�Mr. Wright you need to try and calm down,� One of the many officers in the room to the rather anxious and nervous manager �We are doing are best to get the five men out of there, but we don�t really want to make a move till we hear from one of the young men or their captors, so you should really just try to stay calm��
�Stay calm! You�re kidding me right?! Five young men that are like sons to me are being held hostage, and I have worried parents and family members calling ever other minute for updates, that should have come by now, and I�m trying to keep this whole damn thing out of the media you try to stay calm!� Johnny yelled back, and the officer sighed audibly.
�Look Mr. Wright we are going to wait an hour longer, if we don�t hear something by then, then we will move in and get the boys out of there�� the officer was interrupted by the loud sound of a phone ringing. �Okay Mr. Wright, remember stay calm and play along with whatever they want��
* Over at the house where the guys of Nsync are *
A group of men assembled in the small room, watching as the leader of this operation whistled to himself, as he pushed the speakerphone button, consulted a piece of paper and dialed a phone number then giving a small smile at their captive, who was standing opposite to him hands tied behind his back, tape over his mouth and in between two men who were holding him in place just in case he decided to fight or try to run.
Chris�s eyes narrowed as he realized that this guy was whistling one of their songs� �Just Got Paid� if he wasn�t mistaken�(AN- ya ya I know� corny) �how cute, is that suppose to be funny?� what kind of moron is this guy� he thought to himself diverting his eyes so he wouldn�t have to keep looking at the grinning man in front of him. Chris decidedly thought that he would like to punch the grin right off the man�s face, unfortunately with his hands tied and the fact that he didn�t want to risk them probably hurt one of the other guys, he can�t really do that so he settled for sighing and listening closely, as a familiar voice answered the phone.
�Yes?� Nsync�s manager answered the phone
�Well good morning to you too, how are you doing on this fine day?� The man asked with mock cheeriness in his voice.
�I�ll be better as soon as we get this whole mess over with.� Johnny replied with anger clearly present in his tone.
�Tisk, tisk, tisk, you shouldn�t use such a tone with the man that holds your friends lives in his hands� isn�t that right Christopher?��
Unable to do anything else due to the tap covering his mouth Chris simply snorted in reply, but soon regretted it when he was backhanded across his face for the reply, the sound of the slap echoing off the walls of the room and clearly heard on the other end of the phone.
�What the hell did you just do to him?!� Johnny�s voice came yelling through the phone
�Well you see Mr. Wright, Christopher here much like you hasn�t yet learned how to the man who holds not only his life but the lives of his friends in his hands. Not very smart don�t you think? I tried to help by taking away his ability to speak but he still manages to upset me.� The man replied eyes squinting at Chris, who was trying to look like he wasn�t cause any pain by the backhand, the large bright red hand print mark on his left cheek betraying him.
�Let me talk to Chris.� Johnny demanded.
�Perhaps in a minute� first you and I have some business to attend to� do you have our money ready?�
�Yes, I have it, how do you want it delivered?�
�You get one of those nice police officers that I�m sure you have standing there with you�. Unarmed and in plain clothes, to come and drop it off on the doorstep, then leave. One and only one or else we will kill one of these boys. Once we are certain that the officer has left, we will pull the money inside with else to check I over and count it. If we are not satisfied we will kill one of these boys�. Or another as the case might be�� the man added with an evil laugh that cause Chris to cringe. �Once we are satisfied we will leave and are not to follow, now here is the fun part� we have assembled a bomb within this house if at any point we feel we are being followed we will not hesitated to blow it up, not until exactly 30 minutes after we leave are you allowed to enter this house, we will know if you do not obey this, and as a result we will blow the house up. I assure I do not want to kill any of these boys and after the thirty minutes have passed will disable the bomb by remote. Do not try to locate us after this is all through you won�t succeed anyway.�
At this point Chris�s eyes are pretty much bugging out of his head. His whole body feels numb at the information that there is a bomb somewhere in the house, little does he know it was only a bluff on the man�s part to buy themselves time to get away. Missing the rest of the instructions, he barely feels the tape covering his mouth being pulled away so he can talk to Johnny, but snaps somewhat out of his daze as his voice is called.
�Chris?� Johnny�s voice floods the haze in his mind
�Yeah?� he answers all the sudden aware that he can actually talk.
�Are you ok Chris?�
�I�m alright I guess.� Chris replied still trying to snap out of it.
�How are the other guys?�
�I don�t really know, I haven�t seen them since we were taken upstairs and separated into our rooms�� not even realizing what he says until it is too late.
Chris�s eyes flash towards the leader and can see the clearly visible anger in the man�s eyes at his telling the police where in the house the guys were. He doesn�t even have time to duck or flinch as the man�s hand strikes out against his already sore cheek, and cries out in pain and falls to the floor. Unable to put his hands out to break his fall his vision blurs as his head connects with the ground.
�Wrong answer Christopher� you just made a big mistake.� The man says full of rage shouting over Johnny�s frantic calls to Chris. �Gag him again.� He says to one of his other men who bends down next to Chris breaking off a new piece of tape and placing it over Chris�s mouth, who is to dizzy to even fight.
* Back with Johnny and the police *
Hearing every word and sound over the phone Johnny and the police are frantically trying to get a response from someone, when finally the man�s voice is back addressing them�
�Mr. Wright you have exactly and hour to get that money hear or I�ll start killing these boys! Is that understood?�
�Yes, perfectly clear.�
�Good, I have to go now Christopher here needs to be taught a lesson��
Just before the man hangs up the phone Johnny can here Chris�s muffled yelps and groans of pain, and then dial tone.
�DAMN IT! GET THEM OUT OF THERE NOW!!!� He yelled turning to the officer in charge
*Back at the house*
�That was very stupid Christopher, very stupid indeed.� The man said with one last kick to the side of the now unconscious Chris, getting no more than a barely audible groan from the man on the floor. He was more mumbling to himself than anything else. �Oh well, no matter I guess. I�ll have my money in an hour from now there really isn�t anything that can be done in that short amount of time��
Turning around, he remembers that he is not the only one in the room aside from Chris and looks about at the faces of the men helping him. Some register shock, some are neutral, others hold on odd look of happiness at the show of anger they had just witnessed.
�Take him back upstairs and check on the others while you�re at it.� The man ordered to no one in particular, but a couple of the other men stepped forward grabbing Chris�s bound arms and hauling him up over the shoulder of one of them, receiving another small groan of pain from Chris, and then headed upstairs.
Once they reached the top of the stairs the man holding Chris deposited him back onto his bed and making sure he was secure, while the other proceeded to the end of the hall to check on their other detainees.
His first stop was the room holding both JC and Justin. Unlocking the door and moving in cautiously (just in case) the man could see the two figures on opposite beds. At some point the pair had managed to turn themselves on their bed so that they were now facing each other and had since fallen asleep� either that or were faking sleep at the sound of his presence. Since they were both still very much tied up whichever option it was really didn�t matter, so the man left the room taking careful note to re-lock the door. Inside Justin started thrashing in his sleep, in the midst of yet another nightmare�
The man�s second stop was Joey�s room, the room directly across the hall. Carefully unlocking the door the man made his way inside unlike the previous pair Joey was awake and watching the man with wide fearful eyes, but other than a slight position change he was much in the same position he had been left in. Without a word the man turned around and left Joey alone again, locking the door as he moved on, but he did catch the small sigh of relief Joey let out, just before the door closed.
He stepped to the final door just as his partner was coming out of Chris�s room. Stopping to watch him lock the door, the man motioned for his friend to go on down, and watched the retreating figure before unlocking and entering Lance�s room. Noting that Lance had managed to move himself onto his back but otherwise still bound and apparently sleeping the man simply left the room and re-locked the door without going in any further. If he had he would have been able to tell that Lance wasn�t in fact asleep, but wide -awake. He rolled back onto his side once he was certain the man had left and was not returning, revealing the Swiss Army Knife that he held. It was one that his father had given him what seemed like so many years ago. He had left it out on his bed earlier the previous day and somehow the morons holding him neglected to see it in their search of his room.
So when they brought him upstairs and pushed in on his bed, they pushed him right onto it. He had to stop himself from making a noise of surprise and joy. As soon as they left him and he could hear them making their way downstairs he began the process of turning and trying to grab it and use it to free himself. He had almost cut through the ropes around his wrists when he heard the man at the door. Thinking quickly he turned himself onto his back and tried to fake sleep hoping the man wouldn�t come to check the ropes holding him in place. He was rewarded when the man did little more than step into the room and briefly looked at him.
�Just a couple more strokes and it should do it� Lance thought to himself as he resumed his cutting. *Snap* �Yes!� He thought has he sat up and used his newly freed hands to rub the feeling back into his wrists and arms. �Gosh I hope I just didn�t make a really loud noise��
Once he managed to get the feeling back into his hands he gently pulled the tape covering his mouth and set to work on the ropes tied around his feet. A few minutes later he was completely free and at his door listening for sounds that might signify there was someone up they�re with him and the rest of the guys guarding their doors.
�Ok, it doesn�t sound like there is anyone up here, now I�ve got to try to get out of this room and get to the other guys� God please help us�� Lance whispered to himself�