It Started that Night

Part 12

Tuesday morning arrived with a bang. Literally!

"What the hell was that?!" said Jesse as the bus came to a sudden halt, sending him off his bunk and leaving him in a duvet-wrapped heap on the floor. "Sorry!" shouted the driver, rubbing his eyes. Mac got out of his bunk and went up to see what had happened.

"I'm sorry," said the driver. "Damn girl just threw herself in front of the bus so I had to jam the brakes on!" he explained.

"Oh shit! Is she okay? Where is she now?" asked Mac, feeling very shaken all of a sudden. Today was going to be one of those days!

"Yeah, fine. I stopped short of her, her friends dragged her over into that toilet block," explained the driver.

"Okay, I'll go and see if she's alright. Damn teenagers!" he replied, putting his t-shirt on. Mac opened up the doors to the bus. Outside was so bright, he squinted to try to see properly as he tried to navigate his way down the steps with only partial sight cooperating this early – and Scotland was freezing cold at 6am! They had travelled through the night from London to Scotland ahead of a festival tomorrow. He crossed an empty road and stood outside the toilet block, shivering.

"Hey?" he called, hoping to get a response from the group of teenage girls inside. "Hey, is there anyone in there?" He asked again but got no response. "I work for Craze. They sent me to..."

"Craze?" came a voice from inside the girls' toilet.

"Yes, I'm tour security manager for Craze," explained Mac. "Is everyone okay in there? Can I speak with the girl who ran out in front the bus, please?" Mac asked. "You're not in any kind of trouble," he added.

Three young girls emerged slowly from the dark toilet block, one dabbing wet tissue to a bleeding wound on her elbow.

"Hey, are you okay?" Mac asked. The girl nodded. He was concerned as to why they were out alone this early in the morning, they looked no older than 12 or 13.

"Come up on the bus and let my medic check you over" he said.

"Come aboard the bus with Craze on?" asked one of the other girls excitedly.

"Yes," replied Mac. Ordinarily fans on the bus was an absolute no go but Mac thought given the circumstances it was probably better than the headlines that may follow if he did nothing. The teenagers followed him across the street to where the bus had stopped. "Where are you heading?" asked Mac. "School?" he added.

"Yeah, we just wanted to see if we could see the band first, someone told us they would be here early this morning" said the injured girl.

"Pretty silly jumping in front the bus," said Mac, trying to engage in a conversation to find out why she had done it. "Yeah" said the girl quietly, looking

embarrassed.

"What are your names?" asked Mac, as he opened the door to the bus and held it for the girls to climb aboard.

"Lilly," said the injured girl quietly. "And these are my best friends, Alice and Rachel," she added. Mac shut the door behind them. The girls hunched together nervously by the door. No one was up yet, the bus was silent.

"Take a seat on the couch," said Mac. The girls shuffled nervously towards the couch and all sat huddled together at one end. "They're fine," said Mac, poking his

head around into the cab to reassure the driver who was pretty shaken after the incident. Caroline came through to the seating area in her dressing gown.