I smiled at my friend as the crowd cheered for the preforming group.
    "Hanson! Hanson! Hanson!" Was all that could be heard throughout the whold auditorium. The group on stage started their opening number,
and the concert was on it's way. The three Hanson brothers did a awesome job of "Gimme Some Lovin'", and went into "Shake a Tail Feather."
The whole audience was revved up. My friend, Dionne was cheering with the rest of the front row crowd. I couldn't help it, I was too. We didn't want the concert to end, but if it didn't, we'd never get to meet Hanson. Dionne's mother had gotten us backstage passes. She had won them on a local radio station contest. Dionne and I were the happiest kids in the world. We screamed some more. I saw a few girls scrambling to get closer to the front, but the bouncers held them back. The front of the stage was reserved for people with front row tickets. I smiled, and screamed some more.

Chapter 2
Backstage

    I yawned. Dionne gave me a funny look.
    "How can you be tired? I am so pumped, it isn't even funny!" She said. I smiled.
    "I was up at 6:30 this morning, I had to go help my dad out at the shop." I explained. She nodded.
    "My mum should be here soon with the passes." She said. We were waiting near the gates for her mother. We saw her emerge from the crowd."MOM!" Dionne yelled. "Over here!" Mrs. LaFonte looked over and saw us. She hurried over to where we were.
    "Well then girls, let's go. Tout suit." We nodded and followed her. Dionne's family was french canadian, and had moved to Toronto about a year ago. Dionne and I have been friends ever since she moved here. We got to the back gate. There were two large bouncers standing there, holding back a group of about 20 girls.
    "Excuse et moi, monsieur, but I have three backstage passes for me and these two girls." Mrs. LaFonte said, and handed the passes to one of the bouncers. The other was trying to fend off the screaming girls.
    "All right ma'am, right through here." He instructed us. We went inside. All right! We were backstage! A man who was talking hurridly to another younger man noticed us.
    "Do they have authorization to be here?" He asked the bouncer. The bouncer nodded. Thr man suddenly smiled.
    "You must be the three lucky people who won the backstage passes, right this way." He said, then turned to the man that he'd been talking to. "Get the boy's orders correct, and make sure there's enough for the whole family this time!" He barked, and motioned for us to follow him. We were led down a corridor, and into a big room with lots of couches, and a  T.V. with a N64 hooked up to it was in the corner. There was a long table with all sorts of food.
    "Help yourselves to anything you want. The band should be here any minute." He said. We all smiled.
    "Thank you." Dionne and I sat down on one of the couches. Her mother handed us our passes.
    "Keep these with you at all times." She said. " I am going to the washroom, I will be back soon." She said, and left. We sat there in silence for a moment, not knowing what to say.
    "I wonder when they'll be here." Dionne pondered outloud. I shrugged.
    "It is so awesome that your mom managed to get us these tickets!" I said. She nodded, and smiled.
    "Yeah, I can't believe that we are actually going to meet Hanson!" She squealed. I smiled even more. We bothed loved Hanson. We didn't reeally have a crush on any of them , we just thought that their music was really cool. A door opened behind us, and about a million voices came through.
 
Chapter 3
Hanson

    "I hope they remember the Twinkies this time!" A oddly familair voice said. There were about four conversations going on at once. We both turned around. I first noticed a little boy, who looked about four come waddling in. No one seemed to notice us, there were too many people piling into the room. After about half a minute, Isaac Hanson noticed us.
    "Uh, are you supposed to be here?" He asked. We both nodded, and showed him our passes. He smiled. "Oh yeah! You must be the girls who won the passes! Hi, I'm Isaac." He said, then blushed. "I guess you already know that though." I smiled, Dionne laughed.
    "I'm Hillary Jakkson." I said. He shook my hand.
    "I am Dionne LaFonte." Dionne introduced herself, he shook her hand too.
    "So, did you like the concert?" He asked We both nodded.
    "Oh, yeah. It was awesome. You guys sure know how to put on a show." I said. He smiled.
    "We try. You guys sure were loud though." He said. Dionne nodded and smiled.
    "Well, when you go to concerts, one of your first impulses is to scream!" She said. He laughed. Then turned to the buffet table where Taylor and Zac were stuffing their faces.
   "I'll get Tay and Zac, hang on a sec." He said, and went over to the table.
    "He seems really nice." I whispered to Dionne. She nodded.
    "He looks different in real life. More, older." He came back with Taylor and Zac. Zac had two plates full of food.
    "Hi! How ya doin'?" Zac asked in a demented hick accent. I laughed.
    "Okay, thanks." I said. "I'm Hillary Jakkson." I said. He shook my hand.
    "And I, am the all great, all mighty, all powerful, king of the Universe, ZAC HANSON!" He yelled.
    "Zac, calm down!" Someone, I suspect his mother, yelled from the crowd of people in the room.
    "I'm Dionne LaFonte." Dopnne said. He shook her hand, one eyebrow raised.
    "Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but are you from France or Quebec or something?" He asked.
    "Zac!" Taylor hissed.
    "What?" Zac asked innocently.
    "No, it's all right. I moved here from Montreal about a year ago." She said. He smiled.
    "Cool! We did a show in Montreal. It was our first North American show on the Albertane Tour." He said. Taylor finally got a chance to say something.
    "I'm Taylor, well, you probably already knew that." He said. I nodded.
    "Nice to meet you." Dionne said.
    "Ditto." I agreed. He smiled. Dionne's mom walked into the room.
    "Oh, my. Look at all the people!" She exclaimed.
    "Uh, Taylor, Isaac, Zac, this is my mother, Carolynne LaFont. She was the one who won us the passes." Dionne introduced them.
    "Very nice to meet you Mrs. LaFont." They all said.
    "It is a pleasure to meet you too. I can't say how thrilled I am to see younger bands being able to make such a positive impact on the music industry." She said, and smiled.
    "Thank you very much." Taylor said. Mrs. LaFont went off to find someone to chat to.
    "Do you guys wanna have a water fight?" Zac asked.
    "Uh okay. It is awfully hot out." I said. Dionne agreed.
   "Oh, yes." She said. We snuck out of the room.

Chapter 4
Water Fight

    We went down to an indoor garage where their tour bus was parked.
    "The water guns are in here." Isaac explained. He opened the door, and grabbed a bunch of CPS 1000's. He slammed the door shut with a WHAM!
The noise echoed throughout the entire garage. I noticed then that there was no one else around. We found a water pump and filled up our guns. It was everyone for themselves. I got drenched! Those CPS's were pretty powerful. I was glad that I wore my forest green tank top instead of the white one. We stopped for a rest, all of us soaking. Our hair was wet and everything.
    "Whew! I'm not hot anymore!" Zac said, and squirted Isaac in the face.
    "HEY! That's it, you are so dead!" Isaac yelled, and chased after him. Taylor, Dionne and I were laughing. Isaac managed to chase Zac down, and he dumped the whole bottle of water on Zac's head. Isaac grabbed Zac's water gun, and used the rest of the water to spray Zac all over. Zac was noe the wettest of us all.
    "Hah. No one messes with Isaac Hanson." Isaac said. We sat down on some concrete blocks for a moment to catch our breath. I heard a noise, like the squealing of car breaks, and two black vans came zooming into the garage.
    "I wonder what their hurry is." Taylor muttered The vans stopped right infront of us.
    "Uh oh." Isaac murumured. About six men came out from one van, and three from another. They were all wearing black ski masks, and black clothes.
    "Crap! Run!" Isaac yelled. We droppped the water guns and ran deeper into the garage. The men chased us on foot, and the vans tried to get ahead of us. I saw two of the men tackle Dionne. I wanted to stop and help her.
    "Dionne!"  I yelled. She screamed and kicked at the two guys, but they dragged her into one of the vans. I slowed down for a minute. Zac, who was running beside me grabbed in to my arm.
    "C'mon!" He urged.
    "But Dionne!" I protested. Three guys grabbed Isaac. Isaac punched one of them in the face. A big guy clubbed in the back of the head, and he fell to the floor. I saw a guy tackle Zac from the side. That knocked me over, and I fell to the ground. A skinny guy tried to get me, but I kicked him in the nuts. He fell to the floor in pain, and I got up and ran some more. Taylor was way ahead, and still running. I saw a van close in infront of me, and two big men got out.
    "No!" I screameed and tried to dodge them, but they were too fast.They tackled me to the ground. I heard something snap, and a immense pain like a fire burning went through my right arm. They threw me into the back of a van. Zac was hurled in beside me. He had a cut on the side of his face.
    "Oh, Zac." I moaned. His eyes fluttered open.
    "What....happened?" He asked.
    "I don't know." I answered, tears were streaming down my face. "They, hit Isaac on the back of the head. They have Dionne, but where are they?" I asked.
    "Ugh." He moaned. "In the other...van." He said.
    "Are you, okay?" I asked. He looked up at me.
    "Do I look okay to you? I feel like hell, but yeah, I guess I'm okay, all things considered." He said. A second later, the van stopped and Taylor was thrown against Zac. Zac moaned. Three guys got in after Taylor. One of them was the guy that I had kneed in the nuts. He saw me, and slapped me across the face. I didn't say anything, I just looked away. A guy with cold blue eyes was talking into a walkie talkie.
    "Yes? Okay, we have them all. One is unconscious? Wake him up. If they get out of hand, don't be afraid to hit them. No, I don't know who the girls are. We'll decide about what to do with them later." He said. There was some static, and he switched the walkie talkie off. He turned to me.
    "You. Who are you?" He asked.
    "Hillary." I whimpered. He came closer.
    "What is your last name?" He barked. I looked him in the eye. His eyes were bleak and cold. Like frozen ice. They had no emotion.
    "Jakkson." I whispered. He hit me.
    "Louder girl!" He yelled.
    "Jakkson." I said louder.
    "And the other one?" He asked. I narrowed my eyes at him. I suddenly felt very brave.
    "Why don't you go ask her yourself you lazy bastard." I spat at him. He grabbed a gun, and put it to my head. I didn't flinch. I was too afraid to flinch.
    "Don't get smart with me, you think you're all tough and brave, you won't be so tough when I put a bullet through your head." He snarled. I didn't answer.
    "What, what do you want?" Taylor asked, trying not to sound scared. The man smiled, a cold smile.
    "What everyone wants, and what you have. Money. I'm sure your parents will pay big bucks to have their little famous boys back, am I right?" He said, then turned back to me. "What I don't know, is will your parents pay?" He asked. "Because if not, then I'll kill you right now." He said, and cocked the safety off.
    "Their parents will pay. Where are Isaac and Dionne?" Taylor asked.
    "In the other van. Your brother, Isaac, he is not doing so well. He hit one of my men in the face, gave him bloody nose. My man is very angry now. When he get's angry, no one knows what he will do." He said. The man had a accent, but I couldn't place it. Zac moaned. The man looked at him.
    "He is weak. Tell him to get strong, or he will not make it." The man said, and turned to one of his partners.

Chapter 5
Immense Pain

    "Are you okay?" Taylor whispered to me. I nodded. I could feel a bruise start to form on my face.
    "I don't think Zac's doing too well though." I said.Taylor turned Zac over to look at his face.
    "Oh, Zac. What did they do?" He asked.
    "Oooh, I cut my face on a rock or something sharp on the ground. I can taste blood too." He said.
    "Open up your mouth." Taylor instructed him. He opened up his mouth. It was filled with blood.
    "Okay, Zac there's a big cut on your lip. I think you bit it. Does it really hurt?" He asked him.
    "Yeah. It hurts." Zac answered.
    "Don't worry, we're going to be okay." Taylor said. I looked at Zac. He was pretty beaten up. I shifted position, and yelped out in pain. My arm, I couldn't move it. The man turned back to me.
    "Why are you screaming, girl? Are you trying to attract attention?" He asked. I shook my head.
    "No." I whimpered.
    "Well, then why are you yelling?" He asked.
    "My, arm. I think it's...broken." I said. He smiled, evilly.
    "Let me see." He said, and grabbed my arm. I winced in pain. He twisted it back. I screamed.
    "Does that hurt?" He asked.
    "Y-y-y-yes!" I yelled. He twisted it back even farther.
    "Does that hurt too?" He asked again.
    "Yes!" I screamed, I was crying freely now. He twisted it back farther then it was ever meant to go. I was screaming more than I ever thought possible..
    "Let her go!" Taylor yelled. One of the men hit him across the face. I continued screaming.
    "How much do you think I can hurt you?" The man asked me.
    "Let go! STOP IT!" I screamed and screamed, but he didn't let go.
    "I can kill you." He whispered, and pulled it back. it snapped, and everything went black.
 
Chapter 6
Dilly of a Pickle.

    I looked at Isaac, who was still unconscious. The men hadn't said a word to me, they had only asked me for my name, and I told them. Finally I got the courage to ask them where Hillary, Taylor and Zac were.
    "Um, excuse me?" I asked. They ignored me. "Hey! Where are Hillary, Zac and Taylor?" I asked. One of them turned to me.
    "Dead." He said. I felt my heart stop.
    "Wha-what?" I asked. He smiled coldly, and laughed.
    "You stupid girl, they are in the other van." He said. I sighed, and felt my heart start to beat again. Why was this happening? Are they kidnapping us? Why? Do they want the Hanson's? If so, then why do they have us too? I felt the van slow down and come to a stop. One of the men looked at me.
    "Is he still out?" He asked. I nodded.  One of the men came up to me, and tied a blindfold around my head to cover my eyes. One of them dragged me out of the van, and shoved me into a direciton.
    "Walk and be quiet." He ordered. I did so, and I was lead into a room. They threw me onto the floor, and I heard the door shut. I took off the blindfold. I saw Taylor and Zac sitting up. Hillary was on the floor, not moving.
    "Hillary!" I cried, and moved towards her. Zac and Taylor looked up, they saw Isaac, who had been thrown on the floor. He was still unconscious.
    "Are you okay? Is Ike okay?" Taylor asked. I nodded.
    "He is unconscious. What happened to Hillary?" I asked. Zac looked at the ground. He had a cut on the side of his face. Taylor had a bruise over his eye. I moved closer to hillary. Her arm was bent at a unnatural angle. It looked like a piece of rubber.
    "Oh, no." I moaned. Her face was bruised on one side. She was breathing, but she was unconscious. Taylor went over to where Isaac was. Zac stayed on the ground. "What did they do to her?" I asked. Zac looked at me. He had been crying, and still was.
    "She was mad at him, he yelled at her. I don't remember it all. He got mad, and her arm was already broken, he-he snapped it back almost all the way around her back, it broke again, and she passed out." He said. He was shuddering, and he curled into a ball and layed on the floor.
    "Did they hit Ike on the head?" Taylor asked after examining his brother's condition. I nodded.
    "I think so. He gave on of the men a pretty bloody nose." I answered.
    "Tay, my leg hurts." Zac whined. Taylor sat down beside his brother. I got up and dragged Isaac over to where we were. I would've moved Hillary, but I didn't want to maje her arm any worse.
    "I know Zacky. But you could be worse." He told him.
    "Like what? Dead?" Zac asked, his anger showing.
    "No, don't say that. You could be...worse." Taylor said, not wanting to say anything about Hillary or Isaac's current condition. The door opened, and a tall man stepped inside. Three other men followed.
 

Chapter 7
Held For Ransom

    "I am calling the hotel behind the auditorium where you did your last preformance. You're parents should still be there.  I am going to explain the situation to them.
I don't care whether they like it, or not. The price for the three of you is 20 million dollars. For the two girls, together, 10 million. You talk when I tell you to. Otherwise, I shoot you. Understood?" He asked. We all nodded. He dialed the number.
    "Hello. I want to speak to eith Diana or Walker Hanson. Yes. Walker Hanson. I have your three sons, Isaac Taylor and Zachary here with me. They are okay, for now. You will get them back alive and relatively unharmed when you pay the sum of 20 million dollars. Don't talk, just listen. I also have two girls here, by the names of Jakkson and LaFonte. They will be returned for 5 million each. Is that understood? Good. I will call you back in twelve hours with further details." He said, and held out the phone near Taylor.
    "Dad? Dad! He's got a gun! Ike's unconscious, and they broke Hillary's arm, Dad!" He yelled into the receiver. I could hear somone yelling on the other side. The man put the phone to his mouth.
    "You have twelve hours, if you cannot get me my money when I desire it, I will kill one of your boys!" He resped, and hung up. I sobbed. He turned to where we were sitting, and smiled coldly.
    "You will call me Fox. Nothing else. Just Fox." He said. That was pretty dumb, they all have ski masks on, how are we supposed to tell them apart?
    "We will bring you some water in one hour." He said, and looked at our wet clothes. He smirked. "One hour and a half. You will not need water until then." The men left, and locked the door. I looked at Taylor.
    "He's serious. He's really serious!" I said, my voice rising.
    "Of course he's serious!" Taylor snapped. I heard a moan coming from Isaac's motionless body lying on the ground. "Ike?" Taylor asked softly. "Ike?"
    "Uunngh." He moaned. "My head, oh man. I have one killer headache. Pass me some aspirin, would ya Tay?" Isaac said, and sat up groggily.
    "Ike, there is no aspirin. We've been kidnapped. They hit you over the head. How are you feeling?" Taylor asked him. Isaac blinked several times.
    "What the hell are you talking about?" He said. Taylor sighed. I tried to explain.
    "Remeber when we were having that water fight in the basement garage, and those vans pulled up? We ran, and you punched one of the guys in the face or something, and another guy knocked you out." I said. "We're being held ransom. Well, you guys were supposed to be the only ones kidnapped, they hadn't planned on getting Hillary and me." I said bitterly.
    "Hey, this wasn't our fault!" Taylor said. I winced.
    "You're right. I'm sorry. I just want to go home.  My head hurts, and I don't know where my mom is going to get 5 million dollars from, Hillary's parents, maybe. But my mom'll have to borrow a lot of money from relatives." I said.
    "I think that the government has a compensation. They'll give your mom some money, because it's their fault creeps like that Fox guy are out on the street." Taylor said. I shrugged.
    "I don't know. I just don't know." Isaid, and layed down. Isaac, who still hadn't grasped the whole situation, was confused.
    "You mean I punched a guy on the face? Wow, and I didn't get my butt kicked?" Isaac asked. Taylor rolled his eyes.
    "Yes Ike! You punched a guy  in the face. If they didn't want us in pretty good condition, he probably would've beaten your face in, but he didn't. Where have you been the last two hours?" Taylor asked him, very irritated.
    "I don't remember most of it. I remember leaving the board room ofter the concert, and havong a water fight, but I don't really remember hitting anyone." He said.
Zac, who had been quiet for quite some time finally took an interest in the conversation.
    "That's because they knocked you out right after you did it!" He said. Everyone looked at him.
    "I thought your leg  hurt." Taylor said. Zac shrugged. He had a lot of dried up blood on his face.
    "It still does." He said.  We really didn't have much else to say.  I noticed for the first time that there were purplish brown, almost bruise-like rings forming around Hillary's shoulder and elbow. IT looked like it was bleeding internally.
    "Guys, Hillary's got to see a doctor." I said. Isaac moved closer to take a look at her arm.
    "Whoa, it looks like, broken in two, maybe three places. That'll never heal correctly. I sobbed, remembering how athletic she was.
    "I hope that mom and dad can get that money." Taylor said. "Or we're toast."

Chapter 8
A Plan is Discovered.

    We sat for about twenty minutes in silent. Zac giving out the occasional moan. Isaac had started to hum something, and it was really gwtting on my nerves.
    "Isaac, could you shut up please?" I snapped. He looked over at me.
    "I have a song in my head, and it sounds really good. I don't want to lose it." He said.
    "Well I'm going to start to lose it if you don't shut up!" I yelled.
    "Whoa, chill out Dionne." Taylor said. I heard a small noise emit from Hillary. I rushed over to her side. Her eyes opened very quickly. She looked confused, but alert like a derr caught in head lights. She started to scream.
    "Ow! Make it stop! It's hurting! Make him stop!" She was screaming. Taylor, Isaac, and Zac all hurried over.
    "What's wrong? Why is she screaming?" Isaac asked.
    "That guy, Fox snapped her arm when it was already broken. She passed out from the pain." Taylor told him.
    "Shhhh, Hillary. He's not bending your arm anymore. Shhhh, it's okay." I tried to calm her down.
    "I can feel it cracking! Arrrgggghhhhh! MAKE IT STOP!" She screamed so loud it hurt my ears.
    "Hillary, he's not even here anymore!" Taylor said. She stopped screaming, her breths were coming out in ragged gasps.
    "He-he-he oh, ooh, it hurt so much, more than anything!" She was moaning, and her eyes were glazed over with pain.
    "Here, we'll roll you on your back." Isaac said, and gently tried to move her. Her arm moved slightly, and she wailed out in pain. He stopped moving her.
    "Okay, maybe not." He said.
    "It hurts...whenever... I...move...something." She said, and closed her eyes. Tears were streaming uncontrollably down her face. Taylor used his shirt sleeve to wipe them away. She looked aver at her arm. The circles had changed colour to a bloody maroon. I will never forget that sight.
    "Oooh..." She moaned at the sight of her own arm. "My arm, oh..."
    "It's okay Hillary, we'll get it fixed. My mom knows this really good doctor back in Tulsa." Zac said. He chocked at the mention of his mother. "Mom..."
    "Taylor, find somehting to put under her arm, something soft. Ask that guy, Fox, for some painkiller, or at least a guy who can put it in a sling." I said. He nodded, and got up to look around the barrem room. There was a table, a large vent, and couple of old boxes...A large vent! He went over to the vent to check it's size. It looked big enough to crawl through, and maybe it lead to the outside! But first he had to get something to fix Hillary's arm. He gave up on that, and went to the door.  He started pounding on in, hoping that there was someone outside. After a few minutes, the door opened a crack.
    "Don't try anything, kid. I've got a gun, and I'll use it if I have to." He said, and came in. He took one look at Hillary, and his face turned from a sneer to a frown.
    "What's wrong with her?" Her asked.
    "Her arm is broken in three places, and she's got a fever or something. She's in a whole lotta pain. Do you have anyone that can put her arm in a sling, and can give her some aspirin or something?" Taylor asked him. The guy looked at each of us. We could've taken him, if he didn't have that gun.
    "I'll see what I can do." He said, and left.
    "It's nice to know that there are some compassionate people left in the world." Zac muttered. A few minutes later, the man came back with two other men, and Fox.
    "What's she crying about?" Fox demanded.
    "She isn't crying, she's screaming, from when you broke her arm." Taylor said. Fox scoffed.
    "It was already broken." He said. "Let's go." He turned to leave.
    "Did you know that she's a Canadian Gymnast, and was supposed to compete in the year 2004 olympics? If her arm doesn't heal straight, then she's worth less than 5 million to her parents. If it will heal straight, then she's worth about 15 million." Taylor said. Fox turned back around. He looked at me.
    "Is that true?" He asked. I nodded.
    "Hillary Jakkson, you must've heard of her." I said. Fox considered this for a moment. Then he turned to one of the men beside him.
    "Set her arm in a sling, and give her some aspirin. But that is all. Find something to bring down her fever." He ordered him. The man nodded. "Mikey used to be a doctor before he joined us." Fox said, almost proudly. The man, Mikey, started to work on Hillary. Fox left with the otehr men. One stayed behind with the doctor. I noticed that they all have guns. That's not a very good sign for us. They probably all know how to use them too. Zac attempted to make conversation with Mikey.
    "So, Mikey. Why'd ya quit the medical program?" He asked. I rolled my eyes. Oh, no. Mikey didn't get mad, though. He just looked at him.
    "That's none of your business, little boy." He said. But Zac continued.
    "Are you like that guy in the fugitive?" He asked. Mikey cracked a smiled.
    "No. One of my patients died, and it was my fault. Have you ever seen the movie, 'Playing God', with David Duchovny?" Mikey asked. Zac nodded.
    "Well, think of me as David Duchovny." Mikey said. Zac got a puzzled look on his face.
    "So, you really work for the F.B.I., right?" He asked. Mikey smiled, and rolled his eyes. The other man didn't even seem to be paying attention. I noticed that he had headphones on.
    "Yeah, right. If I worked for the F.B.I, do you think I would be here?" Mikey said. Zac thought about this, then he turned to me.
    "Does Canada even have a F.B.I?" He asked. I shook my head, no. Mikey looked back at the guard. He wasn't even paying attention.
    "Look, I don't really want to be here. I'm only here because I'm a doctor, well, ex-doctor. I seriouslt hope that you kids get out of this O.K." He said, and smiled.
Zac nodded.
    "Then why don't you get us out of here." Isaac muttered. Mikey looked him directly in the eye.
    "I would if I could, kid." He said, and stood up. "Her arm's been put in a sling. It looks pretty bad, and I can't tell from here whether or not it will heal properly." He said, and handed her some aspirins and a water bottle with water. "Drink this," He said softly, and left. The guard gave us a nasty look, and left too. Hillary had stopped crying, and now had a dazed look on her face.
    "I'm not a Canadian Gymanst." She said. Taylor smiled.
    "Fox thinks you are." He said.  Then came in closer to where we were all sitting. "I have an idea." He said.

Chapter 9
The Great Escape

    "See that vent over there?" He asked, and pointed to a large air duct. We nodded.
    "Well, I think it's big enough for us to fit through. I don't know where it leads, but it might lead outside." He said, then looked all of us in the eye, one at a time.
    "I think we should go for it." He said. I scoffed.
    "Yeah, right Tay. Zac's leg hurts, maybe a sprained ankle, and Hillary's in no condition to move. Sorry, not gonna happen." I said. He narrowed his eyes at me.
    "Don't you at least want to try?" He asked.  Hillary coughed.
    "Try not, do, or do not. There is no try." She said. All three Hanson brothers smiled.
    "Star Wars." Isaac said.
    "Yoda." Taylor said.
    "Dagobah." Zac added. She smiled.
    "Yeah. I love those movies." She said, and closed her eyes. "I don't mind going for it. I can make it, just as long as I don't have to use my arm." She said. Taylor nodded.
    "We can take care of that. So, Dionne. Are you with us?" He asked. Four ser's of eyes looked at me. All pleading. I sighed.
    "Fine." I muttered. Taylor smiled.
    "Great! Ike, help me get Hillary up." He said to his brother. Ike nodded, and they helped Hillary get up . She could walk fine, she was just a little wobbly form sitting down for so long. We went over to the vent, being careful not to make any noise. Hillary leaned on Taylor while Isaac pryed the cover off. It came off. There was a long, dark hole. Zac sighed.
    "Well, who's first?" He asked. He was leaning on me, and I didn't want to go first, so I hoped he didn't volunteer.
    "Since I'm the only one not supporting anyone, I'll go." Issac said. We all nodded. He went ahead. Zac and I followed, and Hillary and Taylor came up the rear.
We didn't know where we were going, so we just followed the tunnel until we came to a part where it seperated.
    "What now. Einstien?" I asked.
    "Shhh! There's a light coming from over there. Let's go in that dircetion." Isaac said, and we went right. We came to a spot where the vent lead to another room. We could hear people talking.
    "You shouldn't rough the kids up so much boss, if they get seriously hurt, their parents might not pay." One man was telling Fox. They had their ski masks off now, and Isaac and I, who were at the front, could see their faces clearly. I recognized Fox, I had seen him recently.
    "Oh my God." I whispered. Isaac turned to look at me.
    "What?" He asked.
    "Fox. He was backstage at your concert. He was the guy that was supposed to get all of your food and stuff." I said. Isaac looked puzzled.
    "But our usual caterors are Pickle Express, and my omther knows the owner, how could...? Wait a minute." He said, and looked towards Taylor.
    "Tay! Didn't Picle Express not cater to Canada?" He asked his brother. Taylor looked confused for a second.
    "I think so, yeah. Mom was really miffed about that. She had to go with some other caterors." He said.
    "Of course." The black vans that had delivered the food." Isaac said. "Oh, man." We heard the men in the room continue to talk.
    "Go give the brat's their water, and if they give you any trouble, either hit them, or threaten to break that girl, Jakkson's arm again, in another place!" Fox said, and laughed cruelly.
    "Yessir." A man said. He slipped on his ski mask, and left.
    "Uh, oh, we'd better go." Taylor said. No one argued. We went to the right where the vent branched off to another part. I could hear the distant sounds of a car rumbling.
    "We're near the end!" I cheered softly. We got to a vent that lead outside, and popped it open. I looked around, I had no idea where we were.
    "Omigosh! We're right nest to the SPCA!" Hillary said. I looked at her.
    "This is where we got Buffy and Holly. We were in that building right there." she said, and pointed to the building beside the SPCA. "We can use the phone inside to call our parents!" She said. We all breathed a sigh of relief. Finally. We could go home. I looked around, we were in downtown Toronto. I heard someone yellimg, and looked up. Ther was a man standing on the metal balcony of the building that we had just escaped from. He was shouting at us. I heard a gun shot, and Taylor went down.

Chapter 10
Can't Take the Pain, Don't Play The Game

    Hillary was screaming.
    "Grab Tay and RUN!" Zac yelled. Isaac and Hillary grabbed Taylor up off his feet, and I helped Zac run to the safety of the Humane Society. There were more gunshots, I don't think that anyone else was hit. We ran into the Humane Society. People must've saw the state we were in. A man and a woman from the front desk cam e rushing towards us.
    "What happened?" The lady asked. Hillary was sobbing.
    "They kidnapped us! After the concert! They, they took us to that building next door. We got out through a vent, they, they shot Taylor!" She was telling what happened hysterically.
    "You have to hide us! in the back or something! Please! They all have guns!" Isaac was saying. She took one look at Taylor. A dark red spot was froming on his left shoulder.
    "Oh my God. This way, to the vet's area, now!" She said. We followed her to the vet's department. We were put into an office. The lady, who said her name was Marge, called the police, and 911. Isaac help Taylor take off his shirt. Marge inspected the wound.
    "It doesn't look like it pierced the lung, thank God. The ambulance will be here in a minute." She said, and looked us all over. "You can call you r parents from there. You should all go. You three, are the Hanson boys, right?" She asked. They nodded. Taylor's face was pale, and sweat was coming down his face. Hillary and I sat beside him.
    "You're gonna be all right Tay." Hillary said. I nodded.
    "It just hit you in the arm. Nothing serious." I said. He looked at me, and gave me a half smile.
    "I...just got...shot...and you say it's... nothing serious? Bloody hell..." He started to cough. Isaac held onto him.
    "It's okay Tayles. The docs'll be here soon, and we'll get you all fixed up in no time, and we'll get to see mom and dad, and Jessie, and Avie, and Mackie and Zoe." He chocked at the thought of his parents and siblings. They must be terrified. Three ambulances came. Isaac went with Taylor, and Zac went in one by himself, and I went in on with Hillary. The doctor took a good look at her arm, and shook their heads.
    "Someone did this to her intentionally? One of them asked. I nodded. "God, what an animal." He said. I turned to look him in the eye.
    "You have no idea." I said. The rest of the ride to the hospital was in silence, the paramedics occasionally talking to one another about erh blood pressure or something. We finally got to the hospital. They wheeled Taylor out ahead of us. Isaac was right beside him. Zac was wheeled out too, because he had a sprained ankle from when that guy tackled him. I oculd walk okay, so could Hillary, but she had a fever of 104, so they were wheeling her in too. I stayed beside her. She was delerious.
    "Why the hall does she have a fever of 104?" I asked the doctor.
    "What a person suffers immense pain like she did, it can damage her emotionally as well as physically. She probably couldn't take the pain. I suspect she went unconscious after this happened?" He asked. I nodded. "Did yuo do this sling?" He asked.
    "No. There was this guy there, he used to be a doctor. He did it. He also gave her some aspirin." I said. The doctor nodded
    "Good thing too, otherwise she might be dead of shock." He said, and wheeled her into a room. A nurse looked me over and said that I was okay enough to wait in the waiting room. I sat there, and waited for any news on Hillary, and Taylor. A few minutes later, Zac and Isaac came out. Isaac's eyes were red, and I could tell that he'd been crying. Zac was crying.
    "It didn't pierce anything vital, but it went right through. One hell of a gun that guy used. a .45 or something like that." He said. He sat down beside me and buried his head in his hands. Zac sat down awkwardly, since he wasn't used to the crutches. Suddenly, Ike looked up.
    "I have to call mom and dad!" He said, and got up. I touched his arm.
    "The doctors already did. I told them who you were, and tehy got the number of the auditorium." I said. He looked at me, confused ofr a moment, and then sat down.
    "At least this happened in Canada." I said. He looked at me funny.
    "Why?" He asked. I shrugged.
    "This is all free." I said. He would've cracked a smile, but he was too afraid for his brother. "I'm sorry. Wrong time." I said. Zac was still crying.
    "Hey, Zacky. Don't worry. Everything's gonna be all right." I told him. He sighed.
    "I hope so. I really do." I looked down the hall, and saw The Hanson's and my mother hurrying to see how their sons and daughters were doing. I smiled.
    "Mommy..." Zac whimpered.

Chapter 11
How's It Gonna Be...

    I slowly opened my eyes. I was in a white room, and there were three doctors standing over me. I had no idea what they were doing, then I suddenly felt a searing pain in my left shoulder. It hurt so much I cried out.
    "Yeow!" I yelled. One of the doctors looked at me.
    "Shhh, it's okay. We'll have you fixed up in no time." He said, and smiled. I winced.
    ""Wha-what am I doing here?" I asked.
    "You don't remember?" He asked.
    "No...we were...running from that Fox guy...and then, my shoulder really hurt." I said. He looked at me with so much sympathy in his eyes, I knew something was wrong.
    "Son, you were shot in your shoulder. You're lucky it missed your lung." He said. I blinked a few times.
    "Shot? By who?" I asked in disbelief.
    "You're brother said that you had escaped from this Fox man, and that one of his men shot you while you were leaving the building." He said. I closed my eyes.
    "I remember...leaving through the air vent, and we made it outside. We were in this big building beside the Humane Society. I heard a loud noise, and my shoulder hurt. Zac was crying. We went to the Humane Society and then that's all I can remember." I said. The doctor nodded.
    "You passed out in the ambulance." He said. The two other doctors were looking after my shoulder. I saw one of them getting a needle ready.
    "Just what the hell do you think you're going to do with that?" I asked. She looked at me.
    "This will help ease the pain." She said. No way was I going to have that stuck in me!
    "Hell no! I'll have it, if you take it!" I said. She smiled softly.
    "You won't feel a thing." She said, and moved towards my arm. I tried to squirm away. That only made my arm hurt even more.
    "OW!" I yelped. She stopped.
    "This won't hurt you at all. No stay still." She ordered. I obeyed, and closed my eyes while the needle went in. I felt a quick pinprick, and then I saw blackness.
Before I went out I heard one of the doctors talking.
    "How can someone be so afraid of a needle?"

Chapter 12
Family.

    I awoke to the sound of my brother Mackenzie and my sister Avery arguing. Then I heard my mother shush them.
    "I think he's coming around..." I heard my fatehr say. Everyone was silent. I opened my eyes.
    "Huh?" Was all I could manage. I saw my mother sitting beside me, she had tears in her eyes.
    "Oh, Tay. Thank God you're all right. Thank God you're all all right." She said, and stroked my hair. "He phoned us and told us you were all dead!"
    "When'd you guys get here?" I asked. My speech was a bit slurred, and I blamed that on that needle that crazy nurse stuck in me.
    "We've been here for a couple of hours." She said. I looked around. Everyone was there! My mom and dad, Ike, Zac, Jessie, Avie, Mackie, and Ike was holding Zoe. I saw Chris, our manager standing at the foot of my bed. He smiled.
    "Hell of a mess you got yourself into." He said. I cracked a smile. I suddenly realized who was missing.
    "Where are Dionne and Hillary?" I asked.
    "Dionne and her mother are visiting Hillary. Hillary's parents could not be contacted. They left for a week vacation to the Bahamas yesterday morning before the concert. Hillary was staying at Dionne's." My dad explained. His eyes were red, and I could tell that he'd been crying. I looked at Jessica, so had she.
    "Are they O.K.?" I asked. My mother nodded.
    "Hillary's in immense pain, there's nothing they can really do to stop it. Her arm is broken in about three places. Dionne seems to be okay." She said. I looked over at Zac. The side of his face was bandaged, and he was on crutches.
    "Zac man, you look awful." I said. He smiled a lopsided grin.
    "I feel awful." He said. Ike smirked.
    "You look pretty bad yourself, Tay." He said.
    "At least I don't have a big bump on my head." I shot back. He smiled. The doctor walked in.
    "Okay everyone. I think that Taylor needs some rest." He said. Everyone left, saying goodbye and how lucky I was to be alive. Lucky? They call getting shot being lucky? I'll never understand people when they're upset or relieved. The nurse who had stuck me with the needle walked in.
    "Whoa! I remember you! You stuck that foot long needle in me! Go away!" I said. She just looked at me for a moment, and burst out laughing.
    "It made you feel better, didn't it?" She asked. I didn't answer. She smiled smugly. " I thought so. How are you feeling?" She asked as she read over my chart.
    "I dunno." I answered. I wasn't in the mood to speak to her. She sighed, and left.  I sat there for a moment, just looking around. I had been in the hospital before, sure. But never for being shot! I suddenly was very hungry. I hadn't eaten anything since the concert. I heard a knock on my door.
    "Come in!" I called. Dionne walked in, with Ike and Zac. "Hey. You guys aren't supposed to be here." I said.
    "Well, do you want us to leave?" Zac asked. I shook my head, no.
    "We brought you some candy bars." Dionne said, and handed one to me.
    "Thanks. If that nurse comes in again, tell her that I'm dead and I don't want to speak to her." I said. They all smiled. I turned more serious. "How's Hillary?" I asked. Dionne shrugged.
    "Better. She's crying constantly now. Even the morphine hasn't blocked out all of the pain. That guy messed her up emotionally and physically. Some of the doctors still can't believe that someone whould inflict that much pain on purpose. Neither can my mom." She said.
    "Uh, Tay. There's a ton of press out there, waiting to talk to you. Zac and I haven't said anything yet, neither had Dionne. When you're better, what do you want to say?" He asked. I closed my eyes.
    "Tell them exactly what happened. It can't damage us." I said. They all nodded.
    "We'd better go Tay." Zac said, looking at his watch. "We told mom that we were going to get something to eat." I nodded, and they left. I suddenly felt very sleepy, so I closed my eyes, and immeadiatly fell asleep.

Chapter 13
One month later.

    "Are you guys ready to rock?" Isaac asked the crowd. A wave of cheers errupted from the thousands of screaming people. "Well then, let's rock." We went into 'Speechless', and everyone started to sing along. I pounded on the keyboard, and winced slightly. I've got to stop doing that, it's not good for my shoulder. The concert was going fine. I looked into the crowd, and saw Dionne and Hillary. They were smiling and cheering with the rest of the fans. We had all become pretty good friends after what happened. How can you go through something like that and not come out close? I don't think it's possible. The fezz managed to catch the guys who had kidnapped us, and they're in jail for a long time. That Fox guy, who's real name is Josef Goureatis, was wanted for murder, so he'll probably get life.
    Hillary is still terrified most of the time, and we usually don't talk about what happened. It's been on the news countless numbers of times, and they've become famous overnight. We were all offered to go on Pamela Wallin Live, and Larry King, but we promised Rosie we'd do her first. Dionne is still the same. Her mom and my mom are pretty good friends. Her dad got offered a job down in Oklahoma city, and Hillary's parents are thinking about moving down to the states, to a smaller city then Toronto. Everything's pretty back to normal, which is good I guess. Fans still send us letters saying how much they feared for us. Which I think is pretty weird since no one knew about where we were when it happened. I smiled. We were now more popular than ever, which I guess isn't something to be proud of. We finished the song, and the crowd cheered even louder. I thought about it, what happened to us was definatly, not your usual Hanson experience.

The End

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