The screen became blanketed with snow. All four Boys refused to take their glances away from the screen, afraid that they might miss more important details. All eyes were swollen from grief, but none let go of their pain. They awaited for the next piece of visual evidence of Nick's drama. Minutes passed by before the next scene unfolded. All crossed their fingers, hoping for a scene less poignant than the last. Kevin knew that if it got any worse, he would be vomiting his gut out.

Just when AJ impatiently got up to fast forward the tape, the next scene appeared, making all of them jump at once. AJ quickly sat back nervously. And then, more revelations.

This time, Nick was just as youthful as he was in the last scene, but he was in a car. . . with Katie. The only other thing they could make out was the dark background. Behind the car Katie and Nick was in was another car in which two people were desperately making out. AJ, Kevin and Brian exchanged glances of suspicion and discomfort.

They all suddenly focused back on Nick and Katie. All three could immediately pick up the look of utter lust in her face. She was craving for Nick. Before long, they saw her slip a hand on his chest and slowly pulled his shirt out of the confines of his pants.

"Oh G-d," Brian couldn't help but let out, speaking for all of them in the room. Katie moved closer until her lips brushed against Nick's face. One by one, Katie planted little kisses on Nick's face. They saw her hands roam and fixate on Nick's thighs. And finally, she kissed him passionately on the lips.

Kevin looked over to gauge Brian's reaction, but he knew that this would be the last straw for his younger cousin. No way on Earth would Brian be able to take this. The woman whom Brian claimed to love was a pedophile. What other explanation could Kevin give for a grown-up woman to seduce a mere boy? Kevin was disgusted. The more he saw, the less angry he was at Nick, the more hatred he had towards Katie. He now wished that he had slapped Katie, not his little brother.

No, Nick did not deserve that slap. The pain wasn't for Nick to bear. If anything, Katie should be the one to take the punishment. Kevin's heart weighed heavily in his chest. He had been wrong. His judgment had been flawed. There was nothing wrong in Nick's actions. The blond was simply full of confusion. He was just a victim of other people's wrongdoing. Kevin bit his lip.

Kevin faced the tv screen again. By now, Katie was making love to the little boy-their little Nick. Katie had pushed Nick's seat back and was now on top of Nick, having removed many of the articles of clothing on him. Her movements were rough and unbridled, but also practiced, as if she had done this not one but many times.

All the Boys gaped at the sight. The car began to shake from the intensity of Katie's desperate and violent love-making. They could make out only her moans throughout the whole ordeal. What was it about her aggressive movements that made all four Backstreet Boys and Jane want to puke? Their hatred was growing exponentially by the second. Nothing in this world could make them forgive her. Brian tried to push the vomit back down into his stomach. But before the others knew what was going on, Brian burst out of his chair and headed for the door. He didn't want to see anymore. He was getting chills. Had he stayed any longer, he would have passed out.

He hated Katie so much now that his bones were aching with just images of her. He began to hate all the times he spent with her at the beach or in the restaurants. How come he had never seen that side of her? How come he had to learn this way, through second-hand information?

Brian made it outside of the police station only to be hit by a wave of cool air. He took a few steps back to calm himself down. He didn't know why he was overreacting. All he knew was that he had to escape. It scathed him to see his beloved girlfriend vehemently seducing his best friend. The idea was repulsive and painful. Strangely, he had felt nothing but sadness for Nick

He desperately wanted to talk to Nick. He didn't know why. Perhaps because he wanted to be there to comfort Nick, to let Nick know that he now understood. He wanted to tell Nick that he wanted it to be like it was before, when they were best friends, joking like there was no tomorrow. He thought about the time, right after Nick was shot, that Nick had told him something which touched him so much. Nick had told him in the hospital that if he were to die that night, he would ask the beings above to let him be Brian's guardian angel.

Brian remembered crying his heart out, believing that Nick was going to die. Nick always seemed frail and helpless to him. Yet, Brian still treated him as if he were made of steel. Rather than comforting Nick through times of grief, Brian instead kept on telling Nick to deal with it. Why? Why had he been so harsh?

Brian was so intent on his thoughts that he didn't hear Kevin's footsteps trailing behind him until Kevin spoke up. "To think that he never complained of anything," Kevin whispered sadly. "He never once told us how hurt he was deep down inside, especially after his shootings. Sometimes, we take his heart for granted. We expect him to recover, but we actually don't do anything to ease his pain away. Worse, we treat him more harshly than anybody else."

Brian turned around to gaze into his cousin's eyes. They mirrored his own.

"Did you stay to see what happened next?" He had to focus, for Nick's sake.

Kevin shook his head slowly. "I couldn't, not after that."

Brian sighed. "Let's go back. Like it or not, we have to have input into this. I want Nick back, safe and sound. If not . . . " Brian's voice trailed.

Kevin nodded, "Then we'll never forgive ourselves."

**********************

Once they were back in the room, they looked towards AJ, Howie and Jane. The three had stopped the video to catch their breaths. They had two more scenes to see and Brian and Kevin knew that they could not go through with it alone. Silently, Brian and Kevin made it back to their seats.

Howie was the first to speak. "We stopped after the second scene. Basically, Katie completed her act." Howie did not want to be more graphic than that, afraid that that might set Brian off again. Brian nodded and AJ slowly stepped up to the VCR.

AJ looked at Brian questioningly. "You're sure about this, Rok?"

Brian nodded at first. "I . . . " But before he could continue, the tears began to trickle down one by one. Brian pounded his head, wondering why he was acting that way. He had to be strong, especially for Nick. Then why did he feel like he just wanted to hide somewhere immune to all this pain?

Brian's tears were uncontrollable now as he fought them back. "I don't know."

Howie and Kevin nodded sympathetically. "Then maybe you could sit out the rest of this," Kevin offered.

Brian shook his head. "No. I can't. I want to be a part of this as much as you guys. I'm the closest to Nick. I might be able to help more." He didn't contain the tears anymore as they slid down his cheeks. "Please."

Brian sat down and waited while the others took their seats. Once the officer sensed that they were ready, he pushed the 'play' button to reveal the third scene in the video. This time, Nick was in a very dark house that seemed oddly familiar. He looked timid as he stumbled through the hallways. He was searching for a way out.

Brian could see some of the perspiration that clung to Nick's forehead. Only small, dim lights lit Nick's path. Nick was really weak. His hands were shaking and his steps were labored. His eyes, as wary as they were, were drooping from fatigue. Nick had to lean on the walls every few minutes to balance himself. Brian wondered how Nick could endure so much. And why was he chosen to be tortured like this? He looked over at Kevin and again saw a reflection of his own worries.

Suddenly, a loud noise made them jump out of their seats. Was it becoming a habit? They were so easily startled. Both looked up to the television only to see two teenagers jump out from behind a door and tackle Nick's already limp body to the ground. Brian bit his lip, feeling the fury build in him. How could they do that to Nick? He was already exhausted and tired and weak. He could not have fought them and he didn't have the energy to fend for himself. And yet, those two pounced on him like Nick was going to fight back.

Brian began to breathe hard again. He looked at Kevin, needing for Kevin to reassure him that it would be okay. But Kevin didn't do anything to ease his exasperation. "Cool down, Brian," Howie offered. "Nick is a fighter. He will fight, if not for himself, then for us." Howie's voice was barely a whisper, as if he himself did not believe in it.

Brian didn't know why, but he just wanted to let out some steam. "What have we given him that he could hang on to fight . . . and for us of all people? Why should he fight for us when we've basically just shoved him away?" Brian felt himself losing the control. He knew he wasn't helping much, but he couldn't bear to see Nick being battered anymore. 'Calm down,' Brian told himself. 'Count to ten. All right. One . . . two . . . three . . . . Oh, the pain. All right, think sweet thoughts of Nick . . . It's okay.' Brian talked himself into cooling down. Soon, he recovered and sat back down.

By now, the two teenagers in the video had grabbed Nick's unconscious body and chained him to the wall. Wait! Brian thought really hard. That was the same chamber that they found Nick's body in three months ago. Brian breathed deeply, knowing what was going to happen. They were going to shoot Nick! Those two were the ones who had given Brian and the others the pain three months ago-the pain of seeing Nick nearly dying in the hospital and being helpless to ease his pain.

This is the evidence. Their father couldn't bail them out now. This video will be the evidence that they had nearly taken Nick's life! Brian saw them tearing away at Nick's already torn clothes. And then they whipped him. They whipped him as if he were a caged animal. Their movements were full of hatred and fury. Brian gripped his chair. Every sound that the whip made as it sunk through Nick's skin infuriated him even more.

Then he could hear their voices. "Be gone, demon. You shall die for your sins. You devil. Show yourself. You can hide from the rest of the world, but you cannot hide from us." The two teenagers chanted louder and louder until their voices were deafening.

"What are they-some insane patients that escaped from a mental institution?" AJ cried out.

Kevin shook his head in disbelief as the two teenagers now took some sort of water and spread it all over Nick's body. Nick writhed and screamed in pain. "Is that alcohol or what? Why are they doing that?" Kevin cried out at the merciless teenagers who ignored Nick's cries of pain.

"Go ahead. Admit that you're Satan and we shall bestow upon you a less painful punishment!" one of the teenagers offered with little emotion.

Nick gritted his teeth, but shook his head. "I am not the devil. What are you talking about?"

"Go ahead-tell us your sins. You have stolen our mother from us! You must pay!" the teenagers shouted accusingly at Nick.

Before Nick could refute their blame, they began to hit him, this time with a metal bar. They struck Nick in the abdomen. And since Nick didn't have any clothes, Brian stared in shock as the metal dug into Nick's skin and burned his flesh. Nick cried like they had never heard him cry before. His voice was full of agony. His sweat was pouring by now.

Those bastards! They had left the metal rod to heat up in a pile of flames before they hit Nick! 'Oh Nick. My G-d. Nick . . . ' Brian prayed, hoping that it would be over, but in his heart, he knew it wasn't over. At least not until they shot him.

By now, Nick was hanging from the chains, his body no longer responding to the pain. His eyes were closed. The two teenagers continued to hit him with the now cool metal rod, but his body simply jerked from the impact. He didn't let out any screams. Angrily, the two teenagers shook Nick's head, screaming at him to wake up.

One of them grabbed Nick's hair and pulled his head back roughly. "Wake up, you f---ing moron," he spat in Nick's face. With that said, he slapped Nick three times before grabbing his hair again. "I said, open your damn stupid eyes you freak. Don't try to pull anything on us. It's just you and us, and you're not going to leave without admitting your sins." With that, he used his knees to kick Nick in the groins. Nick gave out a yelp as he tried to gasp for air.

"That's better," the two teenagers commented as Nick continued to gasp for air. Just when Brian and the other BSB members thought that they had terminated their cruelty, the two teenagers began another round of physical bashing. They used everything from baseball bats to sharps to fire. AJ, Howie and Jane were the first to want to bail out of the room this time. Jane became nauseated and threw up after she excused herself from the room. Brian and Kevin refused to leave though. They were going to watch it till the end . . . for Nick's sake.

Their eyes drank in every little detail because they were going to fight back for Nick for every little detail that happened. Finally, when they thought that it would never end, the two teenagers pulled out their guns. They, too, were getting fed up and exhausted from all their battering. Both were panting from the enormous amount of exertion. Nick was now almost unrecognizable. The smooth skin and handsome face were now replaced with cuts, bruises and blood. His body dangled lifelessly on the chains waiting for the teenagers to give some finality to their torture.

And they did. They each pulled out their shotguns and aimed at Nick's head. All the four BSB members jumped out of their seats at the realization that Nick could have died that day! They were aiming for his head!!! Brian gulped. They could have made that shot and killed Nick. The realization was sinking in fast.

He waited for the teenagers to lower their guns, but they held it steady. And then, the scene disappeared into a layer of snow on the television screen. Brian stared dumbly at the scene. Nick would have died that day. He could have lost Nick that very day! Just the thought was making Brian hyperventilate. He didn't even notice as Kevin collapsed onto his chair, the sweat pouring profusely from his forehead.

Brian found himself getting light-headed. He couldn't think properly. Chair . . . he needed . . . chair. He moved around, trying to feel for his seat but couldn't really think properly enough to see that his seat was in front of him. Howie had to run over to him and lead him to his seat. AJ paced back and forth trying to calm himself down.

"Brian, you're scaring me," Howie called out to Brian who did not hear him.

"I don't want to see. Rest . . . I need rest," Brian managed as he cuddled into a ball and began to cry.

The police officer, sensing how upset everyone was turned off the tv and vcr. All five people have completely decompensated. None of them were acting calm enough to help the police in their investigation. "Look, it's okay. You can go back home and sleep it off. There's one more scene, but you needn't see it until later. I think it's in our best interest and your best interest to think this over tonight. It's a handful already. Mrs. Carter?"

Jane Carter nodded weakly. "I think that would be best. Thank you officer." Jane looked at the other Boys and sighed. "Let's call it a night. I need a break," Jane said softly. "Please." Then she focused her attention on the officer. "You will notify us of any changes?"

The officer nodded. "Whenever we find any traces of Nick or Katie, we will notify you. As of now, it is still too early to tell what the motive be for kidnapping your son and Katie, if in fact it is a kidnapping at all."

Jane nodded. "Boys?" she called out to the other BSB members. They all nodded and filed out of the room.

The BSB had barely left the media room when the police officer's phone rang. "Hold on a minute," the police officer called out to the others. "Hello?" he answered the phone.

The Boys watched as the police officer's expression turned from complete confusion to one of shock. "Okay, we'll be there!" the police officer said before hanging up.

"What?" Brian was the first to demand.

"That house that you just saw Nick get shot in . . . " the officer leveled his gaze on Brian before making eye contact with the others.

"Yes?" Kevin urged.

"We sent some officers to investigate it. And they discovered that it had been burnt to the ground. The whole frame collapsed. The firemen came too late." The police officer answered.

"And?" Howie asked weakly, knowing that there had to be more to the story than that.

The officer looked sympathetically at the Boys and Jane. "They found three bodies."

"Whose bodies?" AJ cried out defiantly.

"That's what we're going to find out," the officer began heading outside to his police car. "If you would like, you can follow me. We'll go out to the scene of the crime together."

All the Boys and Jane didn't need another word of encouragement. All five jumped into Brian's jeep as he pulled out of the parking lot and followed the officer.

Brian felt numb. He refused to believe that Nick was dead. His little Nick was the most lively person he knew. And he was innocent. Brian wasn't going to let him go. If Nick survived three months ago, he won't die senselessly now. But as confident as Brian was, he prayed during the whole car-ride to the deserted mansion. He prayed for the life of his naïve little brother-the one who had pulled him through so much turmoil. He was afraid to admit it, but he couldn't think of living without Nick.

Kevin, who sat on the passenger's side only stared listlessly as they drove off. His mind wasn't burdened like Brian's. It was blank. He did not know what he should think about. Every emotion was painful. Every thought burned his mind. He decided, rather, to take in the scenery. It wasn't entirely dark yet, but the serenity about the whole environment troubled Kevin. Everything was too quiet, too sedated. It was as if nothing tragic had happened . . . yet.

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