Chapter One – "A Killers' Evening"

Andrea knew she had missed her exit as soon as she saw the next mile marker on the interstate. They had been running late from the moment they left campus.

"I should have just mapped and printed the directions," she thought.

Due to her laziness, now her and her friend Nicole, were completely lost and late to the concert. To make matters worse, none of their friends were picking up their cell phones.

"Shit," she thought; they are probably already inside the venue.

The next exit quickly approached and Andrea saw no signage referring to "The Aragon Auditorium." She knew it was time to get some help with directions. Andrea turned to look at her co-pilot and friend Nicole: "I don't know where we are at so I'm taking the next exit and see about someone helping us with directions."

Nicole, who in Andrea's mind had the bad habit of never getting stressed out about anything ever, agreed. To her, it was just like they were lost on a Sunday drive. Nicole laughed at Andrea and took another sip of her coffee. She knew that smile annoyed her friend. It was another way to playfully test Andrea's patience, a regular hobby of hers ever since they met.

"How can she be so carefree?" Andrea thought. "This was 'The Killers' concert they were going after all. Lynn had pulled a lot of strings to get those tickets. Plus it was a limited venue arena. It was a huge deal." Andrea let a "sigh" escape from her lips. Nicole giggled some more and told Andrea she needed to relax.

Andrea took the exit and as soon as they were going down the ramp, she realized she had made another mistake. "This is not good," she said to herself looking at the rough neighborhood and its surroundings. She announced to Nicole that she was turning around.

"Wait! There is a gas station there. We can ask for directions there," Nicole suggested.

Andrea saw the station but it looked like "no man's land." The only person she could see anywhere on this street was a homeless woman pushing a cart, clearly not a good sign. "Mmmm, I don't really see anyone in there Nicole. There is some sort of parking lot in there. I'll make a U-turn in there." Andrea turned right into the parking lot and to her amazement it was well lit. It actually connected with some busy bar.

"Maybe somebody could help us in there," Nicole said in a hopeful tone.

The bar looked like it was full of patrons and they could see some women inside. "It must not be so bad then," Andrea thought. The bar also seemed to be the main business on that street.

She parked the car and tried to get Nicole's attention: "Nikki, let's give Lynn and the girls a call again."

"My battery is almost dead," Nicole said to Andrea as she put her phone inside the glove compartment. "Call them from your phone."

Andrea was growing more impatient at the situation but the quicker they got out of there, the better off they would be. She speed dialed three of her friends but no one was picking up. No one was picking up the phone at "The Aragon" either. The pre-recorded directions on the automated answering system didn't make sense at all.

"I don't know what exit we missed or where exactly we are," Andrea explained to Nicole. "We were both so distracted."

"All right," Nicole said, "Let's go into the bar and ask for directions then. The code phrase today is 'Do you have an aspirin?' You know, just in case any of us feels we need to get out ASAP. Okay?"

"Sounds good," Andrea agreed. They got out of the car and Andrea examined the entrance. The place seemed a little divvy but it looked like there were a lot of people inside.

"The Four Roses, cute name, isn't it?" Andrea commented.

"It kinda has like an Irish pub ring to it, doesn't it?" her friend added.

Andrea gave Nicole a wink in agreement. She was starting to feel the built-up anxiety disappear. The door swung open and they were greeted to a wall of smoke. It was fairly dark inside but she could see people mingling, drinking and playing pool. Andrea assessed the situation. It was a busy night at the joint. It certainly wasn't the greatest place to be. The crowd was also not what they were accustomed too but the place looked like it was running like any regular bar in town.

"Everything looks as expected," Andrea said. She looked at Nicole seeking consensus and got another nod.

"Hey, no aspirins needed so far!" Andrea joked.

They headed straight to the bar and began looking for one of the bartenders. It was not hard to get the attention of the dark-haired one. Both women were pretty but looked very differently from each other and especially compared to the women at the "The Four Roses." Nicole had this angelical and innocent look to her, a look that attracted men easily. They would later find out the hard way that her looks only served to disguise and encourage her mischievous nature. Andrea was a brunette. More than a classic beauty, men found something sexy in her. She had a certain air of confidence to her.

The bartender welcomed them with a compliment. "Hola bellezas", was his greeting. Reaching out to Andrea who was closest to him, he said: "How can I help you mami?"

Andrea did her best to offer him a "Colgate" smile and said: "Well, we are actually a bit lost and I was wondering if you can help us get back on track. We're trying to get to 'The Aragon Auditorium'; it's a small concert venue…."

"Where?" asked the bartender.

Andrea looked at Nicole and yelled back: "The Aragon Auditorium".

The bartender gave her a weird look. "Sorry mi amor, can't help you with that."

The guy standing next to her turned around to face them. He didn't look a day older than eighteen. He had an adorable smile but had a certain naughtiness in his demeanor. "I know where that is, I can help you," he offered.

Andrea surveyed him and deemed him fitting enough to offer potentially reliable information. She was willing to take a chance. She looked at Nicole again to seek consensus and she offered her an enthusiastic nod.

"Did you come from the interstate?" he asked showing them both an interested look.

"Yes, we did," was Andrea's response.

He looked them up and down, laughed and said: "Clearly. I'm Joe by the way."

Andrea smiled and said "I'm Andrea, this is my friend Nicole."

"Believe me when I say that it is truly my pleasure to see you in here," he said offering them another charming smile. "Well, all you need to do is hop back on the interstate, but go West. The exit should be #29 Carmel Ave. By then, you should see the signs from the interstate. So all you need to do is follow them. It should be right down…"

His voiced was interrupted by a deeper male voice that began yelling. The voice had a certain terrifying tone in it. At first it was unintelligible what the man was saying -except for the "F" word- but later Andrea could understand the tail end of it: "Who the fuck told ya to be doing some thinking' on your own, you worthless piece of shit! I don't pay you to fucking think. Get the fuck out."

The noise of shattered glass startled the two girls. Andrea felt a slight shiver go through her spine. She looked to her right. The screaming had been coming from that direction. She suddenly realized that there was an adjacent back room with like 6 or 7 men in it. They all looked like trouble but were clearly afraid of whoever was yelling at them. One of the guys left the room in a rush.

Andrea suddenly felt Nicole's hand grabbing hers. Nicole was obviously frightened. Andrea was starting to re-think her decision to enter this bar. "Ok. It's aspirin time." As she was about to share that with Nicole, the voice was heard again:

"Where da fuck is Joe?"

Hearing those words startled Andrea. She immediately looked at Joe. His face had gotten really pale and it was obvious he had gotten nervous too.

A tall figure stepped right next to them. He began pointing repeatedly his index finger on Joe's chest in an extremely forceful manner and said to him: "Are you fucking working for tips now or what? Billy needs you."

Then, he turned to Andrea and Nicole, like he suddenly realized that the two women were standing in there.

He smiled at them as if he was a perfect gentleman and said: "Well, I see you've got special visitors today Joe. I'm sorry but I need to save these beauties from a good for nothing like you. A fuck up who brushes off his responsibilities. Let's go Joe".

"Wait up Bodie!" Joe protested as if he was trying to recover some sense of manliness.

The tall man interrupted him and sounded even more annoyed: "I think Billy meant that he needs you now…as in RIGTH NOW dog! You better fucking come with me cuz if he has to personally come and drag your ass back there….I don't know what shit is gonna happen to you,"

Bodie hadn't even finished his last sentence when he had already grabbed Joe by the neck and literally yanked him into the back room.

Andrea stood there in awe. Thoughts were flying through her mind at the speed of light: "What he hell is going on in this place? What did Joe do? Who the hell is this Billy?"

More importantly, she tried to quickly locate the exit door.