"Control"

"Something wrong, T?" Lance grinned at Tammy.

"Yeah, you look kind of..." JC tried not to grin, "...uncomfortable." She was scooched down in her chair, her coat pulled tightly around her to hide her face.

"This place is lame," Tammy scowled, looking around the karaoke bar. They were in the heart of Hollywood, and Tammy was hoping that none of her film and production associates would see her. "And it bites," she added.

"Embarrassed, are we?" Chris taunted, a small, playful smile on his face.

"Very," she snapped.

Justin pouted. "Aww, I guess this means you won't be performing for us tonight, huh?"

Tammy shook her head forcefully. "Not a chance. Karaoke is for losers with no shame." She added with an evil smile, "Losers with no shame that have nothing better to do."

"Well," JC stood up as he spoke. "I'm all three, so I guess I'm up first. Who wants to be my partner?"

"I will," Joey volunteered.

"Oh no," JC shook his head adamantly. "You suck at karaoke. You can barely read the monitor correctly, let alone sing along on beat." He laughed as he finished his sentence, then turned to Justin asking, "Wanna be my partner?"

"Sure," Justin shrugged.

"That is so messed up," Joey protested with a tiny smile. "I can't believe you won't be my partner, JC. Anyone else willing to join up with me?" He was rewarded with Chris and Lance looking at the ceiling, whistling softly. "I see how it is," he pouted, sitting back in his seat.

"Sorry, Joe," Lance shrugged, "but you suck. Karaoke is so not your thing."

Tammy's heart immediately went out to Joey, whom she felt kind of sorry for. She could tell that even though he smiled and laughed, deep down he was a little hurt... just a little. "That's okay, Joey," she grinned. "I'll be your partner."

"No way," Justin shook his head. "You just said karaoke is for losers."

"Not when me and Joey team up," she chuckled. "We're gonna win it all," she gestured to the sign-up karaoke contest.

"Do I sense a challenge of some sort?" JC inquired.

Tammy nodded. "Oh yeah," she drawled. She grabbed Joey by his arm and pulled him over to the sign-up sheet. "Let's do this."

Five minutes later, the three teams were signed up and ready to battle. "Who wants to go first?" Lance asked.

"We'll go," Chris answered for he and Lance's team. "We're gonna win it all, anyway." The two climbed on the stage after the host announced them and launched into a very hilarious rendition of TLC's "Unpretty". Chris even made it a point to suddenly pull one of his old extensions out of his pocket as he sang, "You can buy your hair if it won't grow..." Tammy and the others laughed all the way through it, but still doubted they would win, for they were off-key at certain times and missed some of the words.

"Nice job," Tammy smirked as Lance and Chris jumped off the stage. "Who's up next?"

"That would be us," JC smiled cockily as he and Justin climbed onto the stage. As they launched into their song, they were doing a good job except...

"What song is this?" Tammy asked, genuinely perplexed.

"I dunno," Joey shrugged. "I've never heard it before."

"And judging by the looks of the audience," Tammy drawled, looking around the room at the unenthusiastic audience members, "neither have they."

Once JC and Justin finished the song, everyone clapped but Tammy still felt compelled to ask, "What song was that?"

"Man," JC rolled his eyes, "you don't remember? It's an old song we sang on MMC. I can't quite remember the name of it, but it was great. Really upbeat, ya know?"

"Whatever," Joey snorted. He and Tammy walked over to the karaoke machine and looked over the lists of songs. "So many to choose," Joey shook his head.

"Just pick whatever you want," Tammy chuckled. "We're gonna win anyway."

"I like your confidence," Joey grinned at her. He finally chose a song saying, "This is gonna be good. You wanna handle lead vocals, T?"

Tammy shook her head. "Nah, you get in the spotlight. I don't want anyone to see me geekin' out to much, anyway."

Joey nodded, and the two walked to the center of the stage as the opening chords came on. The crowd immediately got to their feet and started to clap. The song Joey picked was definitely a good choice, demonstrated when the crowd went crazy and started to dance around as he sang in a raspy voice, "I know it's up for me..."

"If you steal my sunshine!" Tammy sang, jumping around and laughing. She made sure to stay in the background during most of the song; the look on Joey's face as he had all the attention on him was priceless. He looked truly content, as if the real reason he became a singer suddenly could be seen clearly.

After the song was over, the room burst into thunderous applause. "Aww yeah!" Tammy high-fived Joey. "You da man!"

"Thanks," he laughed, grasping Tammy's hand and jumping off the stage, pulling her behind him.

After they sat at the table with the others, Justin grinned. "That was pretty awesome. How do you think we did?"

Tammy rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Y'all was good... but y'all wasn't us." She and Joey laughed and high-fived each other again.

"Doesn't matter," JC grinned haughtily. "I know we got the prize."

Two hours later, JC scowled at Joey from his seat on the airplane. "You mind putting that damn thing away?"

"What?" Joey asked innocently. "Oh!" he cried in over-exaggerated realization. "You mean the first place trophy for karaoke!" Before he put the trophy on the floor, he made a big show of polishing it and kissing it, much to Tammy's amusement.

"I guess you deserve to rub it in just a bit," she said, pulling out her cell phone.

"Of course," Joey nodded. "I suck at karaoke so much that I somehow got a trophy. That chick Alanis from Canada said something about that being ironic. Don't ya think?" he asked JC.

"Whatever," JC sighed in annoyance, then grinning finally. "Good job, Joe. You deserve it. That performance kicked ass."

"Thank you," Joey replied demurely. He looked at Tammy, who was frowning at her cell phone. "Problem, T?" he asked.

Tammy sighed, shaking her head in confusion. "I tried calling Isabella and the operator said that the phone number was disconnected."

"Maybe she got the phone number changed," Justin volunteered, his head buried in a magazine.

"Maybe," Tammy frowned, "but that's so unlike her to change it and to just not tell me in advance. I wonder if Yasmine and the others have her new number."

"Call 'em and ask," Joey said helpfully. He shrugged, "I'm sure they'd have it. She probably couldn't get in touch with you to tell you the new number, so she told them."

Tammy nodded, putting her phone back in her pocket. "I'll call them later," she said, sending them a small smile. She glanced out the window as the plane landed smoothly. "We're here."

JC sighed, getting to his feet and pulling his knapsack over his shoulder. "Another day, another hotel."

"Told ya it never ends," Chris said weakly, waking up just in time to hear JC's earlier statement.

"Where are we anyway?" Justin inquired as he walked towards the plane exit.

"Deep in the heart-a Texas," Lance replied in his deepest Southern accent. The six of them laughed as they got off the plane and met up with Johnny.

Later, up in their rooms at the hotel, Tammy sighed as she slammed her laptop onto her bed. "What's up your butt?" Justin asked, pulling out his nightclothes.

"Nothin'," Tammy grumbled, staring at the portable computer with disgust.

Justin chuckled uneasily, confused by Tammy's look as she gazed at the laptop. "Something must be wrong," he tried again, "you should be riding high since you and Joey's mini-victory at karaoke, but instead you're all soggy."

"I've been here too long," Tammy replied shortly, still glaring at her computer.

"What do you mean?" Justin frowned.

"I mean exactly what I say," she scowled. "I've been here for too long. I was supposed to be here for six weeks and here I am, still putting my other projects on the backburner 'cause I'm tied up in this movie for the third month."

"I'm sorry," Justin said quietly. "Are you mad at us now?"

Tammy sighed, instantly regretting what she said. "No, it's not y'all," she answered. "It's me. I'm disgusted with myself. No matter how hard I try, I can't get this movie off the ground."

"Writer's block?" he asked.

"Nah," she grinned ruefully, "I think it's the fact that I don't wanna leave. Y'all are kinda starting to grow on me. Softening me up."

"Yeah," Justin smiled back at her, "no matter how many rappers you hang around, you'll always have 'NSync's corny asses to keep you grounded." He smiled as he remembered the amount of attitude she gave them after spending a couple of hours with DMX and the Ruff Ryders.

"You think I'm gaining weight?" Justin asked, modeling his wife-beater covered torso for Tammy.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm so not gonna answer that."

"What about my ass?" Justin turned his back to her, slapping his butt a few times for emphasis.

"What ass?" Tammy snorted. "Cut it out and go to bed, retard. You gotta get up early."

"You too," Justin grinned, sliding into the twin bed next to Tammy's.

"Which is why I want as many hours of sleep as I can get," she glared at him, turning off the lamp light.

After being plunged into darkness, Tammy heard Justin's voice float across the room to her. "Ya know," he whispered, "you don't have to feel like you've been here for too long. You can stay as long as you need to. Or want to," he added as an afterthought.

"Thanks," Tammy whispered back to him, turning on her side. Minutes later, she felt herself falling into a deep sleep, and one of the Elders came to her in a dream.

"Hello, Viper," the Elder said to her.

"Hello," Tammy yawned, looking around. She was thoroughly confused at her surroundings, especially since she didn't remember calling the Elders. "Is there a reason why I'm here?" she asked.

"I must warn you, Viper," the Elder responded in a soft tone.

"Of what?" Tammy said, taking a step closer to him. As she did so, she felt gusts of wind pick up and swirl all around her, blocking out most of the sound of the entity's voice.

"Be wary," she heard the Elder say anxiously.

"Of what?" she called through the wind. Her hair swirled around her face, making it hard to see the Elder.

"Be wary," the entity repeated. "Be wary... of... " Suddenly, the wind cut off the end of his sentence, and all Tammy saw was his mouth moving, but couldn't quite make out the words. It looked as if he said, "Be wary of the witch," but she wasn't quite sure. The Elder called, "It is possible to stay in control all of the time, but it is difficult. You of all people know the truth of the statement. The viper once controlled you, but it wasn't strong enough."

"Controlled?" Tammy called loudly as the wind continued to swirl. She glanced down at her tattoo of a black serpent, which stared ominously back at her. "Who's gonna be controlled? Me?"

"One has already been controlled," he responded over the wind. "Be wary... widow."

"Huh?" Tammy called, still not understanding the last word he said. To her, it sounded like "window". "What are you trying to tell me?" she yelled desperately.

"Remember this above all," the entity advised. "'Hate stirreth up strife, love covereth all sins'... 'Love conquers all'... 'Love knows no reason'... 'Love connects all souls'... and finally, 'Love is older than hate'. I must go now. Be wary." The wind continued to swirl upwards and around Tammy, and the next thing she knew, Justin was shaking her awake.

"T!" he called, still shaking her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she yawned, sitting up slowly. "Why?"

"You were talking," he answered. "Loudly. You kept saying, 'I'm not afraid'. Why would you be afraid?"

Tammy yawned again. "I'm not. It was just a dream, J. Go back to sleep."

"But--" he started to object, but Tammy cut him off quickly.

"People talk in their dreams all the time, Ju-Man," she consoled. "It usually means nothing."

"Okay," he responded hesitantly. "It was just weird, ya know, 'cause I've never heard you talk in your sleep. In all the times we've shared a room, I've never heard you sound so... I don't know, determined." He climbed back under his covers and frowned at his friend. "What are you doing?" he asked as Tammy hurriedly jotted some things into a small notebook.

"Nothing," she replied, clapping the book shut. "Go to sleep, J."

"Okay," he said, laying his head on his pillow. "And don't tell me what to do," he grumbled as he closed his eyes.

Tammy chuckled softly and got out of her bed. She kissed him softly on his cheek and mussed his hair playfully with her hand. Afterwards, she walked into the bathroom and pulled out her cell phone, immediately placing a call to Yasmine. "Hey, Yaz," Tammy whispered as a groggy Yasmine answered the phone, "we gotta talk."

"About?" Yasmine yawned.

"Have you been in touch with Isabella lately?" Tammy wanted to know.

That question immediately jerked Yasmine into full alertness. "Why?" she asked breathlessly. "Have you? Man, where is she? Me and Serena been lookin' all over for her. We try to call her and we get no answer. What's her new phone number? You tell her we're gonna kill her for not telling it to us."

"Hold on, hold on," Tammy cut her off. "I haven't seen her, either. That's why I was asking you."

"Well," Yasmine sighed. "She was last with Michelle, so maybe she knows something. Try calling her, then call me right back, okay?"

"'Kay," Tammy nodded, then hung up her phone. She immediately called Michelle, who answered right after the first ring.

"Hello?" Michelle said anxiously. "Izzy? Is that you?"

"No," Tammy sighed. "It's just me. Why? What's wrong?"

"Man," Michelle groaned, "it's a nightmare. Isabella's been acting really strange lately, and I'm worried about her."

"How do you mean," Tammy inquired.

"I mean," Michelle answered, "that she's been really distant, and kinda moody, all evil actin'. She talks about Catarina more, too. Like she's still alive or something. Just the other day, she was like, 'I gotta get Catarina that new dress she was talking about'. Weird... and scary, if ya ask me."

"So she hasn't gotten over her sister's death yet?" Tammy asked, incredulous. "It's been damn near three years!"

"I know," Michelle groaned again. "But that's not the scariest part."

"What is, then?" Tammy asked.

"Tonight, she bounced on me, but I followed her," Michelle said wearily. "She drove over two-hundred miles out to San Bernadino, California to her sister's grave. After laying on top of it for awhile..."

"Eww," Tammy wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"... she got up and started doing this weird chant and dance around the grave. Then, she looks up at the sky and yells, 'We'll be together soon, mi hermana!' I was thoroughly scared outta my mind, I tell ya."

"So then what happened?" Tammy pressed Michelle for more information, worried to death about Isabella.

"She saw me," she answered with a tired sigh. "She immediately went into a hyper jump and I tried to follow her, but I swear she must have been moving too quickly."

"That's not possible," Tammy argued. "With a hyper jump, it doesn't matter how quickly you move, as long as we focus on each other, we connect with them and instantly go where they go."

"Well," Michelle volunteered slowly, "maybe I lost a connection with her."

"Maybe we all did," Tammy thought outloud. She then relayed the events of her dream to Michelle. "Ya know," she added, "in the dream, I could never figure out what the Elder was saying, but now I see what he was telling me to be wary of. I thought he said the witch, or something about a window, but now I think he was saying, 'Be wary of the widow'. What do you think?"

"It makes sense," she responded to Tammy. "Isabella does have a tattoo of a black widow on her arm."

"Plus," Tammy added some more, growing more tense by the second, "he was telling me about how it's possible to keep our evil side, represented by the deadly venoms, under control, yet it's hard to do since they're so strong. I should know," she frowned softly. "It almost happened to me."

"Do you think that's what happened to Belle?" Michelle fretted.

"I hope not," Tammy sighed, "but I think it is. We'll just have to find her before she does any damage. She could be a threat to the child. Especially since she knows where it is."

"And on top of that," Michelle groaned, "we still have to find Rakshiki. The shit never ends!"

"I know," Tammy sighed. She sat back against the wall of the bathroom and slid lower on the floor. "Sometimes," she whispered, "I just wish I could be normal. For like, just one day. Then, I could atleast see if I'd miss these stupid powers."

Michelle gasped. "Really? But you said it yourself that it was God's gift to us in addition to a second chance at life. How could you want something like that?"

"I just do," she replied irritably, then sighed, suddenly immensely tired. "I'm goin' to bed now, Shelle," she said to her friend. "Call me tomorrow and we'll see what we can do about Belle, okay?"

"No problem," Michelle answered, then hung up.

After hanging up the phone, Tammy climbed wearily to her feet, and started towards the bathroom floor. Suddenly, she was overcome with overwhelming feeling of dizziness and felt a burning sensation spread throughout her body. Once it reached her heart, she felt as if someone were twisting a knife into her heart. She gasped in pain, then tried to shake the dizziness away, hoping to get her bearings. Still, regardless of her efforts, the pain increased one hundred-fold, then everything went black, and Tammy collapsed to the floor.