Larger Than Life

By: Eboni

Chapter 1

“I can’t thank you enough for coming to the opening of the new wing of the museum,” The German Museum curator was thanking the Backstreet Boys again.

The Backstreet Boys were visiting Germany on a charity tour. A whole lot of groups were on tour with them. This tour was awesome, everybody got 30 minute sets of their greatest hits they had to perform each night, and then freetime! It basically, was a paid vacation. The Boys had gotten a request from a small German museum, that was threatened to be closed, for help. They were opening up a new wing with a new exhibit to attract people. They asked the Boys to be there to promote the new wing, and sign a few autographs, attract some people.

The Boys had been happy to do it. It was a good cause. They signed and took pictures with fans. Then it was time for the unveiling. The lights went out. And you could have sworn there was drum roll. The ribbon was cut, and the lights came back on,”Welcome to Medieval Times!”

“Wow!”Nick said as he looked around,”Now this is some awesome stuff!” He told the curator.

The curator, Ms. Kulle smiled and agreed, she spoke English with hardly an accent,”Yes, hopefully this will bring our museum some new grants.”

“Heck, it should! It will!”AJ said,”Don’t worry, you’re gonna be rollin’ in money by the end of this week!”

Ms. Kulle laughed,”Hopefully Alex.” She put her arms around Nick and AJ, and they walked further into the new wing.

“Hey, did ya’ll see the knights and horses!?”Brian asked looking excited,”Come see!” He grabbed Nick’s arm and dragged him off,” S’cuse us Ms. Carolyn!”

Ms. Carolyn laughed, and AJ escorted her around.

Ms. Carolyn was an ederly woman, of 63. This museum was her life’s work. It was filled with her own priceless family heirlooms. The new edition was the first thing she had actually gone out and bought with her own money. All this stuff was found in a crate and sold at an auction. BSB had never even seen it until today.

The room was done in rich dark colors giving the room a mysterious aura. Knights and soldiers lined the room. The windows were tinted dark to make the viewer feel like it was a dark and stormy night, and they had to stay in the west wing of the castle in Beauty and the Beast. It had a creepy feel to it. BSB liked it, they knew this was going to bring in some mula!

“See look at this,”Brian nodded at the wall lined with armor. Nick blinked twice, then shook his head. It looked like he was remembering something, and couldn’t quite grasp it. He shook it out of his head, which isn’t too hard for Nick to do.

Brian looked at him oddly, with a funny smile,”What’s wrong with you? Is it too dark back here for you?”

Nick threw Brian a mock glare,”Shut up... This stuff was reminding me of somethin’. I think I’ve seen some armor like this before,”Nick walked closer to one of the small suits. Knights were not very big. He used his forefinger to touch the blade of the battle axe,”Ouch! It’s sharp! Cool.” He got that odd reverie look on his face again,”Hey Brian, have we ever... oops!” Nick had turned around not aware that he was still very close to the suit. He knocked the axe from the soldier’s grasp and it crashed down to the floor by his right shoe. Nick’s blue eyes enlarged as he saw how close he had come to losing his foot. The gum he was chewing fell beside the axe as it dropped from his agape mouth.

Brian stared too, then he looked at Nick with big eyes,”Lets get out of here! Kaos strikes again!”He grabbed Nick by the back of the head and dragged him from the room.

“What was that?”Howie asked. He and Kevin were walking very quickly toward the door Nick and Brian were rushing out of.

“What was what? Oh, that’s a Picasso!” Nick said looking behind him to one of the painting hanging on the walls.

Howie rolled his eyes, and Kevin made a face, that said “lets be serious.”

“Nick tried to amputate one of his limbs, other than that we don’t know what you’re talking about,”Brian said with a laugh,”Lighten up Kev, nothing’s broken.”

Kevin groaned,”You do know that we were invited here to help make money, not to make more expenses by breaking things, Nick.”

“Sorry,”Nick muttered,”It wasn’t like I was trying to do it.”

“Hey guys!”AJ ran into them, “You gotta check this out. It really looks the west wing of the Beauty and the Beast Castle! It’s got bedrooms and everything! If we hurry we can catch the next tour!” AJ started jogging off motioning for the other guys to follow. Nick and Brian started running after him, and Kevin made a noise of annoyance.

“Didn’t I just say we weren’t here to make more expenses?!”Kevin grumbled. He and Howie walked after the other three.

“In the castle these wings served as the guest quarters,”The tour man said in German first, then he would translate what he had said in English. BSB had been surprised at the number of Americans they had seen here. So far they had signed about 60 autographs on this tour alone for Americans.

“Yeah, unwanted guests,”Howie snorted.

AJ frowned,”Well actually, that red velvet in that last room was kinda nice. It was faded, but classy.”

Brian frowned and stared at AJ.

“What?”AJ looked at Brian staring at him,”I got something on my shirt, or somethin’ Rok?”

“No, it’s just... just...”

“Deja Vu?” Nick suggested, he was unwrapping another stick of gum to replace the one he had lost, almost along with his right foot.

“Not even that,”Brian scratched his head,”At least I don’t think so, but you said that before AJ!”

“No I haven’t,”AJ narrowed his eyes at Brian with confusion. They carried on this conversation as they casually followed the tour.

“Yes you have!”Brian said, he took a pad of paper shoved in his face and a pen, and hurriedly signed an autograph. He passed the pad around and smiled at the man who had handed it to him. It was obviously for his kids or something.

“Bri, where have I been where I could use a phrase like that?”AJ asked,”It’s not exactly a common one that you can just say anywhere!”

Brian frowned,”I don’t know... But you said it somewhere. Maybe I dreamed you said it.”

“And you guys talk about me,”Nick said in a low voice.

“Oh forget it,”Brian dropped the subject. Each room was blocked off by a velvet rope so no one could actually enter, but this place did seem familiar.

“Hey, you guys know what this place kind of looks like?”Howie said looking thoughtful. He was quiet a moment as the tour guide explained something about a grotesque statue they were standing in front of.

“What?”asked AJ with a stiffled yawn. This was boring, AJ wanted to get back to the art galleries, or the weapon room. At least those rooms had been interesting, and nobody talked nonstop through out your visit!

“It kind of reminds me of ‘Everybody’,”Howie said,”The set up of the hallway here. The mirror, and colors... Even some of these rooms!”

Kevin bit his lip,”Hmmn... Hey it does kind of look like it. I wonder why I didn’t notice earlier?”

They had stopped in a hallway. They watched as the tour went on without them.

“Guys, we’re losing the tour,”Brian gestured.

“Man, I lost that tour a while back,”AJ groaned,”I say we call it an educational experience, and go find Ms. Carolyn. Maybe we can treat her to something to eat.”

Howie and Brian were nodding,”Sounds good.”

“Nick, what are you looking at?”Kevin asked this out of the blue. Nick was being kind of quiet. He had his back to the group, and he was leaning over something. He was a little ahead of them all. He stayed still, like no one had said anything to him.

Brian shrugged, and they all walked over to see what had Nick’s attention. It was a book on a podium. The book was rather old, in fact, it was pretty ancient. The pages appeared to be laminated, very carefully of course. The words were in German and they looked as ancient as the book. Even if the Boys were fluent in reading German they would have trouble reading this. The pages were lined with gold rims, fragile book marks had been put in places in the book.

What was so interesting about this old relic? Kevin stared at Nick’s pale face with some concern,”Nick, are you ok?”

Nick blinked, and shook his head like he did earlier. He looked up to notice Kevin and the other guys around him for the first time,”Woa! When’d you guys...”

“A minute ago, you were like entranced or something. What is so intriguing about this ugly old thing?”asked AJ, placing his hands on Nick’s shoulders,”You can barely read English, so I know it’s not the words that have you captivated.”

Nick was about to say something, then he stopped to glare at AJ,”Hey! I can so read English! And I can read some German too! But you were right, I wasn’t looking at the words.”

“Check out this ugly dude,” Brian pointed to a picture of a funky looking creature with horns and some kind of fancy magic wand.

“A scepter,” Nick said quietly, he got that odd look on his face again as he traced his finger around the picture of the beast.

“Ok, Nicky,” Brian took Nick by the arm,” lets go away from the book now. You want to get some air, or sit down?”

“I’m fine,” Nick said, he shook his head again,” Wow... You know, I don’t think I like this part of the museum.”

“Me either,” Howie shivered,”It’s creepy.”

“How is this place creepy?”AJ demanded,”It’s just an exhibit... I mean with you guys you’d think there were ghosts, or monsters!”

“I wanna get out of here,”Howie said quickly looking around nervously,”I am so serious. Scoff at me all you like AJ, but I’m leaving.”

“Wait for me,”Nick turned to follow Howie.

Brian and AJ looked at each other and laughed then they began making chicken noises.

“That’s enough!”Kevin said to them,”If they’re scared...” He stopped mid sentence. AJ and Brian stared at him, looking as spooked as Nick and Howie had earlier. Kevin swallowed,” Why does this seem like it’s happened before?”

“It probably has,”AJ said trying to be casual about it.

“No, there’s something weird abou this place... and it’s not just the deja- vu thing either. I think Howie and Nick had the right idea. I’ll see you two later,” Kevin began to walk briskly out of that wing of the museum.

AJ and Brian stared after him.

“The tour was boring anyway,”AJ shrugged, he gave Brian a look, that read lets go.

“In a second Alex,”Brian waved AJ on. Brian walked to the book stand again, and took a good look at it. He looked both ways making sure there were no guards, then he turned the page. Wow! It was a picture of the woods... It was a cartoon sketch, but it was still creepy looking. The monster was out in the woods, and so was what looked like a small child. Brian stood transfixed with the page as the picture seemed to come alive before his eyes. The girl was playing a game with a person that wasn’t really a person. It was the monster! It was luring her closer and closer to him, and he stood waiting for her... He wore a long lush robe, and held a magic scepter. He waited hungrily for the little girl to reach him. Evil dripped through the page right into Brian’s fingertips. He had to warn that girl, NO GO BACK! There was no sound. The little girl had vanished, along with the monster. What was left was a picture of the woods...

Brian slammed the book closed not caring if anyone saw him do it! He was breathing heavily. What was that? What had just happened? Brian backed away from the book stand to a plush love seat, and sat down. Ok, get a hold of yourself, Brian. It’s a book. It’s just a book. It’s not alive, it does not have picture shows. Go look at it again. Brian slowly and reluctantly went back over to the book again. This time his hand only touched the cover, which felt warm. In fact, it was hot! Brian snatched his hand away, and jumped back. He felt an icy wind brush by his face, shoulders... He shivered. Then he straightened out. What had that been? He took a deep breath, and reached to touch the book again. Nothing, no heat, no icy winds... His mind was playing tricks on him. Brian laughed and opened the book again. There were no more picture shows... What was he on? He had been hanging around Nick and his imagination too long. Brian trotted off to find AJ and the others.

“There you are finally!”AJ said,”We were about to send a search party out looking for you.”

Brian blinked,”Lets get out of here guys.”

They all stared at Brian. He looked frazzled and spooked. There was an odd nervous energy about him. He looked like he had been through a lot, but it had only been 15 minutes.

“What happened to you?”asked Nick with a laugh in his voice,”You.. You’re giving me the impression that you’ve been in a fight. But you’re all in one piece, so...”

“I don’t know what happened! I think I’m losing my marbles!” Brian said,”Lets go thank Ms. Carolyn and call it a night!”

“That’s what I said a long time ago!”Howie muttered.

The Boys told Ms. Carolyn that they had a good time, but they had an early wake up call the next morning.

“I never thought we’d leave,”Nick said as he approached the door,”Lets go.” He blinked at that phrase, then he quickly rushed out the door. Howie dashed out after him, as did Kevin and Brian. AJ still stood inside looking out the fancy glass door after the 4. He shrugged and sighed, maybe they could go to a resteraunt somewhere. As he opened the door he felt a cool, no not just cool, a frosty blast of air whiz by him. He jumped with a yelp. He put his hand to his cheek which he knew had to be red. What had that been? It was moderately warm outdoors. What’s up with the air conditioning system in this place? AJ shivered and stepped out onto the sidewalk joining his group.

Chapter 2

“Hey look out!” A stage light came crashing down onto the stage. Brian gulped, because he had been standing there just a few minutes ago.

“OK,”Kevin complained,”Isn’t anybody checking this stuffs’ safety. That has to be the 7^th thing that has fallen down this week!”

Nick came wondering onto the stage holding two head sets and looking dazed, and frizzed,”Here AJ, it’s all fixed.”

“What happened to you?”AJ stared at Nick, Howie looked up at him too.

Tommy, the band member who plays the keyboard, came up behind Nick and touched his shoulders. Nick jumped, “He got a little shock backstage from one of the headsets. It was kind of funny.” He chuckled.

Nick gaped at Tommy incredulously,” I get electrocuted and you think it’s funny?!”

“Yup, especially when your hair did that little dance. Oh come on, it didn’t hurt,”Tommy pushed at Nick,”It just shook you up some.”

Nick made a face at Tommy, then he laughed,” Ok, it was funny, and it would have been even funnier if it had been YOU!” Nick tripped Tommy and ran off. Tommy caught himself before he fell, and stared after Nick with his mouth open.

“I’ll get him,”Tommy promised.

“Man, this is weird. I mean, I expected things to get better after we got back to the States, but these little accidents are getting ridiculous!”Howie grumbled,”I think it’s time we reviewed our staff.”

“You mean fire people?”asked AJ.

“Well if they can’t do their jobs... I mean, we’ve been lucky so far, but that light could have hit someone,”Howie and AJ veered around the light and the newly aquired hole in the stage it had made. Four stage men had already jumped on stage trying to figure out what happened.

Kevin was standing with them,”I just don’t understand, that light was quadruple bolted down. It couldn’t have come done.. Not by itself anyway! Somebody had to have tampered with it!”

“But that’s impossible, no one has been up there since me!” Steve, another stage man complained,” And I didn’t do it. I wouldn’t do a thing like that. I gotta walk across this stage too ya know!”

“I can’t explain it,”Paul looked at Kevin,”I’m sorry, but it looks like sabotage.”

“So we should call the police right?”Brian poked his head into the conversation.

Paul and Steve nodded,”That would be the wise thing to do. They may launch a full scale investigation... If someone is out to get you boys...”

“Ok, we’ll call them,”Kevin looked shook up by that tidbit of unwanted information.

The police investigation was forced to go on around stage rehearsal the next day. The police had been there all night investigating and could not find a thing. They were under the stage the next morning drinking coffee and eating donuts that the Boys provided. The Boys requested permission to go on and rehearse, and the police let them. They couldn’t find anything wrong with the stage, they had even brought in experts. For all they knew this was a publicity stunt, but the Boys had been nice enough.

The coffins rolled onstage for “Everybody.” “Ok, here goes!” the technician backstage gave a thumbs up. The band started playing the introduction to “Everybody” The coffins were opened to reveal all 5 Backstreet Boys wearing normal practice clothes. Brian began the opening verse from inside the coffin. They all stepped out on “Backstreet’s back alright!” The usual explosion went off.

“Yow!”AJ cried out jumping out of the way and knocking over a dancer. The explosion had gone off surprisingly close to AJ’s coffin and had nearly caught his clothing on fire. The sparkler hit the curtain, and slowly the curtain began to smoke.

“Oh no!” Nick yelled,”Get off the stage!”

People flocked off the stage, band members, technicians, dancers, Boys. Someone ran with a fire extinguisher, while one of the police reported it to the fire department. They charged to the scene, by then the fire was out. It had been a small fire, but it could have spread easily with all the cloth and wood around.

“It almost hit me!”AJ was yelling, he was being checked over by the stage doctor. His arm was red where the firecracker had rushed by his skin.

The police were investigating the fireworks, and interviewing the technicians and stage hands. They instructed the Boys to go to their hotel rooms, and stay there. It was basically house arrest, except in their case, hotel arrest. They wanted to interview the Boys and fingerprint them too, just in case. That would come later, right now they just wanted them out of the way and safe. Several officers were sent with them.

“This is so messed up,”AJ was muttering,” Why would we sabatgoge our own show?! That’s our own money down the drain... And the fans would be disappointed... And, and it was too dangerous! I almost got barbequed! Do you think I would rig an explosive to almost barbeque me for publicity?”

“No, we don’t think you’d know how to rig an explosive,”Nick uttered to Brian who laughed.

“Ok, Nick, now is not funny time! Somebody is wrecking our shows! Whoever it is has followed us from Europe, so it’s gotta be someone from the European tour that carried over with us,”Howie said seriously,”Maybe we could write down a list.”

“Or maybe we could figure out why when all these accidents happen, to me anyway, it’s always so freakin’ cold!”AJ was still griping. He rubbed his arm which had been loosely bandaged.

“Huh? What the heck are you talking about?”Kevin asked looking at AJ.

“Everytime something bad is about to happen around me... All of sudden it’s freezing!”AJ said,”I know, I know, what does that have to do with anything... But it’s weird and I keep thinking about it!”

Nick blinked,”I felt it. When the headsets I was picking up off the amplifier shocked me, I felt this cold tickle first.” He shrugged.

“You were lucky Tyler was paying attention and turned the power off in time; you could have gotten fried,”Brian said. He looked uncomfortable,” When that ladder collasped on stage I swear the temperature dropped 60 degrees.”

“So what are you guys trying to say? There are ghosts! Ghost are wrecking our show?!” Howie demanded,”Get real!”

“Oh does this look real enough to you!?”AJ pointed at his bandage,” Cops can’t find any fingerprints or traces of anybody touching our stuff... We didn’t do it. The staff didn’t do it...”

“So you’re gonna write it off as a ghost?”Howie asked looking incredulous,”You guys are freakin’ crazy, and if you say that to anyone else they’re gonna think you’re freakin’ crazier than I think you are!”

“I never said ghosts,”Nick said,”I just felt cold air.”

“Everytime there was about to be an accident. It’s like a strong blast of wind. Like someone just opened a deep freezer in your face!”Brian said stroking his chin,”It’s odd... but no, I can’t really say I think it’s ghosts either.”

“So what, we’re just gonna wait for something else to happen and find out who’s right?”AJ began to pace the room,”Man, I say we call an exorcists and get on with the show!”

“How’s that gonna look AJ?”Kevin asked,”It’d be all over the tabloids!”

“SO!”AJ blurted,”It’s better than being flambayed, or toasted!”

“Ok, calm down,” Howie said evenly,”Ok... We’re all confused and jumping to conclusions. I for one don’t believe in ghosts so I think we should trust the police to find the real culprits.”

“But if the culprits don’t leave traces.. Because only the living leave traces..”

“Oh AJ drop it! It’s not a ghost!”Brian said,”That sounds crazy!”

“You were just agreeing with me a minute ago!”AJ was getting angry.

“Yeah, that it was cold before an accident..”

“That’s what happens when a ghost enters the room!”AJ grumbled,”Don’t you read?”

“Ok, enough of this,”Kevin stood up and raised both his arms to silence everyone,”We’re all tired, and we’re all scared. We are all being a little irrational at this point in time. Lets sleep on it, and come back and talk about it in the morning.”

“Sleep?- but what if the psychopath comes to get us in..”

“Nick, spare us!” Howie begged.

Nick made a face, then shrugged,”Good night.” He left the room, followed by AJ, and Brian.

“Do you really think AJ is being crazy?”Kevin asked Howie before he left out of the room too.

“Of course he is. Ghosts! Whatever! When they find the real guy he is gonna feel so stupid!”Howie snickered,”Goodnight Kev.”

“Goodnight.”

“I WILL HAVE EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU... FOREVER! YOU ESCAPED ME ONCE; YOU TRIED TO DESTROY ME. I AM INDESTRUCTIBLE! YOU MUST PAY. YOU MUST BE MADE EXAMPLES FOR ANYONE ELSE WHO TRIES! CHIROS WILL REIGN OVER LOST SOULS ONCE MORE... ALL I NEED IS.... YOUR YOUNG BLOOD.”

The vaporous ghastly shape hoovered above Nick Carter’s bed glaring down at the 19 year old. The room’s temperature had dropped to a frigid 30 degrees. The teen’s deep breathing that told Chiros he was asleep, came out in clouds of white.

“SLEEP YOUNG ONE. I WILL HAVE YOU , SINCE YOU WERE THE ONE WHO INITIATED THE ATTEMPTED MURDER. YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TO PERISH THAT TIME 3 LONG YEARS AGO. NOW YOU SHALL BE MINE. THREE LONG YEARS I HAVE WAITED FOR SOMEONE TO BREAK THE MEANS OF PASSAGE OPEN FOR ME. STUPID MORTALS DO NOT KNOW WHEN TO LEAVE FORBIDDEN THING S ALONE. YOU COULD HAVE EVADED ME, BUT MY BOOK AND SOME OF MY HOME HAVE BEEN SALVAGED, AND YOU CAME BACK TO ACTIVATE THEM ONCE AGAIN. I ONLY NEEDED A CHARGE OF YOUR YOUNG ENERGY TO RELEASE ME FROM THE DARK PRISON. NOTHING ELSE BUT THE HANDS OF THE SLAYER COULD RELEASE MY SPIRIT.”

The phantasm was quiet as Nick shivered and pulled his blankets tighter.

“I DO NOT HAVE LONG. MY SPIRIT NEEDS A BODY. THE ONLY WAY TO GET MY BODY BACK, TO BECOME LIVING ONCE MORE, IS TO KILL YOU AND TAKE YOUR SOUL. YOU FOOLS, YOU UNSUSPECTING FOOLS... GHOSTS! HA HA HA! YOU CONITINUE TO THINK THAT WAY... HA HA HA! LOOKS LIKE I WILL GET TO FINISH WHAT I STARTED AFTER ALL!”

The vapor looked down at Nick one last time, and then slowly it evaporated from the room. The temperature began to rise back to its normal state.

Chapter 3

“You know, if I didn’t know better I’d think you didn’t get any sleep last night,”Brian punched Nick’s shoulder. They were the only ones out on the hotel patio having breakfast by the pool.

Nick yawned for the 100^th time that morning,”Man, I had this weird nightmare. I was in this big house, and I was being chased by this monster.”

Brian laughed,”Ok, I do think you are a little too old to still have dreams about the boogie monster.”

“It wasn’t a boogie monster!”Nick yelled.

“Ok, ok,”Brian held up his hands in an “I mean no harm” manner,”Chill. I’m guessing you’re cranky.”

Nick narrowed his eyes at Brian, then he put his head down,”Sorry. Man, its just that dream... It wasn’t one. It didn’t feel like one, and someone was talking to me. Well he wasn’t exactly talking to me, but it was about me and all of you guys too!”

“Did you leave your radio or TV on again Nick?”Brian asked looking dubious.

Nick shook his head,”I did not. Something was in my room last night! And don’t tell the guys cause they’ll make fun of me, but..”

“Don’t tell the guys what?”AJ popped his head in the conversation,”Hey Brian, Nick. Now what were you saying, Nick?”

“Nothing,”Nick looked down at his untouched breakfast.

AJ blinked,”Uh-uh. It’s something, you were just saying you didn’t want Brian to tell us something cause we’d laugh.”

“Man, leave me alone!”Nick snapped.

AJ jumped,”Hey, chill. What’s wrong, what happened?” AJ had lost his smile, he looked serious,”Are you ok? You look like you’ve...”

“Haven’t had a good night’s sleep? Seen a ghost?”Nick supplied irritably.

AJ was drumming his fingers on the table, he stopped dead at the mention of ghost,”Ghost? I’m listening.”

“You can’t laugh, and you can’t run and tell the others,”Nick grumbled, he hadn’t wanted AJ to be there. He would most definitely tease him about it later.

“Cross my heart,”AJ said leaning in,”You gonna eat that?” He pointed to something on Nick’s plate, and Nick pushed the whole thing at him.

“I had this dream that I was being chased all over this like mansion or something by this horrible monster..”

“Oh God, I thought you had something serious to..”

“He wasn’t gonna just eat me like other monsters. He wants my soul.”

AJ quieted at that, Brian got still.

“We were all there... He took us one by one. I was last, no wait, I wasn’t last. I think one of us was still...”Nick squinted and looked like he was remembering,”He was still after one of us. I was in this, this dark place. I hated it and something was talking to me.”

“That sounds like one bad nightmare,”Brian remarked.

“No. When I woke up it was cold in the room. Not freezer cold, but cold. The sheets on the bed were kind of damp, so I got up..”

“You wet the bed!?” Both Brian and AJ burst out laughing.

“MAN! I knew I couldn’t tell you guys!” Nick turned away from AJ and Brian, frustrated.

“No,no, wait Nick. Ok, tell us the rest,” Brian wiped a tear from his eye,”We won’t laugh anymore, I promise.”

Nick was still scowling with his arms folded, amd turned away from them.

“Come on, man,”AJ put his hand on Nick’s shoulder.

Nick shrugged AJ’s hand off. He remained silent.

Brian and AJ stared at his back for awhile, then at each other. They were still bitting their lips on laughter. They decided Nick wasn’t gonna say anything else when...

“There was water on the dressers, on the floor. There was ice on the inside of the windows and the TV screen,”Nick said in a low voice, still not turning to face them.

AJ wasn’t laughing anymore,”I told you it was a ghost!”

Brian wasn’t laughing either, but he wasn’t about to believe it was a ghost that had entered Nick’s room,”It wasn’t a ghost AJ! Are you sure this wasn’t something you dreamed up, Nick?”

Nick stood up,”Come see it for yourselves.”

“I told you, I told you guys!”AJ was triumphant as he showed Nick’s room off to Howie and Kevin.

“I think we better go get Officer Karl out of his car,”Kevin said staring at the puddles all over the room, ”Whoever this sabatoger is, he’s got the key to Nick’s room. He may even have the key to all of our rooms.”

“Officer! Sabatoger! We need to be talking exorcist!” AJ fumed.

Howie was already out the door followed by Brian to go get the police officer that had been stationed outside the hotel the Boys were staying at. He obviously hadn’t been much help! He was probably asleep!

Sure enough, when they reached the car the overweight officer was taking a snooze. Howie tapped on the glass.

“Huh?”the startled officer woke up. He saw Howie and Brian looking in the window at him, and rolled the window down,” Something wrong?”

“Yeah, you bet there is. While you were taking a nap, somebody broke into one of our rooms last night! They vandalized the place!”

Officer Karl got out of the car,”Take me to it.”

Four police cars were outside by noon. The room was marked off with yellow police tape. So far the only fingerprints found in the room were Nick’s, and the rest of the Boys. At around one the police came into the hotel lobby where the Boys were sitting solemnly.

“We need you boys to come with us,”Officer Parker said looking at each one of them in turn.

“Why? I don’t think that guy will try to get us in here,”Kevin said,”Too many cops.”

“It’s no longer a matter of your safety. We need to question you,”Officer Milord said.

“Question?”Howie asked,”But why.. Oh. You guys still think we did it.”

“Come along please.”

“This is crazy,”AJ was muttering as they followed the officers out to their cars.

“This is so ridiculous...”Kevin was saying through the protective screening from the backseat of the patrol car,” You know this is gonna be on MTV!”

Howie was quiet, as was Nick. Kevin was the only one taking out his frustrations,”Won’t you guys be mad when you let the real guy get away while you’re interrogating us!”

The officer kindly ignored Kevin and turned up his police radio. Brian and AJ were in the police car following them. There hadn’t been enough room for everyone.

“Come on guys,”Kevin urged Nick and Howie,”Tell them they’re making a mistake.”

“Kev, we aren’t being arrested we’re only being questioned,” Howie said closing his eyes.

“Nick, you tell him,”Kevin coaxed Nick,”It was your room!”

“Kevin, what do you think they’re gonna do?- turn around and let us out? We’re going to the police station!”Nick said with a trace of annoyance in his voice.

“I know th...” Kevin froze.

“What.. Oh man, does anybody feel that?” Howie turned to look at the window which was frosting over. The air in the car was frigid, even the officer was breathing white wisps of fog.

“What’s happening?”asked the officer fiddling with the air conditioning.

“LOOK OUT!”

A U-Haul truck went spiraling out of control in the police car’s path. The officer tried to apply the brakes but the car didn’t slow down.

“OH MY GOD!” Howie shrieked.

“WE’RE GONNA CRASH!”Nick yelled already shielding his face like impact was upon them.

Chapter 4

“I can’t believe that happened,”Kevin was shaking. Someone brought him another cup of hot cocoa.

“That poor man,”Howie was shaking his head about the guy who had been driving the U’Haul. He had broken quite a few limbs. Kevin, Howie, Nick, and Officer Milord had been lucky, only scrapes and bruises. The car AJ and Brian had been riding in had stopped on a dime, and they had run to the accident scene a split second after the collision. It was a wonder someone hadn’t been killed.

The cops were investigating the accident scene. Kevin, Howie, Nick, and Officer Milard were driven to the nearest hospital to be checked over. The police decided they would put off questioning the Boys that night.

“It was freezing cold before the accident happened,”Nick reported.

“The windows fogged up, like, like the ones in your room Nick,”Kevin said shakily.

“Everytime there’s an accident...”Howie’s voice trailed off as he stared at AJ open mouthed,”Maybe it is a ghost.”

“I told you!”AJ’‘s “I told you” wasn’t as triumphant as it had been hours earlier. He was still pretty shaken up.

“So what do we do?” asked Nick,”If it is a ghost, then it’s been following us since Germany!”

“Germany? Why do you think it started there Nick?”asked Kevin.

“I.. I don’t know... It’s just Germany gave off some bad vibes,”Nick shifted uncomfortably.

“Bad vibes?” said Howie looking skeptical.

“That museum wasn’t exactly fun city,”Nick remarked, “It freaked all of us out, well except AJ, but he’s weird.”

AJ glowered, but then he looked thoughtful,” Wait, wait... The first time I ever felt that cold air was at that museum in Germany when we were leaving! I thought the air was broken!”

“But why would a ghost be...”

“No,”Brian spoke up for the first time in a while,”That wasn’t the first time somebody felt that. Remember when we went on that boring tour, and we were all standing by that book.”

“The one with the pictures?”Nick recalled.

“Yeah, and you were acting all weird about it. Then you and Howie freaked out and left. Then Kevin and AJ left too. I went to look at the book again, and I don’t know what happened. I thought I was crazy, but now I don’t know... Maybe what I saw really did happen.”

“What did you see?”

“I saw a picture show!”Brian announced looking excited to be able to tell about this and not be dubbed as crazy.

“A picture show? Ok,” Everyone turned away from Brian’s story.

“No! No! But when I touched the book it was like fire hot! Then a few seconds later I touched it again and nothing happened. Nothing happened, but a blast of cold air pushed me back.”

“So you think that the ghost came out of the book?”asked Howie looking even more doubtful.

“I don’t know D, all I know is something strange is going on here, and I don’t think this something strange is human,”Brian said,”It has something to do with Germany, and if we ever want to figure this out...”

“We need to go back there,”Kevin finished for Brian.

“Back to Germany?”asked AJ.

Kevin and Brian nodded.

“Well, once we get out of trouble with the cops, and cancel our performances, we can schedule in a little trip back over there,”Howie said.

“Cancel?”AJ peeped.

“Well yeah, we can’t do those shows with something out to kill us,”Howie said,”That would be dangerous to not only us, but the fans as well.”

“Well, maybe not cancel, but we can postphone the shows,”Brian said evenly,”Either way, we can’t do them now. Not until we get to the bottom of this mystery.”

“I’ll call Ms. Carolyn and let her know we’re coming,”Kevin stood up.

“Does this mean more airplanes?”asked Nick dreadfully.

“Yup, it means more planes.”

“So, the whole exhibit has been taken down?”Kevin asked. He was on the phone with Ms. Carolyn Kulle’s husband, Frank, “I see... Too many accidents in the wing.”

“I guess that means no Germany,”Nick said triumphantly, he and Howie toasted each other over two bottles of Coke. They both took healthy swigs of their beverages.

AJ and Brian groaned,”Then it’s back to the drawing board...”

“No it’s not,”Kevin said with a smile, hanging up the phone.

“Why not?”asked Brian,”The exhibit’s gone, how can we look at something that’s not..”

“It’s here!”

SPPPP... Was the sound of Nick and Howie simultaneously spitting out their cokes on the table,”What?” Nick choked.

“Ms. Carolyn has a son that lives in New Jersey and she boxed up certain artifacts from the exhibit and shipped them to him to store!”Kevin said.

“Yes!”AJ cheered,”Finally some answers.”

Now it was Nick and Howie’s turn to groan.

“I’m gonna book us flights for tomorrow afternoon,”Kevin said,”Everybody better be there.” He looked pointedly at Nick.

Nick frowned,”You think I wouldn’t show up?”

Kevin shrugged,”You’re scared, and I think it’s because you know more about this than you’re really letting on. I have a feeling you’re very important to this cause, and you know it too. You might not show.”

Nick narrowed his eyes at Kevin,”I don’t know anything you don’t, and just because I’m not interested in getting killed this year...”

“Ok guys, enough of this,”Howie interjected, “Kevin’s booking flights for all of us tomorrow, and we’ll all be there on time. Right, Nick?”

Nick kept his glare locked on Kevin’s intense stare, “Nick?”

“We’ll see,”Nick said in a low voice. Nick stood up, scraping his chair against the linoleum floor,”I’ll let myself out.”

Brian watched with a frown as Nick left, then he turned to his cousin,”Now why did you have to go and do that? You know he’s gonna show! Why are you always testing him?”

Kevin shrugged,”I don’t know. It’s just... He’s hiding something from us, I know it. He knows something and he doesn’t want us to find out what it is. He wants to keep us from finding the...”

“Kevin, you’re losing it buddy,”AJ said with a laugh,”Nick’s nothing but a big baby that doesn’t want to get on an airplane! You know he hates to fly. I don’t see why you always have to make a big deal out of every little thing.”

“I do not make big deals out of...”

“Guys, drop it! We have a flight to catch tomorrow so I suggest we all say goodbye to Kevin, and go home and pack,”Howie said, once again being the mediator.

Everyone agreed with Howie, and Brian looked at him thankfully,”I don’t know what we would do without you.”

“Probably kill each other,”Howie laughed,”That is... if whatever’s after us doesn’t kill you first...” He uttered that last part to himself. His face was set in a grim line,”See ya tomorrow, Brian.”

“I knew he was gonna do this!” Kevin set down his carry-on in frustration. Brian, AJ, Howie, and Kevin had been sitting in the airport for 30 minutes waiting for Nick to show up.

Brian was shaking his head, where could Nick be?

“Maybe he’s stuck in traffic,”Howie submitted.

“Or maybe he just didn’t come! I told you...”

“Or maybe he overslept, then nearly got into a car accident trying to get here, only to be chased by 6 screaming girls and their mothers, and a cute little doggy through 8 terminals!”Nick finally put in an appearance. He looked wind blown, sweaty, and angry. He tossed his mistreated carry-on to the ground beside Brian’s,”It’s nice to know I’m trusted among my friends!” He flopped down in a chair next to Brian’s, exhausted from his ordeals. He ran his hands through his hair, and glared carefully at Kevin.

Kevin looked away,”Ok, I admit I was wrong Nick, and I’m sorry. It’s just, just that...”

“Save it,”Nick snapped,”Lets just go and get this over with.”

As if it were on cue,”Flight 118 nonstop to Trenton, New Jersey, now boarding,” was announced over the airport speakers.

Nick grabbed his bag and walked briskly toward the terminal not looking back to see if the others were following him.

“Smooth one Kev,”Brian complimented Kevin on his handling of the situation. He followed after Nick.

“Nice goin’ Kev,” AJ said slinging his bag over his shoulder,”Now we’re gonna have to deal with a cranky Nick on the plane... Two hours of it Kevin! You couldn’t have waited to be a jerk to him after we got off the plane in New Jersey?!”

AJ walked off to join Brian and Nick who were distant dots by then. Howie looked at Kevin and shrugged,”I told you he’d be here.”

Kevin sighed,”I know. I wanted to trust him, it’s just I get this vibe from him. He’s afraid of more than just a ghost Howie.”

Howie blinked,”I think you’re just paranoid Kev. But a little paranoia at this point in time is understandable. Don’t feel bad about it, Nick’ll get over it. That’s a good thing about him, he doesn’t hold grudges. Lets go.”

Kevin nodded and picked up his bag, but he still couldn’t shake that feeling of something. Something that wasn’t a ghost threatening him, and Nick knowing all about it.

Chapter 5

“The ground! I love you, and I will never leave you again!”Brian said running down the airplane stairs and kissing the pavement.

“Chill Rok, we hit a little turbulance in air. It wasn’t anything out the ordinary,”AJ said, just a little shakily. It had been a terrible flight. A sudden thunderstorm had brewed during the flight and the pilot had lost contact with control for a brief period of time. The plane had nearly been hurled out of the air and back to the ground by harsh winds. Brian had spent the duration of the trip praying to God to get them back to the ground alive. Nick spent his time crying about how he knew this was a bad idea, and that nobody ever listens to him. Kevin and Howie spent their time trying to calm Nick down. AJ had tried to sleep. He figured if he was asleep when he died he wouldn’t feel any pain.

Howie followed after AJ. He joined Brian on the ground and began to pay his respects to it,”We’re driving back.”

Kevin and Nick came off the plane, Kevin carrying both their bags. Nick hopped off the stairs and his knees came out from under him as he hailed the ground.

AJ laughed at them all,”Get up guys, people are staring!”

“Let them stare!”

Ms. Kulle’s son, Robert, was there to meet them at the airport. He hardly recognized the famous Backstreet Boys in their dark glasses and hats they had donned to steer away teenage eyes.

“Hello!”he called to them waving his arms. He was holding a sign with his name on it, since he couldn’t very well put the names of the Backstreet Boys on his sign.

The Boys hurried over to him, and shook his hand one by one.

“Hi, gee, you sure don’t look like Ms. Carolyn!”Nick commented.

“Nick!”Brian looked incredulously at him,”Hi, I’m Brian Littrell. This numbskull here is Nick Carter!”

Nick pouted,”I’m not a numbskull.”

“I’m Kevin Richardson, that’s AJ McLean, and Howie Dorough,”Kevin gestured toward AJ and Howie,”We are so grateful to you for agreeing to meet us here like this. I know it seems weird.”

“Oh it seems more than weird. Mother sends me an exhibit that I thought was wonderful,”Robert spoke with a slight German accent,”and tells me to box it up and put it into storage. It was such a waste... I am happy to bring the artifacts back into the light. I myself would like to look through them with you.”

“You didn’t look at them when the boxes first came in?”asked Howie curiously.

“No, they were tightly sealed, and Mother didn’t want them broken. I figure she will send for them again when all the rowdiness in the museum dies down again.”

Brian nodded in understanding,”Well guys, lets go look through some evil boxes!”He rubbed his palms together and made a goofy face of fake anticipation.

“Brian, if you don’t cool it with the...”

“Ok guys, come on.. While Robert’s getting the car, we should get our other bags,”Howie pushed Brian and Nick along towards the baggage claim.

“What other bags, I didn’t bring any. We aren’t staying that long!”Nick muttered,”If this takes more than 2 days I’m packing up and buying my own ticket on the bus back to Ruskin.”

“Here it is guys,” Robert had led the Boys up to his attic. The wooden door opened with a creak. Mushroom clouds of dust sprouted through the stuffy attic atmosphere. The Boys heard the sound of a switch being clicked. Light poured into the room. Wow... Despite the dust the place was actually kind of neat looking. Old furniture was set up as it would be in a normal living room setting, but covered with plastic. Antiques lined the walls, and old rug was placed over the wooden floor. There were mounds of boxes placed in the dim corners of each side of the room. There was a large picture window that had a great view of the swimming pool.

“Would you look at all this great junk! I betcha’ got an Atari up here too!”Nick plunged into the warm room looking around with wide eyed curiosity.

Robert laughed,”I think I even have Pong up here. It’s been a while since I sorted through all this stuff... The crates are in the far left. I took the liberty of cracking the seals open for you guys so you don’t have to worry about anything.”

“Thanks,”Kevin said,”We really appreciate this.”

“Your welcome, but may I ask why you all were in such a flurry to get to this old stuff?”Robert quizzed.

“Um....”Kevin looked at a loss for words.

“It’s um.. Something you wouldn’t undersand,”Howie said,”We’re all paranoid, and until we see this exhibit we won’t sleep.”

Robert looked very confused,”O-K...” he drawled, he looked uncomfortable, because now all the guys were staring at him,”Um.. I guess I should leave you guys alone then. I’ve got some work to do, and my business partner is supposed to be over in an hour. Don’t be strangers, come down and say hello after an hour. And open the window if it gets too stuffy in here.” Robert gave one last wistful look at the group, and then he began to travel down the stairs.

“That was rude,”AJ told Howie,”I think you hurt his feelings.”

“Well we needed him gone, and now he is!”Howie waved a hand,”Lets get to those crates.” AJ, Howie, Kevin, and Brian approached the dark wooden crates slowly. They were beginning to feel a strong sense of foreboding.

“Um.. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea guys,”Brian said, actually taking a step back,”This stuff feels... Wrong.”

Everyone had paused in their tracks staring at the half opened crates. It was as if some unseen power had flown from the boxes and bolted their feet to the floor.

“Come on guys, we’ve come this far, we have to see what’s in here,”Kevin said, his voice croaked. He took a step forward, then another until he had reached a crate. Slowly he drew back the lid,”It’s the armor in this one.” He went to the next crate,”This one looks like drapes and linens... Come on guys.”

The other Boys slowly followed Kevin’s lead,”Ok... Now lets see. Ugly rugs, ugly ornaments...” Brian stiffened and froze in recollection.

“...It’s better than any rusty old suit or armor!”

“Hey, no it’s not! I say we sleep in that room!”

“Why don’t we just all choose our own rooms, that way everybody will get to sleep where they want tonight.”

“Brian, Brian, BRIAN!!”AJ shook Brian,”What’s wrong man?”

Brian blinked once, twice, he held an old bear skin rug,”Huh?”

“You’re shaking,”Howie observed,”Is it too stuffy in here for you?”

“Come on, lets go open the window,”Kevin was taking Brian’s arm, but Brian was shooing him off,”No! No! I’m fine...”Brian dove for an open carton and began ripping things out, and as he did more flashbacks began to suffice his memory.

”Hey, maybe sleeping alone isn’t such a good idea. I mean, what if something happens...”

“Like what?”A.J. had scratched his head.

“You’re scared aren’t you!?”

“Hello! Hello!”Howie called into his phone,”It’s dead!”

“Oh no.. We’re trapped.”

“Oh no we’re not, there has gotta be another way out of this place!”Brian yelled.

Brian sat in the midst of a sea of loose objects, each one giving him a different memory.

“Brian?”asked Kevin, slowly sitting down beside him,”I’m gonna help you over to the window...”

“No Kev,don’t you see.. Can’t you feel it? This stuff, that house, we were there!”Brian looked dazed, he laughed slightly.

“House, Brian?- What are you talking about?”asked AJ sitting beside Brian and patting his back.

“Three years ago we were on tour and.. And our tour bus broke down, and we had to stay in this house, a mansion really.”

“Brian, I think that video we made is really getting to your head. You sound like you’re describing ‘Everybody’” Howie laughed,”I mean next you’ll be telling us that there was a monster bus driver there too.”

Brian paled even more,”There was.. Or as Nick kept calling it the crazy-bus-driver-zombie- monster-thingy- that probably ate Howie, AJ, and Kevin...”

“Where is Nick anyway?”asked AJ looking slightly miffed.

“Come on Bri,”Kevin was helping Brian.

“You don’t believe me do you? Touch some of that stuff! Memories just started pouring into my head! I still don’t remember it all, I know there’s some things I’m missing,” Brian made another lunge for the carton, but was restrained by AJ and Kevin.

“This was so not a good idea. Now Brian’s losing his mind.”

“NO!” Brian broke free,”I’m not crazy. Listen to me. Something happened to us 3 years ago on that European tour, on our way through Germany. That something, I have a feeling, is what happening now!”

The others stared hard at Brian, then they looked back at the crates, then back at Brian,”Ok, you get his hands, I’ll get his feet.”

“NO I’M NOT GOIN’ NUTS!!! At least I hope I’m not,”Brian made a thrust at the cartons again and knocked one over. It fell to the floor with a loud thud.

“I got him!”Howie yelled pinning Brian to the floor as he squirmed.

“Hold him down!”Kevin yelled coming to help him,”AJ give me a hand here... AJ?”

AJ was standing over the spilled contents of the larger crate. Two thick leather bound books had toppled onto the floor, one opened to reveal disturbing pictures... Candles, and other occult objects toppled to the floor. AJ stared opened mouthed at the hideous picture of a monster on one of the book pages. It was a very lifelike sketch that sent a chill down AJ’s spine,”Guys look..” He spoke softly.

Kevin took one look at AJ’s face and went to join him over the fallen crate,”What is it Alex?”

Howie crawled off of Brian, and helped him up. They all crowded around the book,” Would you look at this...” Kevin said in a hushed voice,”He looks so familiar, but I can’t..”

“His name is Chiros,”AJ said,”and he... he...”

“He’s a demon that takes the souls of the living,”Howie finished for AJ, looking mysterified and horrified at the same time,”How did I know that?”

“Guys, something happened on that tour,”Brian repeated.

They all stared at him, and slowly each reached down and put one hand on the book to lift it all together. Once all their fingers connected with the book it was like lightning had struck,”YOW!” They threw down the book with yelp. Thunder boomed outside. The once sunny worry-free sky was now turning dark and ugly. Rain began to fall, it beat on the roof like drummers playing a march.

“I remember...” Kevin said slowly, realization dawning on him, on everyone.... The memories hit them all like a brick wall.

“We’ve been traveling down this road forever... And I haven’t seen any other cars for hours,”Howie said,”I don’t even see the rest of the tour.”

A.J. stood up to look out the window,”I don’t see anything either.. But it is raining pretty bad, maybe the other drivers got smart and stayed home... and maybe the rest of the tour got lost in the storm...”

“Or maybe we’re the ones lost in the storm, I doubt this old kook knows where he’s going!”Brian said out loud

“Something’s wrong with the bus, you boys are gonna have to get off,”said the driver, he puffed on a brown cigar.

“Huh?”Howie started to laugh as he looked out the window at the thunder and lightning,”You’re kidding, right?”

The driver stared at him and shook his head, smiling with a mouth full of big white teeth.

Howie stopped laughing.

“Get off where?”asked Kevin looking confused,”We’re not getting out in the rain... And what’s wrong with the bus?”

“There’s a place right up the street from here, it’s vacant, and it will keep you dry... Go wake that youngun up, get some stuff and lets go.”

“Howie?”asked Brian sounding nervous. They all turned back to where Howie should have been standing.

“Uh.. Howie, this isn’t funny,”Nick said, his voice starting to sound a little high pitched and hysterical again, then he laughed nervously,”You can come out Howie... We all think you’re funny..”Nick laughed again.

“Howie!?!”Kevin called.

Everybody was calling for Howie.

“He’s gone,”A.J. said sounding shaken.

“KEV LOOK OUT!”

A huge tentacle flopped down by Kevin, Kevin dove out of the way,”Keep coming Nick, I’ll get you!” The tentacle kept swatting at Kevin. Kevin kept dodging it.

“I can’t move anymore!”Nick yelled, “I told you!”

Kevin glanced down at his spear and waited for the tentacle to come down again, he stabbed. The monster screamed with pain and rage and came at Kevin, it hoisted its massive body out of the water. Kevin screamed and dove and ran. His spear was in hand, drenched with black monster blood.

“Um hi, I don’t suppose you girls know the way out of this crazy place.. And maybe where I can find 4 guys... One’s real tall with black hair, that’s my cousin, and then another one’s scrawny with a baseball hat on, and a big mouth, that’s my friend A.J., and then a little short one with big curly hair, loves to talk... and a tall blond guy, with...”Brian’s voice trailed off as the mummy girls turned their backs on him and went to the large coffin, and began to open it.

“Chiros? Like Mexican food?”asked Brian scratching his head.

Nick gave Brian a “come on” look, ”No, Chiros, as in demon of the house! He lured us here, Bri. He needed 5 young people and that’s just what he got.. Well, he hasn’t gotten you yet...”

”It’s hard to explain, Bri... I don’t even know how I know this stuff...But this guy is like an old demon and this territory is his. There hasn’t always been a castle here. He used to lure young children to these woods and he would take them and drain away their life force to feed his own, and they would become his followers...”

“He stopped getting travelers a few years ago.. People started thinking the place was haunted and cursed and they boarded it up. Chiros had to find someway to get fed, or he would perish... He found a way, he went into the industry. He became a cab driver, he took the long way across the country side, had car trouble... People ended up here. He played a hitch hiker.. He played a tour bus driver...”

“To get us..”Brian said quietly.

“We’ve got til day break to get out Bri...”

It came down. A silver blade sliced clean through Chiros’s back and pierced through his heart, it glittered and protruded out of the other side of him. Chiros was sputtering, choking on syrup colored blood, and shock, he sunk down to his knees to reveal Nick standing behind him holding the hilt of the knife.

Chiros wailed, and somehow managed to turn his head and glare at Nick, his foul blood splattered hand reached for Nick,”I can still win,”he choked,”I can have you!”

“So, guys... What are we gonna do?”asked A.J.

“What are we gonna do about what?”asked Brian.

“Well.... we were trapped in a castle all night, terrorized by a..a..”

“Crazy-bus-driver-zombie-monster-thingy-that tried to eat all of us,”Nick supplied with a smile.

“Yeah,”A.J. smiled back,”And we danced with zombies, and got turned into monsters.... and he tried to suck the life out of us... and Brian broke his magic wand and made him mad... then Nick stabbed him... and the house blew up! We can’t just act like it didn’t happen!”

“We’re going to have to,”shrugged Kevin,”They’ll think we’ve lost it for good if we keep on with this story.... But you know what... it kind of gives me an idea.... A musical idea.... I mean, maybe we can’t use it now, but maybe later when Backstreet Boys get big... We can make a video, all about our night in the castle.”

They stood looking so shaken,”Oh my God...”

“Well we came to find answers, and now we have them,”Kevin said solemnly.

“But Nicky killed him, why is he back?”Howie asked looking afraid,”We saw him explode! How is he back?” Howie was breathing hard and sweating, but not from the heat of the attic anymore.

“Oh man, oh man,”AJ was mumbling,”Now we know that our ghost isn’t a ghost, but the question is how is Chiros back? And he’s trying to kill us!”

“I don’t know, maybe one of these books will help us,”Kevin grumbled, and tentatively reached for a book again. He wasn’t shocked this time,”We should study these...”

“Why study them... They all seem to fall open on the right page,”Brian said in an odd voice,”Look at this... Chiros was killed at the first ray of dawn... The slayer can activate the book.. Who touched the book?”

“Nick did, Nick saw it first, and he was all freaked out by it...”Kevin froze,”He knew... Or he knows! That little creep knows everything and didn’t tell us. I knew he knew something we didn’t, and he didn’t want us to come here!” Kevin looked around wildly,”Where is he?”

“Where is who?”Nick appeared holding an old board game,”Look, it’s Parcheesi. I haven’t seen this game in a while. Wow, you guys really made a mess.”

“Nick, you didn’t hear all the commotion we were making over here?”asked Howie evenly.

“Yes, but I figured you had knocked over something. I do it all the time,”Nick shrugged, then made a face,”Don’t expect me to help you guys clean up this mess.”

Brian looked at Kevin with doubt in his eyes, Nick was clueless,”Nick, we’ve found something.”

“Like what, dice?”Nick looked preoccupied with the board game. He had laid it out on the floor to examine the contents.

“We found out what’s after us, and it’s not a ghost,”Howie said.

“Oh, I bet you’re cheering Howie, you get to laugh at AJ,”Nick said smiling. His smile fell off as the others stared at him looking very serious,”What?”

“Nick, what do you know?”Kevin asked with a quiet fury in his voice.

“What do you mean what do I know?”Nick blinked, then he began to look angry,”Don’t start that again Kevin, I don’t know anything about anything! Find something new to give me a hard time about already!”

“Nick, there’s a monster named Chiros after us...”Brian blurted out.

“A monster?”Nick raised an eyebrow. His mouth turned in disbelief.

“A demon really,”Brian countered,” You’ve got to remember, because I think you may be in the most danger... Because you... you....”

“I.. I.. What Bri?”Nick stood up straight, leaving Parcheesi on the floor.

“Nick, 3 years ago we were trapped in a house with a soul drinkin’ demon. He put you, me, Kev, and AJ to sleep, and made us dream we were monsters... Brian rescued us from those nightmares, and then we had to fight Chiros..”

“Fight? Demons? Monsters? Brian rescuing?”Nick ran his hands through his hair,”You guys have all gone nuts.” He laughed,”Ok, enough of the unfunny joke. You guys ain’t gonna scare me into cleaning up this mess.”

“No Nick, we’re not playing!”Brian began to tell the story the Boys had just remembered. They were touring in Europe. Their bus broke down in Germany, and they had to get a new bus with a new driver. The driver was really the demon Chiros, and he took them to his mansion. In the mansion he was going to keep them until he drained their souls away, and could add them to his collecton of followers. Chiros was a demon that thrived off of human souls... Brian had destroyed Chiros’s plan with help from Nick, and then Nick killed Chiros...

“I killed a monster,”Nick was really laughing now, he laughed harder when he stared at their serious faces,”Come on, stop it guys.”

“We’re not kidding Nick. You killed him, and when you touched this book, you brought him back. He is what is out to sabatoge us,”Howie explained.

Nick looked feverish with nervous energy,”Ok, you guys are scaring me... I’m not laughing at your joke, so drop it.”

“NICK IT’S NOT A JOKE!”AJ shrieked,”There really is a demon and he’s out to get us!”

Nick’s eyes glittered as he paraded towards one of the crates and kicked it over angrily,”There is no monster demon! It’s a box of old stuff, freaky old stuff, but just stuff! There is no demon! Stop trying to..”

“NICK THERE IS A DEMON!”AJ yelled.

“FINE!”Nick screamed back,”Ok, fine... Well, if your story is true.. Which it is not, because you guys are the worst con artist, how could this demon guy still be alive. I killed him you say... Lets just say I came up behind the guy with a knife and stabbed him in the back!”

Brian gasped,”That’s exactly what you did!”

“Oh yeah, and I bet he imploded! I bet his last dying words were ‘I can still have...’”Nick’s voice broke off suddenly, he looked down to his hands and a flash of a silver knife streaked with blood appeared and disappeared in his palms,”Holy...”

Nick stood in a dazed horror while his group members stared at his blanching face. Brian felt a cold tickle. Nick was standing by the window. Thunder and lightning battled each other outside for dominance... An axe, an axe from the crate had found its way from its packing.. It was rising, rising, rising,”NICK LOOK OUT!”

Brian dove for the blond who was looking up in bewilderment to see why Brian was shouting. The axe hurdled towards him. Brian rammed Nick square in the stomach trying to knock him down out of the axe’s path. The axe crashed through the window at the same time Nick lost his balance and began to teeter totter. Before Brian could grab him, Nick fell through the now broken window along with the axe and shards of newly broken glass.

“Oh my God!” Everyone was yelling and rushing towards the attic stairs to get outside. Nick’s fall had been a quick one. He had fallen straight into the swimming pool with a hard splash.

Chapter 6

Robert and his partner were rushing to the attic stairs to run upstairs and see what had happened.

“Nick fell out the window, something fell and knocked him out the window,”AJ was rambling pushing past Robert and running with the others outside. Robert and his friend gasped.

“I’ll call 911,”Robert said. His friend ran outside with the Boys.

Kevin, Howie, and Brian were already in the pool searching for Nick. The wind howled and screamed. Thunder boomed and lightning rippled across midnight sky.

“You guys are going to get electrocuted!”AJ yelled bracing himself from the freezing rain.

“I can’t see him!”Brian yelled sputtering on chlorinated water.

“I see the axe... and part of the window...”

AJ spied something familiar at the bottom of the pool,he dove in swiftly ignoring his own inhibitions. He swam and pushed to the bottom of the pool, yeah... He had seen a shadowy figure down here... It was Nick. AJ wrapped an arm around Nick and got him in the rescue position and began to swim up to the surface. He surfaced struggling to get Nick’s head above water,”I GOT HIM!”

Brian, Kevin, and Howie swan in towards the sides of the pool and scrambled out. They ran to where AJ had hauled Nick’s limp body over the side of the concrete pool. Robert’s friend, who’s name was Doug was kneeling over Nick, he looked dead. AJ was sputtering on water he had swallowed. Rain still poured down on them in massive quantities. Thunder rumbled so near to them they actually felt the ground quake. Robert came running out of the house yelling.

“Is he...?”Howie was over Nick, joined by Kevin, and Brian.

Doug was feeling for a pulse, he shook his head,” Do any of you know first aid?”

Kevin nodded.

“I need you to massage his chest, and count to three, I’m gonna give him CPR,”Doug said,”Go.”

Kevin’s shaky hands met over Nick’s chest and he began to remember his old first aid training,”1, 2, 3.. Go!”

“Come on Nick, come on,” Brian was saying as he watched.

“GO!”

“The ambulance is on its way, what HAPPENED?” Robert knelt down by Nick.

“Move back!”Kevin ordered,”Go!”

Nick sputtered, and everyone gave a sigh of relief. Kevin immediately rolled him over to his side so he could spit up the pool water.

“That was too close,” Brian said patting Nick’s back as he continued to hack up more water,” Nick, you ok?”

Nick gave a moan. His eyes remained closed.

“Nick?” Brian repeated. They all looked at their unconsicous band member. The wails of a siren could be heard in a distance.

“We’ve got him stabilized and comfortable,” A doctor was telling Kevin,”But as for him regaining consciousness...”

Kevin looked eager to hear the end of the sentence,”Yes?”

“Your friend was underwater for at least 5 minutes,” The doctor said,”We have no idea what condition his brain is in. He may wake up, he may not. He may be the same person, and he may not. Right now, we simply don’t know. All we can give you is our promise to do all we can. Your friend is young and strong, there’s a good chance he’ll pull through.”

Kevin nodded,”Ok... thank you.” He went back to the group nervously. They jumped the minute he entered the lobby.

“Well?”

“Did you call his parents?”Kevin asked Brian.

“Huh? Of course I did! How is he?”Brian was standing up staring at Kevin intensely.

“Are they coming?”asked Kevin taking the seat Brian had left empty on the couch when he stood.

“Kevin! What’s going on?” AJ’s voice shook,”Please tell me he’s alive.”

“He’s alive.”

“Ok,”AJ relaxed some.

“Is he brain dead?”asked Howie, he looked haggard. He leaned forward in his chair to peer at Kevin.

“No,”Kevin shook his head swiftly,”There’s brain activity... he’s just... In a coma, and the doctor doesn’t know if he’ll wake up, ever.”

Brian blinked,”Ok. You could have said that Kev, you know. We can handle it. When you came in here like that and wouldn’t say anything, we thought he was dead! But now he’s just as good as dead if he’s not waking up.” Brian sat down on the floor hard,”Oh man... I so don’t want to be here when his family comes.”

“Bri, the doctor said he had a good chance of making it, he just wasn’t sure,”Kevin said,” He’ll wake up.”

“That Chiros guy has to go,”Howie muttered,”I mean, who’s next? He got Nick. Nick killed him. Brian, you ruined his plans, so...”

“Great, so I’m next?”Brian put his head down,”Well there go my plans!”

There was a small commotion going on outside the waiting room door.

“What’s happening out there?” AJ wondered aloud.

Two uniformed officers entered the room, “We’re looking for Alexander McLean, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrel, and Howard Dorough.”

“We’re them,”Kevin said looking confused,” How can we help you?”

“We need you to come down to the station,” One officer said.

“Oh no, I am sick of going to the police station! What do you guys think we have done now?” demanded AJ.

“We only want to question you...”

“About what?”Brian asked irritably,”Listen, our friend is in a coma and we want to be here for him and his family when they get here.”

“The sooner you come down for questioning the sooner you can be back here for your friend,” the second officer said.

AJ was about to voice another protest, but Howie stopped him,”Ok officer.”

AJ gaped at him,”But Howie, you don’t...”

“AJ, lets just do it, and get it over with. You heard the man, the sooner we go the sooner we come back!” Howie stepped to the officers and looked at them expectantly,” We’ll follow you.”

“DID I WHAT?” AJ’s eyes were bulging with incredulity at the question Officer Cougar had asked.

“Did you then proceed to hurl an axe at Mr. Carter propelling him out of the window?” Officer Cougar repeated his question.

“No! Why would I throw an axe at Nick? I was the one that pulled him out of the water for crying out loud!” AJ pounded his fist on the table,”You think I would hurt him? On purpose? Never! The guy’s like my little brother.”

“The owner of the house, Mr. Robert Kulle and his partner Douglas McMillan, both claim to have heard you and Mr. Carter having a very loud altercation upstairs.”

“Yeah, we were yelling at each other, but we weren’t angry!” AJ insisted.

“It was an accident!” Kevin said firmly,” He was standing too close to the window. The old artifact was in a choicy position. We were all excited about something, and the axe fell. It broke the window, and Nick lost his balance.”

“I tried to grab him!” Brian said sounding helpless, “I missed his shirt by a millimeter! If only I had...”

“Don’t blame yourself Bri,”Howie said,”It was nobody’s fault.”

Officer Cougar stared at them each in general, What were they hiding? Are they all covering for one person, or are they all in on it? “Just what were you all doing in the attic of Mr. Kulle’s home?”

“We were looking through some old crates. They had an exhibit from Germany inside them. We found some interesting stuff,” Howie said easily.

“Listen, we’ve been here for 2 hours, and we’re still in square one! None of us would ever do anything to hurt Nicky,” Brian said desperately,”Please believe us and let us get back to the hospital. We want to be there when he wakes up.”

“Yeah, and when he does, he can tell you how way off you guys are!”AJ grumbled,”I can’t believe you could think that I would.. That I could..”

Kevin cut AJ off,” We didn’t do anything, but try to save him.”

“Does Robert think we... We did something bad to Nick?” Brian asked looking frazzled. He ran nervous fingers through his hair.

“What Mr. Kulle has confided in me stays confidential,”Officer Cougar said curtly, “I’m going to allow you to leave here tonight, but you are not allowed to leave town at all for the next few days.”

They all nodded,”Thank you Officer.”

They must have told the story 20 different times to 40 different people. The axe fell, Nick lost his balance... They couldn’t very well tell the truth. They remembered what had happened the last time they told the truth. Nobody believed them, and worst yet, they made them all see a shrink!

Brian sat beside Nick’s hospital bed. He had been put in a small private room. A monitor beeped at a steady pace letting Brian know that his friend was alive, no matter how dead he looked. Brian sighed as he looked at the blue-white pallor of Nick’s skin. With the assistance of a ventilator, his chest rose and fell gently.

That’s not what bothered Brian the most. What had happened to Nick had not been natural. A demon, a demon they thought was dead, had done this to him. He could still be here, anywhere, waiting to finish the job. How easy it would be for him to sneak in here and finish what he started.

Brian took Nick’s cool hand between his,” He’s not gonna hurt you again, not if I have anything to say about it.” Brian looked to the doorway, in a minute a nurse and Nick’s mother would knock on the door to inform Brian that his time was up. Brian panicked when he thought about that moment, because he didn’t want to leave him alone. He knew what could happen, and what did happen. Brian knew he was no hero, he didn’t have any special powers, but he at least knew what they were up against. Brian tensed as he heard footsteps being taken towards the door. He was hearing parts of a conversation. He closed his eyes, he knew his time was up.

Nick’s sister, BJ, stood in the open doorway. She smiled weakly at Brian, and entered the room silently, “How are you doing Brian?” She asked taking a seat beside her brother’s bed.

Brian was startled by that question. How was he doing? He wasn’t the one unconscious with 3 different tubes coming out of him. He was the one that couldn’t reach his hand out far enough to grab a t-shirt! He let him fall! “Fine.” The sure sound to his voice pleased Brian, because “sure” was the exact opposite of how he felt at that moment, “How are you doing Beej?”

BJ gave Brian another watery smile and began running her fingers through her brother’s thick blond hair, “I’ve been better Brian.”

The room was silent except for the sounds of Nick’s monitor. Brian felt tension in the room as thick as molasses. BJ was biting her lips on a question that she just couldn’t hold in anymore, “Brian, what happened? For real? Was he pushed?-I won’t tell, I promise!”

Brian gaped at the girl,”No, no one in that room would ever..”

“Well I didn’t think one of you guys did it, maybe that Robert guy...”

“No, it was an accident. The window was broken, and Nick... I almost had him BJ,” Brian’s voice cracked, and he put his head in his hands.

“I know Bri,” BJ assured him,” I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just, I feel like you guys aren’t telling us something.”

Brian looked up to meet BJ’s gaze, “Some things are better left alone, Beej.”

BJ frowned, and her eyes filled,” You can tell me you know. I’m not a child, and I’m not going to run to my parents.”

Brian only shook his head letting her know that there was no more to the conversation. It was empty.

BJ gave up, and looked away from Brian, then gasped as Nick made a slight stir,”Oh my God, Nicky?”

Nick’s eyelashes fluttered some and his facial muscles twitched. He murmured something, and was still and silent again.

Brian looked excited, BJ looked glum, “This is the second time he’s stirred like he was going to wake up. It’s like he’s dreaming about something, and whatever it is it must be worth wild, because he’s not waking up for anybody.”

BJ said this lightly, trying to ease the anxiety in the room she felt with Brian. She was trying to change the topic of conversation to something with a lighter tone.

What BJ had said made Brian’s blood run cold, dreaming about something, not waking up for anybody.... Brian tightened his grip on Nick’s hand and began to mumble a prayer,” I’ve got to go BJ.” Brian said urgently standing up, he knew he couldn’t help Nick there. He had to find the others.

“Brian, look I’m sorry,” BJ began to stand too.

“No, it’s not you,”Brian gave her a quick hug,”I just have to go somewhere and think, and I need to see the guys. Watch him for me.”

She shrugged,”Ok, I really wish you would talk to me.”

Brian smiled lightly,”Bye BJ, bye Nick.” Brian took one last glance at the room, then left in a hurry. He found the others not too far from the room.

“Hey Bri, what’s up? Something happen?” Kevin immediately looked worried.

“No, no, and yes!”Brian grabbed Kevin and AJ by the arms, and motioned for Howie to follow him,” We got trouble.”

“Yeah I know, Nick’s in trouble, the cops want us...”AJ stopped dead in the middle of his sentence as he saw the look in Brian’s blue eyes.

“We got more trouble. We were gonna watch Nick’s room, to make sure nothing and nobody unauthorized got in, right?”

The guys nodded in confusion.

“But what if that something’s already there?”Brian asked, his breath coming faster.

“Huh?”

“It was what BJ said to me. She told me that Nick seemed like he was asleep and dreaming of something worth wild, because he won’t wake up,”Brian stated.

“So?” AJ shrugged.

Howie gasped, at the same time Kevin cursed,”You don’t think..”

“Yeah, I think Chiros has him. He didn’t need to kill him, I think he just needed him asleep for awhile,” Brian shivered,” For what, I don’t know.”

AJ groaned,”This just keeps getting more complicated, and creepy. What are we gonna do? Do you think he’s gonna hunt all of us down like that?”

He looked at blank eyes.

“I think we need to get back to Robert’s house. That is, if he’ll still let us in. We need to finish going through those crates,” Kevin said.

“And we need those books,”Howie put in with a nod.

“Shouldn’t some of us stay here, just in case?” Brian looked guilty.

“I don’t know if we should risk separating,” Howie said,”But I know how you feel Bri. I feel bad about leaving too.”

Brian sighed heavily,”Well come on, lets get this over with. I want to hurry back.”

Chapter 7

Everything they needed from the attic was placed in front of them on the kitchen table. Even their duffel bags with their belongings in them were placed on the table. The Boys gaped at it all not knowing quite what to say.

“Say thank you,” Robert spoke calmly,”and I will have a detailed explanation of just what is going on when you’re done with whatever it is you are doing!”

“Um, uh thanks,” Howie stuttered, “How did you know we were gonna come back for this stuff?”

“You all seemed pretty intent on searching for it, and for some reason I don’t believe when you say that what happened up in the attic was an acccident.”

“We didn’t push him, Robert. Please believe us,”Brian was tired of trying to convince people. Were they bad enough people for someone to actually think that they would try to take Nick’s life from him?

“Oh, I believe you,”Robert nodded quickly,”There was never any doubt in my mind.”

“Then why did you tell the police about hearing me and Nick yelling at each other?”AJ asked,”They think that I..”

“I know what they think, and I tried to explain it to them. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have even said anything. Anyway they want to search the attic, and the crates, so I took the liberty of gathering together all of the things it looked like you guys were studying.”

“Parcheesi,”Brian laughed, remembering Nick’s fascination with the old game. He picked up the board game and placed it under his arm.

“Why Robert? Why are you helping us? And why do you believe us? Nick’s family can’t quite believe us, and they know us! You don’t. Why would you believe us?” AJ was looking Robert dead straight in the eyes.

Robert looked back just as intensely, “My mother didn’t tell you much about me, did she? I have a keen interest in parapsychology, even a minor degree. I used to travel places around the world to study supposed supernatural occurrences. Sadly enough for me to say, I have never come across a real one. Except for now. My mother sends me a packing crate full of old relics from a site in Germany that has interested me for years. As a boy I used to hear about the haunted mansion, but never really thought it existed. That is until 5 American youths were reported missing and found at the ruins of the old site in the middle of nowhere! Delirious, the police reports said they were, they rambled about monsters, and demons, and...”

“You knew who we were when you first agreed to let us come stay with you!” Brian yelled,”How could you keep that a secret? You knew exactly what we wanted! You knew about the whole thing and didn’t tell us? Nick could still be here right now if you would have opened your mouth!” He had Robert by the collar.

“Brian, calm down,” Howie said placing his hand on Brian’s shoulder gently,”We’re all upset. Lets just hear what Robert has to say.”

“You bet we’re gonna hear what Robert has to say,”AJ grumbled pulling out a chair.

Robert removed Brian’s hands from his shirt,”Thank you Howie. I am sorry. I should have said something, but you would have all thought I was mad! You said it yourselves, you didn’t remember anything that had happened. How would you have taken what I could have said to you?”

Kevin stared at him,” That’s true. We’re not blaming you..”

“Speak for yourself,”AJ muttered,” The cops don’t think you threw Kaos out a 3rd story window, now do they?”

Howie threw AJ a warning look, then he turned back to Robert, “Just what do you know about Chiros? Can you tell us anything useful?”

Robert blinked and actually smiled,”You’re going to let me help you?”

“Yes!” Brian exclaimed,” We need all the help we can get! Tell us what is going on? Why, and how is Chiros back?- I don’t understand!”

Robert cleared his throat gestured for the group to stand up and follow him to the living room. There they all took seats in front of the fire, “ Chiros is a centuries old demon who..”

“We know this,”AJ interrupted,” We want to know how he came back after we killed it.”

Robert blinked,”How did you kill him exactly?”

“He had to have us before dawn, and right before he could do anything Nick stabbed him through the heart! Then it was dawn, and the sunlight combusted him,” Kevin said.

“Ah, and was it Nick who made the first contact with the book I am holding now?” Robert asked, raising the heavy leather bound book the Boys had come to dread.

“Yes,”AJ nodded his head.

“Every owner of this book leaves traces of their own essence in its pages. When a creature such as Chiros is murdered his essence becomes latent inside,” Robert said.

“What?”

“Part of Chiros’s being was in the book, but it couldn’t do anything until something or somebody activated it,”Howie explained.

“Very good,” Robert nodded at Howie,” Only the hands of the slayer can activate the essence of the demon. When the slayer touches the pages, traces of his essence fuse with the essence of the demon, thus awakening it. This book recognized Nick’s touch right away. Did Nick even realize that something had happened to him?”

“He was dazed acting,” recalled Kevin.

“And then he got scared and left,”AJ said with a smirk, remembering Nick’s and Howie’s quick retreats.

“Then he had that dream about Chiros!”Brian said suddenly having a flashback, ”Remember when the cops first tried to take us into questioning, because someone had been in Nick’s room. He had this nightmare about..”

“A soul drinkin’ demon,”AJ finished,”And we laughed at him.”

“Chiros is not in demon form right now,”Robert said.

“Huh?”

“He is only a spirit. He has no body. His essence was freed and powered to recreate Chiros’s mind, but not body. He can only survive in this form for a few more weeks. He needs a body, and he needs to feed. He needs to reestablish his dream world. The only way for him to do this is for him to take the slayer. That’s all he needs.”

“So he was only after Nick?”asked Brian nervously.

“You must keep in mind dear boy that this is a demon we’re dealing with. They are very spiteful and vengeful creatures, he’ll come after you too. Nick was what he needed to pierce the veils between this realm and the nether realm. The nether realm is where lost souls wander. That’s probably where Nick is right now.”

“So, he’s keeping Nick in that coma, and he’s gonna stay that way forever?”

“Only until the time he kills Nick in the nether realm, then Nick will die a human death as well,” Robert says,” He needs Nick’s blood to open the veil permanently, and make himself whole once more. He can only do this on the last day he can exist in both worlds in his current form. He will start to claim the souls of others, and he will probably take a body to use.”

The Boys sat looking shaken and stunned.

“Kill him?” Howie chirped.

“Yes,”Robert said.

“A body?” AJ squeaked.

“So how do we stop him?”asked Kevin firmly. He seemed to be the only one with a steady vocie to speak with.

“Stop him?” asked AJ incredulously,” This guy can just snatch us out of thin air if you haven’t forgotten! This guy can get stabbed in the back and blown up, and still come back! We’re going to stop him?!”

“Yeah,”Kevin nodded at AJ,”We are. Is there a way?” He looked to Robert.

Robert sighed,” There is one way.”

“You guys are crazy!” AJ said, “He’s gonna come after all of us! You heard what Robert said. We can’t...”

“AJ SHUT UP!” Brian yelled,”If you don’t wanna help fine, but we don’t need you antagonizing us!”

AJ sat back looking shocked, he was silent.

“Now Robert, can you please tell us what that way is?”Brian turned his attention back to Robert, as did the rest of the group. AJ groaned. Slowly he brought himself closer to the group too.

“I fear the only way you can defeat this demon is on his own turf,” Robert said calmly,” You must venture into the nether realm.”

Brian was rubbing his palms together,” And how do we do this? We’re not gonna let him take another one of us, are we?”

“No, that would be too dangerous. The person he would have taken will be under his control,” Robert shook his head,” You must go in on your own.”

“But how do we do that?” asked Howie.

Robert looked at them all gravely, “I don’t know if it’s ever worked, but there is a incantation that is said to pierce the veil between the human realm and the spirit realm.”

“This is getting scarier by the minute,” Brian sighed, “Where do we find this incant-thingy?”

“They are called runes,” Robert clarified, “If you guys are really serious about this I’ll continue, but not here. The police will be here within the hour to search the attic. You take these objects back to your hotel with you tonight. Tomorrow morning you will come back here and I will be ready to fully explain what you will be doing to you. I will also have all the materials that are necessary for this process to be done.”

They all nodded, and quickly began gathering all of the haunted objects and their duffel bags from the kitchen table.

“Thank you,” they all told Robert.

“Are we really gonna go through with this?” AJ was asking as he steered the rented vehicle to the hotel they were staying in.

“How else are we gonna save Nick, and the other people Chiros is gonna hurt?” Kevin demanded of AJ,”There is no other way.” “Yeah, but why do we have to be the ones to do it?”AJ made a careful right turn.

“Who else believes it, but us?” Brian murmured,” The mental hospitals would lock us up and throw away the keys! We’re the only ones...”

“What about other people like Robert? They’d help us!” AJ argued pulling into the parking lot.

“But where do we start AJ?” asked Howie,”And how do we know they’ll help us? In case you weren’t listening, we don’t have much time before Chiros completes his plans. I am not gonna stand by and let people die when I know I could at least be doing something to stop it.”

“Brave words,” AJ said nastily,” but I’m not ready to die. What more can we do to kill this guy?”

“Keep him from opening the passageways! You heard Robert, he can’t survive the way he is now. If we can keep him from hurting Nick before time is up, then we win.”

“You guys sound so sure of yourselves,”AJ muttered,”You’re all scared, you know it. I know it. Stop pretending not to be. We’re not heroes, none of us.”

“We were once,”Brian remarked,” We did get rid of demon before, and set thousands of souls free.”

“But what good did it do? He still came back, he’s doing it all over again!”

“And we’re gonna stop him all over again, except this time we’ve got the advantage. He’s not coming after us right away, we’re going after him.”

“Well that just makes me feel so much better,”AJ snapped. He walked in front of everybody to the hotel desk. He laid down a few big bills,” We need 4 rooms for a few days.”

The clerk was about to say something like,” You need reservations, sir,” but he looked down to notice Benjamin Franklin’s stoic expression on the bills laying in front of him,”Um, yes. One moment please.”

“AJ, we’ve already said that you don’t have to help us,” Brian was getting more than a little irritated by AJ’s attitude. Sure he was scared, but so was everyone else! Brian politely excepted the key to his room with a smile.

“Hey, wait one moment,”the clerk called them all back,”You all look familiar.”

“Oh no, somebody else thinks we look like N’Sylc, or 94 Degrees, or the.. The Backdoor Guys!” Howie groaned,”Listen, we are not them.”

“Oh,”the clerk’s face fell,”Sorry. It’s just my kids love those boy groups, and you look like something I’ve seen on their walls.”

“Thanks for the compliment, I think,” Howie said smoothly,”Come on guys.”

“I will never get over how easily you can do that Howie,” Brian was laughing.

Howie grinned back, “So do you guys just wanna get some sleep, or do you wanna talk?”

“I’m going to sleep,”AJ grumbled, “after I call and check up on Nick. He’s probably woken up by now.” The door to his room opened then slammed closed.

Howie, Kevin, and Brian stared at AJ’s closed door. The slam had vibrated through out the hallway,” Think he’s gonna be ok?”

“He’s AJ, he’ll be fine,” Howie shrugged.

“I think he’s in denial,”Brian said,”But he does have a good idea, we need to call and check up on Nick.”

“Do you think he’s awake?” Kevin asked looking at the younger two.

They both looked back with negativity in their eyes, as much as they wished it was all dream, it wasn’t.

Nick wasn’t awake. In fact he hadn’t stirred once since the Boys left. Brian lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Why had they agreed to go to Germany on that tour? He knew it was for charity, but they could have done another tour for charity in the US! Why did they have to meet Ms. Carolyn? Why wasn’t Kevin playing the overbearing big brother at the museum? Why didn’t he yell at Nick not to touch the exhibit? Why couldn’t Brian have stuck his hand out a half of a millimeter more and grabbed Nick’s shirt? He let him slip through his fingers. Brian had actually felt the softness of the white t-shirt Nick was wearing brush by his fingertips. He slid into a restless and uncomfortable sleep...

“Brian HELP ME!” Brian was running. Running down a long hallway. The hallway was like a warp tunnel in a space ship. The whole scenario looked like something off of Star Trek,”HELP ME!!”

The screams echoed off the futuristic walls.

“I’m comin’ Frack, just hold on!” Brian yelled quicking his pace, suddenly he felt the floor drop away beneath him. He was falling, desperately reaching out for something to hold onto. He fell into what seemed to be a hospital, in fact it was the same hospital Nick was in now. Brian was in front of the operating room. He was in the observation wing where other doctors sat and watched a procedure . Brian seemd to be the only one there today. He heard cries from below. He shut his eyes long enough for two tears to squeeze out, then he opened them to peer through the glass. Nick was on the operating table. He was being held down by powerful metal straps. Two doctors loomed over him. They were drenched with blood and they held bloody instruments. Brian beat on the glass trying to get in.. What could he do? He couldn’t get in! Something tapped him on the shoulder,”AAAAAAAHH!!” He jumped 6 feet and fell back against the plastic chairs in the room. He heard a familiar snicker,”Relax Frick, it’s just me.”

Brian gapped at what he was seeing. Nick stood above him holding out his hand. Brian took it hesitantly,”Nick?”

Nick nodded. He was dressed in what he had on when Brian had seen him last, white t-shirt and blue jeans,” Who’d you think it was?”

“But you.. You’re.. That’s not hapening to you?”Brian refused to look out the window again, he just pointed mutely. Nick slowly went to the window and peered down,”Oh man... That’s gotta hurt!” He turned to face Brian,”No, it’s not happening to me. Nothing’s happening to me right now Bri, except I’m being kept prisoner.”

Brian stared at his friend,” And you’re ok?”

“As long as Chiros needs me around,”Nick shrugged,”He’s been pretty nice. I get fed regularly, and I’ve toured the grounds. Looks like something I’ve dreamed up Bri. I think he modeled his new world after something he took out of my mind.”

Brian stared at his friend, he looked fine, maybe a little pale, but fine. Nick didn’t know what was going to happen to him eventually... “Nick, Chiros is gonna.”

“I know,” Nick nodded,”I’m a dead man.”

Brian blinked, surprised at Nick’s calmness.

“And you guys are gonna try to save me?”Nick smiled lightly at Brian.

Brian nodded,”You know we are.”

“You need to worry more about the new victims. Now that I’m here the veil has temporarily been opened. He’s already claiming souls. He won’t come after you guys, not yet. He has plans for you. I don’t know what those plans are.”

“Nick? I have to ask you a question?”Brian interrupted Nick.

“Yeah?”

“Everytime Chiros gets you, you always do this,”Brian said.

“Do what?”

“Do this dream thing where you can come talk to me,”Brian said,” You’re dreaming a second you, right?”

Nick nodded,” And as I told you before, I don’t know how I do it either, I just do. Don’t worry about it. Now, there is something you have to do for me.”

“What Nick?” Brian asked.

“You know how to defeat Chiros right?”

“Yes, we have to keep him from killing you before..”

“That’s all you know?”Nick questioned.

“Yes, there’s another way?”Brian looked hopeful.

“Yes, and it’s much easier,”Nick nodded,”and safer for you.”

Brian leaned in to hear what Nick had to say.

“You have to kill me yourself.”

Chapter 8

Brian woke with a start. He was sweating and shaking all over. What a dream he had had, but he knew it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a dream, it was a message. A message from Nick. An insane message! Brian shook the words out of his head. What was going on in Nick’s mind over there? Kill him? Never.

He took a quick glance at the clock. It was only 5:30, but Brian knew he would never be able to get back to sleep. He needed to talk to someone. Brian sighed realizing he wanted to talk to Nick, but Nick wasn’t there. Nick was unconscious in a white room waiting for someone to come and... and.. Brian dismissed the thought. Maybe he should wake up everyone and tell them... NO! No! What if they got ideas? What if they would want to kill Nick, and save the world. It would certainly be the easier way to prevent Chiros from doing his evils.

Would the other guys do it? Brian couldn’t picture any of them doing it, but when it came down to life or death... Brian wasn’t sure. He didn’t want to take chances. What he knew, he would keep to himself. He, of course, would tell that Nick had come to him to say he was ok, but nothing else. Brian nodded to himself. Should he go to the others now, or should he wait until later? Brian decided to wait, he needed to think. The red leather bound book that had caused them so many problems seemed to glare at him

Brian got up and went to it. He might as well get some reading in while he was up.

“He said he was ok?” Howie looked relieved,”Did he say if he was gonna wake up?”

Brian looked sad and shook his head,”Chiros has him, and he’s keeping him. Nick’s not gonna wake up here until we stop Chiros.”

Kevin rubbed his temples,” Ok. I guess we’d better call Robert to see if he’s ready.”

Brian nodded weakly. His head was still filled with the idea that Nick would tell him to kill him! Did Nick think that, that one of them, was actually capable of murder? If Nick thought that, then there was no wonder why the cops and Nick’s family would think the same thing.

Howie looked out the door of the café towards the elevators with a sad expression.

“He’s not coming down. He made his decision,”Kevin said also looking at the elevators. People came in and out of them minutely, but not one of those people was AJ.

Howie nodded, “I know. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for us to separate right now.”

Kevin sighed,”I don’t either, but AJ’s mind is made up. We can’t force him to come with us.”

“Lets just go. We’re wasting time here!” Brian grumbled. He threw down a few dollars for a tip on the café table, as he stood abruptly. He made his wy quickly to the door. Kevin and Howie cast concerned looks after him.

“I’ll call Robert,” Howie said whipping out his cell phone.

AJ watched the guys leaving from his window on the second floor. He felt guilty, as if he were abandoning them. He shook himself briskly, shaking away those thoughts. He wasn’t abandoning them, he was playing it safe. If those guys think they can stop a demon then that’s them. AJ lifted the receiver to his hotel phone. He poised his fingers over the number pad about to dial room service. He got as far as the first three digits before he slammed down the receiver. He sat with his head in his hands. He was a coward; he knew it! He was also ashamed of himself. He stood up and stretched out his back. No, he didn’t want to be a coward, but what the hell was he supposed to do? Those guys are going to get themselves killed. They should forget about... AJ smacked his hand to his forehead, and stared hard at his reflection in the mirror. His reflection stared back, it almost seemed to talk to him. It reached out to take AJ by the shirt collar,”Forget about what Alex, forget about Nicky?”

“No! Not forget about Nick, but... but... He’ll freakin’ wake up! We don’t have to murder ourselves for...”

“Alexander, you are freakin’ pansy! You are letting your friends down, you’re letting yourself down, to save your own ass!”

“SHUT UP!” AJ screamed at the mirror shutting his eyes and turning violently away from the disturbing reflection.

“Alexander...” AJ’s conscious called to him again.

AJ groaned and dropped his body onto the bed, he suddenly felt very tired,”Leave me alone already, I get the point!”

“And what are you gonna do about it?”

AJ let out a suspiration, and remained silent. The cloud of misery in the room was too overbearing for him to stand. He got off the bed quickly and headed for the door. He needed a smoke.

“Runes are an ancient alphabet used by certain Germanic peoples, soceror’s as some may call them. They can be used to pierce the veils between the worlds,” Robert said. He was holding a rich blue leather bound book in front of his face. Three Backstreet Boys sat around him staring at him open-mouthed.

“Now in order to...” Robert trailed off as he looked at the dazed faces of his company, “Are there questions?”

Howie blinked,” Um... Ok. Let me try to understand this. These little symbols called Runes are what’s going to get us Nicky in time?”

Robert nodded.

“For some reason I don’t think getting to Nick and Chiros is going be that easy. We draw letters on a piece of paper and poof we’re in Chiros Town?!” Brian looked incredulous and ill-tempered. He stood up from the table and walked over to the large picture window. He rested his hands on the cool panes of glass. He stared out into the back yard at the newly covered pool. Outside the sky was turning darker, “You’re having your window repaired, I see.”

“Yes,” Robert nodded looking at him with a confused frown. Brian seemed a little hostile today.

“Why wasn’t the pool covered Robert?”

Robert blinked, surprised at the question. Kevin stood and went to join Brian at the window. He laid a hand on Brian’s back, “What’s wrong, Bri?”

Brian shrugged off Kevin’s hand. He whipped around to face Robert, “It’s Fall Robert, people usually cover their pools in the Fall.”

Robert simply stared. He adjusted the collar to his shirt, “Brian, we really must get back to work. We don’t have much time, and you know this.”

Brian fought to contain himself, his disgust for this guys was so immense.

“Brian, what is the matter with you?” Howie asked, “You’ve been acting strangely all day. Is there something you need to be telling us? Did Nick tell you something else that we need to hear?”

Brian felt the sting of everyone’s eyes on him. He could practically hear everyone’s thoughts, everyone’s questions. He could feel Kevin’s concern, Howie’s curiosity, and Robert’s interest growing with every second more he remained silent. The noise thrummed in his ears getting louder and louder. He threw his hands over his ears, “STOP IT!”

“Brian, are you ok?” Kevin was trying to take Brian’s arm.

“Leave me alone!” Brian snapped, “I’m fine.” He whirled on Robert, “Can we really trust you, man?” His voice was shaky, and dripping with a new kind of energy that seemed to be around him.

“Brian-“

”Can we?” he repeated wildly.

“Yes, of course, I am showing you the...”

“Do you really know what you are doing or are you just experimenting with us?”Brian shrieked out,” This is all research to you, isn’t it?! You knew who we were when you first heard about us! You invited us here so you could watch us! You knew about the danger we were in... You wanna know why I think you uncovered your pool Robby?”

“Brian stop,” Kevin said calmly getting a firm grip on Brian’s arm. He was pulling him to a chair. Howie was already pouring a glass of water for him.

“No!” Brian snatched away from Kevin, “Do you guys ever wonder why Robert was so eager to help us, playing innocent, and WHY HE FREAKIN’ UNCOVERED THAT POOL?!”

“Brian,who cares? He’s helping us now, that’s all that matters!” Kevin had lost his cool and he was now struggling to hold Brian and get him to sit down, “Now stop this, and sit down! You’re upset, and you’re not thinking clearly.”

“He uncovered that pool because he knew something was gonna happen. Isn’t that right, Rob? It was a precaution, wasn’t it? You knew something awful was going to happen to one or maybe all of us up there, and you’d be right here to witness it. It’s every parapsychologist’s dream to witness a demon in action, huh?” Brian was trying to rush at Robert who had, by now, backed himself as far away from Brian as possible. Kevin and Howie restrained Brian.

“I don’t know what you are talking ab...”

“BULL SHIT!” Brian yelled, “I don’t believe you!” He struggled and strained to break free from Kevin and Howie’s binding grip.

“Well who else can you believe!” Robert had just about had it too, “Yes, so maybe I did know who you were. Yes, maybe I did know that there could be a slight chance of trouble. I did uncover the swimming pool for that reason. But, I was not going to watch with the sick satisfaction you’re accusing me of, Brian! I was going to help, I am going to help! You just have to let me!” Robert began inching closer to Brian, “I’m sorry about Nickolas. I feel horrible, and I hold myself accountable for the whole accident. I am trying to do everything within my knowledge to help you.”

He was close to Brian now. He looked Brian dead straight in the eyes with utter honesty. Brian’s light blue eyes smoked with rage. He spoke with a quiet condemnation in his voice. Each word was cut off harshly,” My best friend thinks the only way he can save us is for us to murder him, kill him!”

“What?” Kevin and Howie were taken by shock when they heard Brian’s words.

The smoky rage of the blue eyes were hidden by drooping eyelids, “Nick says there is another way to destroy Chiros and to save ourselves. He told me last night, I didn’t want to say anything... I don’t want to think about it.”

All the rage that had suddenly entered Brian’s body fleeted from it. He sagged against Kevin and Howie with exhaustion. They helped him to the couch. Howie remembered the water he had poured and went back into the kitchen to retrieve it.

“Would it be safe for me to join you?” Robert asked nervously.

Brian raised his head, and turned his tired gaze to Robert, “I’m sorry.”

Robert took that as an “I can sit there.” He took a seat on a plush white recliner chair.

“I didn’t mean to make you seem like a bad guy. I just... just lost it, ok? You knew about the whole situation, and I feel used,” Brian shook his head,” But you are trying to help us now. I am grateful, no matter how ungrateful I may seem right now. I apologize.”

Robert smiled at the young man, “I accept your apology and I also issue one of my own.”

Howie returned with the water,” Here ya go, Bri. Now are you going to tell us about the rest of that dream, or what?”

Brian accepted the water gratefully, and took a long gulp. He savored the coolness of the liquid as it went down. When he finally set down the glass, all eyes were on him. He cleared his throat, “It wasn’t a dream D.”

“I know, I just...”

Brian cut him off, “I told you everything that happened last night, except for what Nick told me in the end.”

“Wait a minute, you sound as if you have spoken with Nick,” Robert looked confused.

Brian groaned as he realized he would have to explain this to Robert, “Robert, you believe and know about all kinds of weird stuff right?”

“Right,” Robert said still looking confused. Where was this leading to?

“Robert, I think Nick has... I don’t know it sounds stupid, but then when you think about the circumstances, I think he’s got a power. Like those kids that bend spoons, that kind of power. When we first ran into Chiros, and Chiros took him, he was able to come and help me. He dreamed a second image of himself out to me. And last night, he did it again.”

“So you’re saying Nickolas can astral project?” Robert said sounding very interested.

“Astral project?” Kevin blinked,” That is way too Star Trek for me. I always thought it was because he has such an overactive, creative imagination that things like that came naturally.”

Robert rubbed his chin,” An open mind can make the ordeal easier. Go on Brian, what did he tell you?”

Brian resumed his recollection of the past events, “He looked me in the eyes and told me that there was a better way to destroy Chiros. An easier, safer way, even.”

“And that way is...?”

“First degree murder,”Brian said softly. He lowered his head again.

“What?”

“Well that does make perfect since. If he dies here and now, Chiros can’t possibly use him,” Robert was saying to himself.

“Then why would Chiros leave Nick here for us to... to, you know,” Howie looked sick. His face was a sallow color as he sprawled on the loveseat.

“Ten to one, because he doesn’t think we have the balls to go through with it,” Brian muttered,” He’s taunting us again.”

“Brian, is it possible that Chiros could know about your communciation with Nick last night?” Robert leaned forward.

“No, whatever Nick does, he does it himself.”

“But he seems to be very informed of his situation. He knew everything you did, and more... How is that?”

“I don’t know Robert, you’re supposed to be explaining that to me!” Brian tugged at his brown hair irritably. Just when Robert thought he wasn’t going to receive an answer Brian uttered, “He usually knows what Chiros does. Like back in the mansion, he knew the way out. He hadn’t known that before, and Chiros didn’t tell him, but he knew of it. He knew Chiros’s history, his plans, everything.”

“It’s almost as if they are linked,” Robert frowned, “Tell me, back in the mansion, did Chiros ever express any unusual desire to capture Nick?”

“Everything he did was unusual,”Howie muttered,”but no. He took me first. Then he was planning to take Nick.”

Robert’s frown deepened and he looked thoughtful, “I think your young friend may possess a gift. A gift that has only been allowed to be activated in a crisis, because the owner is unaware of it being there.”

“A gift?”

“Yes, some call it ‘the gift of magic’, I simply call it telepathy.”

“Telepathy?” Brian brought his head up to stare at Robert. He wasn’t joking around, “But Nick’s normal. He’s got normal parents, a normal family. They aren’t aliens, or demons, or...”

“Every normal human being is capable of telepathy, but there are only a few that can actually have access to this power. Some people are special. I think your Nickolas is one of those people, he just doesn’t know it.”

Kevin blinked,” Ok, enough with this, it’s hurting my head. How are we going to deal with Nick?”

Robert smiled,”I thought we would never get back to that topic.”

“I wanna go get some fresh air,”Brian said suddenly standing up.

“But Brian we’re...”

“I just want some time alone, ok?” Brian sighed. Howie let out a yelp of surprise as hit butt smashed into a small rectangular object on his seat. The big screen television came on. It showed a news report. The weather woman predicted a heavy thunderstorm for that night. Then a more serious faced woman came onto the screen. Pictures of several young children, a few teenagers, and a middle aged man flashed across the screen.

“Turn up the volume Howie,”Brian said softly, mesmomirzed by the screen.

Howie stared at Brian, then turned up the television.

“... Several more citizens have been reported missing. If anyone knows the whereabouts, or has seen, any of these children, or this man, please call the number on this screen. The mysterious disappearances of our children is disturbing indeed. The police are on the case, but as of right now they have no leads. Citizens are urged to stay indoors. If you live alone, you are encouraged to stay with a friend or relatives until the culprit or culprits are caught. In other news... The Backstreet Boys are in town, and under police suspicion. Their youngest member, Nick Carter was found...”

“Turn it off, Howie.” Howie clicked off the television.

“That was about 9 people missing,” Kevin counted.

“You think that maybe.. Maybe..” Howie broke off as he met the eyes of Kevin, Brian, and Robert. Yes, they all knew Chiros has something to do with this.

“We have to stop him,”Howie said finally, regaining his voice. He spoke with a quiet resolve, “Now tell us how... Brian where are you going?”

“I wanna check on Nick,” Brian grabbed the keys for the rental car off the expensive coffee table.

“Brian, we NEED to save Nick!” Kevin almost yelled.

“I’ll be back!”

“It’s going to rain!”

“I’ll be back!” the front door slammed closed.

“Damn.”

Brian was driving recklessly, he knew, but he had to get to the hospital. He had to tell Nick that he wasn’t going to do it, and he wasn’t going to let anyone else do it either. He had no idea if Nick would come to him again, so he figured he should make it the other way around. He made a dangerous right turn.

Brian would prove to him that they could save the world, and spare his life at the same time. A horn honked at Brian. He had been allowing his mind to wander and he was now crossing the white lines on the road. He quickly corrected his mistake. Rain began to pelt down on the rented family truck. It came down lightly at first, but now it struck the windshield like paint balls. The wind shield wipers helped a little, but visibility was low. Then above all else, Brian was getting sleepy. SLEEPY! Of all things he could be, he was tired! He fought of the waves of sleepiness that hit him.

He felt it then. He could literally see the frost rolling from the air conditioning vents of the vehicle. The car was getting colder. Icy hands placed themselves on Brian’s shoulders, massaging them gently. Slowly Brian began to relax his hands from the wheel. That felt good.. He was so tense. The hands unbuckled Brian’s safety belt. Brian silently thanked them, for the belt had been so tight around him. Slowly he let his head sink to the steering wheel, as he let sleep take him into its silvery wings of frost. He seemed to be lifted from his seat. Up, up, he flew. There was a flash of light, and a loud blaring noise made by a horn. Then a screeching, grinding metallic crash. But Brian was so far away from that now. He watched the scene from above. He saw a man and woman scrambling out of their car and running to the demolished blue Nissan truck Brian had been traveling in. He watched them look baffled as they discovered their was no driver in the truck. There was no sign of an exit either. No blood. The car had been abandoned.

Chapter 9

AJ sat next to Nick’s bed with his head resting on Nick’s sheets. He felt a twitching. He bolted up to see that Nick was moving. He looked as if he were having a nightmare. His body began to jerk and spasm, and he was uttering some strange noise that was scaring AJ to death. The monitors began beeping faster and faster until the alarms went off, but AJ had already run out of the room before that calling for a doctor. A team of doctors burst into the room, knocking AJ over. Bob and Jane Carter weren’t far behind them,” Alex, what’s happening to him?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know!” AJ was panicking. He kept running his hand over his short red hair, “He was fine before. I fell asleep, and then I felt him moving around... and then, and then...”

The doctors were yelling at one another. The alarm had been turned off, but the heart monitor was still beeping out of control. AJ and the Carters stepped farther into the room where they could see Nick’s body being held down by the doctors as they injected him with some clear fluid. Nick began to settle down. The doctors took his pulse again and began to check him over.

“Doctor, what happened?”Bob asked the first doctor that walked by.

“A seizure,” the doctor said, “We’re going to have to run a cat scan in a few minutes.”

Jane sobbed and Bob reached to hold her,”It’ll be ok honey.” AJ approached the bed. His young friend lay curled in a ball on his side. He was as white as the sheets on his bed, and his skin felt cool. Fresh tears had formed paths on his cheeks. He shivered lightly making AJ pull the thin blankets back over him.

“Alex,” came the shaky voice of Jane Carter,” you should go. Get some sleep, he’ll be up and waiting for you boys in the morning.” She smiled at him weakly. AJ gazed at the two distraught parents, and wondered what it would be like to have that. Two distraught parents. AJ grew up having only his mother and grandparents. He did eventually go seek out his father, and he found him, but it wasn’t the same. Nick has everything going for him, two loving parents, four adoring younger siblings, and a big family. He threw a look back at Nick’s tearful sleeping face. He’ll be ok, AJ assured himself. He can wake up.

AJ smiled and left the room. The minute he was at the door the two parents had rushed to Nick’s side. He was tired, and he felt agitated. He thought about smoking another cigarette, but then quickly decided not too. He had almost smoked a whole package today. He found a quiet lobby, and sat on a love seat. The small non-cable television was tuned into the news. Pictures of several missing children were shown across the screen. It made AJ uneasy to see this. He turned the television off. He needed a nap. Yeah, he would feel better after a nap. AJ spread himself out on the small couch and folded his arms over his chest. Within 5 minutes he was asleep.

There was terrible screaming coming from below AJ. He was standing in the landing bay of a spaceship? He looked and saw various lights and machinery lining the walls. The screams came again. They were desperate pleas for help. AJ ran his hands through his hair. Then he decided to explore his new surroundings. He had begun to follow the tracer lights when he heard the screams again. He jumped. The sound was terrifying in its intensity. It was the sound of pure fear and it struck a chord deep inside the pit of AJ’s stomach. As he ventured the hallways the screams only seemed to become louder, and each time they seemed to come from a different direction.

“AJ!!”

The person screaming had called his name! The person screaming thought AJ could help him. “ALEX!” AJ was beginning to recognize the petrified voice. It was.. It was... “ALEXANDER GET ME THE HELL OUT OF THIS!!!”

It was the voice of Nickolas Gene Carter. AJ was running now. He had to get to Nick. He needed to save him, he couldn’t let him down. He had let him down in the attic, he was letting him down as he slept. For every minute he wasn’t helping the others, he was letting Nick down. He had to help him. AJ skid into what resembled a tattoo parlor. In fact, it was a tattoo parlor. Two burly men had Nick strapped to a tattooing chair. They held hypodermic needles as thick as sausages over Nick and they were tattooing his entire body. They worked steadily at his face while Nick screamed and pleaded with them to stop. They held his arms and legs. AJ stood frozen. He watched the blood seep though the fingers of the butchers. AJ’s knees began to shake. They were about to buckle, when he heard the buzz of a electric razor. It was a casual sound. There was another chair in the far corner of the “Little Tattoo Parlor of Horrors” It looked like a barber’s chair. There was a large well lit mirror in front of it, but the barber chair was so immense it obstructed AJ’s view of the mirror.

Something compelled AJ to walk toward the chair. He slowly approached it and grabbed the sides of it. He spun the chair around to reveal Nick. Nick was holding the electric razor and was calmly shaving his chin. He turned the power off and set the razor down as AJ gawked at him.

“What? You act like you’ve never seen someone shave before,” Nick laughed at AJ’s expression, “Breathe J.”

“Nicky?”

“Yeah.”

“Kaos?”

“Yes AJ,” Nick said standing,” I’m here.” He wore a football jersey and a pair of jeans. His hair looked freshly washed and blow dried. His face was alert, pale, but healthy seeming. Basically, he looked better than how AJ had seen him a few minutes ago.

“What are you... but you’re.. Who is that? That’s not happening to you?” AJ pointed behind him to the torture going on in the chair. He refused to turn around.

Nick stepped around the chair and creeped closer to the scene,” Aw man... YUCK! No! That’s not happening to me! Geez, what do you guys scarf down before you go to sleep?”

AJ blinked. He laughed slightly, “You’ve done this before?”

“Yeah, I went to see Brian last night,”Nick said, “I don’t know whose nightmare was worse!” He shuddered.

“Nick, what is this?” AJ looked around. The tattoo parlor faded and they were standing on an empty stage. The concert venue was almost completely empty, only a few people occupied the seats.

“Who are they AJ?” Nick nodded to the audience of about 7 people.

“I don’t know,”AJ frowned, he had had this dream before, but Nick was never in it.

“Wanna go see?”Nick smiled lightly.

AJ briskly shook his head,” Nick what’s going on?”

“You’re asleep AJ. You’re dreaming, and I’m intruding,” Nick said. He touched the microphone that stood beside him,” Thinking about going solo, AJ?”

“Nick?”

“AJ, remember the mansion?” Nick said not turning to face AJ.

“Yeah,” AJ sounded confused.

“Remember what I did with Brian. I came to help him,” Nick said, he tilted the mike, doing microphone catches. He dropped it and it made a horrible ringing noise,”Oops.”

“And that is what’s happening now?” asked AJ, looking intrigued.

Nick smiled,” Very good AJ.”

AJ smiled crookedly,” This is awesome. This means you’re ok, right? Are you going to wake up soon? That seizure you had was scary, and you really shook your parents up Nick.”

Nick’s face had lost its jovial demeanor, now it was saddened and fearful, “AJ, I don’t wake up until I’m freed. Either Chiros or me, or maybe both of us has to go. That’s the only way to end this, Alex.” He ran a hand through his short blond hair, “He’s got him AJ.”

“Who’s got who?” AJ had put his hands over his face like he thought he could hide from what Nick was saying.

“Chiros. He’ s got Brian. I felt him take him, that’s what happened in the hospital. I tried to stop him. It was stupid I know, he’s too strong,” Nick sat down on the edge of the stage. A pizza box appeared next to him,” I love the way you dream AJ,” he said with a light laugh. He opened the box to see a steaming anchovie pizza,”Ugh! Nevermind!” He reshut the box.

It was almost comical. AJ would have laughed too, if he weren’t thinking about what Nick said earlier,” He took Bri? So Bri’s like you?- in a coma?”

Nick shook his head,” Watch the news AJ. All those missing peple, Chiros is taking them, like in the old days. With me here with him, the threshold’s been opened. He can’t actually acquire them for a few more days, you know, when he offs me. Brian’s been taken like them.”

“So he’s gone without a trace,” AJ said bleakly.

Nick nodded, “ I can’t even lock in on him. The people Chiros has taken are ok. I see them every now and again when I look out my window, or I’m taking a walk. Sometimes Chiros lets me use the control room to play video games.”

AJ did laugh at this,” Well it doesn’t sound like where you are is such a bad place to be.”

Nick’s eyes flashed with fire, “AJ, do you know what it feels like to be surrounded by the absolute essence of evil? Evil so thick it chokes you and clouds your mind? Do you know how it feels to see the faces of doomed children light up when they see you because you’re their favorite Backstreet Boy. Can you take me back to my mommy, Nick? Do you know what its like knowing you’re going to be killed, and not cleanly killed, because I’ve got to bleed freely. I’m not gonna be killed instantly, J. I’m gonna suffer.”

AJ sat beside Nick on the stage edge and wrapped his arm around him. Nick’s body quivered, but was substantial in AJ’s hold, “How can I help you Nick? How can I help Bri, and the kids?”

“AJ... I had a solution, and it would have worked if only Brian wouldn’t have been so...so...”

“What was it?”

“Kill me. Take a pillow and put it over my face in the hospital. If I die there, I die here, and no more threshold. But now there are people involved! If I’m killed now, Brian and these people will die.”

AJ was sweating.

Nick grabbed AJ’s sweaty palm,” AJ, you gotta help the others. Tell them what happened, and tell them to hurry. Don’t rush and be careless, but hurry it up with whatever they are planning on doing! Please AJ! I know you’re scared, but you gotta do this!”

AJ stared at his feet then back at Nick. He nodded curtly,”Ok Blondie, just tell me where they are.”

“Where else would they be AJ? They are still at Robert’s. Stop them from looking for Brian. Oh, and AJ...?”

“Yeah Nick?”

“Your audience,” Nick stood and gestured out into the audience. The lights darkened on stage and came on in the audience. The audience was his father, his mother, his grandparents, and a unfamiliar sweet faced woman with dark hair, about 20 years old, “Dreams are really messages to yourself AJ, think about that.”

AJ woke with a start,”Nick!” He called out. The only reply he got was from two elderly women. They looked at him oddly, then smiled, “No Nick’s here sweetie.”

AJ sat up and tried to clear his head from sleep. He had to go. He had to get to the others, and fast.

“Ok, thanks Jane. You take care,” Howie hung up the phone, “Brian’s hasn’t been there at all today.” He relayed to an anxious Kevin and Robert.

Kevin cracked his knuckled nervously, “Well where else could he be? Should we call the hotel? Maybe he’s with AJ.”

Howie sighed,”Maybe, but he needs to hurry back. Nicky’s not doing so good.”

Kevin nodded grimly. He took out his cellular phone to call make his own call to the hotel. KNOCK! KNOCK! Someone was banging on the door. Robert went to answer it. Howie opened the curtains to see swirling red and blue lights through the heavy rain and black night, “It’s the police again.”

Kevin rolled his eyes then turned his attention back to his ringing cell phone. No one was picking up! He dialed AJ’s cell phone number.

“Hello Officers,” Robert said politely,” May I help you?”

“Yes you may, are Kevin Richardson, Howard Dorough, Alexander McLean, and Brian Littrel here?” the officers invited themselves inside.

“Well do come in,” Robert muttered under his breath sarcastically.

“Hello Officers,” Kevin looked confused, “Can we help you with something?”

“You recently rented a car?”

“Um yes,” Howie answered this time.

“Nissan, blue, 1998, licence plate HYZ880?”

“That’s it,” Howie bit his lip, “Brian was driving it to the hospital to see... OH NO! Please don’t tell me...”

Kevin’s face lost all of it’s color,” Oh my God, is he ok?”

“No body was found in or around the vehicle,” the officer said.

Howie, Kevin, and Robert let out huge sighs of relief, “So he’s not hurt.”

“He’s missing,” the other officer said curtly, “You were instructed not to leave town!”

“But Brian didn’t leave town, he was going to the hospital, something happened on the way to the hospital!” Kevin looked panicked.

“You think that...” Howie dropped the last part of his sentence. Maybe Chiros had Brian too!

“There has been a string of strange disappearances, and you boys are some kind of celebrities. Abduction is an option in this case, but a full scale search must be done. We may call one of you later on to help with the search, but as of right now we are here to inform you that you are under house arrest. We are going to escort you back to your hotel, and you are not to leave there for any reason.”

“But.. But...”

“Where is Mr. McLean?”

“AJ? I don’t know, he might be at the hospital,” Howie muttered runing nervous hands through his hair. He shot Robert a pleading look.

Robert caught it, “Officers, wait!”

The two officers had been in the process of guiding Howie and Kevin toward the front door. They paused, and turned to face Robert.

“What if the gentlemen stayed here? I don’t mind, I did invite them here after all. They would be safer here than in a public hotel where I’m pretty sure young girls are already camping outside the doors,” Robert spoke calmly and logically.

The police officers weighed the possibilities, “Mr. Kulle, a 19 year old fell from your upstairs window...”

“A accident, as we all keep trying to tell you. Mr. Carter is known to be quite clumsy,” Robert stood with his hands in his pockets. Howie and Kevin stood speechless, astounded by the way Robert was quickly handling the situation.

“Sir, I am not sure the...”

“Give your superior a call. I see no reason why they should not stay here. Room and board will be provided to them at no cost, and you can watch the house. No teenage girls know that they are here, so we don’t have to worry about groupies either.”

“Well, it does sound convenient, and there are less ways for them to sneak out without us noticing,” the officers talked amongst themselves.

Kevin, Howie, and Robert held their breaths. After a few minutes the officers looked back to them, “Ok.”

“Ok?”

“Get Mr. McLean here immediately, though.”

“We’ll find him... er... Robert will find him,” Kevin covered his slip up.

The officers nodded, “Are you currently renting another car?”

Howie and Kevin shook their heads in negative agreement, “No. Why do you ask?”

“What is Mr. McLean driving?”

“AJ? He doesn’t have a...” Kevin followed the officer’s gaze out the window to see the headlights of a car cutting through the darkness. A lanky figure was walking around the front of the car, and as it stepped in front of the headlights it could be identified as only AJ McLean.

“AJ rented himself car,” Kevin stated flatly. The lights suddenly shut off, and there was a vigorous knocking at the door. Howie took two steps and flung the door open. He laughed as a soaking wet AJ fell in and sprawled onto the floor with a yelp.

“HOWIE!” AJ jumped up in a flash and hugged Howie, getting him damp, “I’m so glad to see you! KEVIN!” He was going to hug Kevin, but he stopped dead when he noticed the police,“The police... again. What happened now?- And whatever it is, we didn’t do it!”

“AJ! Our rental car, that Brian was driving is gone, and so is he,” Kevin said with a slight tremble in his voice.

AJ blinked, but said nothing, instead he looked to the cops.

“The nice officers are going to let us stay with Robert, under house arrest.”

“HOUSE ARREST?!” AJ burst out,” But... But, that means we can’t go anywhere!”

“No kidding Sherlock,” Howie snapped,”Who’s going to get our stuff from the hotel?”

The tallest officer sighed, “I’ll take you all back to retrieve your belongings in the morning, right now or until we find Mr. Littrel, you will remain here.”

AJ groaned. The officers thanked Robert and left without a goodbye.

“Good riddance,” AJ grumbled, ”Nosy cops! Next they’re going to be monitoring our bathroom breaks...”

“AJ, where have you been all day?” Kevin asked sternly.

AJ gave him a sharp glance, “With Nick.”

Kevin’s harsh tone changed to a softer, guiltier one, “Oh, how is he doing?”

“Not good Kev,” AJ said, “And he told me...”

“Wait, ‘he told’ you? Does that mean he’s awake?” Howie looked excited.

AJ removed his coat and accepted a towel from Robert with a ‘thank you.’ “No.”

“But you...”

“I fell asleep in the hospital lobby. Nick had just had this seizure, and the doctors rushed in, and Jane and Bob told me to get some rest.”

“Seizure?” Kevin looked worried,“I thought...”

“Can I finish please? Anyway, I fell asleep, and I was in this spaceship at first. Then I hear this intense screaming, and I think it’s Nick. So I’m running trying to get to him and I end up in this tatoo parlor of horrors! There were these big mean guys that...”

“Alex? Does this have a valid point?” Howie was rolling his eyes and treating himself to a soda.

“Yeah, Nick was in my dream. He said he was visiting, like he did with Brian,” AJ said inviting himself to a sip of Howie’s soda. Howie’s mouth fell open.

Kevin and Robert had frozen in what they were doing, “So he came to you?”

“Yeah, he told me Chiros has B-rok. He doesn’t know where he is, but he’s alive in there somewhere. All those missing kids are in there, too! He actually sees these kids and talks to them frequently. They don’t understand what is happening to them.”

“They are all being kept prisoner?”

“No, it doesn’t seem that way. Nick comes and goes as he pleases. He knows the grounds, and plays video games in Chiros’s office! It doesn’t sound like they’re being tortured at all!” AJ said, “But he’s scared guys.”

“I’ll bet he’s scared,” Howie said, “Did he give you any information that could be useful to us?”

“The only thing he made crystal clear, is hurry up!” AJ muttered as he wandered into the kitchen feeling liberal to make himself a sandwich.

Kevin raised his eyebrows at AJ’s boldness, “I guess it is about that time for something to eat.”

Robert nodded, “Do you want me to order out? We could get Chinese, or pizza..”

Howie sighed, “I don’t think I could even look at a pizza without thinking about Nick being held hostage by that monster,” Pizza was Nick’s favorite food, “and now he’s got Brian too!”

“Chinese it is,” Robert said. He left the room to make the phone call.

“AJ, how’d he look?” asked Howie. AJ grunted at Howie to let him know that he was blocking AJ’s path to the mayonnaise jar. “He looked fine.”

Howie groaned, “Get your damn mind off your stomach.”

“I can’t help it if I’m hungry, I haven’t eaten all day!” AJ griped slapping his sandwich together and taking a huge bite.

“Guys!” Kevin broke into the spat, “Drop it. Robert is ordering some take out, we can all eat, and then we’re going to discuss our plan of action.”

“Looks like Kev’s stealing your job, Howie,” AJ joked, “You’re supposed to be the mediator.”

Howie rolled his eyes as AJ continued to try his patience.

“Boys, the food will be here in a bit,” Robert interrupted, “Would you like to sit in the kitchen or dining room?”

“Doesn’t matter,” AJ muttered through bites of food, “I’ll eat it anywhere. I am starving.”

Robert chuckled, “Well in that case lets stay in the kitchen. I don’t want stains on my dining room carpet as a result of you stuffing your face.”

“Yeah it’s.. HEY! Are you saying I’m messy?” AJ glanced up at Robert.

Robert smiled briefly, then his smile turned grave, “AJ, we have a lot to discuss with you.”

AJ nodded polishing off his sandwich, “Yeah, we do.”

Chapter 10

Sitting over opened cartons of Chinese food at about 1 o’clock in the morning the guys drew out their plans for the next day.

“You have all the materials we are going to need to cross over into the other realm?” AJ asked breaking open a fortune cookie.

“No, there are few items that we still need to pick up, and we can only get them from Nick during visiting hours. I am going to pull out everything I have to try to convince those cops to let you guys see Nick tomorrow,” Robert said sipping an iced tea, “We have all our runes, and charms so you guys can cross the veil, but you need a location. The nether realm is a vast region, that you do not want to get lost in, because there may be no return.”

Howie gulped,” No return.”

Robert nodded, “In order to be transported to the correct destination you need something of Nick’s... Something of sentimental value, or...”

“Hey, we can get his Nintendo,” AJ chirped.

“Or?” Howie asked ignoring AJ’s comment.

“Or a hair and blood sample,” Robert said simply, “I don’t think the hair and blood will be all that hard to get.”

“Blood?” Howie croaked, “Oh man, I refuse to play the vampire part again. Kevin, AJ, the blood part is up to you.”

“Why do we need Nick’s hair and stuff?” asked AJ.

“Because AJ, you need to lock into Nick. Those items will personalize the runes and send you to an area close to Nick, or possibly the very area he is in. Without it, you’re lost.”

AJ nodded, and unrolled his fortune paper, “Lets see if I’ll win the lottery and be prosperous in my near future... Oh damn...” The paper slipped from AJ’s hands, and AJ jumped away from it.

“What is it?” Kevin was on his feet looking from AJ’s frightened face to the discarded paper.

“Read it man,” AJ whispered gruffly, “I need a drink.”

“Hey no way, nobody’s getting drunk,” Howie interjected.

“Who said anything about getting drunk Howie?” AJ pounced on him, “I’m getting another soda!” He got up and stalked toward the refrigerator.

Kevin looked after him, then at Howie. Howie sat with his arms folded, “What does the fortune paper say?”

Kevin sighed and picked the small white slip up, he turned it over expecting to read the typical fortune... It was a skull and crossbones, “What the hell?” Kevin muttered, he quickly tore up the paper and tossed it in the wastebasket. AJ came back to the table and clunked his soda can down, “I think Chiros is sending us a message Kev.”

“What was it?” Howie demanded.

“An omen,” AJ grumbled, “It was a freakin’ picture of dead man to be!”

Howie rested his hand over his eyes, “Ok, so you think Chiros is out to get us too, now?”

Robert stared at Howie, “I don’t think he would be Howie. Right now he is preparing for his sacrifice. If he wants you, it will come afterwards...”

“But he took Brian!” Howie argued.

“Didn’t Brian do something to especially upset him?” Robert inquired rubbing the bridge of his nose.

They all nodded in response.

“Demons are very vengeful,” Robert reminded.

There was a splatter as AJ’s soda can hit the table and the foamy liquid began to spill out. Kevin grabbed the can to set it up right, and stared at AJ, “AJ, are you ok?”

“Nick said he couldn’t lock into Brian. He said Chiros took him, but he couldn’t sense him there. Do you think Chiros...?”

“Oh my God,” Kevin uttered, “No, no, it can’t...”

“No, no, he’s ok,” Howie assured Kevin, AJ, and himself, “I bet he’s just being kept somewhere Nick doesn’t know about.”

“But Nick knows all about that place, and he should. He created it,” AJ was saying, “He would know if...”

“Hold on, did you say Nick created something?” Robert’s head had turned to put a rather intense gaze on AJ.

“Yeah, yeah, he has this crazy imagination. The whole place looks like something he drew,” AJ said putting his elbows in the mess he had made, and ignoring the discomfort of having wet sleeves, “It looks like this spaceship with warp tunnels and everything.”

“I thought you dreamed about a tattoo parlor?” Kevin asked.

“No, well yeah, I dreamed about a tattoo parlor, but Nick didn’t. Nick came into my dream, and I think when he came in he brought some of the world he’s in now with him too. When the dream first started off I was in that spaceship dressed in this tacky get up, then I ran into the tattoo parlor.”

“It almost sounds like you crossed the veil,” Robert said sounding very intrigued, “And to me, it sounds like Nick is doing more than just letting you know he’s ok, he’s giving you some information on where he is. AJ, both you and Brian appeared on a spaceship or something before you proceeded on to your own dreams. I bet these dreams even started off on different locations of the ship.”

“You think Nicky’s making us a map?” Howie looked up. For the first time that night, Howie looked excited.

Robert nodded, “I think he is, and I must admit I am impressed with his talent.”

“We are too,” Kevin said scratching the back of his head. He was in a daze when his arm got a cold sensation. He looked down to see his white shirt sleeve drenched and dyed orange, “AJ! Will you clean up this mess?!”

AJ jumped, then remembered his spill and went to get some paper towels.

“Robert, how early do you think we will be able to do this?” Howie asked, his hands were slightly trembling.

“First thing in the morning I am going to talk with the police while you are getting your things from your hotel. Once you guys do this, we’ll go to the hospital. After we get what we need we can start. Our timing depends on the police. If they are willing to agree to let me take you to your hotel, and let you go to the hospital with no fuss, then we can get started around 10 am.”

Howie nodded, “They gotta let us, or else we’ll threaten to call our lawyers!”

AJ laughed at this, “We should have done that in the first place. Maybe they would have left us alone!”

“Guys, we have a big day tomorrow. We should try to get some sleep,” Kevin said taking on his “big brother knows best” tone.

Howie and AJ groaned, “Do you think Nick will come again?”

AJ shrugged, “I hope so. It felt good to see him, you know, walking and talking, instead of lying on a bed not moving.”

Howie nodded biting his lower lip. He hated thinking about Nick being in that hospital trapped in a body that won’t wake up. He also thought about Brian. Where was Brian?

Howie chose the room across from Kevin’s and next to AJ’s. Howie found the room to be strangely comforting. It was nicely decorated, and the bed looked comfortable. He went into the bathroom to wash up before bed, doing the best he could with no toothbrush or anything. He stared at his sallow complexion, Look at what all this stress is doing to you Dorough. He ran his hands over his face and sighed loudly. It’ll be over tomorrow he told himself, whether the outcome be good or bad, it’ll be over tomorrow.

He lie in bed thinking this as he fell asleep. Sleep took him fast and by surprise, he didn’t think he would be able to sleep. He slept like a rock.

Howie stood in an odd room that was done completely in tiles. Tiles from floor to ceiling. It shone like mirrors reflecting the image of Howie.

“Where in the world...”

“HELP ME!”

Howie’s head jerked towards the door of the room. Someone was in trouble.

“DO SOMETHING HOWIE!”

Howie blinked, it was Nicky. He began to walk towards the door. He paused as he looked out to see the dark corridors of the ship. He took one cautious step outside, then another. Soon he was running, he could hear his feet pounding on the tiled floors. Opaque glass windows lined walls and odd designs swirled on the tiles. Howie took in his surrounding knowing they were important, but he did not slow his pace. Nicky sounded terrified. There was a large antique store at the end of the hall. Howie blinked, that was so out- of- place here, but yet Howie remembered the store. He entered the store to see shelves and shelves of broken antiques. The screaming was coming from the back. Howie crept past broken china dolls and dishes. There were two very large ladies in back. Howie almost yelped when he saw Nick being spread out on the table beside a large sewing machine. One woman was holding him down as the other one began to stitch through his skin. Howie saw other bloody patterns that had been made on his skin earlier and wanted to throw up. Nick’s mangled body looked like a puppet. Howie cringed at each whimper from Nick. Howie was about to jump onto the table and cover Nick when he felt something very cold and wet on his neck. He cried out in shock and whirled around to see Nick... a Nick, frowning at him.

“Nicky?” Howie asked staring at the Nick in front of him. The one who looked absolutely fine. He was wearing a basketball jersey and had his hair neatly arranged,“Hi...” He held up two popsicles, both red, “It was only a popsicle D. I thought you might like one.”

Howie shook his head, and continued to stare in disbelief,“Nick, I just saw you on that table over there being sewed up by some old hags.”

Nick groaned, “Man, I don’t even think I wanna look at this one.” Nick licked his popsicle and looked like he was debating with himself,” Oh alright, I’ll look.” He moved Howie aside, “Aaaaah!” Nick dropped his popsicle, “That’s disgusting Howie. So disgusting I think I’ve lost my appetite.”

Howie actually laughed at that, “You, losing your appetite? Impossible.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Nick said with a shrug, he bit into the popsicle that was supposed to be Howie’s.

“I thought that was mine.”

“Yeah, well, you snooze you lose,” Nick said with a wicked grin, then he looked serious, “Howie, this is important.” Nick reached into his pocket and produced a folded piece of paper.

“What is this?”Howie took the paper from Nick.

“It’s a.. Uh-oh. Howie, I gotta go!” Nick suddenly looked scared, “Good luck!”

“Nick? Nick where are you going?” Howie watched sadly as Nick’s image began to retreat and fade away and he could do nothing to stop it, “I didn’t even get to hug you or ask how you are...” Howie stood alone in his antique store. The awful gory scene had disappeared and in its place were two cheerful clerks. The store had miraculously been remodeled within seconds. Now the store was open and bright filled with wonderful antiques. Outside the sun shone, there was no spaceship. Howie scratched his head in confusion. He squeezed the paper between his palms. I need to wake up. I have to wake up.

Howie bolted upright in bed. He was sweaty and sticky. He ran his hands on the cool sheets. He had to get a feel of reality. He felt something poke him, like a piece of paper. He moved back the covers to reveal a folded sheet of paper much like the one Nick had given him... Nick. Howie grabbed the paper and unfolded it with shaky fingers. It was a diagram. It was a diagram of the netherealm, just what they would need. Howie vowed to never call Nick a dumb blond again. He kissed the map, then jumped out of bed to get dressed, not noticing that it was only 5 am.

At 5:15 everyone was up and listening to Howie ramble about his dream. The map was spread out on the table. It was very artistic and colorful. It looked like a page ripped from a comic book. It showed the outline of a spaceship and then individual compartments. One showed a room full of odd blue capsules, another showed a tunnel of some sort that looked like the insides of a computer. There was a vast area in the middle colored with twilight and empty. On the far side of ship was what seemed to be a control room. In the center of the room was a chair that could have been a virtual reality game, it only lacked the visser. On the opposite side of the control room, on the other side of the ship, was a small room. In the center of the space it said “ME.”

“Do you think that’s where Nick is?” AJ asked, he was jittering with nervous energy.

Kevin nodded, “I think it is. And since Brian isn’t also labeled on this map...”

“Maybe he’s with Nick,” Howie put in quickly.

AJ put his head down, as Kevin sighed, “Lets hope.”

“Robert, do you think it’s possible that we could get this day started now?” asked Howie impatiently.

Robert nodded, “Yes, we can go into the upstairs study and begin setting up for the ritual.”

“The ritual, sounds like we’re going to sacrifice someone,” AJ muttered.

“We are, ourselves. We don’t know how this is going to turn out,” Kevin said, “We’re flying blind.”

“But we’ve got Nick on our side, and he’s got some power over...”

“AJ, has Nick ever used mystical magical powers before?” Kevin turned to question AJ.

“Well, no..”

“Then what makes you think he can just use them now? Maybe it only works in dreams...”

“But this place is a dream!” AJ argued, “Remember dreams are real there!”

“That was in Chiros’s house! This is something totally different and out of our league, and we can’t depend on outside help!” Kevin grunted, “We need a plan of attack.”

“We’ve got a map,” Howie offered.

“And I have a few incantations and charms that might work over there, and a few weapons that prove to be very deadly to demons,” Robert said as he ushered the boys upstairs.

“Deadly to demons. Robert, I thought you said you have never seen a demon..”

“I know, but these are weapons I’ve heard are deadly to demons,” Robert said with a slight blush.

“You know, you are really starting to remind me of that stupid guy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer... You know, her new watcher... Wesley!” AJ and Howie laughed to themselves, as Robert made a contemptuous snort, “I am not anything like that blundering louse!”

“You watch Buffy?” AJ’s face was stretched by a large grin.

Robert threw open the door to a large room with wall to wall bookshelves and books, he cleared his throat and looked away from AJ, “Only once, and that was because I had been watching something earlier on that station and left the television on. It just happened to be on when I came back into the room.”

“Yeah, sure Robby. We know you don’t watch Buffy,” AJ said, then he looked at Howie and Kevin with a wicked grin that said ,’He’s a Buffy fan!’

“I see that Alexander, and I am no... Oh alright. I watch the show regularly. And I can’t believe the counsel fired Giles!”

AJ laughed and sighed, “You know, it’s kind of comforting to know that we can still laugh and joke when we know what’s going to happen later today.”

The mood died down a bit.

“Lets get started,” Robert said walking towards a large book on a podium. It was weary with age, and worn by many hands turning its now brittle and fragile pages, “I set this out a few days ago when I knew you were coming. This is a book that contains every rune that we are going to need to send you into the next world. I put a book mark here, where is it, oh.. Here we are. We need to create a circle of runes. I have a few carving knives here. There are exactly 7 runes. I need each of you to take a knife and help me carve out the designs of each rune inside these two concurrent circles I have already carved. I printed out copies of pictures of each one.”

“And that’s it, we carve pictures on the wall?” Howie looked doubtful.

“Um no, then we have to.. Stain them.”

“Stain them? With what?” AJ frowned then gasped, “Oh man!”

“Yes, AJ, blood,” Robert said grimly, “But we will worry about that part later, for right now lets get these runes carved.”

Chapter 11

The carving of the runes on the wooden wall took about an hour. Each rune had to be first drawn intricately then carved. The runes were pretty easy to draw, mostly straight lines and slight curves. The boys and Robert sat back on the floor proud of their work.

“It looks cool,” AJ commented, “Now what do you want to do? Should we eat or get the weapons and supplies together, or figure out what we’re gonna wear?”

“Calm down Alex,” Robert said, “One thing at a time.” He checked his watch, “It is still to early to bug the police. I think we should arrange the furniture.” The others nodded. They began to carefully move tables and chairs and rugs away from the loft area of the room. They were performing their ritual in the far corner of the library, which was still a pretty big area. Three couches were pushed to the center of the area, “As you all know by now you will not be physically entering the nether realm, that is much too dangerous. You will only be astral projecting, but since none of you actually possess the gift to do it on your own the runes will help guide you to where you need to go...”

“Hey, so you’re saying if we wanted to... We could actually go inside the spirit world?”

Robert nodded, “It has only been done a few times, and few people ever return to tell about it. The runes will open the veil, but each of you will be deeply asleep by that time. When you go to sleep be thinking about your final destination and your purpose. Each of you will be wearing one of these,” Robert held three small cloth bags, “These are amulets that contain a sample of each of your hair, and a sample of Nick’s hair, and blood. This will make sure you all go the same place. If all goes well you should be carrying your amulets, and the weapons and supplies I will give you in a bit. Just remember to concentrate.”

The three sat looking solemn and nervous, “Do you really think we’ll be able to pull this one off, Robert?”

Robert looked at them each in turn, “In the three days I have spent with you boys you have proved to me that you are ready to take on anything together. If anyone can succeed at this task, it will be you.”

It turns out the police were more than willing to let the Robert take the boys back to their hotel, but they also permitted a hospital visit. Now of course the police did have to play bodyguards when the boys had to enter the hotel. Flocks of screaming girls surrounded the place. A police barricade had to be set up just to keep the girls off. The boys were instructed to gather their things up swiftly so they could go. The hospital was surprisingly empty. There had been a strict police warning telling any persons who were not sick, hurt, or visiting family, friends, or a member of the staff, away from the premise. No groupies allowed! The boys were greeted warmly by the Carters. There were many questions about Brian that no one could answer, like where he was. Jane Carter was trying so hard not to cry she was shaking. She hugged each boy in turn, she lingered as she hugged Kevin, “Just what were you boys planning on doing down here? Nothing but bad things have happened in this town.”

Kevin gave her a light smile, “We had some unfinished business. We’re sorry.”

Jane nodded.

“How’s he doing?” AJ asked Bob Carter who had just came back from talking to a doctor. Bob looked visibly shaken, and like his wife, he was trying not to cry, “Not well, Alex..”

“What now?” Jane asked turning pale.

Bob shook his head, “Bascially he should have woken up by now. His vitals are failing, and the doctors are bringing machines in to support him. They don’t think he’ll...”

“No,” Jane grabbed for her husband’s hand, “Bob, the kids can’t see us break down. It’ll be ok, they’ll see.”

Howie agreed with her, “Yeah, Nick’s not going out without a fight.” And we’re sure as hell gonna give him one.

“Hey Kaos,” Kevin greeted Nick entering the room and stepping up to the bed. He flinched seeing Nick’s seemingly lifeless form on the bed surrounded by tubes and wires. A weak beep from a monitor was the only thing that let Kevin know the boy was still alive. His chest rose and fell so slightly it was barely visible. AJ sucked in his breath as he gripped the bars on the side of the bed and gazed down at Nick, “Aw man kid, don’t worry. We’re gonna get you outta here.” “This will only sting a bit Nicky,” Howie said, he held a sterile sewing needle and a fresh gauze pad. He had stored these items in his pockets, and had just removed them. AJ and Kevin made way for Howie to approach the bed. Howie’s hands shook as he reached to take one of Nick’s limp hands in his. He grimaced at the coolness of it. Gently he set the gauze under his hand, then pricked Nick’s index finger. The blood began to well up at this tip of his finger and drip onto the white guaze pad. Howie had to squeeze it a bit to get the amount they needed. He rubbed Nick’s punctured finger tenderly, and folded the gauze in half. He handed it to AJ who was holding a small ziplock baggy. Kevin kept glancing back at the door constantly to make sure no one came in to observe what they were doing.

“Kevin, did you bring scissors?” Howie asked as he reached into his pocket and removed another object.

“Oh Howie, a band-aid?!” AJ exclaimed, and got elbowed.

“Shhh!” Howie hissed as he applied it to Nick’s finger.

“An Aladdin band-aid?!” AJ said more quietly. He snickered softly, as Howie gave him a superior look, “Kevin, the scissors.”

It was AJ’s turn to be serious, “We don’t need scissors.”

“What, do you want we should yank his hair out?” Howie asked sarcastically.

“No!” AJ fired, “I was here yesterday, and I discovered that for some odd reason... “ AJ paused and ran a gentle hand through Nick’s thick blonde hair. Several strands of it came out in AJ’s hand, “It’s coming out.”

Howie stiffled a sob, and took the hair from AJ and put it into another ziplock bag, “I think we need a little more, just to be safe.”

AJ sighed and reluctantly ran his hands through the blond tangles again sadly removing more of the golden strands,“Nick’s not gonna be too happy about this,” he joked lightly.

“Yeah, when he wakes up bald we’ll blame you,” Howie said with a light smile, “Lets get out of here.”

“We’ll see ya soon, Nicky. Hang in there,” Howie said giving Nick’s hand a squeeze. AJ petted his head, “Yeah Junior, hang tight.”

“Come on guys,” Kevin said from the doorway. Howie and AJ went on out the door with their shoulders sagging. Kevin took one last look into the room, “We’re coming.”

“We gotta make a bathroom stop before we go!” AJ said insistently shifting his weight from one leg to the other impatiently.

“AJ!” Both Kevin and Howie snapped irritably.

“What? Would you rather me wet my pants on the way back, while I’m sitting next to one of you?” AJ smiled like a Cheshire cat.

Howie and Kevin exchanged glances, “Make it quick.” AJ returned a few minutes later, “Come on lets go.” His voice sounded rushed and he kept looking over his shoulders. Kevin and Howie shrugged it off, they had bigger things to worry about.

After saying goodbye to the Carters and promising to return later, they took a very interesting way home to Robert’s house. The boys were surprised at how fast mothers could drive when their kids were in the backseat screaming “Backstreet Boys!” and pointing to the car. Kevin, Howie, and AJ had to spend the majority of the trip home ducking down low in their seats so no one could see them.

Once they got inside they ate a light breakfast. No one had much of an appetite, and carefully mixed together the ingredients of their amulets, and packed their supplies.

“Lets get started. Are you ready?” Robert looked every bit as nervous as the guys.

That got some nervous titters from the guys, “We’re as ready as we’ll ever be,” Kevin supplied. AJ and Howie stiffly agreed. They slowly went up the stairs and into the study.

“Oh man, oh man,” AJ had started to repeat over and over again under his breath. Kevin clamped his hands down on his shoulders trying to give him some reassurance, “Now Robert, we aren’t just going to burst into this, are we?”

“Oh heavens no!” Robert looked appalled, “We are going to test this out first. But, in order for this test, I need a volunteer from our audience.”

Kevin, Howie, and AJ all looked down at their feet and started kicking at imaginary rocks.

“Come on guys, in a little while it will be all of you traveling through that veil, don’t you want to make sure it works first?” Robert looked at them each trying to make eye contact. His glasses framed brown eyes met up with Kevin’s green ones. Kevin sighed deeply, “I’ll do it.”

“What exactly are you going to do Robert?” asked AJ staring at Kevin and Robert.

“I am simple going to put Kevin into a trance and let him wear his amulet,” Robert poked at Kevin’s small blue cloth amulet that he wore around his neck on a string, “While he is going into the trance I will make him concentrate on Nick and being where Nick is...”

“Maybe I should do it,” Howie said uneasily, “I just saw him this morning so I kind of know what to expect from that place...”

“No way! I should go. I saw more of the ship than you did, and talked more to Nicky,” AJ argued, “Let me go!”

“No,” Kevin’s voice was firm, “I am the only one who has not seen him. I am tired of taking your words for it that he’s ok. I want to see it for myself.” Kevin got himself comfortable on the leather sofa, “So what do I have to do?”

“Lay back and get as comfortable as you can and close your eyes,” Robert said, his voice took on a soothing tone. AJ and Howie glanced at him, and slowly sat down on one couch together and watched as their older brother was put into a trance.

“I want you to count from one hundred to 70 backwards slowly and let the words float from your mouth,” Robert said, still speaking in his lullaby tone.

Kevin began to count slowly, his southern accent rolling off the numbers he recited backwards. Near the seventies Kevin’s numbers began to jumble themselves, and Kevin sounded like he had forgotten how to count. AJ was going to laugh and point it out to him, but Robert silenced him with a glare and a finger over his lips telling AJ that he had better be quiet. After 5 tedious minutes Kevin finally reached seventy.

Robert was silent for a moment then said, “Kevin?”

“Mmhmm?”

“Can you count from 1 to 20 for me please?” Robert asked gently.

Kevin immediately did what he was told and began to count. Counting forward turned out to be even more difficult than counting backward for Kevin. When he ended Robert smiled, “Kevin?”

“Mmhmm?”

“Are you in a trance?”

“I don’t know..” was Kevin’s slow reply.

Robert nodded and was assured that Kevin was indeed in a trance, “What do you see, Kevin?”

“It’s dark.”

“That’s because his eyes are closed..”

“AJ!” Howie hissed punching AJ in the shoulder to make him be quiet.

“Kevin, can you see Nick?”

“Nick? No... Should I see him?”

“Kevin, think about Nick, concentrate on him. You want to be where he is,” Robert pressed leaning forward in his seat.

“Ok...”

There was silence for a few minutes. Then there was a slight noise, it was a sharp intake of breath from Kevin.

“What is it Kev?” AJ jumped up.

Robert motioned for him to sit down.

“What is it Kevin?”

“It’s.. I see him. I see him!”

Kevin stood in the back of the bedroom. It had three walls because it was in the shape of a triangle. A stack of comic books towered beside him, there was a desk, a television, video games, a radio, a CD cabinet, a small fridge, etc. Kevin stared at the room that could put the grandest 5 star hotel in Paris to shame. There was a large window on one side of the room with the blinds drawn. A blond male sat with his back to Kevin fixated with the blinds he was staring at.

“You shouldn’t be here, Kev.”

Kevin jumped at the sound of the familiar voice, “How did you...”

“I feel you,” Nick answered solemnly, he turned away from the blinds slowly. Kevin gasped as he took in Nick’s shattered appearance. He looked much better than he had in the hospital, yes, but he still looked awful. His skin was pale and drawn, his eyes dark and haunted. He sighed softly and looked at Kevin, “You have to leave.”

“Leave?” Kevin spoke, he began to go closer to Nick, “But I just got here. What’s wrong? Is it Brian?”

Nick flinched at the mention of Brian’s name. He looked down at his shoes again, “It’s too late Kev... You guys just need to get out of here, get out of that town. Just get lost somewhere.” Nick began to turn to face the blinds again. He leaned his face into them, strands of his hair became entangled in the plastic blinds. Kevin edged closer still until he was close enough to lay a hand on Nick’s cool shoulder.

“What are you talking about Nicky?”

Nick was so still Kevin leaned closer to him to make sure he was breathing, “It’s over.”

“What do you mean it’s over? Give me an answer that makes sense Nick! Chiros hasn’t... done anything to you yet, so we’ve still got time! This is just a test run, after this, we’re comin’!”

Nick stood abruptly startling Kevin so much that he stumbled backward. Nick grabbed his arm to steady him then just held it. He looked Kevin dead straight in the eyes, blue against green. “Don’t. I can’t help you here. It’s too late.”

Kevin gripped Nick’s arm that he was using to hold Kevin in place and squeezed it, he gave Nick a good shake, “Why do you keep insisting that it is too late? Where’s Brian?” Although nothing had been said by Nick about him, he could sense Brian had something to do with Nick’s sudden change in attitude.

Nick shoved Kevin away, “Because it is! Brian’s here, Kev. If you guys are stupid enough to come here after I warned you not to, you’ll see him.” Nick spoke in a sarcastic tone, “He’d love that.” Nick slumped down on the king-size bed. “I think I’m gonna be sick again just thinking about it.”

“Nick, you still are not making any sense. Brian’s ok, and here with you?”

“He’ s far from ok!” Nick yelled clutching his stomach, “If you know what’s best get out while you can. If you run and don’t tell me where you’re going, there’s a good chance he’ll never find you... Get away Kev. Forget about me, forget about Brian...”

“Forget about..” Kevin began to feel light-headed, “What’s going on?” Nick looked over at him with some curiosity. Kevin began to feel dizzy and the room began to shrink away from him. Nick became smaller and smaller even though he was moving closer and closer towards him. Even through his vertigo Kevin could sense that, “It’s too late Kev, save yourselves...”

Nick’s words echoed through Kevin’s head as he felt himself swooning and being sucked through a narrow straw back into the real world, his world. Kevin lie flat on his back on a leather couch with Robert, Howie, and AJ hoovering over him, their voices were very hushed. “Kev, can you hear me?” Howie asked looking concerned.

“Wha.. Where? Nick? Nick!” Kevin bolted up looking around the room from a trace of blond. When he found none realization struck him, “Oh no...”

“What happened there, Kev? Are you ok?” AJ sat beside Kevin on the couch as Kevin straightened up.

“Robert,” Kevin addressed Robert instead of AJ who was nudging Kevin’s knees, “Nick told me it was too late. What does he mean? His answers were so weird, and he didn’t look right. Not that he should considering the circumstances, but still... Something really wasn’t right.”

“He’s afraid for you Kevin,” Robert rationalized Nick’s actions, “Maybe he doesn’t think you guys can do it without getting hurt.”

“Well if Nicky doesn’t think we can..” AJ began.

“No! It’s not that, there is something else, and it has to do with Bri,” Kevin rubbed his chin nervously, “Robert, get those weapons ready. If you guys are ok, I want to go in now.”

Howie looked pale, but he nodded and put his amulet around his neck. AJ looked anything but ready. He sat fidgeting on the edge of the couch, “Guys, what if we can’t do this? We never talked about this! What happens to us if we can’t save Nick?”

“AJ, we can’t think about that. We have to think that we are gonna save Nick, and Bri.”

“But..” AJ was panicking. He was now standing and slowly taking steps backwards, away from the couch, more towards the door, Howie ceased him roughly by both arms, “Listen... Our brothers are trapped in a world full of demons and we’re their only hope. They trust us enough to know that we’re coming for them! Look at you. You’re pitiful Alexander James! You abandoned us once, and came back, and now you’re going to do it again? You’re a pansy AJ! That’s what you are, a chicken- hearted pansy-ass! You can act as tough as you want up until a certain point then.. Bam! The real you shines through, and right now I can see the color yellow...”

Howie did not anticipate the retaliation AJ gave him. The contact AJ’s fist had made with Howie’s stomach winded him. AJ had wound back up ready to deliver another one. Howie laughed bitterly,” Go on pansy, hit me again. Does it make you feel more like a man?”

“Howie, AJ STOP IT!” Kevin yelled furiously, anger radiating off him in torrents, “You are both acting like children!” Howie whirled around putting his back to AJ. AJ still stood with his fists ready to attack Howie again. “AJ, if you want to go, go. It is your choice. We don’t need anyone who may be more of a liability than a help.”

Howie was nodding and about to say something else when AJ exploded, “A LIABILITY! Is that what I am to you? I’m only trying to talk sense into you, for your own good.”

“No, for your own good!” Howie yelled emphasizing own “Ever since this thing started, and you found out that your own butt wasn’t in any immediate danger you bailed out on us, on Nick and Brian!”

“I didn’t bail out, I was just looking out for myself. What is my mom gonna say if I turn up dead somewhere, huh? I’m her only kid!” AJ yelled kicking a nearby chair,”Have you guys ever thought about your parents?”

Kevin and Howie stared at AJ, “AJ, yes, we’ve thought about our parents, and the rest of our families. But then we think about our little brothers, and them needing us to help them. We can do it, AJ. We’ll come out on top like we always do,” Howie said.

“You don’t know that. Is there a contract written out somewhere that says, ‘ The Dodgers will win the pennant, and oh yeah- Those Backstreet Boys are gonna go into the Nether Realm and kick butt!’” AJ looked from Howie to Kevin, knowing his words were falling before deaf ears, “Forget it, forget it... You know what, lets just go.” AJ jumped onto a couch and lie down, “Do it Rob.”

“AJ, do you mean this, or are you gonna..” Kevin was beginning to say.

“I said let’s do it!” AJ sprang from the couch and grabbed a wicked looking weapon from beside Robert’s desk. He used the curved blade of the long knife to slice roughly into the palm of his hand. Blood began to flow sluggishly from the open wound. Everyone in the room gasped and stood back as AJ pushed his way to the circle of runes and began to stain each one with his blood.

“Ok,” Robert said still staring at the gory scene, “Um... Howie, Kevin, pick your weapons. Your supplies are already beside your couches.” Supplies were things like flashlights, water, rope, etc.

Howie was still staring when Kevin tapped him, “Huh?”

“Do you want a knife or staff?” Kevin asked him gruffly. He had already chosen a mean looking staff with sharp ends for himself. “Oh!” Howie reached into the pile and grabbed something hastily. He jumped at the coolness of the object in his hands. He held a long jeweled blade that fit in his hands like it was made for Howie, and Howie alone. He twirled the length of it with pleasure. “I’ll take this one.”

“Are we ready?” AJ asked rather cooly plopping down on his own separate couch.

“Concentration is the key to this game,” Robert said in a final tone, “Hold your weapons and supply bags tight, and... this is it. Good luck, and God speed my young friends. I will see you at 2:36, no matter what. The sacrifice must be done at precisely 2:33pm, and at 2:36 I will bring you back.” Robert checked his watch for the last time, then began the procedures for the trances that the three remaining Backstreet Boys had to be in. Once Robert was assured the Boys were in trances he made them think of Nick and the nether realm.

Robert then turned to the circle of runes and slowly, one by one, he began to say their names. As he said their names the strange symbols began to glow, “Dagaz,” this rune was shaped like an hourglass on its side. It operates between light and darkness, the catalysts, the rune of change. “Thuriaz.” The thorn. “Gebo.” It was shaped like an “X”. Gebo was the gift, the sacrifice, death... “Isa” It was a straight line up and down. It’s the rune for the primal power of ice. “Kenaz.” The torch. It’s the rune for the power of primal fire. It was shaped like an angle. “Raidho.” For movement, traveling. It was protection for walking between worlds. It was shaped like an “R.” “Uruz.” The ox.. It was shaped like an upside down “U.” It is the rune that pierces the veil between the worlds.

On the last word the wall on which the runes were carved began to flash. Within the flashing wall the circle of runes continued to glow even brighter like a ring of fire. It began to spin, faster and faster. Robert gasped as he stared at it, backing away from its blinding glow and heat. He ducked for cover as papers and small objects were propelled throughout the room. A dull roar vibrated through out the floor. There was a final explosion of light, before everything went still, and quiet. Robert came out from beneath his desk cautiously. Did it work? Well, he had certainly done something. He crept to the couches where the Boys slept and froze. They were all lying in the same positions with their backs arched. Robert could actually read their facial expressions. They looked awed. It had worked, Robert thought first with triumph, then with dread, It had worked....

Chapter 12

“Shit,” AJ muttered looking at his surroundings. He was in a dark tunnel of some sort lined with infrared lights. “Guys? Howie, Kev? Don’t screw with me, it ain’t funny!” He felt a gloved hand go over his mouth, “Shut up, AJ!” Howie hissed. AJ felt Howie’s warm breath on his face.

“I think we made it,” Kevin whispered looking around in awe, the blue light cast an odd glow over his face.

“No shit Sherlock,” AJ muttered. He patted himself searching for broken bones and found the velcro of the vest he had chosen to wear. “What the...? Does anybody have the flashlight?”

“Why yes AJ, we held our supply bags like we were supposed to,” Howie said sourly, “Had you been paying attention..”

“You know what Howie, shut your damn mouth, because if I have to hear it one time,” AJ began stepping closer to Howie, but was blinded by a flashlight beam in his face.

“Knock it off,” Kevin hissed at the both of them, “You two are supposed to be grown men! I refuse to be stuck between you two bickering the whole time we’re here! If you’ve forgotten we have a job to do, and it doesn’t involve you two at each other’s throats! Now shut up, and get with it!” The flashlight beam snapped to light the way in front of them, “Howie get out the map, and lets go.”

“They’re here,” the servant entered his master’s chamber robed in black.

“I know, I have been watching them since they entered.”

The walls of the control room sparkled with high tech machinery and visioning screens. Touching one screen with a gentle hand showed a caravan of 3 travelers. All clad in black like thieves on a hike. They wore brown knapsacks brimming with unknown items.

“I was wondering when they were going to put in an appearance.”

“Will they be joining us?” the servant adjusted the hood masking his face.

“Not us, I have work for you. When I bring them here, you will be gone.”

The servant gave a long sigh of disappointment, “As you wish.” He slowly slipped away from his master and out of the control center.

This left Chiros to watch the visioning screen.

He laughed to himself, ”So we meet again on my terrain, and this time there is no way I can lose.” He touched the screen again, turning off the humorous scene unfolding before him of the young fools fighting amongst themselves. “Send them to me,” he commanded, pressing his hand against the glass pane of the control pads. The screen blinked once then made a low noise of compliance.

“Howie, are you sure you’re holding the map right?” AJ grumbled as they turned into yet another dark corridor, “When I was here I don’t remember all these dark hallways!”

“AJ, do you want to hold the map?” Howie snapped back at him, “Oh no wait, why would we want you giving us directions, you can’t even tell left from right!”

“That’s it! Kevin, I’m gonna kill him!” AJ lunged towards Howie with his arms outstretched. Kevin pulled him back, “Alexander, be cool. Howie, that attitude of yours is really starting to get annoying!”

“Attitude? Oh, I’m bothering you Kev? I’m so sorry. All this time I thought AJ was the annoying one,” Howie growled, “Now I guess it’s me, though I’m not el gato amarillo.”

“What? Hey, did you like call me a green gator, man?” AJ tried to pull away from Kevin’s grasp, “Kevin, let go! I swear this task will be so much easier without Howie the littlest elf...OW!”

“STOP IT!” Kevin yelled, “Can we save your stupid squabbling for after 2:36?”

“Well if AJ could... What was that?” Howie broke off his heated sentence to throw a nervous glance around the room. His voice shook.

“What was what.. Woa!” There was a low whirring noise coming from beneath the Boys’ feet. Kevin, Howie, and AJ found themselves flattening their bodies against the steel walls. Strange waves of fatigue and vertigo attacked them, making their heads bob and sway with the strange rhythm of the incoming waves. Their vision was fading as if someone had come through and doused it with a can of black paint.

“I was wondering when you were going to decide to wake up,” said a rumbling low voice that the Boys dreaded to remember. Chiros.

AJ sat up slowly clutching his head, his mind was still weaving from the vertigo earlier. Howie and Kevin were also struggling to sit up on either side of him.

“Where are Nick and Brian?” Kevin demanded firmly, he was the first to stand to his feet. His fist were clenched at his sides, and a fine tremor ran throughout his body. AJ seriously couldn’t tell if it was more from anger or fear, and he doubted if Kevin knew either.

“I see, there will be no small talk? No traditional greetings that you humans insist on doing anytime you are in the presence of someone you haven’t seen in a while?”

“Shut up,” Kevin growled. Yeah, he was mad, AJ observed. Small hairs prickled on the back of Kevin’s neck, “You know what we want.”

“Yes, I do,” Chiros chuckled, “But I hope you do not think that I am just going to give... It... To you.”

“No, we don’t,” Howie stood up too, and offered a hand down to AJ. AJ was too busy studying Kevin’s angry confrontation to notice he was still sedentary.

“I would like to propose a bargain,” Chiros said, his grumbling voice sounding almost whimsical.

“Bargain? We ain’t selling any souls in here, ok?” AJ said staring wildly around the darkened room. Gadgets lined the walls providing the only light. Chiros was a shadowy figure at the edge of the room, “Ok?”

“Ok, Alexander. We will not be signing over souls... yet,” Chiros said with a slight laugh.

“We’re listening,” Kevin said in a bitter voice, “but only because we have no choice. This is your world.”

“That it is, Kevin,” Chiros said, his tone became one for proposing business wagers, “I would like to play a game.”

“A game?” Howie spat in disbelief.

“Yes, Howard, a game. In which I shall place you in a certain area of my fortress, and you must find your way back here.”

“That’s it?” Kevin raised an eyebrow.

“You’ll be timed of course. In this world there is a time limit, as I am sure you are highly aware of. You will have 2 hours to complete this task.”

“Task. I assume we will not just be traveling through this place...”

“Yes, there will be some.. Obstacles in your path. What good game doesn’t have it’s challenges?”

“What happens if we win?” Kevin shot.

“Then you are free to go... with your friends,” Chiros said easily.

“And if you win?”

“If I win? If? Well, Howard, if I win, I keep everything including you,” Chiros laughed again. He never once moved from his corner of the room, he never turned once. The boys were only dealing with the back of his shadow.

AJ and Howie were making nervous noises.

“Well? How about it? Are you game?”

“Well, we don’t have much of a choice do we?” Kevin said coldly, “I’ll play.”

“Howard? Alexander?”

Both Howie and AJ were stuttering. It sounded like they would lose either way.

“I’ll play,” Howie’s voice had come out an octave higher than he had expected it to, and he blushed.

AJ was trying to regulate his breathing. He would die, he knew it, but he would rather die knowing he was doing the right thing. The brave thing. He couldn’t let his friends down. He felt Kevin and Howie’s gaze upon him, “I’m in”

AJ’‘s words echoed and bounced off the cold walls of the room. AJ gasped as the walls appeared to be dissolving. AJ reached for Howie’s arm only to find it insubstantial. His hands slid right through the place Howie’s arm once was. “Howie?” He felt himself slowly slipping away. He was fading away... Chiros had tricked them! Chiros had lied, and now they were all dead. AJ closed his eyes and resigned to his fate letting the darkness take him.

Chapter 13

Ow... Ow? Well if it hurts I can’t be dead. Howie thought matter of factly He sat up stiffly with a groan. Why was it so hot? “Hey guys, is everybody ok?” There was silence, “Guys?” He opened his eyes for the first time since their encounter with Chiros, and choked. He was in a totally different part of the ship, and to make matters worse... he was alone. The room was fireball red, the walls were lined with slim rectangular windows.

“This is great, this is perfect,” Howie muttered to himself bitterly, “Not only do we have to make it back to that stupid control room, but we have to get there alone!” He fanned himself, it was hot! He stared at his hands which were encased in white lined gloves. “Oh my...” When he had entered this place he was wearing his black polo jeans and black t-shirt, now he was dressed like a cartoon character. He was wearing a white jumpsuit with creased starch lines following from his neck line to his waist line. Two red lines outlined either side of his suit. He was even wearing some kind of white sneaker-boots. They felt pretty comfortable. Howie wondered if he would get to keep these things after he left. He wiped his gloved hand over his sweaty forehead. Was it getting warmer in there? The air in the room was actually shimmering from heat. Was there a door nearby? He began to walk the width of the room examining each corner and wall. He finally found what he was looking for, a sliding door stood at the other side of the room. “Out of the frying pan and into the fryer...” That old phrase kept going through Howie’s head, until he yelled at it to “Shut up!” He removed one glove to touch the exterior of the door, it was cool to the touch. He ran both hands up and down the smooth door trying to find a handle or latch. The door slammed open instantly causing Howie to jump back with a cry.

It was the backstage area of a concert venue. He could see the stage crew setting up the lights and things. He could see the band... and he.. He saw Nicky! Nicky and Brian, and AJ, and Kev... They were suited up to go on stage. They were laughing and joking amongst themselves. Howie bit his lip, it was a trap, he knew it. But hey, he could feel the air conditioning blowing on the other side. He looked starkly back into the room that was so hot the air was ablaze, and made his decision. He slipped into the new room. The sliding doors slammed behind him.

“NO! NO! You cheated!!” AJ was screaming as he pounded his fist into solid granite. OH CRAP! AJ brought his fist to his lips to kiss it and tasted soft leather. He looked at his hands which were now sporting black gloves. “Aw man!” As he switched positions he heard soft clunking noises. He sighed and reluctantly decided to check out his new apparel. He looked like a reject Power Ranger in Space! He was wearing pieces of a plastic purple robot costume. His torso, arms, and lower body were encased in grape colored junk. There were odd metal buttons on each one of his breast plates. He felt a coolness on one of his ears, and reached up to discover some sort of a headset microphone attached to his head. “And worst dressed in 1999 goes to...” AJ muttered letting his hands fall to his sides. He didn’t even bother to look around for the others. He knew he was alone. His weapon and supplies were gone, as he knew they would be. Why would Chiros let them keep anything that would be to their advantage. He groaned. He had to get back to the room they started from in 2 hours. How in the world was he supposed to be able to tell what time it was? And how in the world was he supposed to get out of this.. This... thing?! AJ scanned his surroundings with wild eyes. He was in a cylinder made of what looked like granite blocks. He found the place where he had struck his fist and first discovered the nature of his surroundings. The block had slid back a bit. Hmm. AJ hit at another stone, and yes, that stone moved too. “Great Alex, we can play musical stone until you bring the whole place crashing down on your head!” AJ punched at another stone in frustration, “It’s not fair! You didn’t even give me a chance! How am I supposed to get out of here!” AJ shuddered, no wait. He didn’t shudder, the ground had. He stood deathly still. The ground shook again and so did the walls. Blocks of stone began dislodging themselves from the walls.

I’m gonna be crushed to death! AJ thought wildly, I gotta do something! He was in an enclosed space. There was barely room for him to stretch his legs much less run around trying to escape falling blocks of concrete. Dammit, Bone, there’s gotta be some way... AJ was cringing waiting for the first piece of cement to strike him, when he felt something shoot out of his chest. The metal buttons had opened and metal lassos whipped out of AJ’s bulkly torso and caught the edges of the concrete. AJ was thrown up on top of the block, which was large and steady enough for him to stand on. The lassos whipped to another stone and prepared to hoist AJ up. They worked like second arms and legs... Like an insect, he realized quavering with disgust. The extra limbs were quite easy to operate after a while, but where were they going to? There was a light at the end of the cylinder... AJ rolled his eyes, nice touch Chiros. He closed his eyes as he passed through the light and braced himself for whatever might be on the other side.

“AJ! HOWIE!” Kevin yelled, his voice sounding dull even to his own ears. Where was he? The area was pitch black. He was about to yell out again when suddenly there was light, everywhere. Stage lights, he realized slowly.

“Kevin Richardson,” he heard a very animated voice call to him, “It’s time to play Who Wants To Be A Survivor, and I’m your host Lou Pearlman.”

Kevin blinked. He saw a bright red sign flashing above him that read “Applause”. As soon as he read it he heard a choir of cheers and claps. He whipped his head around to see a full studio audience. He turned to face forward again to see a stage. A stage with three panels. Two of the panels had a smiley faced person behind them and one was empty. Each panel had a name on it, the one with the man read ”Steve”, the one with the woman read “Pam” and the last one read.. “Kevin?” Kevin gulped and looked at Lou, “You know, I always had wondered about you,” Kevin uttered under his breath.

“Contestants take your positions,” Lou stated in his bravado tones, “Kevin?”

“Oh,” Kevin made his way to the stand noticing he was in a suit. When he reached his panel the audience gave another cheer.

“Now our game will begin,” Lou said, “First question, What is the name of the Backstreet Boys’ first song ever?”

Kevin snorted at the simplicity of the question, he rang his buzzer.

“Yes Kevin?”

“‘Tell Me That I’m Dreaming,’” Kevin said. If this was the game Chiros wanted to play, Kevin was enjoying it.

There was the sound of a horn, “Incorrect,” Lou said in falsely sad tones, “Too bad Kevin. Do you know what happens to people who give bad answers?”

Kevin’s mouth fell open and he was stuttering, “Wrong? I am not wrong! I am a freakin’ Backstreet Boy and I think I would know what our first single was... You freakin’ wrote that single Lou!... Huh?”

“People who give bad answers go to the pot,” Lou said batting his eyes and looking very disappointed.

“The what?” Kevin’s voice squeaked, much like Nick’s voice still tended to do sometimes.

“POT! POT! POT! POT!” The audience began to chant stomping their feet to an ear deafening roar, “POT! POT!”

“No pot!” Kevin was yelling back at them, “What the hell is the pot?!”

“This is the pot,” Lou said in a gurgling voice. Kevin turned to see the head of Lou Pearlman sitting on his panel. Kevin’s eyes widened as he looked up to see the face of a monster. His eyes were lemon yellow and bulging out of their sockets. His skin was a dark green, and his teeth were yellowed and slightly curved. Lou’s head had been a mask. The monster raised one perfectly human hand to behold to Kevin, “The Pot.” The huge red curtain on the stage had dropped to reveal a large pit. Lava bubbles over its lips. Steam rippled throughout the scene. Large bubbles surfaced and popped spewing hot molten rock onto the stage right beside Lou Pearlman’s foot.

“POT! POT! POT!” The roar was overwhelming. Kevin covered his ears with his hands, “NOOOOOOO!!” He ripped himself away from his panel and broke into a run, away from “The Pot,” away from the stage. The backstage curtains beckoned him. Being a performer ducking backstage was second nature to him, and he didn’t even think about what consequences could come about by doing it.

Backstage was cool and quiet. He unbuttoned the soiled shirt, and loosened the neck tie. The area was desolate and almost peaceful. There was a fountain, and even a cooler. Kevin was tempted to open it and see what was inside to drink, but thought better of it. He didn’t want to risk sticking any of his limbs inside of anywhere in this place.

He peeked down the corridors of the room, and listened for sounds of the crowd outside coming after him. Nothing, nothing but silence and your typical backstage technology noises. He crept carefully down the corridors. There were doors marked with stars, and “maintenance.” Conversations could be heard going on behind these doors. Kevin moved quickly past them. He came to one open door at the end of the hall. He peeked inside the slightly darkened room before entering, closing and locking the door behind him. Once inside Kevin only then took in his new hideout. It was a video room. Television screens lined the walls. One screen

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showed him the horrible game show he had wandered upon. He kind of giggled as he now saw the host ordering “Steve” to “The Pot.” Kevin didn’t feel like being rump roast, no thank you. “Steve” could have his turn. There was an armchair sitting off to the side of the room that vaguely resembled something out of a virtual reality game. Kevin went to retrieve it. How long was he going to hide out here? He did have a job to do, and he wasn’t exactly getting anywhere from in here. But where else could he go? This sucked, the whole thing was bogus. Chiros was never going to play fair with them. They had thought they’d be running around the ship, together, with the map! Like Chiros would ever make anything be that easy! Kevin felt like a fool. They had all been fools to think that they could... Something caught his eye. Something familiar. He leaned closer to one of the televisions sets. It showed him a hospital corridor, he saw some orderlies running ahead and a stretcher with someone on it. The person was kicking and screaming trying to free himself from the restraints of the stretcher. That person was AJ...

“I hate hospitals,” AJ muttered inhaling the clinical scents of the hospital. How did he get here? He remembered going through the tunnel, and the light, and now he was here. And he was also feeling quite a draft from his hind quarters. He ran his hands along his new outfit and felt the cotton of a hospital gown. “I think I preferred the plastic gear better. Now what do I do?” The hospital halls were full of people. Normal looking people. There were doctors and nurses. Orderlies brushed by him with stretchers. He caught a glimpse of blond on one stretcher, “Nicky?” He began to follow after the orderlies pushing that particular stretcher. They were headed towards large double doors at the end of the hall. The doors swung open revealing a massive room full of doctors. AJ grabbed an orderly by the shoulder to spin him around, “What are you doing with my... YEESH!” AJ let the guy go, “You know, they have doctors that can fix that now...” AJ was backing away slowly, “I can help you out with getting in touch with one...” The grisly orderly with the face of a ghoul tapped his accomplice on the shoulder. The other turned around to reveal an even uglier face. AJ shook his head, “I’LL MAIL YOU THEIR BUSINESS CARDS!!” He yelled as he took off running. His bare feet pounded against the cold hospital floor. He threw a glance over his shoulder to see if he was being pursued. It didn’t look like it, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. He had to get out of here... And find some clothes to put on his naked behind! Doctors, patients, and nurses looked up quizzically as AJ rushed by. AJ smiled and waved at them. He was almost out of the hospital, he could see the doors, when he heard the squealing of iron wheels.

“Shit, just let me get out of here,” AJ prayed as he continued to get closer and closer to the doors. He could see the sunlight through the windows. A few more feet, the squealing grew louder. Sweat broke out straight across AJ’s brow and trickled into his eyes. AJ ignored the stinging, he could feel the coolness of the door, he could feel the sunlight... He felt hands, rough grimy hands grabbing him, lifting him from the floor. He felt the crispness of hospital sheet under him. “Hey, I ain’t no patient!” He felt himself being strapped down.

“This patient goes to operating room 101,” said a deep voice.

“WHAT?!” AJ yelped,” No! I’ll sue I tell ya!” He struggled to get free, he could feel the leather straps cutting into his skin. The disfigured orderlies gave him ghastly grins that sickened AJ. What few teeth they had were bad. “Listen, you guys are making a mistake. I’m not a patient... Listen, I could pay you! Whatever Chiros gives you, I’ll give you more!” He felt a breeze and heard the creaking of a door opening,” No! No!” He was under the gaze of dozens of doctors all wearing white scrubs and face masks. They held sharp silver instruments. They grated them together like eating utensils. “Oh hell no, I am not going out like this!” AJ lie still on the stretcher. He had to think of something, after all, he felt he was the practical one when it came to these things. Cold sweat poured from every cell of his body. His whole body was shaking. Keep it together AJ. He was making slow concentrated movements that loosened the holds on his arms and legs. Being skinny came in handy sometimes. “This patient requires a tonsillectomy... With no anaesthesia.” Shit.... The scalpel was raised high above the doctor’s head. AJ felt his muscles tense and his brow tighten. He had to do something, and do it now. He willed himself to be perfectly still until... The scalpel came down with blinding speed flashing in the overhead light. AJ moved just as quickly dodging his body away from the scalpel. The razor sharp instrument sliced into one of the restraints on AJ’s right arm and a layer of skin. AJ wasted no time thinking about the blood that was spilling. He flung out his free hand hitting the dazed doctor’s hand causing him to lose his balance and put his own scalpel through his neck. He fell back onto another doctor. They fell over like dominoes as AJ ripped the restraining leather from himself, and jumped from the gurney. He ran through the surprised doctors and nurses that were trying to help each other up and out another pair of double doors. Once inside he found objects to jam the door. He slumped down to the cool tiled floor. He wanted to rip the sopping, putrid hospital smock from his body. He felt disgusting, but alive... If he died here in Chiros’s world, then he would also die back in his world. AJ sat gasping with his back to the wall. He had to keep it together. He stood up slowly to access his new environment. He was in a hospital laboratory. He knew because he had accidentally entered one before when he went to visit Nick that last time with the others... He had made a wrong turn. He needed to go to the bathroom so badly that he had rushed into this room without looking. Lucky for him no one was inside. He wandered along the rows of sharp instruments and tools. Bottles of pills lined shelves of the room. It looked like chemistry lab in highschool.

AJ ran his fingers over the black lab counters. His fingers paused at a metal tray. Arranged in a neat line was a scalpel, scissors, and syringe. He’d seen this same set up the last time he had been in one of these things. He recalled stumbling into the laboratory needing to go so bad his vision was foggy. His eyes had widened as he gazed around the room. An IV bag marked adrenalin had caught his eye. He ran his hands over his bag in deep thought. He had spied a sterilized syringe 9 still in it’s wrapper), scalpel, and scissors on a tray on a nearby counter. A strange obsessive feeling had come over his body and he stood for one full moment gazing at the tray of sharp instruments. Then he had heard voices outside the lab and he quickly departed in search of the bathroom.

AJ bit his lip and noticed the same equipment in the room with him now. Why was this here? Why did AJ feel such a need to take this stuff? He felt the obsessive compulsive disorder again. He reached out his hand watched as it lingered over the tray of silvery doctor’s tools. A weapon, something to help him at the end of the game... Something he would wear on his body to keep it from disappearing with another costume change. AJ ran his fingers over each instrument staring at their silvery glints and the various assortments of drugs lining the shelves. Chemicals lined the walls in IV bags. Take it.. Take it... something in his mind urged. AJ stood hypnotized by the metal, and decided if he wanted a weapon he had better pick a good one. He had to use his head. What would he need later on?

A few minutes later AJ stood ready to leave. He tucked his new weapon away inside his underwear ( since it was the one thing that hadn’t dissolved with the rest of his clothing.) Now what? He noticed the door hidden behind the computers. He slowly made his way to it. He put his ear to the door first, when he heard no sounds he tried the knob. Watch it be a closet, he thought blandly. The door opened into a spacious garage like area. He heard yelling from the other side of the door in the laboratory. Damn! AJ jumped through the door into the new room and slammed it shut behind him. Loud rock and roll music began to play almost instantly, like AJ had just stepped through a sound barrier. He couldn’t hear anything from the hospital door, but once he entered this new world the sound was unbearable. He saw flashes of dancers. Females and males alike all dressed in black leather. The females were scantily clad and un-self-conscious about it. AJ found himself being caught up in the beat of the music. “Oh God, not again..” But it was too late, AJ McLean was lost to the music and the fast group dance routine.

Kevin gripped the screen as he watched AJ being carted through the double doors of an operating room. The doors swung closed behind them leaving Kevin to stare at the words “Operating Room.” Oh man... he reached to touch the screen and noticed the black leather gloves over his hands. Another costume change? He thought dully. Now he was in a black leather zip- up suit. He sat back in his chair, which he found to be quite comfortable. There were switches and small controls on the chair that Kevin found could move the chair around. He could also control what he watched on the screens. He tried to flip the channels to get to the one that might show him what was happening to AJ. He paused on a station. Had he locked into a regular TV station? He saw himself, and Brian, and Nick, and AJ getting ready to go on stage for a concert. Where was Howie? He saw Howie slowly stepping into the picture. They were all suited up to do Larger than Life, but something was wrong. Howie looked a bit confused and when he tried to talk to the others they appeared to be very hostile.

Kevin leaned his chair in for a closer look. He didn’t recall this incident... and when he saw the malice on his own face and the faces of the others, he knew why. He had to get to Howie... and AJ! He roared in frustration and slammed his fist into the chair, Chiros was letting him see all these things happening but he made him powerless to stop them! Kevin could do nothing but watch, as Howie stood in a room full of monsters.

Chapter 14

“Uh... hey guys,” Howie said cautiously.

“Where the hell have you been?” Nick asked bluntly. He gave Howie the evil eye, then turned back to the mirror he was holding, and continued to study his reflection.

Howie blinked, Nick wasn’t usually so rude, nor had such an extreme case of narcism, “Um...” Howie wasn’t so sure about what to say exactly. He didn’t have a script and didn’t know how the scene was supposed to go.

“You let Chiros get you too?” Brian moved closer to Howie with a dead serious look on his face, “I would have thought you would run away Howie.”

Howie took a step back with his mouth scraping the carpet. Chiros? They had asked about... Could it be? Could Chiros have cheated and taken everyone, and they had lost? Howie patted his costume. He, like the others, was dressed to perform “Larger Than Life.”

“What’s going on?” Howie wondered out loud.

“We lost Howie,” Kevin said simply, “We belong to Chiros now, he’s our master.”

“But... but... The game,” Howie was stuttering.

“What game Howie?” AJ growled at him, “You idiots were too stupid to realize that there was never any game! I knew it all along.”

“One minute til’ show time!” a gruff voice called.

“No more time for talk,” Brian said, “we have to be on stage. And no more time for primping ‘Shaving Fun Ken!’” Brian seized Nick’s arm making him drop the mirror he was holding. Nick cursed loudly and shoved Brian into the wooden table, “If I’m ‘Shaving Fun Ken’, then you’re ‘Do Me’ Barbie!”

“Knock it off!” Kevin roared. Howie reared back. Clearly the situation had made everyone unusually hostile, “Everybody get ready to go on stage, and nobody better screw up! Howie, just because you’re late doesn’t mean you don’t have to do anything! Come on!”

Howie stood in a daze as he watched his fellow Backstreet Boys getting their surfboards strapped to their feet. “Well come on Howie, we do have a show to put on!”

Howie blinked, should he go? The familiarity was somewhat comforting to him. Getting prepared to go on stage was normal, fighting demons wasn’t. Howie joined the others.

He heard a loud blare of music before he felt himself being jolted from the ground. Everything around him was pitch black. He couldn’t see anything, but he could hear the distant roaring of an adolescent audience. Suddenly there was light before his eyes, red light. Howie gasped as he dangled above a pit of flames. He saw his fellow Backstreet Boys being lowered inside. He could hear their screams of pain and torment, “Come on Howie! Everybody’s waiting!”

Howie felt himself being lowered slowly into the heat. He quickly began to whip his head around to find a way out of this situation. It was impossible, Howie couldn’t fly, and that was the only way he was going to get out of this mess! He saw the metal ledge that held the wires that were suspending him from above. Think, Howie, think. Howie began to free his feet from their restraints on the surfboard. He sweated and watched anxiously as he inched closer and closer to touching the tongues of the flames. His feet finally came undone. He grabbed tightly onto the cords that were holding him in the air, the board tumbled into the fire. Howie gulped as the flames consumed what could have been him, and still might be if he didn’t move quickly. He began to swing furiously, back and forth making a pendulum with his body. Higher, higher, he urged as he swung making himself dizzy. He saw the swirling faces of the audience that screamed and cheered like this was the best show they had ever seen. Like they had not just scene the Backstreet Boys engulfed by flames. Or maybe, they were N’Sync fans... Howie thought this with amusement as he finally swung high enough to reach out and touch the cool metal of the ledge. It was strange for the metal to be cool when it was so hot below, but that wasn’t Howie’s main concern at the moment. He’d think about physics later.

He hoisted himself up and over the rail making the “oof” noise as his belly struck the metal. He lie on the cold metal for a few seconds panting letting spells of panic and vertigo wash over him. Then he slowly got up. Carefully he guided his feet one before the other across the narrow ledge and up to the rafters. The closer he got to the rafters, the more transparent the fans became. Howie swung his legs over the side of the wall of the balcony and realized it was an illusion. There were no fans here! He saw a door marked “Exit,” and grinned to himself. It looked like he had won this one, but how much time had it taken up? Howie cursed and ran to the door, throwing it open without even bothering to look inside first. The room had a coppery tint to it, with floors and walls so polished they gleamed. Four large pillars seemed to hold up the ceiling. “Hello!” Howie yelled out inside and heard his voice echo from the walls. It’s empty... Howie made his way farther into the room, then paused when he began to hear odd noises. There were strange mechanical whirring noises coming from every direction Howie could turn. What is it? His insides shook with fear, maybe the walls were going to close in on him. Maybe a large bed of spikes was going to spring out on him... Or... A troop of large yellow “transformer” robots marched out across the shiny floor. Their metal feet making scraping noises against the glasslike floor. Howie backed away nervously only to look behind him to see another platoon of soldiers coming his way. He was surrounded on all sides! What now?

Sparks flew from the control board as Chiros banged his fists on their delicate circuitry. He cursed in every language he could think of. They weren’t supposed to be getting this far! He knew, he stopped his tirade long enough to chuckle, that they were never going to win. He would have them eventually, but he hadn’t thought they would be so good at the game. Normal people would have given up by then! McLean and Dorough had already completed two stages of the game, and Richardson was no where to be found! He had sent out digital and psychic searches to every part of the ship. Nothing! Was it possible that he had left the realm? No, he would never abandon his friends. That was one thing Chiros knew about them, they were fools when it came to protecting others. Well, since Alexander and Howard think the game is so easy, it was time for Chiros to spice things up a bit. He tweaked a new button on his control panel letting the screen light up and show him a vision of the copper room. A sea of yellow robots occupied the back space in the room. They all stood at attention ready for orders. Clunking metal feet could be heard from the far right of the room, and Chiros was face to face with his protege, “Are you ready?” Chiros asked him.

“Yeah, send them in! I can’t wait!”

Chiros smiled, “Alright. I am trusting you to keep them there and do not let them pass you! I will not be humiliated. Once you catch one of those.. Humans... bring it to me.”

“You’re the boss.” The scene in front of Chiros flickered and faded. Everything would still go according to plan, even if Chiros would actually have to lift a hand himself. And right now, it looked like he was going to have to intervene. Chiros laughed again. He didn’t stop laughing even as he commanded all the visioning screens off. In the black mirror of the screen Chiros caught sight of his reflection. This made him laugh harder, those fools will never suspect, never! He gazed into his soft blue eyes with amusement and ruffled the slightly curly dark blond hair, “They’ll never suspect,” Chiros said again in a softer voice with a slight southern drawl. He was going to win this game and have their souls to torment forever!

“I lost him!” Kevin thought furiously as he rapidly began to punch buttons on the screen. He couldn’t find Howie anywhere! He kept his eye on the screen that was still showing him disturbing visions of AJ dancing around in tight leather pants... and a halter top! Kevin actually snickered at seeing that. What would AJ think about it, though? That thought made him laugh. Where was Howie? Kevin surfed through channel after channel, and gasped. Did he see who he thought he saw? He flipped back to the previous station. In his wonderful room Kevin saw visions of outside the space craft.. That was kind of interesting. He could see an old rusted space station and a few other smaller space ships whizzing by. He wondered who was on board. He also caught glimpses of television programs in Germany. But nothing held his eye like this last channel did. Kevin placed his hands on the screen that was showing him his cousin, Brian. Brian was on some kind of hoover board floating around in a no gravity tunnel. Color vortexes brightened the tunnel. A green net of some kind had been placed near the middle of the tunnel, and Brian wasn’t alone. There was a girl in there, a pretty girl clad in tight leather clothing, and they appeared to be playing an odd game of tennis. Brian and the girl whizzed by each other on hoover boards batting a ball back and forth at each other.

Kevin blinked back a few tears of relief, Brian was still alive. He had seen everyone now, but Nick. He had to leave this, this place, he was in and get to his friends. After watching screen after screen of many rooms Kevin pretty much had his bearings about him. He felt very sure that he could get to at least AJ, and together they could find Howie, Brian, and Nick. Patterns of yellow caught the corner of his eye. He turned to see a copper dusted room swarming with large toy robots. One seemed to be the apparent leader, since whatever he did the robots mimicked. He saw a familiar face in that yellow ocean. It looked like, yes it was! He had found Howie! And Howie was in trouble. What could he do from in this room? He had to get out of here! Kevin backtracked to the door that had first let him into the room and discovered that it had disappeared, “What the..” he cursed pounding the wall. He ran back to the screen and watched fearfully as the robots closed in on Howie. Oh no... I’m sorry Howie, I’m sorry.

“Can we talk about this?” Howie was being herded into the center of the room by the mechanical beasts. The mechanical soldiers had to be 7 ft tall. They all stretched out metal fingers to reach Howie. Howie shrank back and sunk into the floor. How was he going to get out of this one? What happened when he lost? Would he die here, and then die in the real world? Would he be teleported directly back to Chiros? A million thoughts ran through Howie’s head before he realized that the robots were not doing anything to him. Huh, Howie slowly uncovered his eyes and glanced up to see why the robots had not yet made cole slaw out of him. They were going haywire! The group had shrunken away from Howie and now their parts were going crazy! Their heads were spinning wildly around on their neck joints and they began to do funny group choreographed dances. Then all at once the robots all jerked to attention and slumped over to theirs sides. Howie stared and didn’t dare to move until he was sure about what had happened. After a few minutes of still silence Howie got up from his kneeling position on the floor. He tiptoed carefully by each robot. They sure looked like their batteries had run out, but a guy could only be so positive. A black door stood in front of him and Howie froze. Did he really want to pass through another door? What if there were more robots on the other side, only this time they won’t short circuit? Howie held his head where he felt the beginnings of a migraine. He couldn’t just stay here and he knew it. He slowly inched his way to the door, and slowly pulled it open. He stood in awkward silence as he saw a room full of leather clad dancers. Not again! He slowly shut the door back and slid down against it. Uh-uh.. He remembered what had happened the last time he had stepped into a room like that. He had been put in a trance and danced for almost two hours straight. He couldn’t risk two hours, not to mention that he hadn’t brought his dancing shoes. He stared back into the room of dead robots, and then felt the pulsing of fast music through the door on his back. He groaned loudly, “Well Howie, you have to go somewhere, and that’s your only way out. It could be worse.” He stood up, gathering his composure at the same time, I will not be caught up in nobody’s stupid dance! I refuse to be! He took one last deep breath before he threw opened the door and jumped inside the room.

Kevin had been beating his hands against the screen of the television that was showing him Howie, and suddenly a menu screen popped up. The selections were written in some odd language Kevin couldn’t recognize. He stared at Howie being crushed by those mechanic monsters and then concentrated on the menu before him. Now what could this thing do for me? Kevin shrugged and tried a button on the screen. The chair he had been sitting in slid itself back to the center if the room. Ok. He tried another button. He heard a loud rumble and looked out a side screen that showed a beam of light shooting from outside the ship. The light struck another space vehicle and set it afire. Kevin gasped, let’s hope I didn’t do that. He tried another button, then another. He watched with glee as the robots began to go haywire. The next button he had tried had shut them off! Ha! Ha! He had figured it out! In this room he had power, but for how long? Chiros wasn’t going to let him stay in here and ruin his plans... Or maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was doing what Chiros had wanted him to do all along. Boy did Kevin ever hate being in this situation. How did it start again? Oh yeah, tour buses. At that moment Kevin wished he had never heard of Germany! After regaining his control, Kevin looked back at the screens again. He bet that these controls could provide him with an escape, and a way to the guys. It was just a matter of finding the right button. Kevin took his attention off the screen that was showing a nervous Howie debating whether he should pass through the next door or not. Howie eventually did decide to go through the door, but the screen didn’t follow him, it stayed in the copper room. Kevin was too occupied with his tinkering to glance up at the screen one last time before the image disappeared. One of the robots was straightening up. It shook its head and threw a glance around the room. It then proceeded to remove its yellow helmet revealing blond locks.

Chapter 15

“Damn it!” the young blond man cursed glaring at all his wonderful robots that had been short circuited! Chiros told him he could do whatever he wanted! It wasn’t fair! Unless, Chiros hadn’t done it. No, why would he? He certainly didn’t want Howie to get any further, so who had done it? The only other way to turn the power off on the robots was in the... The blue eyes narrowed, someone was in the alternate control room. He growled to himself, he would not let himself be beaten. He wanted to prove to Chiros he could handle things himself, and no cheating Backstreet Boy was going to make him lose his proof! He stomped his way over to the black door, and threw it opened. He was going to get Howie back before Chiros knew he had lost him.

Kevin laughed in triumph. He had discovered the passageways! He could travel to any room he wanted from this place! Why would Chiros let him find this room? Maybe Chiros wasn’t the cheater they had all made him out to be after all. Kevin darted his head to look at the copper room full of dead robots, one appeared to be missing, but he shrugged it off. Both Howie and AJ were dancing holes in their shoes in a large garage like area. There were columns in this room too, only they were in the back. The ceiling was made of a transparent material so you could see out into the stars. A small war appeared to be going on outside, it looked like one of Nick’s video games. His heart felt heavy when he thought of Nick. He was gonna get the kid out of this place no matter what the cost was. Kevin grinned to himself as he pulled up the menu for the “dance studio.” Kevin tried every button on the screen. He watched the dance quicken and slow down and figured he must be regulating the speed of the music. One button made everyone hop on one foot and wave their arms. Another had all the guys lifting a female and tossing her into the waiting arms of the next male. Kevin groaned, this was getting him nowhere. He slapped the final button on the screen, and whirled away from it in frustration. He had felt so sure that one of these buttons would... he whirled around again. He had to keep trying, he would not give up like Chiros wanted him too! He paused as he stared at the screen. A screen with no motion. Everything was still. People were scratching their heads and looking around in a daze. Oh my God, I stopped the music! He pulled back on a joystick on the chair excitedly. A door rolled open beside him. He sighed and plugged his ears to sheild himself from the hypnotic effects of the music just in case it really hadn’t stopped. He didn’t know if it would do him any good, but here goes nothing. He stepped into the room. Nothing. No music, only the sounds of many voices asking what had happened to the music. Kevin made no delay in spotting AJ’s under-clad tattooed body and marching over to him. He clamped his hand firmly around AJ’s biceps, “Come on AJ, we gotta find Howie and get outta here!”

“AAAAHH!” AJ yelped and whirled around in a karate kid fighting stance, “Back up.. Kevin? KEV!” AJ hugged Kevin then backed away looking ashamed, “Good to see ya man.”

Kevin smiled, “I wish I could say the same to you... but that outfit you have on is scaring me.”

AJ blinked, “What?” He looked down to see his bare midriff, “AH!” He covered his exposed abs, “I’m a hootchie!”

Kevin laughed, “Well, at least what you have on is comfortable. I’m getting a leather wedgie in these pants.” Kevin’s new outfit hadn’t changed much from the one he had been wearing in the control room. It was still black leather, just a different cut, “Come on, I saw Howie come in here.”

“Yes!” AJ cheered, “I think we actually have a chance at winning this game now! How much more time do we have?”

Kevin frowned, “I don’t know. I don’t have my watch on me, or anything.”

AJ cursed, “So how do we know if it’s not already too late?”

“We don’t, we just keep playing the game, “Kevin said firmly, “Now come on.”

Howie stood in the midst of a large crowd of confused people. His body had been crushed against a girl moving to the beat until the music stopped. The girl detached herself from Howie almost immediately. Howie had to find a way out of here. He hated the tight black leather he was wearing and his head itched. He reached up to feel his hair that had been sectioned off around his scalp. He did not want a mirror at that moment because he knew he would scare himself silly. He turned his head to see which direction he could cut through the crowd. People were milling around blindly. Someone ran into him, hard. Howie yelped as he flew into the body across from him.

“Hey watch it!” a familiar voice snapped. Howie spun the man around to gaze into Nick’s face. Nick wearing sleeveless black leather attire. Howie didn’t know if he should run or not. Was it another trick? He saw the hard blue eyes soften, “Howie D? Is that you?”

Howie nodded slowly.

“I thought I told you guys not to come here after me!’ Nick scolded, “Now see what you’ve done!” Tears fells from his eyes. Howie sighed in relief, it was his Nicky. He put his arms around the boy.

“Don’t worry Nick, we’ll be ok. We’ve come to take you home with us, where you belong. Chiros said..”

“Chiros said? You talked to Chiros? He knows you’re... Oh no!” Nick was trembling in Howie’s embrace, “You’ll never leave then.”

“No,” Howie comforted him, “We’re leaving alright. Now come on, we have a time limit.”

“A time limit?” Nick questioned, he was wiping his eyes and stepping out of Howie’s embrace.

Howie nodded, “Yeah, I’ll explain it to ya later kid. Right now, let’s get out of here. Do you know which way?”

Nick nodded, “That way.” He pointed towards one of the many exits,” That’s the best way.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“Ok,” Howie began to walk towards the door glancing back ever so often to make sure Nick was still following. They reached the door and Howie opened it. He stepped inside the dark room, “Nick what is this...” He never got to finish his question. An excruciating pain crashed through his head, and Howie pitched forward, unconscious.

“Loser,” Nick whispered to the unconscious Latino as he slung his limp body over his shoulders, “I told Chiros I could handle it.” He extended a hand to the wall in front of him creating a door that took him straight to his empty game room. What shall he do with his new pet? He glanced around at some of his shiny new toys and smiled demonically, now it was his turn to have fun.

Chapter 16

“Howie was here!” Kevin stated flatly stomping his foot.

“Well then he must have left. I mean, he didn’t exactly know we were here too!” AJ said sensibly. He had given up on trying to pull his too short shirt down, besides, he was starting to like it. It was different from the other things he wore, and it seemed to stun Kevin. AJ had run out of things to shock his fellow Backstreet Boys with a long time ago, now he had something new.

“Well, Howie couldn’t have gone too far,”Kevin groaned, “Damn it! We were all in the same place! Why did he have to move?!”

“Kev,” AJ placed a hand on Kevin’s shoulder, “he’s gone. Now you said you saw Brian earlier.”

“I did,” Kevin brightened up again, “He’s alive! He’s in some weird tunnel playing tennis with this girl.”

“How come Brian gets to play tennis and I get a halter top?” AJ grumbled to himself, “Do you have any idea where that room may be, or are we playing guess the door again? This room has about 8 of ‘em!”

Kevin shook his head sadly, “Guess the door.”

AJ smirked, “Ok, inny, minny, miney mo.” AJ spun himself in circles, “And I choose... you!” He pointed to a yellow door, “To the Bat Cave!” he exclaimed charging towards the door. Kevin rolled his eyes and followed him.

Where am I? Howie wondered. Everything was fuzzy... Were those legs he saw? He puckered up his forehead as his foggy brain tried to wake up and analyze this picture. His head hurt, something had hit him.. Not something, someone! The picture finally focused. He was hanging upside down.. In some sort of... game room? The walls were lined with various electronics and board games. It reminded him of something, something familiar... The floor of the room was cluttered with little action figures. The legs walked by him again and this time Howie gazed up to see the face, “Nick?”

“Hi Howie,” Nick greeted him casually pausing to smile down at him, “Glad you finally decided to wake up. You were gonna miss all the fun.”

“Nick, untie me. Let me down,” Howie spoke calmly, “I am not upset with you.”

Nick’s eyes and smile widened with amusement, “You’re not upset? Well why the hell not?” He laughed and walked towards the pool table.

“Nick, blood is rushing to my head, and I do not find this the least bit funny!”

“Who cares if you find it funny. You’re only here to amuse me.. That is.. Until Chiros wants you.” He snickered wickedly.

“What’s happened to you?” Howie asked quietly. This couldn’t be Nick! At least it couldn’t be Howie’s Nick. Howie thought back to the old house, when Chiros had taken them and made evil copies... Maybe this was only a copy of Nick. Nick’s crazy laughter snapped him out of his reverie.

“Oh Howie, Howie, Howie... I’m no copy,” Nick turned back to him. He had read his mind! He read my mind! Howie’s thoughts were racing. He stared into the emotionless blue eyes laughing down at him. Howie felt the grief hit him hard in his stomach... It was Nick. This evil thing looming over him was Nick....

“Good boy Howie D,” Nick’s lips curved in a ghastly smile, “Now lets see if you can figure out what I’m going to do to you next.”

“Nickolas, I know Chiros has gotten into your mind, and he’s turned you against us! You gotta listen to me, Chiros is evil. He doesn’t care about you. He’s going to kill you. I’m your friend Nicky, look at me, your friend, and I’m here to help you! Fight it Nick, fight whatever hold he has on you. You can do it! Fight him!”

Nick’s smile fell off his face momentarily. He looked as if he were in great pain. “Oh.. Oh.. Howie? No! No! I will not let you get control of me! Chiros is my only master! NO! Howie help me! Howie.. I’M SORRY!” Nick was holding his head shaking and crying, he looked at Howie desperately. His hand reached out to Howie. Howie felt his heart breaking, “That’s it Nicky, fight him! Fight him!”

Nick was crying, “I will be in control.. I will take control.. I will... Say, you’re not really buying into any of this are ya?” Nick’s face changed in an instant. From contorting in pain to wide innocent eyes with a rather mocking smile. Howie felt like he had been slapped.

“Oh Howie, you fell for that?” Nick giggled, “You’re too easy. I can already tell that I’m going to have a lot of fun with you...”

“Let me go,” Howie said in a small defeated voice, “Please.”

“Oh Howie, do you honestly think I’d do that? Well do you?” Nick looked curious. Howie shook his head negatively, no he didn’t think so.

Nick smiled, “That’s a good boy... Now hold still, this might hurt.. A lot.”

“Shut the door, shut the door!” AJ obediently slammed the door closed on an enormously fat woman that had Backstreet Boys on her menu.

“Ok, that was scarier than the hospital I was in and this halter top put together,” AJ said pushing things in front of the door, “I can’t take much more of this man!”

“Don’t say things like that AJ! That’s exactly what Chiros wants to happen to us, he wants us to get discouraged and give up,” Kevin said finding the next door, “Heads up, here we go again.”

“Wait, I still haven’t caught my breath from last time!” AJ griped coming closer to Kevin and the door. Kevin threw it open, “Too bad kiddo.” They gazed inside at the swirling color of the room.

“Geez, it looks like a Bubblelicious commercial,”AJ mumbled. Kevin laughed with glee, “It’s the room! This is where I saw Brian!”

AJ looked overjoyed, “Good! Now we are finally getting somewhere else!” He stepped into the room and found that his feet didn’t connect with the floor. He instead floated above it, “Cool. No gravity!”

Kevin nodded stiffly and stepped inside feeling himself rising from the ground, “Lets go.”

AJ looked ridiculous and he knew it. He was floating around doing a breaststroke wearing a black and gray halter top and leather pants. What had happened to all the costume changes? AJ knew Chiros had something better in his monster closet than this! Distracted by this thoughts AJ didn’t notice the blob of green that swept past his head missing it by millimeters. A girl, wearing a leather halter top zoomed by him on a space board and thwonked the ball back through the tunnel, “Hey baby,” AJ tried. She was pretty cute. The girl ignored him and zoomed past again on her board. AJ tried to swim after her, but was nowhere near as fast. He saw Kevin way ahead of him in the tunnel. Of course, leave it to Kevin to not notice the girl! Old man!

Kevin saw Brian wearing a white and orange jumpsuit maneuvering his board so he could continue the volley. He smacked the ball with so much force the ball was almost invisible as it whizzed by. “Brian!” Kevin called to his cousin hoping to break the spell he was under. Brian’s look of utter concentration never left his face. He continued to smack the ball whenever it flew to him, “Brian Thomas Littrell!” Kevin yelled louder this time. He swam closer to Brian and got in his ear. Brian shoved him away roughly and chased after the lost ball. Kevin growled in frustration. He also scurried after the ball and somehow managed to catch it in his grasp. He held it tightly. The small ball was emitting heat. Kevin was glad for his black gloves. Brian didn’t look so glad though. He rushed Kevin at full speed on his hoover board propelling Kevin backward. He tackled Kevin for the ball as his partner floated motionless on the other side of the recreational tunnel. Kevin got him arms around Brian releasing the ball and restraining his small cousin. He gave one hard yank and Brian was ripped from the board. The force of Kevin’s pull made them both topple backward in the gravity- less quarters. Brian continued to fight Kevin as Kevin continued to hold him. Kevin spun Brian around to face him, which was rather awkward while one was free-floating, but he did it anyway. He stared his cousin in the face. Brian’s blue eyes were spacy as they stared at Kevin. Kevin shook him roughly, “Snap out of it Rok!” Kevin snapped delivering a crisp slap across Brian’s face. Brian’s head reeled and snapped backward from the blow. He shook his head and blinked several times before focusing. The fog lifted from his eyes, ‘’Kev?”

“Yeah cuz, it’s me,” Kevin did his best to hug him, then called to AJ, “AJ, I got him!” AJ almost looked disappointed, he was trying to strike up a conversation with the girl Brian had been playing with. He swam over to Kevin and Brian, “Oh man Kev! You busted my mac! Hey Brian, you been in here a while, do you know her number?”

Brian rolled his eyes,” It’s good to see you too Bone.”

AJ gave Brian a brief hug, “Let’s get out of here. This no gravity is making me feel light-headed.”

“I thought that was all the time,” Brian joked lightly.

“Shut up Rok,” AJ said laughing. It felt so good just to be speaking to him again and being able to joke with him. He put his arm around the smaller man’s shoulders. There were three exit doors in the tunnel. “I bet on the door in the middle,” Brian said.

“Middle door?” Kevin frowned, “Nah, too probable. How about the door on the right?”

AJ shook his head, “Left?”

“Well we can’t all go through a different door!” Brian exclaimed, “Somebody better pick one!”

AJ sighed, “Inny minny?”

Kevin nodded as AJ began to spin and chant the silly nursery rhyme. “And I choose.. You!” His finger pointed at the pink door. AJ uncovered his eyes, “Pink?”

Kevin shrugged, “Pink it is.”

Brian smirked, “Pink. I don’t like pink, why not blue?”

“Why blue?” Kevin asked.

“It’s my favorite color,” Brian rolled his eyes, “Duh.”

“Mine too,” Kevin said being swayed to go toward the blue door.

“No way! We did ‘inny, minny’ and it told us pink!” AJ argued.

“Pink is for Pansies! Pansies, that wear halter tops and tight hip hugging leather pants..” Brian started laughing finally appraising AJ’s disturbing appearance. AJ scowled, “It wasn’t my idea! But it’s not so bad, you guys weren’t expecting it were you?!”

“No, but that’s cause... Oh man,” Brian doubled over as he swam towards the blue door, “Next it’ll be tube tops and capri pants.” Kevin followed after his cousin.

“Guys! We’re supposed to go pink!” AJ stubbornly swam to the pink door.

“Two against one Alex,” Brian said,” or should I say, Alexandra.. No Alexia.”

“Shut up Rok!” AJ snarled as Brian continued to laugh. He yanked open the pink door in a burst of anger and humiliation. He hadn’t meant to, he was just so mad and needed something to vent his rage on. He was going to join the others at the blue door, but,“Woah...”

Kevin and Brian looked to AJ.

“Guys, come check this out!” AJ said staring into the room.

“No way,” Brian sounded scared, “Lets just go this way, ok. I don’t like..”

“No, just come see!” AJ insisted, he took a step into the room.

“AJ DON’T!” Kevin yelled he swam over to AJ trying to grab him and ended up tumbling through the opened door and pummeling on top of AJ. They untangled themselves quickly and stood up, “AJ, don’t you ever do that again... What is this place?”

The walls were white lined with large wide screens. In the center of the room was an immense white column with dozens of smaller columns running from it. The floor was white limestone. Blue tracer lights lined the floor. There was a small octagon shaped opening in the far wall. A panel that looked like an elevator control glowed green on the side of the wall. By accident Kevin had leaned on it taking in the sights of the room. The small columns began to hiss and white wisps of smoke billowed around the room engulfing AJ and Kevin. AJ and Kevin clung to each other and looked for the exit. Run away is what they were thinking. They wanted out of this room and back out into that tunnel with Brian. “I told you to go through the blue door!”

“Ok, ok, I’m stupid, you and Bri were right lets get out of.. What the hell?” Blue pods slid out of the tunnels. The smoke had cleared. AJ slowly made his way to the pods and rested his hands on top of one. The pods were actually clear, the blue light casting from the ground was what was making the pods seem blue. AJ wanted to get a glimpse inside. He gasped and jumped back colliding with Kevin who had come to stand behind him, “Oh God...”

“What?” Kevin looked inside the next pod, “It’s... isn’t this one of those missing kids?”

AJ looked into the next pod, “Damn, it is! All of those people are here! Brian! Brian get in here, and look what we found!”

“I already know what you’ve found,” Brian had come in behind them. The tone of voice he had used made both Kevin and AJ turn around to stare at him. Brian’s demeanor had changed. He looked cold, “I wasn’t planning for you to find these quite so soon.”

“Brian, what are you...”

Brian laughed then, he was positively rolling.

“Bri, what is wrong with you?” AJ asked slowly.

Brian chuckled a little longer, “Nothing AJ, Brian’s fine.” He looked over at the far wall. A clock, the first clock they had seen all night read 2:20, “Well Boys, I guess you have earned something from completing this much of the game.” The room they were in faded away and they appeared in the control room.

“How did that..?”

“Happen?” Brian said calmly, “Did you forget that it is my world, and I do what I want with it.”

“Your world, Brian have..” AJ’s words froze on his lips, “You’re... You’re not Brian.”

“Au Contrare, I am Brian,” Brian snickered.

“Chiros needed a body, a body... Brian’s body,”Kevin looked outraged, “What have you done with Brian?!”

“Brian’s here,” Chiros rumbled, now using the voice the Boys were used to hearing.

“Where are Nick and Howie?” AJ demanded.

“Nick and Howie?” Chiros, the demon with Brian’s face asked innocently, “Oh... Of course... Oh Nickolas, could you come here please?”

AJ and Kevin’s eyes were wide and they jumped as a door slid open across from them. They saw Howie first. “Howie!” They both exclaimed, then their expressions fell as they realized their friend was unconscious. His body was carelessly thrown and it slid towards Kevin and AJ’s feet. They both fell to their knees to grab the body of their friend, “Is he..?”

“No, no I feel a pulse,” AJ said with a sigh.

“You should, I didn’t get to do anything to him yet.”

AJ and Kevin’s head jerked up in unison to see Nick saunter in wearing a baseball shirt and jeans. A sucker hung from his lips,“I hate your timing.”

Chiros smiled at his protege, “Come here.”

Kevin and AJ watched in disbelief as Nick made his way to Chiros in Brian’s body. It looked so normal. Frick and Frack, they stood together. Brian put his arm around Nick and smiled, “Satisfied?”

“What have you done to him?” Kevin asked quietly,

“Done to him?” Chiros questioned, “Nothing.”

“Nick,” AJ called to him, “get away from him.”

Nick stared at AJ as if he had grown a second head, “Why do they know my name?”

Kevin gapped, “I’m gonna kill you! I’m gonna freakin’ kill you!” Kevin stood up with his fists clenched.

“You’re going to kill me?” Chiros asked in Brian’s voice. Kevin’s hands fell flat at his sides and his head slumped, “It’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair?” Chiros asked in his usual voice, “Your game? Well technically you didn’t win, but I guess I’ll let you get away with something.”

“Something?” Kevin asked. Howie was making rousing noises.

“Why yes, I wouldn’t want anyone saying that I am a cheater,” Chiros chuckled, “But since you only won half the game, you only win half the prizes.”

“Half the...” Kevin looked horrified , “You’re not gonna cut them in..”

“No,” Chiros said frowning with Brian’s mouth, “This body gave me an advantage over you, but it is weak. I can easily find another body. Take him, he is yours, and then you may leave.” Nick stepped away from Chiros, as Brian’s body spasmed. Vapor erupted from Brian’s nostrils, eyes, mouth, and ears. His body slumped to the floor, as a ghastly image of Chiros stood before the Boys. He was as gnarled and ugly as ever. He delivered one swift kick to the body and sent it skidding towards Kevin who grabbed his cousin under the arms. Brian was shaking uncontrollably. He was awake and his body was wracked by sobs. Kevin held him as he cried “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” over and over again.

“What now Chiros?” AJ asked angrily as he reached out to pat Brian’s shoulder, “You send us home? What about Nick? What about what happens to us later?”

“Later?” Chiros chuckled, “Now there was no deal made about later, but I’ll tell you Boys what. I have become,”Chiros patted the top of Nick’s head,”very attached to young Nickolas here. I have no sons of my own. Nickolas also shows much talent and promise, and under my guidance he could reach his full potential. In other words, it is a pity that he must die. I wish one of you had murdered me instead so it could have been you I had to kill, not a protege.”

AJ was stuttering, “What are you telling us, that you don’t want to kill Nick?”

Chiros beamed, “No, I do want to kill him, it’s just that it is a shame. So much talent gone to waste. ” Chiros shook his head with an almost remorseful expression, “But I will give you Boys a choice.

“A choice?” Kevin spoke up. His voice was deep and firm, no where near as shaky as he felt inside.

“Yes, you see. Killing Nickolas is a shame so it is a burden I am willing to share.”

“And our choices are?”

“Hmmn,” Chiros looked thoughtful, “I kill Nick and use his blood as a sacrifice to rejuvenate me.. Or you kill Nick. If you kill him, I don’t benefit in any way.”

“But he still dies,” Kevin said flatly.

Chiros smiled, “Hard decision to make, isn’t it?”

Brian was mumbling something and Kevin leaned his head down to Brian’s mouth to hear what he was saying, “He doesn’t think we have the guts. He knows we won’t do it. He’ll win. It’s over...”

Kevin’s heart sank. Once hearing his own thoughts voiced he felt as if the world had come out from under him. He couldn’t kill Nick. Nobody here could. Chiros was going to open up a world full of demons and kill them all. It was over.

Chiros was laughing manically, “Here, let me make it easier for you!” Chiros ceased Nick, whose eyelids were drooping, and flung him into AJ’s arms. Howie awoke instantly feeling Nick’s body slam into him.

“What the...” Howie was startled to see all of his friends around him, and Chiros in front of him! How did all this happen? What had.. Nick! Nick was a traitor! Howie opened his mouth to yell out but was silenced by the look on the others’ faces.

“We can’t kill Nicky,” Kevin said in a gravely quiet voice, “You know we can’t do that. Why would we come barging in here to kill one of our own?”

“To save the world?” Chiros chuckled, “Take a few seconds to think about your decision, the clock is ticking. It is 2:30 in your time right now.”

Brian was crying silently, he had squirmed out of Kevin’s hold and was grabbing onto Nick’s cold hands. Something was happening to him, his breathing was slowing down, his skin was losing it’s color, his eyes were closed. AJ held Nick tighter under the shoulders and bit his lip. Something dawned on him then. He still felt the coolness of his stolen weapon on his skin. He had been disregarding the discomfort for so long he had almost forgotten about his it. If Chiros won the world as AJ knew it would end... Nick died no matter what. AJ sighed and recollected himself, it had to be done. He wasn’t sure of the outcome, maybe it wouldn’t work, but he had to try. Slowly AJ peeled back the tight leather pants and reached inside. His fingers closed against the plastic of the object and he yanked his hand free of the restricting leather.

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to do it,” Chiros said condescendingly, “I’ll take him now.” He held out his arms for Nick.

Howie was watching AJ as if he had lost his nasty mind! This was no time for AJ to be scratching his balls! He was about to touch him when he saw the glint of sliver in AJ’s hands. He brought his arm high above Nick’s head and he heard AJ whisper, “I’m so sorry Nicky. Lets hope this works.”

“NOOOO!” Howie yelled out trying to bump AJ’s arm. Brian and Kevin both snapped their heads to look at Howie and they gasped at AJ. Everything was in slow motion. Everyone, including Chiros was screaming. AJ’s hand made an arch and plunged down into the head of Nick’s shoulder. He pushed even after the blade had entered Nick’s skin. This caused the teen’s body to jerk forward with a sharp gasp. His eyes flew open with a wild look of surprise. Slowly the light in them began to die away and mist over. His body began to dissolve into thin air. AJ moved away from the folding mists that evaporated from the room.

Dear God let it have worked.

Chapter 17

BJ Carter sat beside her brother’s bed brushing his hair gently. Jane and Bob had run down to the cafeteria to get something to eat. BJ worried that her parents hadn’t been eating enough since Nick’s.. Accident. Aaron came into the room and hopped onto Nick’s bed.

“Aaron! Don’t do that!” BJ scolded him. She was so afraid he pull out a cord or wire that Nick needed to keep him breathing. She frowned as she stared at the oxygen mask that had been slipped over her brother’s face.

“Sorry,” Aaron apologized sheepishly, “Hey Nick, BJ’s making you look like a girl!”

“I am not!” BJ said, “I’m just making it neat.”

“Nick, BJ’s... AAAAAH!” Aaron nearly jumped out of his skin. BJ dropped the brush and jumped back with a short yelp. Nick’s eyes flew open all of a sudden and he bolted upright in the bed nearly knocking Aaron off. He ripped the oxygen mask off his face as he sat in the bed gasping and running his hands through his hair. Aaron and BJ stared at him wide eyed and open mouthed.

“N..N..Nick?” Aaron was the first one to speak. He touched Nick’s arm gently.

Nick’s haunted blue eyes looked down at Aaron, his pale arm shook under Aaron’s grasp, “Where am I?” he asked in a small voice.

BJ laughed and clapped her hands. She ran her hands through her brother’s hair, “You’re in a hospital Nicky, but you’re ok now.”

“Yeah,” Aaron was grinning now too, “Those doctors said you were gonna die, but I knew you wouldn’t!”

Nick stared at them both not speaking. Tears began to snake patterns down his face, his shoulders shook with sobs. BJ quickly took him in her arms and held him tight, “Aaron, go get Mom and Dad, oh and a doctor!”

“It’s gonna be ok, Nick,” BJ rocked him back and forth and rubbed his back.

“I’m sorry...” Nick was mumbling over and over,“ I’m sorry.”

A doctor followed by Bob and Jane Carter entered the room shortly.

“Well look whose finally decided to join us back in the world of the living,” the doctor said cheerfully, but didn’t know how close he really was to the truth.

Chapter 18

“YOU MURDERED HIM!” Brian shrieked lunging at AJ from the floor. Howie sat stunned with shock. Nick was dead. Kevin held Brian back, but cursed at AJ venomously the whole time. Chiros had gone ballistic. He was screaming and the foundation to the ship was rumbling.

“NO! NO! YOU DEVIANTS! YOU HAVE RUINED EVERYTHING!” Chiros yelled, he glanced at the large clock on the wall that read 2:32. He gave one last wail of rage before he hurled himself towards AJ. AJ shielded his face away from the attack and shut his eyes. A terrible howl erupted from Chiros. AJ uncovered himself to see Chiros stopped in mid-launch. A huge stripe of lightning was shooting through his belly. The lightning was spreading throughout the demon’s body in slow motion, combusting the vapors. Chiros’s screams could be heard above it all. He yelled curses and promises to come back to wreak vengeance and then, he was gone. Just vanished, disappeared. There were a few seconds of silence.

“YOU MONSTER, YOU MURDERER!” Brian shrieked remembering his rage and lunging at AJ again. AJ jumped away from Brian and the rest of the group. They were all glaring at him and he bet they wished at that point that AJ too had burned up in that shadow fire Chiros went out in.

“I didn’t kill him,” AJ spoke softly, “at least I hope I didn’t.”

“You freakin’ stabbed him in the back!” Kevin accused.

“Wth a syringe, a syringe full of adrenalin!” AJ yelled.

“So, you still stabbed him.... Adrenalin in a syringe? Where the heck did you get that?” Brian looked confused.

“From the hospital, it’s a long story, but I figure...”

“That you didn’t kill him, you maybe...” Howie’s eyes got large with understanding, and he lie flat on his back with awe.

“Woke him up,” AJ finished, “I hope so. I think it worked. I.. I... had this compulsive hunch that kept telling me to take the syringe and what to do with it.”

Howie, Kevin, and Brian stared at him, “So what happens now?”

“Well, in a minute, we wake up,” Howie said glancing at the clock.

“Yeah, and all those people that Chiros brought here go back to where they came from,” Kevin said standing himself and Brian up. Howie remained lying on the floor.

“But what about me?” Brian looked fearful.

“I don’t know, Bri,” Kevin said placing a sturdy arm on around his shoulders, “But when we wake up and I get to you, I will never let you out of my sight again.”

Brian clung to his cousin, “You wouldn’t say that if you knew what I’ve done.”

“Bri..” Kevin began, but his sentence was cut of by a wave of extreme dizziness, “What.. What’s happening to me?”

AJ and Howie were getting similar feelings of being light-headed. “I think we’re waking up..” Howie said feebly. He sank down to his knees, “Is this what you felt like Kev?”

“You guys are starting to fade away!” Brian was yelling, “Don’t leave me here alone! NOO!!”

“Don’t worry B... It’ll be...” the last word was lost as Kevin felt himself being sucked through a narrow tube. His whole body jerked and felt jiggly. His whole life flashed before his eyes. He saw images of his father, his mother, his brothers... He saw himself meeting Howie, AJ, and Nick for the first time. He saw... he saw two really big nostrils. He jolted up, “OW!”

Robert Kulle fell back onto the floor holding his aching head, “You’re awake,” he spoke sarcastically.

“Brian?” Kevin called, instead of responding to Robert. He scanned the room frantically for his cousin.

“Brian?” Howie and AJ had also sat up, more slowly than Kevin had.

Robert stared at them all, expectantly.

“We gotta find Brian,” Kevin stood up throwing down the heavy staff he had been cradling in his trance. He ripped the amulet from his neck.

Howie and AJ did the same and joined Kevin, all three headed for the door. They halted abruptly at Robert’s loud whistle. They all turned to stare at him.

“Well, is my mortal soul in danger or what?!” he demanded in a frustrating wail.

“No,” Kevin shook his head, “Chiros is dead... hopefully.”

“Now where are you going?”

“We have to find B-Rok, we told him...”

Ring! Ring! Everyone jumped at the sound of the cellular phones playing identical tunes in rounds on different sound frequencies.

“Shoot! This had better be good!” both Howie and Kevin grabbed for their cellular phones that had been laid aside on Robert’s desk.

“Hello?” they both spat simultaneously.

AJ and Robert watched them impatiently. Both of their faces had metamorphosed from scowls to grins.

“Of course, yeah, we’re on our way now! Hang tight!” Kevin said into his phone and hung up, at the same time Howie was saying, “Alright! Ok, we’re coming. We’ll be there as soon as we can, we’re leaving now! Ok, ok, tell him we’re coming! Tell him we love him, and we’ll be right there!” Howie hung up his phone and reached to embrace AJ.

AJ, who was getting the life choked out of him by Howie, managed to ask, “Who was it?”

“Brian!” Kevin said energetically, at the same time Howie beamed and said, “Nick’s Dad, Nick’s kind of upset that we’re not there with him!”

“Yes!” they all shouted hugging and high-fiving everyone in the room. Robert was hugged, kissed, hair ruffled, back slapped, and tossed into the air. He was laughing and straightened his glasses, “Ok, ok... You guys are happy.”

They couldn’t stop laughing. The pure exhilaration and high over what they had done and succeeded in was too intense. They danced with inanimate objects around the room for about 10 minutes before they collapsed on the floor.

“We did it..” AJ said breathlessly.

“Uh-uh, you did it,” Howie said sitting up on his elbow to look at AJ. He was shaking his head and grinning from ear to ear, “Someday I knew some of my smarts was gonna rub off on you!”

“Shut up Howie!” AJ laughed shoving him off his elbow. Howie toppled back onto the floor giggling. Still giddy he jumped up, “Come on kiddies, we gotta go pick up B, and let Kaos see we’re still alive!”

“Brian slow down you’re going to get us thrown out!” Kevin yelled as he chased his cousin down the halls of the hospital. AJ, Howie, and Robert followed not too far behind.

“I can’t help it, I gotta see him!” Brian yelled, he ran into Leslie and Angel Carter with an “Oof!”

“Watch out Bri,” Leslie laughed, “Where have you been?”

Brian hugged the girl and brushed her aside without even answering her question, he hugged Angel too, “Can we go in? Huh? Huh?”

“Brian!” Jane Carter exclaimed, she hugged him, “Where have you been?”

“Nowhere,” Brian said quickly, “Can we go in? Can I go in?” He was already looking around her into the room.

Jane laughed, “Well hello to you to, go in, he’ll be so happy to see you, Brian.” Jane looked at the other three, “Hello. May I ask what is going on with all the black?”

Howie, AJ, and Kevin looked down at their clothing. They were still dressed as if they had made this short stop while on their way to burglarize a house, “Ummn... Disguises,” AJ offered lamely. There had been no fans outside when they had arrived.

“Hi boys!” Bob Carter joined his wife standing outside the door to Nick’s room, “You sure did get here quick. You better go inside before Nick thinks he has to come out and get you. We had to call you right away or else he threatened to get out of bed and hail a cab!”

They laughed, that was their Nick alright. They shared a look, then passed through the door to Nick’s room. Nick was sitting up in bed surrounded on both sides by Brian and Aaron. Brian was still hugging him and laughing messing with his blond hair. Aaron was laughing with Brian, still clinging to his brother’s arm as he had since he had woken up.

Nick looked over to see Kevin, Howie, and AJ coming into the room and rushing towards the bed and he beamed brightly, “Hi!”

“Hey little man!” Kevin greeted him. Brian and Aaron backed off a bit so they could hug. Hugs were exchanged for a few minutes, then there was silence.

“Hey Airboy?” Nick said suddenly.

“Yeah Nicky?” Aaron asked. He hadn’t called his brother “Nicky” in a long time.

“Could you sneak and get me a coke?” Nick gave him a conspiratorial look, “Just act like you’re getting it for yourself.”

Aaron grinned and released Nick’s arm reluctantly, “You won’t go back to sleep while I’m gone?”

Nick shook his head, “I promise.” Aaron smiled briefly then climbed off the bed and left the room shutting the door behind him.

“Ok,” Nick said, he looked at AJ, “Good job.”

“Good job?” AJ said laughing nervously, “I stabbed you in the back.”

“With that shot full of adrenalin, I know,” Nick said simply, “I figured it might do the trick and if not kill me, wake me up. I figured if I was awake here, then I couldn’t be there, and the only way to wake me up would be in the neather realm.”

“What are you saying?- That you had something to do with those... urges I got to steal that stuff?” AJ sat down on the edge of Nick’s bed as some enlightenment began to shine on him. “You were with me this morning when we first came to the hospital. You made me...”

“See the lab? Yeah, I had to get that idea in your mind somehow, in a way that Chiros couldn’t trace back to me,” Nick said looking thoughtful.

“Nick, what happened to you in there?” Kevin asked running a fatherly hand through Nick’s locks.

The look in Nick’s eyes darkened a bit, as did Brian’s, “Chiros found out what I had been doing when he took.. Brian.”

“I fought him, I did,” Brian said in a rush,” but I lost. Once he was inside me he just became part of me. He knew what I knew, he felt what I felt, and the feeling was mutual. He was enraged about what Nick was doing! We, he, I... Chiros charged to Nick’s quarters and..”

“I sensed Chiros in the room, but when I turned it was Brian! That was when I knew what he had done, and I knew he knew everything. I tried to warn you away when you came Kev.”

“That’s why you weren’t making sense earlier!” Kevin said clapping his hands.

“I couldn’t see you guys anymore, but I still had to help you somehow, I knew you were too stubborn to stay put. I pushed and pushed with my mind and I locked into AJ. AJ the reason why you got lost and ran into that doctors’ lab is because of me. I sent you there. I started the idea that you had. I didn’t know if you would understand or use it, but it was worth a try.” Nick smiled.

Howie patted AJ’s back.

“So, is it over?” Kevin asked the question everyone was too afraid to ask.

“It has to be,” Nick said, “That was it. He ran out of time, he’s toast!”

“That’s what we thought happened the last time!” Howie groaned.

“Yeah, but this time, we know the ropes. We are rid of this guy, and we are going to stay rid of this guy!” Brian said with a smile. They were quiet again. All eyes slowly turned themselves back to Nick, who sat with his head bowed. He raised his head to peer back at them, “What?”

“So Frack, it seems to us that you have been holding something back from us,” Brian said smiling wickedly.

“Huh?”

“What Brian’s trying to say is... Can you still use that hocus pocus ESP stuff, here?” Kevin leaned in looking interested.

Nick blinked at a loss for words, “I... I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

“Try something!” AJ demanded.

“Like what?”

“Make.. Make that pen over there float over to the bed! Make the curtains close! Make...”

“...AJ shut up,” Howie interrupted.

“Hey! Seriously though, try something,” AJ said.

Nick glared at him, “I couldn’t do any of that stuff before, so why would I be suddenly able to do it now? I had help before, and Chiros was teaching me a lot of stuff..”

“What?” they all looked at him. Brian remained silent.

“Well like he said before, he didn’t want to kill me, not really. Not when he learned what I could do. He wanted to teach me stuff,” Nick shrugged.

“Like what?”

“I dunno, stuff,” Nick shrugged again looking extremely uncomfortable, “Look, can we just drop it. I don’t want to talk about it, and I never wanna have to use whatever it is I have again! Forget about it, ok!”

“Ok, ok,” AJ held up both hands in surrender and backed down. The room was lost in silence again. Then the door to the room opened slightly and Robert’s head popped in, “Hey guys, pardon me for interrupting, but I have decided to let you guys deal with the exhibit from here on out.” The door closed again.

“The exhibit?” questioned Nick.

“Chiros’s stuff,” AJ said bitterly, “He wants us to have it and decide what to do with it.”

“Well, what do guys suppose we do with it?”

Glances were exchanged yet again.

Chapter 19

“Thanks for waiting for me to get out of the hospital before you did this,” Nick was saying as he threw another object into the bonfire. The Boys all sat around a moderately sized bonfire on the Jersey shores watching stars.

“Couldn’t have done it without ya, baby bro,” Howie said hugging his knees to his chest and inching closer to the fire.

It had been a week before everything with the police had been cleared, and Nick was released from the hospital. All the fan craze had died down as the mass media coverage about all the missing children returning swept the city. The Backstreet Boys being in town was long forgotten, making it safe for the Boys to venture out again.

“Hey Howie, pass me another amulet,” AJ called. Howie tossed one of the various assortment of amulets from a cardboard box to AJ. AJ tossed it into the fire and cheered when it popped.

The Boys had all agreed that Chiros’s things had seen too much daylight. They all voted on getting rid of the damned creepy things.

“Ok, here’s the last of it, and Brian and Nick, we saved this one for you guys,’ Kevin uncovered the last article. It was Chiros’s book, the one that had started the whole mess in the first place. Kevin laid it infront of Nick and Brian and backed away. Nick and Brian both glared at the filthy thing and looked at one another with wicked grins, “You get the front and I get the back!”

They tore open the book and began ripping out handfuls of pages and tossing them into the fire. They watched as the the yellowed pages curled and disintegrated in the heart of the flames.

“Why are you guys tearing it up instead of throwing the whole thing in?” AJ questioned Frick and Frack as they went on about their task of ripping out pages.

“We want to make sure everything gets burned!” Brian said, “Nothing’s gonna get past us this time!”

A gust of wind blew the embers around causing them all the shut their eyes and bat at the smoldering bits.

“That’s everything,” Nick said dusting his hands off, “Lets get back to Robert’s so we can finish packing up and get home! I am so sick of New Jersey it’s not even funny!”

Everyone, for once, agreed with Nick. They doused the fire, gathered their mess, and hustled each other toward the rental car.

Robert was on the phone when they crashed into the house, he looked very intent on his conversation. The Boys milled around in the kitchen looking through the refrigerator and cabinets.

“You guys want a pizza?” Kevin asked after shutting the refrigerator door.

“Sure,” the others agreed.

There was a small click as Robert hung up the wall phone. He kept his head down for a while and he was scratching the back of his neck.

“I want pepperoni and mushrooms,” Nick supplied.

“So guys, have you been thinking about what we should do for our next video?” Kevin asked.

“Huh? Well, no Kev, we’ve been kind of busy!” AJ snorted.

Kevin smirked a little and looked at Nick who looked dreamy, “Um... I think I know what Kevin’s getting at.”

“Kevin was getting at something?” Brian questioned with half a cookie in his mouth,

“Well, the last time we were demon-napped we got a really cool video out of it right? Well this time, why not get the same thing? I mean it was out of my own imagination, and it was really cool, “ Nick was speaking very animatedly.

“Nick, what the heck song would we use to do a video like that?” Howie demanded making a face.

“D, man you said that the last time! ‘Everybody’ was a hit! Why can’t... ‘Larger Than Life’ be one too?” Nick was leaning on his elbows on the kitchen table.

“‘Larger Than Life?’” AJ asked, “Why that song?”

“I dunno, I guess because that is what that experience was,” Nick shrugged.

Howie rolled his eyes and groaned, “I think it’s dumb, but you guys are gonna talk me into this, I know it. But for right now, save me the headache. Aren’t we supposed to be ordering a pizza?”

”That’s right! I’ll call!” Nick jumped up knocking over a chair and dashed over to the phone where Robert was still standing. He stopped short when he reached Robert and caught the look on his face.

“What’s up Rob?” he asked hesitantly.

Robert looked up at him, and then around the room at the rest of the Boys, “Ummn... Don’t know how exactly I should say this...”

“Say what?” AJ jumped on top of the counter and Kevin gave him a stern look. AJ stuck his tongue out at him, “What is it?”

“Well, Mother just called...”

“Mrs. Carolyn?” Brian asked tapping his fingers on the counter.

“Yes, and apparently... um... there were some pieces missing from the exhibit...”

Howie spit the water he had been drinking clear across the room, “What?”

“When she shipped the exhibit here, some part of it didn’t get packed.. And well, now they are... Missing.”

The room was silent as everyone let that new information sink in.

Everybody cursed at once!

“Does this mean more airplanes?” Nick whined.

“Yes it mean more airplanes!” Everybody snapped.

“Man, I hate trilogies!” Nick groaned, pouting and folding his arms over his chest. He had actually lost appetite for real this time.

The End...... ( or is it?)

Please let Eboni know what you thought of her story!