The squeal exploded in my ear. Mt. Dew spewed everywhere and I coughed and sneezed as the pop crawled up my nose. My best friend, Dana, started jumping up and down. I glared at her and blew my nose with one of the McDonald's napkins.

"Look, look, Abby, look, it's him!"

Dana was definitely fangirling. I shook my head. She'd dragged me out here early this morning just so we could catch a glimpse of Micah Darachovich. If she could have gotten any of our other friends to come, I'd still have been home asleep. I mean who wants to spend a Saturday morning. let alone the day before Christmas Eve, waiting in the freezing cold just for the chance of spotting a celebrity? Certainly not me. Nope, I was content to stay at home with the central heat running, admiring the snow falling from inside and working on my next video to upload.

Grudgingly, I did admit, he was nice to look at. Black hair flirted with deep gray eyes that always looked so serious. He was tall, but well built. Not too many muscles, but enough to see them. He always seemed to wear clothes that showed off his near perfect physique. Probably didn't even dress himself, I thought snidely. That's what all those wardrobe people were paid for. He always had a ready smile for the camera to show off his laser whitened teeth too.

Micah was currently the star of one of the new hit paranormal TV series that aired on the CW. I watched the show myself, and not because of the hottie smiling at the crowd. I actually liked the show itself. Plus it was being filmed in our town. The TV crews had swarmed our sleepy little town and turned it into a madhouse. Fans swarmed the place, hoping to get a glimpse of the cast or the chance to be an extra on screen. They'd even closed the school a few times so they could film there. I was cool with no school, but not so much with my favorite hangouts getting overrun.

"Ohmygod, Abby!" Dana screamed into my ear and I winced. "He's coming this way!" She yanked on my arm, trying to get me to stand up and I refused. I was perfectly happy sitting right here on the stone wall I'd cleared of snow. I had no desire to bat my eyes and hope he'd sign my shirt or some such rubbish. Dana's bouncy C cups were sure to get his attention, though. She wanted him to sign her shirt right across her girls. I rolled my eyes at the nonsense of it.

"Hello, ladies."

Dana bounced and I sighed. Her girls had gotten his attention. She was gushing and asking for an autograph. I heard him laugh and agree. He did have a very sexy voice. When he spoke, it reminded me of how I felt when I settled down with my favorite hot chocolate spiced with cinnamon. My toes wanted to curl.

"Would you like an autograph as well?"

I had to look up then, since he'd spoken directly to me. His eyes were a very dark gray, the color of the storm clouds rolling in above us. And they twinkled. Dana looked ready to swoon. "No," I told him. "I'm good."

His smile, which had seemed fake before, now lit up his face. "I'm Micah."

"I know." I  started to pack our McDonalds trash into the bag.

"It's customary to return the greeting."

"Her name's Abby Donavan," Dana told him eagerly, giving me a very obvious kick to the shin. Micah laughed at her antics.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Abby Donavan. I'm headed to the café for breakfast. Would you ladies care to join me?"

I closed my eyes. Dana's enthusiastic agreement had me wincing. I knew if I didn't go, she'd never forgive me. She had a serious crush on the guy. I looked up to have my suspicions confirmed.

"That'd be great, wouldn't it, Abby?" she asked me, the threat plain in her voice.

"We just had McDonalds." I shove the empty bag in her face to make my point. I wasn't going down without a fight.

"But I'm still hungry."

"Dana, you know I have to upload..."

"People will wait on your damn video." She gave me her best if-you-don't-go-I-will-kill-you-in-your-sleep glare.

"Fine." I sighed and stood up. My sour look earned me an elbow in the side and I grimaced in return. I really just wanted to be at home, curled up in my bed.

"I don't bite," Micah teased as we started towards the café.

"Don't mind, Abby," Dana gushed. "She's in a bad mood. You never want to drag her out of bed before noon on a Saturday morning."

Gunshots went off before I could make any kind of sarcastic comeback. All our heads swiveled to the left and we saw a small horde people running towards us, but no gunman in all the chaos. Micah grabbed us both and herded us to the sidewalk, out of the general rampage of the people fleeing the scene. We looked in every direction, but couldn't see anything through the throng of panicked people and the falling snow.

Men in black uniforms swarmed the streets. Police and the show's security team were starting to respond. We breathed a small sigh of relief. Micah started to say something, but then security rushed him and we were swept along with him. We found ourselves loaded into an SUV with blacked out windows.

Dana looked shaken, but Micah frowned at the two security guards in the front seat.

The auto locks engaged on the doors and I started to feel a little uneasy. Nothing about this felt right. What was going on? That's not typically how security acted. My dad was a cop and he'd taught me that when something felt off, it usually was.

"We've secured the targets," the one in the passenger seat said into a radio. The driver started the SUV and then we were moving.

Did he say targets? I looked over to Micah and he'd caught that too.

"Hey, guys?" He shifted so he could see the security guys better. "What's going on?"

"Nothing to be concerned about, Mr. Darachovich," the driver told him. "We're taking you to a secure location until the situation has been handled."

"You aren't part of my normal security detail," Micah said, his eyes moving between the two of them.

"We were assigned to you this morning." The easy reply fell off the driver's lips while he turned onto the ramp leading to the interstate.

"Marty would have told me." Micah pulled out his phone. "I'll just check."

A gun met Micah's statement. "I'm afraid you'll have to hand over your phones."

"Who the hell are you?" Micah demanded.

"Your escorts." The passenger smiled, holding the gun steadily. "Now your phones please? I really don't want to have shoot the two of you just yet."

I swallowed, fished my iPhone out of my purse, and handed it over to him. My dad taught me to carry a burner cell at all times. The feel of it in my coat pocket reassured me. I kept it turned off so there was no chance of it ringing. I hoped they didn't frisk us or they'd find it. We had a way to get help as long as it remained hidden.

Micah gave up his own Galaxy, but Dana stared at the gun, not moving. The man's expression started to get aggravated. I knew it had to be shock, so I grabbed her purse and fished her iPhone out of it.

"She's just scared," I told the man holding the gun on us.

The gunman smiled and then fired. It was loud in the confines of the car and I winced when the sound pierced my eardrums. When I turned to check on Dana, my voice froze. She sat there, head back, a small hole in the center of her eyes. A slow trickle of blood ran down over her nose and onto her lips before starting to drip onto her shirt.

"What the hell?" I heard Micah shouting, but all I saw was Dana, her eyes staring blankly up at the overhead of the SUV. A wave of nausea rolled through my stomach and I gagged. Grief tried to crowd in, but the shock kept it at bay. At least enough so I could focus on trying not to get shot myself.

"She wasn't invited."

This time I looked up at the gunman. His face was neutral, stoic even. Invited? What was he talking about? Dana wasn't invited? Did that mean I was? I was a nobody compared to Micah.

"Look if its money you want..."

They both burst out laughing at Micah's words.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

"This isn't about money," the passenger smiled. "Money means nothing to us."

"Then what is it about?"

"The Game."

I gasped when a small dart shot out of the gun and hit me in the neck. My eyes grew heavy.

I fought to stay awake, but it was as useless. Panic and fear warred as my vision collapsed in on itself.

No one ever survived The Game.