Sea to Sky Corridor

Chapter One The Plate

It was nothing more than a freakish coincidence, a string of numbers and letters that shouldn't have meant anything taken so far out of context that they didn't know what to believe anymore. The odds of those numbers and letters coinciding in such an order had to be one in a trillion, if not more.

They didn't predict it would happen, they didn't predict that anything that bad would happen. They knew they had a history of screwing things up quite spectacularly, but never to a level where their personal safety was compromised. If they genuinely knew that the plate was going to cause such a stir, they'd have burnt the cars to the ground themselves. The numbers had clearly meant something to people, and once the word got out, there was no stopping the fury of the mobs that followed them from place to place, making filming impossible.

They found themselves hiding under the rickety beds in the hotel room Andy had secured for them before they'd even left the UK. The room was dark, the curtains closed and the door shut tightly. The sound of heavy boot clad footsteps raced past the door, followed by loud voices speaking words they couldn't understand, in harsh tones they did. In the large room were two beds, adjacent to each other, separated by a small night table. Jeremy was tucked under the bed to the right, closest to the window, with his back pressed against the wall. In front of him was James, lying on his side facing away from him, towards the door. Under the opposite bed was Richard, who was small enough to lay at the back and not be seen; especially in the dark sweater he wore.

A louder voice than all the rest was suddenly heard out of nowhere, booming down the hallway, echoing off the empty walls. This voice they could understand, for the first time in hours of being tucked under the dusty mattresses listening to angry Spanish. James shivered at the sound of his voice; the words dripping in hate being ripped from his throat.

"Where the fuck are they? Who's seen them? Someone must have seen them! WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY, THE BRITISH BASTARDS!" Followed by a series of loud bangs that sounded scarily like gunshots from a small pistol. James shut his eyes, jumping slightly when the man in the hallway began banging on the closed doors of the rooms. The sound was getting closer, the bangs growing louder and angrier as the man in the hallway made his way towards their door. He couldn't know where they were, nobody would have told them that they hid under the beds in the room they'd booked, did they?

His body clenched, his muscles tightening in fear as the door next to theirs was just about ripped from its hinges and thrown into the hallway. James could hear the sound of wood splintering, and imagined that's the sound his bones would make as they broke, femurs bent and snapped, ribs crushed in. He let out a small sob.

Again he shuddered, only this time two heavy arms wrapped around his frame and tugged him back. He could feel himself begin to panic, his anxiety making his head swim, his heart beating loudly against his rib cage.If the men in the hallway didn't end up killing him, his heart would most likely just end up stopping on it's own. Taking a deep breath in, he stilled, feeling the heavy arms still clenched around him tightly, until he heard Jeremy's voice, which in all honesty didn't make things much better.

"It's okay James, he won't get in. Okay? I promise he won't do anything to hurt you. I won't let him." Jeremy murmured softly in James' ear, his breath tickling the hair at the side of his face.

James said nothing, not believing a word Jeremy was saying, not believing he was even in the position he was. "Okay? Trust me James. I've got you." James nodded this time, hoping Jeremy was right.

He could hear the group of men getting closer, until they stood right outside their room, the shadows from their boots blocking out the light that shone under the door. The handle of the locked door was wrenched violently, making the door quake in its frame, the hinges groaning at the force. Two fists smashed heavily on the wood, making the room shake. Richard turned from under the bed and looked at the two men who still clung to one another. James had his eyes shut, unable to see the look of terror Richard shot Jeremy, who just blinked in return, furrowing his brow.