Nicole opened the door to find Davy standing on the front step with Thomas. Thomas lunged at his mother the second she opened the door and threw his arms around her waist. She smiled down at him.
"Hi Mommy," he said, squeezing her tighter. "I'm glad you're okay." Nicole stopped and looked up at Davy in surprise.
"Okay?" she asked. "Of course I'm okay." She shot Davy a questioning look, but he merely shrugged in response.
"I had a bad dream last night that you weren't okay," Thomas said. Nicole nodded. Thomas released her and they stepped into the house. Davy came, too.
"What was the dream about?" Davy asked, sitting down on the couch.
"Well, there was this monster and he hurt her," Thomas said, sitting down on the couch next to Davy.
"Just remember it was only a dream," Nicole said, shooting Davy yet another look. He shrugged again. But Thomas caught the look and watched them both carefully.
Just then Peter entered the room. Thomas headed off to his room to play, passing Peter on the way.
"Hey, Thomas, aren't you going to say hi to me?" Peter asked, kneeling down and expecting the same sort of greeting that Nicole had gotten.
But Thomas merely mumbled a 'hi Daddy,' in Peter's direction and continued on to his bedroom. Peter watched him go, confused, and shrugged, heading on into the living room. Nicole and Davy were drinking tea and talking. Peter came in and poured himself a cup. Then he sat down on the arm of the reclining chair that Nicole was sitting in. Davy was sitting on the couch, sipping tea. He looked up and saw Peter.
But something told him differently. Davy watched Peter. His eyes glued to him and he stared. Something was different. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was different. He wasn't even aware that he was staring until Peter looked at him, a confused expression on his face.
"Um, Davy?" Peter asked. He waved a hand in front of Davy's face.
Nicole did the same. Davy appeared to be lost in himself. He'd done this before, and usually when he came out of it, he announced something bad was happening. She started to get worried.
Davy shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and returned to the real world. "Sorry," he said. "Just was thinking."
Nicole shot him an odd look. "What's wrong?" she asked. Davy glanced up at her and then at Peter.
"Nothing," he said. "Listen, I've gotta go, we've got to practice," he said, and got up. "You coming Petah?" he asked pointedly.
Peter looked confused for a moment and nodded. "Um, yeah, I'll be along in a second. I've got to do something first," he added, improvising. Davy noticed the hesitation and nodded, leaving.
Peter headed into the bedroom where he normally kept his bass.
Nicole was in the kitchen beginning to read the morning paper and start her day. There was a crash from the bedroom and a discord of music. One that could only have come from a dropped bass.
Surprised, Nicole leapt to her feet and rushed into the bedroom.
"Peter, what happened?" she asked. The bass, now on the floor was broken in half, strings snapped and next to it lie her favorite lamp, which had up until then been sitting on the night stand.
Peter shrugged sheepishly. "Um, I dropped the lamp..." he said. She glanced at him skeptically.
"Why did you drop the lamp on the bass Peter?" she asked, thoroughly confused.
"Well, I picked it up and was starting to leave when I noticed that you left your brush on the stand. So I put it down and picked up the brush. Then I tripped over the bass and knocked over the lamp in the process," he explained, looking at the floor.
"Oh, Peter," she said, sighing. "Well, come on, I guess you'd better tell the guys." Peter still looked at the floor. "They're not going to kill you over it," she said, grinning. "They'll just be a little annoyed." Peter nodded, and, picking up the dilapidated instrument, headed over to the Pad.
(three hours later)
Nicole was sitting in the reclining chair, relaxing for a moment. Thomas was usually a good kid, but today he'd been a pain. He'd whined a lot and was in a generally rotten mood, and she was exhausted.
She heard the door open and shut and the unmistakable sound of footsteps across the carpet.
"Man, I need a vacation," she moaned to herself.
"I've got just the ticket," she heard a familiar voice say in her ear and she turned around. But the person standing behind her handed her an envelope, dropping it into her lap.
She looked at the envelope. Then, unable to resist, she opened it and gasped in amazement at the contents.
"Oh, Peter, you didn't have to," she breathed.
"They're for a cruise. To Alaska. I hear it's nice up there this time of year," he added. "I thought our life could use a little...spicing up," he added mischievously. He came around to the front of her chair and grinned a half-sided smile.
She looked skeptical. "Are you sure Peter?" she asked. "I mean, you need the money for a new bass and...." she trailed off, and Peter put a finger to her lips.
Staring into her eyes, he looked at her deeply, penetrating her soul. "The bass can wait," he said, smiling. She looked at him and nodded.
"It can wait," she nodded, mumbling the words almost as if she were in a trance.
"What do you want with me?" he gasped hoarsely. The hands tightened around his neck.
"You didn't tell me you were in a band, you little.."
"You never asked?" he tried, and felt the grip on his neck tighten once more. Then it was released sharply and he felt his head bang against the wall.
"Well it doesn't matter any more because there won't be much of a band for long," the voice said. The man backed off and Peter lunged at the opportunity. He stood up and grabbed the man's shoulders, returning the pain he'd just received.
The man moaned and staggered under Peter's hands, but the pain wasn't strong enough to hurt him. He grabbed Peter and shoved him backwards. Then he grabbed a string with one hand while holding Peter's arms in his other. He wrapped the string tightly around his wrists and then tied them to the cot that he laid on. Peter looked up, pained.
"That stuff won't work on me," he said, and Peter felt the side of his face burn as he was slapped in the face. Then the tall, shadowy figure left the room.
Peter struggled with the string around his arms, and tried to loosen it. It was already beginning to cut deep grooves in his wrists, and it hurt. Then he looked up in astonishment as the man returned. In his arms was a box. And in the box was a lot of dynamite.
Peter struggled harder as the shadowy figure began to set the timer to the dynamite. Then, the figure came over to Peter.
"It's no use struggling," he said. "You've already lost. She's mine now. And you, my friend, won't live to see the end." He laughed maniacally and as he was leaving, Peter finally saw the face of the shadowy figure. He gasped.
Peter entered the Pad. Nicole wasn't at home, and that usually meant she was over there. The others were all in the kitchen, eating lunch.
"Hey Peter, I hope you don't mind, I thought the guys might enjoy some lunch," Nicole began. Just then, she was cut off by a loud noise. Almost everyone turned toward the bandstand, but it wasn't Micky, he was sitting at the table eating lunch.
"What was that?" Mike wondered aloud.
"An explosion," Davy said, and the others looked at him in surprise.
"A what?" Micky asked.
"An explosion," he said, eyes narrowing as he thought. "Caused by...dynamite," he mused. The others turned. Davy was usually right about these sort of things.
"Where?" Nicole asked. Davy turned and looked at Peter.
"What did you do to Petah?" he asked, brown eyes blazing.
Peter took a step back and the others looked on in shock. "What are you talking about?" he asked innocently.
"You can't fool me. You tried to kill him. You're not Petah. What did you do to 'im?" Davy stood up and put his hands on his hips. "What did you do to 'im?" he asked again.
"Davy what are you doing?" Nicole asked. She grabbed Thomas' arm and held him close.
"Get Thomas out of 'ere," Davy said. He glared at Peter. "I won't let you 'urt 'im."
Mike and Micky stood up. Mike looked at his sister and nodded. She took a protesting Thomas out of the room. "Davy what are you doin' ?" Mike asked. "That is Peter."
"No it's not," Davy insisted. "It's not Petah." He moved forward to lunge at Peter. Mike and Micky grabbed his arms. "What are you doing?"
"Davy, I am Peter," Peter said. He moved forward and looked into Davy's eyes, then Mike's and then Micky's.
"He is Peter," Mike and Micky repeated as if in a trance. Davy looked at Peter and shook his head.
"No, you're not. You're not Petah." He began to struggle. He started to yell. "You're not you're not you're not," he yelled. "You're not Petah and you can't fool me."
Peter looked at Mike and stared into his eyes. "He deserves to be put away. He's insane," he said. Mike nodded and, letting go of Davy's arm, went to the phone. Davy continued to struggle, but even with only Micky holding him, it was too much.
"Lemme go!" he yelled. He had a funny feeling about what was going to happen, but there was nothing he could do about it. He struggled and protested loudly but no one seemed to hear him. They urged him into an ambulance and he found himself driven off to the hospital.
