She awoke to the sounds of the T.V. roaring above. She lifted her head from the man's lap and sighed. Her head was pounding harder than ever. She sensed that her roomate wasnt awake so she let her thoughts drift to where ever they would take her. She thought about the concert she would have gone to. Despite not wanting to use the backstage pass, it made her angry that she wouldnt be able to use it, even if she wanted to. She would've had the power to change her mind if she was actually able to go to the concert.*sigh*
But what would she say to them. No doubt that her tounge would get tied and she would trip all over the place and end up offending them in one way or another.
*deeper sigh*
Well,she could always get another ticket and pass, but it really chapped her ass that she couldn't even use her damn ticket.
*frustrated I'm-a-bloated-frog sigh*

      "Will you stop with the sighing already?"

      "I'm sorry.I didnt know that sighing offended you, my lord"

      "You don't have to get all pissed at me. Why are you sighing in the first place?"

      "Oh, no reason"

      "Come now, don't be stubborn. You werent over there sighing like a mad cow just to pass the time,now, were you?"

      "My head is pounding"

      "Thats not the reason. Come on, you can tell me"

      She sighed again "It just really pisses me off that now I don't even have the power to use my ticket to the concert, much less my pass."

      "I think you would have used the gosh-darned thing anyway."

      "Why?"

      "Why not?"

      "Because I'm too fricken ditzy! I'm sure I would trip everywhere and my tounge would get tied and this and that and I would probably end up offending them in some way by screwing up or saying something I shouldnt,then what
would they think?"
      "I think you worry too much about what they would think of you. Who cares what they think?"

      "I do" she said quietly
      "You need to cut that out. Listen,they're snobby celebrities. If you did something new to your hair and everyone you knew liked it, and then you went to that concert and they said it was 'So last Tuesday' would you change it?"

      "Maybe"

      "What if they didn't like your eye color, or your height, or the way you talked? You couldn't change that. What if they asked you to go to a coffee shop, right? O.K. you have your coffee shop phobia, would you go?"

      "Maybe, but I would probably have a fat guy pass out from the heat and land on me, but that would only be after a waiter dropped a tray of full coffee mugs on my head,cutting me in a few places,and drenching me in coffe, making me smell like a brazil nut"

      He laughed "You're way over dramatic. Talk to them, have a good time. Dont worry about anything, just be you"

      "I cant! I'm too shy. Drop it, okay."

      "Fine,but I still say you care too much about what other people say."

      "Whatever!"

      They spent the next couple of hours talking about things they loved, things they hated, things they wished they could change,a bout themselves and the world. All in all,just things in general. Their family, friends, and finally they were worn out by their weak minds,bodies and endless chatter. Neither of them showed any of the anxiety or panick, they felt during their waking hours, but they had no control over what feelings surfaced in thier dreams. Their sleep was light,restless and miserable. They had a countless number of nightmares and several disturbing dreams, which they could not awaken from. Finally after sweating and dreaming out all the anxiety they could they slept soundly, without dreams for a few hours.


*******


      She awoke to hear the pitter patter of rain. She heard thunder and some light flickered in the corner of the room.

      "Did you see that?" He asked, shaking her.

      "Yeah,that was lightening wasnt it?"

      "Yup, and that means there is a window"

      "Either that or theres a hole in the wall"I f there had been light she would have seen the scournful look on his face.

      "Let's get up and look for it!" He stood and helped her up.

      She discovered that her legs could hold her up, even though she had to steady herself by walking with him as a crutch for a few steps. They searched with their hands roaming the walls. Lacey soon found a black cloth that was tacked up over the wall. She yanked hard and the cloth fell to the ground, scattering the thumb tacks. There was a loud clash of thunder and she backed away and put hands over her eyes as the lightening shown in through the window. It wasnt a big window, but the type of the window that it was, clued them in, that they were definately in a basement.

      "Great! you found a window!''He yelled, racing to her side.

      "Not so loud "she whispered

      "Let's get this baby open" he said, yanking on it. They both pulled and yanked it made a loud screeching noise as it was pulled open. They heard yelling and footsteps above.

      "Hurry" He said "Get through and go get help!" She hurredly leaped up and squirmed through the window. She stumbled, but quickly got back up and she began to run, thinking all the while about how much of her underwear she was showing and what made her wear that stinkin skirt. She was almost to the woods when a bullet shot passed her. She froze. She began to run again, but it was too late, and she was tackled by a thin,but muscular black man. He held her arms above her head and he sat on her legs and the fat guy came running and handed him some thin but tough black material, the same stuff the cloth over the window was made of. He gagged her mouth and bound her hands and he bound her ankles too. Then the fat guy effortlessly picked her up and and they strolled back to the house. After she was returned to the basement she found that the mans arms and legs were tied but his mouth wasnt gagged and the window had a huge rock on the outside and wouldn't budge.

      "Hey, did they gag you?Make some sort of sound if your even awake"

      "Hhhhhmmmmmmm "

      "O.K. now we're getting somewhere. Ok,I'm gonna come over and un gag you. My mouth is gonna get extremely close to yours, since my hands are of no use to me, but dont freak."

      He crawled on his knees and when he found her he clamped his teeth around the black cloth and he yanked until it fell loosely around her neck.
      "Thanks, now let's look for something to cut this other crap off."

      "O.k, um position yourself up against the wall and push up as hard as you can. Either you'll lift up,breakdown the wall,or strain your leg muscles."

      "Oh, that's comforting" She whined,but she did as he said and after much pain and suffering and strain, she got up. She hopped around looking for stuff, or feeling for it, rather, and then she tripped and landed with a crash. They stood still for a moment,hoping that the men upstairs hadn't heard. No one came after a few minutes so Lacey felt around for what she had tripped over. She soon felt a pain in her leg and then she felt blood oozing down it. She had cut herself,so she made the simple analogy that what she had tripped over was sharp. Her hands found a splintered peice of wood. She held it between her teeth and slid it back and forth between the cloth and her wrists and after a few minutes of this she cut the cloth and then untied her feet.

      "Where are you?" She called out.

      "You talking to me?" he asked.

      "No, I'm talking to the person beside you! Duh. Crawl toward my voice. I uncut the cloth that was around my hands and ankles and i need to...." His head had hit her leg. "untie you" She lifted him up and she untied his wrists and then he untied his feet.

      "I was sitting on the steps, its better than the floor, come on" he said as they took small baby steps until she tripped over the first step.

"you o.k.?" He asked helping her up.

"Yeah, aren't I the clumsiest person you have ever met? Now do you see why I wouldnt use my backstage pass? I would be tripping all over the place"

      "You are the nicest,and the funniest person I have ever met." he said. She could feel her face turning red. "er....besides bozo the clown" he said laughing as she whacked him playfully "I think Savage Garden would enjoy your company.T hey would think your clumsiness was cute. Trust me"

      "O.K. So if we get outta here in time for the concert, I'll use it"

      The man heard the news on above. He put his ear against the wall. After his name was said he told her to press her ear against the wall and listen.

      ".....and Cheryl Hamm,a writer for Time Magazine and Lacey Cameron the multi billionare Bill Camerons Daughter were also kidnapped and held for ransom.FBI thought they'd be tricky and place a bomb in the breifcase and catch the culprits. The two are still unidentified,but police suspect that they arent from the area. They had a device that detected the bomb and they were inraged and began shooting blindly. They shot Mr Cameron in the leg and hand,wounding several other police officers. They rescheduled to pick up the money with no funny buissiness from anyone or they all get killed. Now we turn to Todd Mackey with the weather........"

      The news was very disturbing to her and she began to sob uncontrolably. "Are we g-gonna die?" she said hugging him tight,her headache throbbing painfully.

      He held her "No." He assured her "not if I can help it" They fell asleep holding each other.

      They awoke to hear sirens blaring and squad cars pulling up to the house. "Come out with your hands up, come quietly, or we'll use force" Someone shouted through a megaphone.

      Lacey started crying with relief. Soon afterwards the door was busted open and men with the FBI stormed in. By now Lacey was weak and she was carried out to the ambulence by a buff policeman.She squinted in pain as sunlight met her eyes for the first time in days,but it was good to see the sun again.

      She sat in the yard, surrounded by men with badges and deep blue jackets, waiting for the helicopter to fly the two of them back to San Fransisco. She had completely forgoten about the man who was her only company during her days of confinement, until he put his hand on her shoulder and said "You o.k.?"

      She turned and hugged him. Then she looked up and saw him for the first time and she almost died as a result of what she saw, of who she was hugging. Darren Hayes from Savage Garden, in the flesh, was standing there returning her embrace. All dyed black hair and blue eyes and pale skin and Aussie accent of him. Something clicked inside of her brain. He had an Australian accent, he rambled on about a friend and partner named Dan, and she never even asked him his name, what he looked like, or where he was from. She remembered she had once asked if he had tickets to the SG concert too,and all he said was "You could kinda say that." He was smiling and her mouth had nearly dropped to her knees. She had been talking to him all along! The man she would have just as soon jumped off the San Fransisco bridge, than talk to,had been talking to her all along! He had even encouraged her to use her backstage pass to his concert! She was speechless. "Yeah"she whispered.
When she found her voice she said "so that's what you meant when you said that I wouldnt talk to you If I saw you. It does have something to do with looks too. If you didnt look like you look, then, I wouldn't care about how clumsy I am or how I might look or sound to you."

      He pressed a finger to her lips. "You know what I meant. I meant that if you knew I was me you would have shut yourself up and give me small quiet two letter answers and no explanations, and giggle about a hundred times a minute. And I meant what I said about Savage Garden not minding your clumsiness and that you need to use your back stage pass!" he said poking her.

"and if you dont,I'll hold you for ransom myself"

      There was a sudden loud noise and the helicopter landed about thirty feet away from them.Police escorted them onto the helicopter and they were wrapped in those itchy green blankets. He held her hand all two hours of the flight. When they landed and they were going they're seperate ways he went up to her to say goodbye "So,I'll see you at the concert right? And back stage?"

      She nodded. "And afterwards maybe we'll go out for some coffee?" He said. Before she answered his limo pulled up and honked.

"I'm never going to a coffee shop again, you hear me!"she said as he turned and ran. "EVER!" she yelled after him.

      He leaned out the window of the limozine as it pulled away. He blew her a kiss and yelled "See ya at the concert"

      She caught his kiss and waved goodbye. As she rode in her daddy's black limo, back to her house, where Claudia was waiting. She leaned back on the seat, eating a burger, and she closed her eyes and sighed. She thought to herself 'No more fricken cursed coffee shops,I'm going to the Savage Garden concert, I know Darren Hayes, I can talk to famous people, my headache is gone and food at last! Aaaaahhhh! Life is good!'


~*THE END*~


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