Sleep With One Eye Open

Chapter One- A Lesson Never Learned

I was the younger sister of Lee Malia, the lead guitarist of Bring Me the Horizon, chilling in a high-class hotel that the lead singer, Oliver Sykes and everyone else let me stay in, as they traveled the country of America. The band actually happened to be playing a show in downtown Austin, Texas at this moment.Nice place, really. Too country for my style, obviously. Considering the band came here, I’m guessing we have some hard-rockers here as well as other parts of the country and parts of Europe.

I stick my iPod Touch in the dock beside me and turn it on shuffle. Asking Alexandria came on first thing.I lean back on the bed; arms rested beneath my head, and stared at the blank ceiling above.

Bring Me the Horizon formed in 2004, back in my hometown of Sheffield, England. When Lee and his friends got together, I would come with them to all of their small gigs around town. Soon enough, they became popular and were accepted by Visible Noise Records in UK. They were excited and so was I. Lee and his friends knew I’d be coming with them to all of their concerts, considering I was practically their first fan. Then they started touring in America and Australia. It was hard moving from place to place with them, leaving all other family behind. After all, I was only 16 when they started touring and Lee was 17. I had to drop out of school. Lucky Mum let me.

Anyway, I’m twenty now. You can guess how old my brother Lee is.

Deep in thought, I didn’t even hear Bring Me the Horizon come about on my iPod. “The Comedown” was playing, off of their newest album, Suicide Season.

Oliver’s voice was heaven to my ears. Ever since I met him and the rest of the band, I immediately fell in love with him. I mean, he’s three years older than me. Who cares, though? My heart just melts every time I see him; especially that dark hair that just falls so perfectly around his face. He has tattoos up and down his arms, even on his neck. Oli is the only man on the planet that can pull that look off.

Hours seemed to pass. My eyes began to droop, the ceiling becoming blurry and hazy. I didn’t want to fall asleep. Not yet. I wanted to be awake when they came back. But my body kept on yelling at me to sleep.

All of a sudden a call startled me. I leaped a foot into the air. Panicking, I turned off the music and grabbed my phone.

Unknown number.

What should I do? I thought to myself.

I answer it anyway. “Hello?” I whisper, my voice shaking slightly.

I heard a soft, short groan on the other end. A man. “Is this. . . . Jane?”

“Yes . . .? Who may this be?” I ask.

He didn’t answer my question. “Come down to the alley outside of the arena. Oli needs to talk to you.”

I hesitate. “You sure?”

“Yes. . . .” The man hissed sharply.

“Okay!” I hung up and grabbed my iPod. Turning off all the lights, I lock all doors behind me and leave the hotel. It was dark outside. The moonlight was bright in the sky. The roads were empty, for I was the only one on the way to the Arena. I turned on the radio to block the silence surrounding me.

“Local news on 94.6, this is Melissa Colbert. I’m standing near the arena here in Austin, where a kidnapping just happened minutes ago.”

My heart literally skipped a beat, confused as ever.

I turned the radio off before I got any more frightened than I already was. Oli nor Lee nor anyone else in the band couldn’t have been kidnapped. They couldn’t be. Although, I remember Black Veil Brides was touring with them here as well. The same for Asking Alexandria. All three were playing tonight.

I pulled into the dead empty parking lot, except for the local news van that was at least half a mile away from me. I made my way out of the car to the dark alley between the arena and part of the county mall. I realize this whole idea of going into a dark alley in the middle of the night because a random man told me to, is extremely stupid. I’m smarter than that. But I take a chance anyway.

A cold breeze came out of nowhere. I get chilled and rub my bare arms, considering I was only wearing a light blue band tee with short sleeves. Hairs stand up on my arms as I make my way closer to the darkened alley. Dumpsters were lined up between the two buildings, causing the area to smell horribly rubbish. I hold my nose and take out my lighter I keep in handy, and walk deeper into darkness as I light it up.

Not even a second passes and I hear frantic mumbling coming from a few feet away. Heart pounding, I discovered three guys huddled together by a dumpster. I bring the light closer to their faces.

All good feelings about this evaporated into the thin, musty air.

Sitting down right in front of me, hands tied behind their backs and duck tape plastered over their mouths, were the lead singers of all the bands touring tonight. Andy Sixx from Black Veil Brides, Danny Worsnop, and Oliver Sykes all looked pitiful.

“What the fuck happened here?” I whispered. “And where is all the other guys?”

I notice them tense up, their eyes moving to behind me. They started to mumble frantically. Before I could react, I felt cold hands grab me by the stomach and neck forcefully. I try to let out a scream, but a sticky piece of duck tape was smacked onto my mouth. Tears formed into my eyes as I was thrown against the wall beside Andy. My head banged against the brick wall and I was out cold.

Before I lost consciousness, I heard three words that I feared by a low, raspy voice, “Welcome to Hell.”