The Star Kissed Collection

by Jamie Campbell

  They finished just on dusk, giving us enough time to be bundled into the van and raced back into the city. We were dropped off at the concert arena and the boys whisked into wardrobe.

  I was back to waiting around like a third wheel. I tried to keep out of the way as I was pretty much the only one without an actual task to do backstage. I would have found a seat in the audience but that hadn’t worked out so well for me before.

  When the concert started, I waited in the wings so I could watch. Nobody really seemed to care what I did while the boys performed so at least I knew I wasn’t in the way.

  The band had changed their set list slightly, taking out a song and replacing it with another. I had no idea why, it could have been as trivial as Scott deciding he was sick of the song. I made a mental note to ask Cole later on.

  After the show I waited in the green room by myself, expecting the room to be filled within a few minutes. I was looking forward to getting back to the hotel, having a nice hot shower, and slipping into bed. The early morning starts and late nights were beginning to take their toll.

  “Where is she?” Scott’s voice echoed down the hallway, instantly making me cringe with worry. His footsteps followed until he was stomping into the green room, his face stormy. “What have you done?”

  I was the only one in the room, so clearly he was addressing me. What wasn’t so clear was what on earth he was talking about. “Done what?”

  Cole and the rest of the band appeared in the doorway, hurrying in. They probably heard him shouting, the departing audience could probably hear it outside too, he was so loud.

  “Scott, what’s going on?” Cole asked, stepping between us. I didn’t want to be the kind of girl to cower behind her boyfriend’s back, but I really didn’t like Scott.

  “Your girlfriend is ruining all your careers, that’s what’s going on,” he huffed out. His face was completely red, the vein on his neck pulsating with contained rage. I doubted it would remain contained for much longer.

  “What’s happened?” Cole asked again.

  “Your new song has been leaked now. A ten second video of the shoot has been uploaded and gone viral. Three weeks before it’s due to be released.”

  Chapter Seven

  My mind reeled. I had taken a ten second video but I hadn’t done anything with it. I never got a chance to confirm it was okay so it was still on my phone. Or so I thought.

  I pulled out my phone, I needed to see the video. Then when it was different from the one I took, I could prove to them it wasn’t me. It was all I could think of to prove my innocence.

  Before I could find the video, Scott reached around Cole and snatched my phone out of my hand. “You’re not using that.”

  “I need to see the video.”

  “Give her the phone back,” Cole said, his voice cold. I hadn’t heard him speak like that before.

  “That’s like putting a loaded gun in a killer’s hand,” Scott shot back.

  Cole held out his hand, expecting the phone to be returned to him. Scott eventually relented and handed it to him. But instead of giving it to me, he started flicking through it himself.

  When he found the video on the internet, he held up the screen so I could see it too. I wanted to throw up when the ten seconds of footage was exactly the same as the video I took.

  I stepped back like the phone was poisonous. I couldn’t understand how that could be. I hadn’t uploaded it, I wouldn’t until I cleared it with the guys. As soon as I filmed the clip, I had forgotten about it.

  “Believe me now?” Scott asked, his arrogant face smirking. “She needs to go.”

  I looked around at the faces staring at me. Reed, Nick, Luke, and Dylan looked shocked. Scott was fuming angry. Cole was unreadable. I couldn’t take it anymore. My feet started moving and I ran out of the green room.

  I wasn’t sure where I was going to go but I had to get out of there. They all hated me, I was their biggest enemy now. Tears stung my eyes as I barreled down the long and winding corridors. I didn’t even know where it led to, but I hoped it would take me outside. I needed air, my lungs burned with stuffiness.

  When I reached the end, it was a locked door. No matter how many times I tried the handle, it wouldn’t budge. I slumped against it, covering my face with my hands as I sobbed.

  Arms wrapped around me and pulled me to their chest. I knew those arms and that cologne. He cradled my head, whispering to me. “Don’t cry, Mel, it’s okay. We’ll find out who really did this.”

  “Everyone thinks it was me,” I sobbed into his chest. I regarded him in that everyone category too.

  “No, they don’t.” It was a gentle lie for my benefit but I noticed he didn’t make any promises. Cole wasn’t going to say anything he couldn’t commit to. “Please don’t cry. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

  “Why would someone do this?”

  “I don’t know.” He sighed, kissing the top of my head. “Come on, we’ll go back to the hotel and get some sleep. Everything will look better in the morning.”

  Again, I didn’t believe him but I couldn’t stay in the corridor forever. I needed to get back to the hotel so I could hide in my room. Only there could I find the solace I desperately needed.

  I barely slept at all that night and when I did it was only to have nightmares about my accused crimes. By morning I was exhausted but I had made up my mind about what I needed to do.

  When it came down to it, it didn’t matter if I was guilty or innocent. I had already been convicted and I had to go. Cole would eventually side with the band, his brothers as he called them.

  Everybody left me, my mother had proven that point. Cole wouldn’t stick around with a liar and a thief. He would walk away and forget all about me, breaking my heart like it was nothing.

  I couldn’t go through that again. I had to be the first one to act so I could pretend I was okay and move on with my life. I couldn’t have another person leave me like I was an abandoned puppy.

  I used my laptop to book a flight home and packed my things into my single suitcase. I didn’t have time for breakfast, I would slip out of the hotel before anyone saw me.

  Wheeling my suitcase down to the lobby, my eyes scanned the place to make sure I wasn’t going to run into anyone I knew. I needed to have a clean break otherwise I would just end up a blubbering mess… again.

  My stomach clenched when I saw all of Two Dimension sitting in the lobby and I ducked back behind the corner. It was only early, they were probably waiting for the breakfast room to open. Sometimes they had to get it opened early especially for them. No hotel ever said no to them.

  I frantically looked around but there didn’t seem to be any other exit. As I stood there panicking, their voices filtered through the otherwise quiet room, my ears pricked up when I heard my name.

  “It has to be her,” Luke said grimly. “We all saw her take the video and it was only on her phone. Nobody else could have uploaded that footage.”

  “Dude, none of us want to believe it,” Dylan added. “But you’ve got to admit the evidence speaks for itself.”

  “I don’t know how it happened, but she wouldn’t do this,” Cole said. My lips quirked in a little smile at his defense of me. It wouldn’t last, he would eventually side with his brothers, but it was nice to hear it anyway.

  Reed went next. “Melrose is a nice girl, but we’ve got to deal with what happened. We can’t have someone around that is leaking stuff.”

  I had heard more than enough to confirm I was making the right decision. I risked a peek around the corner and saw the boys getting up. The door to the breakfast room was now open. I would only have to wait a few more seconds and I would be able to leave. I would never have to see Two Dimension again.

  I counted to ten and looked around again, they’d gone. I didn’t waste any time in crossing the foyer and hurrying toward the doors. There were cabs lined up outside, it was easier than I thought to slip away.

  “Mel?” Cole’s voice stopped
me dead in my tracks. “Where are you going?”

  I turned around slowly, considering just running. Unfortunately, my luggage was too heavy to allow me to run fast. “I’m leaving.”

  “You can’t.”

  “I have to. I’m doing you all a favor by not making you force me to leave.” My breath caught in my throat, threatening to form a lump and choke off all my words.

  “I don’t want you to go.” His voice was so sincere I almost believed him. Almost.

  “I can’t stay.” I sounded way braver than I felt.

  “Were you even going to tell me?” Those sad, beautiful, green eyes. I wanted to comfort him so badly.

  “I was going to call you from the airport.” That was a lie, he still had my phone so I had no way of even doing that. But I hoped he didn’t work that out.

  “Melrose, please don’t go.”

  “I have to.” I couldn’t stop the tears streaking down my cheeks. “It’s been fun and all, Cole, but I have to do this. Thank you for everything, but I have to go.”

  I turned and started walking, wheeling my luggage down the ramp beside me. Cole followed, I had no idea what he was thinking.

  I waved to the nearest cab and he got out to open the trunk. “Where to, Miss?”

  “The airport.”

  “Certainly.”

  “Mel, please don’t go. We’ll sort this out. I love you,” Cole pleaded. “Just stay, that’s all you have to do.”

  I shook my head. “I have to go, that’s all I have to do. Have a good summer.”

  I slid into the back of the cab and closed the door before he convinced me to change my mind. My heart was shriveling into the size of a raisin and it was painful to experience.

  Out of habit, my fingers clasped around the pendant on my necklace. It was the ruby and gold one Cole had found on the ground in Paris. It was the only piece of jewelry besides a bracelet he had given me because he knew I wouldn’t accept anything extravagant. Receiving gifts made me uncomfortable and he respected that.

  Tears freely flowed the entire way to the airport. They were only made worse when I remembered how happy I had been last time I was there.

  I strode through the airport trying to take deep breaths and get excited about seeing Dad, Jemma, and Dallas again. There was still plenty of summer left, all was not lost. At least they wouldn’t judge or accuse me of things I didn’t do.

  My mind was still clouded as I walked, trying to figure out how that video ended up on the internet. Maybe I was going crazy and did things without remembering them? Could I have accidently uploaded the video? Maybe I hit the wrong button and released it instead of saving it?

  My reverie was interrupted as someone bumped into me. Somebody big – a man. I stumbled backwards but was caught by strong hands. For just a second, I expected to see Cole but it wasn’t him.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled out of habit. I knew it wasn’t my fault for the bump but I still felt like I had to apologize.

  The next thing I knew, those same strong hands were clamped on my arm and pushing me along. “Hey, stop it.”

  “Got gun, quiet or I kill you.” I didn’t think he was joking. My eyes darted everywhere, trying to spot a guard or police officer that could help me. Besides other commuters who would probably prefer to save their butts rather than help me, there was nobody.

  I struggled to get out of the man’s grip, he only clamped down tighter. “Don’t move,” he said, his voice thick with an accent. I wasn’t entirely convinced it was an Italian accent.

  Before I knew it we were out the automatic doors and into the parking lot. A black car pulled up immediately and I was unceremoniously dumped into the back seat.

  Chapter Eight

  We only got around the corner before they stopped. Two men now held my future in their hands. The bigger one who had grabbed me got out and pulled me from the back seat.

  For just a second, I thought he was letting me go. But instead he bundled me up and stuck me in the trunk. The lid was closed and I was plunged into darkness.

  That’s when I found my voice… and feet. I started kicking against the lid, yelling for help at the top of my lungs. I needed someone to notice me, realize I was in the trunk of a damn car that was taking me to who knows where.

  My mind raced with all kinds of crazy thoughts. I hoped my luggage wasn’t stolen from the middle of the airport. Or blown up as a suspected bomb or something. Like luggage was my most pressing concern at that moment.

  It was better than imagining myself shot dead though. The two men were huge, I would never be able to overpower them enough to get away. Especially when they had the gun and I didn’t. I had absolutely no fighting skills, no muscles, and definitely no weapons. I was powerless against them, it wasn’t a fair fight by any means.

  I had no idea how long I was in there. My watch didn’t exactly glow in the dark and there was nothing but darkness in the trunk. I felt every bump the car went over and moved with every corner it went around.

  When we stopped, I really started to panic. Two doors thudded closed and a few seconds later my eyes hurt with the sudden daylight. I blinked but wasn’t given any time to adjust as I was hoisted out of the trunk and lugged over the guy’s shoulder.

  He carried me into a hotel room. I caught a glimpse of the place just as the door was closing. Judging by the ratty furnishing and kitsch décor, it wasn’t exactly the Hilton. I was dumped on the floor.

  “Don’t move. Gun.” The man wasn’t entirely filled with eloquent words. He turned to his accomplice and they spoke rapidly in another language. It definitely wasn’t Italian, it sounded harsher, more static.

  I remained on the floor for a long time, too scared to move or speak. I wasn’t sure if they would be able to understand me anyway. From the few words they threw my way, they didn’t seem to know much English. Gun seemed to be their favorite.

  At some stage during the day, they turned the television on. They flicked through until they landed on a news program. After a few minutes, Two Dimension came on the screen, it was probably a report about their concert in the city.

  Seeing Cole’s face sent a stabbing pain through my chest. He probably wasn’t even missing me. Talk was cheap, his actions would speak louder than anything that escaped his mouth. All the guys in the band constantly had girls throwing themselves at them. It wouldn’t take long for him to replace me. I’d be forgotten by the end of the week.

  It suddenly hit me that nobody was going to miss me. I hadn’t told anyone from home that I was on my way there. I wanted to surprise them. Cole and everyone on the tour thought I’d left for good. Nobody was going to notice my absence which meant nobody was going to be looking for me. I was officially doomed.

  The sun went down and the windows grew dark. I was given some food and permitted to use the bathroom when I asked them.

  I couldn’t work out why they were holding me there. Neither of them seemed interested in me so it didn’t seem personal. They hadn’t killed me yet so it wasn’t just a thrill kill. So why on earth take me from the airport and hold me there? It seemed pointless.

  When my watch said it was after ten o’clock, one of the men threw me a pillow off the bed. Apparently it was time I went to sleep. I lay down and closed my eyes, doubting I would be able to get any shuteye.

  I was right, I barely slept all night. The two men took shifts in watching over me and one of them snored impossibly loud. Two nights in a row of little sleep wasn’t helping with my fuzzy head.

  Another long day was spent on the floor. Food was thrown my way twice and they let me take a shower once. I wished they had kidnapped my luggage too so I could change into some clean clothes.

  My captors got a phone call in the early afternoon and answered hastily. They spoke quickly, nodding the entire time.

  Afterwards, they both stalked over to me. The bigger one of the two, the one who knew the few words of English, gestured toward himself. He waved his hands across his neck, like he was cutting it off.
<
br />   Oh my God, they were going to cut off my head? My body started shaking as the realization sunk in. I wasn’t going to be alive for much longer. All those things I would never get to do. All those people I loved that I would never get to see again.

  I shook my head, tears springing from my eyes. “No, please don’t. Just let me go, I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

  It was useless begging, they didn’t even understand what I was saying. It didn’t stop me though, if they were going to kill me, they would have to do it while I was begging for my life.

  They both stared at me, exchanged words in their own language. The gun happy one suddenly leant forward toward me. I closed my eyes, waiting for him to grab me before ending my life. I was so terrified I couldn’t stop shaking.

  A pressure snapped on the back of my neck. My eyes sprung open to see what they were doing to me. The big guy held my necklace between his gigantic fingers. He examined it, holding it up to the light before nodding.

  They exchanged more words before grabbing my pillow off the floor. They ripped off the pillowcase and threw it over my head. Everything went black.

  Chapter Nine

  “Out. Now.” The big guy’s vocabulary was expanding. He held the trunk of the car open as I sat up and took the pillowcase off my head. I climbed out and looked around, blinking.

  “Where am I?” I asked. All I got in reply was the car door closing and the engine gunning as they sped off. They left me there, in the middle of nowhere.

  I guessed it was better than being shot. My hand absentmindedly rubbed at my neck, sore from where they had snapped my necklace off. Had that really been all they wanted? Why not take it from me at the airport? And what was so special about it in the first place? It didn’t look to be that expensive or special.

  But I had bigger issues at that moment, I had to concentrate. I looked both ways at the road. It seemed to stretch on forever in both directions. I cursed Scott for taking my phone off me. It sure would have come in handy. At my feet was my handbag. I scooped it up and rifled through it. Everything from my purse to my passport appeared to be intact.