Chapter 1

Justin woke in a cold sweat. His eyes flew open in the darkness, and his ragged breaths filled the otherwise silent room. He reached for the lamp, fumbling for the switch. With a click, the room filled with light. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust.

Again. Again, the nightmares plagued him. Who'd have known that it would get to him so badly? They were just empty words, Manager Sam had told him. Just meaningless, empty threats that the nutters could never hope to carry out. He was Justin Walker famous popstar and teen hearthrob. He had a security team rivalling that of the president. What did he have to worry about?

In a nutshell: everyone. Many people wanted him, and none for good reasons. There was even a rumour being passed around that a terrorist group had put a price on his head. It was ridiculous! He rubbed his eyes sleepily and got out of bed to grab a glass of water in the hope that it would calm his nerves.

Two minutes later, he was back in bed and still nervous as hell. The light was off again, but if anything it just made it worse. Dawn couldn't come quickly enough. Justin sighed and resigned to the fact it was going to be another sleepless night.

Crack.

His eyes flew open in the darkness. What was that? A creaky floorboard?

Or something worse?

Sliding his legs out as quietly as possible, Justin got out of bed and crossed the room slowly. He was thankful that he'd decided to wear socks to bed again, as they allowed his feet to tread silently on the wooden panels.

Crack.

There it was again. Uneasy, Justin reached for the door handle. It felt ice cold as he grasped it and turned it slowly. The door opened at his touch, and he stepped through cautiously.

"Hello?"

Silence fell. He took another step.

"Is anyone there?"

A hand clapped down on his shoulder. Another found its way round to his face, and within a split second both his mouth and nose were pinned under a leather glove. Unable to breathe, Justin panicked and tried to prise the hand off. The grip could have been iron for all the effect Justin's struggle had on it. Quickly realising the futility of his attempt, he swung his hand out behind him, followed by a backwards kick. Something clattered to the floor. A tight grunt told him he'd found his target, and the stranger released him. Justin wasted no time in pushing the offender's arms away from him and fleeing out into the corridor.

As he took his first step, Justin's foot connected with something blunt. The kick sent it flying out into the corridor's light and revealed it to be the handle of a nasty-looking knife. Rather than leaving it there for the man to reacquire, Justin scooped it up and jammed it into his belt. Nobody knew when it might be useful.

Now armed with his own weapon, he sped towards the stairs. Less contained, and easier to change direction if he came across anyone else. His senses were on high alert, and the faint click of the stairwell door behind him was enough to startle him and make him almost trip down the stairs.

He reached the third floor just as the stairwell door burst open. A hooded figure stepped through, armed with a gun. Justin put on an extra burst of speed and was down to the second floor before the man could even move. Unfortunately, the man was fast. Justin was only just quick enough down the rest of the stairs. With mere moments to spare, just crashed through the ground floor door and spun, catching the lock and jamming it shut. He didn't hang around to see if it held. Instead, he ran into the main foyer and nearly collided with one of the hotel receptionists. The man put a hand on Justin to steady him, and Justin began explaining almost incoherently.

"Sir! There are-"

"We are aware of the intruders, Mr Walker. If you'd please follow me, I can take you somewhere safe until the police get here."

He had an easy voice that didn't match his eyes. They glinted like cold gemstones underneath a pair of heavy eyebrows, and seemed to be staring him down like prey. Staring at him, Justin knew that if he went with him, this man would take him to someplace the opposite of safe. Pretending to go along with him in case he too had some kind of weapon, Justin nodded and allowed the man to start leading him outside.

The man assumed Justin had been fooled and turned his back. If Justin was going to make a move, he had to do it right then.

Faster than he thought possible, Justin flung himself onto the man's back and floored him. There was a brief scuffle, and Justin grabbed the knife out of his belt from where he'd stored it. He pointed it with shaking hands into the man's back, careful not to pierce the skin, but hard enough to make himself clear. Almost immediately, the struggling stopped.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" Justin demanded.

The man snorted. "What's that phrase? Oh yes. If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

Justin pushed the knife a little deeper and growled. "You're not the one with the weapon here. Answer my question."

There was no answer other than a derisive laugh. Justin hissed in annoyance, and gave up. The noise they'd been making would have surely alerted any other kidnappers, so he had to move out fast or risk being caught by them. He got up, unsure of what to do. He couldn't kill the man, but he couldn't just leave him there either. His eyes fell on the elevator doors barely ten feet from him.

"Oi, you. Get up." He ordered, pulling the man up by his collar. To his relief, the man gave no resistance.

Knowing his time was running out, he pushed the man forwards and practically threw him into the lift. He jabbed the button and the doors slid closed in front of him. A muffled banging noise started up from inside, but he ignored it and backed away towards the main doors. For the second time that night, Justin turned on his heel and sped into the darkness. The hotel was no longer a safe haven, so fleeing the area was his next best option.

Well, as long as nobody was outside waiting for him.

A/N I'm aware the character of Justin is based on a not-so-popular singer. I changed the surname to try to keep both the readers and the person it's written for happy. Here to flame? Don't bother. I just delete your reviews.

For the people genuinely here to read it: Hello! I hope this story will be to a decent standard, and please let me know what you think.

Love, Sammy x