Austin’s POV

I opened my eyes and my head ached. What had happened? Then I remembered the man with the gun, and that he had thrown out some kind of grenade, and everyone had passed out. I looked to my left and saw all my bandmates on the floor, passed out. I saw Mike, I saw Vic and I saw Jaime. But I didn’t see Essie. Where the hell was she?
"Essie?" I asked, but it sounded more like a murmur. Then I saw her. She was lying a few meters away and she was bleeding from a cut on her forehead. Why was she bleeding? Then I noticed that she was awake and looking back at me. I mouthed "are you okay?" and she nodded.
The man with a gun was nowhere to be seen and I wondered… What was going on? How come no guards was here? Then I heard voices and saw that there was not just one, but three men.
"The guards are dead, if you’re wondering" Essie said and I jumped a little. She was suddenly next to me. I didn’t even noticed that she had moved.
"Dead?" I asked.
"They killed them all, and now they are keeping us here for a ransom" she said and closed her eyes. She looked so tired.
"Why?" I asked.
"They feel like they aren’t appreciated like they should be" she said and looked at me. I stared at them. They had won a fucking price. Why would they be mad?
"So you and Mike?" I asked and smiled.
"He’s just a friend" she said and looked at him.
"I don’t think he sees you as just a friend" I said and she looked at me. She knew that as well. Then she looked away and closed her eyes.
"Seems like someone is awake" I heard someone say and suddenly I was dragged away.

- - -

I tried not to move when they dragged Austin away. They put him on stage and they had his hands tied together. Then they dragged a few more up, but I managed to hide the fact that I was awake. Then when no one was looking I managed to sneak in behind a big curtain.
"Fuck I’ve dropped the other gun" one of the men said and looked around.
"You dropped a gun?" his friend asked. And lucky me… Just a few feet away from me there was a gun laying. I stared at it. It was a HK45C. Which was not any ordinary gun but a gun used by the US Naval. How the fuck did they get over a gun like that? Slowly I reached for it and I looked inside. Fully loaded.

- - -

Austin’s POV

I got really surprised when I saw her get out from one of the curtains. She looked towards the stage and everybody was staring at her. Except the three men. Then she was gone again and we all just looked for her. What was she doing? We all jumped a little when we heard a loud crash from the lounge.
"Go check that out" one of them said, and suddenly there was just one person on the stage. With hundreds of tied up guests.

Then we saw her again. She popped up from no where and checked on Jaime, Mike and Vic who were all still lying at our table. She even checked on Tino, Aaron and Alan who still lied there as well. Then she disappeared again like a fucking ninja. I looked everywhere but I couldn’t see her.
"What the fuck do you think you will get out from this?" I asked and looked at the last man, Richard. He looked at me.
"I only want the fame" he said and grinned.
"You got an awards, a fucking prize and you want more? You can’t buy your fame" I said. Suddenly he pointed the gun towards my head and I just glared at him.
"Come on then, shoot me" I said. He pulled back the safety and I closed my eyes.

But the shot never came, and when I opened my eyes again I saw a green dress before me. Essie was standing there and she held a gun pointed towards him.
"If you shoot him I swear to God I will shoot you" she said, and I had never seen her like this. She was like… No this was an action movie and she was the main character. I just stared at her. Mesmerized.
"Oh, with that?" he said and laughed.
"This is a HK45C, if I shoot… They will have to clean your fucking brain off the walls" she said and I got goosebumps. He looked at her and I had no idea what was going on but when she said that he looked a bit scared.
"So either you drop the gun or give it to me" she said.
"My friends will be back any minute now" he said.
"They’re lying unconscious in the lounge" she said. He stared at her and then she opened up her clutch, without looking away from him and sure as hell… Two more guns. He held up his hands and threw away the gun, and then he looked at her.
"Good boy" she said with a small smile, and she looked so cold.
"And what are you going to do now?" he said and looked at her.
"I might just shoot you" she said and pulled back the safety.

I gasped when I heard the click and Richard let out a small shriek.
"Bang" she said and I just stared at her. Richard fell down to his knees, and his pants was all wet. He had peed himself in fear and no with just sat there with wide eyes and he was shaking with fear. Then she turned to face me and she had a smile on her lips.
"I unloaded it when I found it" she said and opened it up and revealed that it was empty. Everyone just stared at her.
"How did you do that?" I asked and she untied my hands.
"Do what?" she asked and looked at me, a bit confused.
"All this" I said and gestured towards Richard, the whole room and everything.
"Oh… Cory taught me" she said with a big grin and I just stared at her.

One hell of a woman… that was for sure.