Écrivez L'énigme
Enter The Riddle
The gala was on and Paris, France was the site. With its gathering of French people, it still had a few foreigners, which mostly consisted of ambassadors. The extravagant ballroom was decorated down to the last detail, from the ornate flower arrangements around the room to the almost gaudy tablecloths; all topped off with the finest silver ware and foods on the banquet tables.
"Bonjour Monsieur. Est-ce que je puis vous obtenir encore plus de vin?" (Hello sir, may I get you some more wine?) Asks the lanky server to one of the many gentlemen as he held a tray of white wine, the finest Paris had to offer.
"Non. Merci." (No, thank you) Mr. John Seymour Reagan turns down the bubbling beverage. At age 43, he was far away from his estate in Bridgeton, Ohio where his wife and two kids resided. He looked around the ballroom. The people were mingling and talking amongst each other. The hostess, Ms. Marissa Charmet, was in a corner talking up a storm with some French ladies, giggling at different intervals. Her mind was distracted with their chatter, and for a while she stopped watching the people in attendance. John's eyes rose to the top of the stairs where a blonde haired woman who adorned a plain blue satin dress and was looking over the evening-goers. Her eyes meet his and she winks at him. He smiled and shook his head, then made his way through the crowd to her.
"Soirée mademoiselle."(Evening Miss) He says, walking up
"Soirée. Avoir l'amusement?" (Evening. Having fun?) She replies, her red lips forming a catlike smile, blue eyes twinkling.
"Pas vraiment." (Not really) He says as he leans on the stair's railing and looks over the crowd.
"Non? Voulez venir ont de l'amusement avec moi?" (No? Want to come have some fun with me?) She says as she leans right by him. John shakes his head.
"Sûr." (Sure) She grabs his hand and leads him down the hall. The blonde drags him to the third door on the right before knocking. Not hearing an answer, she opens the door to find it empty.
"Dans ici." (In here.) Swiftly, she shuts the door and John closes the windows. They quickly scour the room. When they are sure there are no bugs, they talk.
"Le Delta a-t-il transmis par relais l'information à vous?" (Did Delta transmit the information to you?) She asks him. John nods.
"Ouais. Où est Scorpion et Hawk?" (Yeah. Where's Scorpion and Hawk?)
"Scorpion est extérieur juste observant les windows et le hawk est au milieu de la partie. Tous les deux sont sur le détail avertissant. Il est juste nous." (Scorpion is just outside watching the windows and Hawk is in the middle of the party. Both are on warning detail. It is just us.) He nods again. Things were going well.
"Bien puis. Partons. Vous savez la voie." (All right then. Let's go. You know the way.) She smiles and nods.
"Je devrais. Je n'ai pas passé une semaine apprenant par coeur que fichue carte pour rien que vous savez." (I should. I did not spend a week memorizing that damn map for nothing you know.) He giggles. Even under the toughest circumstances, she still managed to have sarcasm.
"Fermez Viper. Nous devons aller." (Shut up Viper. We need to go.) She shakes her head and opens the door. Viper looks both ways before her and John proceed in the opposite direction from which they came. The two hit an elevator. Viper opens her purse and takes out a key card.
"Le faites-vous préparer, Glitch?" (Do you have it ready Glitch?) She asks into the air. A voice comes through the black earpieces they have hidden in their ears.
"Ouais. Êtes-vous?" (Yeah. Are you?) Comes the familiar male voice.
"Ouais. Faisons ceci." (Yeah. Let's do this.) She slides the card through the slot and the elevator door opens. They step in. John presses the button for floor five and the elevator swiftly takes them to their destination, where they quietly slip out of the elevator and into the hallway. He checks both ways before Viper motions to the left and they dart down the hallway. She counts five doors and kneels before the fifth, opening her silver purse. She pulls out her makeup bag and gets her mascara. Instead of opening the top like she normally would, she unscrews the bottom and out falls a lock picking kit. Adroitly, she picks the lock and soon it's open. They enter the office. It looked normal. Plants to their immediate left and right. Bookcases filled the right and left walls. The far wall in front of them had two windows on the far sides and in the middle a portrait of the lady of the house: Mademoiselle Marissa Charmet. A desk was a couple feet from the wall and directly in the center. John looks at Viper.
"Vous sûr ceci est la bonne salle?" (You sure this is the right room?)
"Naturellement parce qu' A. J'ai a étudié ces assez cartes. B. Vous avez vu les cartes vous-même. C. Nous avons été sur un trop d'affectations. Vous devriez avoir le genre d'obtenu le fait que les choses semblent toujours normales. Et finalement D, me font confiance."(Of course because A. I've studied those maps enough. B. You saw the maps yourself. C. We've been on one too many assignments. You should have kinda gotten the fact that things always look normal. And finally D, trust me.)
"Ouais. Ouais. Montre de stand d' je."(Yeah. Yeah. I'll stand watch.)
"Bon. Vous faites cela." (Good. You do that.) John growls and stands at the door. Viper looks around the room. "Où pourrait-il être?" (Where could it be?) She wonders to herself. The only thing they had not planned for. They hadn't known where their objective would be. "Des idées?" (Any ideas?) She throws behind her. John shakes his head.
"Non. Um... Attente! Derrière l'image derrière son bureau. Ce là où la plupart de subsistance de criminels n'est-elle pas leurs possessions?" (Nope… Um… Wait! Behind the picture behind her desk. Isn't that where most criminals keep their possessions?) Viper nods her head knowingly.
"Vrai. Très vrai."(True. Very true.) She heads over to the picture, puts on a pair of gloves, and then inspects it, covering everything to make sure nothing would go wrong. "Il est clair." (It's clear.) She slowly moves the frame to the side, revealing the door to a safe. "Vous êtes un génie certifié."(You are a certified genius.) Viper laughs. "Absolument brillant."(Absolutely brilliant.)
"J'ai mes jours. Maintenant hâte!"(I have my days. Now hurry!) Viper nods and leans her ear against the safe. Taking her time, she eventually gets the combination lock to unlock, opening the safe. Inside was a velvet red box about five inches long, five inches wide and three tall. She smirks, pulls the box out and opens it. Her eyes open at the sight.
"Bingo." Viper turns around to John and flashes the navy diamond. "Un Diamant de la Nuit." (One Diamond of the Night.) John laughs and shakes his head. Viper lifts up her dress and gets a leather pouch that was attached to her leg. She carefully takes off the strap that was holding it on her leg, pulls the drawstring of the bag to open it before taking the diamond out of its resting place. She puts the precious gem inside the pouch, closes the bag and puts the bag back where it was on her leg for safekeeping. Viper closes the box, replaces it in the exact position she had found it, closes the safe, locks it, and replaces the picture. She turns back to John and smiles. "Fait. Comment est-ce que c'est pour la synchronisation?"(Done. How is that for timing?)
"Bon. Laissez-maintenant nous sortent d'ici avant que nous fassions attraper, eh?"(Good. Now let us get out of here before we get caught, eh?) Viper giggles and nods. Viper looks out the window and sees a couple passing by. She whistles and they look up. They make their way till they are right under the window, only six stories down. John takes off his jacket to retrieve the hook. The two under the window throw up a rope. Viper catches the rope as John takes the hook and hooks it on the outside of the building on the wall. They planned this well. It was night; no one would see anything. John threads the rope thought the hook, letting the ends fall to the people under them. The two below catch the ends and secure them. Viper goes first, grabs the rope and slowly works her way down. John goes second and makes his way down. Once there, he takes off his jacket and hands it to the male. John continues until the full suit he had was off, revealing a tight black leotard. Finally having enough of the itching, he pulls of his mustache and the wig, letting the trapped auburn hair cascade down his back. The four start to walk off.
"Sensation mieux, Ice?"(Feel better Ice?) Viper asks giggling as they walk down the street to meet their pick up car.
"Dieu oui! Ce costume est terrible. Dites-moi encore pourquoi j'ai dû être un type?"(God yes! That costume is awful. Tell me again why I had to be a guy?)
"Nous avons dessiné des pailles et vous avez détruit."(We drew straws and you lost.) Replies the male.
"Taisez-vous Fox. Juste fermé vers le haut." (Shut up Fox. Just shut up.) Ice says trying to be intimidating, but ends up lacking the edge. "Au moins il est plus d'avec."(At least it's over with.)
"Ouais. Et ce qui nous doivent montrer pour eux?"(Yeah. And what do we have to show for it?) He asks.
"Ceci."(This.) Smirks Viper pulling out the leather pouch. "Un diamant de la nuit. Notre objectif en fonction pour cette affectation paisible."(One Diamond of the Night. Our objective on for this peaceful assignment.)
"Ayez besoin d'un tour?" (Need a ride?) Comes the familiar voice through their ears.
"Je crois que c'est duh Glitch" ( I do believe that is a duh Glitch.) Scowls Viper.
"Rawr!! Kitty a obtenu des griffes. Je suis envoyant Dust maintenant. Rassemblement Scorpion et Delta au point de rassemblement. Glitch dehors." (Rawr!! Kitty got claws. I'm sending Dust now. Meet Scorpion and Delta at the meet point. Glitch out.) He says laughs, causing the group to smile.
"Viper dehors."(Viper out.)
"Ainsi nous obtenons d'aller à la maison maintenant?"(So we get to go home now?) Queries the third female who hadn't spoken up yet.
"Oui. Nous obtenons d'aller à la maison!"(Yes, Hawk. We get to go home!) She slings her arms around Viper and Fox. "À la maison. De nouveau aux USA."(Home. Back to the US.)
"Mais que diriez-vous de d'une partie d'abord dans la célébration?"(But how about a party first in celebration?) Asks Fox. The other three let cat grins cross their faces.
"Enfer ouais!" (Hell yeah!!!!!!) Viper gives Ice a high-five. Fox spots their car where Delta and Scorpion were waiting. They give each other hugs with congratulations on a job well done. They got into the car and called it a night, before soon falling a sleep with smiles on their faces. It wouldn't be for long, but they were going home.
*****
She sighed, ran her fingers through her curly, dirty-brown hair and looked up again at the massive building before her. It was Madison Square Garden and she loathed every square foot of the place. Cursing her cousin's entire existence, she maneuvered her way across the street dodging the fast moving cars. Stephanie took a breath of relief and continued on her journey. She walked along the side of the building, trying to find the back entrance. Finding it, she rolls her eyes and makes her way to the door where a huge bodyguard was blocking the entrance. He was going over some papers on a clipboard. A smile formed slowly across her face, recognizing him immediately. Stephanie walks up to him. He looks up with a bored expression, thinking it was another psychotic fan.
"Name miss?"
"Knowles. Stephanie." She says with a hopeful grin. Her aunt had a terrible memory with all she had to do and may have forgotten to get her on the list. That would present a problem. He looks down on the list, flips through a few papers, and sighs.
"Sorry. You're not on my list. I can't let you in."
"You sure? Please check again. Knowles. K-N-O-W-L-E-S."
"Knowles. Knowles…" He pronounced it like 'now-less'. Stephanie frowned. "Sorry. You'll have to leave now."
"But Aunt Lynn was supposed to put me on." He gave her a 'get-real' look.
"Know how many times I've heard that one? At least think of something new." He looks back down at his papers.
"But Pudgit…" She drawls out as she whines. He looks up quickly.
"Ste?" Stephanie rolls her eyes and takes off her sunglasses before striking a dramatic pose.
"The one and only… I'm trying to see my sorry excuse for a cousin. Any chance of me getting in?" She asks giving him the cutest smile she could. He chuckles and wraps his massive arm around her shoulder.
"Why didn't you say something sooner? You know we've all missed ya Ste." She giggles and gives him a hug.
"Me too. And I don't know… My cousin is a blonde. Guess I get it from him."
"I'm sure."
"Hey!" She pretends to punch him as he ducks. "I'm way smarter then my cousin."
"True. But that's not hard." They both burst out laughing. "Well look at ya. You've grown up. Not the little shrimp I used to know." He says looking her over. She had grown a few inches. Her hair was still as curly as ever, but in the many years since he had seen her, she had gotten more feminine. She was a woman now. She blushed at the comment and Mike shook his head. "Yo! Steven! Take my post!" Another bodyguard, just as massive as he was, comes waltzing up.
"Okay Mike… Hi." Steven nods to Stephanie.
"Steven, this is Stephanie, you'll probably be seeing her for a bit. Ste… this is Steven. We added him about mid first tour." She waves to him. He nods again. "Alright… now that's done. Come on. The boys are rehearsing right now and the rest of us are hanging out in the BG room. I know that the others would love to see ya Ste. It's been a long time." She nods.
"It's been forever, and I'd love to." He chuckles and wraps his arm around her shoulder once more. Mike leads her through the catacombs that were the back halls of The Garden. She sees a green door marked 'Bodyguard Room' and she could hear the conversation coming from it. He knocks on the door three times precisely.
"Who may it be that wants to enter?" Bellows a voice on the other side of the door. Recognizing the voice, Ste grins and motions for Mike to be quiet.
"It be me. Smurfette. I wish to know where the purple mushrooms lie." The conversation abruptly stops. Mike starts fighting with himself to keep from laughing.
"Ste?" The voice comes from closer behind the door.
"Nope. The Grim Reaper. I've come for the one they call Smurf." She replies and Mike finally loses the battle and bursts out laughing as the door bursts open. Stephanie is quickly attacked by a bunch of people.
"STE!" Yells the same voice from earlier. She groans and they get off of her.
"Smurf!" She jumps up on the colossal bodyguard and gives him a hug. Terrance reciprocates the hug. He sets her down, and she moves on to the next bodyguard. "Lifty!" Lonnie hugs her.
"It's been a while Ste." He says with a sad smile.
"Too long." She nods. "Far too long. And Hobbit. Sup boy?" George chuckles and wraps Stephanie up in a big bear hug.
"Not much, Ste. Not much. We've missed you." He lets her go.
"Ditto. Where are Red and Dewy?"
"Watching the hooligans. You haven't had the honor of meeting the other three have you?" He says with a wicked grin. Stephanie bites her bottom lip.
"Um… no. Should I be worried?"
"Nah… downright terrified." Chuckles Terrance. "Oh and Ste… These are two of the new recruits. Dre and Miguel. Guys… this is Stephanie or Ste." Stephanie nods hellos to the two bodyguards that looked like they felt quite out of place at the little reunion, so they stayed back in the background. She giggled then yelped as Mike pulled her into the room. The rest of the group followed them in.
"So what have you been doing Ste? It's been… gosh… how many years since we last saw you?" Says George as he sits down on a couch. Stephanie sits down on a couch opposite them where Mike was sitting.
"A lot actually. I graduated high school, almost top of my class, and now I'm at NYU in my sophomore year studying to be a photographer. Life is good." She grins brightly, proud of what she had accomplished so far. "How are my two boys doing? I catch them on TV every once in a while. Jeeze, have they grown up. MMC was forever ago it seems." She drifts off, with a smile of remembrance on her face.
"They're very good, but you cousin never mentioned that you were coming." Wonders Lonnie.
"He doesn't know Lifty. This is kind of a surprise. Aunt Lynn's been hounding me to come visit her or cuz. I have no clue what his reaction's going to be. Probably angry, that I haven't talked to him in so long."
"I doubt he will be. He misses you. They both do." He replies honestly.
"I hate to admit it, but I do too. Can we go there now?" They nod.
"Sure. I'll take you." Smiles Mike.
"Thanks Pudgit." Mike gets up off the couch and heads to the door. Stephanie gives each of the bodyguards a hug before joining him. "Bye guys. I'll be seeing ya around." She waves as her and Mike continue on their journey through the catacombs of Madison Square Garden.
"They should be right around this corner and through the double doors. Last time I checked they were practicing. Wade was giving them a hell of a time." They stop, and he grabs his walkie off of his belt and presses the 'talk' button. "Tom? Rich? This is Mike. Come in. Over."
"Mike, this is Rich. What's up?" Rich asks.
"The boys are still practicing with Wade on the stage right?"
"Um… yeah, Mike. That's an affirmative. They're about two hundred fifty yards from where I'm standing. Wade has them stuck on 'Bye, Bye, Bye'." Rich replies, question evident in his voice.
"Good. Tom there?"
"Yeah. I'm right here Mike. Something wrong?" Mike chuckles.
"No, not at all. In fact, keep the noise down and I'll hand the walkie over to her."
"Her? Mike? What's going on?" Rich asks. Mike hands the walkie over to Stephanie. She giggles for a minute, then manages to compose her self.
"Yeah. Me. Hey boys." She giggles. Rich and Tom's eyes widen.
"Ste?" They say in unison.
"That's my name."
"Jeeze girl… it's been ages." Replies Rich.
"Where've you been hiding?" Asks Tom.
"Here at NYU. I'm a sophomore."
"Wow. Ste. All this time. What are you doing here?" Asks Rich.
"Well Red, I'm trying to surprise my cousin and co if you haven't blown it yet." Rich looks at the stage. The guys and Wade were giving them weird looks, but they hadn't gotten anything yet. Wade tells the guys to take ten, and they sigh in relief.
"Now's a good time to come. They just got a break." Says Tom.
"Alright. I'll be there in a sec. See ya guys."
"Bye!" The two bodyguards chorus, smiling.
"They're on break. Let's go have some fun!" Says Stephanie with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. Mike shakes his head.
"And I was worried they would be too much for you." He laughs. Ste just shrugs. Mike leads her around the corner where two double doors were. She grins, then begins to shake herself and stretches her face muscles. After a minute, she's done. She winks at Mike.
"Let's do this. Play along." She does one more shoulder roll, before bursting into the main auditorium where the concert was going to be that night. "OH MY GOD!!!! OH MY GOD!!!! IT'S NSYNC!!!!!!!" She starts racing down the isle to the stage. The five guys on the stage look on in fear. She arrives at the bottom of the stage and freezes, starring at them. She gasps. "It's… It's… It's… JC… and Joey… and Lance… and Chris… and Wade… and… Where's Justin?"
"Um… phone call. May we help you?" Asks Lance. JC looks at her oddly. The girl looked very familiar. Mike rushes down the isle and grabs her. She pretends to squirm.
"Head straight to the right, then turn to the left sharply. There is a set of stairs painted black that you can't see from out her. Pretend to break free and go!" She grins and nods. She manages to 'squirm out' of his grasp and runs like a banshee towards the stairs. Stephanie runs up them before heading straight to JC. "Oh my god! You're like JC!!!! Can I give you a hug? PLEASE?" Stunned, he just nods. She runs up to him and gives him a big hug. She leans down towards his ear and whispers. "Enjoying the show JS?" A look of bewilderment crosses his face as she lets go. He gives her a good look over. Only one person had ever called him that.
"Stephanie? SC, is it really you?" She just grins brightly and nods. "Jeeze girl! Where have you been? We've missed you!" He gives her a big bear hug then lets her go. "Let me go get Justin." He runs to the back of the stage, a big smile on his face. "Justin! Justin!" The other four look on, completely lost.
"Quit you're yelling JC. I was on the phone talking to Britney. What's all the commotion out here?" JC only points to the front of the stage. Justin turns and slowly looks. His eyes widen.
"Gizmo?"
"Gremlin." Before Stephanie knew it, she was engulfed in a big hug, being smothered by her cousin.
"Where have you been?" He asks.
"Um… New York actually. NYSU to be specific. I'm studying there." Lance clears his throat.
"J? JC?" The two chuckle.
"Sorry guys. This is Stephanie Christine Knowles." He said pronouncing it to rhyme with bowls. "My cousin. Gizmo, these are my band mates. You know JC already." JC nods and gives her a wink. She blows him a kiss in return. "Joey Fatone." He walks up to her and places a light kiss on her hand.
"Mademoiselle." He smiles.
"Lay off the charm Joey. You have a girlfriend and this is my cousin… don't even." He shakes his head and continues down the lineup. "Chris Kirkpatrick." Chris runs up to her and engulfs her in another hug.
"Thank you Chris, but air is a wonderful thing." He laughs and lets her go.
"And the last of the band mates is Lance Bass." Lance smiles and walks up to her. He gives her a gentle hug.
"Welcome to the nuthouse. This is calm compared to normal." He whispers in her ear. She shivers at the feel of his breath on her ear.
"I can believe that." She smiles. He smiles back. Justin looks on, confused at the exchange.
"Last and definitely least, our slave driver, Wade. Wade, my cousin Stephanie." Wade walks up to her and shakes her hand.
"Nice to meet you and don't believe everything you hear. I'm only a slave driver because they don't like to work." Stephanie smiles, eyes twinkling.
"I can see that." Justin glares at her. "Shut it Gremlin."
"You suck Gizmo." She giggles and sticks out her tongue at her cousin then winks.
"Always." Justin rolls his eyes.
"So Wade… how about cutting practice short today? In honor of my cousin and all." Wade scratches the back of his neck and sighs.
"Fine, but I'm putting you guys through hell tomorrow." Justin nods.
"Alright! So, Gizmo… have you had lunch yet?"
"Not yet."
"Okay then. Guys care to join us?" JC and Lance nod and Joey and Chris shrug. "Let's go. I hear they're serving good sandwiches for lunch." He grabs Stephanie's hand as they run off, and the rest of the guys tag along behind them.
*****
"A little to the left! No… you're other left. Yeah… that's good. Perfect… Parks. To the right some more. Good. That should do it… alright… it's twelve, lunch break people." The light technicians sigh in relief and begin their climb down off of the lighting equipment. Michael Samson was NSYNC's lighting manager and an extreme perfectionist. Everything had to be just right with him or he wouldn't let them have lunch. Although his perfectionism was a hindrance, it also made the shows just that much better. At age thirty-seven, he was at the peak of his career and things were only looking up. He checked his clipboard one last time before setting it down. Michael started down the stars.
"Michael! Michael! Call on line five for you in your office." Yells his assistant, Taryn Reynolds. He looks at her oddly.
"You sure? I wasn't expecting any calls today." She shrugs.
"Don't know. It's a male voice. He just asked for you. I couldn't get anything else out of him." He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair.
"Okay. I got it… you said my office right?" She nods. He walks down the stairs and around back. Brushing past her, she grabs his arm and raises her mouth to hover just above his ear.
"Be careful. I don't like this. I don't like this one bit. I have a really bad feeling." She whispers. Michael sighs.
"Aren't I always?" And he walks off. Taryn shakes her head.
"I know. But something's wrong. I can just feel it." She mumbles before walking off.
Michael heads down the hall to where his office was. He smiled to himself. Taryn always had bad feeling. One day they were going to get the best of her and send her to a nuthouse, but then again, this was NSYNC's tour. It was a nuthouse in itself. He pulls the keys out of his right pocket. He unlocks the door and frowns. After jiggling the lock for a minute, he inspects it. Someone had used a small metal object, probably aluminum from the residue on the lock, to pick it. It was a fairly skillfully done job. It couldn't have been Lance. Because although he was skilled in lock picking, the boy wasn't this skilled. It was a professional job. He opens his door slowly, keeping alert. Seeing nothing, he walks in and looks around. His office was a mess. Papers were strewn everywhere. It looked like someone had been searching for something. He leans to pick something up when a black blur comes up from behind him. A piece of cloth quickly covers his airways. His attacker brings a knife to his throat, and dark eyes are the last things he sees as his life slips away from him.
"Goodnight Ray. Your people will pay." Says the attacker in a gruff voice as the body in his arms goes limp. "With your lives, your people will pay." He smiles sadistically as he unceremoniously dumps the body on the ground and leaves before anyone could see him.
*****
"So SC, what have you been up too?" Asks JC as he sits down next to her. The group had gotten lunch and was now sitting down with their sandwiches. Stephanie takes a long gulp of her water.
"Not much. I graduated high and then got accepted at NYSU. I'm studying to be a photographer. I hear I'm pretty decent with a camera." She laughs.
"So JC, we know Stephanie is Justin's cousin, but how do you know her?" ask Joey.
"MMC. She would help Curly and me with our lines and stuff. And when we where shooting, she'd point and mock at the bunch of us. She lived in Orlando same time we did. Her aunt and J's mom were really close. I met one day during shooting. Justin was literally dragging her to the studio. It was hilarious." Stephanie frowns.
"It wasn't that funny. I still have scars JS."
"Details, details." He laughs. "Anyways, after a couple of times of doing that, she finally relented and came on her own… I think." Justin gives a smirk.
"Sadly, yeah. She did. But once Chris came to me, and we all got together to form our group, we left for Germany, and that was the last time I saw Gizmo because she had to stay in Orlando. Then we came back to the states, and she was too busy to talk or see me anymore. That's basically the jist of it." He takes a couple bites of his sandwich.
"Yup that's it. The oh so tragic tale. And while I was lugging my way through school, you were waltzing around Europe. That's not cool." She sticks her tongue out at Justin. He mirrors the action.
"Yes it is."
"No it's not."
"Is too."
"Is not."
"Too."
"Not." They continue to banter across the table. Lance leans over to JC.
"They always like this?" JC grins and nods.
"Yep." JC opens his mouth to say something else, but a high-pitched scream interrupts him. The guys and Stephanie jump up and run towards its source.
Taryn collapses to her knees, sobbing, and her throat hoarse from the scream. She's startled when a hand touches her shoulder and she flinches away from it.
"Taryn? Taryn, what's wrong?" Her finger shakes as she points to the body before her. Michael had been murdered. It looked clean, and the only sign that a life had been taken was the red ribbon that was on the front portion of his neck. Johnny's eyes widen. NSYNC and Stephanie come running from one direction and the bodyguards come running from another. Their eyes widen.
"Call an ambulance and the police… someone! Quick!" Mike nods and whips out his cell phone. After a few minutes Mike informed them that the police were on the way. Johnny looks around the office. It was a big mess, not at all like Michael. Someone had been looking for something. He glances once more at the body. There was a white piece of paper attached. Johnny asks Mike for a glove, puts it on, and picks up the paper. The murderer had left a message scrawled on the paper.
I will come for the other sleepers.
He was only the first.
The Griffin