"What the hell was wrong with her?" Nick asked, sitting next to Aj and Kevin.
Theresa shrugged, just glad that Stephanie had calmed down and was now sleeping a little more peacefully on the couch in the entertainment room. Kevin had insisted they move her to a spot they could get to easier if she started again.
"What do you think she was dreaming about?" Aj noticed Theresa’s worried eyes meet his. "I mean she sounded so frightened of someone."
"I don’t know, but I’ve heard of flashbacks doing that… You know, reliving a certain event you’ve tried pushing out of your mind. It happens to me sometimes too. I guess I’ll go check on her, make sure Howie hasn’t fallen asleep again." Theresa’s eyes stared down at the table after she said that. She hadn’t meant to bring up any of her dreams. She rose from the table and headed back to the entertainment room. She found Howie watching a talk show sort of thing on the television while sitting at the end of the couch.
Stephanie was curled up under a blanket, still asleep, only sporadically jerking in her nightmares, then resting again. Theresa sat in one of the bean bag chairs and sighed out loud.
"D, you can go eat if you want, I’ll make sure she’s alright. And thanks for watching over her for a little while."
"No problem, she whimpered every now and then, but hasn’t started panicking again. But she hasn’t slept very peacefully." Howie informed, standing from the couch and stretching his muscles.
"Okay. Thank you again…" Howie left the back room without another word and Theresa stared back at Stephanie, noticing the tears leaking through her closed eyes again. She rose from the chair wiped the little streams of salty liquid from her face.
Stephanie stirred in her sleep, opening her eyes slowly. She met Theresa’s concerned face. She gazed around and wondered what she was doing in the entertainment room.
"Morning Trease, what am I doing back here? Did I sleep walk again?" She joked, smiling a little and sitting up.
"No, you were having some pretty bad nightmares and were screaming so we moved you in here so you wouldn’t break your arm falling from the top bunk…" Theresa watched the confusion register on her tanned face. "What were you dreaming about last night?"
"I don’t remember, what was I screaming?"
"Well, you kept yelling for someone to go away and for him to stop…"
"Well, I honestly don’t remember and probably would prefer not remembering. I’m starving could we go get some breakfast?" Stephanie yawned, stretching her slender body to loosen the tightened muscles in her legs and arms.
"Yeah, I guess, but the guys are gonna wanna know what was up with you last night. You had us all pretty scared." Theresa explained, straightening her white tank top and pink pajama pants. Stephanie sat up and brushed her tangled black hair back, wiping her face in the process. She straighten the blanket over her and pushed it away, standing up weakly.
"You gonna be alright, you look a little pale still…" Theresa muttered, following her to the front of the bus.
"Yeah, but I need to talk to you later, about last night…" Stephanie whispered before walking out to the kitchenette area of the bus. "I don’t suppose they have any hot chocolate here do they?"
Theresa noticed all the guys staring, then realized why, the night shirt Stephanie wore only met her mid thigh, revealing her long tanned legs. Stephanie was obviously ignoring them all and poured herself a cup of coffee, adding the perfect blend of cream and sugar to it.
"So Princess, how was you’re night?" Kevin asked, eyeing her closely before deciding she was feeling better.
"Oh, just fine thanks… How was yours?" She smiled, noticing they were all giving her a few confused glances. "What?"
"Ours would have been a little longer if you hadn’t been screaming…" Nick muttered, slurping down the milk left in his cereal bowl.
"Yeah, Theresa mentioned that, I’m really sorry for waking you guys…" She ducked her head a little.
"What were you dreaming about, it obviously wasn’t Prince Charming…" Brian stated, scratching his head and staring up at her.
"No, obviously not, but I don’t remember. They don’t happen a lot. I probably won’t have another episode for a while." Stephanie explained, noting their face twist in even more confusion.
"So you’ve had these before and weren’t gonna mention them to us… We couldn’t get you to wake up this morning… You kept screaming that some guy was hurting you and you wanted him to stop."
Stephanie glanced towards Howie and felt the blood drain from her face. More nightmares, worse than before. She knew couldn’t hide from them for very long. She knew what they were, but could figure out why they wouldn’t stop.
"Steph, just tell us what happened…" Theresa whispered, touching her arm softly.
"It’s nothing, I don’t want to remember them and I don’t want to talk about them." She stated firmly, finishing her coffee in one last gulp then headed away from them to dress.
**~~**~~**
The bus pulled up to the Sand Castles Hotel, in Philadelphia, PA. Everyone unloaded the bus, thankful that no fans had staked out the hotel. Stephanie remained close to Theresa, avoiding being stuck anywhere near Kevin. He still gave her mixed looks, one moment they would actually seem concerned for her well being and others would be purely sexually.
They all entered the lobby, greeted by Donna holding the room keys for everyone. She handed each of the guys their own and the crew was given theirs. She stopped before the five dancers, Theresa, and Stephanie.
"We’re gonna have to pair everyone up tonight… I want Monica and Tonya and Raquel, Theresa will be with Amy, and Stephanie you’ll be with Christina." Donna handed out the keys and walked away before anyone could argue.
"Great, I’m stuck with Little Miss Goody-Goody." Christina growled, turning towards Stephanie and glaring at her.
"Christina, just trade with me and you can share a room with Amy…" Theresa started, noting Stephanie’s distressed face.
"Oh, no now we can’t go against what Donna says, you heard her Theresa, now go to your room like a good girl." Christina sneered, "Besides, I’m sure me and Miss Virgin Princess have plenty to talk about…"
"Chris, I’m warning you… if you…" Theresa was silenced by Amy.
"Come on, it’s not like she’s gonna do anything, not after the strict warning Kevin gave us." Amy shot a look to Christina and smiled.
"Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it. I seriously don’t want Kevin on my ass, well, I can’t really say that but…" She grinned back then grabbed Stephanie’s arm and pulled her towards the elevator. Stephanie gaze Theresa one last glance before stepping into the elevator. She turned towards Amy and frowned angrily, heading to the elevators as well.
**~~**~~**
Christina chose to ignore Stephanie the entire ride up to the room, happily staring at Kevin’s ass. The five guys were standing in front of them talking and joking to themselves.
Kevin suddenly turned around and wrapped an arm over Stephanie’s slender shoulder. She shivered under his attention and felt Christina’s hateful glares.
"So Princess, you wanna reconsider your thinking and stay in my room tonight?" He whispered against her ear. Stephanie actually had thoughts of going with him, she’d be safe from Christina in there, but not from Kevin, or herself. Kevin began kissing her neck softly, making her want to swoon against him. But enter his room would be like entering a lion’s den. Sexual desire could be a very dangerous weapon when he had control of it.
"Um, no not tonight…" She stuttered, wishing Theresa was there to save her. The closest thing she had was Aj, and he refused to let anyone realize his change.
"Alright, but you’re gonna say yes one of these days…" He smirked, kissing her cheek and stepping away. The elevator sounded the floor and they all stepped off, Christina keeping Stephanie back from the five guys a ways. She glared straight ahead, waiting until they got to the room to set things straight with her. Christina pulled the key out of her leather jacket and opened the door, walking in first and holding the door for Stephanie.
Stephanie sighed and sat her stuff on one of the beds. Christina immediately shoved it to the floor.
"This is my bed, Bitch, move it." She stated, shoving Stephanie to the side.
"Sorry…" Stephanie muttered, her hands shaking fiercely. She pulled out her pills and walked towards the bathroom. Christina stepped in front of her before she got very far.
"Oh, what are those?" Her voice sounded falsely friendly.
"My medicine, it helps me to sleep." Stephanie replied quietly, feeling her hands shake even more.
"Why didn’t you go with Kevin to his room?"
"Because I didn’t want to." She stated, walking past the red head and towards the bathroom.
Christina grabbed her arm again and jerked her back. "Listen here, whore, whatever Kevin sees in you now, which God knows what that is, he won’t want it after the initiation. He’s gonna…" Christina was cut off by the phone. She walked over and picked it up, muttering a few words before hanging it up again.
"I guess we’ll continue this later, I’m needed down the hall. Sweet Dreams Princess…" Christina gave a sarcastic grin and walked out the door of the hotel room. Stephanie sat down on her bed and stared at the bottle she held in her hands. She placed them on the night stand and entered the bathroom, locking the door behind herself. She couldn’t manage to keep herself from shaking and trembling.
"I should just go home, I shouldn’t stay here. But I can leave now… God I want to…" She sighed, turning on the warm water in the sink and splashed some against her face. The heated water felt wonderful as it trickled down her face. She dried the water off and changed into her night shirt, pulling it on over her bra and panties, buttoning it up a little higher this time. Walking back out the main room, she found all five of the dancers, sitting around the room.
"Oh, and here she comes. So, Steph, you decide to neglect all the free advice we’ve given to you…" Christina stated, trying to sound disappointed.
"You all are just trying to scare me off and it isn’t going to work…" Stephanie said, walking past the girls, already in their pajamas as well, towards her bed.
"Well, I guess we’ll just have to try a little harder won’t we… Now!" Christina muttered loudly, shoving the brunette to the bed. "Hold her down."
Stephanie struggled and let out a slightly muffled scream as Monica clapped a hand over her mouth. She tried kicking and shoving them away but Christina sat on her flailing legs and Amy and Tonya held her arms down. Raquel had grabbed a wash cloth from the bathroom and stuck it in her mouth, silencing her screams.
"Now, if this doesn’t send her away, I hate to think what would…" Christina sighed, pulling out a black marker. Stephanie flinched when she felt the front of her nightshirt unbuttoned. She clamped her eyes shut and tried to drown out the sounds of the women’s laughter. Christina began writing across Stephanie’s tanned skin, in large letters leaving ‘slut’ on her stomach. Raquel went next writing ‘whore’ down one thigh. Tonya laughed and traded spots with Raquel to write on her other thigh ‘bitch.’ Each woman took a turn, writing profane words over her skin.
"Go get the camera, Raquel!" Christina laughed, now sitting at the head of the bed to keep Stephanie’s arms pinned to the mattress.
Stephanie turned her head and buried her face against the cool cotton sleeve of her shirt. She heard the snapping of a camera and the collected snickering of the five girls. The pressure on her arms lessened, and Christina climbed from the bed to check on the still developing Polaroid’s.
"Oh Girl, we got your best side!" Tonya giggled in a series of a few nasal breaths. Stephanie pulled the gag from her mouth and pushed herself up. Tonya sat at the foot of the bed, still giggling, passing the pictures to Monica. With a sudden lunge, Stephanie and Tonya were on the ground struggling. Christina and Raquel were first to begin prying Stephanie away.
"I think Princess needs to cool off!" Amy stated, helping Tonya from the floor.
"We’ll take care of her. Amy, you go slide this one under Theresa’s door. Then knock and get your ass back down here." Christina commanded dragging Stephanie towards the bathroom.