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What she had witnessed was the same man that had scared her before now beating up an unfamiliar man on the opposite end of the hall. The unknown man that was reeling from the blows given to him had quite an overload of tattoos scattered over his arms. There was another man with them, as well, and she had noted to herself the unusually long hair he had. It appeared that they had just come out of the stairwell at the opposite side of the floor. The scene had only brought back the images from the senator's room, leaving Angie feeling nauseous and ready to vomit.
Now she was on her way, going up. She didn't have a destination, as long as it was a few floors above the others. The sixth floor was only one floor away, and too risky. The seventh was better, but she still didn't feel there was enough distance between her and those murderers. The eighth floor would be safe enough. Angie actually smirked at that thought. Safe.
Cautiously opening the door onto the floor, Angie peered down the corridor, looking for any places that would be capable of hiding anyone. Satisfied that no one was around, she slowly stepped into the hall and closed the door behind her, making sure it didn't make the slightest noise. As soon as she was closed off from the stairs, an enormous feeling of relief swept through her. Angie knew there was no way she was getting back outside, so the only hope now was to try saving he brother. She felt like such an idiot. No doubt each of those men down there wanted the chance to kill her, and here she was thinking about how she might be able to rescue her brother.
Her brother! She hadn't even checked to see if he was with the others when she'd looked through the window! Somehow she knew for sure that James was the employee that had been taken hostage, but part of her didn't want to believe it unless she actually saw him with her own eyes. No matter, she had to develop a plan of some kind, anyway. It was either sit up there and wait to be found and killed, or go down there and try to do something and die while trying. Not much of a difference in the results. Except maybe if she was causing trouble, they'd be forced to kill her quickly. It was a small hope.
Finally deciding in her mind what plan of action she was going to take, Angie started down the hall, not sure of where she was going but feeling too vulnerable in the open. She froze in shock as a door to a guestroom just several feet away started opening.
****************************
"Hey Frick! You finally came out! That was some shower!" Nick mused, enjoying Brian's irritation.
"I thought I told you to be gone by the time I came out," Brian reminded Nick, not nearly as angry with his friend as he had been, but still annoyed with him. He'd planned to spend all afternoon and evening sleeping. First he was woken up by Nick's yell, then by Nick's spit, and now after a shower he wasn't tired enough to fall back asleep right now. There went that plan.
"Awww, I know ya did. But I had no where to go. Kev's sleepin'. AJ and Howie are gone! You're all I have left!" Nick complained, more in a teasing tone.
"Thanks. I love knowing I was the last choice. Hey, did the phone ring while I was in there? I thought I heard something..."
"Nope, I don't recall hearing the phone."
"Were you even able to hear with your headphones on?" Nick just shook his head, knowing full well that Brian knew he'd been listening to a CD, and wasn't just guessing. "So what ya wanna do now that I'm awake for good? I'm actually really hungry! We can raid AJ's room for anything good to eat..." Brian suggested, grinning evilly.
"Yes! Brian's back! Ok, I'm up for a good raiding. I doubt he locked his room, either. You know I still think he leaves his rooms unlocked all the time hoping some woman will wander her way into it!" They both laughed at AJ's constant lust over every woman he could find. They all knew it was a big joke he put on for the fans, even though the fans knew it too, but it was still fun to laugh over. "I'm gonna head over now, you get a shirt in case a fan spots us. Even though I'd have a hell of a time watching you being chased down shirtless. Reminds me of that time-"
"Yes, we all remember that time I got caught at the hot tub by a bunch of fans when I thought no one was around! Will you ever let that go?"
"No. I doubt I ever will. I'm gonna leave now, don't take long." After a short wave in goodbye, Nick headed to the hall and was about to the close the door behind him when he noticed a girl staring at him. She wasn't a guest, her outfit told him that much, but that didn't mean she still couldn't be a fan. He sighed, wishing there was a way he could escape the situation. There was no way he wanted to be stuck the rest of the day trying to get her to leave him alone. Sure, he loved his fans, but there was a time for everything, and right now was not a meet-and-greet time.
When she still wouldn't move, Nick began to look her over. Well, at least she wasn't a young person. She was into her twenties, maybe twenty-one or -two, and since it was usually the younger fans that got out of hand, he began to relax. He also noticed her short brunette hair, barely reaching her shoulders and layered to frame her face well. Her eyes were a very deep shade of green, possibly hazel, because he thought he might have seen some hints of golden-brown flecks in them. Her head about reached his shoulders, but the way she held herself made it so she definitely didn't appear small. He could tell she was wary of him at the moment, though. No doubt the way he was measuring her up wasn't helping. Not sure she was even going to try and speak, Nick was certainly surprised by the first words she said to him.
"Who are you?"
He sure hadn't planned for that. Now that he knew she wasn't a fan, he had absolutely no idea how to act. Just then, Brian stepped outside of his room and noticed Nick and Angie staring at each other, each with a look of disbelief on their faces.
"Uh.. I'm.. Nick."
She seemed to be slowly processing this information in her mind, slightly nodding her head as she stared at the floor with a lost expression on her face. Finally looking back up, she pulled her gaze to Brian this time.
"And who are you?"
"My name's Brian. Is there something we can help you with? Or are you here to help us... um.." Brian looked down to notice she didn't have a nametag, "Miss...?"
"Oh, sorry. My name is Angie. I uh... lost my nametag," she answered, not sure if she wanted to give the full details of what had happened. "So why are you still up here? Why didn't you leave when they called you?" Angie asked, an incredulous look now marking her face.
Brian shot Nick a dark glare at the mention of a phone call. "We didn't get a phone call, or at least we didn't TAKE a phone call. Is there a reason why we shouldn't still be here?" Brian inquired. Angie stared at them as if they'd grown several heads. Is there a reason you shouldn't still be here? Maybe because there are terrorists in the building and people were supposed to have been evacuated! she wanted to shout, but kept her mouth clamped until she could calm down.
"Is there anyone else with you?" she questioned.
"Yeah, actually. Three guys. Kevin, AJ, an' Howie. We don't know where AJ or Howie are, an' Kevin should still be in his room, sleepin'." Nick answered. Angie just frowned at them. Brian, Nick, AJ, Howie, and Kevin. She'd heard those names before. She could swear it! But where...? When...?
Brian and Nick both groaned as a look of realization claimed Angie. She'd finally got it.
"The Backstreet Boys! You're the music group that was supposed to be here today!" she gasped. "The managers wouldn't tell any of us working, probably worried we'd tell other people." After she had finished explaining, more to herself than the two men, Nick and Brian had to notice a frown creeping onto her face.
"Don't one of you have lots of tattoos and stuff? And isn't there one of you with girl hair?" Angie asked, slightly blushing at just having insulted one of their friends. Brian smirked, half amused, half not. Nick snickered loudly, and nodded in answer. Fear glazed over Angie's eyes as it dawned on he who she'd seen only a few minutes earlier. "Oh... no..."
Unlikely Allies