Chapter 4
By Bianca
“Kelly!” Nate’s
booming voice broke the silence, causing everyone to jump. She had been pacing
back and forth and nervously chewing her fingernails for a good half hour and
he was getting tired of her. “Would you be still?! Sit down somewhere or
something, just stop moving.” Not wanting to start something with him, she did
as he said and found a seat on one of the counters.
She sat there for
a moment, swinging her legs and looking around like a bored little girl. She
was having a hard time sitting there doing nothing so she looked at Nate. “Can
I get a magazine to look at or something?”
“Yes, if that will
get you to sit down and shut the hell up, get the entire rack of magazines,” he
said hatefully.
Walking over to
the magazine rack, she saw a magazine lying on the floor already open to an
article. It was the magazine Ella had been reading when they had come in…she
remembered seeing the young woman drop it and rush to catch the old lady that
fainted. She went back to the counter she had been seated on and opened the
magazine back up. She skimmed over a few pages and got to the music section.
She started to turn the page when a picture caught her eye. The men in the
group looked very familiar to her and she couldn’t seem to place them.
Suddenly, it was as though she had been hit by a brick, and she looked over at
the two men that were with the med student.
“Nate!” she
called, frantically waving him over. “C‘mere!”
“What is it Kelly?
I don’t have time to play your stupid childish games.” When he was close enough
to look over her shoulder he glanced at her and let out an exasperated sigh.
“What?”
“Look!” she said
pointing to the picture and article. “Don’t you get it?”
Nate, loosing his
patience, snatched the magazine from Kelly’s grasp and looked at it. After
skimming through the article and examining the picture carefully, he looked at
the two men sitting away from the group. Smirking he handed the magazine back.
“Nice work, Kel.” He then made his way back to the spot he had been standing
in. “Change of plans,” he called menacingly. When he was sure everyone was
paying attention to him, he smiled. It was a smile of pure evil. “Since we are
lucky enough to be graced by the presence of celebrities this lovely evening,
we now have an even better reason to stay here.” Looking over at Nick and Brian
narrowed his eyes and kept his smile in place. “You my friends, are going to
make us very rich.”
***
Ella placed her
hand on Brian’s forehead, causing him to open his eyes. “How ya feelin’?” she
asked.
“I’ve been
better,” he offered a weak smile. “But it’s not that bad.”
She looked at him
with concern and knew that he was trying to stay positive for Nick. She glanced
at the others around her, carefully surveying the situation. The older lady,
Ethel, was awake now, but she was quite shaken; the young, obviously newlywed,
couple were huddled together beside Ethel, Kim was standing by her cash
register with a terrified _expression on her face and tears threatening to
spill down her cheeks, the manager was getting the remainder of the money from
the safe, and Nick sat a few feet away from Ella glaring hatefully at her.
Deciding not to acknowledge his hard gaze, she glanced toward the three
robbers. Nate, the gunman, was standing away from his hostages, staring at each
of them. He appeared to be thinking, trying to come up with some sort of plan
to make himself rich. Kelly was pacing back and forth again…still chewing on
her fingernails. Ella was sure that by now, Kelly didn’t have any nails left.
David was standing casually next to the door, staring outside. He acted as if
nothing was wrong; that his “boss” had not just shot a man, and that man could
very well die. It didn’t even seem to phase him that Nick and Brian were famous
and could be worth more than they had anticipated when they came into the store
that night.
Suddenly, Nate
cast his attention to Ella. “How is he doing? He doesn’t look good…”
“He’s okay for
now, but he’s lost a lot of blood.”
He narrowed his
eyes at her and made his way over to her. When he was standing over her, he
roughly cupped her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. His voice
was low and it terrified Ella. “You keep him alive…you hear me? I don’t really
wanna kill you, but I swear to you, I will if I have to.”
Ella tried her
best not to cry. She had to stay composed so he wouldn’t know how scared she
was; they had to think she was brave and she could handle any situation. But
she was more scared than she had ever been and she didn’t know if anyone around
her was aware of that or not.
***
Nick held Brian’s
head in his lap and watched his friend. He had his eyes closed, but he wasn’t
sleeping. He was trying to ignore the excruciating pain blazing throughout his
entire body. How did they get into this? They came to the grocery store for
junk food, and of all the things that could happen, the store was being held up
and his best friend had been shot. Even worse, they realized who they were and
they were dead set on making a profit. Now, he felt guilty for being so angry
with Brian and the other guys. That all seemed so meaningless now that
someone’s life was hanging in a delicate balance between life and death. So
what if his brothers weren’t supportive? They still loved him and that’s all
that mattered. But it was too late to say that now. No matter how many times
Nick told himself that, he didn’t feel any better. Nick let out a weary sigh
and wiped the layer of cold perspiration off Brian’s forehead.
“Hey,” he heard
the weak voice. “Stop worrying about me, man. I’m not that easy to get rid
of…it’s gonna be okay.”
Nick forced a
small smile and nodded. “Yeah, I know. I’m just worried. You know, since we
don’t have a doctor and all.” He let his heavy gaze fall on Ella who was seated
on the other side of Brian.
“Nicky, she may
not be a doctor, but she knows what she’s doing. Give her a chance.”
Nick just nodded.
Then he heard Nate once again yell at his female accomplice. The loud voice
startled him so that he jerked. He immediately regretted his sudden movement
when he heard Brian’s gasp. “I’m sorry man,” he whispered.
Before he realized
it, Nate had come over and was holding Ella’s face in his hand. After he walked
away he looked back at Ella and saw her lower her head a little. She was
obviously trying to hide her tears, but Nick knew she was crying. As hard as
she tried to stay together and brave in front of everyone else, it was clear
that she was scared.
Nick looked around
and tired to think of something to get them out of this. But that’s how we got
into this…trying to get out of it, he thought to himself, grimly.
***
The silence seemed
deafening. He couldn’t even hear his heart beating anymore. Suddenly, there was
a loud noise and Nick finally realized it was Brian’s cell phone. Before he
could get to it, Nate had a gun in Nick’s face.
“Hand me that
phone.”
Not wanting to get
himself or anyone else hurt, he reached inside Brian’s coat pocket and handed
the phone to Nate. He listened carefully to the one sided conversation.
“Hello?” Nate’s
voice was rigid and daunting.
“Who the hell is
this?” AJ’s voice came across the line loudly.
“Oh, don’t worry
about that right now. So, are you one of the other Backstreet Boys? What a
pleasure this is,” his voice was flat and emotionless now.
“Look, I don’t
know who the hell you are, but how did you get this phone? Where’s
Brian?”
“He’s having some
stomach problems right now…you know…he’s just a little indisposed. But I can
take a message for you if you like.”
“No, you asshole,
let me talk to Brian.”
“Listen!” Nate
yelled, momentarily loosing his cool. He quickly recovered and his voice
dropped to a low whisper. Turning his back to the crowd, he began to measure
his words as he spoke. “You understand one thing, if you want a message sent to
Brian, you will tell me. You won’t be speaking to him. And I think you might
want to start getting some money together if you want to see your friends
again. Is that understandable? Or do I need to make things a little more
clear?”
AJ cleared his
throat nervously. “What are you talking about?”
Nate sighed
impatiently as if he were speaking to a child. “Brian and Nick are here at the
grocery store, but they won’t be coming home if you don’t get me some money
soon. I think you need to be making some arrangements. That’s if you’re a smart
man. I’ll be getting back to you shortly to let you know exactly what I want.
Let’s just hope you’re a little smarter than your buddies here…” he laughed
ominously before ending the call. “If I were you,” he looked at Nick, “I would
sure hope you’re friends aren’t as stupid as you…if they are, I’d start
preparing.”
“Pr-preparing for
what?” Nick wanted to kick himself for letting his voice shake. He could feel
beads of sweat dripping between his shoulder blades.
“Are you really
that stupid?” Nate snickered to himself. “I’d be preparing to die…it’s not that
hard to understand.”
Suddenly, Nick
could hear his heart again. This time it was racing. He knew this man was
serious…he had already shot Brian and Nick knew he wasn’t scared of shooting or
even killing someone else. It was not supposed to happen the way it did, and he
knew that. But things changed somehow and now, Brian was on the verge of death
and no one in the room was really safe from Nate. Deep down, Nick thought maybe
Nate was possibly bluffing, but he reasoned with himself. He’s not bluffing…not
at all. He’s already shot one person…he sure as hell wouldn’t be afraid to kill
someone. Nick knew Nate wouldn’t hesitate to shoot that gun again. He also
couldn’t help but think of just how dangerous the man was. He’s a loose
cannon…anything we say could set him off and send him flying off the handle.
Closing his eyes, Nick took Brian’s hand in his and began to pray. He had never
really been very open about religion and faith, but there was nothing more any
of them could do. They didn’t have a doctor and nothing seemed to be in their
favor, but maybe God would hear them. One could always hope…
***
