Black #1

By:  Lara

 

She fought her way through the mist…running from the terrifying sounds behind her.  Teeth gnashed…wings flapped…claws ripped through the air.

“Don’t run, Pretty Thing…you can’t run…” an awful voice hissed almost in her ear.

“Yes, she can, my love…she can run…she just won’t get anywhere!” Another voice cackled.

She tripped over something on the path and fell to her knees.   Sobbing violently, she jumped to her feet, feeling a long fingernail rip through the back of her shirt.

“Keep running, Lovely…you keep running.  You’ll get tired…we never will!”  A voice shrieked.

She hit something…a tree…a wall…she didn’t know.  All she could see was that there was no way around it.  She pressed her back against it…waiting for the inevitable.  She heard the thud of feet hitting the ground, but a figure still floated in the air above her.  “You are ours, Pretty Thing,” the voice moaned in a whisper.  “All ours.”

“She’s almost attractive, my love…if I didn’t have you…” a voice trailed off right in front of her nose.  She felt more then heard the sniffing.  “Mmmm…tasty, too.”

“Me first…it’s my turn this time,” a new voice said.   A fingernail trailed down her cheek.  “I’m STARVING.”

“Let me help you, Little One,” the deepest voice said soothingly.  A hand yanked her hair back to bare her throat to the night.  She closed her eyes, weeping as she prepared for her death. 

The hand suddenly let go, and curses roared through the air.  “What?  What is it?”  Another one of the voices hissed.  She heard a violent flapping of wings.

“She’s protected…somehow she is protected.  He’s protecting her!”  The voice screamed in frustration.

“Damn it…I was hungry, too,” the young voice said in a pouting tone.

“Let me try.”  A clawed hand grasped at her breast, going for her heart.  She felt the hand ripped away, and heard the body thud onto the ground.  “Dammit!”

The wings flapped once more.  “Don’t think we will forget this, Precious,” a voice dripping with hatred murmured in her ear.  “We’ll be back tomorrow night…every night…until you are ours.”

The ringing of the phone awakened me way too early.  “Hello?”  I mumbled.  “This better be damned good…it’s my day off.”

“You’re a teacher.  The whole summer is your day off,” a cheerful voice replied.

“Brian!”  I sat up happily.  “Hi!”

“Hi, Sunshine,” the voice I loved so much drawled.  “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m SO much better now…when did you get into town?”

“About two this morning.  I would have called but I didn’t want to waken you.”

I almost wish you would have, I thought to myself, remembering the horrible nightmare I had experienced.  I glanced at the clock.  “Bri, it’s only ten-thirty.  Why aren’t you still sleeping?”

“I couldn’t wait to see my girl,” he said.  I sighed happily.  The two months he had been gone felt like two years.  “Anyway, I’m sorry I wakened you, but AJ’s having a party this afternoon, and I thought you might want to go.”

“A party?”  I said in disbelief.

“I know, we’re just back and all, but you know AJ.”  I didn’t really but I said nothing.  “If you don’t want to, we don’t have to,” he quickly added.

“No, Bri, that’s fine. I just want to be able to spend some time with you alone,” I said softly. 

“Of course,” he said immediately.  “He’s telling people to come over around three…why don’t I come over now?”

“Great!”  I mentally began calculating how long it would take me to shower and get ready.

“Don’t even think about it.”  Brian seemed to read my mind.  “Do not step one toe out of that bed until I get there, do you hear me?  You can go to the bathroom if you have to, but that’s it.”

“Yessir,” I said, mentally saluting him.

“I missed you so much, baby.  I can’t wait to see you.”

“Me either,” I whispered.  He blew me a kiss and hung up.

I had dozed off about ten minutes after we hung up.  I couldn’t help it.  I had been out late the night before.  I was in a state of semi-sleep when I felt warm arms encircle me.  “Hey there, beautiful.”

“Brian,” I said sleepily, rolling over to face him.  My eyes fluttered open and I saw his sweet smile right in front of me.  I nestled against his chest, squeezing him tight.  “I missed you so much.”

“Well, now I’ll be around for a long time.  We’ll be concentrating on writing, not recording, so I can spend a lot of time with you.”  I sighed happily.  I hated the fact that his work tore us apart, but I also knew how much he loved performing.

“How is Kevin?”  I knew Brian’s cousin best of all the Backstreet Boys.  Brian preferred to keep our time to ourselves, and we rarely hung with the rest of the group.  Since Kevin was family, I saw him a lot more.

“Good.  He has a new flavor of the month…Stefanie something…I can’t remember what her last name is.”

I smiled.  Kevin was the one that seemed the most stable, but he bounced from girlfriend to girlfriend with remarkable speed.  He would sweettalk her, seduce her, and then she seemed to disappear from the face of the earth.  “Will all the guys be there today?”

“As far as I know…AJ, of course, and Erin, Frack and Suzy, Howie and Autumn…and us…unless you can convince me to just stay right here,” he said, nuzzling against my neck.  His tongue flicked out across my skin.

“Oh, Bri, I haven’t had a shower yet, and…”

“So?”  He murmured, kissing a line up to my face.  His blue eyes seemed to drink me in before he gently kissed me.  I had forgotten the sweet taste of his mouth, and I groaned as the kisses became more passionate.  His hands slid down my Penn State nightshirt, then stopped.  I unconsciously whimpered.  He stood up, pulling his blue t-shirt over his head.  His shorts hit the floor.

“Have you been working out?”  I barely managed to ask, drooling over his finely toned body.

“A little.”  He pulled me to my feet.  My nightshirt joined his clothing on the floor.  He sighed as one of his hands ran from my shoulder to my breasts to my hips.  “Let’s take a shower.”

“Baby…baby…wake up…” I whispered as I gently shook the naked body next to me.  “It’s two-thirty.  We have to get up and get ready.  AJ’s party, remember?”

“Fuck AJ,” my sweet boyfriend mumbled, putting the pillow on his head.

“Brian!”  I said in pretend shock.  “Is that what you’re into?  I mean, I always wondered about AJ, but…”

He didn’t respond, and I smiled.  I ran a hand along his bicep and snuggled closer to his back as he turned away from me.  I snaked that hand around his waist and down between his legs, running a fingernail up his dormant length.  It wasn’t dormant for long.

“Lara…don’t…or we’ll never…oh God…” he stammered as I took his thick cock in my hand and gently stroked it. 

“Are we getting up?” I asked.

“Oh yes we are,” he hissed, arching his back.  His blue eyes fluttered open.

“Good.”  I bounced out of bed and was hit in the back by a pillow.

“Wench,” he growled, but he smiled as he said it.  He slowly pulled himself out of bed and reached down for his shorts.  He picked up my nightshirt, staring at it.  “Lara, if I ask you a question, you’ll answer it honestly, right?”

I slowly turned around.  “Yes, Bri, of course.”

“Did you have someone else here?  Have you been sleeping with someone else…bringing them here?”

“No, Brian!”  I gasped.  “Where did that come from?”

He held my nightshirt in his left hand, and slowly pushed his right hand through a six-inch gash in the back.  His blue eyes met my own.  “Well?”

“Oh, that!”  I said in relief.  “I have no clue where that came from.  I woke up one morning and it was just there.  I think maybe it caught on something in the washer, and as restless as I am when I sleep, it just gradually got bigger.”  I glared at him.  “Did you really think…”

“No, baby.  I am so sorry.” He came over to hold me.  “I just get paranoid, that’s all…you’re here, and I’m not, and I worry about all the men who try to take you from me.”

“No one can take me from you, Bri-Bri,” I said, using the nickname he hated most.  He groaned and pinched my bare bottom. 

“Get dressed, or we’ll be even later,” he told me, kissing my nose.

We chatted as we dressed.  I stopped putting on my sandals as a thought hit me.  “Bri…I didn’t think you were coming home until this weekend, so I made plans tonight…I hope you don’t mind.  I could try and cancel,” I said anxiously.

“Don’t bother,” he said with a smile.  “I’ll probably try and turn in early anyway.”

“Okay,” I said, relieved.  It was rare that we spend all night together, but I thought he might want to, since he had been away so long.

“Do I get you tomorrow night?”

“Absolutely,” I told him.  He grabbed his keys from my dresser. 

“Let’s plow.”

“I want to apologize,” Brian said as we drove to AJ’s house.  “I want to apologize for freaking out back there.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, staring out the window.

“I trust you, Lara, it’s just…I dunno…for the last four weeks or so, I’ve gotten this strange vibe that you were with someone else…that some other guys were after you…and I guess I got paranoid.  I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I said, still not taking my eyes from the scenery whooshing by outside.  I felt him reach over and take my hand, kissing my palm.

“I love you, ya know.”

“Love you, too, Bri-Bri.”  I finally turned my head.  He rolled his eyes, lightly nipping the meat under my thumb.  I giggled.

About twenty people were already at AJ’s picnic when we got there.  There were members of AJ’s family, Howie’s family, and Nick’s family, as well as the girlfriends and various friends.  “Are you going to go home at all while you have the time?”  I asked Brian as we walked through the house to the back patio.

“In a few months, probably.  There are some things here which need my undivided attention.”  He pressed me up against a wall and lightly sucked on my earlobe. His passion and intensity surprised me.

“Whoa…Bri…” I gently pushed him back.

“Sorry…got a bit carried away there.”  He smiled his sweet smile and grabbed my hand.  “Let’s go find Kev.”

My eyes quickly found the dark head above the crowd.  His green eyes found Brian and I, and he smiled.  “Brian…Lara…” he called. We wove through all the people.  “Isn’t this something?”

“Yeah…AJ blows my idea of a picnic right out of the water,” I said, smiling at the girl by Kevin’s side.  “Hi.  I’m Lara.  You must be Stefanie.”

“That’s right.”  The tall girl with the blonde hair shook my hand.  “Nice to meet you.”

Kevin introduced Brian, who also gave her a friendly smile.  “Do you want anything, baby?” I asked Brian.

“Whatever…something cold,” he replied.  “Kev?”

“Yeah, ditto,” Kevin said absentmindedly.

“I’ll go with you,” Stefanie said, following me towards the small buffet table AJ had set up.

“So, how long have you and Kevin been together?”  I asked.

“Just a few weeks.  We met in Germany.  Isn’t he something?”  She sighed, watching him laugh with Brian and Nick.

“Yeah, he sure is,” I said politely.  “You just picked up and came back with him?”

“Sure…it’s not like I had much of a life over there,” she said, handing me a can of soda for Brian.  I sighed.  I didn’t know what kind of power Kevin had over these women, but they always seemed to just drop everything to be with him.

“Lara.”  I whirled around to see AJ’s girlfriend, Erin.  I actually knew her better then I knew AJ, since she stayed at home in his huge house while he was on tour.  We had hung out once or twice, but mostly chatted online in the evenings while we were lonely for our men.

“Hi, Erin.  Did you meet Stefanie?”

“Yes, we met before,” Erin told me.  “Isn’t it great that they’re back so early?”

“Yeah, though I wish he woulda given me warning.”

“TELL me about it,” Erin moaned.  “He called last night to tell me to clean the place up.  I swear, I feel like nothing but his slave sometimes.”  She tried to joke but I could tell there was some sincerity in her words.

“You should have called me.  I woulda came over and helped.”

“Well, I did try, but you were out.”

“Oh,” I said, blushing slightly.

“Well, I’m here now, and if either of you ever need any help, just call me.  I’m at Kevin’s, of course,” Stefanie said.

“Cool,” Erin said.  A petite blond strolled over.

“Is this the Backstreet Boys Intimate Fan Club meeting?  No one invited me!”  Autumn pretended to pout.

“Doesn’t that tell you something?”  Erin said to her.  Autumn smacked her.

“Stefanie, this is Autumn, Howie’s girlfriend.  This is Stefanie, Autumn.  She’s living with Kevin right now.”

“Oh.”  Autumn’s brown eyes flickered over Stefanie quickly.  “Hi,” she said shyly, then smiled at me.  I tried my best not to smile back.  I knew what she was doing.

“I’m gonna take this to Kevin.  Want me to take that to Brian?”  Stefanie motioned to the soda I held.

“Sure. Thanks.  Tell him I’ll be right there,” I said.  She took off.

“Three weeks,” Autumn said when Stefanie was out of earshot.

“Maybe a month,” Erin said, looking at Stefanie over her sunglasses, a trait she had picked up from AJ.

“Well, they’ve already been together for a few weeks, so maybe you’re BOTH wrong,” I said, trying not to be amused by this game they played with every girl Kevin dated.  “Give her the benefit of the doubt.”

“Are you talking about Kevin’s new flame?”  Suzy walked over, gracefully sipping at a glass of iced tea.  “You guys are bad.”

“Nicky is looking good, I see,” Autumn said.

“Of course he is,” Suzy snapped, looking insulted.  I shoved her.

“Has Brian been working out?”  Erin observed.

“I think so…doesn’t he look wonderful?”  I sighed.  Autumn rolled her eyes.

“You two are just too much.  I swear, if it actually snowed down here, a foot would met every time you and Brian looked at each other.”

“Jealous much?”  I asked, getting a bit upset.  Everyone knew that Autumn and Howie were on again off again on a regular basis.  “Talk to you guys later.” 

I headed back to Brian’s loving smile.  At this point, all five Backstreet Boys were talking together in a huddled group.  The conversation stopped as soon as I walked up.

“Hey, sweetie…thanks for getting me this.”  Brian held up his can of soda.  “You guys remember Lara, right?”

“Of course,” AJ looked over his sunglasses in a motion that mimicked Erin’s.  “Long time no see, Lara.”

“You made it without Frick for all those months, I see,” Nick said almost coldly.

“Yes…it was hard, but I did,” I replied, wondering what this youngest Backstreet Boy had always had against me.  AJ, Howie, and Nick were always cordial to me, but nothing more.  “Where’s Stefanie?”  I asked Kevin.

“I think she went to put her swimming suit on.”

“You gonna swim?”  I asked Brian.  He shook his head.

“Probably not.  But why don’t you go put on that cute little suit you bought before I left.  I never got to see you in it.”

“Sure.” I kissed his cheek then turned to his bandmates.  “Nice to see you all again,” I said sweetly, but the glare in my eyes would have fried them all if it was humanly possible.

 

I went looking for trouble…and boy…I found her…She’s in love with herself…she likes the dark…and on her milk white neck…the devil’s mark…It’s all Hallow’s Eve…the moon is full…will she trick or treat…I bet she will…

 

“You have a good time, baby, okay?”  Brian yawned sleepily.

“I will,” I said absentmindedly, turning off the lights in my bedroom.  “You should go to bed, Bri.  You sound so tired.”

“Tomorrow I want to fall asleep with you,” he told me.  I promised it would happen, and after a few I love yous, we finally hung up. 

I looked at the clock and sighed.  It was ten-thirty.  My friend was waiting for me at the bar, and I knew the bitching I would get for being late.  I hung up the cordless phone and stood in the center of the bedroom.  I took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes.  I slowly ran my fingers down my hair, from my forehead down to the very ends, trying to ignore the tremors that ran through my body.  I collapsed onto the bed, shaking.  I’m never gonna get the hang of this, I told myself.  I took a few deep breaths again and went to turn on the light.  I slowly looked at myself in the mirror, smiling in satisfaction.  Auburn hair fell in waves and curls to my shoulders, bringing out the blue of my eyes.  A dark green mini dress seemed to make the hair shine even more.  Maybe I WAS getting better at it.

 

I walked up the steps of the alley, trying not to trip in my high-heeled sandals and short skirt.  I damned whoever thought that this kind of outfit was sexy.  Why weren’t long skirts and flat shoes sexy?  I knocked on the door at the end of the alley.  For all intents and purposes, the door looked like the door to an abandoned warehouse or store.  I waited patiently, then knocked again.  An almost invisible slot in the door opened, and a grey screen glowed.  I placed my hand on the screen, and a laser read my fingerprints.  The screen slammed shut, and the door opened. 

I wove my way through the throngs of people, noticing bright flashes of color here and there.  For the most part, everyone wore black.  That was EXACTLY why I never did…I wanted to stand out.  My eyes flicked about the room, looking for new conquests, and recognizing old ones.  It was easy…they had some kind of aura about them that my supersensitive eyes realized and noted.  I headed for my usual corner, where the aura burned brightest.

“It’s about damn time, ya ho,” a voice said from the dark corner table.

“Sorry…I was interrupted,” I replied, bending down for a quick hug, deep kiss, and passionate fondle.

“The pickings have been slim tonight, anyway,” Kelley said as I slid into the booth next to her.  “Hey, green is MY color!”  She smoothed her dark green halter top and picked imaginary lint from her black mini skirt

“Oh bite me, slut,” I said affectionately.  “Maybe things will pick up.”

“You want something to drink?”  She downed the last of her glass.  “I need another one.”

“Yeah…the usual,” I replied as she got out of the booth.  She sashayed off to the bar, swinging her hips extra for my benefit.  I sighed as I watched her walk away.

I had met Kelley on my third night in the bar.  The bar was called The Hole, and was the safe haven for the mutant population of our city, and I don’t use the term mutant lightly.  The vamps, the shape-shifters, the Predictors, the half-breeds, they all congregated at The Hole.  I had wandered in by accident when I had been left at a bar down the street by a date who wouldn’t take no for an answer.  I followed a few people in, making it past the security at the door.  What I had found still amazed me.  If you paid extra, you got whatever you needed.  Sex…blood…information.  I didn’t pay extra.  What I wanted I only had to offer my body for.  My very first night there I had drowned my sorrows in some kind of concoction that I had never drank before, and before I knew it I was being led down a corridor to a small room with only a couch, where a half-breed wolf screwed me until I screamed with passion.  After that, I noticed my ability to see in situations where no human being should be able to see.  I followed that with a few other types of half-breeds, quickly gaining different abilities.  I stayed away from the Predictors…I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to know what the future held.  I also stayed away from the vampires…that was permanent and I didn’t know if I wanted that, either.

On the night I had met Kelley I was innocently going to the bathroom and reading the numbers on the wall.  That’s how you hooked up with someone at The Hole.  A man and a woman were paid big money to do nothing but take numbers and write them on the bathroom walls.  I wasn’t quite sure that I was ready to call someone, but a number at the bottom caught my eye: Only looking to explore…Kelley.  That intrigued me.  I called her, and we met one night at her apartment.  Sparks instantly flew and we ended up in bed.  That was something I thought would NEVER happen to me, but it was so different then anything I had experienced.  It was she who taught me the best ways to get the kind of being that I wanted, and how to coax them to give me some of their power.  Her strongest attribute was that of coercion…she could force pretty much anyone to give her what she wanted.  I gained some of that from her, and even though we rarely just fell into bed together anymore, we were close friends.  We only saw each other at The Hole, but we were strongly connected.

“I cannot believe how empty this place is tonight,” Kelley remarked as she took her place beside me once more, glancing around the crowded room.  I smiled but I knew what she meant.  I could see mainly auras, which meant that I had already interacted with many of the ‘people’ in the room.

“Maybe they’re all in the private rooms for now,” I noted.  She shrugged and sipped her drink.  There were private rooms one could pay extra for.  Blood showers for the vamps, things like that.  Those rooms were usually full at the beginning of the night, and then they emptied around midnight.

“So, how’s your little choirboy?”  Kelley teased.  I poked her and rolled my eyes.  I had made the mistake of telling her all about Brian, and she constantly picked on me about it.  She felt it was crazy to try to live a ‘normal’ life when I could have a life like hers.  I had met Brian about a month into my weekly visits to The Hole, and I couldn’t give either of them up.  One life had nothing to do with the other.  I hadn’t told Brian a total lie when he asked me about sleeping with men and bringing them home…I never brought them home.

“He just got back,” I said, taking a large gulp of my drink.  I couldn’t help but remember the cold glares I had received from his bandmates.  “And unfortunately, so are his friends.”

“Any single ones?  I could do some damage for you,” Kelley suggested, an evil gleam filling her green eyes.

“Nope…all taken…and they’re not ALL bad.  Kevin is pretty nice to me, but he’s Brian’s cousin…he doesn’t have a choice,” I replied.

“Maybe we’ll actually have to check the walls tonight,” Kelley groaned, realizing that our actual “pick up” prospects were pretty slim.  I mentally weighed the pros and cons of wall pick up versus normal pick up.  When you got the number off the wall, you knew what people wanted.  If you let someone pick you up regular, you never knew what you were in for.

“Dance?”  A deep voice said.  I looked up into a pair of sky blue eyes as bright as my own.  They were framed by shaggy black hair that fell almost down to a perfectly shaped nose.  Dark hair…blue eyes…my all time favorite combination.

“Of course she will.”  Kelley shoved me to my feet.  The stranger took my hand and we walked to the dance floor as a slow song boomed out from the speakers.  He took me in his arms, pressing my body tight against his.

“Let me guess…a wannabe,” he murmured softly in my ear.  I drew back angrily.

“Excuse me?”

“A Wannabe.  That’s what we call you humans who want all the power without the pain.”  Those blue eyes looked down at me with amusement.

“Fuck off,” I snapped, pulling from his hold.  A large hand grabbed at my arm.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“Let me go!” I almost screamed.  My eyes searched for Kelley as I mentally called out to her, but she was closely investigating the tonsils of a shady looking character in another corner of the room.

Fingernails dug into my skin.  “Come with me,” the voice said, staring deep into my eyes. 

I laughed out loud.  “Your little vamp mind tricks won’t work on me, Fang Boy,” I said with amusement.  “I became immune to that a long time ago.”

“And yet you refuse to let a vampire turn you, correct?”

“Right,” I gasped, amazed that he could see that.

“Come with me,” he said softly, rubbing his body against mine.  “I promise not to turn you.  I just want you.”

“What’s your name?”  I asked, drawn in against my will.  This wasn’t his mental power making me ask…it was his diehard sexuality.

“You can call me Tristan,” he said finally.

“You can call me Trinity,” I told him, using my usual pseudonym.

“Let’s go, Trinity.”  He started to lead me from the dance floor.  We walked down a dark hall until he found an unlocked door.  I expected the usual…what I found was a small closet with only a shelf on the wall.

“You could have picked somewhere more…” I began.  His hands weaving through my hair interrupted me, yanking my head to the side.  I felt the long fangs graze my throat and I shivered.  Instead of biting, his full lips began to suck on my skin.  My knees went weak and I almost collapsed against him.  His strong hands picked me up and sat me on the shelf.

I ran my fingers through his dark locks as his hands shoved at my skirt, pushing it up to my waist.  He grunted approval as his hands found that I wore nothing under the mini dress.  His claw-like nails slowly dragged down my thighs as his hands gently pushed my legs apart.  The nails receded as he slid two long fingers inside of me.  I arched against him, whimpering.  He brought those fingers to my mouth, silently ordering me to suck my juices from his hand.  I did as he asked, too overcome with lust to even try to fight.  My eyes never left his as I reached for his belt, deftly unbuckling and shoving his pants down as far as I could.  I was also rewarded by the fact that he wore nothing under his pants.  I took his long cock in my hand and stroked it, feeling his hot breath on my neck.  He grabbed my hands and pinned them behind my back.  With his other arm, he easily picked me up and impaled me.  I gasped at the brutal force with which he took me; even the half-breeds weren’t as rough as this.

“Don’t act like you don’t want this,” he moaned against my ear.  “You’ve been looking for it just like this…just looking in the wrong place, that’s all.”

I couldn’t believe his arrogance, and I wanted to fight against him…everything in me wanted to fight…but the sensations he was awakening quickly overcome any defensiveness I was feeling.  I bit down on his shoulder through his shirt, making him laugh.  His laughter angered me, and I struggled.  He held my hands tighter, thrusting harder.  I soon forgot everything but the feeling of him inside of me, and I panted as he moved faster and harder.  “Oh…God…oh…” I gasped as I came around him.  He released my hands and held my waist firmly as he thrust a few more times.  I felt him spurt inside of me, and he immediately pulled out. 

“I’m sorry…I have to…” He quickly dressed himself and ran out of the room, not even bothering to try and clean up.  I understood.  He had to leave. If he stayed, the afterglow of the sex would make his bloodlust rise to a level that was definitely not safe for me. 

I slowly hopped down from the shelf, carefully straightening everything before heading to the bathroom.  I almost hobbled, sore from his forcefulness.  I couldn’t help but smile. It had been a long time since I had been fucked like that.  I yawned big as I entered the bathroom to clean myself up.  Suddenly all I wanted to do was go home and go to bed.

“Pretty Thing, why do you always run?”  The voice hissed with exasperation.  “We will catch you…you know that right?” 

She stopped short as she felt the gusts of wind from wings she couldn’t see.  “What we want we get,” a bored voice said from right above her head.  “And we want you.”

“Why?  Why me?”  She finally sobbed.

“Because we just DO!”  A young voice whined behind her.  “We just do…is there anymore explanation needed?”

With amazing speed she burst past the hazy figures in front of her and ran down the path, dodging trees and branches.  She heard amused laughter behind her.  “Not bad,” the deepest voice said.  “You’ve gained power since we saw you last.”

She bumped into the same barrier she had the time before…but this time she felt around.  Finding slots in the wall, she began to climb.  “Yes, Pretty Thing…climb climb climb!” The voice shrieked.  “Climb until you fall, and there is no one there to catch you!”

“I’LL catch her,” another voice said.  “I’ll catch her…cushion her pretty body so she doesn’t hurt herself.”

“You think she’s pretty?”  A different voice pouted. 

“In a mutant way, yes,” the voice answered.  “Pretty enough for my dinner, anyway!”

“Go away!”  She screamed over her shoulder, gasped as she reached the last rung.  The surface seemed to flatten out, and she clambered up.

“Maybe we could share her, my love, what do you think.”  She heard footsteps hit the ground, and felt someone begin to walk around her in circles.  “So tasty…” A wet finger ran across her cheek, and she heard a slurping sound as the finger was licked clean.

“Be careful,” the young voice warned.  “Remember what happened last time…”

“I’m not afraid of him…I’m not afraid of whatever is protecting her,” a voice said bravely.  She steeled herself for the pain she knew would be coming soon.  A hand grabbed her arm, and a voice began to shriek with pain.  She smelled burning skin, and knew it wasn’t her own.

“See!  You can’t do shit to me…go away…go AWAY!”  She shrieked.  Wings flapped around her once more.

“We’ll find a way, Pretty Thing,” the voice rasped in her ear.  “Our powers are great…and we’ll find the key to make you ours.”  Fingernails slashed at her clothing, making sure to just barely miss her skin.  She wailed and sank to her knees burying her head in her hands.

“Til we meet again, lovely,” a voice purred in her ear.  The wings flapped into the distance.

I groaned as I looked at the clock.  Four-thirty.  I had an unspoken agreement with myself that if I ever woke up before five, I would not step a toe out of bed until five.  These dreams were waking me up earlier and earlier.  I sighed, tossing and turning until four-fifty.  Cursing my wicked imagination, I finally pulled myself out of bed.  After going to the bathroom and starting a pot of coffee, I sat down at my computer. 

For obvious reasons, namely the time, no one I knew was on.  I signed into a Backstreet Boys chatroom for fun.  I laughed my head off at the way three girls on the west coast were planning on finding Brian’s house in town and just what they were planning on doing once they found him.  Under my assumed name, I quickly informed them that I thought the whole idea was ridiculous, and then I signed off before they could block me.  I decided to go for a quick walk, and went into the bedroom to change into a sports bra and shorts.

I gasped as I pulled off my Tigger nightshirt.  Slashes filled the back, with strips of fabric hanging down.  Thankfully, my skin was unscathed.  What in the world was I doing in my sleep?

After my walk, I lay down on my bed to watch some TV and soon dozed off.  Three hours later Brian called.  “Is it too early?”  He asked.

“No…I woke up hours ago,” I said truthfully.

“I have a surprise planned for you.  Be dressed in casual comfy clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty,” he told me.

“Um, okay,” I replied, smiling with excitement.

“I’ll be there in about twenty minutes,” he told me, then hung up.

“How do you do it?”  Brian asked when I opened the door.

“What?”  I asked jumping into his arms almost immediately.

“How do you dress for a day outside and STILL manage to look so damned cute?”  He gave me a smacking kiss then pulled back to look at me.  “Adorable.”

“Oh, puhleeze,” I said, rolling my eyes, though I blushed at his compliment.  I wore a pair of cutoff denim shorts and a blue checkered halter-top.  “Lemme pull on my sneakers.  Come on in.”  I jogged up the steps to my bedroom so I could grab my shoes.  “Anything special I should know about today?”  I called down the steps.

“Only that after today you won’t be walking very well for a while,” he called back.  I flushed even though he couldn’t see my face.  I was finally walking “very well” after my little escapade the night before. 

“I could take that a few ways, ya know,” I said as I came back downstairs.

“That’s what I was hoping,” he said with an evil leer…as least as evil as Brian COULD leer.

“No hints?”  I pouted.

“Nope.”  He pinched my backside.  “Let’s go.  The day’s a-wastin’!”  He half shoved me out the door.

“Um, Bri?  We come to the beach all the time,” I pointed out as we drove down the dirt road to our usual spot at a far end of the public beach.

“I know,” he said simply, coming around to hold my door open.  As I got myself together, he grabbed a picnic basket out of the backseat.  “Come on.”  He took my hand and began to help me up the dunes to the beach.

“I don’t know what all the fuss is about, Bri-Bri.  I…oh!” I exclaimed happily as we stepped over the first hill.  Two horses stood nosing about in the sand, held patiently by another man.

“Surprise,” Brian said, my joy obviously satisfying.  “I promised you before I left that I would take you horseback riding, so here we are.”

“Oh, Brian!  Horseback riding on the beach!” I threw myself into his arms.  “Thank you thank you thank you!”

He laughed as he spun me around.  “You’re welcome you’re welcome you’re welcome.  I thought this was the least I could do.” He brushed a stray hair from my cheek.  “You’ve been so patient these last months.  I never thought you’d actually wait for me, Lara.”

“Well, I didn’t have anything better to do…” I teased, and he poked me.  He led me over to the horses.

“Thanks.  We’ll be back in about an hour,” he told the man.  I looked up at the animal closest to me, a giant black mass of horse.  I swallowed deeply.

“Uh, Bri, did I mention I’ve never ridden before?  What if he eats me or something?”

Brian laughed as he adjusted the saddle for me.  “SHE won’t eat you.  She’s the gentlest horse they have, but she still has some spirit.  I promise we won’t go any faster than a walk.”

The next hour was one of the most wonderful hours in my whole life.  Brian taught me the basics of horseback riding, and as we plodded along through the sand, we talked as we hadn’t been able to in a long time.  I was very sorry once we had to hand the horses back over to their owner.

“Lunch, too?  Boy, talk about being spoiled!”  I said as Brian unpacked the huge picnic basket.

“You deserve it,” he told me.  We began to chow down on the fried chicken and various pasta salads he had brought along.

“Brian, why don’t the guys like me?” I asked finally.

“What guys?”  He replied with his mouth full.

“THE guys…you know, Kevin, Howie, Nick, AJ…”

“Kevin likes you.  He told me so.”

“And the other three?”

“They like you just fine,” he hedged.  I grabbed his hand to keep the fork from going to his mouth. 

“Brian, I’m serious.  You and I have been together for over four months now, and I have yet to hear one sincere word of friendship come from any of them, except maybe Kevin.  What in the world did I do for them to treat me this way?”

He looked at me for a long moment.  “Lara, I swear it’s nothing you’ve done.  We’re…we’re a family…we’ve been a family for a long time…and I guess we’re one of those families that doesn’t accept newcomers very easily.”

“I’m not buying that,” I told him angrily.  “They accepted Suzy, Autumn, and Erin quickly enough.  It’s something about me, and if you don’t tell me, I’m going to ask!”

“Lara, sweetie, I promise.  You haven’t done anything.”  His blue eyes looked at me sadly.  “Please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you, Brian,” I said truthfully.  I wasn’t mad at him…I was mad at his loser best friends, and I was determined to find out what their problem with me was.

“I thought we could just veg in front of the TV tonight,” he said as we drove to his house around six.  “Unless you wanna go out.”

“No, vegging sounds wonderful,” I sighed.  I had missed the simple things like watching TV with my boyfriend.

“Maybe we could…” Brian stopped talking as he turned onto his street.  “Wonder what’s up?”

“What do you mean?”  I asked.

“See those cars in my driveway?  That’s AJ…and that’s Nick…hmmm.”  We hopped out of the car and saw AJ, Nick, Howie and Autumn on Brian’s front porch.  Howie’s hand was wrapped in gauze.

“It’s about damn time,” AJ said angrily.  “We’ve been paging you for hours, Rok.”

“Where the hell have you been?”  Nick asked, glaring at me.

“We’ve been out,” Brian said, with an anger that surprised me.  I had never seen him even raise his voice to his friends.  “I left the pager at home so we wouldn’t be disturbed.”  He turned to Howie.  “D, are you okay?”  Brian asked a little more gently.

“Yeah…I’m fine…I was…uh…burned last night,” Howie said quickly.

“Dumbass gets all drunk and then tries to come home and light the grill,” Autumn said almost angrily.  “I went to bed while he was drunk…big mistake.”

Brian unlocked his door.  “That doesn’t explain why you’re here,” he said almost rudely.

“We…uh…needed to talk to you,” Howie said.  “It’s about Kevin.”

“Kev?”  Brian stopped short.  “What’s wrong with Kevin.”

“Nothing.  We just need to talk to you,” Nick told him.

“Now?”  Brian asked.

“Yes, Brian…NOW,” AJ said, staring intensely into Brian’s blue eyes.

“Can you two go do something while I get rid of these losers?”  Brian asked me, trying to smile.

“Yeah…sure…come on, Autumn.  We’ll go to the family room,” I said, wondering what in the world was wrong with Kevin.

Our first whole day together pretty much went to hell after that.  The four Backstreet Boys holed themselves up in Brian’s den for most of the evening, while Autumn and I fooled around on the internet.  It was kind of amusing though, because we found this mailing list where girls were writing in about what body part on the Backstreet Boys was most desirable.

“Looks like you should insure Howie’s chest and abs, Autumn,” I teased.  “They are hot items.”

“No fair,” she pouted.  “That’s what comes from dating a hot sexy man.  No one is after YOUR man.”

“HEY!”  I smacked her.  “Brian is just as hot and sexy as Howie.  He’s just more…understated, that’s all.”

“We HAVE to show this to Ari,” Autumn said, writing down the internet address.  “She will flip out when she sees what these women want to do to her Bone Daddy.”

“If he wasn’t such a prick, I wouldn’t mind tracing that tattoo myself,” I observed.  Autumn stared at me.  “What?  It’s a natural reaction.  AJ McLean exudes sexuality from every pore…if he wasn’t such a dick.”

“Why do you hate him so much?”  She whispered.  I stared at her.

“Haven’t you noticed how the other guys treat me?  It’s like I have some kind of plague or something.  Even your Sweet D can hardly be civil.”

“I think you’re imagining things,” she snapped.

“Back off, Autumn,” I said angrily.  “I’m serious.  If you and Howie could stay together for more than ten minutes at a time, you’d notice.”

“I’m outta here.”  Autumn jumped to her feet.  “Howard!”  She bellowed.  “I am ready to leave!”

The men were just coming out of the den as we walked to the hall, and Howie gave me an evil look.  “What’s wrong, baby?”  He pulled Autumn into his arms.

“Nothing.  Let’s roll.”  She put her nose in the air and strolled out.

“Later, Rok,” the guys said, once again ignoring me.  As soon as the door shut behind them, I turned on my sweet boyfriend.

“Are you gonna tell me now that they do really like me?”

“Lara…”

“No…I’m not listening to any more excuses.”  I looked at him sadly.  “What happened to our special day, Bri?”

“I’m sorry, Lara.  They were worried about Kevin…said he’s acting weird,” Brian hedged. I could see through his lies immediately.

“I am not going to try and get the information out of you if you don’t want to give it to me.”  I sighed.  “I think I’m just gonna go home.”

“But…” Brian began, then saw that I would not be swayed.  He sighed.  “Okay.”  He kissed my cheek.  “I won’t beg you to stay.  Can we get together tomorrow?”

“I don’t see why not,” I said as he pulled me into his arms.

“I love you, Lara…you know that, right?  You mean more to me then anything in the world.” He put my head on his shoulder, stroking my hair.

“I know you do, Bri-Bri…but don’t say I mean more to you then they do…because today proved that it’s not true.”

“Oh, GOD, what a day,” I said as I flopped into the booth next to Kelley.

“Need a drink, honey?”  She asked sympathetically, kissing my cheek.

“Yes, please…something strong…something lethal,” I told her.  She patted my hand and hopped out of the booth.  As she strode to the bar, I couldn’t help but admire her legs as her short skirt swished around them.  She was dressed to kill that night, that was certain.  I was actually dressed pretty modestly for The Hole: silver and black halter top with a knee length skirt.  The skirt was sheer up to the point of almost being indecent.  I didn’t feel like trying to impress anyone…though I was impressed with my new hair.  I had gone blond for the evening…blond and bobbed.  The hair seemed to bring out the blue of my eyes, which I liked.  That was the one thing I couldn’t change about myself.  I could never change my eye color, no matter how hard I tried or how many Shape-Shifters I screwed.  I guess eyes were just too much of a window to the individual soul…you couldn’t hide that.

“Here you go.”  Kelley plunked a glass of brown liquid down in front of me.  “Drink up.”

I sniffed it.  “Did you go siphon the gas from your car or something?” I asked, wrinkling my nose.

“You wanted lethal, you got lethal…don’t ask,” she retorted.

I closed my eyes and took a sip, gagging.  “Are you trying to kill me?”  I gasped.

“It will get better, I promise.”  She slung an arm around my shoulders.  “Tell Kelley what’s wrong, honey.”

“It’s those damn friends of Brian’s,” I whined, taking another gulp.  She was right, it was getting better.

“Oh, God,” Kelley moaned, rolling her eyes.  “Why don’t you just drop the Choirboy and move in with me?  We could have SO much fun.”

“I love him, Kel,” I said sadly, downing my drink.  The room spun for a moment, then was surprisingly still.  “I want his friends to like me.  He’s stuck in the middle.”

“Hold that thought.”  She hopped up and ran to the bar to get me another drink.

“But he acts all weird about it,” I continued as soon as she returned.  “I ask him and he denies it all, but it’s so obvious.”  I drained half the glass in one swallow.

Kelley put a hand on my knee, casually running one finger around it in circles.  “Are they really worth your time and worry, Lara?”

“N-no,” I admitted.

Her hand moved up.  “Is he?”

“Yes.”

Her hand slid slowly up under my skirt.  “Let’s go back to my place and I’ll make you forget all about him.  I don’t feel like finding someone here tonight, and…”

“Dance?”  A figure loomed in front of the table.  Kelley snatched her hand back.

“Yes,” I said, recognizing the aura instantly, even through my drunken haze.  It was the vamp from a few nights before.  I took his hand and he helped me up from the table.  Like magic, a slow song started.  He pulled me close, and I could already feel his erection.

“I think your friend is mad,” he noted.  “She’s not even staying to see if you get home okay.”

I turned and watched Kelley stomp out of the bar.  “She’ll get over it,” I told him.  I bent my head back to look at him.  Today his hair was a dishwater blond, cut almost to a buzz.  

“I hoped you would come tonight,” he murmured against my hair, running his hands down to my backside.  “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“Oh, really,” I said in an offhand manner, like I had totally forgotten about him.  “That’s so romantic, you thinking of me as you sucked the life from some total stranger’s body.”

He growled and I felt fingernails dig into my backside.  I gasped.  “Why won’t you let someone turn you?”

I glared up at him  “None of your business.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going home.”

He yanked me back.  “You are in no condition to drive.”

“I have wolf’s vision.  I’ll be walking,” I told him.  He refused to let me go.

“Answer my question, Trinity.”

“If you MUST know…I’m not sure I want the permanence of it all.  Also, you become almost a slave to the one who turns you. I KNOW I don’t want that.”  I sighed.  “And I have someone…in my real life…I can’t lose him.”

His hand came up to caress my cheek.  His fingers wove up into my hair at the base of my neck.  “Does this someone fuck you as good as I do?”

I slapped him.  “You’re a pompous ass.  Good night, Tristan.”  I pulled out of his grasp and walked out of the room, stopping only to grab my purse from the table Kelley had deserted.  I was three steps from the door when I felt a rush of air from behind.  Something grabbed my arm and yanked me into the closest room before I knew what was happening.  I screamed as the door slammed and locked.  “Let me out of here!”  I yelled, looking around the room wildly.  I saw no one.  The only thing in the room besides me was a small cot in the direct center of the floor.  I began to beat on the door, cursing madly.  I knew no one would open it; they would think it was all part of whatever little game I was playing inside the room.

“You can stop whenever you feel like it. I’m not letting you out until I’m good and ready,” a voice behind me said.  I whirled around and saw Tristan stretched out on the cot, his long body relaxed and catlike.  I couldn’t help but stare.  “I’ve played around a bit, too, Trinity.  I can shift my shape and become invisible…not normal vampire traits.”

“What do you want from me?” I asked him.  “You can gain nothing from me, since I had no true powers at birth.”

“I think you have power,” he said, advancing towards me.  “You’ve already bewitched me.  I never screw a Wannabe more than once…I rarely screw a Wannabe at all.  Vampires can’t gain much from humans…that’s why most vampires are truly homosexual.  We get the most from our own.”

“Then why did you do me?” I taunted.

“I’ve been trying to figure that out myself.”  He ran a long fingernail down my throat, and I hissed as I felt him draw blood.  “I can get nothing from you but a good fuck…maybe it’s whatever humanity is left in me.  I hunger for you, and I don’t just mean for your lifeblood.”  He bent down and lightly sucked the blood from my skin.  I whimpered.

“Don’t…don’t, please!”  I begged, starting to cry.  “I don’t want that.”

“Shhh,” he whispered, those blue eyes seeming to stare inside of me.  “I can control it.  I’m not going to take your life…just your body.”

I moaned as he hands ripped at the halter top, tearing it to shreds.  I wore no bra underneath, and his mouth eagerly found my breasts.  I gasped as his fangs drew across my nipples gently…the most erotic feeling I had ever experienced.  His fingers flew down the buttons of his shirt, and he turned me around so my back pressed against his bare chest.  His hands slid my skirt down until I was naked before him.  I refused to let him immediately have the upper hand.  I unbuckled his belt with shaking hands and pushed his pants down to join my skirt.  I moaned at the size of him.  Had I really taken all of that inside of me?

“Yes, you did,” he said, reading my thoughts.  I glared at him.  Usually I was good at protecting my mind, but he had distracted me.  He led me to the cot and laid me down.  His hands and mouth were instantly everywhere, and I was soon screaming with a powerful orgasm.  He licked almost every drop of my wetness until I was just wet enough to comfortably accommodate him.  I groaned as he thrust into me again and again.  “You will be mine,” he growled.  “You are becoming a painful addiction for me, Trinity.  I want you constantly.”  He pinned his arms above my neck.  “If I see you again, I am marking you as mine…and then I will always be able to find you.”

“Yes…oh God, yes!”  I screamed as a second orgasm hit me.  I felt him pour into me, and he collapsed against me.  We panted for breath.  He pulled back, and I saw the change come over his face.  His fangs grew, and his eyes changed to a deep purple color.  I gasped.

“Go!”  He growled in a fearful voice.  I grabbed my clothes, staring at my destroyed shirt.  He tossed me his jacket.  “Leave now!”  With a wave of his hand the door unlocked, and I ran out into the hall, pulling his jacket over my nakedness.

She was on some sort of island…if you could call it that.  She crawled around on her hands and knees and found that the “island” she was seated on was really only about five feet across in all directions.  She shivered.  Mist crept in front of her face, and she heard water lapping at the base of whatever kind of landmass she sat upon.  She peered out into the mist, trying to get her eyes to focus on anything.  Soon she heard the ever-present flapping of wings.  This time, however, she could see them.  They were large awful things…long wings that looked like they were made of leather, with veiny seams running down to separate them into sections.  Almost like…bat wings.  But bats had wings on either sides of their bodies…these wings were on the backs of what looked like human torsos…except she couldn’t see faces on any of the figures.  She carefully pulled herself to a standing position.

“Like we said, Pretty Thing, we’ll be here every night until you are ours,” a voice hissed.  She tried her best to see the face behind the voice, but the mist was too thick.

“We’ll reveal ourselves all in good time, Lovely,” another voice purred.  “We can see you just fine, though.”

“Isn’t she pretty?”  The youngest voice asked, flying around her in maddening circles.  A clawed hand ran through her long hair, and she smacked it away.

“Oh…and feisty, too,” the deepest voice said.  She heard the graceful thud of feet landing next to her, and she fell to her knees.  A hand carefully wove its fingers through her hair and slowly pulled her head back to bare her neck.  “See?  It’s all in the wrist,” the voice said.  The others cackled with laughter. 

A figure hovered in the air in front of her, the beating wings causing gusts of wind to blow in her face.  She smacked at the hand that held her, and it instantly let go.  “We’re learning, Lovely,” the voice said.  “We can touch you, but only if we’re not forceful.  We can touch you all we want…” She felt a fingernail run down her neck towards her chest and she shivered.

She jumped to her feet and started to back away.  She almost lost her balance at the landmass’s edge, but she caught herself.  “Why don’t you jump, Pretty Thing?”  The first voice screeched.  “Jump and save us the trouble of killing you!”

“But I WANT to kill her!” The young voice pouted.  “I’m so hungry…and she looks delicious!”

“She’d probably poison you,” another voice replied. 

“You’d better choose, Lovely.  Which is the worst fate…what we might do to you, or what’s lurking down there?  I know how scared you are of what swims in the deepest water…”

“How…how did you know that?”  She gasped.

“We can smell your fears, Pretty Thing,” the voice whispered in her ear.  The flapping wings got louder as they encircled her.

“Just let us in, Precious…we’ll end it so quickly for you,” the deep voice boomed.

“No!”  She shouted, and jumped into the crashing waves.

The phone awakened me from a deep sleep at around nine-thirty.  I was amazed.  I hadn’t awakened from the dream screaming my head off…what a nice change.  “Hello?”

“Lara…I need you to get up.”

“Suzy?”  I sat up straight, wide-awake.  It was rare she called me at all…nevertheless at nine-thirty in the morning.  “What’s wrong?  Is it Nick?”

“No…Nick is fine.  I need you to get up and pack just the essentials for…oh…two weeks, and meet me in front of your house in an hour.”

“What?  Suzy, what the hell is going on?”

“Just do it, okay?”  She hung up.

“What the fuck?”  I mumbled, but pulled myself out of bed.

Suzy sped into my driveway exactly an hour later.  I threw my small duffel bag into the backseat and jumped in the front.  “Can we at least stop at the A Plus for coffee?”  I asked.

“No,” she said simply.  Something wasn’t right.  When we stopped at the first red light, I grabbed her face and turned it towards me.  I gasped as she pulled away.

“Suzy…what the hell is that?”

“Nothing…clumsy me…I just totally didn’t see the new coffee table Nick put in the living room, and I was carrying something and…”

“Bullshit!”  I said angrily, staring at the angry bruise on her left cheekbone.  “Did he hit you?”

“Nick?  No, of course not!”  She protested nervously.

“That blond little prick!”  I muttered.  “I am so gonna kick his ass.”

“No…Lara…don’t do anything!”  Suzy told me, realizing that I didn’t believe her lameass story.  “Please…he didn’t mean it…he felt so bad after.”

“SURE he did,” I growled.  “Why did he do it?”

“He…uh…he didn’t want me coming to get you…” she said finally.  “Brian asked me to just come get you and take you to meet him, as a surprise, and Nick flipped.  Said it was none of our business what you two did and to stay the fuck out of it…direct quote.” 

“That little shit!”  I snapped as we went down the ramp to the airport.  “Suzy…I am so sorry he did this because of me. It will be taken care of, I assure you.”  She drove down a back gravel road behind the airport.  She gave her name to the guard and the gate was unlocked.  She drove right out onto the tarmac where a small private plane was waiting.  I impulsively hugged her.  “Thanks, Suzy.  I’ll call when I get wherever I’m going to make sure you’re okay.”

“Don’t,” she whispered.  “I don’t think…just don’t.”

“Okay,” I said, understanding what she meant.  “Bye.”  I got out and ran up the steps to the plane.

There was one stewardess on board, and I must’ve made her job pretty easy, because all I did was sit and stare out the window.  As I ordered my soft drink, I asked where we were headed.  She blushed and simply said she wasn’t at liberty to say.  I brooded as I stared at the clouds, wondering what in the world I had done, besides being born, that could make the Backstreet Boys hate me.

I smiled as we broke through the clouds and I saw the beautiful blue of the ocean below us.  Brian knew how much I loved the beach, and that I had never been to one of those tropical islands in the Caribbean.  I was practically bouncing up and down when the wheels hit the ground seven hours after we left home.  I hurried down the steps, but no smiling blue eyes were there to greet me.  I looked around frantically.  Maybe this was some kind of joke Nick was playing…

“Miss…Miss Lara?”  A smiling man walked over.  “I was sent by Mr. Littrell to come get you. Even in our island paradise, he is well-known.”

“Thank you,” I said, and stepped into the backseat of the white Cadillac parked nearby.

 

The car had hardly stopped in front of the bungalow before I was throwing the door open.  “Brian!” I shouted, throwing myself into his arms.  The driver retrieved my bag and sat it a short distance away before driving off.  “What is all this?”

“A surprise vacation for you.  Are you upset?” His blue eyes searched my face anxiously.

“Upset?  Hell, no!”  I squealed, kissing every part of his face I could reach.  He put an arm around my waist as he picked up my bag.

“I can’t wait for you to see this place, Lara,” he said as we walked in.  “It’s small but it has everything.”

“I can see that,” I replied, amazed by how large the rooms seemed in such a small building.

“We don’t have a pool, but the ocean is our backyard,” he said, pointing to the large windows on the back of the living room.  I sighed happily.  “You are officially kidnapped, young lady,” Brian said.

“WOOHOO!  I mean…oh no…stop…release me…” I said in a fake dramatic voice.  Brian chuckled and put his arms around me.

“I love you, Lara.”

“I love you, too, Bri-Bri.”

When I came into the living room after unpacking my few toiletries, Brian was sitting out on the deck.  I snuck up behind him, putting my arms around him.  “Now what?”  I asked, sitting my chin on his head. 

“I thought we could go into town and have dinner, maybe go dancing after that…walk on the beach…then I plan on coming back here and making love to my girlfriend.”

“Oh, really?”  I asked, my toes absolutely curling at his plan. “And who might that be?”

“I dunno…she’s supposed to fly in from the mainland soon.”

I smacked him.  “What should I wear?”

“Check the back of the bedroom door,” he told me.  I squealed and ran back into the house.  Hanging on the back of the door was a long midnight blue dress, made of some sort of crinkly material.  One side was slit almost to the hip, and the top hung off the shoulders.  I almost drooled at the sight of it.  On the floor behind the door was a pair of dark blue sandals.  I hugged the dress, then ran out to hug Brian, who was now in the kitchen.

“You spoil me,” I told him.

“You pay me with the happiness in your eyes,” he replied.  He checked his watch.  “It’s almost seven-thirty.  Get your cute ass in the shower while I make a few calls back home.”

That reminded me.  “Bri?  We need to talk about something before we do anything else,” I said seriously.  He frowned, but sat down with me at the kitchen table.  I took one of his hands.  “Just hear me out, okay?”  He nodded.  “You need to have a talk with Nickolas, or I’m going to kick his little Ken Doll ass!”

“What?”  Brian said, his eyes darkening with anger.  “Lara…”

“No…listen…when Suzy came to pick me up she had this bigass bruise on her face.  He hit her, Bri.  She tried to deny it but finally admitted it.  He hit her because she agreed to help you and I…that’s the only reason.  Either you tell me what the FUCK would make him do that, or else you call and ream his ass out while I’m sitting right there to hear you!” I ended in a screech.  Brian sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

“Okay…Lara…I wasn’t going to tell you this…but Nick has this big crush on you.  He and Suzy are having problems and he has just developed this thing for you.”  His blue eyes stared at me earnestly.  I burst out laughing.

“Nick?  A crush on ME?  He hardly knows me…that’s crazy.”  I did not believe him in the slightest…but he looked so sincere.  I stood.  “On second thought…forget the explanation.  Just call him, okay?  Call him while I’m in the shower, and tell him that if he even THINKS about hitting another woman, I will kill him.”

When I came out of the bedroom all showered and dressed, Brian was once more on the deck.  He had showered somehow, and was dressed in a pair of khakis and a nice blue button-down shirt.  He was so handsome that I just had to stand in the doorway and stare.  When I finally cleared my throat, he whirled around.  “Oh…wow…” he said, staring at me.  The dress fell just over my shoulders, revealing just enough cleavage to be tantalizing.  “I have good taste.”

“In clothes or women?” I asked, coming over to kiss his cheek.

“Both.”

We wandered down to the nearby town and had dinner at a small café.  Behind the café on the beach was a makeshift dance floor, and we slow danced for over an hour after dinner, just enjoying the fact that we were simply a couple…not Backstreet Boy and girlfriend.  After a long lazy walk on the beach, interrupted by countless kisses, we finally ended up back at the bungalow.

“I’m gonna go change.  As much as I love this dress, I want out of it,” I said, taking off my sandals as we walked in the door.

“No.”

“No?”  I asked, turning around.

“No…I want to help you out of it,” he said, his blue eyes sparkling.  I swallowed deeply as he led me back into the bedroom.  Even though we had just made love a few days earlier, it seemed like our chances to be intimate were few and far between.

As I stood by the side of the bed, Brian slowly untied the ribbon that pulled the dress together at the top.  As soon as the bow came undone, the dress fell to my hips.  Brian helped it down my legs and onto a puddle on the floor.  His hands traced intricate patterns over my shoulders and arms, across my chest, and down to my breasts.  I moaned as his fingers ever so gently pinched at my nipples, bringing them to attention.  My fingers flew down his shirt, almost tearing the buttons from their threads. Soon he was bare chested before me, and I let my fingers skim over his chest as well.  He pulled me to him in a tongue-tangling kiss as his hands grasped my backside, grinding his groin against me.  I moaned against his mouth, fighting with the buckle to his pants.  His pants hit the floor, and he pushed me back onto the bed as we kissed.  His hand slid down my stomach and inside my underwear.  He sighed as he felt my wetness, and his fingers easily slid inside of me. I arched against him, whispering his name.  With a growl he slid down my body, taking my underwear with him.  I heard them fall to the floor, joined by his boxers.  His tongue slid inside of me, his teeth lightly nipping at my swollen clit.  I held back the screams of pain and pleasure. 

“Don’t,” he murmured.  “Scream as loud as you want…there is no one around to hear us.  Tell me, baby…tell me how it feels.”  Two fingers slid inside.

“Oh…fuck…Brian…I…” I gasped as his teeth bit down on my inner thigh.  He had never been this forceful before, and I was loving it.  A third finger slowly slid into my tightness.

“Damn…you’re so tight…I want that so bad, baby…” he moaned, licking my clit with short strokes.

“Then come take it…please, Bri, “I moaned.  He moved up to position himself above me. Just before he plunged inside he looked down at me, his blue eyes almost black with desire.  He ever so gently kissed my eyelids…my nose…my chin…before moving to kiss my swollen lips.  His tongue gently asked for access and I opened my mouth to him.  I felt him slowly slide himself inside of me, mimicking the motion with his tongue.  I moaned against him, feeling as if I was melting into him.  He ever so slowly moved inside of me until I was begging for him to go faster.  He suddenly slammed into me once…paused…then did it one more time.  It was enough to pull me over the edge, and I screamed his name.  He buried his head in my shoulder, spurting into me hard and deep.

He kissed my shoulders and chest, and then my lips.  He hopped up. “Let’s take a shower.”

“A…a…a shower?”  I asked, confused.  I wanted nothing more then to just snuggle with him.

“Yes…a shower.  No…better…a bubble bath in the big tub.  I would like nothing more then to have you lay back against me as I washed your breasts…” he began.  I jumped up.

“A bubble bath.  Sounds wonderful!”

He laughed.  “You go in and start the water, baby.  I’ll be in there in a second.”

The first week of our vacation was like a dream come true.  We would take long walks on the beach after dinner, sometimes coming back to make love, other times just falling asleep in each other’s arms.  I had no nightmares.  Every time I would begin to thrash about and cry out in my sleep, I would feel Brian’s arms wrap around me and I would fall back asleep peacefully.  There were a few times every night where I would wake up and find myself alone in the big bed, but soon Brian would come padding back in from the bathroom or the kitchen or wherever he had wandered off to.  “I’m a restless sleeper,” he told me.  “That’s why I didn’t want us to spend the nights together.  I didn’t want to disturb you.” 

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to wear you out so much that you can’t help but pass out,” I had teased.

We used the time to really get to know each other.  It was like our first dates all over again.  We really hadn’t had much time together before he had gone out on tour the last time, and it was amazing at all the things I found to fall in love with all over again.  Every morning he went for a run through the town, and he always came back with some silly gift to make me smile. It was truly paradise.

 

One morning the beginning of the second week I came back from a quick grocery run to find Brian sitting on a kitchen chair talking to Nick on the phone.  “Just don’t let it happen again, Frack…that was wrong and you know it.” I smiled as I began to unpack groceries.  “So…what else is going on?”  Brian got up to help put things away.  He gave me a smacking kiss on the cheek.  “What?  You’re kidding.”  He froze with a milk carton in his hand, refrigerator door wide open.  “What’s THIS one’s name?”

I froze as well, realizing he was talking about Kevin.  Stefanie was obviously history.  I wondered if she had returned to Germany or if she had found a place in the States.  I made a mental note to ask Kevin about it when we got home.

Brian talked to Nick for a few more moments and hung up.  “So…who’s Kevin Casanova’s new flavor of the month?” I asked as I folded a paper bag.

“Lisa something.  He met her when he was back home in Kentucky,” Brian sighed.  “She’s a bit older then he is, so maybe a mature woman is just what he needs.”  I shrugged.

“Maybe,” I said absentmindedly. 

“Forget Kevin,” he said, swatting at my backside.  “Go put on that hot bikini and let’s hit the beach.”

Our lovemaking that night was intense…more intense than ever before.  It was almost as if he couldn’t get enough of me…and that reminded me of Tristan.  I quickly shoved that thought from my mind as my boyfriend plunged into me again and again.

“I’m gonna go get some juice…want something?”  Brian said as soon as he had rolled off of me.  I said no, and he bounced off to the kitchen.  I pulled on a robe and went out onto the balcony that adjoined the bedroom.  I closed my eyes and sighed, listening to the ocean pound against the shore.

The vacation had truly been a paradise.  It was seriously making me rethink the double life I had been living.  Were the powers I had obtained really worth losing all of this?  And my thoughts also moved to Tristan.  Was he missing Trinity? Did he still want me?  I had almost let my powers slip more then once during the time Brian and I had spent together.  One day, while running on the beach, I had pulled way in front of Brian as we raced, using my animal speed to burst ahead.  He stopped to stare at me, and I quickly slowed down to a more ‘human’ pace.  Another time, in the middle of the night, he had gotten chilly and asked me to grab a certain pair of sweatpants as I got up to use the bathroom.  I pawed through a drawer stuffed with clothing in the pitch black dark and found the exact thing he was asking for without turning a light on.  That I excused as luck.  Maybe I could give it all up.  I could go back to The Hole just one more time and say goodbye to Kelley…and then I’d give it all up forever…

“Penny for your thoughts, beautiful,” I heard as arms wrapped around my waist.  I laid my head back on Brian’s shoulder and sighed.

“I’m just thinking about how much I hate the thought of leaving here.  Couldn’t we just live here forever?”

“Now, THAT wouldn’t cause a scandal at all, would it?”  Brian said, laughing.  I smiled, understanding what he meant.  When he had talked to Nick early in the week, Nick had informed him that our pictures were gracing the covers of a tabloid or two back home and that the guys in the group were not happy about it.  Apparently a photographer had caught sight of us “living in sin” down in the Caribbean and had made all kinds of assumptions about it. Brian had laughed and blown Nick off.

  “Guess you’re right,” I sighed overdramatically.

“We were gonna come down here and write later in the year…maybe you could come along.”

“No thank you,” I said.  “Anywhere your friends are is NOT a place I want to be for an extended period of time.”

“When are you all gonna start getting along?”  Brian sighed.

I wormed my way out of his embrace.  “When your friends stop treating me like I have a communicable disease.  I’m going back in to bed.”  I turned and went back inside.

I moodily stared out the window of the plane as it began its descent to our home airport.  The rest of the time on the island had been awkward.  He did not bring up my relationship with his friends and either did I, but it hung over our heads like a dark cloud.  All in all, however, it had been a wonderful vacation and I truly felt that I knew Brian much better…and had found all kinds of new things about him to love.

“How about we move in together?”  Brian asked suddenly.  I turned to stare at him.

“Excuse me?”

“I thought maybe we could move in together.  You know…we share the same address.”  He bent down to put his CDs in his backpack.

“I know what moving in together is,” I snapped.  “I’m just…together…wow.”

“If you don’t want to, I understand,” he mumbled.

“Bri-Bri…no…it’s not that…it’s just so sudden that’s all.  I’m an independent girl.  I am used to my space.  Just let me think about it, that’s all I’m saying.  I’m NOT saying no.”

“Okay,” he said, his bright smile flowing across his face.

AJ and Erin were waiting for us at the luggage area.  Erin hugged me.  “Did you hear about Stefanie?”  She whispered.  I nodded.  “I haven’t met Lisa yet…I guess we’ll meet her tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah…Kev’s having a barbecue and wants us all to come.”

“Have a nice trip?”  AJ said shortly, glaring at me over his sunglasses.

“Yes…and no we didn’t get married or pregnant or anything scandalous like that,” I fired back.  Brian gave me a dirty look and I shut my mouth.

“So, who’s house first?”  AJ asked as we piled into the car.  Erin sat in the back with me to fill me in on all the Stefanie gossip.

“Mine, please.  My neighbor said she’d feed the fish but I don’t quite trust her,” I replied.

Brian walked me to my door.  “We don’t have to do this barbecue thing tomorrow if you don’t want to,” he told me.

“Nah, let’s do it.  I’m not letting them chase me away from you.”

“I love you, ya know.  I love you more than anything…and they better start treating you right,” he said firmly.  I smiled broadly.  He was finally admitting that there was a problem.  “Call me later?”

“I will…I’ll probably turn in early tonight,” I told him.  We kissed one last time and he ran down to the car. 

I entered my home and checked the fish, then headed straight for the bedroom.  I needed a few extra hours of sleep before going to The Hole.

 

She’s got a date at midnight/With Nosferatu/oh baby Lily Munster/Ain’t got nothing on you/Well when I call her evil/she just laughs/well cast that spell on me/boobitchcraft….

 

                I woke up around nine, totally refreshed and ready to go end my double life.  As I stretched and yawned, I told myself that this was it.  Brian was worth much more then any powers I might possess. And didn't I have enough powers anyway?

                I dug through my closet, tossing close over my shoulder as I looked for the perfect outfit.  A-ha.  Found it.  Exactly what I needed.  I pulled the hanger out and smiled in satisfaction as I gazed at the clothing.  It was a short black skirt...as short as decently possible with a matching short jacket.  Underneath I planned on wearing a black bra...and that was it.  I normally tried to stay away from black, but I knew I would attract all kinds in this outfit, and that was EXACTLY what I was going for. 

                As I sat at my vanity table and carefully applied makeup, I stopped and looked at the 8x10 framed picture of Brian that sat to my left.  I had taken it the day before he had gone on tour.  We had gone out on Nick's boat with Nick, Suzy, Autumn, and Howie, and it had been such a wonderful day.  Everyone was in a good mood, and Howie and Nick had actually been civil to me all day.  Brian was laughing at something silly that Nick was doing, and his blue eyes were sparkling with joy.  The light seabreeze was ruffling his short hair, and his dimples were grooved deeper then I thought possible.  I sighed and smiled as I reached one finger out to touch the picture.  He was DEFINITELY worth giving up all my secrets for.

                "Well well well...look what the cat dragged in," Kelley smirked as I sat down beside her.  "Long time no see, stranger."

                "I was away," I told her simply, reaching over and taking a large gulp of whatever concoction she was drinking. 

                "Let me guess...the Choirboy whisked you away on a tropical vacation," she said dryly.

                "Yes, actually, that is exactly what happened."  I looked her in the eye, not in the mood for her temper tantrum.  "Jealous much?"

                "Fuck you," she snapped back, grabbing her glass from my hand.

                "No, thank you...not interested."

                She gaped at me.  "What the hell's your problem?"

                "I don't have a...well...actually...yes, I do.  My problem is that I am tired of living this double life, and tonight is the last night I'm doing it."

                Kelley's mouth dropped open, all anger forgotten.  "What?  Lara, you can't be serious!  You just started!  You have so much more to explore...so much more to achieve!"

                "I've achieved everything I think I need.  Do you know how hard it is to keep this kinda stuff hidden from someone you care about?  Brian and I have no secrets, Kelley, and I don't want to keep up this charade any longer!"

                A half-breed walked over and propositioned Kelley, but she waved him away.  "This is serious, Lara.  You know that this place, this life, it's like an addiction.  Can you really give it up?"

                "Yes, I think I can," I replied, winking at an unfamiliar shape-shifter who was giving me the eye.  "He's so wonderful, Kel.  We spent most of the vacation just talking about all kinds of things.  I think he could be the one for me."

                "Whatever," she replied, rolling her eyes.  Obviously the idea of a "normal" monogamous relationship did not appeal to her.  "If that's what you want..."

                "It is."  I reached over and grabbed her hand.  "I could call you.  We could go do normal daytime things, like shop and movies and stuff."

                "Maybe," she replied, thought it was apparent that she didn't see it happening.  "Well, that animal over there has been panting over me for about twenty minutes now."  She stood, pulling down her green mini-dress.  "I think it's about time to put him out of his misery." She turned to me and smiled.  "I'll see you sometime, okay?"

                "Of course," I replied, smiling back.

                As Kelley went off to dance with her latest conquest, my eyes scanned the room, looking for the perfect mate to end my "other" life.  No one caught my eye.  Once again, the room was filled with auras I recognized, and I began to think that I had already done anyone who would be of any use to me.  Just when I was beginning to doubt my own allure, a shape filled my vision.

                "You're back," he said simply.  I looked up at the man with the long red hair.  I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face.

                "Yes...I was away," I replied.  I was shocked when Tristan actually sat down across from me at the table.  His intense blue eyes seemed to twinkle as he looked at me.

                "I missed you," he said, his voice thick with a hunger I totally recognized.

                "I thought about you, too," I said carefully, not wanting to lie to this creature.  I knew he could sense it, even as he sensed my own need for him.

                "You look...amazing tonight," he said, his eyes flickering over me. It was obvious that he liked what he saw.

                "Thank you."  I smoothed back the shimmering blond hair that fell to my waist.  "I guess I did try to dress to impress, though it doesn't seem to be working."

                "Oh, it's working...too well.  You have some sort of...power...about you tonight.  It's different...and everyone can sense it.  No one dared come over...except me."

                I began to laugh until I realized he was serious.  "Tonight is it for me, Tristan," I finally told him.  "I'm not coming back.  I can't do it anymore."

                His eyes grew stormy.  "You're serious, aren't you?"  I nodded.  "So you just don't wanna come back here anymore?"

                "I can't.  It threatens my other life too much...and there's nothing more I want here that I don't already have.  I may come in for a drink now and then, just to look around, but my hunting days are done.”

                "I see."  He grabbed my hand.  "Come on...we're leaving."

                "What...Tristan, wait!"  I hurried after him as he practically dragged me out of the bar.

“Tristan, where the hell are we going?”  I asked as he strode through the parking lot on his long legs.  “Should I get my car?”

He stopped to smile at me.  “If we had to go that far, Trinity, don’t you think I would get us there?”

“Oh,” I said, remembering just what kind of creature I was dealing with.  He started walking again, turning down one dark alley after another until I was totally lost.  He stopped in front of what looked like a totally abandoned building.  “Oh, this is so romantic,” I said sarcastically.  He rolled his eyes and placed a hand on the doorknob.  He didn’t turn it, but I heard the door unlock.

“Come on,” he said, motioning me to go in ahead of him.  I slowly walked ahead of him.  He sensed my fear and grabbed my hand reassuringly.  We walked down a hallway and finally turned into a small office.  A dwarf of a man was sitting on top of a table reading a book.  His face lit up when he saw Tristan.

“Ah!  My favorite customer…what can I do for you today, sir?”

“We need some markings done,” Tristan told him, slapping down some money.  “Secret identifications, if you will.”

“I know just the thing.  Make yourselves comfortable while I go mix the ink.”  The man hopped down and waddled off into a back room.  I turned to Tristan.

“Markings?  Identifications?  Tristan, I can’t do that…I WON’T do that…I can’t take a chance on him finding out about all this!”

Tristan pulled my body against his, his lips meeting mine in a burning kiss.  I whimpered when he finally pulled back.  “You’re mine, Trinity, more then you are his.  I refuse to lose you.” One long fingernail trailed down my cheek.  “You’ll be back at The Hole…I know you won’t be able to immediately give it all up.  But you’ll hide…you’ll lurk in corners so no one sees you…maybe even make yourself invisible.  But I want a way to find you…and I know when I find you, you’ll obey my call.”

“Oh, puhleeze,” I snapped, pulling away from him.   But I could feel my heart beating a mile a minute, and I seemed to want nothing more then to be his.  The pull of a vampire is strong…and that’s precisely why I refused to be turned.  I was already in his control, and he was not my master.

The tiny man came shuffling back in.  “Where do you want it?”

“On the hand.” Tristan grabbed my left hand and laid it flat on the table.  “Right here.”  He gently rubbed the skin between my thumb and first finger.  “And I want the same.”

“This may hurt, little lady, but only like a bunch of bee stings,” the man told me.  He carefully pressed on my fingers so my hand wouldn’t jump, then he bent down over my hand.  I felt the sting of the needle as the ink was injected under my skin, and I whimpered.  Tristan stood behind me, murmuring all kinds of things in my ear until I forgot everything but the sound of his voice.  About twenty minutes later, the man pulled back.  “There ya go.”

I fearfully looked down at my hand and saw nothing.  “But…but…” I stammered.

“You’ll only see it when you want to,” the man said mystically, bending over Tristan’s outstretched hand.

“It’s special ink,” Tristan explained.  “It can only be seen under one of those black lights, like at the club.  When you’re in one of those lights, it will show up white.  That way I’ll recognize you no matter what, and no one else in regular life will be able to see it.”

“I see,” I said, amazed at the idea.  I wandered around the shop as the man worked on Tristan’s hand, not really wanting to know what was in all the jars and boxes on the shelves. 

“Okay…all done.  Here.  You can see it here.”  The man led us to a corner and turned on a lamp.  It buzzed a dull purple color, and I gasped as I looked down at my hand.  An unfamiliar symbol seemed to glow under my skin, and I saw a matching symbol on Tristan’s hand as well. 

“It means unity,” Tristan told me.  “It’s a very old alphabet.”

“Wow,” I said, lightly tracing my hand.  Tristan took my right hand and thanked the man again.  We went back out into the night.  “Now what?”  I asked.

He put both arms around my waist.  “Close your eyes.”

“Why?  Tristan, ohhhhh my…” I gasped as I felt my feel lift off the ground.  I buried my face in his shoulder, not wanting to see the ground below me get farther and farther away.  I felt him chuckle.

“Don’t worry, Trinity.  We’re not going far.”  We traveled for about five minutes before I felt my feet slowly hit the ground.  We were on a rooftop somewhere across town.  “I keep this loft for when I need to be alone,” he explained as he let us in the door at one end of the roof.  We went down three flights of stairs before stopping at an apartment.  He unlocked the door and motioned for me to go in ahead of him.  The apartment was one giant room with only one piece of furniture: a huge canopied bed in the corner.  Candles flickered everywhere, illuminating the room in a dusky glow.  I swallowed deeply.  The ambiance alone was making my insides quiver.  Tristan threw his jacket in a corner and began to unbutton his shirt.  When it had joined the jacket, he slowly walked towards me, corralling me towards the bed.  His eyes were almost black, and I could see the change already coming over him.

“Maybe I should leave,” I whispered, the night’s events finally beginning to scare me.

“I told you once, I will not turn you.”  His long fingernails lightly raked through my hair.  “Not unless you ask.”

“I’ll never ask,” I whispered, not able to speak any louder.  He smirked. 

“We shall see.”

“You’re a pompous ass,” I snapped, reaching out to smack him.  I knew it would do him no harm, but it made me feel better to do it.  A hand moved out lightening fast to grab my hand and pin it behind my back.

“You’re so tough,” he mocked.  He bent his head to my throat and I hissed as I felt the razor sharp incisor slide along my neck.  His tongue flickered out.  “Mmmm and tasty, too.”  He undid the one button of my jacket, and threw the jacket onto the floor.  His long fingers made quick work of the bra as well and he was soon seated on the large bed, planting kisses on my bare breasts.  “You’ll always be mine, Trinity, whether you give your soul to me or not.”

“No,” I gasped, though there was no conviction in my voice.  I felt his hands slide up under the skirt, and I moaned, pressing his head to my chest.  He moaned as well when he realized that there was nothing under the skirt but me.  I pushed until he was flat on the bed, and I yanked at his pants, pulling them down.  I slowly kissed up his legs until I reached what I was aiming for.  He hissed as I took his hardness in my mouth, his long fingernails tearing the sheets into ribbons.

“What…you do to me…I…have never felt,” he panted.  “Oh…God…Trinity…stop please.”  He pulled at my hair to get me above him.  Before I knew what was happening, he was thrusting up into me with such force it was almost painful.  He held both my hands in one of his as his other hand sat on my waist, guiding me up and down.  As he began to get close, he pulled my head down near his.  “You are mine…say it.”

“No.”  I shook my head violently.  His hand came to wrap itself in my hair. 

“SAY…IT…” He slammed himself up into me as the other hand began to trace circles on my clit.

“Oh…God…yes…Tristan…I’m yours…only yours…” I screamed as I came hard and fast.  He moaned and I felt him thrust into me one last time.  I began to move off of him so I could get away from the hunger for blood that I knew would soon follow.

“No…don’t go,” he panted.  “I can control it…I think I can…” His arms clutched me tightly in an almost suffocating embrace.  I buried my head on his smooth chest and tried not to think of Brian.  Tristan groaned and buried his face in my hair.  “I can…it’s going…I don’t need…I’m fine,” he whispered, pausing after each phrase as if it was difficult to form the words.  I felt his body shudder then relax.  His hands began to rub my hair and back.  “Sleep…sleep my Trinity…sleep…” he murmured.  The sound of his voice soon soothed me into a deep sleep.

I woke up in my own bed the next morning.  My eyes searched the room wildly for a moment as I strove to recognize my surroundings.  As I realized I was in my own apartment, I fell back onto the pillows and sighed.  My dreams were getting stranger and stranger it seemed, though I didn’t believe that the previous night’s events were part of a dream.  They seemed too real. 

I yawned and stretched, looking at the clock.  Eight-thirty.  As late as I had been up the night before, I felt surprisingly rested.  After going to the bathroom and getting a drink of water, I picked up the phone to call Brian.  It rang in my hand.

“Hey Sleeping Beauty…did I waken you?”

“No, Prince Charming, you didn’t,” I said, smiling.  Hearing Brian’s voice first thing in the morning always made me smile.  “I was just lying here missing you.”

“Liar,” he said, laughing.  “You were probably trying to decide about whether to stay in bed where it was all comfy and snuggly, or if you should get up and finally go to the bathroom.”

“Sorry…already had that discussion with myself about ten minutes ago and the bathroom won,” I told him.  “You know me too well.”

“Well, after spending two weeks in paradise, I guess I should know you,” he replied.  “What time do you want me to come get you?”

“Come get me?”

“For Kevin’s shindig.”

I groaned.  “Isn’t this your vacation?  Aren’t you guys sick of each other yet?”

Brian paused.  “He’s my cousin, Lara.  He wants us to meet Lisa…is it too much to ask for us to make an appearance?”

I sighed.  “No, Bri-Bri, it isn’t.  I apologize.  I just get so nervous around all of them.”

“I know you do, baby, and I plan on having a talk with them all today, okay?  And about us getting sick of each other…I swear, sometimes it’s like we go crazy if we DON’T get together every other day…I know it sounds odd but we’re just tight like that.”

“I see,” I said, though I really didn’t see.  “Well, why don’t you come over sometime after eleven.  I have some cleaning up to do around here but I should be ready by then.”

“I can’t wait.  I love you, baby.”

“I love you, too, Bri,” I replied, then hung up. I rolled onto my stomach, snuggling under the covers.  I wished I could just pull them over my head and hide from Nick Carter, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, and the whole Backstreet Boys world in general.

“Good morning, Pretty Thing,” a voice above her head hissed.  She struggled to keep her head above water, gasping for breath.  “What a surprise to see you here so bright and early.”

“I bet you thought we were gone for good,” another voice added, flapping its wings so the water splashed around her furiously.  “You were gone, but we weren’t.”

“Just because you sleep good and tight doesn’t mean the bedbugs aren’t waiting to bite,” the low voice said, making the whole group cackle with laughter.

She struggled to see around her, but the dark waves were too high.  She couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.  She began to paddle determinedly, kicking furiously in case any mysterious creature of the deep decided to start feasting on her toes.

“Yes, lovely, yes…swim swim swim…swim to dry land…even though you don’t know what will be waiting for you when you get there!” 

“Let us help you!”  Another voice said. She felt claws dig into her shirt, and she screamed as she felt herself being lifted from the water.  She struggled and fought, but she felt herself being carried through the air.  She was dumped onto some sort of solid surface, and she jumped to her feet.  Before she could move, she heard the soft thumps of large feet hitting the ground around her.  She could tell that she was surrounded.  She swallowed deeply and stood up straight.

“When are you going to tell me what you want and leave me the hell alone?” She asked bravely.

“Well, what we USED to want has changed,” a dark voice replied. 

“Now we want more,” the youngest voice added.

“I sure don’t,” another voice said.

“Now, love, calm down…she’s not THAT unappetizing,” a voice teased.  She felt a fingernail run along the line of her breast, barely touching the fabric of her shirt.

“Your body will make an enticing appetizer before we feast on your life,” a voice whispered in her ear.  She brought her hand up to smack at whatever was whispering, and her hand came in contact with skin.  She drew her fingernails down with all her might.  A scream filled the air.  “You fucking bitch!  I’m going to tear your fucking heart out now!” 

“Relax…relax…all in good time…” the most mature voice said.

“No…now!”  The voice bellowed.

“Don’t touch me…don’t touch me!”  She screamed, taking one step back.

“Long…drawn out…torture…” the voice hissed, and she could smell death on his breath.

“Wait…don’t touch her!”  One of the other voices shouted.  “Remember!”

“Don’t touch me!”  I shrieked, sitting up in bed.  I smacked at the hands that held my arms.

“Lara…Baby…wake up!  Wake up!”  I felt strong arms around me, and I recognized their warmth.  I laid my head on Brian’s shoulder and sobbed.  “It’s me…Lara…it’s me.”

“Oh, Brian!”  I couldn’t stop shaking.  That was the most realistic of all the dreams so far.

He pulled back to look me in the eye.  “How long have you been having these dreams?”

“A…a while now,” I admitted.

“You are going to talk to someone…a specialist…a therapist…something.  These are worse then your usual everyday dreams.  I don’t like it.”

“Brian, I’m fine.  I’m not going to some shrink and try to explain that I’m having bad dreams.  I’ll sound like a child.”  I sighed and glanced at the clock.  “Ten-thirty?  Wow…I must have fallen back asleep.  Let me jump in the shower and I'll be ready in ten minutes.”

His thumb lightly traced my face.  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, Brian.  It was just a dream.”

But as I walked into my bathroom, I could still feel that skin under my fingers…and I could smell the stench of death that seemed to be waiting just for me.

Kevin’s party was the usual Backstreet Boys shindig…about forty or fifty of their “closest friends,” along with about five or six kegs as well as a fully stocked bar.  I parked myself on a deck chair under an umbrella, and Autumn, Suzy, Erin and Lisa, Kevin’s new flame soon joined me.  She was really nice, and I almost felt sorry for her certain fate.  She was fairly short, with brown hair and brown eyes that sparkled when she laughed.  And she laughed a lot.  She even had the moody Autumn cracking up at her witty remarks. 

Brian and the guys were fooling around in the pool.  I was pretty sure that he had said something to them, because they were all being more than civil, AJ even threatening to untie my bathing suit if I put one toe into the pool.

“I could get so used to this,” Lisa sighed, taking a big gulp of her beer.  “Life in Kentucky is nothing compared to this.”

“So, how are you and Kevin getting along?”  Autumn asked.

“Pretty good…he’s a wonderful guy,” Lisa replied, her eyes narrowing as she saw Kevin splashing an unfamiliar girl with strawberry blonde hair.

“Who’s that?”  Erin asked bluntly, once again doing the over-the-sunglasses thing as she looked towards the pool.

“That’s Stef.  She’s a friend of mine that’s visiting from out of town,” Suzy volunteered.  We all turned to look at her.  “What?  She was staying with me and Nicky, and I asked if she wanted to come along today.  Kevin didn’t have a problem with it.”

“Of course he didn’t,” I murmured, watching as Kevin dunked Stef and she came up sputtering for breath.  She was dramatically pretending to choke, and Kevin was lightly patting her on the back.  I jumped to my feet.  “Feel like swimming, Lisa?”

“Definitely.”  She hopped up as well.  “Coming?”  She asked the other girls.

“Nah…Alexander and I are not on the best of terms right now…I’m liable to drown him,” Erin informed us.

“Are you two EVER on the best of terms?”  Autumn asked.

“Yes…when we are horizontal,” Erin said with a straight face, making all of us laugh.  “Besides, you are one to talk about being on good terms with your man.”

“Oh, I am SO out of here,” I said quickly.  “Come on, Lisa.”  We walked over to the pool and sat at the edge.  Brian immediately swam over.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said, kissing my knees.  I shivered.  He knew damn well that drove me crazy.

“Hey, Bri-Bri.  You know Lisa, right?”

“Of course.  We met when we got here,” Brian gently reminded me. “Having a good time?” 

“Yes, though all the new names and faces are starting to swim in my brain,” she told him.

“Well, why don’t you swim right on in here?”  Howie asked, coming over and tugging on her ankle.  She squealed and began to kick at him.  I stared.  He had barely known her a week and he was already flirting with her.  He had never treated ME like…

“You too…come in on your own or we help you in,” Nick said maliciously, grabbing my foot and tickling the bottom of it.  I yelled and began to kick furiously.

“Brian, make him stop!”  I whined.

“Sorry, honey, but this is all you,” he said, laughing as he swam away.  Nick’s hands were large, and they easily encircled my ankles.  I closed my eyes and drew on the secret strength I knew I possessed.  I kicked once, and my ankles flew from his grip.  He stared at me openmouthed.

“I…uh…I’ve been working out,” I said, blushing.

“I guess,” he replied.  Lisa grabbed my arm as Howie began to pull her off the ledge and we both ended up in the pool.

“Dorough, you are SO in trouble!” I yelled, as Lisa and I took off after him.

“Not so fast,” Kevin said, easily picking Lisa up and throwing her over his shoulder.  I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, and I noticed a shark tattoo on the one bicep.  “Nick…let me go!”  I yelled, thrashing about.

“Why?  You wanted us to pay attention to you, didn’t you?”  He whispered in my ear.  I froze and he slowly let me slide back down until my feet were on the floor of the pool.  I turned around.

“Is that what Brian told you?”

“Not really.”  He looked around.  No one was close enough to hear our conversation.  “He just said that we should be a little nicer to you…and I assumed that you were mad cuz we don’t treat you the way we treat Suz, or Erin, or Autumn.”

“Speaking of which,” I said, ignoring his assumption.  “You’d better learn to keep your fists off your girlfriend, Nick.  I don’t like the fact that she showed up at my house that morning with a beautifully bruised face.”

Nick’s blue eyes glared down at me for a moment, then he smiled with amusement.  “You’re so scary, Lara,” he said.  “I’m petrified.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Carter,” I said angrily.  “Brian may love you guys, but he loves me, too…and he won’t take you giving me any more shit.”  I turned to swim away and he grabbed my arm, dragging me back.

“That’s just it.  We used to be a family…and then YOU came along!”  He hissed, in a tone dripping with hate.  I stared at him.

“Is THAT what’s this all about?  A girl broke into the clubhouse without the password?”  My eyes narrowed and I began to poke him in the chest, making him take a step back.  I forgot that I had more strength in my fingers then he probably had in his whole body.  “Excuse me for falling in love with your best friend, Nickolas.  Is it my fault that he is one of the most amazing people on this planet and I couldn’t help but be attracted to him?  Just be happy I’m not like the girls Kevin plays around with: completely disposable.  I love Brian, and he loves me.  If you can’t deal with that, fine.  Take it up with him.  But leave me the hell alone!”  I snapped.

Before Nick could reply, Brian came swimming over.  “Glad to see you two are getting along…though it’s a little too cozy for my taste.”  Brian pretended to be jealous, but I knew he wasn’t.  I could see his point though; I had Nick pressed back against the wall and I was right in his face.

“Yes, we are getting along, honey.  I was just setting Nicky straight about some things.”  I smiled up at him sweetly, though my eyes were full of venom.  His face was expressionless, and I could read nothing in his eyes.  “I’m gonna get out, baby.  You have fun.”  I pulled myself out of the pool, and went to sit under the umbrella again.

I watched Nick, Kevin, Howie and AJ have a powwow in the corner of the pool as Brian talked with Lisa.  Four hateful glares turned my way, but I met them all with a pleasant grin.  They were not going to take Brian away from me.

“Dammit!”  I yelled as the doorbell rang.  “Why the HELL don’t people call first?”  I crawled out from the bottom of my closet, dusting my hands off on my shorts.  I was in my grungiest clothes, cleaning out the bottom of my closet.  Brian had yet again brought up the idea of moving in together, and I needed to think about it.  Cleaning was the best way for me to think, since thinking took my mind off of the fact that I hated to clean.  I glanced at the clock as I walked through my living room.  Who the hell would be knocking on my door at nine in the morning?

“Oh…hi…” I said as I opened the door.  I saw Nick, AJ and Erin on the other side.  Erin’s face was flushed with excitement, while Nick and AJ simply looked bored.  “Come on in.”  I held the door open.  “Excuse my appearance…I was cleaning.”  We all went into the living room.  “Can I get anyone anything?”

“Nope…fine here,” Nick replied.  AJ shook his head.  Erin was practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

“Guess what?  Guess what?  Guess where we’re going?”

AJ rolled his eyes.  “I told her to wait and let Rok tell you, but the dumb wench just couldn’t keep her mouth shut.” 

Erin glared at him and smacked his arm.  “Fuck off, Alex.  Anyway…the guys are gonna go down to the Bahamas to write, and we’re all going along!”

“WHO’S all going along?” I asked in amazement.

“All the girls…me, you, Suz, Autumn…and what’s her name…um…”

“Lisa?”

“Yeah!”  Erin smiled happily.  “Isn’t this awesome?  The five of us can hang on the beach during the day while they write, and then we can all party at night!”

“How do you guys feel about this?”  I asked Nick.

“We could care less really,” he said nonchalantly.

“We could probably get more done alone, but it will be kinda nice to have you girls around,” AJ said.  Erin glared at him again.

“It was Brian’s idea, anyway,” Nick told me, giving me the most evil of looks.  “Guess he can’t bear to be without you.”

“That must be nice,” Erin snapped at AJ.  He sighed and put an arm around her.

“You know I love you, baby.”

“Damn skippy you do, after all I do for you…cleaning up after you…letting you keep those late hours without me,” she muttered.  AJ kissed her to shut her up.

“We have to go,” Nick told me, standing.  “We just wanted to stop by.”

“I’ll call you later,” Erin promised.  “Maybe me, you and that Lisa girl can go shopping.”

“Sounds great,” I replied. “Talk to you soon.  Bye AJ…Nick.”

“Later,” AJ said, pushing up his sunglasses.  Nick said nothing, just waltzed out the door.

“Lara?” I heard Brian yell through the open door early that evening.

“In here!” I yelled from the bathroom.  I heard his footsteps and pulled myself out of the bathtub.  He stopped short in the doorway.

“Are you cleaning?”  He knew me too well.

“I had to think,” I explained.  A confused look crossed his face but quickly disappeared.  “Something you want to tell me?”  His face fell.

“Guess someone else got to you first, huh?” 

“Yeah, Nick, AJ and Erin stopped by this morning.”  I sat down on the floor and looked up at him.  “Are you sure you want me along?  I mean, if I’m gonna get in the way, I’ll just wait here for you.”

Brian joined me on the floor.  “Baby, if I didn’t want you there, I never would have suggested it to the guys.  I spent all those months without you.  I can’t stand the thought of losing you again for any long period of time.”

“Oh,” I said happily, laying my head on his shoulder.  “I don’t think Nick and AJ were too keen on any of us girls going.”

“They can go to hell,” Brian said.  “I want you right next to me every night when I turn out the lights.”

I sighed.  “When will we leave?”

“Saturday.”

“Saturday?  Today’s Thursday, Brian!  When were you planning on telling me?”

“Tonight.  I knew you’d be able to get packed by then.”

I sighed.  Men were so exasperating.  “Okay…I think Erin, Lisa and I are going shopping tomorrow.  I can pack tomorrow night.  I…uh…was gonna go out tomorrow night.  You mind?”

“Of course not.  That will give me time to get some things done.  Will you be up and ready at eight the next morning?”

“Yes,” I told him.  It was the truth. I wasn’t planning on staying at The Hole for long.

“No, Bri-Bri, I didn’t spend all your money,” I said with a smile on my face as I put clothes on hangers.  “Just most of it.  You DID give me a few blank checks, remember?”

“But you have a closet FULL of clothes,” he protested, though I could tell he wasn’t really mad.  “Why do you need more?”

“For our trip, silly,” I said, as if he were an idiot.  “There are tons of men down there I need to impress.”

“You only need to impress me, and you already do,” he replied.  “Autumn and Suzy stopped by today with D and Nick…they were feeling kinda left out.”

“Oh, puhleeze,” I said, rolling my eyes as I cut off price tags.  “Autumn has been so sappy about Howie lately that I just couldn’t handle her…and Lisa isn’t exactly best friends with Suzy right now after Suzy brought her friend Stef into the picture.  We had a nice time, just the three of us…hope Lisa works out with Kev, I really do.”

“Me too…she does seem nice,” Brian said.  “You WILL be ready to go tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, Bri,” I sighed.  “I AM a grownup, remember?”

“Of course I do,” he said, and I laughed.  We chatted for a moment longer and then hung up.

 

Yeah you wanna go out cuz it’s raining and blowing/you can’t go out cuz your roots are showing dye ‘em black/dye ‘em black/Black number one…

 

I brooded in my corner…even Kelley hadn’t seen me come in.  I didn’t want to bother her; she was in a halfbreed/shapeshifter sandwich.  She’d have a busy night ahead of her.  I kept my left hand covered, not wanting anyone to wander over and inquire about my strange marking.  I was actually wishing that women still wore gloves.  I ended up sitting on both hands, only moving to occasionally sip my drink.  Tonight I wore skintight black leather pants, with a black halter-top.  My hair was long, straight and dark, an imitation of Angelina Jolie at the Oscars.  A deep bass groove thumped so loud the liquid in my glass shook, and I desperately wanted to dance.  I did not, however, want anyone to hit on me…so I stayed at my table.

“I honestly would NOT have recognized you tonight,” a familiar voice said behind me.  I didn’t turn around.  “You hid yourself good this time…and your aura is nonexistent.”  Tristan sat across from me at the table.  “Does that mean you don’t want to be found?”

“Depends who is doing the finding,” I teased.  I was shocked as I looked at him.  His hair was a light brown this time, cut in a style that was similar to Brian’s.  Tristan reached for my hand and I gave it to him.  His thumb lightly ran over my skin.  “I’m gonna be gone for a while, Tristan,” I said finally.  “For like maybe a month.”

I saw storms race behind his blue eyes.  “Well, we should make the most of tonight, now, shouldn’t we?”

Before I knew it, we were dancing in his loft, candles illuminating the room.  “I miss you, you know,” he confided softly.  I stared up at him, surprised at this side of his personality.  I didn’t know vampires could be sentimental.

“Oh, Tristan, you hardly know me,” I said. 

“I do…I feel like I know you intimately…from head to toe, inside and out.”  He kissed my forehead.  “You’re not just another Wannabe…there’s another kind of power to you…something stronger…” He cupped my face in his hands.  “Let me turn you, Trinity.  Let me make you mine for always.”

I stepped out of his embrace.  I had been dreading the night he would ask me this, for I knew it was something I wanted but was running from at the same time.  “No, Tristan.  I can’t.  I have Br…I mean, I have someone special in my life.  More than likely we’re gonna move in together after this vacation.  I can’t give him up.”

“Can you give me up?” Tristan smiled, and I saw the sharp incisors that I found so sexy.  “I will leave you alone forever if you can honestly tell me that you don’t hunger for me as I hunger for you.”  He smiled a teasing smile.  “And be honest…I can read your soul.”

I swallowed deeply.  “You know I can’t say that…but it’s him that I belong with…in a real life.”

“You could have a real life with me!”  Tristan begged, surprising me.  “Let HIM be your other life!”

“I can’t, Tristan,” I said sadly.  I went to the door.  “Goodbye.”  I closed it behind me, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the room.

Everyone was grumpy on the flight down, a fact that actually pleased me.  That way, I could feel like they were treating me just like they treated everyone else.  Brian wasn’t feeling well, and did indeed look a bit pale. He spent most of the flight with his head on my lap, snoring away as he sprawled out on the seats.  I finally had to go to the bathroom so bad at one point that I carefully snaked my way out from under him, arranging his sleeping form so that he was more comfortable. 

As I walked back from the restroom, I decided to sit in another seat so I wouldn’t disturb him.  I picked a seat by the window, staring out at the clouds.  Erin and AJ were arguing, as usual, and Suzy was trying to mediate.  Kevin, Nick and Howie were discussing something having to do with the new CD, and Autumn was reading a magazine.  Lisa walked over and plopped down next to me.

“You okay?”

“Yeah…I’m worried about Brian.  He doesn’t look so good.  He was fine last night when I talked to him.”  I glanced over at him, a concerned expression on my face.

“I’m sure he’s fine.”  She patted my knee.  “When Kev and I stopped by his place last night, he was looking a bit under the weather then, too. I’m sure it’s just one of those twenty-four hour bugs.  Besides, I think a good long vacation is just what they all need.”  She glanced over at her boyfriend then huddled closer to me.  “Kev’s been kinda outta it too, lately.  I think they’re all still stressed from the tour.”

“You think that’s it?”

“Sure.  I couldn’t live that kinda life.”

“It’s hard enough living this one,” I murmured, and she gave me a strange look.  Lisa stood and went over to where Erin was still arguing with AJ.  “Hey, Erin, come sit back here.  You too, Suz.  Let’s grab Autumn and decided our game plan for the days we’re on our own.”  AJ glared at her for the interruption.  “Oh, can it, McLean.  You two can fight when we’re done.”  AJ looked at her, then his face broke out into a smile.  He looked at Erin, kissed her cheek, and then went back to join the other guys.

“Have fun shopping yesterday?”  Autumn said, glaring at me as we sat around a small table in the back of the private plane.

“Oh, bite me,” I growled.

“Enough, you guys.  The only people allowed to fight on this plane are me and Bone,” Erin ordered, trying to make us smile.  “Just because we date a group doesn’t mean we have to do everything as a group,” she pointed out.

“You’re right,” Autumn conceded.  “Sorry.”

“Me too,” I replied.

“And I didn’t know that Stef would cause such a commotion,” Suzy said to Lisa.  “I’m sorry…I just didn’t want her sitting around alone.”

“It’s okay,” Lisa said, smiling at her.

“Okay…I propose days of sunshine and tanning while they write, with occasional shopping.  Who’s with me?”  I asked.  Four hands raised in agreement.  “Sweet.”  I smiled in satisfaction.

Two days later, at ten in the morning, the five of us were already arranged in our special place on the beach.  Close to the house if we needed anything, close to the water if we wanted to cool off, and close to a lifeguard…for eye candy.

“Think we could convince them to move here?”  Erin asked, leaning back with a sigh.

“Not unless we moved every Playstation game north of the equator down here,” Suzy commented, tapping her fingers along with the song playing on our portable radio.

“I could handle it,” Autumn observed.  “Howie hasn’t worn more then a pair of shorts for the past few days.  I could handle it.”  We all murmured agreement.

“So.”  I leaned on one arm.  “Who hasn’t gotten lucky since we’ve been here besides me?”  Everyone gaped at me.  “Brian’s still not feeling well.  I don’t wanna push it.”

“This has been the best sex AJ and I have had in…months,” Erin finally admitted.  “He just hasn’t been interested. I mean, for the year that we’ve been together, his sexual interest has come and gone in spurts…I mean, one week he’s like get the fuck away, and the next he can’t get enough.”

“You, too?”  Autumn exclaimed.  “I thought it was just me and Howie.”

“We used to make love like every other hour,” Suzy said wistfully.  “But for the past month or so, I can hardly get a kiss out of Nick.”

“Sorry,” I whispered, feeling guilty for even bringing it up.

“Well, MY sex life is WAY past satisfying,” Lisa said boldly, sitting up.  “Kevin can keep it up for HOURS…and I mean in any way shape or form that you would want it.”

“LISA!”  I yelled, as the others shrieked with laughter.  “Ever hear of TMI?  Too Much Information?”

“Well, I thought I would elaborate,” she said, tossing her hair.  That only made us laugh harder.

“Well, then, tell us, Miss Lisa, how big is it REALLY?  Does the size of one’s hands REALLY the truth?”  Autumn asked.  Lisa held out her hands in a span so large that we all groaned as one before bursting into hysterical laughter once more.

The next week passed in a heavenly state.  Brian regained his health, and he always made sure to find time for me, even when the other guys yelled at him for not concentrating enough.  But even Nick had to admit that Brian was quite inspired when it came to writing a love song.

One morning I was the first one in our huge beach house to wake up.  I tiptoed downstairs, made the obligatory pot of coffee, and sat out back on the porch.  I closed my eyes and sighed as I listened to the waves.  I could see why the guys found this spot so inspirational.  I heard footsteps behind me.  I turned around in my chair and gasped.

“Hi…you’re Lara, right?  I’m Stef, Suz’s friend.”  She sat down at the table with me and gave me a friendly smile.  I jumped up without a word and ran into the house.  I flew down the hallway to Kevin’s little suite and barged in without knocking.

“You fucking piece of SHIT!”  I shrieked, doing a flying leap onto the bed and straddling his waist.  “Where is she? What did you do to her?  What the HELL made her leave without saying goodbye?”  I began to slap and punch him, all animal instinct boiling to the surface.  Kevin tried to catch my hands but he was still half asleep.

“Lara…what…”

“Where is Lisa?”  I almost sobbed.  “My only real friend and you fucking drove her away!  You cocksucking bastard!” I screamed, trying to claw at his eyes.  I felt a pair of arms go around me and I struggled.

“Baby…shh…baby…” I heard Brian whisper.  With all my strength I arched back, and he went flying to the floor.

“Control your woman, Bri, or I can’t be held responsible,” Kevin hissed, jumping to his feet.

“What’s going on?”  Nick said sleepily as he and Suz came to the doorway.  Howie and Autumn stood behind them. I knew AJ and Erin were still in bed; they could sleep through a hurricane.

“Your friend fucking dumped Lisa and sent her packing without letting her say goodbye!”  I sobbed.  “And then he brings his new little slut down to stay here!”

“Who?”  Suz asked.

“Stef,” I said, finally letting Brian put his arms around me.  Brian, Kevin, Nick and Howie all exchanged glances.

“Come on, baby.  Let’s go outside and take a walk,” Brian suggested softly.

“I don’t wanna walk,” I whined, but I let him lead me out.

“Show’s over…let’s all go get dressed,” Howie said, leading Autumn back to their suite.

I blindly followed Brian out to the beach, totally ignoring Stef.  Why in the world hadn’t Lisa said goodbye…and what had happened between her and Kevin?

A few nights later, I woke up alone in bed.  I sighed and looked at the clock.  Three-fifteen.  I wasn’t worried; I knew where Brian was.  He had been having a hard time sleeping, and often got up to walk on the beach.  Usually I waited for him, but tonight I decided to go find him.  I pulled a robe on and went downstairs.  I tiptoed out the back door and hurried down the steps to the beach.

As I strolled along the water’s edge, I kept rolling the whole Lisa situation around in my head.  I couldn’t understand what in the world had happened, and Kevin would tell us nothing.  All he would say was that he and Lisa had had a terrible fight in the middle of the night, and she demanded to be sent back home.  He happily complied.  He then called Stef, who was more then willing to fly down at a moment’s notice.  I gritted my teeth together. Stef was nice enough, and it wasn’t HER fault that Kevin had kicked Lisa out, but I just couldn’t bring myself to be more than civil to her.  I smiled to myself as I realized that I was treating Stefanie the same way Nick, AJ, Kevin and Howie had been treating me.  I frowned then.  It wasn’t that funny.  Even Autumn and Suzy were giving me the cold shoulder now, unhappy about the way I was treating Stef.  Erin still seemed to be on my side, but only when the others weren’t around.  I made up my mind to have a long hard talk with them, and if I had to kiss up to Stef, I would.  I couldn’t handle being the outcast. 

I thought about Kevin and the string of girlfriend’s he’d had since I had met him.  Way back before they left to go on tour, there was Vickie.  She was bubbly and full of fun, and I had liked her.  But by the time they returned from the tour, Vickie had been replaced with Stef #1, from Germany.  Then was Lisa, and now Stef #2.  I wondered what in the world made him jump so quickly from one to the other. Was a normal relationship so very boring to him?  And why did they simply disappear?  Was it so he wouldn’t look bad when we bombarded him with questions?  I sighed.  I would eventually warm up to Stef…but I almost was afraid to.  Who knew when she’d be replaced, too?

I sat down on a little dune of sand, leaning back against the side of a hill.  I stared at the waves that I couldn’t see.  My eyes soon fluttered shut.

 

Wolfskin boots/a clove cigarette/an erotic funeral for which she’s dressed/her perfume smells like burning leaves/every day is Halloween

 

“Trinity.”  I heard the voice before I saw the figure.  A tall man with jet-black hair and shocking blue eyes strode towards me.  He wore an unbuttoned black shirt and black leather pants.  I gasped.

“Tristan?”  I looked around wildly, realizing that we were in his loft.  Candles flickered everywhere.  I caught sight of myself in the mirror on the wall…I had on black leather pants as well, with tall black boots and a black peasant blouse.  My hair was as dark as his, and flowed way past my shoulders.  “What am I doing here?”

“I found you in your dreams,” he whispered.  He embraced me but I pushed away.

“You’re scaring me, Tristan…leave me alone!”  I cried.  “I want to go back!”

“You want me, Trinity…say it…” he hissed, his tongue running over the sharp fangs that now were quite obvious.  He took me in his arms again, and I couldn’t find the strength to struggle.

“No,” I whispered, though I could feel my body responding to the simple touch of his hand.

“Let me make you mine,” he hissed, his fangs lightly nipping at my neck.  “We can be together for always.”

“No,” I whimpered, struggling against the way my body was reacting.

“Our bodies make music together like nothing I’ve ever experienced,” he murmured, his hand reaching up to toy with my breast.  “I want that for eternity.”

“Sex…that’s all I am to you…you can find that anywhere,” I reminded him, finally shoving him away.  He gave me a smirk.

“Yes I can…but not the way I can find it with you…and there’s so much more…”

“No, Tristan.  For the last time, no!”  I shouted.  “Get out of my dreams…get out of my life!”  I reached up and smacked him.  He grabbed my hands and I struggled.  “No…no…let go!”

“Lara…Lara…wake up, baby!”  I felt someone grabbing my hands.

“No…no…let go!”  I yelled, shoving the person away.  My eyes flew open.

“Lara, wake up.  It was a dream!”  Brian pulled my head against his chest to keep me from thrashing about.

“Brian?  What are you doing here?”  I gasped for breath, trying to calm down.

“I should be asking you that…what in the world are you doing in your bathrobe on the beach at four in the morning?”

“Looking for you,” I whispered, reaching up to caress the face I loved so much.

“Well, you found me.”  He helped me stand and gave me a big hug.  “Was it another nightmare?”

I shook my head.  “Not like the others.  I haven’t had one of those since we came down here. Just a bad dream.”  I kissed him gently.  “Let’s go back in, Bri. I’m tired.”  I yawned a big yawn and he smiled.  Putting an arm around my waist, he began to lead me back into the house.

All too soon someone was knocking on our bedroom door.  “Rok?  Yo, Rok.  You coming or do we have to come in and get you.”

Brian groaned from under his pillow, and I sighed.  Off he would go to another day of writing, even though we both needed sleep.  I kissed his cheek.  “Get up, baby.  AJ won’t be quiet ‘til you do.”

He sighed and pulled himself out of bed, his hair standing up in all directions.  I giggled and he made a face at me.  He went to the door, opening it a crack.  “Hey, Bone.  Sorry…I’m not gonna make it today.”  My mouth dropped open.  “Why don’t you guys work on those R and B songs you were playing with yesterday?  I wouldn’t be any good with those anyway.”

“Everything okay?  Lara sick or something?”  He tried to sound concerned but I knew he was only annoyed.

“Yes…we’re fine…I just had a problem sleeping last night and really need to crash for a few hours.  Maybe I can stop by after lunch.”

“Yeah…okay…whatever.  You know where we’ll be.”  Brian started to shut the door, and I heard AJ, clear as day, saying, “That fucking bitch.”

Brian threw the door open.  “WHAT was that, AJ?”

“I…uh…I said, son of a bitch…we’ll miss you today, man,” AJ said innocently.  I peeked out from under the blanket and saw Brian glaring at his friend.

“That BETTER be what you said.  See you later.” Brian slammed the door in AJ’s face and came back to the bed.  He climbed under the covers, snuggling up close.  “Close your eyes, baby.  Let’s get some sleep.”

Sleep didn’t come immediately.  I thought about what I was doing to the group, and if our relationship was worth practically breaking up the Backstreet Boys.  I finally drove those queries out of my head and dozed off.

One Week Later

 

“Are you sure this dress isn’t too short?”  I asked anxiously, turning in front of the mirror.  All five girls were in Autumn and Howie’s suite, getting ready to go out on the town for one last time.  We were planning on leaving the next day to return home.

“You look fine,” Erin said in a bored voice as she filed her nails.

“You shut up.  You always look good.  You have height.  I have…nothing!”  I wailed, tugging at the short blue minidress I wore. 

“Ya know what that needs?  My silver necklace.”  Stef ran out of the room.  I sighed, sitting on the bed.   We had all made up about three days earlier, with me kissing up and groveling big time.  Stef was very nice, and I tried to push my hesitations to the back of my mind.  “Here you go.”  She handed me a thick silver choker.  “This will look great with your dark hair.”

“Thanks,” I said gratefully as she clasped it around my neck.

We heard a knock at the door.  “Suzy?”

“We’ll be out in a minute, Nicky!”  She called back, fastening the strap on her sandal.

“I just wanted to tell you that I left something at the studio…I’ll meet you guys at the club.”

“Okay,” she called back.

Five minutes later there was another knock.  “Aren’t you women ready yet?”  Kevin called.  “We do have to go home tomorrow, ya know.”

“Are we ready?”  Autumn asked.  We all nodded.  She opened the door.

“Finally,” Kevin said, but he smiled.  He gave us all appreciative nods, but saved his biggest smile for Stef.  I sighed, missing Lisa desperately.

“Wow.”  Brian’s blue eyes were huge as he looked at me.  “Where’d you get that?”

“The day I went shopping and spent all your money,” I said, whirling around in front of him. 

“You look good enough to eat,” he announced, nipping at my neck.  I squealed.

“Okay, kids…let’s roll.”  AJ took Erin’s hand and led the way out of the house.

We walked the few short blocks down to what was becoming our favorite club.  The bouncers and bartenders knew us, and shouted hellos as we went to our favorite table in the back.

“You ready to get down?”  Howie shouted to Autumn over the music.  She nodded and he began to lead her out to the dance floor.  Kevin, Stef, Erin, and AJ followed. 

“You feel like dancing?”  I asked Brian.

“Sure.  I feel fine.”  He gave me his beautiful smile, then turned to Suzy.  “Coming, Suz?”

“Nah…I’ll just sit here and wait for Nicky.”  She sat down at the table, trying not to look too left out.

“Oh, come on, Suz.  He’ll find us,” I begged, but she shook her head.  I sighed and followed Brian out to the dance floor.

Brian could move, but no one danced like AJ. I would never have admitted it, but I enjoyed watching him dance.  Hell…what warm-blooded female didn’t?  I laughed as I watched some of the other women in the room drool over AJ’s body, and laughed even harder at the glares Erin was giving each and every one of them.

“Look!  Nick’s here!”  Brian pointed over the top of the crowd, where I could just see the lights dancing off of Nick’s blond hair. 

“Good.  Now Suz can dance, too.”

We danced for about twenty minutes, until we were all drenched with sweat.  We decided to sit down, and I offered to grab drinks for everyone.  I took orders and made my way to the bar.  As I rattled off the orders, the bartender laughed, the black lights behind the bar making his teeth look like ivory.  I leaned on the bar, watching the other people dance.  I looked down at my hands and gasped.  The tattoo was quite obvious in the black lights behind the bar, and I started to cover my left hand with my right.  Before I could, however, another hand slapped down over mine.  I gasped as I saw the symbol that matched the one I had.

“Trinity? What a surprise.  I never expected to find you here!”  A voice behind me said, his voice filled with awe and shock.

“I…I didn’t either, Tristan.”  I slowly turned around and looked right into the gorgeous blue eyes of Nick Carter.

Our blue eyes locked and held, our mouths falling open as one.  He slowly removed his hand from mine.  “Oh my God…” he whispered.  I couldn’t speak.  I swallowed deeply, unable to form words.  This was the creature I had given my body to so wantonly…the vampire that I had actually considered giving my soul to.  I began to slowly back away, knocking into people who cursed loudly.  I finally turned and ran out of the club.  “Lara…wait!”  I heard Nick call, but I continued to run.

I ran until my lungs burned.  I fell to the ground, panting for breath.  I lay back, ignoring the fact that I was getting sand and dirt all over my new outfit.  I closed my eyes as tears started to fall.  I couldn’t believe it.  Nick.  Nick Carter was “Tristan”.  Nick Carter hated me.  Nick Carter thought I was the scum of the earth…and the feeling was mutual.  Nick Carter…my boyfriend’s best friend.  I sobbed as I pondered that fact.  It was bad enough that I had cheated on Brian…I had come to terms with that a long time earlier.  But the fact that it was with his best friend that I had cheated made things totally different.  I heard a couple walking along the beach a few yards away and quickly made myself invisible.  The lights from the bars barely illuminated the shoreline, but I didn’t want to take any chances of being discovered.  I needed to think.

I thought about Tristan…remembering the way his body had felt against mine.  When I was with him, I didn’t think about anything but being with him.  I remembered those blue eyes, looking at me with such burning desire, and mentally kicked myself.  Why in the world hadn’t I recognized those eyes?  Because the only time Nick ever looked at you, those eyes were filled with malice, I told myself.  I then thought of Nick…sure, he was handsome, in a pudgy Ken Doll kind of way.  Not near as sweet as Brian…though Suz probably thought he was.  My eyes flew open.  Suzy.  Damn.  I hated the thought of hurting her.  I wonder if she knew what he was…and why he hadn’t turned her.  I then thought back to the conversation we girls had had on the beach that day.  Suzy had said that Nick hadn’t been really interested in an intimate way for a few weeks.  I sighed.  That would probably be when he and I had started our little trysts.  I mentally groaned, closing my eyes.  How in the world was I gonna get out of this one?

I lay there for about an hour, running scenarios through my head.  Should I stay and confront Nick?  Should I stay and act like nothing had happened?  What about Brian?  Should I tell him that I had cheated on him and pray that he forgave me?  How in the world could I tell him that his best friend was a vampire…they didn’t exactly make a Hallmark card to cover that one.  He’d laugh his ass off, and call the men in the white jackets.  Maybe I should just pull Nick aside and talk to him.  It was obvious that we could have a decent conversation…we could work it out…

“Kevin, wait!”  I heard a drunken voice giggle.  “I can’t hardly walk…damn sand…whose big idea was it to put sand on a beach anyway?”

“Come on, baby.  I’ll help you.”  I heard a familiar deep voice and I moaned.  Shit.  Kevin and Stef.  I thanked God for my invisible state, and tried to find a way to get around them without them noticing me.  I finally decided to stay put; maybe they’d walk on by.  “Right here.”  Kevin pulled Stef down to the sand about six feet away from me.  Wonderful.  They began to passionately kiss and caress, and clothing was soon flying onto a pile to their left.  I closed my eyes and covered my ears, not wanting to hear the sounds of their lovemaking.  I prayed that Kevin wasn’t as good as Lisa had hinted, and that he’d get his rocks off quickly.

To my extreme gratitude, Kevin soon collapsed against her, and they lay on the sand gasping for breath.  “Oh, Kev, that was wonderful,” Stef sighed. 

“Yes, it was,” Kevin said, playfully nipping at her neck.

“That tickles!” Stef giggled, trying to squirm away from him.  Kevin grabbed her head in his hands, gently twisting it to the side.  “Kev…Kev, that hurts.  Kevin…OW!”  Stef shrieked, trying to pull away from him.  He continued to hold her as he bent his head to her throat.  My animalistic vision could clearly see his face, and the fangs that soon protruded from his mouth.  I clapped my hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t cry out.  I watched in horror as those fangs punctured the soft skin of Stefanie’s neck, his smooth lips bending to catch the first drops of blood that appeared.  Oh God.  Not Kevin, too.  I wanted to call out for help, but there was no one around…and no one could have helped anyway.  I watched helplessly as Kevin drank for a short moment, then drew back.  Stefanie gasped for breath, her blue-grey eyes full of fear and shock.  My mouth fell open as Kevin reached his hand back and slapped her a good one across the face, knocking her out.  He didn’t even look down at her as he quickly got dressed.  He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then easily slung Stefanie’s unconscious body over his shoulder.  He began to walk down the beach.  After he was about ten yards away, I carefully stood and began to follow him.

After about twenty minutes, he turned and headed for one of the many caves that dotted the far end of the coastline.  I sat behind some bushes, ready to wait for him to leave.  I was in no mood to meet up with him.  Five minutes later he returned, straightening his shirt and making sure everything was buttoned and zippered correctly.  He strode confidently down the beach.  I waited until even MY sensitive ears could no longer hear them, then cautiously took a few steps into the cave.  My night vision flared to life, and I could make out the sides of the cavern.  I saw nothing out of the ordinary.  I made my way back, walking carefully.  I almost tripped over something in my path, then looked down.  I screamed as I realized it was a human hand.  I covered my mouth as my voice echoed through the cavern.  I froze, but heard nothing.  The hand was obviously female; long red fingernails seemed to reach out towards me.  My eyes followed the line of the arm to the torso…it was Stefanie.  She was still alive, but barely.  Why in the world hadn’t Kevin finished her off?  I was afraid to touch her…afraid that he could sense it somehow.  I looked past her, bursting into tears at the sight before me.  The floor of the cave was red with blood.  Piles of bodies, too many to count, almost totally covered the floor.  Some were rotted down to skeletal remains while others were more recent.  How long had he and Nick been doing this?  Another thought suddenly struck me.  I didn’t know the menu of the average vampire, but this seemed like a lot of dinners for just two people…were Howie and AJ involved as well?  What about Suz…and Autumn…and Ari?  I shuddered at the thought.

I turned to leave and something caught my eye.  I took a step towards the body and fell to my knees, not even feeling the hard floor of the cave scrape into my skin.  I reached a hand out, gently touching the long hair that was matted with blood.  Lisa.  This is why she had disappeared in the middle of the night…Kevin had gotten hungry.  Tears ran down my face, plopping down onto the red skin of her face and making little circles on the dried blood.  I sobbed so loud my voice echoed, and I didn’t care who heard me.  This was what had happened to Lisa…and the other Stef…and Vickie…and God only knew who else.  I drew a ragged breath and stood, trying to keep from getting sick.  I prayed for a moment…praying for Lisa and Stef and all the others.  I carefully picked my way out of the cave and hurried down the beach towards our beach house.

As I unlocked the door, I looked down and realized that I had blood on my shoes, dress and knees.  I ran down to the suite I shared with Brian, and began to run a hot shower.  As soon as the water was bearable I jumped in, furiously scrubbing at my knees and legs until they burned clean.  I quickly dried off and picked up the dress.  It was a wreck, as were my sandals.  I threw them in a plastic bag and ran out to the dumpster at the end of the street.  I buried the bag deep underneath the garbage, holding my breath against the stench that wafted from the dumpster.  I hurried back to the house and began to throw things into suitcases.  I needed to get out of there…I needed to think…I needed to find a way to tell Brian.  Brian.

I sat down hard on the bed.  I couldn’t go.  I couldn’t leave him with these vultures he thought were his best friends.  For all I knew they were after him next.  I slowly began to unpack and hang things back up.  I loved Brian, and I needed to make sure he stayed safe. 

“Lara.”  I heard a voice behind me and whirled around.

“Go away, Nick.” My voice was hard as nails.  “I have nothing to say to you.”

“I think we should talk,” he said softly, taking a step into the room.  “Let’s go out on the beach.”

“No, thank you…I’m not going anywhere alone with you ever again.”  I turned to face him, my insides quivering slightly as I remembered the feeling of his hands on my body.  “For all I know you plan to kill me now.”

“I don’t want to kill you!”  Nick insisted.  “Not anymore.  Lara, I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you.  I never thought I’d want someone this much…and I don’t just mean sexually.”

“Nick, you don’t even know me.  You know Trinity.  And what about Suzy?”  I thought for a moment.  “And what do you mean you don’t want to kill me anymore?”

“Suzy is just for show, Lara.  I don’t love her.  I don’t want her for eternity like I want you.  I…” he was interrupted by footsteps behind him.  He turned to see Kevin, Howie and AJ behind him.

“Nicky…you found her I see,” AJ hissed.  Howie held up a plastic bag…the same bag I had packed my dress in.  He licked his lips and smiled, making his sharp incisor teeth glisten.

“It’s dinnertime…it’s amazing what you can sniff out when you’re hungry,” he commented, laughing. 

“I think we all need to take a walk,” Kevin said, grabbing my arm.  Nick flinched but said nothing.  I tried to pull away but Kevin’s hold was too tight.

“Come along, Pretty Thing,” AJ said cheerfully, sniffing at the bag that Howie held.  “I’m hungry.”

I stopped walking, looking from one to the other.  “Wh-what did you call me?”

“You heard him, Lovely,” Howie replied, putting an arm around AJ. 

I whimpered, my eyes flickering from man to man.  “That’s right…you’ve met us before.”  Kevin ran a long fingernail down my cheek and I closed my eyes.  “But this time you’re awake.”

My knees gave way as I remembered the horrible dreams…the voices…the feeling of claws running across my skin.  My eyes wildly jumped from Nick to AJ to Howie to Kevin and back to Nick again.  “It was you,” I whispered.  AJ and Howie cackled with laughter, and even Nick had to smile.

“Nothing gets past you, does it?”  Kevin said with a mean smile.  “No more talking.  Let’s go.”

“Where are you taking me?”  I asked as they corralled me out of the beach house. 

“I think you know where,” Kevin told me.  I pulled back.

“No…don’t make me go back there,” I begged, horror washing over me as I remembered the sight of Lisa’s body thrown on the floor like an unloved doll.

“Come on.  I’LL get her moving.”  AJ grabbed my arm, yanking me towards him.  “Keep moving, Pretty Thing, or you won’t be moving at ALL!”

I whimpered and walked as best I could on shaking legs.  AJ and Kevin walked on either side of me, with Howie and Nick close behind.  I looked over my shoulder at Nick, but he met my eyes with a glare of stone.  I pulled back once more as we approached the cave.  I felt a long fingernail poke me in the side and I yelped.  “Keep moving, Lovely.  Don’t make us kill you now…we want the torture to last,” Howie hissed in my ear.  I began to carefully pick my way across the bloodwashed floor, trying not to step on anything or anyone.  Howie, AJ and Nick quickly plodded across, not caring what they stepped on.  Kevin bent down and felt Stef’s pulse. 

“She’ll be good for about another hour or so,” he observed, then followed us.

We ended up in a small room behind the larger cavern.  Flat rocks were placed around the room like chairs, and AJ pushed me onto one.  “Sit,” he ordered, and I obeyed.  My eyes darted around the room, looking for some form of escape.

“Don’t bother,” Kevin said in a bored voice.  “We’d catch you before you even got on your feet.”

He sat on the stone nearest me.  Nick sat as far away as possible, his face still a mask of hatred.  Howie and AJ curled up on the largest stone, AJ sitting with his back against the wall.  Howie laid his head on AJ’s lap, and AJ began to stroke his long curls.  I couldn’t help but stare at them, remembering the voices in my dream that used terms of endearment while talking with one another.  “Surprised?”  AJ asked calmly.  “Most vampires mate with their own…you humans are too much trouble.”  He looked down at Howie and smiled.  “We can go either way, male or female…I just found it easier to love someone I was around all the time.” Howie smiled sweetly as he brought AJ’s hand to his lips and kissed it.  I shuddered.

“What about Ari and Autumn?”  I asked finally.

“Oh, them.”  AJ waved a hand in dismissal.  “Backstreet Boys can’t be gay…we need trophy girlfriends.  It was interesting to play with them when our human needs took over.”

“But we much prefer each other,” Howie said, gazing at AJ adoringly. I fought the need to gag.  My eyes turned to Kevin, and Howie laughed.  “And then there are those of us like Kevin and Nick who find you human women too irresistible.”

“No…we just like someone warm and lively,” Kevin shot back.  AJ and Howie laughed.

“And then there’s Brian.”  Nick turned his steel blue eyes on me.  “Let’s discuss him.”

“You leave Brian out of this!”  I shouted, my voice ringing through the cave.  “He’s not any of your concern!”

“Oh, but he IS!”  Kevin hissed, slowly standing up and stretching.  “You see, my dear cousin has it BAD for you, Lara.  I can’t quite put my finger on why, but he loves you more than life itself, and that threatens our very existence.”

“You see, Lovely, there is this prophecy…we’ve known it since we were turned.”  Howie slowly sat up, remaining close to AJ.  It was almost like they were the same person.  I realized now how I had never really seen one without the other, but had never made much of it.  “We were told that a human woman would break up our little family…a woman with some kind of special powers.  That’s mainly why AJ and I stayed away from your kind, and Kevin just used you for dinner.”  His dark eyes flickered over to Nick.  “We realized right away that Suzy wasn’t the one…and Brian wasn’t really serious about anyone, anyway.”

“Until you,” AJ pointed out.

“That’s why you tried to kill me in my dreams,” I whispered.  My eyes flew over to Nick, and I saw something flicker behind the curtain of hate that he continued to put up.  All along he had been trying to kill me and at the same time was screwing me…and he never knew it was the same person. 

“Tried is the key word,” Kevin said, coming over to sit next to me.  I shrank away from him, remembering the sight of his teeth burying themselves in Stef’s neck.  “We tried…but something was protecting you…Brian’s feelings for you would not let us harm you, for it would be like harming him.”

“Remember when he was sick?  He wouldn’t eat, and that’s what made him weak,” Nick told me.

“Wouldn’t eat?  I fed him myself!  He ate soup, and crackers, and…” I trailed off as the cave rang with their laughter.  I began to shake.  “No…ohhhh no.  Brian is NOT one of you!  He can’t be!  He’s sweet, gentle, kind…”

“Ever wonder where he goes in the middle of the night?”  Kevin gently brushed some hair from my forehead.  “Bet he tells you he can’t sleep, huh?  He goes out for dinner, Lara.”

“No…” I sobbed, not wanting to believe it.  Suddenly the four men looked towards the entrance of the room. I heard it too…footsteps.  Howie smiled, rubbing his hands together. 

“Let’s show her…let her see it for herself.” 

AJ came over and grabbed my arm, yanking me to my feet.  He dragged me over to a few rocks that made a kind of staircase. “Climb,” he snapped.  I did as he asked, trying to see the rocks through my tears.  I continued to climb until I was about forty feet off the floor.  He climbed up behind me and pressed me against the rock.  We looked through a small hole in the wall.  I could see the entrance from the beach, as well as the nightmare down below.  AJ sniffed at my hair.  “Mmmm…so fresh.”  To my surprise I felt his hardness press against me.  “Maybe before we kill you you and I could…”

“Don’t touch me, you monster!”  I elbowed back, hard.  AJ lost his balance, tumbling off the stairs.  I gasped as he seemed to hover in the air then take his place behind me once more.  I turned away from him, not wanting to see the wings that I knew so well.

“Don’t fuck with me, girl.  I can end your sorry excuse for a life in a minute,” he growled in my ear, his hands grasping my waist as he fluttered behind me.  “Now shut up and watch.”

I watched a lone figure walk into the cave.  He stopped and stared at Stefanie’s barely breathing figure.  I started to yell for Brian to run…to get away from the monsters he called family, but AJ slapped a hand over my mouth before I could make a sound, his long fingers grasping my cheeks.  Brian knelt by Stef’s body, sighed deeply, then picked her up.  That’s right, Bri-Bri, I mentally cheered.  Take her and save her!  To my horror, he held her close to him and placed his mouth over the wound on her throat.  He sat down hard on the floor, moaning with satisfaction as he drank what was left of her life.

I tried to look away but AJ wouldn’t let me.  He held my head straight.  “No, Pretty.  Watch…watch him eat.  He refused to kill because of you, so Kevin’s been hunting for him.”  I closed my eyes, tears running down over the hand AJ held across my mouth.  We watched as Brian feasted on Stefanie and then slowly laid her down.  He stood up, looking at her for a long moment, and then he began to make his way back to us.  AJ picked me up and we seemed to float down to the floor.  I scurried back to the stone that sat in the furthest corner of the room, not wanting Brian to see me when he came in.  The others allowed me to hide, amusement showing on their faces.

“Thanks, Kev,” Brian said as soon as he walked into the room.  Blood stained the front of his shirt, though his face and hands were clean.  “I was going crazy there.”

“I wish you’d just hunt for yourself and be done with it, Cuz,” Kevin said with a sigh.

“No.  You know why I won’t.”  Brian ran a hand through his hair.  “Do you have any idea where Lara is?  She disappeared from the club and I’ve been to all the usual places looking for her.”  He smiled.  “You never know what kinda people hang out on the beach at night.”

I whimpered softly, still unable to believe what I had seen.  I was virtually in shock.  I felt as if my brain and my body were no longer connected, that I was involuntarily breathing.  I wanted nothing more than to wake up from this nightmare.  Suddenly Brian looked in my direction, sniffing.  Howie sighed and walked over to me, dragging me from my safe corner.  Brian’s eyes opened wide.

“What’s she doing here?”

“She knows, Brian.”  Kevin smiled lazily.  “She followed me here when I brought Stefanie for you and she knows.”

Brian stared at me in shock as I stood in front of him, barely able to stay on my own two feet.  “Lara…I swear…I promise…it’s not what you think.”  I was unable to say anything.  I simply looked at him sadly, tears running down my cheeks.

“Give it up, Rok,” AJ said.  “She saw you just now.”

“Oh, God…” he whispered, coming over to stand in front of me.  He took me in his arms, yanking my arm from Howie’s grasp angrily.  I fell into his arms, unable to stand a moment longer.  “I think you guys need to leave.”  He looked up at them, his blue eyes daring them to argue.  “NOW!”

“I’m hungry anyway,” Nick said quickly.  “Wonder if anyone’s out swimming.”

“You and the damn ocean,” Kevin mumbled as they walked out of the room. 

Brian sank to the floor slowly, cradling me in his arms.  “Baby, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, stroking my hair.  I said nothing, just stared at a fixed spot on the wall.  “I couldn’t find a way to tell you…I mean, you woulda thought I was crazy.  So I started to fight it.  I fought the desire to feed on you…I refused to even kill at all, like that would change anything.  I started getting sick and Kev started getting pissed, so he started hunting for me.”

“Did you…feed…on Lisa?”  I asked, my voice distant and small.

“No, baby.  Stef was the first one that wasn’t a stranger, I swear.”  He kissed my forehead.  “I love you so much, Lara.  I was gonna just hide it as best I could, and then hope we could work through it somehow.  That’s one of the reasons I wanted us to live together, so I could gradually show you…and then maybe turn you.  I mean, it’s not really the life I would wish on someone, but at least then we could be together forever.”

I began to sob in his arms, my body quivering violently as I cried.  The feeling of his arms around me was so familiar, and yet it would never be the same.  I kept thinking about Nick…wondering why I wasn’t suddenly as attracted to Brian as I had been to ‘Tristan’.  I thought about confessing everything to Brian, but then decided against it.  “Tell me about the prophecy,” I croaked.  Brian stared down at me.

“They told you about that, huh?”  I nodded and he sighed.  “AJ and Howie were drunk one night when we were in Europe and were turned together.  They convinced Kev and Nick, and then Kev convinced me.  We thought we would be invincible…forever young…little did we know how hard it would be to hide our double lives while in the public eye.”  He saw that I was still shivering and wrapped his arms around me tighter.  This brought me face to face with one of the large bloodstains on his shirt, and I swallowed deeply.  “One day, while in the Far East, we went to a fortune teller…just for fun, ya know.  It was creepy…she told us that she knew we were a special kind of family…we weren’t born together and would never die together were her exact words, I think.  Anyway, she told us that a woman from the kind we had once been would break up our family, stealing one of our hearts and breaking us up.  That’s why the guys have been so awful to you, Lara.  They think you’re the one…and I think they’re right.”

“They tried to kill me, Brian.  More times than just once…” I said faintly.

“What?”

“The nightmares, Bri.  They came to kill me almost every night…but your love protected me.  They knew that if they hurt me it would eventually hurt you…your love saved me.  I could never see their faces or even how many there were of them…but it was them.”

“Holy hell…” Brian murmured.  It was obvious that he didn’t think them capable of such things.

“Let me leave, Brian, please,” I begged, suddenly sitting up.  “I won’t tell…I’ll go hide somewhere that no one would ever look…and I won’t tell.”

“What are you talking about?  Your place is with me now.  I can turn you and…”

“No.”  I stood up and slowly began to back away towards the entrance.  “I can’t do this.”  I began to babble.  “Even when Tristan offered it to me I couldn’t take it, and we bonded in a special way.  I can’t do this…I have to leave…I have to…”

I was silenced by a loud thwack to the side of my head…and then everything went dark.

“Dude, you didn’t have to smack her like that!”

“She was trying to escape.”

“Kev, will you quit playing Dracula Commando for five minutes?  She’s just a human…no threat to us at all.”

“But she knows…and if she gets away she’ll tell.”

“Kevin, will you knock it off!  She won’t tell…she has too much to lose.”

“Why are you sticking up for her, Nicky?”

“I’m not sticking up for her, ya tattooed troll!”

“Don’t pick on him!”

“Howie, why don’t you just go fuck him in a corner somewhere and shut the hell up?”

“You just wish I’d fuck YOU, Blondie!”

“Guys, ENOUGH.”

I felt a foot kick my side and I pretended to still be knocked out.  I was flat on the hard floor of the small room of the cave.  From what I could hear, Brian was no longer there and the other four were arguing over what to do with me.  It was nice to hear Nick sticking up for me, but I was so unsure of how to take him now.  Did he still care, or was that all just a lie to get me where he wanted me?  For all I knew, he knew I was Trinity all along.

I felt a finger rub along my temple and I ordered myself not to cringe.  I heard a slurping noise.  “Mmm…sweet,” AJ commented.

“Let me try, baby.”  I felt Howie’s finger swipe down as well.  I realized that when Kevin hit me, one of his rings must’ve caught my forehead.  “Oh, you’re RIGHT!”

“Will you two STOP?”  Nick growled.  I heard him step in front of me.

“Nick, what’s with you?”  Kevin asked.

“Uh, nothing.  You know that Brian will flip if he sees you like this.”

“Like what?”  I heard Brian walk back in and I allowed my eyes to flutter open.  The other four were standing above me with their backs to me.

“Uh, nothing, Rok,” AJ said quickly.  Brian walked over and helped me sit up, pressing a cold cloth against my head.

“Sorry, baby.  You have a cut from when Kevin clocked you.”

I glared at Kevin but said nothing.  I was beginning to feel a bit more sure of myself.  Brian was on my side, and Nick might turn out to be an asset as well.  “So are you gonna let me go or what?”

“We…we haven’t decided yet,” Brian said.  I stood up slowly. 

“I don’t think it’s up to you to decide,” I told him angrily.  “This is my life.  If I’m not worth enough for you to stick up to your ‘brothers’, then just let me walk.”

“You’re not walking anywhere!”  AJ sneered.  “You’re ours now, Pretty, no matter what Rok says.  Either he turns you and you become his or you become our dinner…no ifs ands or buts.”

I suddenly began to pace, and the five men just stared at me, unsure of what I was going to do.  Pacing helped me think.  I wanted desperately to just use all my animal instincts and charge them, but I knew that even two of them were too much for me.  I could turn invisible, but I had the strange feeling that even that wouldn’t last for long.

“Lara…let me turn you,” Brian begged finally.  “We’ll be together for always, and these guys can’t ever touch you.”

“Let us end it for you,” Howie suggested sweetly.  “No more torment…no running around feeding on people you may have loved at one time.”

“No, Brian.  I can’t…I can’t do that,” I said.  “I can’t be under your power.   And as for YOU…” I turned on Howie.  “You can all burn in whatever hell exists for your kind.”

With a howl he leapt towards me, and I smacked him down with everything I had in me.  He flew back against the wall, his head hitting the rocks.  AJ yelled and ran over to him, bending down over him.  Nick, Brian and Kevin just stared at me.  I turned to Brian.

“I love you, Bri.  I always will.  But I cannot see myself in eternity with you.  I’m sorry.”  I kissed his cheek, then turned to Nick.  “Goodbye, Nick.”  He said nothing, just looked at me with sad blue eyes.  I was almost surprised by the amount of emotion that showed through.

“You are NOT going anywhere!”  Kevin growled.  He grabbed my arm, and soon joined Howie on the floor.

Howie and AJ jumped to their feet, enraged.  Before Brian or Nick could stop them, they had me pinned to the ground.  Howie held my neck to the side while AJ smiled with delight, his fangs rubbing against his lips.  “I’m gonna enjoy this meal more than any I’ve had in a LONG time!”  He announced.

“NO!”  A voice shouted.  I felt their hands ripped off of me, and before I could fight I felt a pair of sharp stings in my neck.  “Lay still,” the voice whispered as it began to suck the blood from my vein.  I whimpered, but obeyed.  I was too shocked to do anything else.  Just when I felt the room begin to spin, the pain stopped.  I heard a gasp, then felt something warm go to my lips.  “Drink…drink NOW, dammit!”  I drank what was offered to me, feeling myself slowly pass into blackness once more.

                I woke up to pain...horrible pain...pain so intense it made me curl up into a ball.  I screamed as I felt needles shoot through my veins from head to toe.  My body convulsed, spasms jerking me so hard my skin was scraped against the hard floor of the cave.

                "Holy shit," I heard AJ mutter.      

                "I forgot what it looked like," Howie added.            

                I felt strong arms go around me.  "Relax...relax, baby," I heard Brian murmur.  "It will be over soon."

                Sounds filtered in and out of my cluttered mind.  I felt as if I could hear Brian's very heart beating...I opened my eyes and felt as if I could see through his skin.  I gasped for air and slowly sat up.  "Wha...wha...wha..." I stuttered, unable to form words.

                "You're dying, baby," he said gently.  I began to cry.

                "But...I...I...I don't...wa...want to...die..." I wailed, curling up against him fearfully.  I felt him stroke my hair.

                "Not that way, baby.  Just your body is dying.  You're still alive, if you can call it that."  He glared up at Kevin.  "Get your ass down here and hold her.  NOW!"  Kevin fell the floor, immediately obeying his furious cousin.  I shrank away from Kevin, but his warm arms felt strangely comforting.  Brian hopped to his feet and began to advance on his best friend.  "Who gave you the right to do that?  Why the HELL did you do it?  Nick, she's mine!  I love her!"

                "I love her, too," Nick confessed.  I gasped and slowly sat up with Kevin's aid.

                "What?"  Brian asked, shocked.  I watched AJ and Howie's mouths fall open.

                "What?"  I whispered.

                "I love her, too," Nick repeated, looking at me.  His eyes were still so sad.  "Remember how I told you I had hooked up with a wannabe that was damn good in bed but had some kind of hold on me?"  AJ, Howie and Kevin nodded as one.  "It was her."

                Brian whirled around and looked at me.  I shrank back against Kevin.  "Excuse me?"

                "It was Lara...though I promise you, Brian, that we never knew we were actually sleeping together.  She has powers...half-breed powers and shape-shifter powers and God only knows what else.  She changed her appearance, as I did, and we never knew."

                "You were fucking around on me?" Brian looked down at me, his eyes so full of hurt that I felt the pain in my own heart.

                "I didn't care about any of them...I was just using them to obtain what I thought I wanted, I swear," I said, though my words sounded hollow and meaningless.

                "Until me," Nick said softly.  "Right, Lara?"  I looked up at him, ready to snap, but then I realized he was not being egotistical.  He was telling the truth.  "You felt the need as much as I did."

                "Wait a minute.  Lemme get this straight."  AJ stepped forward.  "Night after night you were going out and meeting up and fucking each other's brains out."  Nick and I slowly nodded.  "And then you'd come home and me and Kev and D and Nicky would get in your dreams and try to kill you."  I nodded again.  "But all along you two were fucking and you didn't know it?"  We nodded again.  "Oh...okay...just checking."

                "I don't FUCKING believe this!"  Brian shrieked, beginning to pace.  "My girlfriend and my best friend...screwing around behind my back!"

                "We didn't KNOW we were," Nick protested weakly.

                "SO?  It doesn't change the fact that you were sneaking around behind my back!"  Brian stopped pacing long enough to glare at his friend.

                I struggled to my feet, with Kevin courteously keeping a hand on my back to keep me upright.  "EXCUSE ME?  Let's talk about sneaking around...you were a shitsucking blood drinking VAMPIRE behind my back, Brian!  How do you justify THAT?"  I yelled, causing Howie, AJ and Kevin to hide laughter in coughs.

                "That's different," he said defensively.

                "Whatever," I sighed.  My eyes caught Nick's, and everyone grew serious once more.

                "The prophecy said that the woman with the special powers would steal one of our hearts, breaking up the family," Nick said slowly.  "We're all pretty sure that Lara is the woman...but who's to say that Brian's the one whose heart she stole?"  Everyone looked at him.  "I love her, and I feel like I can't live without her.  Do you feel that way, Brian?"

                "I love her, too," Brian whispered, but said nothing more.

                "But do you feel that you can NOT live without her?  I feel like when I'm not with her, the hunger for her is worse then the bloodlust.  I hate it...but I can't deny it," Nick said.  He took my hand.  "Do you feel it too?"  I slowly nodded, realizing that I was feeling the same way.  I turned to the man I thought I had loved.

                "I'm sorry, Bri-Bri...so sorry," I said, tears running down my face.  He nodded, realizing the hopelessness of the situation.

                "Now what?"  Howie asked.

                "I think we should all go back home.  We should go back home and just not be together for a while," Kevin suggested. 

                "What will you tell Suzy?"  AJ asked Nick.  He shrugged.

                "Tell her that you and Lara realized on this trip that you were meant to be together," Brian said slowly.  "Break it to her gently, though, okay?  And DON'T make her your breakfast."

"I wouldn't do that!"  Nick said in genuine shock.  "I'm not the one who feeds on my girlfriends," he said, glaring at Kevin who cleared his throat and looked away.

“Let’s go back to the house…the girls are probably wondering where we all disappeared to,” Howie said.  Kevin, Howie and AJ left the cave, but Nick, Brian and I remained.

“What do I do now?”  I asked them.  “I mean…do I eat…do I kill someone, what?”

“You don’t necessarily have to feed on people,” Nick said gently.  “You can survive on animals…they just don’t give you as much energy.”

“Nick…can you leave us alone?  I’ll meet up with you at the house…you have to break things to Suz anyway,” I said.  He nodded and walked out of the cave.  I put a hand on Brian’s arm but he shrugged it off.

“Please don’t touch me,” he said softly.  “The two of you disgust me right now.”

“Brian…I honestly didn’t know…and I honestly was just using the people to gain their powers.  I never planned on telling you because I thought I had ended it!  The night we came here was the last night I saw Tris…I mean, Nick.  I told him that I couldn’t see him anymore, and believed it to be true.   He came to me in a dream once…that night you found me on the beach…and I told him no again.  I loved you and thought I wanted to be with you.  You have to believe me.”

“I do believe you,” he said in a dull voice. “That doesn’t make it any easier.”

“You say you love me so much, and yet you made no move to turn me to save me from Howie and AJ.  I do believe you love me, but not like Nick does.  I think we really are destined to be together.  I love you, Bri-Bri, but not with the…intensity…that I feel for Nick.  The feelings I have for him scare me.”

“Of course you feel that way…you belong to him now.”

“No.”  I shook my head.  “I felt this way before but I fought those feelings…because of you…just as you fought your hunger because of me.  Now we can be honest about what we are.”

Brian pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight.  “I will always love you, Lara…even though I may never see you again.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Backstreet Boys are done with…at least for a while, anyway.  AJ, Howie and Kev won’t be comfortable around you.  We’ve tried to fight the prophecy for so long, and now it’s come true.  And I…I don’t know that I can bear to see you with someone else, especially Nick.”  He kissed my forehead.  “Go on to Nick.  You guys need to talk.  I’m gonna walk for a while…I need to think.”  He gave me a gentle shove in the direction of the doorway, but I hesitated.  I turned back, pressing my lips to his in a forceful kiss.

“Goodbye, Brian.”  I finally ran out of the cave.     

The house was deathly quiet when I returned, if you’ll excuse the pun.  By this time it was one in the morning, and everyone was usually still going strong by this time.  I quietly made my way to Nick and Suz’s suite.  I could hear feminine voices through the door.  I felt weaker by the minute, but I knocked.

“You fucking bitch!”  Suz screamed as soon as she saw me. I made the assumption that Nick had broken things off with her.  Autumn and Erin stood silently behind her, knowing better than to say anything.

“Look, Suz, I never meant to hurt anyone,” I said softly.

“Yeah, well, tell it to Oprah, okay, cuz I don’t wanna hear it!”  She started to cry.  Autumn placed a hand on Suz’s shoulder, but was shaken off.  Suz then proceeded to curse me out, using words that actually made my ears burn.  Even Erin looked shocked.  I figured I deserved it, but it still started to piss me off.  The fact that I was starving for something I didn’t quite understand wasn’t helping matters.  I leaned against the wall, panting for breath.  I glared for her, but had no energy to do anything more.  I closed my eyes, swallowing deeply.  I could feel my body starting to change.  My hands suddenly began to hurt and I looked down.  My fists had been clenched, and the fingernails that had been digging into my palms were a good inch longer now.  My breathing was ragged, almost like that of an animal.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!”  Suz screamed, taking my chin and yanking it up.

“Don’t…touch…me…” I growled.  Erin gasped and took a step back. Autumn sat down hard on the bed, staring at me.  I licked my lips, and felt the scrape of my elongated incisors.  I smiled.  Suddenly Suzy was looking very appetizing.  She opened her mouth, shut it again, and did not move.  I pushed myself away from the wall, trying to stand up.  I eyed Suz hungrily, then my gaze turned to Erin and Autumn.  The fact that these were my friends meant nothing to me.  All rational thought was gone.  The only thing fueling my every move was the aching need for something…something I couldn’t pinpoint.  Just as I felt that I had enough energy to make my move, I felt strong arms surround me.

“Lara, why don’t you go wait in our suite?  Suz has a plane to catch,” Brian said, kissing my forehead.  He gently turned me towards the door.  “Have a safe trip, Suzy.”  He practically shoved me out the door, slamming it behind us.  “Get your ass back to our suite NOW!”  He ordered.  “I’m gonna get you something to eat.”

“Don’t worry about it,” a voice said just as Erin came out of Suz’s room.

“Lara, are you okay?”  She asked, looking from me to Brian to Nick.

“Yeah, she’s fine.  Just a bit under the weather,” Brian replied, nudging me towards our suite.

“I brought her some juice…she’ll be fine,” Nick added.  He followed us into the suite, shutting the door in Erin’s face.

Brian pushed me towards the bed.  “Sit!” He ordered.

“I don’t WANT to sit!”  I said, fighting his hold on me.

Suddenly Nick was in my face, his blue eyes staring into mine.  “Lara, sit down now.”

I slowly sat down, unable to do anything but obey.

“Hell, if I woulda known this was how to get you to do what I wanted, I would turned you a long time ago,” Brian remarked.  I growled and lunged at him.  Nick grabbed me just in time.  “Jeez, I don’t remember being this hostile at the beginning.”

“She has other powers working against all this, Bri,” Nick reminded him gently.  He sat down next to me.  “Now, honey, I need you to drink this juice.” He tipped a glass to my lips.  My stomach turned at the scent of the warm liquid in the glass, but I took a small sip.  I grabbed the glass from Nick, drinking so fast it dribbled down my chin.  I drained the glass, sliding my finger down in to lick off the remaining drops.  Suddenly I was drowsy.  I wanted nothing more then to sleep for days.  I yawned and leaned on Nick’s shoulder.

“Let her stay here,” Brian suggested.  “We can take turns watching her.”

“I can just take her to my suite, Bri,” Nick said.

“No.”  Brian smoothed my hair as he helped me lay down.  “I want to help.”

I didn’t care WHO helped or WHERE I slept.  I was warm and full and content and that’s all I could think about.  I would think about my situation tomorrow.

When my eyes fluttered open hours later it was still dark.  I stretched carefully; my body seemed like it had been shoved through a garbage disposal.  I heard a moan beside me and felt an arm drape across my stomach, pulling me close to a warm body.  I sniffed and smiled.  Nick.  I could tell by the scent of him.  My eyes searched the room.  I knew it was pitch black outside, but I could see everything as plain as day.  Maybe this vampire thing wasn’t too bad.  I caught sight of Brian sitting at the desk.  His head was buried in his arms on the desk, and he was softly snoring away.  I sighed and carefully pulled myself from Nick’s hold.  I tiptoed over to Brian.

“Brian?  Bri-Bri?”  I whispered, lightly rubbing my hand down his cheek.  He jumped awake.  “Shhh.”

“What?  Are you okay?  Do you need something?  Where’s Nick?”

“He’s sleeping,” I whispered.  “I’m fine.  Let’s get out of here.”  We snuck out of the room and down to the living room.  I caught sight of a clock.  Three a.m.  “I only slept two hours?”

Brian smiled and stretched. “Nope.  It’s three the next morning.  You slept the clock around.”

“Wow.”  I struggled to remember if I had awakened at all during that time.  I noticed a deep scratch on Brian’s soft cheek. “What happened to you?”

“You…uh…were a little upset that we wouldn’t let you go feed,” Brian said quietly.  “We had to keep you still so you could regain your strength.  You did this while I was trying to keep you from following Nick outside.”

“Oh…Bri-Bri…I’m so sorry!” I gasped.  He shrugged.  

“It’s okay…it will go away.”  He led me into the kitchen and sat me at the table.  He disappeared into the large pantry.

“Where is everyone?”  I asked.

“They went back without us.  We told them we’d be back as soon as you were better.”  He sat a thermos down in front of me.  “Autumn and Erin think you’re sick.”

I unscrewed the cap of the thermos and inhaled deeply.  I moaned as I began to gulp down what was inside.  “Wow…slow down,” Brian said, laughing at me.  I finished every last drop and looked at him. 

“Where…how…”

“Don’t worry…no one you know,” he promised.  “I woulda just gotten some from an animal, but you needed what would make you strong.”

“Juice,” I said suddenly.  He stared at me.  “You said one night after we had…uh…made love that you wanted some juice.”  He blushed slightly.  “After sex you’d get hungry…did you have some of this hidden somewhere?”  He nodded.

“How did you know that?  About the sex, I mean?”  I started to reply, but he stopped me.  “Never mind.  I don’t think I want to know.”

“You didn’t have to stay, Brian,” I said softly, touching his hand.

“I wanted to,” he replied.  He took my hand and kissed the palm.  “You belong to Nick now…and I know I’ll probably find someone else.  But I still love you.”

I sighed, my heart breaking at the tears in his eyes.  “I’m sorry, Bri-Bri.”

“It’s okay,” he replied, but his heart wasn’t in it.  “I’m gonna go sleep in Kev’s suite.  You won’t need both of us to keep an eye on you.  You go back up to bed.  I’ll see you later today.”  He stood and began to walk out, stopping only to kiss the top of my head.

I crept back into the bed that I had shared with Brian.  Nick immediately pulled me to him, mumbling something in his sleep.  I lay awake, questions racing through my head.  I really began to think about the whole vampire thing.  Obviously what movies and books were teaching the world about vampires wasn’t true.  They could obviously go out during the day, and could obviously blend in with everyone else.  I wondered how many other famous people were “undead.”  The thought made me smile. 

About an hour after I had lain back down, Nick stirred and stretched.  His gorgeous blue eyes fluttered open, and he smiled at me sleepily.  “Hey.”

“Hey,” I said softly, feeling more confused then I had in my whole life.  Tears leapt to my eyes, and I turned away from him.

“Whoa…whoa…come here.” He pulled me into his arms as I sobbed.  “Shh…I’m here…just let it go.”  I cried for over an hour, trying to break through the wall of confusion.  I was supposed to be with Nick…that I knew…but I missed Brian and I hated myself for hurting him and I didn’t know what to think about my whole new life.  I finally wound down to a few sniffles every couple of seconds.  “He’ll get over you,” Nick promised, and I looked up at him with swollen eyes.  “I think all this time he was thinking of the prophecy, and was so sure that you were the one that he built his world around you.  Now that he knows it isn’t true, he can find the person he’s REALLY supposed to be with.”

“Excuse me?”  I sniffed indignantly.  “Maybe he was with me just because he loved me…or is that too hard to believe?”

Nick laughed.  “I can see eternity with you will never be boring.” Eternity.  That word hit me hard.  Eternity.  Forever.  I began to shake at the thought.  Nick cupped my face gently, tilting my eyes up to look at him.  “Is eternity with me such an awful idea?”  He asked softly.  I started to speak but he put a finger on my lips.  “I turned you against your will…that was a shitty thing to do, I know.  But I couldn’t bear to see Howie and AJ kill you…and Brian wasn’t doing anything…I couldn’t let them do it,” he said, and I swallowed deeply at the passion in his voice.  Anyway, I know I never should have done it without your permission…and if you want me to, I can release you.  I can’t turn you back…but you won’t really belong to me, so to speak.”  His eyes were sad…like Brian’s had been.

“Nick…this is hard for me.  I’m sure you remember what it was like getting used to a whole new life…it wasn’t that long ago for you.  But I hurt someone in the process…and basically broke you guys up.  I am the Yoko Ono of the Backstreet Boys!”  That made him smile. I reached up and gently traced his full red lips with one finger.  “I want to be with you.  I feel like you and I just…fit.  I don’t want you to release me unless YOU want to.”

“I want to be with you forever,” he whispered, tilting his lips down to mine.  We shared our first kiss as Lara and Nick, and I felt like I had stuck my finger in an electrical outlet.  Sparks seemed to flow through my body…I wanted that kiss to last forever.

“Damn,” I whispered as he pulled away.

“Were the kisses that good before?”  He whispered as well.

“I don’t think so,” I said, snuggling closer to him.

We dozed back off in each other’s arms, neither of us wanting to face the morning that would bring us home…and bring us to the place where we would have to say goodbye to everyone and everything familiar.

We flew home later that day in total silence.  The three of us sat separately on the private jet; I didn’t feel right being so close to Nick with Brian there.  I knew it was breaking his heart, no matter how brave he tried to be. 

Nick had the limousine drop him off first.  “I’ll call you later,” he said to me.  He turned to Brian.  “Later, Frick.”  He stuck his hand out.  Brian paused, then took it. 

“Later, Frack,” he said.

I stared out the window as the limo took us to my house next.  Brian helped me carry my luggage inside.  He looked around, sighing.  “I’m gonna miss this place.”  He gave me a wan smile.  “We had a lot of fun here.”

“Brian, we can still…”

“Shh.”  He gave me a big hug.  “We both know that we won’t be seeing each other for a long time.  It’s just not right.”

“Brian…I’m so sorry.  I broke the band up…I broke up you and Nick’s friendship.”  My lip quivered as my eyes filled with tears.

“It’s okay, baby.  We knew it would happen…we’ve known for a while now.”  He tilted his head and gave me the sweetest kiss I had ever experienced.  “We’ll meet again someday. I can feel it.  And if you ever need me…Nick will know where to find me.  Okay?”  I nodded miserably.  He kissed my forehead one last time.  “I love you, Lara.”

“I love you, too, Bri-Bri,” I whispered.  He gave me one last smile, and was gone.

It didn’t take long for the story to hit the media.  Due to some undisclosed argument between all five members, the group known as the Backstreet Boys was no more.  I holed up in Nick’s beach house watching the news reports.  You’d have thought the President had been shot, the way people carried on about it.  Thankfully Nick had carefully invested his money, for it would be a long time before he’d be able to perform again.  The public made sure of that.  For some reason, they seemed to take out most of their aggressions on Nick…and I was pretty sure that a little tattooed birdie had whispered some pretty mean things in their ears.

The months passed and we all got on with our lives…though we had absolutely NO contact with the other members of the group.  We ran on the outside of their circle, hearing what was going on with them but not actually seeing or talking to any of them.  Brian began a new career writing for other musicians, and found the REAL love of his life with a young woman named Amanda.  Kevin met his match in a Wannabe named Edie, or so I heard.  I caught sight of her once at a bar similar to The Hole.  She was Goth through and through, with a black attitude that matched.  From the gossip I heard she put Kevin in his place, and he didn’t even DARE to try to do more than turn her without her permission…and I think he was a bit afraid to do that.  Eternity with Edie scared him, but he was strangely attracted to her.  His days of girlfriend-killing were at an end…for the moment.

AJ and Howie kept the trophy girlfriend idea going for a while, but once the popularity of the Backstreet Boys waned, they decided it was just easier to live their lives without giving a shit what everyone else thought, and Erin and Autumn were promptly dumped.  Erin’s disappearance was discussed on the local news about a month after the breakups, and it took all Nick had in him to keep me from going and fucking up AJ McLean’s program.

Nick and I lived a solitary life, never really hanging out with anyone else but each other.  We felt ostracized by our kind and misunderstood by humans, and didn’t really fit in anywhere.  We took solace in the fact that we did have each other…but I couldn’t say we were ever really truly happy.  We kept on the move, for Nick still worried that AJ, Kevin or Howie might attempt to take revenge on me when he wasn’t around.

It’s been thirty years now, and when I look in the mirror I still see the 27-year-old I had been when I went through my “change of life,” so to speak.  I have no wrinkles, and my hair is still a dark brown.  When I look at my lover, who is technically fifty years old, I see the handsome boyish man of twenty who still can set my body on fire with his kisses.  Was it worth it?  I’ll never know…for I’ll never know any other life.  All I can do is live each day to the best of my ability…making it my goal to keep a smile on Nick’s face and a glimmer of laughter in his blue eyes.  Only once or twice a day do I allow myself to remember another pair of blue eyes that looked with me with such adoration…and then I quickly push that thought from my mind and go about the business of staying alive.

 

The End

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