Chapter One
The lights of the concert flashed across Amara's eyes. Each strobe was blinding and the smoke choked her, but it was all worth it to be this close to Olixe. The rockstar was three feet from her face! Just three feet away! Amara felt like her chest would explode with nerves.
When Isa told her she won VIP tickets to a Those Bitches concert, Amara had thought it to be some prank. But it hadn't. Her and her best friend were really in the front row of a concert for one of the greatest rock bands of their generation. A teenage rock band. An all girls teenage rock band to be exact. A rock band with the sexiest and most attractive lesbian rock singer to exist. Amara loved hearing Olixe perform, but by now she desperately wanted the concert to end and the second part of the night to commence: meeting Olixe backstage.
Finally, the last note was played and the stadium shook with applause. Olixe and the rest of the band gave quick bows before disappearing into the thick stage fog. Amara practically jumped out of her skin rushing Isa through the crowd backstage. The two girls excitedly showed their VIP passes to the security guard who then let them back into the band's waiting area.
Other fans were back there already, talking and scrambling for autographs with different members, but almost no one was crowding Olixe. To no surprise, she was the most off putting in the group; the least social. Amara still loved her. She felt a connection to Olixe's distancing behavior. Plus, she was absolutely gorgeous. The magazines and tabloids did not lie when they called her the next lesbian heartthrob.
Olixe stood at 5'8 with pale skin, bold green eyes, and a bright red half shave. She had a great hourglass figure with a flat stomach, B cup breasts, sculpted legs, and ample biceps that showed on her arms. She had a black and red spiderweb tattoo on her shoulder. Her attire for the concert was a black corset, vinyl black pants, black leather fingerless gloves, and combat boots coupled with dark purple lipstick and black eyeshadow. She looked like an evil queen.
"Hey cuties, thanks for coming to the concert," Olixe grinned at them. Amara couldn't help but stare at her pointed canine teeth. Isa squeezed her hand to bring her back to the moment.
"You guys were so amazing up there!" Isa gushed. She handed Olixe a magazine photo of the band for her to sign. The rockstar did with a grin.
"I actually look good in this picture," she noted.
"You look good in everything," Amara blurted. Her face heated up instantly but Olixe just winked at her. Amara took a few deep breaths to steady herself. Isa thanked Olixe and then migrated over for some more signatures. Say something else! Amara nudged herself.
"You're a quiet one," Olixe snickered. Amara nodded dumbly. No idiot! Talk! Amara opened her mouth to say something else yet her voice failed her again. "Awe, what's wrong sweetheart?" Olixe bent down a bit to look in Amara's eyes, "Star struck?" The rockstar laughed almost rudely when Amara just gulped and nodded again.
"I, I um, I really love you. Your music, I really love your music!" Amara stuttered out her best compliment to which Olixe showed her teeth again.
"Adorable," she growled. The rockstar reached into the pocket of the leather jacket thrown over the back of a nearby chair . She grabbed Amara's hand and pushed a hotel key card between her fingers. "The Four Seasons," she whispered hoarsely. Then Olixe turned, swept her jacket over her shoulder, and went back through the velvet curtains and out of sight. Amara's hand trembled from the touch. Olixe's hand was so cold, like she was a corpse.
Did Amara really dare to go to a celebrity's hotel room? She was no child, she knew exactly what Olixe had in mind. How had she known Amara was a lesbian too? That didn't matter, Olixe wanted to have her alone and that was enough encouragement for Amara to consider sneaking out. She hung out to the side of the wall as Isa finished up trying to grab the attention of the other members.
As the two girls left Amara kept a firm grip on the room key. She held it like it was her only lifeline. She wanted to tell Isa, gush to her best friend what Olixe had offered, but Amara refrained. Isa had no clue Amara was a lesbian, and neither did Amara's parents. If they knew, oh God if they knew Amara might as well be dead. She couldn't risk Isa spilling the beans. Her sexuality, and what she planned for tonight, needed to be a secret.
The Four Seasons hotel glittered in the moonlight. The fountain out front sprayed light pink water out of dolphins blowholes with perfect shrubbery dancing around its base. The glass double doors looked fit for a giant, and so did the crystal chandelier swinging above her. She flashed the room key and the man behind the desk just nodded at her with a pleasant, and tired, smile. Amara rode up the elevator full of jitters, but the soft yellow lights embedded in the ceiling soothed her fears. Soon the ornate doors opened to the private floor of Those Bitches. Amara stepped out into what was supposed to be a hallway, but had been converted into a second lobby with chairs and tables. Three bodyguards sat on plush chairs at the doors and eyed her as she walked up to them.
"I, I'm here to see Olixe," Amara whispered. She held up the room key and the guards exchanged knowing glances. One even smiled before waving her down the hall. Amara just kept walking, trying to hide her shock. They obviously knew what was going to happen; was this a regular thing with Olixe?
Amara stopped at the door with the golden numbers 158A written on in calligraphy. She knocked quickly and prayed she hadn't made a mistake. "Come in darling. I won't bite much," Olixe's deep voice called. Amara slipped the card in the slot and stepped inside. Before the door was even fully shut behind her Olixe's gloved hand pushed against her neck and backed her up to the wall.
"I was hoping you'd show up tonight," the rockstar rasped before planting a surprisingly gentle kiss on Amara's neck.
"Of course I showed up. Who'd miss this?" Amara grew a bit bolder as she pulled Olixe's head away from her neck and kissed her right on her lips.
Olixe broke the kiss and wiped some of her lipstick off of Amara's jawline. "Oh you'll be a fun one."
"Hey Liv, what, you sleep here again?" Elliot Stabler asked as he set a fresh cup of coffee in front of his partner.
"I had some paperwork to catch up on," Olivia Benson explained as she gratefully took the drink, "It's all done now thankfully."
"Famous last words," Elliot joked.
"Benson, Stabler, don't get too comfortable over there," Captain Cragen called to them from his office, "We've got a missing teenager report." The detectives abandoned their coffees to take the faxed information Cragen handed them. "Brooklyn Heights PD sent it to us, possible abduction."
"Amara Deltaro, sixteen years old, at a sleepover with her friend Isa Glower, parents discovered the bedroom window was open and Amara was gone this morning. Cell phone, money, and everything else was left untouched," Elliot read the report as Olivia grabbed their coats and the two detectives left the precinct.
"Anything other than the open window to suggest an abduction?" Olivia asked as they got in the car.
Elliot continued reading down the paper. "Yeah this, the clothes she wore to a concert that night weren't there, suggesting she was still wearing them when she left the house, but her bra and underwear had been removed." The two cops met eyes for a second, both thinking the worst of that insinuation.
"To Brooklyn Heights."
(Cue theme song)
They arrived at a nice brownstone with a wrought iron gate in front of a cobblestone pathway. A police car was already outside. Elliot knocked on the door which quickly swung open. A frazzled African American woman with untamed frizz answered. "I'm Detective Elliot Stabler and this is my partner Detective Olivia Benson from the Special Victims Unit, we're here about a possible abduction."
"Oh thank god!' Another African American woman pushed the first out of the way. She was dressed in a sharp business suit with slick hair and long acrylic nails. "I'm April Deltaro, It's my daughter Amara that's been kidnapped!"
"Now April, we don't know that for sure," the other woman tried to reassure her.
"And who are you?" Olivia asked.
"I'm Giana Glower, I'm Isa's mom. Amara was spending the night with us."
"Yes, an obvious mistake," April Deltaro barked. She turned and called out to an African American man who was speaking to two Brooklyn Heights police officers. "Antonio, the detectives are finally here!" The man shook hands with the two officers before waving them away.
The two cops passed by the detective's as they almost bolted out the door. "You have all the information in the debrief our precinct sent over," the female cop noted.
"Good luck with that mother," the male cop whispered before leaving after his partner.
"Well don't just stand there! We need to find my daughter!" Mrs. Deltaro fanned her face as she paced next to her patient husband. Mrs. Glower and her husband stood a bit to the side watching them, and a teen girl sat silently on the couch behind them. Her eyes were red and tear stains had dried on her face.
"Now Mrs. Deltaro, I need you to remain calm," Elliot spoke slowly. "Your daughter may have run away, or left to go see someone and lost track of time-"
"Or she could've been abducted by some pedophile!" Mrs. Deltaro shrieked.
Elliot shook his head. "You can't think like that."
While Elliot attempted to get Mrs. Deltaro to calm down Olivia approached the Glower's. "So you say Amara spent the night with you?" Mrs. Glower nodded.
"Her and our daughter Isa went to a rock concert last night," Mrs. Glower indicated to the girl sitting behind them.
Olivia stepped around to the girl. She had hair like her mom which she was right now smoothing out of her face. "Hey Isa, I'm Olivia. Can you tell me about last night? Did anything happen at the concert that would cause Amara to want to leave?"
Isa shook her head and sniffed. "No, she was so ecstatic afterwards. We've been planning to see this concert for months now-"
"Isa won VIP tickets to the girl's favorite rock band," Mrs. Glower interrupted.
"They're not a band!" Mrs. Deltaro turned her attention from Elliot and her husband to the Glowers. "Those heathens are nothing short of repulsive! They shouldn't even be allowed to perform!" She heaved out a sob of anger before turning back to her husband who just patted her back soothingly.
"And what band exactly did you see?" Olivia asked Isa.
"They're an all female rock group called Those Bitches." Isa pulled out a magazine cover of a group of five girls in a graveyard with lightning in the background. The headline read, 'Those Bitches? More Like Those Stars!'
Isa pointed to the brunette girl with a pixie cut holding drumsticks. "That's Sammie. She's fifteen and the drummer." Next to her was a girl with long red hair and a lip piercing. "That's K-B. She's seventeen and the bassist." On the other side of the photo was a girl with a brown and blonde pixie cut. "That's Jozie. She's sixteen and the electric guitarist." Next to her was a blonde haired girl with cream roots. "That's S. She's fifteen and the keyboardist." Finally was the girl in the middle with a red half shave and a shoulder tattoo. "And that's the leader singer Olixe. She's sixteen."
"They are teenage delinquents whose voices are gross imitations of male voices! All they talk about is sex, and parties, and breaking the law," Mrs. Deltaro scoffed and her glare made Isa shrink backwards. "I did not want my daughter listening to such vulgarity, but she insisted that they were not a bad influence on her. I was just getting used to the idea of her liking such a group when I heard from my Bible Study group that the lead singer is a lesbian! I told Amara she was no longer allowed to listen to a band led by a sinner, and she promised she would never listen to them again if I let her still go and see them live. I begrudgingly agreed and now God is punishing me for allowing my child to fall victim to sin!" Mrs. Deltaro turned back to her husband and with a dramatic cry threw herself around him. Elliot and Olivia exchanged looks.
"Okay, but are you positive Amara wouldn't have left to go anywhere else? Maybe a boyfriend?" Elliot asked. Mrs. Deltaro looked offended by the question.
"My daughter is not to have a boyfriend until she is eighteen. She happily agreed to that rule!" Mrs. Deltaro huffed as if it were so obvious.
Olivia bent down near Isa. "Is that true Isa? Did Amara not have a boyfriend?"
Isa shook her head. "If she did, she never told me. As far as I know, I'm the only one in this neighborhood that Amara knows." Olivia nodded and stood up.
Mrs. Deltaro handed Elliot a school picture. "This is Amara. For the amber alert or missing posters or whatever! She's 5'3 and only 103 pounds. Anyone could snap her in half easily!" Mrs. Deltaro went back to dramatically sobbing. Elliot and Olivia looked at the picture. The watermark in the corner was for Saint Agnes Preparatory Christian School. Amara was dark skinned like her mom and dad with long dreads past her shoulders. She had light pink braces. Elliot took a picture with his phone.
"I'll ask Munch and Finn to see if any subways or cabs picked up this girl last night," Elliot said to Olivia. He looked up at Mr and Mrs Glower. "What was Amara wearing last night?"
"She had on a black crop top and jean shorts with silver stitching. Black converse too." Isa responded.
Mrs. Deltaro spun on the poor girl. "Lies! My Amara would never wear something so disgraceful! She doesn't even own a crop top!"
Isa looked at Olivia and shook her head. "That's what she was wearing." Elliot sent the picture and description to Munch. Mr. Glower took Mrs. Deltaro into the kitchen for a glass of water.
"You'll have to excuse my wife," Mr. Deltaro finally spoke. "She tends to, how can I say this nicely, over react to everything."
"I understand her concern for Amara's safety," Olivia said calmly, "but she does need to calm down enough so that she can be of help to us in finding Amara. Right now time is of the essence to make sure something bad hasn't happened." Mr. Deltaro nodded his agreement.
"Hey Liv," Elliot pulled her away, "time may not be of the essence anymore. A Jane Doe just appeared at the hospital matching Amara's description."
"Is she okay?" Olivia asked. "What happened? Did they say?"
"She was found on the side of the road," Elliot said. "They think she was hit by a car."