Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter VIII

The moment we get off the plane, one of the dance instructors begins giving us instructions. Of course, most of our group is too tired to listen, so Avery has to relay the information to us.

"We're taking a bus to Paris Las Vegas. This time, we're just gonna stay at the hotel," she explains to us. Again, everyone's too tired to want to reply.

After receiving our luggage from the airport, we have to wait another half hour for our bus to show up, and there's barely enough room for all of us to get on. I take a window seat next to Heath and Luke and just gaze outside. Lots of signs advertise various casinos, strip bars, and other irrelevant locations and businesses. The strip itself is flashing with lights, and it seems just as active in the nighttime as it would in the daytime.

And then there's the Paris Las Vegas hotel itself. Despite the building's towering appearance from the outside, it's still just a hotel. Although, I will say it is impressive that they were able to afford such a hotel. These places can't be cheap to setup reservations in, and for such a large number of people as well.

After walking inside, our group unanimously decides to do the usual splitting of guys and girls for rooms (with the exception of Avery, who chooses to room with a few of her dance teammates). I grab a key for us from the front desk, and we walk to the nearest elevator to head up to our floor.

"What a day," I sigh once we enter our room. Most of us don't even say anything after setting our luggage down, and instead just go straight to bed. There are two average-sized beds with white blankets and a pullout couch. Elle and Shanna use sleeping bags, Mia and Mackenzie each take a bed for themself, and I get dibs on the pullout couch (which I instantly regret because of how messy the last people left it). I fall asleep almost immediately after my head hits the pillow.

-

"Skylar! Wake up! We have to leave in, like, 30 minutes!" Shanna's voice and the act of her shaking me vigorously wakes me up.

"Ugh, a simple 'wake up' would've sufficed," I grumble, pulling myself into a sitting position. I pull out my phone to check the time. It's 10:58 AM. I also have a text from Avery saying we need to be there by 11:30.

I spend the next fifteen minutes or so doing my hair and changing into the third of my three outfits I brought with me. Elle, Mia, Mackenzie, Shanna, and I then walk down to the lobby to meet up with the guys.

A few minutes later, Avery and her dance team join us, and following that is the arrival of a bus to take us to the studio for the second competition. When we get off, Avery tells us, "I'm going straight to backstage to do some last minute prep. You guys just wait in the audience."

"Sounds good," Sam nods. The nine of us make a quick trip to the concession stands to grab some snacks and drinks for the show, and then head into the auditorium-styled room and find a row of seats.

A middle-aged couple sitting in front of turn their heads slightly to see us, and they look a bit surprised at the sight of all of us sitting together. "What, never seen nine teenagers sit together in an auditorium before?" I hear Sam mumble to himself.

At that moment, I hear the doors open, followed by footsteps that sound like they're coming from office shoes.

SAM

Music: ROUND3 from Dragon Saber

I'm a pretty curious person. Sometimes this is a problem, as I tend to stick my nose into other people's business when I shouldn't. But hey, can you really blame me for taking notice of people walking into a room?

This time around, however, I'm glad that I do. Because this man is exactly like what you would see on one of those FBI-based TV shows. He's got a black jacket on with black dress pants, a white polo shirt with a black necktie, black dress shows, and to top it all off, sunglasses.