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Nick walked, or rather was pushed, into the bar. He really didn't want to go to this specific establishment; he was much more content with finding a different place somewhere else in town. This seedy little joint wasn't anywhere near what the upscale clubs he was used to in Los Angeles or New York, but it sold alcohol and that was all that mattered to him. He propped himself onto a barstool and looked over to the group of people next to him. They looked like not only just locals, but frequenters of this bar so surely one of them would know what would be the best drink to get. He tapped the shoulder of the guy immediately next to him and waited for some acknowledgment.
Ben was stopped midsentence by the tap on his shoulder. He turned this head. "Hey, you're new around here."
Nick just nodded, and since he hadn't been recognized he decided to not to let the cat of the bag himself by saying, "Yeah. I'm from out of town and I usually go to a different bar when I am in town. I travel a lot for work. So, you come here often?"
Ben nodded. "Oh before we go any further: my name's Ben. And yours?"
"Nick," he said just loud enough for Ben to hear, "So what do you recommend?"
Ben shrugged. "They really only serve beer here," was his answer and Nick had to turn away to make a face. He was used to places that at least served cocktails. He then turned back, "Cool. Cool. That's cool." He ordered a beer and turned back to Ben. "So what brings you here?"
Ben swallowed hard. He, Sam, and Sock were in wait for the soul they were after, a young woman who had stalked musicians and killed them when she found them. They had learned she was going to be stalking a famous singer at this bar. "We're waiting for someone right now, but we come here all the time. What about you?"
Nick also hesitated. AJ and Howie had shoved Nick into this bar because a crazy fan had been on their asses, especially Nick's, all day and they were hoping that sticking him in a little hole-in-the-wall place would throw the girl off.
They were way wrong when the girl waltzed her way into the bar, flashing her ID to the guy at the door.
"Oh God, it's her," Nick groaned under his breath.
Meanwhile, Ben nudged Sam and pointed to her. "It's her! Let's go!"
The girl sat next to Nick, a shit-eating grin on her face. "Hi, Nick!" she said in almost a squeal. "You thought you could get away from me, didn't you? They never get away from me, never." She pulled what looked like a permanent marker, discreetly opening it. "Could you do me a favor and sign an autograph for me? Make it out to Tiffany… 'I'd die for you, ♡ Nick.'" She lifted up the marker to reveal it wasn’t a marker at all, but a knife, "And when I say that you'd die me, I wasn't kidding."
Nick panicked. He wasn't expecting this girl to try to kill him! He cried for help but the majority of the patrons were just as scared as he was. He closed his eyes and was convinced this was it, this was how he was going to die.
What he hadn't realized was that there were three people in the bar who knew exactly what to do. One of the Ben's friends pulled out a glowstick and pointed it at Tiffany.
She pulled the weapon away from Nick, jumped over the barstools to get in front of them. "You're not sending back. I'm not going back!"
Nick opened his eyes when she said that and saw what was going on. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"
The friend, Sam, looked at Nick. "You'll think that, but I know exactly what I'm doing." he started stepping backward, smirking and nodding when Tiffany followed. He couldn't activate the vessel with everyone looking so he had to isolate her.
Ben and their other friend, Sock, chased after him. Nick followed them but Ben stopped him. "You can't see this. I can't explain it either. Just trust me, we're saving your life." And with that, he ran outside.
Once they got out they realized Sam had it all handled, as he broke the glowstick, sending Tiffany inside it.
Ben put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "What are the chances that the guy that was going to bring us to the soul would sit right beside us and strike up a conversation with me?"
Sam shrugged. "I don't know, but it helped us because she walked right to us. Bet he's confused as all hell right now."
"Definitely, but what can we do?"
"Tell him he's welcome," Sam said with a smile as they walked back inside.