A tear trickled down his face as Brian stepped into Nick's bedroom. The detectives and police were searching for clues like mad and the chaos started to wear him down. He looked at the blue wall-paper that covered the walls and suddenly realized how sad and lonely Nick must have felt sleeping in this room all by himself every night.

Brian approached Nick's bed and leaned down so that his hands brushed against the clean bed sheets. They were so cool to the touch, as if Nick hadn't slept on them for days. Brian didn't know why, but he felt a slight shiver as he moved his palm across Nick's bed. How uncharacteristic of that kid to keep his bedroom so neat, Brian thought.

He slowly walked away from the bed to Nick's desk and brushed his fingers against the mahogany wood. It was clean and slippery. Brian saddened. The kid he knew never acted so mature. The Nick he knew was carefree, wild and fun to be with. He wanted nothing more than to bring back his best friend.

He missed the way Nick would play pranks on all of them and make them laugh until their sides hurt. He missed how Nick would say a joke and laugh before he even started to tell them the joke.

And now, he was afraid that they would never have that chance again. Deep down inside, Brian knew that something was terribly wrong. His worst fear was that Nick was hurting himself, but he brushed that fear aside as a new one replaced it. He was now afraid that Katie had done something with Nick- his Nick.

Brian continued looking through Nick's things when he came across a notebook. He noticed one of the sheets of paper was torn in half. The half that wasn't missing had Nick's messy writing scribbled on it. Strangely, as Brian looked at the writing, he sensed that Nick wrote it with a sense of urgency and a little anger. Brian stared at the words that were on the paper and gawked.

When night befalls and darkness looms,
When you smell the death and gloom,
Let the doubts and fear subside,
Let the wrath and grief collide.

Don't you dare forgive those fools
Those who've wronged and tortured you.
Unleash the wrath. Let go your faith.
Fight for what is pure and chaste.

Do what others did to you.
Let them know your hurt is true.
Show them all that lies beneath-
The shock of betrayal, the pain of defeat.

Brian felt a lump in his throat. That was Nick's handwriting all right. But why so much hatred in his handwriting? Who were 'the fools'? Was he referring to Katie? Or was he talking about Kevin and Brian? Why not forgive? Brian's heart began to race. Something was wrong about the whole scene. Nick wasn't usually that aggressive and hateful. But what can explain those very words written in his own handwriting?

Brian grabbed the sheet of paper from Nick's notebook and was ready to call out for Kevin when Kevin barged into the room. "Brian!!!!"

Brian immediately became alarmed. "What is it?"

"They . . . the police found something at Katie's house that might be of interest." Kevin said, panting from the amount of energy it took him to run up the stairs in less than five seconds.

"What?" Brian asked, forgetting about the slip of paper in his hands.

"They found a video tape which they want us to watch and tell them our feelings about it." Kevin explained.

"Do you know what the video is about?" Brian asked, concerned.

"No. They told us they wanted all of us- you, me, AJ, Howie and Jane- to watch it first and then tell them what we think."

Before Kevin continued, Brian was already out the door. He figured he would show them the slip of paper later. Something in the back of his mind gnawed him, though. It was as if they were on the verge of something traumatic. He thought of Nick's innocent face and slowly began to fear the worst. Memories of Saturday night sent guilt into his heart. He was afraid to admit it, but he might have been the trigger that led to all of this.

He had never seen his little brother looking so pale and fragile as that night. Worse, he didn't try to do anything about it. He had simply let Nick walk away, out of his life. As Brian thought a little more, he felt it odd that his mind didn't wander off to Katie. He was obsessed with thoughts of Nick in pain. But never once did he think of Katie. Why? Wasn't she the love of his life?

Brian and Kevin barged into the police chief's office and stopped when five pairs of eyes were focused on them. Brian seated himself between AJ and Howie while Kevin kept Jane company. They kept silent, waiting for the police chief to enlighten them. Kevin secretly casted a sideways glance at Jane, but was unable to read her expression.

The police chief broke the silence and began. "First off, I want you people to know that we have evidence of a crime, but still no clue as to what could have happened to Nick. We do, however, have a few leads and are following that right now. But in the meanwhile, we want you to watch this video that we found at Katie's house. There are four scenes in total and I want you all to watch them carefully. Once all four are done, I would like your opinion."

None of the Boys nor Jane said anything, but their minds were clouded with doubt and fear. Brian and Kevin sat nervously on the edge of their seats, feeling more depressed than anxious while the rest were nearly suffering from a nervous breakdown.

When the police chief realized that they weren't going to respond, he continued. "I want you to brace yourselves because some of the images you're about to see might be repulsive and I want you to mentally prepare. Should at anytime you wish to step outside of this room, feel free." With that, the police chief turned on the TV and VCR pressed the play button.

Everything after that happened too fast-so fast that their emotions didn't catch up with the realization of what was shown on the video. All five sets of eyes stared at the blank screen, waiting anxiously for the first scene to appear. They didn't wait for more than five seconds when they saw an image of a boy.

Brian and Kevin had to squint before they recognized that the boy was surprisingly similar to Nick. He had the same bright blond hair and lean figure. Their hearts skipped a few beats when they finally realized that it was Nick- just as he had looked six years ago when they first met him. They looked over to Jane, whose mouth was wide with surprise. AJ's and Howie's expression paralleled that of Jane's.

Nick was completely wet and bounced into the room, like a wild and restless child who did not know what to do with the energy inside him. Brian looked amused as he watched his best friend. He had missed that part of Nick-the one that could care less about anyone around him.

But as Nick entered the room, someone followed close behind him. All the Boys and Jane were shocked. The figure belonged to Katie! She looked the same as she did now, with her brown curls and her beautiful, sensuous body. There was no mistaking it. She, too was rather wet.

No one in the room dared to speak. All were lost in confusion at what they were seeing, especially Brian. He watched as Katie flung some jeans onto the bed and talked to Nick. Nick began pleading for her not to leave, but she insisted on leaving.

Brian's intuitions became pretty strong as he started to see where this was heading. He leaned a little closer as did all the others in the room to watch more carefully as Katie left the room, leaving a young Nick behind, distraught and fearful. After she left the room, Nick began to take off his T-shirt. He was in the middle of undressing when he paused. That was when Brian could hear the footsteps coming. They were rather spooky. And Brian could completely understand what Nick must have felt at that time.

But to Brian's relief, the footsteps seemed to be heading in a different direction. He saw Nick regain his composure and continue changing into the dry clothes that Katie left on the bed. At that moment, Brian could hear sighs coming from all the other Boys and Jane. Still, all were on the edge of their seats as they continued to watch the drama unfold.

The young Nick picked up a towel and began to dry his hair. The next few seconds made all of them jump off their seats in shock. Nick suddenly hurdled over the bed and moaned in pain. That was when they saw this big, burly man come from behind the young Nick and smash him in the head with a glass bottle. Jane cried out in horror as the man made a second attempt to force Nick into submission.

The rest of the scene only escalated their nausea. They saw the man force himself upon the young Nick and begin pulling the dry clothes off of the struggling Nick. One by one, the articles of clothing came off and soon, Nick's body was bare. All the Boys as well as Jane wanted to close their eyes, to give Nick the privacy he deserved, but unfortunately, all were compelled to witness the crime in order to understand the full depth of the horror that Nick endured six years ago.

But just hearing Nick moan from the pain had gotten their hearts beating twice as fast already. Kevin had to clench his fists and dig his fingernails into the couch in order to control his rage. Tears of frustration were already falling down his cheeks. Still, he tried to keep his eyes focused on the TV screen.

Nick lay completely naked on the bed by now. The man flipped Nick around so that Nick's front side was facing the bed. When all five realized what was going to happen to Nick, they began to cuss under their breaths. Even Brian, who hated hearing those words were repeating them over and over again in order to let his rage out. By now, Nick was in a vulnerable position. The man quickly removed his own pants to reveal evidence of his lust.

And then, he penetrated Nick, a vision so graphic and disgusting that all, but Kevin looked away. Kevin's eyes didn't avert the scene before him though. The whole scene left him in a state of catatonia as he forced himself to witness the crime. He let the anger flow through freely now and was determined to capture every moment of that scene in his memory.

Then, the blood started flowing freely in between Nick's legs. Nick was half conscious by then as he tried to struggle to get up. But the drunken man had collapsed on him, preventing his already limp body from escaping that position. The man was still inside of him.

Brian was able to regain enough courage to let his eyes settle on the screen again. Everything was once again silent, but Brian could feel the atmosphere wreak with tension. Even though it happened six years ago, he could feel every range of emotion as if the event just happened yesterday.

But Brian was already ready to go up to the TV and pound on it. He didn't though. Like the others, he waited patiently. He looked towards Howie and AJ to gauge their reactions, and what he saw was hurt and anger. Howie's eyes were wet with tears whereas AJ's face was stone-cold. Rarely did AJ's expression ever get that scary. And that day, Brian knew that the video had crossed a boundary for AJ. And if AJ had access to that rapist at the moment, he would have shredded the man into pieces.

A sudden noise from the TV suddenly drew Brian's attention back to the video. It was the sound of a door clicking open. All five eyes stared in surprise at the revelation. Someone entered the room. The person's footsteps were light, calculated. It was then that Brian saw Katie step into the room. The color completely drained from his face.

How did . . . ? Katie knew? She had known or even heard what happened to Nick? But how? Why didn't she jump in there to help Nick? As these questions rolled over and over in Brian's mind, he stared at the screen, watching every step that Katie made. Then, he saw the image of the young Nick turning his head slightly and reaching out to Katie.

All the Boys were in limbo, waiting to see what would happen next. But Katie remained calm. She even seemed to be holding back as she continued walking slowly towards Nick's helpless form. Then she stopped and Jane and the Boys gazed in disbelief. Katie leaned down and picked up the glass bottle that the rapist had used to knock Nick down earlier.

Brian couldn't believe it. That hatred in Katie's eyes, the focus and determination were unnerving. And the young Nick sensed it too because he began to kick the rapist, trying to arouse him. Why Nick would want to wake the rapist was beyond Brian's understanding.

But Brian didn't have to wait long to get the answer. Katie walked to the other side of the bed and lifted her right hand, the one with the glass bottle. All the Boys as well as Jane let the betrayal sink in just as the young Nick submitted to the cruel act. And one by one, the blows came from Katie, each blow becoming more violent than the previous before the glass bottle shattered into a hundred pieces.

Brian actually thought that she would stop at that moment, but to his horror, she didn't. She lifted her arms once more to reveal the sharp edges of the bottle. Kevin had at least ten lumps form in his throat as he bit his lip in order to prevent himself from screaming. And then, in less than a second, Katie's hand swiped down and made contact with Nick's head. And when the glass sunk into Nick's flesh, Nick's blood splattered everywhere. By then, there was no more movement coming from Nick's limp body save the rise and fall of the rapist's shallow breathing.

Why the rapist wasn't awoken by all that commotion was beyond the Boys' comprehension. The rapist's body simply lay strewn over Nick's body. The image was appalling. Even Kevin was now occasionally blinking in order to relieve himself of the ugly scene. And then, they stared bitterly as Katie ran away from the situation and disappeared behind the door.

Brian couldn't talk. The words refused to come out of his mouth. Any unconditional love that he had promised Katie had disintegrated completely. Any inkling of love that he had given her, he began to repent. He felt like crying, but he didn't know what for. Was it sorrow for Nick's pain? Or was it anger towards Katie? Or worse, were his tears due to the guilt of having forced Nick to walk out of the barbecue with the very person who tried to kill him?

As the guilt circulated in his mind, Brian looked to Kevin. He saw in Kevin's eyes the same guilt that was now burning his soul. They had made the worst mistake of their lives. They had shoved Nick into the arms of the devil.

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