?"

I got a glare in response.

"Hate to break this up, but this isn't exactly the best place to be hanging out right now." T pointed toward the elevators and gave us both a look. "C'mon. I will hurt you if you don't listen to me."

"Are you crazy," Nick hissed as I pulled him with me.

"Nick, this might be our chance."

"Yeah, but still."

The elevators dinged as they opened and we stopped talking as we were confined in the smaller space. He was just going to have to trust me on this one. And I was going to have to trust myself.

"So what brought you back?" I looked at T.

"AJ don't talk," T muttered.

I guess things hadn't changed much.