72 Hours: A Ticking Time Bomb

[-CHAPTER TWO-}

"C'mon, Damiano! We have to get back to the hotel." Ethan Torchio, called out after his lead singer. Damiano David, the lead singer of Italian rock band, Maneskin, was unable to hear him over everything else around him. They were in America, Los Angeles to be exact. The day was rainy and cold.

"Come on! We gotta get back or else who knows what kind of stuff is going to happen." Victoria De Angelis called out as well. This time, he heard it.

"Guys, don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Damiano assured them as he continued walking in the opposite direction.

"Damiano, seriously? Come on man!" Thomas Raggi, Maneskin's guitarist called out in annoyance

"I'll meet you guys back there. I just need some fresh air." Damiano sighed.

"Fine, but don't expect us to go to your funeral if anything happens to you." Ethan sighed. Damiano just laughed.

"I wouldn't invite you anyway." Damiano joked. Ethan rolled his eyes.

"Fine, if you promise not to get into any trouble, just be back in like two hours." Victoria said as she left with  Ethan and Thomas for the hotel.

Damiano put his hands in his pockets to keep them warm. He began to walk down the sidewalk as the wind blew through his abnormally long brown hair. He pulled his hood over his head as he continued walking.

That's when he heard cries for help. The voice seemed familiar, like he had heard it somewhere.

The voice was coming from inside the old abandoned house across the street. Damiano knew that whoever was in there, needed his help.

He ran towards the house, the windows were covered in tapestry. Damiano couldn't see through the window... Until the tapestry was pulled down from the inside. It was at this moment when Damiano knew, who was crying for help.

It was Duncan Laurence.

Damiano tried busting the door to get to Duncan, but failed. Soon, Duncan's cries began to fade as Damiano heard a  thump. Damiano's first instinct was to look through the window at everything that was happening.

He peaked through the window. A masked man stood behind Duncan. Damiano couldn't tell what was happening.

Was he dead?? He can't be dead! Damiano thought to himself. He listened in for Intel on what happened to Duncan.

Damiano later found out that Duncan wasn't dead. He was just unconscious. That still made Damiano uncomfortable. He had no clue what these guys were going to do to Duncan, and he didn't want to know.

That's when he looked through the window and noticed the man had picked up Duncan and left through the back door

Damiano made a run for it, but before he could make it far, the man saw him.

Damiano ran as fast as he could, but the man seemed to be faster. Soon, Damiano was cornered.

"N-no! Please don't kill me!" Damiano cried. The masked man unmasked himself to reveal.... Mahmood!

But he didn't look like he wanted to kill Damiano... His eyes looked sad and regretful.

"Mahmood....." Damiano sighed. Not even Damiano himself could tell if it was a sigh of relief, or a sigh of acceptance.

"Are you going to kill me?" Damiano asked hesitantly.

"Damiano... I couldn't kill you even if I wanted to.... I didn't even want to do this to Duncan!.... I don't want to work for him anymore...." Mahmood broke out. Damiano saw the suffering in Mahmood's eyes as Mahmood continued talking.

"I'll let you live.... Just promise me you won't tell anyone that it was me.... If you have to tell them it was me.... I don't mind you telling them about this conversation.... Go.... Before he finds you!" Mahmood cried. At that moment, Damiano made a run for it. He knew what he had to do...

He had to save Duncan!

...

The others were at the hotel, waiting for Damiano to come back. Victoria was getting worried. Damiano hadn't come back... And it's been about two hours.

"Should we call our manager? He should've been here two hours ago!" Victoria trembled, biting her nails out of anxiety. Ethan stood up.

"Who even cares? It's his own fault! He's the one who insisted that he'd be fine, so he's fine." Ethan sighed.

"What if he's dead?" Thomas asked nervously. Ethan put his palm to his face in annoyance.

"So what if he's dead? He said he'd be alright, and if he got himself killed, that's his problem." Ethan raised his voice. Victoria grew mad

"Ethan!! How the hell could you say something like that????" She cried "Without him, Maneskin won't be complete! We need him!"

Suddenly, there was a pound on the door.

"That could ba Damiano!" Thomas cried as he jumped off the bed to get to the door. Sure enough, Damiano was there. His eyes, wide open and his heart racing. He was out of breath.

He knew he had to say something to them.... And it had to be now......