No Mercy

"Where the fuck is she??" Ben asked, obviously pissed at their new merch girl as he walked off the bus and into the sunlight, squinting at the sudden brightness. The sound of crowds and far off bands performing combined with the chatter and loud music coming from the parked busses.

"I dunno, last I saw her was at the after hours party last night," James replied. "Who's at the booth?"

“The booth isn't even fucking set up. Kyle just told me no one's seen her all day.” Ben huffed in frustration. He had just been shaken awake by his panicked tour manager and told that their merch girl had disappeared. She had been hired as a favor so she could pay her rent when she got back home. She may be a friend of a friend, but she would be fired as soon as they found her. He didn't give a fuck if she ended up homeless, she should do her fucking job. He kicked the door, causing it to go back on its hinges, hitting the bus side.

"Whoa." Austin held up his hands in mock surrender. "What's going on?" Austin and Tino had made their way to the Asking Alexandria bus and had obviously noticed Ben’s blatant anger and violence towards the bus door.

"Yeah," Danny answered for his friend, even though his temper was about to flare too. This is what they got for doing the poor girl a fucking favor. "Well, our merch tent isn't even set up yet and the girl we hired is nowhere to be found. Have you guys seen her? About yea high, blonde hair, greenish brown eyes? Because when we find her, she's fucking out of here."

Austin looked genuinely concerned for his friends and put his hands in his pockets nervously. "No man, I haven't seen anyone like her. Except maybe at the after hours party last night..." He shrugged.

"Same here," Tino cut in, "But we'll let you know if any of us see her. We’ll check back with the guys too."

"Thanks," Ben said as he spat onto the dusty parking lot. "Tell her to start packing if you see her."

"You never know, she might have a good reason for being missing," Austin suggested. "Maybe something important came up."

"Without calling? It's fucking unprofessional," James said as he stepped halfway inside the bus. "What time are we on?"

"Two hours," Danny said.

"I'm going back to sleep," James mumbled as he climbed the rest of the way into the bus and shut the door. They could hear the muffled sound of him loudly complaining about unreliable people from inside the bus.

The sound of sirens could faintly be heard over the clamor of the festival.

Austin looked in the direction of the sound. "That doesn't sound good."

"Probably just some kid got punched out," Danny said, shrugging it off. "They’ll be fine."

"Guys!" Andy ran up to the bus, bending over and panting in the heat. "Ahh hang on!" He gasped, holding up one finger.

"You looked so majestic with your fucking gazelle legs and your hair blowing in the wind," Danny said, laughing at his own insult. Ben and Tino snickered along as Austin covered his obvious smirk. Finally catching his breath as the sirens got louder, Andy shook his head.

"Guys, did you hear about what happened on the Sleeping With Sirens bus?!"

"Besides all the gay sex they're probably having?" Danny chuckled.

"No, what happened?" Austin cut in, ignoring Ben and Danny's laughter.

"They found a body. No one knows who it is yet, I guess it was pretty mangled."

Danny and Ben both paled. "Is it a girl?"

"That’s what they think. All the Sleeping With Sirens guys are talking to the police right now, they’re pretty shaken up."

The guys all looked down the bus lot, almost at the complete opposite end from where they were to see a crowd of people from various bands slowly gathering in front of the Sleeping With Sirens bus. The hot Las Vegas sun caused heat waves to rise from the baking pavement, making the scene seem more of a mirage. Within an instant, Ben had entered the bus and roused James, Cam, and Sam and told them what was going on. In less than a minute, they were running across the lot to find out more with Danny, Austin, Tino, and Andy.

Across the lot, they found people from every band on Warped Tour, shock painting every single one of their faces. The flashing lights from both police cars and an open-doored ambulance were almost dull in the bright sunlight as a gurney with a zipped up body bag made its way into the ambulance. Vaguely, Danny could see a police officer questioning the obviously concerned band members of Sleeping With Sirens, and although he didn't particularly care for Kellin Quinn, he did feel bad for him and his band. No one should have to go back to their bus after a morning show to find some mangled chick’s body in their bus.

Ben was already asking one of the paramedics if they had any information on who the victim was, but with no luck.

"We have an idea, but it’s confidential," a mustached man was explaining. "You'll all find out at the same time."

"No, you don't understand, our merch girl is missing!" Desperation laced his words. "She's been gone since last night."

The mustached paramedic's interest piqued at the possible lead. "Can you describe her to an officer?"

Ben nodded and walked over to the policeman who was interviewing Jesse. He glanced over at the rest of his band, who were busy talking amongst the other band members. It figured he was the only one actually getting information. He looked back to the officer, who was looking at him sternly.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to need to ask you to step back. This a crime scene, and I'm interviewing a witness."

"That guy just told me to come describe our missing merch girl to you." Ben pointed at the paramedic, who was now peering into the body bag and taking notes.

"Can I go now?" Jesse asked, wringing his hands and looking anxious. "That's all I know." Ben felt bad for the guy; it was brutal enough to find a body, let alone dealing with the millions of questions that would follow.

"You're free to go," the officer said as he flipped the page in his notebook. "If we need to ask you any more questions, we'll contact you."

Jesse walked away to where the rest of his band was huddled, none of them saying anything.

"What can you tell me about this missing girl?" The officer turned to Ben, his pen poised. By this time the other members of Asking Alexandria had noticed him and were weaving through the mass of people to join him. The officer opened his mouth to warn them, but Ben cut him off.

"That's the rest of my band." He waved them over, despite the obvious annoyance of the officer. "Okay, the last I saw her was sometime yesterday. But other people said they saw her last night."

"Yeah, she was at the after hours party," James spoke up.

"Can you describe her to me?"

"Blonde, hazel eyes. About five six. She’s nineteen. Nice figure," Danny said.

"She was wearing an Asking Alexandria tank," Cam added. "Or at least she was last I saw her."

The officer glanced at the body bag, confirming their fears.

"Did she leave the party with anyone?"

"I can't remember," James said. "At the beginning of the night she was hanging out with our friends in Black Veil Brides." He pointed them out to the officer, who nodded in recognition, clearly making a mental note to investigate further.

At this point the crowd of bands and roadies was being disbanded by both tour managers ushering their bands off to set and frustrated police officers trying to clear the scene.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" The officer asked them. "Any tattoos or piercings that might distinguish her?"

Danny laughed. "Mate, in this crowd piercings and tattoos are hardly distinguishing features."

The officer glared at him. "Well from what you've told me, this might just be the girl you're missing. Did she have tattoos or piercings?"

Danny’s laughter was immediately silenced, his eyes widened. "She had sleeves, it was all ocean scenes and mermaids."

"We'll let you know if we find out who did this to her," the officer said, sincerity lacing his voice as he flipped shut his notebook. "Have a nice day," he concluded, walking away to talk with some other officials, some of them being Vans' Warped Tour workers.

Ben looked at each member of the band, all of whom were white in the face as if they had seen a ghost. Sam looked like he was going to throw up. But Ben didn't blame any of them, for he felt the exact same way; for their merch girl had just been murdered.