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Chapter Three

The group of three continued to stare into the empty, demolished car. Bianca shut her eyes and counted to three, hoping that when she opened them again, her friend would be there. She took a deep, ragged breath and slowly opened her eyes and looked back into the white car. Still empty. But what was that on the dash…

“Oh my god,” Bianca screamed, “There’s blood on the dashboard.”

She started to shake uncontrollably, with Alex comforting her, when he felt he needed comforting too. He did the best he could to comfort all three of them by saying that it had dried, so it probably happened hours ago, but it still didn’t calm his nerves down any.

“Whe…where is she?” Darcy stuttered, then spun around and looked at Alex accusingly, “Where is she?” she asked again more bluntly, putting her hands on her hips, “What is this? A cruel joke or something? Haha, funny. It’s over. Now where’s Abrianna?”

“I…I don’t know,” Alex breathed, running a hand through his blond hair, “I’m wondering the same thing.”

“Darcy, I don’t think that Alex and Abrianna would do something like that to us,” Bianca defended the boy, “But look at her car. She couldn’t exactly get up and walk away.”

“Maybe somebody drove by and saw her, then called for an ambulance,” Darcy suggested.

Alex shook his head, “No,” he said aloud, “Nobody goes down this road past about ten at night because it is so dangerous and it’s empty until about eight in the morning. If she’d been found, it would have been on the news by now, or somebody would’ve been contacted.”

Bianca quickly walked in front of the car. The windshield was shattered, but there was no indication that Abrianna had gone through it. She jogged quickly around the area anyways though, to see if just by chance, she was lying in the middle of the semi-wooded area unconscious, or even worse. The thought put her stomach in turmoil. After finding nothing, she ran back to Darcy and Alex.

“No sign of her,” she informed them slightly out of breath. Her face suddenly contorted into a frown and tears formed in her eyes, “Oh god, where is she? Why can’t we find her?”

Nobody said a thing, not knowing how to answer her. Neither one of them knew but wanted to know.

“It’s all my fault,” Alex said guiltily, “If I hadn’t called, she would be safe at home by now.”

“Damn right it’s your fault,” Darcy said, stepping up into Alex’s face as best she could considering their height difference.

Bianca pulled Darcy back, who was ready to take a swing at the boy’s face. She felt no need to accuse Alex for what happened, even though he did make a good point on why it should be his fault.

“I want to be with her for the rest of my life,” Alex sniffled, “We have to find her so I can tell her that.”

Bianca stepped over to Alex and hugged him to comfort him. Darcy soon joined in and together, they all hugged one another. A single tear streaked down Bianca’s cheek as she wondered what she would do if Tyler ever disappeared from her life. She decided from here on out that she would never get mad at him again over not calling when he said he would. It was stupid, especially when he could be taken from her at any given moment without any warning.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Abrianna wandered down the side of the road wondering where she was. She read the names of some restaurants, but knew nothing of any of them. What was McDonalds, and was Olive Garden any good? The heavenly aroma coming from the place that listed that it was Italian filled her nostrils. Her stomach growled painfully in huger, but she had no money to stop anywhere for anything to eat. Sweat beaded her forehead, dripping into the open cut on her head, stinging it. She winced in pain, not knowing what she should do. Abrianna cautiously looked to the road, watching cars buzz by at high speeds. She wished that she had a car to get places, but didn’t think that she knew how to drive. A sports car full of guys pulled up to the curb and slowed down. The passenger side window went down and one of the guys stuck his head out. She turned to look at them, and knew that it was a big mistake almost right away.

“Hey baby,” he whistled, “How bout getting into this car and givin’ me some suga,” he called.

Abrianna turned her head back away, keeping it low. She hurridly scurried down the sidewalk, trying to get away from them.

“Awww,” a voice hollered from the back seat, “Little girl a little un-experienced. Get into our car and we’ll take you to a place where we all can take turns giving you more than plenty.”

Abrianna felt tears stinging her eyes. Were all guys like this, or were some of them nice. She was afraid to find out. For the first time the thought occurred to her about having a boyfriend. Did she have one, or was she alone without a special someone in her life. For the tenth time, she wished that she could remember something. It felt almost as if she were in a horrible nightmare where she was lost and confused. She would wake up any moment and know her former life.

“C’mon you sexy lil’ thing,” the driver yelled, “Don’t make us come after you. We will if you play hard to get.”

Abrianna turned and ran in the opposite direction of the car as fast as she could. She could hear the loud laughter of the guys as she tripped and fell over her feet, scrambling to get back up and run further and further away. She didn’t care where she landed herself, as long as it was somewhere far from them. She could have sworn she heard a car door slam and knew that she had when she heard footsteps quickly pounding behind her. She started to run faster, but not fast enough. She felt herself being tackled to the round. She screamed as loud as she could, trying to fight the guy off, but he wasn’t letting up. She screamed again, louder this time.

“C’mon Erik,” somebody from the car shouted, “Leave the bitch alone before all that shrieking gets us arrested.”

The guy that was called Erik quickly got up and ran back to the car. Abrianna, shaking so hard she could barely move, ran as quickly as she could. Seconds later, an engine revved and tires squealed as the car merged quickly back into traffic. Had they gotten the hint, or were they going around the block to find her? She wasn’t sure, but just wanted to find a place to hide for a while.

Before she knew it, Abrianna had wandered into a small park. She cautiously walked around, seeing little kids on swings and jungle gyms. She smiled, watching them have a great time. What had her childhood been like? Deep in thought, Abrianna didn’t even hear somebody yelling at her to watch out. Seconds later, she was hit in the chest with a soccer ball which dropped to her feet. A cute boy that looked to around her age jogged over to her and picked the ball up, smiling at her.

“Sorry about that,” he said, “You okay?”

Abrianna nodded, wanting to smile back but to afraid to try. Nervousness came over her suddenly. The boy smiled one more time at her before running back to his group of friends to continue their game. Exhausted from exploring the large city, she sat down on a park bench. Doubling over in pain from her hunger, she glanced inside of a trashcan that was next to her. She saw a can of Coke and a few crackers on the bottom along with some empty wrappers of other things. Reaching inside, she picked them up and inspected the crackers. Making a face in disgust, she popped one in her mouth, deciding that she couldn’t be picky. Savoring the taste, she shut her eyes. Once finished, she realized that her mouth was dry. She reached back into the garbage can to get the can of soda, shaking it. There was still a little left. She brought it up to her mouth, gulping the last bit, until the last drops had fallen into her mouth. The warm soda had turned flat long ago, but again, it was all she had because of her lack of money. She didn’t even know if she had a job. Throwing the can and cracker wrapper back into the garbage, she looked ahead as a group of girls ran over to one another, hugging. How she wished that she had somebody. It would make her life so much easier, and maybe help her to get her memory back. A frightened waterfall of tears formed in Abrianna’s eyes. She wondered if she would ever remember anything again and if she would ever be found.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was three days later and there was still no word on where Abrianna was. As Bianca knew it, Alex had locked himself in his room, still holding himself responsible for everything that had happened. She had tried calling him to talk, but he never answered the phone and his parents said that they couldn’t get through to him either. Darcy, who was normally sarcastic and witty rarely left her house just in case there was some news on Abrianna. Bianca cried a lot at the thought of one of her best friends being gone. She was missing, and nobody knew where she was. They were sure that she would have turned up by now, but nothing had come up. Abrianna’s parents had tried to file a police report, but they said that they needed seventy two hours before she was declared missing, considering the fact that she was over eighteen and could legally go out without parental persmission for as long as she wanted. It was noon. In a mere twelve more hours, they could put out a search for her. Twelve hours could change a lot.

Bianca sighed. All three of them had had tickets to a concert that night to see their favorite band. Darcy and Bianca knew that they couldn’t face going though without Abrianna. Darcy had called her the day before asking if it was okay for her to sell their tenth row tickets, and Bianca had told her to go ahead. Once, she would have killed Darcy for suggesting that, but under normal circumstances, it would have been a joke. It was completely unlike Darcy to suggest selling tickets to see her favorite band, especially when they’d lucked out to get super close to the stage. She didn’t think that anything could stop the blonde girl from going, but knew now that friendship crisis could. The phone rang, distracting Bianca from her thoughts.

“Hello,” she answered in monotone.

“Hey,” replied Darcy’s voice on the other end of the phone. She sounded equally unenthused.

There were a few minutes of awkward silence. Normally the two could talk for hours about anything and everything. Lately, they had a hard time talking for more than five minutes without losing topics of conversation.

“So,” Darcy said lamely, trailing off, “What are you doing tonight?”

“Nothing,” Bianca replied, “Tyler wanted to go out, but I told him I wasn’t in the mood. He’s kinda pissed at me for it. Can you believe that he figured that just because I’m not going to the concert, that I would spend time with him. He got a rude awakening.”

“He’ll get over it,” Darcy muttered, “You know what’s funny? I have no regrets about missing the concert. I used to think it would be the worst thing ever, but I don’t even care.”

“Me neither,” Bianca replied.

Neither said anything else for another few minutes. Bianca could swear that she could hear Darcy crying. It was something she’d never seen or heard her do up until the past few days. Bianca, on the other hand, was a very sensitive person, so it wasn’t unusual to catch her in tears.

“Bianca,” Darcy asked, “Do you think that Abrianna will ever be found?”

Bianca sighed. She wanted so badly to tell her friend yes, that she did think that she would be. That they would find her, and she’d be perfectly okay, but it would be a lie to both of them.

“I don’t know,” was what she said instead, “I hope so, but I don’t know if the chances are good or not.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Hey, where’s our next stop?” Nick asked, shutting off his Nintindo game system and packing away the controllers.

His question was followed by some laughs as well as some groans. He looked at them puzzled, wondering why such a response.

“You just asked that exact same question not more than ten minutes ago,” Brian told him.

“I was focusing on my game,” Nick defended, “I didn’t hear.”

“You should have known where our next stop was going to be since two nights ago,” Kevin told him, shaking his head, “Nick, you worry all of us. You need to grow up and keep your ears open.”

“And eyes,” A.J. joked, “No more running into doors and windows.”

Nick blushed. He was always getting razzed by his friends about his tendency to be blonde and clumbsy.

“To answer your question, our next stop is in Chicago,” Kevin told him on a more serious note.

“Chicago, Indiana,” Nick repeated, “Sweeet.”

All of the guys looked at him like he was the biggest idiot that God had ever created. Nick looked at them innocently.

“What did I say?” he asked with sincerity.

“Chicago, ILLINOIS, Nick,” Kevin said, shaking his head, “Illinois.”

“Oh,” Nick sheepishly replied.

The next hour of the ride went by in silence. Howie and Brian were both reading, Kevin was watching CNN and A.J. was asleep. Nick stared out the window watching everything go by. As they were at a stoplight, he saw a girl on the sidewalk, wandering around as if she were lost. She stopped and looked every few seconds. He stared, squinting to get a good look at her. She was cute, and he knew that she was definitely A.J’s type.

“Guys,” Nick said aloud, keeping his eyes out the window on the girl, “Think we should stop? She looks lost.”

He pointed at the girl as the others walked over to get a good look at whom Nick was talking about.

“Yeah, she does.” A.J. groggily stated, staring at the girl in longing.

“But stop?” Kevin asked, unsure of the suggestion.

“Sure, why not,” Brian stated, “She looks harmless enough…and like she’s in needs of help.”

Kevin sighed and yelled for the driver to pull of to the side of the road. The driver switched lanes and pulled off directly right next to the small girl who looked to be about eighteen or so. She looked up at the bus in awe, her face somewhat scared as she started to walk away thinking of her situation a few days before with the taunting guys. The side of the huge bus read BACKSTREET BOYS. She looked at it, reading the name over and over, wondering who or what Backstreet Boys were. Nick opened a window in the back of the bus and shouted out of it.

“Excuse me, do you need help?”

She shook her head unsurly, and then changed her mind, and nodded.

“I don’t know where I am,” she called up softly, “I don’t remember anything and I’m lost.”

A.J. felt sympathy for the girl. He popped his head out the window and yelled, “Hop on, maybe we can help.”

Abrianna watched as traffic around them sped by as the doors to the bus opened. She paused for a moment before deciding that it was safe, climbing aboard. Somebody met her, and led her to the back of the bus. She stared in amazement. The bus had a kitchen, a couch, three bunks, a table, and a large TV. She was sure there was even a restroom in the back, but didn’t ask.

“Have a seat,” A.J told her.

She sat down on the couch, keeping on the edge in nervousness. Nobody said a thing, and she was beginning to think that she’d made a mistake of getting on the bus of these unknown people.

“Nice bus you have,” she complemented, then was quiet for a moment, “Who are the Backstreet Boys?” she asked quietly.

The five men all looked at one another and smiled. She didn’t know if that were a good thing or bad.

“That would be us,” the one who looked to be the oldest said, “We all have our own buses, but ride together in this one sometimes. It depends from day to day. Anyways, to answer your question, I’m Kevin, the blonde boy is Nick, the one with the goatee is A.J, the Latino is Howie and the one over there is Brian.”

They all greeted Abrianna and she smiled at them. They seemed friendly enough, and trusting.

“What’s your name?” A.J. asked.

Abrianna paused, confused on what to tell them. She didn’t want to sound like a moron to them. They might kick her off.

“I don’t know my name,” she finally admitted, “I woke up a few days ago in a crashed car, but I don’t remember anything before that.”

The guys looked at her, their eyes full of sympathy. She heard one of them whisper something about amnesia.

“What do you do for a living?” she asked.

“Oh, we just sing,” Nick said casually, “We tour some places.”

“That’s really cool,” Abrianna told them, impressed with their career.

“There’s the ups and downs,” Howie said.

There were a few minutes of silence. The bus was still on the curb. Kevin got up for a moment and went to the front. Seconds after he returned, the bus started to roll forward. Abrianna braced herself, tensing up. Where were they taking her?

“Since you don’t seem to have anywhere to go,” Kevin started, “We’re taking you to our show tonight here in town. If you want to leave, you can go from there. If you want a place to stay, and people who will take care of you, then you can tour with us from here on out. The choice is yours.”

All five guys smiled at her with generosity. She really didn’t have a place to go. And it would be nice to have people to care for her, and have somebody that she could really get to know.

“I think I’ll tour with you,” she finally told them softly.

The guys all smiled, and hugged her one by one.

“Welcome aboard,” A.J. said, hugging her longer than any of them, “You’re officially going to be a part of the Backstreet experience.”

Abrianna smiled at their generosity. She still didn’t totally know who these Boys were with the custom made private buses, but she was about to find out. Since she’d awoken from the car, she felt for the first time that everything was going to be all right.