Second Chance

My first thought upon waking was that something wasn't right.

The bus wasn't in motion, but I was certain that it should have been. The guys had just started the North American leg of their tour - it was almost midday, and the bus should have been well on its way to our next destination.

Zacky's raised voice had been what had woken me. I realised it now, after hearing him yell again. There were two other voices that I could make out, but they were much softer and a little too far away for me to place to owners. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I climbed out of the bunk; after straightening my clothes out quickly, I headed towards the voices.

I was right in my assumption that there were three of them. Matt stood beside Zacky, looking calm except for the hard lines that had appeared on his forehead, a sign of his distress. The latter did nothing to hide his apparent outrage at whatever was going on, green eyes flashing dangerously. The third was a man that I didn't know - but I didn't need to know him. His uniform told me everything that I needed to know.

"Fuck're the cops doin' here?"

All three heads turned my way, though I wasn't the one to have spoken. I myself turned slightly to face Brian, who had come to stand just behind me. Judging by the state of his hair, he too had only just managed to crawl out of bed. He lent against the wall and reached out to give my shoulder a light squeeze; I sent a small smile back at him before returning my attention to the trio in the kitchenette.

"Abigael Williams?"

It had been a long while since anybody had called me by my full name, and it caught me even more off guard now as it came from the police officer. I looked to the guys hesitantly.

"...have I done something wrong?"

"You are Abigael Williams?" the man clarrified. "Of Sydney, Australia?"

"...yes?"

"Do you recognise this man?"

He took several steps forward and held out a photo to me. I glanced at it only briefly before waving it away, gesturing for him to take it back.

"Well?"

"That's my father," I replied with a shrug. "Zacky and Matt could have told you that."

"Did these men kidnap you?"

Brian slipped and had to catch himself before he hit the floor. Usually I would have turned to make sure that he was alright but now I was frozen in place, stunned into complete silence. I openly gaped at the officer, trying to figure out whether he was joking or not. His expression told me that he was.

"You can't be serious," Brian said when I failed to speak. "Do we look like idiots to you?"

"Ms. Williams?"

"Of course not!" I cried. "Are you insane? They'd never do something like that!"

Matt and Zacky both smiled at this, but the police officer didn't look convinced.

"I'm going to need you all to come down to the station with me."

I zoned out at these words, knowing that it was now up to Matt to sort out what was to happen. Suddenly feeling light-headed, I made like Brian and lent against the wall. I was aware of him watching me, of Matt talking quickly with the officer, of Zacky standing beside him dumbfounded.

Kidnapped. It was almost laughable. If it hadn't been for the police officer standing on the bus, I would have laughed at it. Where would anybody have gotten an idea like that? It was quite possibly as far as anybody could get from the truth, and yet the officer didn't seem to understand that. He shook his head repeatedly at whatever Matt was saying.

"We have shows to play," Brian spoke up. "A whole tour ahead of us."

"The quicker you come with me, the quicker we can have all of this sorted out. You'll be back on your tour in no time."

"Let's just get this over with." It was Zacky who made the suggestion, grabbing his jacket off the back of a chair. He had it pulled on in a matter of seconds. "In and out and then back on the road."

"Just...let me speak to Larry before we go. Have him deal with the venue."

Larry. Matt walked past Brian and myself, pulling out his phone as he went. He disappeared into the tiny living room at the back of the bus, way out of earshot from the rest of us. Still I stared after him, my mind buzzing. Could Larry be behind this? He'd made it perfectly clear that he didn't want me around, and that he had every intention of getting rid of me somehow. But this?

It seemed a little extreme, I decided. Even for him. And as far as I could tell, it would do nothing but cause more headaches for him. If the guys were being held at a station, they couldn't play their shows - that meant Larry having to call ahead and cancel. He wanted me out of the picture, not the guys to be taken off the road. And now they would have to deal with legion of disappointed fans.

I felt a stab of guilt.

I jumped when Zacky's hand landed on my shoulder. He squeezed, a little too hard for it to be reassuring. If I didn't know any better, I would have said that he was just as concerned about all this as I was - if not more so. I looked up at him, hoping he could see how sorry I was about the mess that this was causing. I didn't trust myself to speak. I felt that I might be sick.

"We'll sort this out," he told me confidently. "I promise."

But for the first time, I was consciously aware of the fact that I didn't believe him.