I feel really good about this chapter. Hope you do, too!

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Disclaimer: I do not own ICONic Boyz.


Chapter 3

P.O.V. Nick

After managing to get our entire luggage in place, we made our way outside the airport. It only took us a few minutes of looking at our surroundings to realize we had no idea where we were supposed to go.

"Okay" I said. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Madison's mom began reading the paper that was sent to us. "It says that we're supposed to have a driver by 8:30."

"Well, it's 8:45 right now." I said, frustrated. If it's one thing I do not like, it's waiting.

"Dude, chill." Madison said. "I don't think being 10 minutes late will kill us."

I crossed my arms, and let out a tense breath. "10 more minutes, and I'm hitchhiking."

"You are not hitchhiking 10 miles to the hotel."

"I'm not bluffing." I insisted. "I seriously will do it."

"Why don't you put a hold on that." Madison's mom said. "Look who's here."

We all looked at where she was pointing. In our line of thought, we saw a dude, probably in his twenties, wearing a black suit and black newsboy hat. In his hand, he was holding a makeshift sign saying in black letters "ICONic Boyz."

Shrugging, we all walked toward him, and as we got closer, he looked and our direction and smiled.

"Iconic Boyz?" He asked, knowingly.

We all nodded nervously in response.

He put his hand out, shaking all of ours, his smile getting bigger. "Welcome to Los Angeles. I'm Alex, and I'll be your chauffer for the next couple of months." He turned his shoulders to the left. "The limos are coming up right now."

Apparently, I didn't hear him correctly. "Did you just say limos."

"Yes I did."

Mikey seemed to agree with me. "As in...plural?" He asked. "Like, more than one?"

"Yes, sir." He said, a light chuckle in his voice. "One is for the crew members, and the other one is for your parents."

A smile appeared on all of our faces. Half an hour without our parents near us. I thought. I like this guy.

Before we knew it, we began to see two large, fluorescent white objects careening their way toward us. All of a sudden, our vision encountered two stretch H2 Hummer limos on the street in front of us.

After getting out of my shock, I slowly looked around to see the rest of the crew. It turns out that their eyes were the size of fishbowls, and their jaws were practically dragging on the cement. Not only that, but I could have sworn I saw Louis drooling.

Alex seemed to find our reactions funny. "I'm guessing this is your first time in a limo?"

"Pretty much," I decided to tell him. I figured riding in a hearse for my grandpa's funeral didn't count.

"Well, then. If you just hand me your luggage, we'll be on our way."

After he stacked all of our bags in the two trunks, we all got ourselves into the limo, nearly getting a stroke from what was on the inside.

There were ceiling lights, dimmed down with shades of blue and purple, flashing on the light blue, plushy seats that could easily be mistaken for pimped-out couches. A black, flashing stereo system was arranged across from the seats, and on top of a personal candy and soda bar was a small, plasma TV screen. All of it was adorned on top of a checkered, bright white and black disco floor.

"Um, are we dead?" Mikey blurted out, still in awe. No one bothered to answer him, still staring at the unbelievable interior.

Suddenly, a humorous voice came from the outside, startling us.

"You know," Alex said nicely. "You're allowed to go inside."

Immediately, we all pushed each other inside and sat down on the seats, sighing at how great they felt. We barely noticed that Alex was still with us.

"I see you guys are having fun."

"Oh, HELL yeah," Madison said smiling, causing all of us to giggle.

"Great," Alex replied. "Before we go, I have to warn you that it might be a bumpy ride. We're about 15 minutes behind schedule, so I'm going to have to speed."

"That's cool," I moaned, not exactly giving a damn about how fast or slow the ride was. Strangely, I felt the impulse to ask him a question. "Why did it take so long, anyway?"

"Oh, I had some issues finding you. I was actually expecting to pick up another dance crew, which explains the Hummer's color scheme."

"Which crew were you supposed to pick up?" Madison asked.

"I think their name was... Basement Racket, or something."

The mention of the name caused me to twitch a bit, and gave me a huge lump in my throat, like what happens after you dry-swallow a huge pill. Everyone's faces faltered, their admiration of the car disappearing within the time span of half a second.

"I guess they just got the jitters and quit, you know what I mean." Alex said, apparently oblivious to what was reported this morning.

We managed to make strained smiles, and let out faltered laughs, desperate for him to leave. As he finally slammed the door shut, all of our bodies hunched over, suddenly feeling heavy and exhausted.

This was supposed to be their limo.

"Guys, what are we doing?" Madison suddenly asked to no one in particular. "We're acting depressed in a kick-ass limo that Paris Hilton most likely can't even afford!"

Our heads slowly rose up, giving him our attention as he continued.

"Sure, it kinda feels like we're riding in a bunch of teenage corpses' whip," he couldn't help but admit "but we've gotta remember, we're still here."

After about ten seconds, looking nervously around each other in silence, Louis stood up. "Who are we?"

We all remained silent not sure how to answer.

"Who are we?" he repeated, irritated.

Eventually, we got it. "The ICONic Boyz!" we chanted.

"Who are we?"

"THE ICONIC BOYZ!"

"WHY ARE WE HERE?"

"TO WIN!"

Thanks to that, the space was once again filled with loud voices, and energetic laughter. It was like we all forgot about the murdered crew.

Well, most of us, at least.

I tried to change the subject in my head. Instead of thinking of the negative things, I thought about some positive stuff. Stuff like... like Olivia Baker.

Name: Olivia Baker
Age: 14
Status: Missing in Action

I instead focused on how shiny her long blond hair was, like a field of silk pouring down her shoulders. I tried to picture how ridiculously big her icy blue eyes were, piercing through the image of her own picture. I imagined her light skin, and how soft it probably would have felt on the tips of my fingers.

Ugghh, Maybe Lou's right, I groaned to myself. I'm turning necro-friggin-philic!

After what seemed to be only ten minutes, we found ourselves in front of a hotel, which had a faint sound of violins coming out of it. Alex opened the door, letting us all out.

"Welcome to the Sheraton Gateway," he said with a smile. "You'll be having a meeting tomorrow at the ABDC studio. I'll be picking you guys up at 9:00 sharp, so get a good night's sleep."

After our moms checked us all in, we found our way to one of the top floors. I couldn't help but admit, as nice as the rooms we're, it was kind of an epic disappointment after the limo ride.

We spent hours fighting for dibs on the best beds, and as soon as night fell on us, we ended up simply falling asleep on each other.

Despite all that I did in the car ride, my mind was still filled with dreams of Olivia Baker.

Only this time, her gorgeous skin and hair was stained and matted, with a heavy amount of her own blood.


P.O.V: Vinny

I was in a deep sleep when, all of a sudden, a strange noise filled my ears.

Unable to ignore it, I pushed myself up, carefully shoving Jason's face off my stomach. I looked around to try and hear it again, only to hear silence and snoring. Just as I was about to go back to sleep, the sound reappeared again. It seemed like a series of sharp, sudden noises, going in a perfect, harmonic rhythm.

Kind of like the sound of metal tapping on bathroom tiles.

Getting creeped out, I got up, tiptoeing over Mikey and Louis, who had stretched across the carpet, toward the closed bathroom, causing the noise to get louder and louder. I put my trembling hand on the doorknob, my heart racing at the idea of what might be on the other side of the door.

Swallowing my fear, I threw the door open and hit the lights to find...

nothing.

"Oh my God," I whispered at my own paranoia.

Sighing with relief, I bent over the sink and splashed water on my hot, burning face. Looking at the mirror with blurred vision, I reached for a towel, only to touch something with an abnormal feel.

It had a soft feel to it, yet it had a really rigid core, and was freezing to the touch... just like a human arm.

Ripping my hand away from it, I felt for the soft, manufactured feel of the towl, and threw it on my face. I took it off and looked in the mirror...

to find the girl...the girl that invaded my head... in the mirror reflection behind me.

Her hair was matted with mud, dark red stains were going through her shirt, and an expression of shock appeared on her bruised face, as if she was afraid of me.

I let out a high pitched scream, causing her to do the same, and raced outside the bathroom door, and into the middle of the dark room, turning on all of the lamps I could get my trembling hands on.

Eventually, everyone woke up with pissed off groans, and found me as the culprit as they sent piercing glares toward me.

"What the hell, Vinny!" Nick shouted, dark circles forming under his eyes. "It's 2 AM!"

"Guys, there's a dead girl in the bathroom!"

They looked at me as if I just told them that the sky was purple. "What?"

"That girl from the Dance Crew... D-D-Demetria Harper..." I said in a stuttered mess of panic "She-She-she's in the bathroom!"

Reluctantly, Mikey got up, shoved me hard out of the way, and opened the bathroom door.

"See?" He barked. "Nothing."

I managed to sneak a peek into the flourescent lights, to find that the room was completely empty.

I looked at my tired, irritated friends. "I-I swear to God, I saw her!" I said in my defense. "Sh-she she covered in mud, and her shirt was all bloody, and-"

"No one is here but us," Thomas snapped, shoving his head in his pillow. "Now just turn off the damn lights and go to bed!"

In defeat, I turned them off, and climbed onto the bed, with my heart still racing. I couldn't help but repeat the thought in my head, I could have sworn I saw her.

After hours of sitting in fright, I managed to fall into another uneven sleep, still hearing the subtle tapping noise before I went under.


Dun, Dun...DUNNNN!

I got goose bumps last right just writing this story last night. You know you did a kick-butt job when you scare yourself. Keep your eyes open for the next chapter.