Severed Identities by Purpura Lipstick

1. Prologue by Purpura Lipstick

2. Chapter 1 by Purpura Lipstick

3. Chapter 2 by Purpura Lipstick

4. Chapter 3 by Purpura Lipstick

5. Chapter 4 by Purpura Lipstick

6. Chapter 5 by Purpura Lipstick

7. Chapter 6 by Purpura Lipstick

8. Chapter 7 by Purpura Lipstick

9. Chapter 8 by Purpura Lipstick

10. Chapter 9 by Purpura Lipstick

11. Chapter 10 by Purpura Lipstick

12. Chapter 11 by Purpura Lipstick

13. Chapter 12 by Purpura Lipstick

14. Chapter 13 by Purpura Lipstick

15. Chapter 14 by Purpura Lipstick

16. Chapter 15 by Purpura Lipstick

17. Chapter 16 by Purpura Lipstick

18. Chapter 17 by Purpura Lipstick

19. Chapter 18 by Purpura Lipstick

20. Chapter 19 by Purpura Lipstick

21. Chapter 20 by Purpura Lipstick

22. Chapter 21 by Purpura Lipstick

23. Chapter 22 by Purpura Lipstick

24. Chapter 23 by Purpura Lipstick

25. Chapter 24 by Purpura Lipstick

26. Chapter 25 by Purpura Lipstick

27. Chapter 26 by Purpura Lipstick

28. Chapter 27 by Purpura Lipstick

29. Chapter 28 by Purpura Lipstick

30. Chapter 29 by Purpura Lipstick

31. Chapter 30 by Purpura Lipstick

32. Chapter 31 by Purpura Lipstick

33. Chapter 32 by Purpura Lipstick

34. Chapter 33 by Purpura Lipstick

35. Chapter 34 by Purpura Lipstick

36. Chapter 35 by Purpura Lipstick

37. Chapter 36 by Purpura Lipstick

38. Chapter 37 by Purpura Lipstick

39. Chapter 38 by Purpura Lipstick

40. Chapter 39 by Purpura Lipstick

41. Chapter 40 by Purpura Lipstick

42. Chapter 41 by Purpura Lipstick

43. Chapter 42 by Purpura Lipstick

44. Chapter 43 by Purpura Lipstick

Prologue by Purpura Lipstick
Author's Notes:

Thought I would post and get a general idea. This is the beginning of the story that my muse has been playing around with for a few months. Let me know what you think.

Nine people sat around a table shrouded in the darkness of the room. Their purpose, to discuss the lives of two people who knew too much. They all sat at a long table, no one next to each other, no one too close to another. The room was large and sparsely decorated. They all knew the building they were in, they all knew the room they were in during the light of the day. Each had been in there several times in meetings of many kinds. But tonight, the darkness covered the room and it's usual decor. Nobody said names, nobody could see each other.

They had each entered separately and though they might know each other in an every day capacity, nobody knew who had been recruited to this meeting of great importance. It was better that way, to not know the players involved. It would be less likely for them to give anything away in the off chance they ran into each other. It was imperative that they did not.

“You have all been brought here because you are the best,” One of the nine spoke, the voice altered so that no one could tell what their real voice sounded like. It was impossible to say whether the person was a man or a woman even.

“What is the mission?” This voice was slightly deeper than the first but still, their sex could not be determined.

A picture of two people appeared on a screen at the back of the room where no one sat. All the heads turned in that direction. One was a man with sandy blond hair, a square jaw, blue eyes smiling at the petite brunette woman next to him. The woman had brown eyes and probably had some Hispanic background in her family tree. They looked happy together, but this was a meeting to keep those two who were obviously very much in love far apart.

“In front of each of you there is a brown envelope outlining the details of the mission and which of the two you will be assigned.” The first voice continued. “Your back story has been provided and the memories of those two have been altered and each of your roles have been integrated.”

Nobody moved to open the packets, they understood that it would be inappropriate to read them in that room where identities were unknown.

“I cannot stress enough how important it is that these two are not allowed to remember anything of their past life. In each packet is a number to contact on the phone you have been given. Call this only in an emergency, if the situation cannot be contained, The Cleaners will be dispensed.” The first voice still spoke.

“If they are such a threat,” another disguised voice spoke up. “Why not have The Cleaners take care of them now?”

“They can still prove useful to our cause.” The first voice simply stated. Each person was on a need to know basis and most of them did not need to know that bigger picture, not yet anyway.

One at a time, each remembering to grab their brown envelopes, they stood and left the room. None of them together, each of them several minutes a part. Their missions would start almost immediately and they would need time to learn their roles and learn them well.

Chapter 1 by Purpura Lipstick

The young woman played with her long dark hair as she tried to ignore her friend bopping around to the music playing on the CD player. She promised her friend she would listen to the music playing in order to prepare for the concert they would be seeing that night. If forced to admit it, she was enjoying some of the beats but the thought of seeing the group preform was not something she was really looking forward to doing. She seldom went to concerts as she could not stand the crowds of fans screaming and carrying on yelling over the music or singing along. She hated paying money to listen to other people sing and scream over the music.

“Isabel,” Her friend interrupted her thoughts.

Isabel cringed when her friend used her full name. She hated being called Isabel, it left an uncomfortable feeling in the back of her mind. “Izzy,” she reminded her friend.

“Whatever, you didn't answer the first time I said your name, hence using your full name,” The girl joined her friend in the mirror. “I am so glad you decided to come with me.” the girl hugged Izzy and they stood looking at each other in the mirror for a few seconds before the second girl let go.

“No problem Megan.” Izzy smiled half-heartily. She would much rather be at home working. Her friend Natalie didn't know about her impulsive decision to go with Megan. Natalie was sensible and would have reminded Izzy about all the reasons she wouldn't want to go to the concert in the first place.

“Well you are never going to believe what I stumbled on last night,” Megan held out laminated passes and started hitting them against her hand.

“Are those what I think they are?” Izzy rolled her eyes. “How much did those cost you? And when did you get them?”

“They weren't as bad as you might think, the girl who had them got sick and she wasn't able to go. Her mom was her plus one, so bingo, two meet and greet passes have fallen into my hands.” Megan sighed as she fell onto the hotel room bed.

Izzy looked back into the mirror and sighed to herself. She definitely did not want to meet members of a boy band even if one of her best friends was in love with one of them. “Which one are you going to marry again?” Izzy asked Megan.

“Nick,” Megan sighed out his name.

“Right, which one is that again?” Izzy could never remember the name of the guy she was always going on about.

“The blond one,” Megan answered.

Izzy looked down at the album cover sitting on the table in front of her. She picked it up and glanced at the guys, there was a tall guy with dark hair shaved short, a Latin looking guy, a guy wearing a black hat, if she remembered correctly he had tattoos running up and down his arms now covered by a suit, and two blonds.

“There are two blonds.” Izzy held the CD case and looked towards her friend.

“Huh? Oh yah,” Megan responded. “The tall one.”

Izzy looked back down at the cover to get a better look at this guy Nick that Megan swore up and down she was going to marry one day, her and probably thousands of other girls. She looked him over, he wasn't bad looking but was not really Izzy's type. Her eyes slid over the other guys again, Megan had told her their names several times but she could never remember. Her eyes fell on the other blond before she tossed the CD case down. She already had a headache from just looking at their pictures, how was she going to handle an entire concert with them in front of her, not to mention the meet and greet.

“What time do we need to be there now?” Izzy asked. She already had little sleep. The trip really was last minute. Megan had come over the night before with her plea that Izzy join her on the trip. She planned it specifically for a time when Natalie was out so that there was more of a chance that Izzy would say yes. Natalie always talked sense into Izzy when impulsive Megan was always trying to do something new and exciting.

Izzy had no reason why she agreed, but she said yes and Megan threw some clothes in a bag and pulled her into the car. They left that very night and now they were miles away from home with only Megan's car for transportation.

Megan told her what time they needed to be there and Izzy sighed as she set about getting ready. Just because she didn't particularly want to attend the concert let alone the meet and greet was no reason for her to go looking dumpy. Besides, Megan would kill her if she had to go with Izzy dressed for comfort and not a night out.

Megan watched as Izzy put the finishing touches on her make up and Izzy knew what was on her mind. She'd been trying for years to get her to go to a concert for these guys and finally she had lucked out and managed to get her away from Natalie's domineering presence.

“Let's get going, you aren't going to get any more beautiful.” Megan smacked her friend's ass playfully and put the pass around her friend's neck.

The two women left their room and Megan double checked to make sure it was locked, Izzy insisted on hanging the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door so that nobody would try to clean the room while they were out. Megan had only laughed at her friend's strange ways as she pulled her to the elevator.

“Maybe we will luck out and be in the same hotel as them and we will see them later.” Megan sighed lost in some romantic thought or another about meeting the group of five they were off to meet.

The girls arrived at the venue and stood in the line with other anxious girls who had shelled out the big bucks to get to meet the guys each with a hope to walk away with a memory that would last them a lifetime, and a good picture.

Izzy watched the other girls in the line chat excitedly. Megan had found a girl in front of them that she actually chatted with online and the two commenced talking about the forum and fan fiction site they frequented. Izzy listened for awhile but without being able to contribute to the conversation she started to stare idly at the poster of the guys hanging at the venue. Her eyes fell on each of the guys in turn and soon she felt she had each of their looks memorized, and from the conversation going on she felt she had their names memorized too, all except the other blond. For some reason Izzy could not remember the name of the fifth member, the other blond, the one with a strong jaw. It was almost as if every time she looked at him or tried to remember his name her mind fought against her, opting to give her a headache instead of the information.

“Not worth my time,” She muttered to herself when she, yet again, forgot his name.

Chapter 2 by Purpura Lipstick
Author's Notes:

Please, pleae tell me if this reads funny because I jump from Brian's POV to Izzy's within the same chapter. If it reads awkward I will try to fix it...

Brian double checked himself in the mirror making sure to brush all his hair forward.  He cringed at his thinning hair and wondered how long he would be able to keep the ever receding hairline hidden from the fans.   He sighed when he realized they probably knew before he did that his hair was thinning, it was one of the ‘perks’ of living in the spotlight.  

He turned and watched as his band mates, his brothers, finished getting themselves ready for the upcoming sound check and meet and greet.  AJ was still primping in the mirror, licking his finger and running it over his eyebrow.  Brian couldn’t help but let a small chuckle escape his lips when he watched his friend open a bottle of black nail polish and touch up his nails.

Brian’s eyes fell on his cousin next.  The tall man was reading a newspaper as they waited to go onstage.  Brian wistfully wished for a minute that they could share more of the same genes, hair and height.  Brian wished he had a little more of both and Kevin seemed to have both to spare.  Every so often Brian would notice Kevin glancing at the watch on his arm, keeping his eye on the time to try to get them to start their pre-show events on time.  Brian knew they wouldn’t be on time no matter how hard Kevin pushed but he imagined they would be worse if Kevin wasn’t there.

Next to him, Howie was on the phone with some woman that he’d been seeing for the past few weeks.  He was speaking in hushed tones and when he looked up and caught Brian looking his direction he smiled and winked but moved to another part of the room further away so that he could continue his conversation.   None of the guys knew anything about this new woman he’d been seeing, just that he spent a lot of time with her and seemed to be really connecting with her.   Brian wished him luck; he knew what it was like to have a good woman behind you, he was really lucky to have Leighanne.

Finally Brian’s eyes rested on Nick, the youngest of their group, sleeping on the couch. Brian shook his head at the sight.  He’d probably been out late partying the night before and was trying to sleep off his hangover before their appearance. 

“They’ve opened the doors and let them in. Can you hear that noise?” Brian smiled still amazed that he got to perform for a living.  The guys started to gather for the pre-performance rituals. As Howie hung up and headed back to the group, he kicked Nick to make him wake up. 

“Is it time already?” Nick asked yawning and stretching. 

Brian rolled his eyes and headed out on the stage welcomed by hundreds of screams. He walked up to the microphone and welcomed the crowd.

Izzy couldn’t stop glaring at Megan as they stood in the crowd screaming around them as the guys came out onto the stage.  “You didn’t tell me there was a mini concert.” She yelled at her friend over the screams.

Megan shrugged and smiled apologetically at her friend before turning her attention back to the stage.  Izzy looked up to see the five guys standing with their microphones, each one speaking to welcome them.   It seemed as they started talking, Izzy’s stomach started to feel queasy and uncomfortable.  As they sang, she sat down and dropped her head in her hands breathing slowly.

Brian stood on the stage looking around the audience, it was like they never took a break, the fans were just as enthusiastic now as they were during Millennium and Black and Blue.   They prepared to answer some questions and he knew that the crew would be preparing the girls to get in line so they could each meet the guys and get a picture with them.

He watched as the line started to form and one girl went streaming out of the room quickly.  He hoped she was feeling okay but he had little time to think about her, the line had started to move and the first girls were coming through.  He shook hands, said hello and smiled for the pictures. And just as quickly as the first girls came through, Brian noticed they were at the middle of the group by now.  His face was already aching from smiling but he continued to shake hands and smile so that each girl would feel special.

Izzy stood outside the doors taking deep breaths.  She had no idea what was wrong with her.  She’d never felt so light headed as she did while she was in that room. Maybe it was the densely packed girls screaming their heads off for the chance of any attention from the five guys standing on the stage.  She took one last breath and made her way back into the small room, showing her pass to the guard at the door.  She saw Megan standing at the back of a line her eyes scanning around and when they fell on her she waved to her friend to hurry up.

“Where have you been?” Megan asked Izzy when she returned to the room and they took their place at the end of the line?  “Nick is going to be anxious to be done with this and since we are last we are going to be rushed.” The girl mentioned to her friend.

“I’m sorry, I’m not feeling well.”  Izzy told her friend but her words fell on empty ears. Megan’s attention was on the five guys in front of them getting closer with every step they took.  Right before they reached the guys Megan turned back to Izzy. 

“You weren’t physically ill were you?” Megan crunched up her nose at the thought. 

“No,” Izzy shook her head.  “No, I just needed some air I felt like I was going to pass out but I did not throw up.”

“Okay, good I wouldn’t want you to get any of them sick.” Megan turned back and started through the line shaking the hand of the tall man with dark hair first, Kevin, if Izzy’s memory served.   Izzy rolled her eyes at her friend’s lack of concern for her, it had to be from being in such close proximity to the man she was going to marry.  

“Hello,” the man in front of her spoke. 

“Hi,” she responded and stuck out her hand to shake it.  She might as well, she’d not met anyone famous before, what would it hurt to smile and be polite. 

“How are you doing today?” Kevin asked her.

“I’m doing alright.” She smiled. No point in telling her that it seemed like every time they had opened their mouths to sing she felt like she was going to pass out.

“Thanks for coming.” He pulled her in for a hug and released her, she moved to the next man, the Hispanic looking one. Immediately this man pulled her into a hug and welcomed her.

“Thanks so much for coming,” He said as he winked at her.  He held onto his hands with his.  “Como estas?” he asked her.          

Izzy knew enough Spanish to know that he just asked her “How are you” but that was about where her limit was.  “I’m doing alright.” She answered back. 

He smiled and winked again talking to her at a crazy pace.  She couldn’t understand what he was saying, partly because he was talking so fast and making up strange phrases, and partly because he was using quite a few Spanish words mixed in with the English ones.

“Yo, D, what is the hold up?” AJ called out to Howie who was still talking to the girl standing in front of him. 

“Sorry guys, I was distracted by her beauty.” Again, he winked at Izzy and she was beginning to wonder if it really was a twitch and not a wink. 

“Howie, we should move this along.” Kevin reluctantly added to the mix.  “We do have a show to do.”

“Sure thing.” He smiled and Izzy moved to the next one in line, the blond whose name she could never remember.

“Hello,” He said with a soft southern accent breaking through.

“Hi,” she said suddenly feeling warmth fill her cheeks.  Why the hell was she blushing?

Brian took hold of her hand to shake it and instantly felt a jolt.  He released her hand and put his hand to his now throbbing head.   Before he collapsed he looked at the young woman, she was laying on the ground, thrashing as if in pain herself. 

Chapter 3 by Purpura Lipstick

She could feel her heart flutter as the man grew closer, their lips touching softly.  She felt comfortable, safe. She never wanted to leave.


Izzy could hear voices talking all around her and she knew that what she’d just been experiencing was only a dream.  She desperately tried to block out the voices so she could return to the dream she was having but every time she tried to recall the man in her dream her head started to hurt. So instead, she concentrated on the voices around her.  None of them sounded familiar but she could feel someone next to her so she was sure Megan was sitting close.


“I don’t know how it happened,” a male voice was saying.


Izzy didn’t hear a reply so she was pretty sure the man was speaking to someone on a phone.


“She got in line, shook his hand and passed out.” The man continued.


Izzy wished she could hear what was being said on the other side of the conversation. Somewhere in the back of her head a voice was screaming that she needed to wake up and get out of there, that she needed to run.  Izzy pushed the voice away and blinked her eyes open.   


“Izzy, are you okay?” Megan’s asked as soon as she opened her eyes.  “I was so worried, you just passed out.  Are you sure you are feeling okay?”


Izzy put her hand to her head as she stood up, the headache was still there but she felt fine.  She accepted the water that another woman handed her and sipped it as she got her bearings. The room was not large and it seemed that the cot she was on had been brought in for her.  She looked around and could see the stage and several people walking around it below.  It seemed they had set her up in one of the club level boxes.   There were only three other people in the room besides herself, Megan, the man she assumed she heard on the phone and a woman wearing a bright orange jacket that had the name of a security company splashed across the back.  She found herself sizing up the people in the room and scanning for exits, though she wasn’t sure why.


“How are you feeling?” The man asked.


“Fine,” Izzy replied as she took another drink of water.


“I think it might be best if you and your friend left, you obviously aren’t feeling up to being around for another two or three hours.” The man’s voice was kind but there was something in his eyes that Izzy found disturbing.


Izzy’s eyes fell on Megan’s face.  Her friend was disappointed.  If they left now she wouldn’t get to see the concert she had been so eager to see.  Izzy turned back to the man.  “No, I’m fine.  I am feeling much better.”    It wasn’t an all out lie.  Her head was still pounding but she didn’t feel faint or that she needed to vomit like she had felt earlier. 


“I still think it would be best if you left.”  The man said as he looked down at his phone. He must have gotten a text with upsetting news as the man’s face scrunched up before turning to them again.  “I have other things to attend to; this woman will help you exit the venue.” She indicated the woman with the security jacket as he left the room.


“Yes Mr. Wright,” The woman muttered and looked back at Izzy and Megan.  “If you will follow me please?”  The woman opened the door and held it waiting for the two to follow her.


“Listen…” Izzy spoke to the woman, pausing to get her name.


“Annie” She supplied.


“Listen, Annie.  We’ve come all the way from Nebraska to see this show.  My friend over here,” Izzy pointed to Megan.  “She’s been dying to see them in concert and drug me all the way here so that she wouldn’t be alone.   Please let us go to our seats so we can watch the show.”


Annie looked back and forth between the two girls and eventually broke into an understanding smile.  “Well I can’t let your trip go to waste.  Just promise me that if you start feeling light headed or that you are going to pass out…”


“Annie, I promise I will not pass out again.”  Izzy winked at the other woman and grabbed Megan’s hand in order to headed to their seats.  They missed the opening act but Izzy and Megan really didn’t care about that. 


Megan was excited to be only five rows away from the stage but Izzy had her qualms.   She felt that it was meeting Brian, she finally remembered his name, was a shock to her system.  She couldn’t explain it, but her body and her mind fought against her when she saw him.  She needed to see him again to find out what it was that happened between them.  Why did she remember shaking his hand one minute then wake to find herself removed and on a cot because she fainted?


Izzy wouldn’t be able to think about it any longer as the music started and the group made their appearance on the stage.  The sounds of the girls screaming around here almost drowned out the sound of the guys starting to sing on the stage.  She imagined that because she was so close she was able to hear, if she was just a bit further back she was sure all she would hear were the screaming cries of undying love from the fans in the rows in front of her. 


Brian moved around on the stage, the screams of the girls were giving him a headache tonight. Or was it that he had a headache before and they were just amplifying it?  He danced around trying to remember the steps he was supposed to be doing.  He almost missed his cue to sing and he was lucky he remembered the words.  He was off tonight and he hoped that the fans wouldn’t notice.  For one horrible moment he thought his heart was bothering him, the feeling was similar to what he remembered but he put his mind at ease, his heart hadn’t felt that way in many years.


There was a small break after the first set of songs and he knew he should be welcoming the crowd to their show but the words did not want to come out of his mouth.  Instead, he sat there looking out at the crowd, letting the others talk.   


He almost fell off his chair when a flash of sunshine blinded him.  There was no sunshine in the arena, where did that come from?  He glanced around but no longer saw the stage or the fans.  He was in a field running after a woman in front of him.  Her dress blowing in the wind she was creating.  When she turned his heart jumped in his chest.  He knew she wasn’t Leighanne when the memory started since the woman he’d followed had brown hair but he was shocked to see the fan who had collapsed standing in front of him.


“Rok…” He heard a voice call him.  “Yo Brian!”


Brian shook his head and opened his eyes to find himself back on stage.  Kevin and Howie were looking at him strangely while Nick and AJ were entertaining the crowd.


“What’s wrong?” Kevin asked him making sure to cover the microphone. 


Brian shook his head.  He had no idea what he just saw or why he saw it.  “I’m fine.” He lied.  “Let’s get on with this.”   He smiled and stood.  He didn’t have to worry about addressing the crowd since as soon as the others saw he was okay they started the next song on their set list. 


When the set of songs ended they ran to the backstage area to get changed for the next set of songs.  Brian moved slower than usual.  Nick and Kevin were the first changed and headed back onto the stage to delay so the others could finish up. 


“Hey Brian, here, drink this.” Howie handed him a bottle of water.  He cracked the lid open and chugged the water.  “What happened earlier is still affecting you isn’t it?” 


Brian sighed and nodded.  “My head hurts.” He admitted to his long time friend.


Howie moved to his area and searched through his bag pulling out a bottle of Tylenol.  “Here.” He gave Brian a couple of pills and Brian threw his head back as he swallowed the pills with a gulp of water.  


“Thanks man.” Brian said has he patted Howie’s back.  The duo headed back on the stage where the others were waiting.   The Tylenol worked wonders for Brian.  His head stopped hurting and he was able to continue with the show without a hitch for the rest of the night.   Finally, they made it to their encore performance.  They were saying their good-byes before they completed the song when Brian’s eyes found her again.


Izzy gasped as the man she’d been hoping would look her way all night finally found her.  Neither one passed out this time, but it was as if time stood still.  The world around them melted and they stood across from each other speaking vows.  It felt so real that it scared Izzy and she looked away quickly.  When she tried to look back at him, the group was waving as they exited the stage and Megan was still jumping up and down screaming for them to come back.  Izzy knew they wouldn’t, they would be long gone before the music stopped playing most likely.  She took her seat and waited for her friend. As she waited she tried to pull the image she saw when Brian and her eyes connected.  What the hell had she seen?  

Chapter 4 by Purpura Lipstick

Megan mentioned nothing about the fainting episode to Izzy the night after the concert or the next morning as they prepared for their drive back home.  She was too busy chattering about the concert and meeting the guys.  This had been a once in a lifetime experience for her, even the experience of dealing with their manager was exciting enough for Megan to talk about but no mention of Izzy fainting crossed her lips, it was almost as if Megan couldn’t remember it happened.


“Are you going to answer that?” Megan was asking Izzy when she tuned back into listening to her friend.


“What?” She asked and noticed her phone was buzzing on the nearby counter.  Izzy looked down and noticed Natalie’s name flashing on the screen.  She groaned internally.  She knew if she didn’t answer the call it would only fuel Natalie’s fire but she did not want to ruin her mini vacation already and listen to her friend gripe.  


Finally deciding to give in she pushed the green button on her screen and made a face at Megan as she answered. “Hello Natalie.”


She managed to talk her friend down after about ten minutes.  She didn’t understand her friend’s concern with her being with Megan for the concert.  Izzy told her that she would tell her about it when they got home and that she shouldn’t worry.


“How can you stand being friends with her?  She seems like such a controlling bitch.” Megan said when they finally got the car packed up and started on their way home. 


“She’s just acting like a big sister,” Izzy shrugged. Sometimes she wondered why she put up with Natalie, but every time she distanced herself from the girl she found she missed her after awhile. 


“Even big sisters need to back off,” Megan mumbled turning the car onto the on ramp for the highway.


The girls were quite with only the sound of the radio echoing through the car as they started on their trip back home.  Izzy was hoping that Megan wouldn’t be upset with her the entire time.  It was really none of Megan’s business regarding Izzy’s friendship with Natalie.  And it was none of Natalie’s business what Izzy did when she was hanging out with Megan.  Izzy tried to get the two girls to hang out once so she could hang out with both at the same time, but personalities clashed badly and Izzy never tried again.


“Sorry I was such a bitch,” Megan finally spoke as they pulled off the highway to grab some lunch.  “I want to stop here, it’s nothing but flat boring flat land ahead and I want to stretch and eat.” She smiled at her friend as they piled out of the car and into the fast food restaurant.  


“It was a long four hours.” Izzy smiled back at her friend hoping now the remainder of the trip would be easy going and fun like their trip out to the concert had been.  The girls ate slowly, chatting the entire time. Though they had several hours more in the car they seemed to be making up the lost time at lunch.  By the time they got back into the car they had lost valuable time.


“Shit,” Megan said when she got back in the car and looked at the clock.  “We should have gotten it to go; we spent way too much time in there.” She laughed and smiled at her friend.


They pulled out of the parking lot, neither one noticing the black SUV that pulled out after them. 


“That concert was the best I’ve been too,” Megan said, yet again.


“Oh?” Izzy asked. She’d only ever been to the one concert so she had nothing to compare it to. 


“The energy from the guys, the meet and greet, having you with me, all of those things just made the whole experience that much better.” Megan was smiling but her face soon fell and she looked concerned as she checked her mirrors.


“What’s wrong?” Izzy asked picking up on the concern on her friend’s face.


“There is a black SUV behind us that has been riding my ass for miles.  I keep slowing down in hopes that he will take the hint and go around, but he just slows down with me.” 


“Try going faster, maybe they just want to move and are too chicken shit to pass?” Izzy suggested finding it strange that the other side of the two lane highway was empty and a big SUV didn’t want chance passing.


“They’ve been passing the same cars as me; they just are staying right on my ass.” 


“Pull over and maybe they’ll get the hint.” Izzy craned her neck to look behind her at the SUV. She could see two men sitting in the front with a possible third guy in the back.  She felt Megan start to slow the car down and move to the side.   The SUV sailed on by and both girls let out a sigh of relief. 


“That was a little scary.” Megan noted leaning back in her seat with her eyes closed.    “I am going to wait a little bit before going again so that they are far enough down the highway that I won’t meet up with them again.” 


Izzy nodded in agreement and the girls sat staring at the SUV driving down the highway.  Soon it was out of sight and Megan put the car in gear and started along the road again.   Megan had chosen this particular route because she enjoyed the smaller highway, less people on the road but enough that you didn’t feel you were on a lone road to nowhere.   Soon the girls were chatting in their carefree manner again.


“So Izzy, I have to know.  I’ve been quiet about it because I kept thinking you would mention something to me, but what happened when you shook Brian’s hand?” Megan glanced between her friend and the road. 


Izzy didn’t quite know how to answer her friend.  How do you explain having memories of someone you’ve never met before without sounding insane?   She was saved from having to answer when both girls saw a black SUV coming towards them in the other direction.


“Was that?” Izzy started to ask but her question was soon answered when the SUV swerved around quickly and was following them again, going faster.  Megan pressed the gas pedal down but the SUV kept right on their tail. 


“Something tells me pulling over won’t help this time.” Megan was visibly scared for her life as she tried to go faster than the SUV.  The car lurched forwarded as they felt the SUV collide with them.  Megan pressed the pedal all the way to the floor and they managed to get away from the bumper of the SUV but only for a moment. 


This road wasn’t normally this empty, where were the other cars, Izzy wondered as the SUV collided with them again both girls flying forward and lurching back quickly.


“What the fuck!” Megan cried out as the SUV hit them harder forcing their car to spin around and off to the side of the road.  Thankfully they had not rolled but now they were facing the SUV and both girls could see the men sitting stone faced as they collided with the car head on.


“Megan?” Izzy shook her friend; the blood trickling from her forehead scared her.  Was her friend dead? All sorts of questions were running through her mind.  Why were these guys doing this? Were they looking for a fun time by running a couple of girls off the road or was there something more sinister?  She didn’t have time to think as the doors to the SUV opened and all three men started to get out.  Izzy undid her buckle and threw open the door. She hoped that if she could get away she would be able to help her friend.  She glanced at the license plate of the SUV and tried to remember the plate VTV-686. 


She took one glance at her friend before taking off through the field next to them.  The fence near the road where they crashed was low and she was able to climb it easily.  She looked back as she made it over and saw two guys heading in her direction, the third going towards the car. 


Izzy tried to run away from her would be captors but she was shaky from the accident and she was unsure of where she was going.  She tripped over a rock and fell flat on the ground.  She heard footsteps near her and she knew they’d caught up to her. 


She felt hands on her arms as they started to pull her off the ground.  The man holding still showed no emotion. 


“What do you want?” she demanded of her captor.  Neither one answered her. She caught movement out of the side of her eye and noticed the other man pulling something out of the pocket in his jacket.  Her breathing became faster, this man was going to drug her and take her somewhere or worse they were just going to do it all here.


Panic took over and before Izzy knew what happened she escaped the man’s grasp.  She swung her arms out attacking the man. She was shocked that her punches were thrown with precision, it was like she knew what she was doing but she’d never been in a fight before in her life.  Perhaps this was animal instinct taking over; perhaps when everyone fears for their lives they can fight. Somehow she doubted it and really didn’t have time to ponder her new abilities.


The man behind her grabbed hold of her trying to keep her arms down but somehow she managed to throw him over her shoulders and to the ground.  Quickly she brought her leg down on the man’s gut and then kicked his head, the angle it was now at did not look natural and Izzy was sure she just killed him. 


The first man started towards her again but she quickly evaded his lunge and used her elbow to his back to knock him down, he stood and faced her, a needle in his hand.  She knew that if that needle broke her skin it would be over for her.  He grabbed hold of one arm and moved the hand with the needle closer.  She managed to use her strength in her other arm to keep the hand away, slowly she freed her other arm and grabbed hold of the hand with the needle plunging it into the man’s neck. He looked at her shocked before falling to the ground. 


Izzy fell to the ground breathing heavily.  She was stunned she just managed to fight off two men who were bigger than her.  “Megan!” the thought came over her and she rushed back to the car.  The SUV was gone an ambulance replaced it. EMT’s were pulling Megan out of the car and attending to her.  She walked over and a cop took notice of her. 


“Ma’am” He started to grab her arm but she jerked her arm away.  After what just happened she wasn’t sure what was going on but she didn’t want to be touched. 


“Two men in the field,” She managed to get out between breaths. The cop nodded and he and another went out into the field where she just came from.   Now that she felt safe, Megan was getting help, the third man was nowhere to be seen, now Izzy let her legs give way and she collapsed to the ground in relief and exhaustion.

Chapter 5 by Purpura Lipstick

“Is he asleep?” Brian asked his wife as she joined him on the couch after putting their son Baylee to sleep.   He put the book he was reading down and held his arms open to his wife. 


Leighanne nodded and sat down so that Brian could wrap his arms around her.  “He only wanted three stories tonight.” She sighed with a smile on her face as she leaned into her husband.  


“Only three? Last night when I put him down he requested five.” Brian laughed and Leighanne joined in.  He loved the sound of his wife’s laugh and when it mingled with his son’s and his own he felt like he had found a piece of heaven on earth.  


He breathed the smell of Leighanne’s shampoo as he held her tightly in his arms, kissing her shoulders. 


Brian closed his eyes as his lips met with Leighanne’s when he pulled away he was startled to see the face of the fan from earlier looking back at him.  “What?” he whispered to himself as he closed his eyes again as the woman moved closer to kiss him.  He cringed as he prepared to feel her lips on his. 


“Brian?” Leighanne’s voice brought him back and he slowly opened his eyes relieved to see Leighanne sitting in front of him and not the unknown fan from earlier.   “What’s wrong?” she asked her voice full of concern for her husband.


Brian shook his head, it was just an image.  Some of the other guys had mentioned sometimes fantasizing about a fan when they were with their wives or girlfriends, maybe seeing all those girls day in and day out had finally seeped into his brain and he was seeing one now too.  “Nothing.” He smiled at Leighanne and pulled her back to him.   The two continued to kiss, finally moving into their bedroom together.  


Brian listened to his wife’s steady breathing as she lay next to him, he thought he would fall right to sleep after making love to her like he normally did but tonight sleep would not come.   The earlier vision, daydream, about the fan was still bothering him.  Despite what the other guys had told him, despite that it was only a split second it was still weighing heavily on his mind.   The other guys all talked about their exploits with fans or would joke about what fans they would be envisioning that night as they were with their girls but Brian had never felt he needed to imagine anyone but his wife, she was enough for him.  They loved each other passionately. He joined in with the guys as they joked, but he had never actually envisioned a fan.


And to have such an intimate vision of a fan that had caused such a strange reaction at the meet and greet and then again on stage.   Even though he’d fought the vision initially, a part of him felt drawn to her.  He wanted to relax and feel the other woman’s kiss on his lips.


Quietly he snuck out of the bed looking back to make sure Leighanne was still asleep.  He slipped by Baylee’s bunk and checked on him.  He was still soundly sleeping. 


Brian moved to the living area of the bus and sat looking out of the window at the level ground as the bus passed.  Perhaps the lull of the landscape would help put him to sleep.  Lights ahead of the bus caught his vision and he looked towards an ambulance on the side of the road.  Police cars were surrounding a lone car that looked as if it had been in a fender bender.  No other car was around, a hit and run.    


As the bus passed the ambulance Brian strained his eyes to get a better look at what was going on.  He gasped in shock as he noticed the fan from earlier in the day sitting at the back of the ambulance with a blanket wrapped around her talking to a police officer. 


“It will be alright,” He heard himself saying.


“Nothing will ever be the same again,” her voice was soft and he instantly knew it was not the voice of his wife, Leighanne, but of the fan he’d met.  


He closed his eyes and let the vision take over.


He had his arm around the fan, she looked younger but not by a lot.  Tears were streaming down her face as she sat next to him.  He reached over and wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned her face towards his.  Just the sight of her made his heart jump; she was so beautiful to him.  Leighanne was a beauty but even though this girl wasn’t the typical beauty, he felt she was the most beautiful person he would ever see. 


“What are we going to do?” the woman was asking him.


“We will find a way out of this, we have before.” He assured her.


“I think there is a mole inside,” she whispered to him and he could feel himself agreeing though he did not say anything.   He just pulled her closer and held her tighter.  He felt love for her but helpless at the same time.  They were sitting in a barren room; a bed and a toilet were all he could see.  A prison cell? He wondered.


“Brian?” Leighanne’s voice, which sounded groggy, startled him and he jumped as he turned to face her, feeling guilty he was thinking about another woman.


“Hey babe,” He smiled at her ignoring what he just imagined.  He held his hand out to his wife and pulled her close to him.  They stood with their arms around each other watching the landscape fly by, the accident far behind them now. 


“What are you doing up?” Leighanne finally asked him.


“Couldn’t sleep.  I thought if I watched the road long enough it would help lull me to sleep.”  He knew he didn’t want to mention what he just thought about.  Why worry her over a daydream? 


“I know something that will help you sleep.” She moved closer and placed her lips on his pulling him tight against her body.  He could feel the excitement flow through him.  He smiled at his wife as she pulled him back into their bedroom. 


Again, Brian lay awake while his wife slept peacefully next to him.  He couldn’t sleep, his mind kept going back to that vision he had with the woman from the concert, from the accident.  Why was he fantasizing about this fan?  The hours ticked away and eventually Brian felt his heavy eyes close as sleep finally came to him, with the last thought on his mind the unknown fan, it was no surprise to him that his dreams were filled with her image.  Instead of tossing and turning over guilt about dreaming about another woman, Brian slept soundly with her image in his head.

Chapter 6 by Purpura Lipstick

Izzy and Megan were lucky, if that word could be used for the situation they had found themselves in. Neither one of them was really injured, Megan said the man had approached the car, glanced in the window and turned back to the SUV when cars started to come in the opposite direction.  Megan used that opportunity to call 911 for assistance.  The SUV had looped back a couple of times but the police were there and it did not stop.


The police had not found anyone in the fields either.  It was already dark by the time the paramedics started to tend her minor cuts and scrapes from the fight she had been in.


Izzy, somehow, did not find that in the least bit strange that the men could not be found.  None of the officers believed her and continued to ask how she got the injuries.  She was sure they thought that either the girls had gotten into a fight or maybe Izzy had an abusive boyfriend that she was covering for. She would have felt that she was going crazy except that Megan remembered what happened as well.   Since neither one of them needed any major medical treatment and the car was still running, the girls gave their statements and were released that same night. 


Neither girl really spoke much after what they experienced which made for a long drive the remainder of the way home.  Megan drove carefully but she took every chance to speed that she could, Izzy knew, that like herself, she was hoping the black SUV would not show up again.  They both let out a huge sigh of relief as they pulled into Izzy’s apartment complex. 


Both girls trudged up the steps to Izzy’s apartment.  Izzy was thankful her bag wasn’t too heavy.  Izzy put her key in the lock and started to turn the door before it was yanked out of her hand.  “What the…” she started before she saw Natalie standing on the other side of the door.


“About time,” Natalie looked relieved as she pulled Izzy into an embrace.  “I was starting to worry about you.  I thought you would have been home sooner.”


“We ran into some car troubles,” Megan chimed in.


Izzy watched as Natalie glared at the other girl then looked down at the car they just vacated.  “An accident?”  Natalie pulled Izzy back and examined her taking in the cuts and bruises for the first time.  “What did you do to her Megan?” Natalie asked the other girl in an accusatory tone.


“Back off of her Natalie, it wasn’t her fault.  Another car crashed into us.”  Izzy pushed past Natalie and pulled her away from the door so Megan could come in. 


“Irresponsible,” Natalie murmured.   “First you practically drag her off on this road trip, then your horrible driving got you both in an accident and Izzy looks like she took the brunt of the accident.” She stood with her hands on her hips glaring at the other girl.


“Natalie!” Izzy’s voice carried through the small apartment.  “If you are going to be mean to my friends you are going to leave.  You are both my friends, get over it and move on. If you can’t handle it then you can leave, Megan stays.” 


Megan looked at the two girls uneasily.  “I just need to use the restroom then I want to get home.” She said rather meekly. 


Natalie stepped out of her way and let her pass; she moved to the kitchen and started to get plates out.  “I ordered some Chinese, it will be here soon.”


Izzy moved into her bedroom and put her stuff on her bed.  She threw herself down and groaned. She did not want to deal with Natalie tonight, she wanted to just sleep and forget about the strange things that happened to her over the past few days.   When she heard the running water of the bathroom she moved back into the living space, she did not want Natalie alone with Megan. 


Izzy felt loyal to Natalie, they had been through a lot together.  Natalie was a fiercely loyal friend and Izzy hoped she wouldn’t have to get rid of her, but the way she'd been acting the past couple of months Izzy was afraid she was becoming a bit of a psycho of the single white female variety. 


“Well, I’m off.” Megan said when they both reached the living room.  “It was fun, mostly,” Megan smiled and hugged Izzy.  “Call me if you need anything,” she whispered as they hugged.


“Thanks,” Izzy smiled and pulled away.  “I am glad you invited me.” She said.  She was glad she got away, she had more fun than she cared to admit even with passing out at the meet and greet and the strange incident with the SUV. 


Natalie was quiet until the food arrived then the questions started as they sat down to eat.


“Tell me about your trip, how was the concert?” 


“It was okay; meeting the guys backstage was pretty cool too.” Izzy said as she took a bite of her food, she practically jumped out of her seat when Natalie dropped her fork on her plate.


“You met them?” She asked with her eyes wide.


Izzy nodded.  “Yah, Megan sprung that information on me last minute.  I didn’t really want to meet them, I mean they are a boy band, but they seemed to be pretty nice.  Well, of the ones I met they seemed to be nice.”


“You didn’t get to meet them all?” Natalie wondered with her eyes still wide.


“No, I passed out when I got halfway through the line.”


Natalie relaxed some and sat back in her seat.  “Passed out?” She asked with light laughter to her voice.


“Yah, I shook, uh, Brian’s hand and passed out.” Izzy was about to pick up her glass to finish her beverage when Natalie yanked it off the table. 


“Brian? What happened?” Natalie asked as she stood and moved towards the kitchen with their glasses.  “Care for some more?”  She shook Izzy’s glass back and forth. 


“Yes please,” She replied and watched as Natalie started to pour the beverages.   “I don’t know, we just shook hands and next thing I knew I was on the floor.  But that wasn’t the strangest thing about the trip.” Izzy stood and moved to stand at the island so that she could be closer to her friend as she talked. She was done eating anyway.   Both glasses were full but Natalie still had her back to Izzy.  She watched as Natalie pulled a packet of something out and dumped a white powder into one of the glasses, her glass.   Quickly she moved back to her seat and sat as if she hadn’t moved.


Natalie turned and looked at Izzy, “What was stranger than that?”


“The accident…” Izzy said letting the statement trail off as her glass was put in front of her. 


“Well, let’s toast that the accident wasn’t major and that you made it home safely.”  Natalie eyed the drink in front of Izzy.  “You will feel better after drinking, I promise.”  She smiled with what looked like a very creepy smile scaring Izzy even more.


She hesitated to pick up the drink but she did, a look of relief crossed over Natalie’s face as Izzy moved it closer to her mouth.  Before she could take a drink Izzy threw her glass across the room in Natalie’s direction forcing her to move out of the way. 


She wasted no time as she got out of her chair and headed towards the door.  She was thankful she had thrown her purse by the door and she grabbed it quickly as she went to open the door.


Before she could get out she felt herself being pulled backwards and into Natalie’s hold.  “Things are going to get worse if you don’t let me take care of this now, this I can promise you.” Natalie hissed in Izzy’s ear as she pulled her further away from the door.


Grasping her bag tightly, Izzy swung it backwards and sighed when it collided with Natalie’s head.  Natalie’s reaction to let Izzy go so she could grasp her head gave Izzy enough time to get back to the door and run outside.  She managed to make it to her car and with her keys in hand she watched the door to her apartment as she unlocked the door and got behind the wheel.  


Izzy pulled out of her parking lot just as Natalie stood up and looked out the door glaring at her as she drove away.  “What the hell!” Izzy proclaimed.  She didn’t allow herself to think about anything that had happened the last few days as she drove, if she had thought about it she probably would have been in an accident.  Her life was being thrown for a loop and she wasn’t sure where it was going to go now.

Chapter 7 by Purpura Lipstick

Brian must have been asleep when the buses finally pulled into the next venue.  When he woke, Leighanne and Baylee were in the front of the bus working on Baylee’s morning work.  Leighanne had decided to home school their son and had taken on all of the teaching herself.  Brian had sat in on a few of the sessions but with his demand of work he wasn’t able to see her in action often.


“How are my two favorite people doing this morning?” he asked as he kissed his wife and rubbed Baylee’s head. 


“Daddy look what I made,” Baylee said holding up a picture of what looked like three people in front of a massive black box.  


“Is that us? With the tour bus?” Brian guessed kneeling down to be at Baylee’s level.  His son nodded eagerly before putting the paper down on the table and tracing letters that were in front of him.


Brian stood and put his arms around his wife, nuzzling her neck. “Why did you let me sleep?”


“You looked so peaceful and I know you didn’t sleep well last night. I thought I’d let you get some extra time in.”  She smiled and patted his arms pulling them off of her.  “Now finish getting ready before one of the guys comes looking for you.”


At that moment there was a knock on the front of their bus door.  “Hello?” Nick’s voice called from the front. 


“Uncle Nick,” Baylee smiled and got off his chair to give Nick a hug. 


“Hey little guy.” He set Baylee down and moved further onto the bus.  “Ready Brian?” He asked.


“Ready for what?”


Nick looked between Brian and Leighanne quizzically.  “Uh, you wanted to help the crew set up.  They have quite a bit of it done and were wondering if you still wanted to join them, I said I’d find you.”


Brian thought about what Nick said and then remembered that he had mentioned it to the crew at the last venue, before the incident with the fan.  Brian looked at Leighanne apologetically but she only smiled and nodded at him.  He kissed her, hugged Baylee and followed Nick off of the bus. 


“Hey guys,” He called out as he passed Howie and AJ sitting outside their buses in what they all referred to as the calm before the storm.   Brian squinted in the sunlight to try to get a better look at the woman standing behind Howie; it didn’t look like any girl that he’d seen Howie dating before.  When he couldn’t make her out clearly he shrugged it off and made his way inside.


The crew greeted him and when he asked what he could do he was shown to a box full of wires.  “Someone decided it would be funny to cram these into the box instead of rolling them up like they should.”  Their head crew guy Johnny explained.   “Can you untangle these?” The man was looking at Brian hopeful and he knew that they had probably planned for these cords to be tangled, it would give him the impression that he was helping while keeping him out of the way.  He didn’t mind though.


“Sure,” he smiled and sat down reaching in and grabbing the wires.  “Where you going?” He asked when he noticed that Nick was walking back towards the exit. 


“You said you wanted to help, I never volunteered. I’m going to play some video games before we actually have to work.”


Brian laughed as he shook his head at his friend.  He set to work watching the crew and untangling the wires.  A girl standing around doing nothing caught his attention.  He looked up several times to see her standing around.  He wanted to flag Johnny down and ask if she needed something to do she could help him but before he could ask the woman turned around and Brian dropped the wires.  It was the fan from yesterday’s show.


She held up her hand to wave at Brian.  He looked for security, how had she gotten inside. Nobody was allowed inside before the state was even set up.  He flagged a man who wore a bright orange security shirt.  The man started walking towards Brian, Brian looked back to where the fan was so he could point her out but she was gone.  Nobody was standing where she just stood.  He scratched his head.


“Can I help you?” the man asked him.


“Uh, I just wanted to know if there is a better seat than this that I could have.” He asked blushing slightly from embarrassment.  Leave it to the rich pop star to request a better seat, right? 


“Sure.” The man nodded and headed towards the back of the auditorium only to arrive shortly with a folding chair with a back. 


“Thank you so much…”


“Tom,” the man supplied.


“Thanks, Tom.”  Brian smiled and took his seat resuming with the job of untangling the wires.


After several hours and the beginning of a headache, Brian had managed to untangle the massive amount of wires much to the pleasure of Johnny.  He thought he had seen the fan two other times but he was cautious to summon Tom again unless he was sure she would stick around.  She was never around after he went back to work and looked up again.  He rubbed his eyes, a headache was beginning to form and it was soon going to be time to start preparing for the sound check concert. 


“What did they do to you in there?” Howie laughed at him as he walked out of the venue.


“Hours of untangling wire that I don’t think they really needed.” He shook his head that he just wasted time in an attempt to show he was useful.  He rubbed his forehead, the headache really starting to take effect.


“Howie?” Brian turned towards his friend.  “Have you been out here long?”


“Most of the time you’ve been inside, yes, I’ve been sitting out here soaking in the sun.”  Howie smiled at him.


“Did you see a girl going in or exiting, a girl that wouldn’t be wearing roadie clothes or security outfit?”


Howie shook his head.  “Nope, why?”


“It will sound strange but that fan I met yesterday before, you know the fainting episode.  Well I could have sworn I saw her in there on three separate occasions but if you say you never saw her come in or out and there is no way she came in through the front.”  Brian continued to rub his head, the pain was getting stronger.


“Maybe it was a result of that headache it looks like you are growing.” Howie laughed and reached into a nearby bag tossing him a bottle of Tylenol.   “Take a couple of those and go lie down before we have to really work.”  Brian nodded and took a couple of the pills quickly noting that the usual Tylenol stamp was missing, perhaps he filled up the bottle with a generic pill?  He grabbed a water before heading into his bus. 


“Thanks D,” Brian smiled tossing the bottle back.


“No sweat Brian.” Howie smiled and leaned back in his chair continuing to enjoy the warm day. 


Brian didn’t miss a beat that night during the show.  He couldn’t remember why he felt strange between helping the crew and the family time he spent with Leighanne and Baylee before the show.  He remembered having a headache and Howie giving him something, but why did he have a headache.  Must have been from the wires he untangled. 


“Brian you are on tonight, it’s good to see you back to normal.” AJ said patting his friend on the back.  Brian smiled though he didn’t know why he would have been off any other night.


The concert ended and Brian headed back to his bus to find Leighanne reading a magazine waiting for him.  “I caught a couple of the first songs with Baylee but he was tired tonight.  How did the rest of the concert go?” She asked smiling.


Brian fell onto the couch next to her and sighed.  “It was a great night.” He leaned in to kiss his wife when movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he quickly swiveled his head.  “Is Baylee in bed?” He asked her.


“He is,” She smiled and spoke in a playful tone pulling Brian closer to her.   He shrugged what he thought he saw off and kissed his wife. 


Over Leighanne' shoulder he saw the image of a girl falling to the ground after being hit with something.  “I need to help her,” he mumbled after their lips disconnected.


“Brian?” Leighanne snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. “Who are you talking about?” She asked as she turned her head in the direction Brian was still staring in.   She waved her hand in front of his eyes attempting to get him to come back to the present and answer her.


“What?” He asked as his eyes focused on her again. 


“Who are you talking about?” Leighanne asked looking at him concerned.


“I wasn’t talking about anyone.” He answered honestly.  He had no idea what Leighanne was referring to. They had just been kissing.   “Darn it.” He said as the pain in his head started to take over out of nowhere. 


“What’s wrong?” Leighanne asked him pulling him close to her and wrapping her arms around him.  “Let me get something for you.”  She stood and went to a drawer pulling out a bottle of Tylenol.  She opened it and took a couple of pills out, setting them down on the counter as she got a glass for water.   She filled the glass as Brian stood and scooped up the pills. 


“Howie said you had a headache earlier and told me that these really seemed to help you.  It was thoughtful of him since I forgot to pack Tylenol and only have Advil.” She smiled and held the glass of water out to him to take. 


He smiled at his wife and looked at the pills again, was Tylenol always a slightly yellow color?  He shrugged it off knowing his wife and Howie only had his best interests at heart.  He swallowed the pills and chased them down with the water.


“Better?” She asked as she took the glass back from him.


Brian nodded and headed back to the couch.  “How about we watch a movie before bed?” He smiled at her and patted the couch next to her.  He turned the television on and watched as Leighanne joined him on the couch.  She sat next to him but did not move closer to him as she usually did, he shrugged it off.  If he was getting sick he could see that she would not want to be close to him, she would not want to get sick either. 

Chapter 8 by Purpura Lipstick

Izzy turned her car into the parking lot of the college campus.  She’d been staying with Megan the last couple of days but she could no longer shut herself away from the world.  Despite the strange occurrences of the past few days, and though she took a few extra days off of her job she felt it was time to finally get back to finishing her Master’s degree.   She scheduled time to meet with her advisor that morning and then was planning to go the library on campus to research. 

Distracted by gathering all her stuff out of her car she picked up her phone on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Izzy, thank God you answered.  I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”  Natalie’s voice crackled slightly on the other end. 

“I don’t have time for this Natalie.  After the other night we are through being friends, leave my key and get out of my place.” 

“You don’t understand Izzy, what I tried to do the other night was for your own good.” Natalie pleaded on the phone. 

“I don’t have time; I am meeting with my advisor.  Please just leave my key and get out.”  Izzy ended the call hanging on up on Natalie.  She couldn’t see how the other girl attempting to drug her would be for her own good.  Tossing her phone back into her purse Izzy trudged over to her advisor’s office.  She stood in front of Dr. Thompson’s office for a few seconds before reaching forward to knock.  

“Hello Izzy.” He smiled as she knocked and entered the office.  “How have you been?”

“Good,” She stated. She liked her advisor but she was here to get advice on her thesis not to talk about the strangeness of the last few days.   

“So what did you want to talk about?” He asked his pen poised over a notepad ready to take any notes he might need to help her along. 

Izzy started to discuss her paper with her professor but as she talked flashes of classes that she couldn’t remember taking started to come to mind.  She had so many classes to get her Bachelors and now her Masters that it wouldn’t surprise her if the class she was having flashes of was somewhere on her transcript.  

She tried to listen to the advice her mentor was giving her but her mind continued to focus on the professor in her head talking about line and color, an art class?  Izzy knew that she hadn’t taken any art classes for Bachelors in Math and now working towards her Masters in Business.   Shaking her head she focused on the words of her advisor.

“Izzy, what is going on with you?” Her Dr. Thompson asked as he moved to the chair next to her.  “You seem distracted today.”  He moved to put his hand on her knee but pulled it back quickly as it would probably be inappropriate. 

“Some things happened that have my mind a little messed up,” She admitted. 

“Anything I can help with?” 

Izzy thought about it for a minute.  Dr. Thompson had been like a father to her the last couple of years.  Her own father and mother had died when she was young and without any brothers or sisters he had always felt like family to her.  She felt comfortable talking about anything with him but she felt guarded over the recent occurrences.   What if she told him about what happened at the concert and he flipped out on her like Natalie, she wasn’t sure she could handle that from two people. 

She decided that she could tell him what was bothering her without going into details, “Just a friend who has gone a little psycho on me.” Izzy attempted a smile. 

“Not sure if there such a thing as “a little psycho”.  Be careful.” His face expressed the same concern and compassion she was used to seeing from him.  She almost broke down and told him the entire story but he continued to talk.  “I think you should probably consider taking today off, I know you want to get into your thesis but if your head is not on straight anything you accomplish today will not be completely taken in and I’m afraid you would double your efforts later.”

Izzy nodded in agreement.  “Taking another day might not be a bad idea.  Thanks.” Izzy smiled and grabbed her bags and headed out the door. 

“Remember my door is always open if you need an ear.” Dr. Thompson’s voice followed her out the door.

“Okay, thank you.” She called back before closing the door behind her. 

Izzy made her way through the building and headed outside.  She knew that Dr. Thompson was right.  If she tried to go to the library to research that day that she might not be focused enough to really absorb what she was reading.  It would be better for her to figure out what was going on with her first.  

“Izzy!” Natalie’s voice was loud and clear. Izzy turned to face Natalie who looked like she had been crying for several hours.  The other girl approached Izzy slowly.  “Please, hear me out.” She begged Izzy.

“Natalie, I don’t know what you were trying to do to me the other night but a friend does not try to drug another friend.  Plus, I am sick of the bickering between you and Megan. “

“I know I understand I will work at being a better friend. I will try to get along with Megan for your sake.” She said as she advanced closer still to Izzy.  “As for the other thing, it wasn’t drugs.  It was a sleeping pill. After all you went through I thought you could use the sleep.”  She smiled at Izzy but something about her face didn’t have Izzy convinced.

“No,” Izzy said flatly and turned to walk away from her former friend.

“Fine, we’ll do this the hard way.” Natalie’s pleading voice changed to a voice of detest.  Izzy turned in time to see Natalie lunge at her with something in her hand.  She moved quickly enough to get out of the other girl’s path and caught sight of the syringe in her hand. 

“What the hell!” Izzy shrieked catching the attention of a few co-eds passing by. 

Natalie paid no attention the crowd that was gathering to watch them; instead she lunged towards Natalie again.  This time she managed to get close and was almost able to get the needle into Izzy’s skin. 

Izzy braced herself for feeling whatever she would feel when the plunger was pushed down but no feeling ever came.  She looked up to see Natalie being pulled off of her by a couple of guys.  

“Natalie, we are through as friends.  Next time I see you anywhere near me I will call the police.” Izzy shouted at the girl who was still being restrained by the two guys.  It was tempting to call the police on the spot but something deep down was telling her that the police would be no good in this situation.

Natalie smirked at Izzy and managed to get the arms of the two men off of her.  Laughing at Izzy, Natalie turned in the opposite direction and started to run off. 

Izzy felt scared, more scared than she had when she and Megan were being chased by unknown men.  What was going to happen with her former crazy friend on the loose?

Chapter 9 by Purpura Lipstick

The sun was warm and Brian inhaled deeply as he looked from the sky to the woman that sat across from him.  He knew that he had jumped slightly when he was sitting face to face with the fan from the other day.  The face he had come to know all too well over the last few days.   After the initial shock that he would be dreaming about a fan faded, a feeling of familiarity and comfort washed over him. 


“So you got me out here, what are you going to do with me?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye.


Brian didn’t know what to say, he wasn’t sure why they were even together.  He looked around and noticed they were in a park, a park he was unfamiliar with.  They were sitting on a blanket with a basket nearby, a picnic.  The girl sat waiting for him to respond, his heart was beating fast and his hands were beginning to sweat.   What was he going to tell this girl?  He didn’t know how he got there, why he would be there with her or any idea of what was going on.    He tried to formulate words to let her down gently but his mouth took over and spoke words without his brain approving.


“Will you marry me?” He blurted out.  He was confused as to why he would ask this stranger to marry him, especially since he was already married.  But part of him was elated when the woman said “yes” and hugged him tightly.  Her embrace felt natural, like he belonged in her arms.  


“I know we will be so happy together,” The woman said, she moved in to kiss him but before she could a dark colored van sped towards them.  Brian stood and pushed the woman out of the way so that the van did not hit either of them.   He was knocked to the ground and quickly stood so that he could run.  Before running he turned and looked for the woman, he may not really know her but he couldn’t leave her for these people in the van to get a hold of. Who knows what they would do to her. 


Finding her only a few feet away he reached down and grabbed her hand pulling her behind him as he ran down a dark alley.  It wasn’t long before they reached the end of the alley, with nowhere to go Brian shoved her behind some barrels and told her to stay put.    The screeching tires of the van caused him to turn, covering his eyes at the glaring bright light of the headlights.  


Brian could hear one of the doors open; he was able to squint in the light enough to see Kevin approaching him.  The minute his eyes fell on Kevin he panicked and tried to turn and run but Kevin grabbed hold of him tightly and drug him back towards the dark van.  Brian kicked and screamed.  He had no idea why he wanted away from his cousin so badly but he continued to fight and struggle.  Eventually he felt his body slammed on the metal ground of the van.  The door closing, shutting out any light the alley had.


Brian felt miserable as he lay on the floor of the van.  There were two heads in the front of the van, one was Kevin, and the other Brian couldn’t make out.  They drove without looking behind them.  He could easily open the door and roll out.  He moved slowly towards the door and grabbed hold of the handle.  The metal was cold on his fingers.  He started to open the door when a sight out of the window caught his eye.  There were no buildings or street lights passing as there should be on the city street, all he saw out the window were stars. 


 


The van stopped before he could open the door.  Fear washed over him, what would happen to him now?  He didn’t get a chance to wonder for long as the bottom of the van opened up and he started to fall through space. 


Sweating, Brian bolted straight up. The falling sensation still was coursing through his limbs for a few seconds as he sat in the bed.   He looked over at his wife, her eyes watching him carefully. 


“Are you alright?” She asked sleepily. 


“Bad dream,” he muttered.  It wasn’t worth it to him to mention that he’d been dreaming about a fan, the proposal that forced its way out of his mouth.  It was only a dream he didn’t need to worry her.   He didn’t want her to think that he was straying, he would never stray, and she was everything he needed.  He told himself again that there was no reason to worry her. 


“Come here,” She smiled at him and he lay back down on the bed close to her.  He felt comfortable next to her as she wrapped her arms around him.   Soon the sound of her steady breathing was lulling him back to sleep.  His eyes caught a glimpse of the clock before they closed, only a few more hours until he had to get up and get ready for a concert. 


The next day Brian had to drag himself out of bed.  He was running late, unusual for him.  The other four were surprised to see him straggling after Nick to get ready for the sound check party and meet and greet.


“Brian are you alright?” Kevin asked him as they stood off to the side.  Howie appeared instantly, his face full of concern as well.   


“I am just a little tired.  I didn’t sleep well last night.” He put on a smile for the guys to try to reassure them that he was going to be alright.


“That’s it?” Howie asked his eyes full of concern.  “You aren’t seeing images of that fan again are you?” Howie moved close to ask him.  Kevin looked at them strangely as he was excluded from hearing what Howie asked.  Brian could tell Kevin wanted to know what that was about but Brian didn’t feel up to explaining that again.


Brian shook his head, “There is nothing, I just didn’t sleep well.” 


“Here, try some water, might help.” His cousin held out a bottle of water for Brian which he gratefully accepted.  He could always count on Kevin to have something that might make him feel better.   He always had in the past.   Brian unscrewed the lid and took a deep drink; he stopped and looked at the bottle as he noticed a slight off taste to the water.  He looked at Kevin and was about to ask his cousin about it when his thoughts were interrupted.


 “Bri, what’s up?” Nick asked as he and AJ found their way over to the rest of the group. 


“Tired,” was his simple reply.  He wished there was some form of management there so that they could be barking orders at them to get a move on, anything would be better than the four faces of concern that were looking at him at the moment. 


“Want me to talk to Leighanne for you?” AJ asked his face breaking out in a large grin.


“What for?” Brian narrowed his eyes at his friend. 


“Tell her to stop keeping you up all night.” AJ wiggled his eyebrows at Brian and then at the rest of the guys, elbowing Nick as he did so. 


Brian rolled his eyes and shook his head.  Finally, someone had arrived and was asking them to start getting prepared they all decided it was time to get their heads in what they needed to do for the night.  They formed their circle and Brian led the prayer for the night, ending with their chant before they headed out on stage. 

Chapter 10 by Purpura Lipstick

“I still can’t believe you gave her a key to your place.” Megan said as a small noise at the front door of Izzy’s apartment caused her to look up. 


“She wasn’t always this crazy, I swear.” Izzy found it strange she was still defending her friend that attacked her and tried to inject her with a syringe.   The rest of the day after that encounter Izzy had fought off a strange feeling about Natalie.    She started to feel that it wasn’t her choice to be friends with her but she couldn’t understand why she felt that way. She and Natalie had a history of friendship together and her mind reassured her of that as she thought back on their friendship later that night at Megan’s.


Despite the conflict that raged internally, Izzy decided it would be best if she moved in with Megan temporarily until she could get the locks changed on the apartment.  They chanced it and had come to the apartment to gather a few things Izzy might need since the landlord would not be able to get the locks changed for another week. 


Wanting to get done faster, the girls split up and Izzy went into her bedroom to pack her clothes, Megan was going to pack up her office.  They had been working for several hours when Izzy stopped hearing the front door open and close.   She stood still listening.   Wouldn’t Megan say something if she was going to be going out?  Maybe it was only for a minute.  Izzy stood waiting for the sound of the door to reopen.  She started to fold the shirt she was holding, not really paying attention to what she was doing; she had to get the nervous energy out somehow.   


Finally, she couldn’t take it any longer. “Megan?” Izzy called out.   There was no answer.  Slowly, Izzy peeked her head of the room and started to walk through the apartment.  Megan was not in the kitchen or the bathroom. The living room was also empty.  Izzy stopped and stood in the middle of the room.  There was no evidence that Natalie had entered.   If Natalie had entered wouldn’t she be coming after her again? 


Wondering why her friend would have left, Izzy pulled out her cell phone and found her friend’s number calling it.  She listened for the phone to start ringing.  When she heard ringing coming from the guest room that she also used as an office.  It was the room that Megan was supposed to be in packing up.  Perhaps she was still in there? 


Then why wasn’t she answering Izzy when she called out or the phone now?  Izzy hung up as Megan’s phone went to voice mail.   She started to walk towards her office.


“Megan?” she called out again.  “Are you there? Why aren’t you answering me?” Izzy pushed open the door to the room and stood staring into the darkness.  She reached over to the light switch and flicked it on to the ‘on’ position.  Nothing happened. 


“Megan?” She called out a little worried now.  What if Natalie was going about a new way to get to Izzy, by going through Megan?    Izzy dialed Megan’s number again and waited for it to start ringing in the room.   “If you are hiding and going to jump out to scare me, it’s not funny.” Izzy called out with an attempt to sound lighthearted though she was worried.


The phone started to ring and Izzy’s head whipped around looking for the source.  That was when she saw the phone on the floor partly under the bed, the light going off indicating a call was incoming.   


Izzy made her way over to the bed, afraid of what she might find there.  Why was Megan’s phone on the floor, partly under the bed?   She started to lean down to look under the bed hoping her friend was not a bloody mess under it.


“What are you doing?” Megan’s voice from the doorway startled Izzy and she jumped what felt like a mile in the air.


Izzy’s heart was now racing at a frantic pace.  “Shit, you scared me.  I was looking for you.  Where were you and why is your phone here?” Izzy asked pointing to the spot on the floor. 


Megan walked over to the table the lamp was sitting on and flicked the switch on.  “I went out to get some food. I was hungry and figured we needed a break.  I probably dropped it when I was in here earlier.” Megan shrugged and picked her phone up off the floor.  


“Did you think I was lying dead under there or something?” Megan laughed and smiled at her friend.


Izzy shook her head and followed Megan into the living room where some sandwiches and chips were sitting on the table waiting for them.   The girls sat down together, Izzy’s heart was slowly getting back to its normal pace. 


“It’s too quiet, do you mind?” Megan asked holding up the remote for the TV.  Izzy just shrugged, maybe hearing the television would help her calm down even more.


Megan turned on the news and started to eat her sandwich.  Izzy looked down at her food and then to the television.  A report was starting about a woman who had been killed only a couple of hours ago.   The unidentified woman’s body had been found lying in an alley.  A single bullet wound to the head indicated that the woman was killed execution style.  So far there were no leads to the killer or to the identity of the woman.


They showed a picture of the woman.  Izzy was shocked to see a picture of familiar bright red hair plastered across the screen.  “Megan,” she turned to her friend sitting across from her, Natalie was on the TV. 


“What?” She turned and looked towards the television, Izzy’s followed her.  It was sad that there was a picture on the screen of woman that nobody was able to identify. 


“That poor woman, nobody to identify her.  I hope someone comes forward and says they know who she is.”   Izzy said and turned back to her sandwich. 


“You don’t know her?” Megan asked cautiously.


“No, should I?” Izzy took a huge bite of her sandwich, glad that she had a good friend in Megan who knew what kind of sandwich she liked. 


The girls finished eating their food and decided they would sit on the couches to talk.  They turned the television to a rerun of Friends and fell into an easy banter.  


“You have to admit you enjoyed meeting them.” Megan blurted out bringing the conversation back to the concert and meeting the members of the group Backstreet Boys.


“I did,” Izzy nodded though it was an unusual meeting followed by unusual encounters she knew she had a good time.   “Just a second.” Izzy stood and made her way to her bathroom.  On the way back to the living room she noticed that her suitcase was still sitting on her bed with clothes still sitting in it.


“That’s strange,” Izzy mentioned when she sat back across from Megan.


“What?” The other girl asked looking a little worried but more curious.


“I still haven’t unpacked from the concert yet.”  Izzy smiled and shook her head.  “Oh well, I will do it tomorrow, the last few days have been rough days and I deserve a break.”


Megan smiled and relaxed into her chair.  “Yes.” She agreed.


Izzy’s eyes fell on the television where Monica and Rachel were having some discussion.  She couldn’t concentrate on the words as she was desperately trying to figure out why the last few days had been so rough.  She couldn’t remember anything happening after they returned from the concert that would have been hard.  Eventually she shook it off and laughed at the duo on the screen.   

Chapter 11 by Purpura Lipstick

Brian felt exhausted after the concert. Thankfully, adrenaline kept him moving on stage but now that the performance was over he was crashing fast.   He kissed his son’s forehead while he slept and found his way back to his bed.  Falling down he kicked his shoes off on the floor and lay on top of the covers fully clothed.  He didn’t even have the energy to crawl under the covers.  It wasn’t long before his eyes were closed. 


When he opened his eyes again he couldn’t move.  He felt strapped down.  He tried to get up but was unable to move.  He looked across from him and the woman, the fan, was strapped to a metal table adjusted so it faced him.  He could only assume he was strapped down in a similar fashion.  He continued to fight against his restraints.  Another man walked into the room and approached the woman.  Brian could see the needle in his hand.  He wanted to scream out to warn the woman, but what good would it do? They were trapped.  


Brian cringed as the needle entered her neck.  Tears welled in his eyes as he watched her mouth something that he was unable to hear then her eyes glazed over and look at him like she’d never met him before.   


Through his tears he saw a black van pull up with Kevin getting out.  He felt panicked as Kevin grabbed him and started to pull him towards the van.  Brian fought against his hands.  He tried to pull free, he wanted to get back to the woman but Kevin was stronger and managed to get him back into the van.   He sat up much faster this time and started to look around, still stunned to see space and stars out the window.  He reached for the door again but before he could pull the door open he felt himself falling. 


The fall was over quickly and he stood, brushing himself off.  The sun was blinding him and soon his eyesight adjusted.  He was back in the park.  He noticed the picnic blanket spread out again and the woman was there smiling.  He felt a sense of relief and started to walk towards her but before he could reach her he noticed another man kneeling across from her.  The man looked familiar but he couldn’t make him out, he was holding a ring out to her.  He was proposing.  Brian had never felt so jealous in his life, he could only watch in horror as the woman said ‘yes’ and hugged the stranger. 


A scream from behind him pulled him out of the anger he was feeling at the woman for accepting.  He turned in the direction the scream came from and saw Leighanne lying on a hospital bed.  Her face was sweaty and she was straining.  She reached out her hand to him and he quickly went to her side holding her hand tightly and brushing the hair off of her forehead. 


Another cry from the room had Brian smiling and both of them crying.  He kissed her and moved to look at his son, Baylee.  He took the small form in his arms and moved closer to Leighanne so she could get a look at him too. 


“He’s perfect,” She murmured and kissed his head.  Brian smiled and looked down at his son.  He almost dropped the small form when instead of his son he was looking down at Marvin the Martian wrapped tightly in the hospital blanket. 


He didn’t jolt out of sleep this time but he felt sweaty and as if he really had been crying as he lay in the bed trying to go back to sleep.  He hoped that he wouldn’t wake Leighanne; she didn’t need any reason to worry about him further.  It took him a few minutes to realize that sun was creeping into the room and that he could hear voices outside the room. 


“I’m starting to get really worried about him,” Howie’s voice chimed in.  “Leighanne said he called out for you to let him go several times last night.”


“I wonder what that’s all about.” Kevin’s voice replied. 


“Do you think we should stop the tour? He might need help that we can’t provide on tour.”  Howie added. 


“Hey guys,” Brian interrupted standing at the door.  Howie and Kevin sat at the table looking at him uneasily as he walked in the room.  “Where are Baylee and Leighanne?”  He wanted, no he needed, to see them after the dream he had.  He wanted to hold Leighanne close and kiss Baylee.  The dreams were starting to make him feel like a cheater.  He wanted to reaffirm his love for his family. 


“Kristen took them out.  I think there were a few shops they were going to look at then they were going to get some ice cream for Baylee.”  Kevin smiled up at his cousin.    


Brian nodded, he was sure Leighanne needed a friendly ear to discuss what was going on with him.  He knew that she was worried about him after the last few days and Kristen was her closest friend on tour.  “Hey, I know you two just want to help me, but can I be alone?”


Howie and Kevin looked at each other, exchanging worried glances before they nodded in agreement and left the bus.   Brian watched the two of them walk away through the window before he pulled out his cell phone and punched in the familiar number.


“Pastor Mike?” Brian asked as the other person answered.


“Yes, what can I do for you?” The Pastor replied.


“I have been having feelings of being unfaithful to my wife.”


“Oh?” came the reply on the other end.  Brian and Pastor Mike had a long standing friendship.  He had been there through his heart problems, he was the one who married him and Leighanne and oversaw the baptism of Baylee.   He was like a father to him since the tragedy that had taken his parents and brother away from him several years before joining with The Backstreet Boys. 


Brian delved into his explanation of the dreams about the other woman, about proposing to her and the strong connection he felt towards her during the dreams.  


“Brian, dreaming about another woman does not make you unfaithful.  Dreams are messages sent to us from our Lord.  You should write down what you remember in a notebook.  If you are comfortable, share these with your wife and both of you can work out what their possible meaning could be.  Perhaps you feel something is missing from your marriage and your mind is focusing on this woman as a way to wake you up to something you need to correct.” 


Brian nodded as the man spoke.  Mike always knew what to say to help him.  “I will thank you for your advice.” 


“Brian, please call me if you feel you need to discuss this any further.” 


Brian told him he would and hung up the phone.  He started to search for a spare notebook and pen; he wanted to write down the most recent dream before he had a chance to forget what it was about. 


“Brian,” Howie’s voice came from the doorway.  “Hey, I apologize but I overheard some of your conversation.  I thought I left my phone here and was coming back to look for it.  I didn’t mean to snoop.” 


“Don’t worry about it D.” Brian smiled at his friend.


“I can help you put your mind at ease about this entire thing. I can help stop the dreams.” Howie started calmly.


“Thanks, but if they are truly a message from God I need to let them work themselves out so I can figure out what the message is trying to tell me.”


“It’s not really your choice,” Howie said as he moved in closer to Brian.  Brian looked down and noticed a syringe in his hand.


“Howie, what are you doing?” He asked him moving back away from the person he thought was a friend.  Howie moved closer to Brian and reached out to grab hold of his arms.  With nowhere to really get away from him on the bus, Howie soon had a hold of one of Brian’s wrists and moved to inject the needle into Brian’s arm.


Before Brian could really tell what was happening, he kicked his leg out and knocked the syringe out of his hand.  Howie released his wrist and with two arms free he blocked the punches Howie threw his way.    Realizing the punches were going nowhere, Howie grabbed for Brian’s clothing and started tossing him around the bus, slamming him against the bunks and the table. 


Managing to push him off, Brian surprised himself by pulling off a spin kick that knocked Howie against the window of the bus.   Howie recovered and charged at him again but the kick came again and this time the force was so strong that Howie flew through the plexi glass window and fell on the pavement outside of the bus.


“Shit,” Brian cursed so rarely that the word escaping his mouth startled him.  He rushed quickly outside to Howie’s side.  The blood was pooling around him turning the pavement red.  “What did I do?”  He reached down and gently pressed his fingers at his neck the way he’d seen doctors and paramedics check for a pulse.  Nothing. 


“No, no…” He muttered to himself looking around to see if anyone had seen what happened, if anyone around had seen him kill his friend and band mate, Howie. 


He suddenly knew he couldn’t be there anymore. Without taking anything, without telling anyone, he took off in the opposite direction of the arena he was supposed to perform in that night. 

Chapter 12 by Purpura Lipstick

Brian paced back and forth through the room he had checked into under an assumed identity.  Should he call the police? Should he confess and tell them that it was an accident he didn’t mean to make his friend fly out the window to his death.  Would they believe it was out of self defense that his friend had attacked him first with a syringe?  He couldn’t call them; there would be a media storm.  

Brian thought back on everything that had happened he felt like he was losing his mind and it all started with that day he met the fan and passed out.  He tried to think back to that day.  Did the woman have something on her that started all of this? 

He shook his head, how would she have passed drugs through his system, through her hand?  She was affected too.  That’s when it struck him, she as affected to.  Was she having the same hallucinations and dreams about him?  

Brian had no idea how he could contact her.  It wasn’t like the girls left their names and numbers at the concert venues, well most of them didn’t.   Not being able to think of anything else, Brian picked up his cell phone and started to scroll through the contacts.  He stopped on Leighanne’s number and stared at it.  He should call her and let her know what happened.  He was about to hit send when he thought better of it, he didn’t want her and Baylee to be involved in whatever it was that was going on with him.

He could call the front desk, maybe they would have a computer he could borrow and get online and look up any information about a girl who fainted at the meet and greet.   Before he could call the desk a knock came at the door.

Brian sat still, afraid to even breathe.  Had someone else called the police? The knock came again and this time he ventured to the door and peeked out the peephole.  Standing in the hall were Kevin, Nick and AJ.  He couldn’t see anyone else.

“Brian, I know you are looking at us through there, let us in.”  Nick’s eye came close to the peephole. 

Brian sighs and opens the door to his friends but quickly closes after they all entered.

“What the hell Brian?” AJ asked sitting on the couch. 

“Why the hell did you run off like that?” Kevin asked.  Concern was apparent on his face.

“I, I… you don’t know?” Brian asked confused.  If they didn’t know he killed Howie then what were they doing here.

“Know what Brian?” Nick asked clamping his hand down on his shoulder. 

“How did you find me?”  It’s not like he checked in under his name, he knew better than that.

“Brian, it’s us you are talking to man.  We came up with most of our alias names together.” Nick patted his shoulder before removing his hand and sitting down.

Brian nodded.  Of course they would know his names.  He wondered if management was waiting for them downstairs.  Kevin probably asked that they get a chance to talk to him first, to calm him down.  The police were likely downstairs waiting for him as well.  He really messed things up.

“What is wrong?” Kevin asked in his usual calm, even tone.

“I can’t believe you guys are so calm about this.  I killed Howie as self defense and you are acting like I am having a nervous breakdown for no reason.”  He shouted out and turned his back to them.  He didn’t want to see their faces; he didn’t want to see disappointment in his friend’s eyes. 

Another knock at the door startled Brian. He was not going to answer the door to management or worse the police.  He stood still as Kevin went to the door and opened it.

“Hey sorry about that guys but I just couldn’t hold it any longer,” Howe’s voice sounded out through the room. “What’d I miss?”

Brian turned quickly to see Howie standing in front of him. “No, it can’t be.” He backed away from Howie.  Was he an apparition? No, he couldn’t be, the other guys could see him.  He knocked on the door. 

“Brian just confessed to killing you,” AJ was the one to speak up.

Howie started to laugh but stopped when he saw the serious expressions on the other’s faces. “Seriously, you thought you killed me?”  His face became serious as he approached Brian. 

Brian was still not convinced this was some trick and somehow he was seeing Howie’s ghost, maybe he was dreaming again.  He started pinch his arm but nothing happened.   “You attacked me,” Brian’s voice was barely above a whisper.   “With a syringe,” he added. 

“Why would I do that?”

“I kicked….I kicked you through a window.  There was so much blood.” Brian sat down and dropped his head in his hands.  He had to be losing it.  First passing out at a meet and greet, then visions of the girl plaguing him, now believing he’d killed his friend. 

He felt the couch give way next to him and peeked out slightly to see Howie sitting next to him, his hand gently resting on his back.   “Tell us what’s been going on with you lately.”

Brian sighed; it was time to tell his friends what he had been experiencing.  He couldn’t leave them in the dark any longer.  “I’ve been having visions and dreams since that day I passed out at the meet and greet.  The woman that I shook hands with has been in them.” He decided to leave out the connection he felt towards the woman, the proposal in the park.  “Mostly we are being chased by a van driven by,” Brian looked up at Kevin, “you Kevin.” Brian shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

“Go on,” Kevin still sounded so calm.  How could he sound so calm when Brian felt so out of control? 

“Once in the van, I only see stars outside and then I’m falling.”  And that’s pretty much it.

“Does the girl fall with you?” AJ asked.  Of course, AJ asking about the girl, only he would think about what happened to the girl in a dream.

Brian shook his head.  He never knew what had happened to the girl at that point.  “I don’t know where she goes.” He admitted.  

“This has been going on since the meet and greet?” Nick asked solemnly.

Brian nodded.

“Guys, can you leave me and Brian alone?”  Every single one of the four said at the exact same time.  Even Brian had to chuckle slightly at their unison. 

They all walked towards the door and Brian could see them discussing who was going to be the one to stay with him and talk to him alone.  All of them wanted to, none of them wanted to back down but eventually someone would have to win out.  Brian couldn’t find his voice; he wanted Nick to stay with him.  Nick with all his crazy notions and ideas, he knew that he would be the most open-minded about the entire situation.   Brian wasn’t sure AJ could handle his own crazy and didn’t want to burden him with more and the thought of being alone with the man he thought he killed scared him, but so did being alone with Kevin who dragged him into a van for the past few nights.

Before he knew what really happened the door to the room had closed and he was left alone with Howie.   Brian sighed; he should have known it would be him.  If the situation was reversed and Howie thought he’d killed Brian, Brian would want to be the one to talk to Howie.

Howie stood at the door for a few minutes before moving closer.  He was quiet as he sat back down on the couch next to Brian.  

“I don’t envy you.” Howie spoke up.   “The situation you’ve found yourself in is a losing battle.”

Brian looked at Howie confused. What was he talking about? Losing battle? “What are you talking about?”

Howie moved closer to Brian who was still too confused to know it would be better if he moved.  Before he could react, Brian felt the pinch of a needle puncture his skin.   “Deep down you had to know better.  Only a cleaner can kill one of the nine,” He whispered as Brian’s eyes closed.

Before it went completely dark, Brian saw one last image.  He was strapped down facing the young woman again.

“I love you, I will find my way back to you I swear,” Her mouth continued to move but he could not hear the words coming out of her mouth. 

The image eventually faded as Brian slipped into unconsciousness. 

Chapter End Notes:

I know, super confusing right? Now you know how Brian feels, sort of.  I hope I am not confusing you too much though you are supposed to be somewhat confused. ;)  

Chapter 13 by Purpura Lipstick

Izzy was sitting in the conference room at work.  She tried not to look like she wasn’t paying attention.  Even if she could pull her attention into the meeting she was not sure she wanted to.   They were discussing projections for the next year, and what they planned to sell and upgrades to existing phones they planned to make. 


Izzy was never quite sure how she ended up working with a company that bought and sold cell phones to the expanding wireless companies.   She knew she liked the places cell phones could take people in the future but she really didn’t have a business mind. 


“Izzy?” a voice was calling to her and she looked up from the notebook she was pretending to take notes in and looked towards the voice.  All the eyes in the room were on her, she could feel her ears burning out of embarrassment.  


“I’m sorry,” She started.


“Can you tell us the progress the manufacturer has made on this “smart” phone they keep bragging about?”  The grin on the man’s, Tony’s, face was eerie.  She always hated that guy but couldn’t place why.  She felt that he thought she never belonged in her position; it was his egotistical arrogance that kept her in her job as long as she had.  She wouldn’t let him win and push her out.


“The last time I spoke with them they said they were near completion but they were still not sure they wanted our name to be branded on their phone.  They are being sweet talked by our competitors which is proof that this phone will revolutionize the wireless world.”  Izzy spoke up.


She could see that the meeting leader was about to speak, likely to say something sarcastic and undermining but her boss spoke up before he could.


“We need to get our hands on this phone so we can start the bidding for which wireless company will have exclusive rights to sell this phone first.”


“That’s another thing; the company doesn’t want their phone only with one provider.  One of their stipulations is whatever company they give their product to; they will have to allow all providers to sell it.”  Izzy added though she didn’t think this was a problem, if everyone could by the newest phone no matter who their wireless service provider was then it would mean more money for her company.


Her boss smiled.  “I have my utmost faith that you will obtain this phone for us.  The sooner the better, we need to get our name on them and start our testing and mass production. See me after the meeting so we can discuss our strategy.”


Izzy nodded and smiled.  She hoped she could pull off what her boss was asking her for.  It was a tall order but his faith in her was encouraging.  While the meeting continued, Izzy’s thoughts went elsewhere.  It seemed natural for her mind to linger on the image of Brian smiling at her moments before shaking her hand.   She couldn’t believe she was daydreaming about a man in a boy band but his face calmed her.  There was something about him that seemed familiar.  Then last night she saw him in a dream.  She didn’t remember much of the dream, only that he was in it.  She didn’t think he had made that much of an impact on her mind that she would dream about him.  He was attractive but she would have much rather dreamed about the tall one with dark hair, Kevin, she remembered.


The meeting ended and the person next to her tapped her shoulder letting her know.  She blushed; embarrassed again that she’d been noticed as not listening in the meeting.   That was all she needed for Tony to see.  He’d love to take over her project for himself and would jump at any opening she left.  Izzy hung back until the last person left the room, she cleaned up the random papers that had been left and then made her way to her boss’ office. 


“You wanted to see me?” she asked as she popped her head into his office.


“Come in Izzy, take a seat.” He gestured towards the chair and waited until she sat down before he continued.   “Has there been anything going on in your life you’d like to tell me about?”


Izzy waited a minute before shaking her head. “No,” she answered cautiously.  “Why?” 


“It seems to me that your head hasn’t been in the work lately.  Didn’t you just take a vacation?” 


She nodded and wondered where this was leading.  Was Tony getting her project already? 


“It doesn’t seem like you got enough rest in during your time off.  I’d hate to ask you to take more time, especially with the deadline for acquiring that phone approaching.  I know about Tony’s desire to have this project but I like your work and want you on it.  I feel you are the best person to get it done, but if your head is not in it I will have to hand it over to Tony.”  Her boss was kind but serious in his tone as he spoke. 


Izzy nodded in agreement.  “Truth be told, the trip wasn’t that relaxing.” She admitted.  “The actual time was great but on the way home the strangest thing happened.  A car chased us, crashed into us and then attacked me and my friend.”  The words spewed out of her before she could really stop them.  Thankfully, her mouth had chosen not to mention the real reason she’d been daydreaming, thinking about an unobtainable man was nothing to daydream about during a meeting.


“Attacked?” He asked sitting in the chair next to her showing concern for her.


Izzy nodded and told him about how two men followed her and by sheer luck she managed to fight and get away from them.   How her friend was lucky and only shaken but not hurt.  


“If you need the time, take it.” Her boss practically commanded.


Izzy shook her head this time.  “No, I need to get on with my life.  It has been several days, nobody was seriously injured.  I think it’s best if I am at work and move on so that I can forget about it.” 


“If that is your wish.” Her boss added standing again.  He turned to her as she stood to leave.  “Don’t forget about the party tonight, Patricia would be upset if you missed out.”


“Of course,” She thought quickly and remembered the dinner party that night at her boss’ house that she had agreed to a few weeks ago.  She didn’t want to go but like her boss said, Patricia would be upset if she didn’t come. 


Izzy decided that she needed to get some work done before she left for the night to get ready for the party.  She was sitting at her desk looking over the phone when she heard a voice.


“Everyone must have.” 


She looked around wondering if Tony had come into the room.  She knew that was one of the taglines he liked for the phone.  When she didn’t see him she shrugged, rubbed her eyes and finished up the sentence she was on before calling it a night. 


Despite leaving a little early from work to give herself plenty of time to get ready, Izzy was still fashionably late to the dinner party.  The guests were well into their cocktails by the time she arrived and she was thankful that she only had to wander around the room of guests for a short time before everyone found their seats for dinner.   


She was happy to find herself sitting next to Patricia. She and her boss, Mike, were really the only ones she knew at the party and was glad that she’d have someone to talk to during dinner.


“So, Mike tells me that you were in an accident on the way back home from your trip?” Patricia asked in hushed tones once everyone was seated and starting to eat. 


“Mmmhmm” Izzy murmured in response.


“He said two men attacked you?” She was very quiet now.


“Yes, it was freaky.”


“Do you know why the cleaners were after you?” Patricia asked in a tone so quiet Izzy had a hard time hearing her. 


“I have no idea why the men chased and attacked us.  They disappeared after the police arrived and we didn’t see them again the rest of the trip home.” 


Patricia smiled and patted Izzy’s knee.  “Well we are just glad you are safe.”  She took a few bites of her food and talked with another guest before turning her attention back to Izzy.


“So anyone special in your life lately?”


“No,” Izzy laughed.  The last person she had dated ended very quickly.  She wasn’t sure what went wrong but he couldn’t break up with her fast enough it seemed. 


“Well there is this man; you do like men don’t you?” She paused and waited for Izzy to nod her head before she continued.  “I want to introduce you after dinner, his name is Greg and he is a surgeon.” Patricia indicated the direction Greg was sitting in.  He was sitting on the opposite side of the table a few chairs down talking with Mike.  He had dark hair and light colored eyes.  Izzy instantly liked his smile and couldn’t help but smile at the thought of meeting this man.  


The rest of the dinner was rather ordinary and Patricia was thrilled with Izzy and Greg hit it off and found a secluded spot to talk.  The two talked like they had known each other for awhile and they left with each other’s numbers and a date for dinner the next night.  


It wasn’t until Izzy was pulling the covers up that night that something that Patricia had said that night found its way into her head.  “Cleaners?” She asked herself wondering what Patricia had been talking about. 

Chapter 14 by Purpura Lipstick

Brian couldn’t help but smile when he started dreaming about Leighanne walking down the aisle on their wedding day.   He stood there waiting patiently for her to reach him.


“This isn’t right,” a voice came floated around him.


Brian scrunched his nose and looked around for the voice.  Seeing that no one spoke he turned back to watch the love of his life walk down the aisle. 


“This didn’t happen,” the voice spoke again.  The image of his wife disappeared and he was standing inside an office building. 


“I’m sorry, I don’t date tech guys,” A woman that Brian did not know said to him before turning and walking away. 


“She doesn’t know what she might miss with that attitude,” a woman’s voice came from the side.  Brian turned to see the face he instantly knew he’d been dreaming about for several nights standing next to him.   “I don’t think we’ve met yet,” the woman continued as she held her hand out to him.  “My name is Isabelle.”  


Brian hesitantly took her hand and shook it.  


The woman smiled and held his hand for a minute. “Don’t even think about shortening it, I hate it when people do that.” She winked at him and released his hand. 


A feeling of cold ran through him and the image of the office faded away and it was April 20, 1993 and he was meeting AJ, Nick and Howie for the first time.  He couldn’t help but smile at how young they all looked.  Kevin stood near him as he introduced him to the other three.


“This isn’t right,” the voice came out of nowhere again and spoke over Howie introducing himself.  Brian shook it off and fought to keep the dream where it was.  He remembered how excited he was that Kevin thought of him and brought him down to meet the others.   No matter how hard he focused on the image of the other guys they faded away and were replaced by a dark warehouse.


“Pay attention!” the woman from the scene in the office shouted.  “You need to learn this if you are going to have any chance.”


Her foot flew towards him but he managed to block the attack and counter it.  He did not remember this but it felt natural to spar with this woman.  Exhaustion took him over and he collapsed to the ground breathing heavily.  He felt the woman lie down next to him and grab hold of his hand.   “We can’t out run them.” She said between breaths. 


He tried to turn towards her but felt that he was strapped down.  He looked down and saw his arms, legs and abdomen strapped to table.   The woman from earlier was strapped down across from him.


“Brian, focus on me.” She said.


He turned his attention to her and saw a man approaching her with a needle. A flash of memory came through of Howie holding a needle.


“I will find a way back to you.  I swear.  I love you.”  The final words came out of her mouth as the syringe was plunged into her neck.  Tears started to fall from her eyes as they glazed over and soon she was looking at him as a stranger would. 


He could feel the tears start to well in his eyes as he stood watching this woman.  He saw the man grab another syringe and come towards him.  The man was talking to him but he couldn’t hear what he was saying.


“Fight it,” a voice that sounded like him spoke.


He felt the needle pierce his skin and the world started to go dark.  He held his eyes on the woman across from him fighting to remember her face. 


“Don’t fight it,” he could hear the other man saying now.  “It will only damage your brain to fight.” The man seemed to laugh at this comment; his words were enough of a distraction that he gave into the coldness that flooded through him, the face disappearing from his mind.


Brian rubbed his eyes as he woke up.  He didn’t remember getting into bed. He must have been exhausted after the show the night before to not remember getting into bed.  He made his way to the front of the bus and found Leighanne and Baylee reading together.   He smiled at the sight of them; Leighanne was very good about keeping Baylee on a schedule even when they were on the road. 


“Hello,” she said as she looked up to see him standing there. 


“Hi,” he replied.


“How did you sleep? You seemed like you slept much better last night.” She commented as she brushed Baylee’s hair back and scooted him off the couch.  “Go play for a little bit sweetie.” 


Baylee happily complied with his mother’s wishes and gave Brian’s knees a tight squeeze before getting his toys out to play with.   


Brian took Baylee’s spot on the couch and pulled his wife into his embrace.  “I feel rested this morning.” He closed his eyes and moved in to kiss her, a face flashed in his mind as he felt their lips touch.  A dark eyed girl, a familiar face. 


He pulled back and smiled at his wife as more images flooded his mind: a picnic, a proposal, sparring with a woman, being strapped to a table.  The images came back to him but he fought showing any emotion on his face.  He did not want to worry his wife. 


“I’m going to go see if Nick is up for a game of hoops before we have to get ready tonight.” Brian stood and moved to exit the bus. 


“Okay,” Leighanne replied in a disappointed tone. 


Brian wasn’t sure he really wanted to find Nick but he needed to get away from his wife for a few moments as he processed what his mind was showing him.   It was when he saw Howie climbing back onto his own bus that the memory of the day before came flooding back to him.  The image of Howie lying in a pool of blood pushed out the window by him flashed through his mind.  Then later showing up at the hotel with the other guys like nothing had happened, the needle that he used on him. 


Howie must have seen him staring in his direction as he stopped getting on the bus and waved at him.  “Hey Brian, how are you this morning?” He asked now approaching him.


“Good, I slept real good.” He smiled at this man he thought was his friend.  He knew that if he mentioned anything about what he just remembered he would be in for another injection or worse. 


“Awesome.” Howie smiled and put his hand on his shoulder.  “We only have a few hours until the meet and greet is scheduled to begin, want to hang out?” 


Brian thought about it.  If he wanted to keep his knowledge hidden from Howie it would be best not to hang out, but if he refused to hang out would Howie think something was going on with him again? 


“Bri!” Nick’s voice came from behind him, saving him from the decision.   “Wanna shoot some hoops?”  Nick looked towards Howie and when Howie smiled at him tension seemed to release throughout his entire body. 


“I was hoping to find you.” Brian lied.  He turned back to Howie.  “You don’t mind do you D?”


Howie shook his head and made his way back to his own bus.  Brian watched him until he was completely on the bus before turning back to Nick.   “I was kind of hoping to hang out inside the venue for awhile actually.” He told his friend.


“Why didn’t you tell Howie that?” Nick questioned looking at him with confused eyes. 


Brian shrugged.  “I think Howie would have asked to join me and I kind of wanted to be alone.” 


“Are you alright Brian?” Nick asked him tossing the basketball from hand to hand. 


“I’m good.  I just want to watch the set up again.”  He lied.  He hated lying to Nick but without knowing what was going on with Howie and with his own mind he felt it necessary. 


“Cool,” Nick said and turned to walk away.  He knew he could count on Nick to let him be. 


Brian turned to enter the venue catching a glimpse of a couple men in dark clothing standing near the bus entrance.  He knew they couldn’t be fans; they were grown men not teen girls.  He turned his attention away from them and went inside the venue.   He didn’t find his way into the main auditorium to watch the set up; instead he found a smaller, secluded room and sat on the floor. 


Closing his eyes, Brian slowed his breathing and calmed himself down.  A technique his doctor had taught him before and after surgery to keep his heart beat slower and as a result to keep himself calmer.  He didn’t want anyone to know he was doing the breathing techniques again, the last thing he needed was everyone thinking his heart was giving him problems again.


As he felt his heart beat slow he let images flood his mind, he let whatever wanted to come through come through.  He was not going to fight them or control them.  He felt slight frustration when no images came to mind.  The breathing kept him calm and relaxed, at least that had helped him.


 He stood and brushed himself off and decided he would spend some time with Leighanne and Baylee before the show.  He didn’t to talk about anything with Leighanne; he didn’t want to worry her about Howie.  She relied on Howie’s help to watch Baylee while they were on tour.


When he exited the arena he ran into someone.  “Sorry Jay,” Brian said when he realized who it was.


AJ muttered a response that he couldn’t hear before pushing past him and into the arena.  Brian was puzzled by his friend’s behavior but then realized his own behavior the past few days was probably just as strange.  He needed to act normal today; he needed to find out what was going on.  As he boarded his bus he noticed that the men he remembered seeing before he entered the venue were gone.


“Hello,” Brian called out.  Leighanne and Baylee were not in the main space.


Leighanne came out from the back room and jumped slightly when she saw him.  “Oh, you startled me Brian.” She had her hand to her chest but she was smiling. 


Brian moved closer to her and pulled her close to him.  He inhaled her scent and swayed with her where they stood.  He closed his eyes and let the feeling of being in her arms wash over him.   “I love you… Isabelle.”   He whispered in her ear.

Chapter 15 by Purpura Lipstick

 Izzy ran down the street turning to look behind her to see if her pursuer was still behind her.  She saw the person turn the corner.  Freaking out she tried turning down an alley way, perhaps she could cut through the street and end up one street over from the person behind her. 


As she neared the end of the dead end she cursed herself for even turning down the alley. Why hadn’t she stayed on the street where it was possible for a car or another pedestrian to see what was going on.  Now she was a sitting duck.  She heard footsteps behind her and she quickly turned to face the person who had been following her for blocks.


“Izzy, just get it over with.  The more you fight it the worse it will be,” The person said as they started to slowly advance.


“I don’t know what is going on but I am not going to let you or anyone else do anything to me.”  She wondered how her life had gotten to this point.  She thought about the last few days as she continued to back away from her pursuer. 


Izzy double checked her hair in the mirror as she prepared for work.  She couldn’t stop smiling since she met Greg the night before.  She couldn’t believe how well they hit it off and she hoped the day would move quickly so that she could get to her date faster.


By the time she reached the office, Tony was already there and in the office with Mark, her boss.  She growled a little at this tidbit of information and headed into her own office.  She took out her proposal and started to put the finishing touches on it.  She was sure her proposal would win the phone for her company and they would exclusive rights to sell the phone to all the different cell service providers.


Even as she finished her work she kept looking up at Mark’s door waiting for Tony to leave.  She wondered what Tony could be in there speaking with him about.  There was no project that Tony was working on that would need Mark’s immediate approval.  She sighed in frustration at not knowing what was going on behind the closed doors. 


Finally, the doors opened and Mark and Tony walked out together.  Izzy tried to make it look like she hadn’t been watching for this moment, but with her door open she was sure Tony caught her quick glance back down as they exited. 


“Izzy, I’m ready for you.” Mark’s voice came from her door.  She looked up, nodded and grabbed all her reports and charts that she would need to give him so he could make the pitch to the company later that day. 


Mark had been involved with the process enough that it didn’t take much on Izzy’s part to help prep him for the meeting and soon she was getting up to leave.  Before she left she turned back to Mark.  She wanted to ask about Patricia’s comment regarding “cleaners” last night but she thought better of it.


“I want to remind you that tomorrow morning I have a meeting with my advisor.  Call me if anything comes up tonight about this, I will be in later tomorrow so I guess you can wait to give me the news then.”  She stood hesitating to leave.  She didn’t want to wait, she had been working on this project for the last few months and she really wanted to be there with Mark, but the clients had insisted that he was the only one that presented. 


“Izzy, I know that if I waited to talk to you tomorrow you would be in a state of hysterics.  I will let you know tonight how it went.”  Mark smiled at her and made a movement to shoo her out of the room.  “Now let me do the final prepping.”  He smiled at her and she nodded, closing the door behind her as she left. 


As she made her way to her office she spied Tony watching her from his desk.  He didn’t even hide the fact that he was keeping his eyes on her.   She smiled at him and went into her office.  The way Tony was looking at her was making her nervous.  She was glad that when her office door was closed he could not look at her any longer. 


With her major project completed, Izzy only had a few more items to complete before she could leave for the day.   She quickly finished them and made her way home.  She had a date to get ready for and she was excited to spend more time with Greg.


“Megan, I can’t believe this guy.” Izzy spoke with her friend as she continued to prepare for her date.  She had gone through nine outfit changes before she found the perfect outfit now she was trying to decide on shoes and her hairstyle. 


“He sounds perfect.” Megan purred on the other line.  “Your boss’ wife introduced you?”


“She did.”


“Wow, if this works out for you can you get her to introduce me to a guy?” Megan laughed.


“I thought you were going to marry Nick Carter.”  Izzy shot back but immediately knew it was a mistake to bring him up. Not because it got Megan talking about him and the group but because it made her think of Brian.  His face popped up in her mind, tears were forming in his eyes as he looked at her.  Izzy shook her head and turned her attention back to the curling iron. 


“Hey Megan, I should get going.  I almost burned my hair.” Even though it wasn’t her friend’s fault that she almost burnt her hair, she didn’t need another distraction and now her mind was focusing on Brian instead of getting ready for her date with Greg. 


Before she really knew what was going on she looked at her phone that was chirping to remind her that it was time for her date. “Shit,” She muttered, she was running late now.


She quickly finished her hair, got her shoes on and made her way to the restaurant they agreed to meet at.   She relaxed when he saw him standing there waiting for her.  He didn’t look like he was impatient, he looked relaxed waiting for her. 


“Sorry I’m late,” she said as soon as she walked up to him.


“Well worth the wait,” He said smiling and kissing her on the cheek.  Izzy knew she was blushing but she didn’t mind.   Greg had already arraigned a table outside on the patio for them while he had been waiting and they were taken to their table almost as soon as she arrived.  Izzy smiled when he pulled the chair out for her before taking his own seat. 


As she listened to the specials that evening she felt a pair of eyes on her. At first she thought Greg was watching her as she listened but when she looked over at him he was also watching the waitress as she listed the items.   He must have felt her eyes on him because he turned and smiled at her.   They ordered their drinks before they fell into conversation.


“So Patricia said you are a surgeon.”  Izzy started. 


“I am,” He nodded.   “My dad inspired me to become one.”  He smiled and told the waitress “thanks” as she put their drinks down on the table. 


“Was he a surgeon too?” She asked.  She was interested in his family.  Without her own she always wanted to hear about other people and their families. 


Greg was shaking his head.  “No, he actually is a cleaner.”


The word struck fear in her.  Patricia had mentioned cleaners, and now Greg was talking about them.  Who were these elusive people?


Greg must have sensed something was wrong because he took her hand in his.  “You know, he owned a cleaning company.”


Izzy tried to remain calm, “You mean like maids and stuff?”


Greg nodded.  “Exactly like that.   My mom was one of the maids and they fell in love.”   Izzy felt her heart beats slow.  She overreacted to his comment.  Of course, cleaners were people that were hired to clean houses and buildings. What else could they be?   She could feel something nagging her at the back of her mind but she couldn’t figure out what it was.


“Izzy?” A voice came from the sidewalk next to the patio.  She looked in the direction and saw her professor and his wife. 


“Dr. Thompson, what are you doing here?” she asked.


“The wife and I are on a date.” 


“Of course,” Izzy felt stupid for asking.  She stood and moved closer to him hugging both before turning to her date.  “Dr. Thompson, this is Greg.”  


Dr. Thompson and Greg shook each other’s hands and held them together for a moment.  Their eyes met and her professor immediately dropped his hand and turned to his wife.  “Well we should let the young people have fun and get along with our old person date.”  He and his wife laughed.  


“Oh you aren’t a bother,” Izzy was saying but she could feel Greg guiding her back to the table as everyone said their good-byes. 


The rest of their date managed to go along without a hitch.  The two talked about movies, politics, books and even touched on religion.  Izzy couldn’t believe that someone she had been set up with by her boss’ wife could be so wonderful.  She was certainly glad they had been introduced and told him as much as they ended their date. 


“Izzy, I am glad we were set up too.” He said as he moved a strand of her hair from her face and gazed into her eyes.  She could tell that he wanted to lean into kiss her but she turned slightly and his lips fell on her cheek.  Something about kissing this perfect man did not seem right to her.   


“Can I call you?” He asked her as they stood together.


“Definitely.” She smiled and returned the kiss, on his cheek.   Izzy was all smiles the rest of the night and called Megan when she got home so she could recount the entire night. 

Chapter 16 by Purpura Lipstick

Izzy woke in a blanket of warmth that had nothing to do with the thin sheet that covered her as she slept.  Her dreams had been pleasant.  She couldn’t exactly remember them but they left her feeling content, a feeling she hadn’t had for quite a few weeks.   She turned to look at her clock and realized that she was late for her meeting that morning with Dr. Thompson. 


“Shit,” She said tossing the sheets aside and rushing into the bathroom.  She ran her hand through her hair as she washed her face.  She sighed realizing she should shower but her hair was not greasy enough to warrant being more late. 


By some miracle Izzy managed to make it to her professor’s office only fifteen minutes after her allotted time was supposed to start.   She took a couple deep breaths before knocking on the door.


“Hello?” Dr. Thompson’s voice called out from the other side of the door and Izzy pushed the door open and took a seat in front of his desk.


“I am so sorry I’m late,” she started to utter but Dr. Thompson held up his hand. 


“No need to apologize.” He smiled and chuckled slightly.  Izzy groaned, he probably thought Izzy had gone home with Greg and that was why she was running late. 


“I wasn’t,” She started to protest but he cut her off.


“Shall we get started?” He asked her holding his hand out for her draft of her thesis.  She handed it over and sat back.


“How are you after last night?” She asked him remembering the strange look he had given her date the previous night.


“I’m fine, why?” He asked chuckling slightly. 


“You just acted a bit strange when you ran into me and Greg last night.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a pen and another copy of her thesis so she could take notes as they discussed.


Dr. Thompson shook his head. “Nothing, my wife and I were hungry and it probably just hit me,” he smiled and turned his attention to the Izzy’s paper in front of him.


Izzy nodded and kept to herself that his wife had been holding a doggie bag from a restaurant when they ran into each other.  She shrugged and thought it was probably none of her business why he acted how he had. 


She watched as he flipped through a few pages but was silent.  Her paper couldn’t be that good, there had to be some critiques.  She waited in anticipation for something to come out of his mouth.


“How have you been?”


That was not what she was expecting him to talk about.  Hadn’t they got past the small talk and were no on to the actual work, what she was there for.  She couldn’t spend all day with him; she had to find out how Mark’s meeting went and if they acquired the phone. 


She shrugged.  “I’ve been good except for some unusual dreams about a complete stranger.”  She blushed slightly. What would he think of her dreaming about a Backstreet Boy?


“Well, we all have those at times. Did you have one last night?”


Izzy shook her head.  “I can’t remember.  The strange thing about them is they aren’t like normal dreams, sometimes I feel like they actually happened.  Like they are memories more than dreams.” She could tell that she should have kept that last tidbit to herself almost immediately.  Dr. Thompson sifted in his seat uncomfortably. 


“That does sound interesting, but dreams are just that, nothing more than dreams.” He smiled at her.  “If you will excuse me, I need to get a few things.  I will be right back.”  He stood and left the room without waiting for her ‘okay’ to leave, not that he really needed her permission to leave.


She wasn’t sure what she should be doing as she waited for him to return.  She opened her thesis and started to thumb through the pages finding a few grammar errors and correcting them as she went. Some were on the very pages she was sure her professor had looked through already.  How had he missed them?


Sighing, Izzy started to look anywhere but at her paper.  Her eyes scanned her professor’s office. She hadn’t really noticed all of the certificates and pictures around his office before.  Her eyes fell on one picture of Dr. Thompson standing with another man.  The picture was nothing extraordinary; it was just two men standing side by side shaking hands as if they were congratulating each other.  Something about the picture did not sit right with Izzy, she felt sick when she saw it and when she looked back at it she felt the bile rise in her throat. 


She knew she had to leave; it wasn’t safe for her there.  She gathered her stuff and hastily threw them in her bag.   She reached the door just as Dr. Thompson opened it and came back in.


“Where you off to?”


Izzy looked up at him and felt sick.  “I don’t feel well all of a sudden.  I thought it better not to be here and get sick all over desk in case it’s the flu and not food poisoning.”  She apologized and hoped he would believe it.  She tried to move past him but he blocked her way.


“Let me get you some water,” He tried to get her to move back into the room.  She shook her head and pushed past him. 


“I should get home,” She called back to him as she quickened her pace down the hallway. 


She stepped out of the doors of the building and took a deep breath trying to calm the sick feeling that was pulsing through her.  Why did that picture have her feeling that way?  She took two more deep breaths before she heard her professor’s voice again.


“Izzy,” He grabbed hold of her arm.  Her eyes caught a glimpse of something metal in his hand. Her eyes focused on the object before it was too late.  Izzy slapped Dr. Thompson’s hand and the syringe away from her.  Shoving him hard, she kicked the syringe under a bush before turning away and running down the sidewalk towards the street. 


Sweat was starting to form and drip into her eyes, her heart was racing.  She knew she was being followed as she ran, eventually turning down an alley.  Maybe the alley would cut through to the next street over.  She mentally kicked herself when she found she was in a dead end. 


She turned to see Dr. Thompson approaching her from the open end of the alley.  The syringe in his hand again.


 “Izzy, just get it over with.  The more you fight it the worse it will be,” Dr. Thompson spoke calmly with even breaths, like he hadn’t been running only a few minutes before.


“I don’t know what is going on but I am not going to let you or anyone else do anything to me.”  She argued back.  What was going on with her life?  The past few weeks had been nothing but one strange event after another.  A flash of a girl’s face suddenly came to her taking her by surprise.  “Natalie,” She whispered remembering a girl that was shown on the news only a few days earlier as killed.  She had attacked her too and then was found dead, but why didn’t she remember that at the time she was shown on the news?   


The memories of the other girl almost distracted her long enough for Dr. Thompson to get the edge but luckily she blocked his attack.  Grabbing the arm with the syringe she twisted it behind him.  She tried to force him to release the syringe again but this time he had an iron grip on it and she knew if she touched it even slightly the fight would be over.


Dr. Thompson dropped the syringe into his free hand then using his own weight he flipped Izzy over his head.  She landed like a brick on her back in front of him.  He quickly brought down his hand with the syringe to plunge in into her but she managed to gain her composure and block his arm.


Not knowing how she knew what to do she brought her legs over her head and hooked her ankles together behind his head, flinging him over her and into the dumpster a few feet away.   A box full of cans fell on top of him dazing him long enough for Izzy to take the syringe from him.  Keeping her free hand on one of his arms and kneeling on the other she squatted next to him and held the syringe at his neck, the tip of the needle almost piercing the skin.


Dr. Thompson groaned and when he realized the situation he was in, he only struggled for an instant until the cold point of the needle made him realize he was worse off than he initially thought.


“I want so answers!” Izzy shouted at him.  “What the hell is going on?”


Dr. Thompson was silent until Izzy pushed the needle a little further into his neck.  “It is part of my mission that you never find out.”


“Your mission?” She asked but he would not speak more about that no matter how much more of the needle she pushed into his skin. 


“What is in this syringe?” This wasn’t the first time someone in her life she thought she could trust came at her with a syringe full of something.


“Medicine.” 


“Medicine?” She asked with a sarcastic tone.  “I doubt that.”


“It will take away any confusion or unwanted dreams.”


“I don’t have any confusion or unwanted dreams.” She spat at him.  Her mind flashed briefly to Brian’s face.  This was connected to the dreams about him she’d been having recently, she knew it instantly.   “What is it exactly and why are you doing this to me? You are like a father to me.”  There were a few tears in her eyes but she fought them back, what he just did, tried to do, to her meant that he really was nothing like a father after all and it was breaking her heart.


“I don’t know anything more than what I was told.” His eyes met hers and she knew it was the truth.  She was caught up looking at him that she almost didn’t notice the hand she’d been kneeling on he had worked free.  He tried to grab for her throat but it was too late, the movement had caused Izzy to shove the syringe into his neck and out of instinct she pushed the plunger down. 


She watched as his eyes glazed over and he no longer had a look of recognition when his eyes fell on her. 


Scared about what had just happened, izzy dropped the syringe and took off down the alley.  She needed to find answers, she needed a friend.  She was going to find Megan and maybe they could find a way to get to Brian together.  He had answers she needed, she knew it. 

Chapter 17 by Purpura Lipstick

Brian felt lucky that the other night when he called her Isabelle that it had been a slip of the tongue.  The he had been thinking about something one of the other guys had been talking about and that the name was on his mind.   She had quickly forgiven him and their passionate love making that night had been enough to make Brian secure in the fact that his wife did not suspect his mind was on another woman. 

Brian couldn’t stop smiling as he watched his wife with their son on the merry-go-round they were riding together.   The group had a day off and Brian decided that today would be a good day to spend with his wife and Baylee.  They all needed time together.  He hoped that he would be able to keep his identity secret as they wandered through the amusement park.   

Brian waved at Baylee as the twosome came around again. 

As the merry-go-round slowed down indicating that the ride was over, Brian turned his back to the ride and looked out into the park trying to decide where to go next.   That was when he saw her.  The woman whose face had been haunting his dreams was here and quickly walking away from him.  Brian was determined to get some answers so without thinking about Leighanne and Baylee he took off after her. 

Brian pushed his way through the crowds wondering if everyone was trying to get between him and the woman he was following.  She stopped by the ice cream stand and Brian sighed as he was able to approach her.  

“Excuse me,” Brian said as his hand touched her shoulder lightly.

“Yes?” the woman turned and faced Brian.  Brian’s face fell as he realized this woman that he had been chasing through the amusement park was not who he thought she was.

Recognition crossed the girl’s face as she realized that a Backstreet Boy had just approached her.   “Brian?” She asked unsure if what happened to her had just really happened. 

“Hey,” He smiled broadly hoping she did not notice that his face fell when she originally turned to face him. 

He took a picture with her; she had just bought a picture phone the day before and couldn’t believe one of her first pictures would be one with him.  When he asked that she not tell anyone that he was there she looked at him strangely but once he told her that she’d have bragging rights as being the only fan to get a picture with him that day she agreed and he sighed with relief. 

After the girl left Brian looked around his surroundings unsure of exactly where he was.  “Crap,” he muttered when he realized that he had run off leaving Leighanne and Baylee back at the merry-go-round.  They were both probably wondering where he went off to suddenly. 

He turned back in the direction he had come from and hoped he could make it back to them before they really noticed he was gone, though he knew deep down that was unlikely.   

It wasn’t long until he saw Leighanne coming in his direction, her eyes searching the crowd. She had not seen him yet.  He stood watching her, there was an expression of worry on her face that he had never seen before and it frightened him.    He wanted to rush to her but something held him back, instead he found a line and stood at the end of it, turning his attention away from Leighanne training his gaze on the back in front of him.

“Brian,” Leighanne’s voice was next to him only seconds later.  “There you are; where did you go?”

Brian could tell that she was trying not to sound as worried or scared as she had looked only moments before.    Brian quickly glanced at what line he was standing in, saying a silent prayer that it was something he could pass off.   He sighed when he noticed it was a line for funnel cake. 

“I was struck with the idea to get a funnel cake, I had hoped to get it and be back just after the ride ended but I see my timing is horrible.” He smiled and pulled Leighanne closer and pulled Baylee up into his arms.

“Oh,” she replied but Brian couldn’t tell if she believed his story or not.  She had turned her face enough that he couldn’t read her eyes.    

The rest of the day at the park was uneventful; they got their funnel cake and shared it. Baylee went on a few more rides and Brian filled a disposable camera he bought in a gift shop with pictures of his son and wife.  They walked away with their arms full, Brian carrying Baylee and Leighanne carrying the stuffed animals, t-shirts and other various items Baylee had pleaded with them to buy for him. 

They arrived back at the hotel and both couldn’t believe their luck when only a few girls could be seen waiting outside the doors and the lobby looked empty.  Brian managed to get a sleeping Baylee out of the car and into his arms without waking him.  As he approached the hotel he could see that the girls wanted to come over to him but that they respectfully kept their distance.  He would have to come down and take pictures with them as a ‘thank you’ later. 

After Baylee was tucked away in his bed, Brian fell down on the couch next to Leighanne who was reading some fashion magazine.   She put it down when she noticed he was sitting there and gently laid her hand on his arm running her fingers lightly on his skin.  He always got the chills when she did this and he found it very calming and relaxing.   He closed his eyes and let the softness of her fingers relax him. 

“I love it when you do that Isabelle,” Brian murmured. It wasn’t until the fingers stopped that he realized he had done it again, called his wife by the name of the girl from his dreams.   “Babe,” he said as he opened his eyes to what he thought would be Leighanne’s crushed face.  Instead she looked panicked.

“What did you say?” She asked as if she was hoping that he had not just called her by another woman’s name.  She had moved away from him and was now standing near the doorway to the bathroom. 

Brian quickly jumped off the couch and made his way to his wife’s side.  “Don’t worry about it babe, I’ll figure out what is going on and this will end.” He brought her hand up to his lips but before he could kiss it she pulled it away. 

“No, no, no,” Leighanne pushed him away and moved further away from him.  “I can’t, why...” she mumbled.  “Where are the others, why couldn’t it have been one of the others?” She was talking to herself out loud but looking upwards as if pleading with God.  She fell to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest.  “Please, I can’t.” She pleaded to nobody, tears rolling down her cheeks. 

“Leighanne?” Brian sat next to her taking her hands in his own.  He knew he needed to forget everything else including the dreams, the obsession, with the fan.   Brian knew he needed to devote himself to the love of his life Leighanne and he would do anything to make sure that happened. 

“I love you,” Brian kissed Leighanne’s forehead and pulled her face up so that he could look into her eyes, he needed her to know she meant it.  “I will do whatever you need me to do to prove that I love you and only you.”

Instead of relief or love on her face like he had hoped, the sobs seemed to come from her stronger than before.  When she managed to speak she said words that crushed him.  “You only love me because you were conditioned to.”  She tried to smile through the tears but it seemed impossible.

“I don’t understand what you are talking about.  We met on the video shoot for ‘As Long as You Love Me’ and the rest is history.  I have been with you and loved you since.  We got married and had Baylee.  You have made me the happiest man, you have completed my life.”

Leighanne smiled softly and squeezed his hand brushing his cheek softly with her other hand.  “How I would love to hear you say those words to me and really mean them.” 

“Of course I mean them,” Brian started to speak, a little angry that Leighanne was brushing off his words so easily, but she stopped him. 

“I have messed up my mission,” She smiled t him.  “I couldn’t help but fall in love with you.”

Brian looked at his wife with confusion.  She leaned in closer to him and held his hands tightly in her own.

“I am going to tell you some information that will make me hunted.  I planned for this in case I could not do what was needed.  But, you will not see me, or Baylee again until you figure out what it was you did that put you in this situation to begin with.”

“Leighanne…” Brian wanted her to stop talking; he wanted to forget the crazy things she was saying.  He hoped that this was part of a dream and he was going to wake any minute.  But she continued.

“I am not really you wife,” She blurted out holding up her hand indicating she did not want him to speak.   “There were ten of us total in the room, the mission director, me and eight others.  It was dark.  None of us were to know who the others in the room were.  Nine of us were given an assignment.  No one else knew your assignment.  No one else knew the roles we were to play in your lives.   When I opened my folder, I saw I was to be your wife.   I am ashamed to say now that I dreaded the role.  I knew what it would demand of me.  But once it happened and we lived together as man and wife, the more I got to know you the more I fell in love with you.  I thought I was chosen because they thought I would be immune to your charms, now I realize they chose me because they knew I would love you and it might make me want to keep you with me.  

Our history together was programmed into your memories so that everything you feel happened, our meeting, our wedding and our years before Baylee would feel completely real to you.” 

“Baylee?” Brian questioned.  “He is my son right?” Brian wasn’t sure he could take it if he found out that Baylee wasn’t really his. 

“He is.”

“So we have been together at least three years.”  He nodded, they would have to have been, and Baylee was three years old.  “It is long enough for me to know I love you too.”  

Leighanne was shaking her head and he could feel his heart drop.  “His is mine, and yours, genetically engineered to have both of our DNA but he is only as old as we have been on assignment.  They grew him into this age and then slowed his aging to give the impression we’ve been together longer.”

“But I remember his birth,” Brian shouted startling Leighanne.

“You remember what was programmed and what I have told you.”

“I can’t believe what you are telling me.”

“Deep down you know it’s true.” Leighanne stood and moved into the bathroom. 

“Why would you do this to me?” Brian asked, he had followed her and stood in the doorway.  She was pulling items off the counters and packing them into a bag, she was only taking items that belonged to her and Baylee. 

“I did not do this to you; I was part of the rehabilitation.  You were my assignment.”

Brian stood in disbelief.  He wanted to argue with her that she was wrong that she needed to seek help but something stopped him.  She was right; something deep down was telling him that everything she was saying was the truth.   “How long?”  He had so many memories of them together he couldn’t believe that any of them could not be real. 

“Six months,” She stated as she moved into the bedroom to continue to pack.  

“But I’ve been a part of The Backstreet Boys for more than six months.”

Leighanne paused long enough to look at him.

“It is likely not real either?”

She nodded and marched across the room to where Baylee was asleep.  She returned with the sleeping boy in her arms. 

“What are you doing?” Brian asked suddenly concerned as to why his wife was packing and getting their child ready to leave. 

“I told you, I will be hunted now that I have told you this and because I could not do what was required of me.  Baylee and I are going into hiding.  A few weeks ago I traded information for help, in case I needed it.”  Leighanne shook her head and stopped talking, as if she decided he should not know anymore about whom she traded information with. 

Brian sat in  a trance as his wife, or the woman who had been pretending to be his wife as she claimed, grabbed her bag and attempted to sling it over her shoulder as she held on to their sleeping son who, according to her, was only six months old in a three year old body. 

Was she crazy? Was he having a horrible dream? Would he wake up and they would both be there still?  He felt he should stop her and make her seek help, he wasn’t sure he could live his life without her.   He was just about to speak up when the thought struck him. 

“Howie,” he said.

“What?” Leighanne turned to look back at him. 

“Howie,” he repeated.  “I remember Howie in a pool of blood and then later he was at the hotel with the other guys, he injected me with something.”  He paused and looked up at the woman that he thought he knew, that he thought he had shared a life with. “Who are the cleaners?”  He asked.

Leighanne’s face transformed into one of fear at the mention of the ‘cleaners’ and she turned to leave the room. “You don’t want to know.”  She called back to him as she exited the room.

Brian watched them walk down the hall to the elevator and then ran to the window to watch as they climbed into a cab.  He hadn’t stopped her, why hadn’t he stopped her? He knew why he hadn’t.  There was truth to her words.   She told him who she was; she was someone who was to make him think he was someone he wasn’t.  But who was he that nine people, seven more since he knew of Leighanne and Howie now, were in his life to make him believe in a life of lies. And why?

Brian opened his wallet and took out his wedding photo, he had never removed the picture before, and he never wanted it to leave his wallet before.  How could the love he felt for his wife be implanted, how could it be fake?  Unsure about anything anymore he let the picture fall to the floor and stormed to his room missing the piece of paper that floated to the floor with the picture.

Chapter 18 by Purpura Lipstick

“Izzy calm down, what are you saying?” Megan was trying to keep Izzy from pacing around the room but every time she managed to put her hands on Izzy’s shoulders, Izzy brushed them off and continued to pace.


“Dr. Thompson attacked me.” Izzy stopped pacing and dropped to the couch, her head falling into her hands.   After a minute she raised her head and looked at her friend who was now sitting next to her.  “It has to be connected with what happened at the meet and greet.”


“You mean when you fainted after touching Brian?  I hardly think that is the issue.  Hundreds of girls faint when one of those guys touch them.”  Megan chuckled but stopped when she realized her friend wasn’t laughing with her. 


“You didn’t see how he reacted when he found out I was having dreams that seemed like they were more memory than dream, then the chase, and the fight…”   Izzy shook her head and stood up again. She didn’t start pacing; instead she headed to her room.   She grabbed a few items of clothing and stuffed them in her backpack before going back out to the living room.


Megan stood and followed her around as she finished grabbing items she felt she would need on her trip.  She grabbed for a knife and put it back as she remembered she would be going through airport security with only one bag.  If she felt she was in danger she would need to find a weapon after arriving.  She rummaged through her junk drawer until she managed to find some bandages and a tube of Neosporin.  She rolled them together and stuffed them deep into her clothing.


“What are you doing?” Megan asked as she watched Izzy pack her things.


“I’m going to find Brian.  I have to know if I should check myself into a loony bin or if he, by chance, is experiencing anything similar.” 


“So, you are going to find him, ask him if he’s been dreaming about you and experiencing people chasing after him with needles and you think he won’t call security.  Izzy, this is Brian from the Backstreet Boys.  He’s a lovable goofball who is utterly devoted to his wife and son, “Megan tried to reason with her but Izzy wouldn’t listen.


“Megan I am going, you can either think I’m crazy and go about your life without me or you can help me out.”  Izzy turned to face her friend, her hands resting on her hips. 


Megan smirked at her friend.  “And miss a chance to see Brian’s face? Never,” Megan moved closer to Izzy and hugged her before moving to the computer and turning it on.


“What are you doing? I thought you were coming with.”  Izzy couldn’t believe that she just sounded like she whined to her friend.  She was glad Megan wanted to come along, she wasn’t sure she could do what she needed to do alone.


The other tapped furiously away at the keyboard after the computer loaded.  “Unless your connection to Brian let’s you know where he is at every minute of the day, I’m finding where they are at on their tour.”


“Oh, good idea,” Izzy sat down on the couch as her friend pulled up a couple of sites to get the information.   If she hadn’t talked to Megan she would be on her way, or at the airport, before she realized that she had no idea where she would need to go to find Brian.


“Got it,” Megan wrote it down on a piece of paper and turned the computer off.  “Let’s swing by my place on the way.” 


A few hours later, the girls were standing in line waiting to buy tickets for the first flight to Pennsylvania.  Megan not only figured out where they would be, found someone selling tickets and meet and greet passes, she also aligned a car rental for when they arrived.    Izzy was glad that her friend was sticking by her, “Megan have I told you what an awesome friend you are?”


Megan smiled as they walked up to the desk.  “Don’t you ever forget it.”


The girls lucked out and managed to book a flight that left in a little under an hour and their trip through security was a breeze.  Izzy was starting to think that things were going a little too easily as they sat at the gate.   She bounced her leg as they sat waiting for boarding to be announced.


 Several men wearing dark suits arrived at the gate shortly after them and stood around.  Izzy averted her eyes but felt as if everybody’s eyes were on her.  


“This is crazy isn’t it?” She broke the silence that she and Megan shared since they bought their tickets.  “Maybe we should just go home, order a pizza and rent a movie.”


“Izzy, we already have our plane tickets, we have tickets to the show and the meet and greet.  Even if you decide not to say anything to Brian we can at least go to the concert and have a good time.”  Megan smiled and put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. 


Izzy nodded but still felt nervous about what she was planning to do.  She practically jumped out of her seat when they announced that her row could now board the flight.  The downside of buying last minute tickets, Izzy and Megan were not going to be sitting anywhere near each other. 


The sound of the engines soon and movement of the plane was soon enough motion to lull Izzy into a restless sleep.  She could only remember images really, faces flashed by so quickly she couldn’t be sure if any of them were people she actually knew. When the images finally faded and she felt herself drift deeper into sleep a hand on her shoulder shook her quietly awake.


“Izzy, we’re here.” Megan was looking down at her friend.  They were the last people, aside from the flight attendants, on the plane. 


She grabbed her bag from the overhead compartment and followed her friend off the plane.  Izzy had a moment of panic when they exited off the plane as the airport looked exactly the same as the one back home. 


Izzy shook her head realizing that she must have been disoriented from the restless sleep she just had as the airport started to look quite different than the one they had flown out of.  They made their way to the rental car booth, rented the car and were soon on their way to the venue.


Girls were standing around outside the building as they parked and walked towards the building. 


“Cancelled, I can’t believe it.” One girl was practically in tears as she talked to her friends. 


“She’s a selfish bitch!” Another girl said as she tried to calm the crying girl. 


“What is going on,” Megan approached the twosome to get some answers.  The mob of girls outside were waiting to go inside like they had originally thought, most of the girls were upset and many were in line, getting something handed to them and leaving towards the parking lot. 


“The show has been cancelled.  The rumor is Leighanne left Brian and he is too heartbroken to continue on.  If the bitch had any decency she would have waited until the tour was over.”  The woman snarled as she spoke the words.


“How do you know this?” Megan asked. Izzy could see the concern about someone she hardly knew coming through.


Izzy laughed at the way the woman spoke about Brian’s wife.  “They aren’t really married anyway,” She blurted out before she realized what she was saying.


Three heads whipped up to look at her, confused at what she just said.  “What?” Megan asked.


Izzy shrugged.  “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.” She looked at the girls apologetically and started to walk towards the entrance to the amphitheatre.  She could hear Megan talking to the two girls she left behind, but she wasn’t really listening.   Without the meet and greet, without the concert, how was Izzy going to find Brian?  She started walking towards the back but bodyguards forced her to turn back.  She could see the busses but which was Brian’s and how could she get on one?


“Izzy,” Megan called out, Izzy turned to face her friend.


“So close,” Izzy whispered. 


“Brian’s not here anyway.” Megan announced her bit of information triumphantly. 


“What do you mean?”


“Those girls, I talked to them more after you and your strange comment left.  They talked to some other girls who said that they saw Leighanne and Baylee leaving the hotel the boys were rumored to be staying at.  They said that Leighanne was in tears, hence the rumor she left him.”  Megan beamed at Izzy, happy to be such a source of information for her friend.


“What hotel?” Izzy asked.


Megan wasted no time telling her friend and it wasn’t long before both girls found themselves back in the rental car and headed over to the hotel in hopes of finding Brian.

Chapter End Notes:

I am sooo sorry for that long break! I hope to be back in the groove and writing more chapters, I have quite a few outlined again.

Chapter 19 by Purpura Lipstick

 Izzy stood awkwardly in front of an armchair in the lobby of the hotel that Megan said Brian was supposed to be at.  She watched Megan as she chatted with the desk attendant as she tried to get the room number Brian was staying in.  The girls were shocked to see how many fans were still hanging around the hotel hoping to get a glance.  Izzy didn’t understand why they were staying in a hotel if they also had tour buses to stay on, seemed almost like a waste.


Izzy sighed when Megan turned around and looked dreadful.  She didn’t get the room number, now they would have to knock on every door and try to find him before they were kicked out by the hotel staff.


Megan was two steps away from the desk when her face broke into a huge grin and her pace quickened as she came over.  “I got it.” She did a little dance as she spoke.


“How did you manage?” Izzy started to ask and then held her hand up when her friend’s grin got wider and her cheeks started to get pink.  “Never mind, I don’t think I want to know.” She laughed as they headed towards the elevator.


They went up to the fourth floor and found room 438.  Both girls stood outside the door unsure what to do next. 


“Well, I guess I should knock,” Izzy spoke up.


“It would help if you want to talk to him.” Megan rolled her eyes and stood off to the side of the door and motioned her friend on.


Izzy held her hand up and took a deep breath, knocking.  She could hear footsteps behind the door and then a pause. She was sure the occupant of the room was looking at her through the peephole. She hoped that he wouldn’t call security but would open the door to find out who she was and what she wanted.   Izzy had never approached anyone like this before, well, that she could remember. 


She was about to turn and leave when the door opened suddenly, startling her.


“Isabelle?”  Brian stood in the doorway staring at her.


Izzy smiled at him and nodded.  Relief washed over her, if he knew her name he had to have the answers she was looking for.  Feeling more confident she stepped closer.  “Yes.  Brian, I think you and I have a lot to discuss.” 


Brian quickly stepped into the hall and looked around.   “Who…”


“That’s my friend Megan, she can be trusted.” Izzy put her hand on Brian’s arm.  His skin was warm to her touch, her fingertips tingled from contact.


Brian looked down at her fingers and then back up to her face.  He felt at ease having her so close, somehow he knew things would get better now that she was around.  He nodded and opened the door wide enough for both girls to enter.


Izzy decided it would be best if she just ripped the band-aid off, no point in beating about the bush.  “Have you been chased, attacked or had anyone approach you with a syringe since our original encounter a few days ago?”


Brian stood staring at her.  For a brief second she thought he would call security but the feeling passed when she remembered how relieved he looked when he saw her standing on the other side of the door, how he said her name. 


“We should talk somewhere else,” He said as he grabbed a few items and headed towards the door.  His voice dropped low when the girls got closer.  “I think someone is listening, possibly watching.” 


Izzy, Megan and Brian continually looked around the hallway as they made their way to the stairs.  No one protested walking down the stairs, none of them wanted to be seen by anyone who might be watching for Brian, or his fans.    They quickly made their way down the stairs and soon were exiting into the dim sunlight of the alley behind the hotel.   All three thought they had made a clean escape until a voice startled all of them.


“What are you doing?”


All three turned to see AJ and Nick standing in the alley, smoke billowing between them. 


Megan and Izzy froze, neither one of them knew what to say.  “These girls are friends of Leighanne’s.  They are going to help me talk to her; I have to get her back.”  Brian chimed in, the lie easily slipping off of his tongue.  He couldn’t stand that he lied to his friends so easily.     “Don’t tell anywhere that I’ve left.”  He pleaded with his friends.  “I hope to be back within a couple of hours, she can’t have gone far.”  Lies, he knew that she would be long gone; hiding from the cleaners and any other member of the group of nine she was a part of.


“Sure man, I understand but do you think it’s wise to leave?” Nick asked walking closer to Brian, his hand outstretched.


“I can’t think of any other way to win her back.” Brian sounded so sincere that Izzy’s heart started to hurt, though she wasn’t sure why she’d care.


AJ pulled Nick back and looked towards Brian.  “Go win her back,” He winked at all of them before focusing his attention back on the cigarette in his hand.  The three quickly advanced towards the opening of the alley.


Izzy turned and looked back at the men, after being chased by people she thought were close to her, people she thought cared for her, she couldn’t bring herself to trust anyone.  Both AJ and Nick were watching them walking, their eyes never turning away and was it her imagination or were they closer to the opening of the alley than they were when they first left?


“Our car is over here,” Megan lead the way and it wasn’t long before all three were buckled in and the car was on the road.  “Where are we going?” Megan asked.


Brian looked around as if he was hoping a place they could go would jump into his vision.  “I don’t know, just drive.”


Izzy turned around to look at Brian, her stomach flipped when his eyes turned in her direction.  “We should find a random motel, a place that won’t question us.”   All three knew the kind of motel Izzy was talking about and none of them was really thrilled at the idea but Megan nodded and continued driving. 


Brian smiled at Izzy, he felt somewhat saner now that the girl he’d been seeing in visions was with him.  She was in the car with him, wasn’t she? To test it, he reached out and touched her shoulder.  “I still can’t believe you are real.”


Izzy smiled and rested her hand on his.  “I just hope we can figure out what is going on…” Izzy stopped talking, her eyes focused on something at the back of the car.  “Shit,” she murmured before turning towards the front of again.  “Megan we have company, again.”


“Who are these guys?” Megan cursed under her breath and pushed the accelerator down and turned suddenly down an adjoining street.


“I have an idea,” Izzy muttered.  She watched as the car also turned down the street they were on and continued to follow them.


Brian turned to look at what Izzy had seen behind him.  A dark SUV was behind them, men in dark suits sat in the front two seats.  The men were bulky and Brian had an idea who they were also.  “Pull over, I’ll talk to them, they are just security.  They probably saw us leaving, I’ll talk to them.” 


“Brian they aren’t…” Izzy started to talk but they had reached a red light and Brian had already opened the door and was getting out of the car to go talk to the guys. 


Brian held his hands out, open and smiled at the men in the car.  “Hey guys, I think there’s been a misunderstanding.  I told Nick and AJ I was going with these girls, Leighanne’s friends, to go find her, to win her back.”  The boyish grin on his face pulled at Izzy’s heart as she watched as the other men got out of the SUV and advanced on Brian pulling him towards the car.


She unbuckled and was out of the car faster than she thought possible.  The third man in the SUV approached and tried to pull her towards the car.   She grabbed hold of his wrist and twisted it behind him.  Her would be attacker fell to the ground in pain, unable to move, she could feel the shoulder dislocate as she brought her knee up connecting with his face.  Blood covered the knee of her pants as she released the man’s arm.  He crouched low trying to protect the rest of his face but something inside Izzy took over and she watched as she put her hands on either side of the man’s head twisting his neck until it snapped.  The man fell to the ground, lifeless. 


She moved quickly over to where Brian was still fighting to stay out of the SUV.  She grabbed one of them men off of Brian and slammed him into the SUV. He pushed her off of him and she fell to the ground. She rolled to her side barely missing the man’s foot coming down on her abdomen.  She threw her feet in the air and jumped back to her feet blocking the next punch that was thrown in her direction. 


She managed to slam her foot down on the man’s foot, her elbow colliding with his chin forcing his head backwards.  She turned and with her back to him she slammed her elbow as hard as she could into his stomach.  


Brian was held around his neck by the last of the attackers.  Izzy seemed to take out the first one quickly and was currently working on the second while he felt trapped and helpless.  He felt his lungs burning for oxygen and felt at any moment he was going to pass out.  He closed his eyes and hoped that it would never get back to the guys what he was about to do, they would never let him live it down. 


Brian opened his mouth and sunk his teeth into the hand that was closest to his face.  He spat out the blood as he fell to his knees gasping for air.  The man he’d bit was holding his hand and cursing Brian out, it wasn’t long before Brian felt the man kick him as he tried to get his wind back. 


Brian grabbed at his stomach and curled into a ball protecting his face and abdomen, it was what you did in a bear attack, and it couldn’t hurt when being attacked by a strange man either, right?  


He breathed steadily as he felt each kick.  Before he knew what he was doing, Brian reached out and grabbed the man’s foot lifting it high enough that the other man lost his balance and fell to the ground. Wasting no time, Brian climbed on top of the man and started to pummel the man.  He ignored the pain in his knuckles and the tears in his eyes and concentrated on making sure that this man could not attack him again.


“Brian,” Izzy placed her hand gently on the man’s shoulder and was startled to see the tears streaming down his face.    She knelt next to him and grabbed hold of his hands helping him stand. 


Brian looked down at the man he’d been hitting.  His face was bloody, his eyes swollen.  He was still alive but he did not seem to be awake.  Brian moved to wipe his eyes but gasped when he saw the amount of blood on his hands.   He sighed and used his shirt to wipe his eyes.


Izzy moved closer to the man Brian had left unconscious, reaching down she grabbed hold of his neck and snapped it quickly letting his body fall back to the ground. 


“What? Why did you do that?” Brian asked.  “You just killed him.”


“I killed all three of them.” Izzy said indifferently.  She looked around, thankful that no one seemed to be around, not that it mattered anyhow.  Somehow Izzy knew that if anyone had seen what had happened they wouldn’t remember later.  


“They were people, you killed them.” Brian was still aghast that he was willingly walking back to the car with this woman who had just killed three people and left their bodies spread on the ground for the birds to peck at.   Brian crossed himself as he continued to the car, he still had questions he felt she could answer; he just hoped that she didn’t turn on him and kill him too.


“I don’t know why I know but, it was them or us,” Izzy added with a sigh.  She stopped and grabbed his shoulders.   “You understand that right?”


Brian thought for a moment before nodding his head.  He had understood from the moment they started pulling him towards the car that if they did not die he would. 


They both got back in the car; Megan was still sitting in the driver’s seat.  Her knuckles white from holding the steering wheel. 


She took the car out of park and started towards their destination, a place to talk.  


“You handled yourself well out there.  I didn’t know pop stars knew how to fight,” Izzy was smiling at her joke at Brian.


Brian smiled half-heartedly at her comment.  “I don’t know where that came from.”  He said.


“Me either,” Izzy replied and turned back to face the front of the car dropping her head on the headrest and closing her eyes.   In a matter of minutes she had become a killer and it had felt natural.  She was scared of herself.

Chapter 20 by Purpura Lipstick

The threesome arrived at a motel that looked like it had seen better days.  The paint was peeling off the building and the vacancy sign was blinking rapidly as if at any minute the sign would go completely dark.  Megan had volunteered to be the one to go into the office to get a key and when she emerged she made a face but held out a key.  The group traveled down the row of doors until they found room number four. 


Izzy continually looked around as she waited for the door to be opened. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched but she couldn’t see anyone around, the place was seemingly deserted. She let out a sigh of relief when all three made their way inside the room.   


Brian was relieved to find that the interior of the room did not reflect the outdoor appearance.  The beds were neatly made, the room was clean and nothing appeared to be falling apart.  There were two queen sized beds, a table with a couple of chairs, a dresser with a television sitting on top of it.  The sink was outside what they all assumed was the bathroom and was on the wall opposite the entry into the room.


Izzy sat herself on the edge of one of the beds as Brian sat in one of the chairs. Megan looked between the two expecting one of them to start talking.  “You know what,” She spoke up, the first words spoken since the short conversation after the fight.  “I am starving; I am going to go grab some food.  I’ll bring you both back something too.” She smiled and quickly left the room before either one could protest or ask to join. 


A thought flitted through Izzy’s mind, what if more of those people come back and do something to Megan.   She relaxed when she realized that during both encounters Megan had come out unharmed as they never seemed interested in her.   She smiled awkwardly at Brian and he returned her smile.


Brian and Izzy sat looking at each other then around the room avoiding each other’s gazes.  Neither one of them knew exactly how to start a conversation with a complete stranger, a conversation that included vivid dreams that were possible memories. 


“Well we aren’t going to get anywhere if we don’t talk,” Brian finally blurted out.


Izzy looked in his direction and realized he was right; she needed to forget he was a famous personality. She, after all, came hundreds of miles to seek him out to get answers.   “Okay,” She agreed.  She let it all out, everything that had happened to her since their initial encounter.    She mentioned the strange dreams, the strange encounters, forgetting then remembering a friend, or ex friend while she was being attacked by her professor. 


“Dr. Thompson, or whoever he is, mentioned that I was part of his mission.” 


“Leighanne mentioned the same thing,” Brian half whispered.


“Leighanne?” Izzy questioned unable to believe that one third of the family that looked perfect could also be part of what was going on.


“It’s been six months, only six months,” Brian murmured.


“Explain,” Izzy demanded.


“Leighanne, she mentioned how she and I have only been together for six months total.”


“But don’t you have a son?”


Brian nodded.  “He was grown in a lab,” Brian looked up at Izzy confusion covering his face.  “I’ve been having dreams too, and seeing you everywhere.” Brian admitted.


“Oh?”


“I dreamt of meeting you.  You introduced yourself as Isabelle and threatened that if I called you anything else there would be pain,” Brian chuckled then stopped remembering how much pain she was able to cause, she killed three men.


“Isabelle,” Izzy let the name linger on her lips.  It felt right. There had always been awkwardness when anyone talked to her; it made sense if she didn’t like shorter versions of her name.  She smiled at Brian to try to encourage him to continue.   


“My own band mate, Howie, attacked me.  I thought,” Brian paused and shook his head before continuing.  “I thought I had killed him but later that night he showed up with the other guys at my hotel room.   When the other three left, he, he stuck me with a needle full of something.”


Izzy’s eyes went wide when Brian mentioned the needle.  She had told him about Dr. Thompson’s attack but had forgotten to mention the needle. 


“In one of my dreams, I remember being strapped to a table across from you,” Brian looked a bit embarrassed to admit that Izzy had been in the dream with him.  “Some man entered and injected you with a needle; your eyes went blank after.”


“Dr. Thompson had a needle. When I asked him what was in it he said it was something to make the dreams go away.  I injected him, on accident, and his eyes went blank.  It seems it is something to make you forget.  But if you were injected, how do you remember anything?” Izzy felt suddenly suspicious of Brian.  Was he really a decoy? Instead of being someone to help her was he going to be the one to finally manage to inject her and make her forget? Forget what though, a few dreams?


“I don’t understand why they want us to forget a few dreams.” Izzy spoke her last thoughts.


Brian shook his head.  “I don’t know how I remember, it is strange.  I was more in shock over Leighanne telling me that we had only been together six months, that I’d only been a famous singer for six months.  I don’t understand how that is possible if people worldwide know me and my music.” Brian rubbed the back of his neck.


Both sat silent for a while wondering how what Brian was told could be true if there was media evidence to prove otherwise.  Izzy stood and moved to the window glancing outside. The parking lot was still empty; there was no sign of dark SUVs or the rental car with Megan.  Izzy was starting to worry more about her friend but she realized that getting the food was a ploy for Megan to leave Brian and Izzy alone together to talk.  Megan probably stopped by some shops and was window shopping before she really got anything for them to eat.  


For some reason Izzy started thinking about how she and Megan probably ate out too often. It seemed they were always ordering food or bring food back to the apartment to watch television.


“Natalie,” Izzy whispered.  She pulled up the second chair and sat across from Brian leaning forward.  “The friend that I forgot about and then remembered later.  I was watching the news about an unidentified dead girl, it was Natalie. I remember thinking I should call the police to identify her, but for some reason I didn’t.  I forgot about her until the fight brought the memories back.  Whoever is doing this to us must have a way to control people through television and possibly radio signals.”  Izzy smiled at the revelation.  “It would explain how you became famous in six months if people were brainwashed into thinking you are part of this group.”


“People who like our music have not been brainwashed,” Brian got defensive, he had to defend his music and his fans all too often.  “Oh,” he stopped himself when he looked at Izzy.  What she said made sense, and the fact that he fought hard against the theory made him think that might have been programmed into him as well.


“If people are being controlled over the air waves, how did you remember again?”


“It’s only temporary.  The subject must constantly be fed the stream of information in order to continue to believe it.  They need a means of controlling the populace with a steady stream of what they want the people to know and believe.” Izzy spouted out.


“How did you know that Isabelle?” Brian asked cautiously.  He was beginning to wonder if she was going to flip out on him like Howie did and start chasing after him with a needle.


Izzy still loved to hear Brian say her name and took a minute to relish how he said it before she answered his question.  “I honestly don’t know where that came from.”


Brian was about to say something else when a ringing phone interrupted him.  Both he and Izzy pulled out there phones and checked their screens.


“It’s me,” Izzy smiled at him and moved across the room to answer the phone.  “Hello Mike.”


“Izzy where are you?” the voice of her boss came across the line. He sounded worried, at least he was pretending to sound worried Izzy thought.


“You never checked in yesterday. You never even came in to work like I was expecting.  I thought you were eager to know the results. We got the phone by the way.” He sounded a bit annoyed that she hadn’t come in or called.  


“Mike, that’s great but something came up, family issue. Can we discuss things when we get back?”


“I didn’t think you had family,” Mike sounded even more annoyed with each statement.


“Mike, I just need the time for an emergency. I will get back as soon as I can.” Izzy lied.  Even as she said the words she knew she probably wouldn’t be back for awhile if at all.


“Izzy, I need you back. We have a lot to do.  You have had enough time and I have been understanding until now.  If you don’t get back here I will have to give the rest of this project to Tony.” Mike threatened.


“Give it to him.  I have to do this.”


“Are you sure? It would be giving up a chance for a promotion.” 


Izzy bit her lip.  She really worked hard towards that promotion and she was pretty much handing it over to Tony on a silver platter but she turned to look at Brian and felt reassured.  “Mike, I have to go.”  She hung up the phone and shook her head.  There was a tone to Mike’s voice she had never heard him use before.  He had always been so understanding, never been annoyed with her.  She couldn’t believe that a switch flipped in him so quickly.  She walked back to the chair and sat down.


“Looks like we are both losing our jobs.” he joked.  They both laughed uncomfortably unsure of what was next for them. 

Chapter 21 by Purpura Lipstick

Izzy pulled the pillow tightly over her head and tried to ignore the knocking she was hearing.  Despite the place being practically empty, the motel had put a couple next door to their room and the noises they were making the night before had made it difficult to sleep.  Izzy had drifted off for possibly an hour before the knocking at the door had started.   She groaned when she realized that no one else in the room was going to answer the door.   

Izzy tossed the pillow at the sleeping lump next to her.  Megan groaned but did not move.  The empty boxes of food were sitting in or next to the trash can and the bags full of clothing were near the closet.  Izzy knew her friend well when she thought she had gone shopping before bringing back food giving Brian and Izzy time to talk about everything that had been going on the past few days.  

The bed Brian had been sleeping in was empty, the covers thrown back up to the head of the bed in a messy attempt to make his bed.  Izzy saw the light on in the bathroom and heard water running.  Brian was already awake and getting ready; if he was showering he might not have heard the door.

A flash of Brian shirtless her hands running down his chest came to mind and she shook her head to forget it.   Brian had not mentioned he had been having any dreams or memories, if that’s what they were, of the two of them together and she certainly did not want to be the one to mention she had several thoughts of him shirtless or more. 

The knocking on the door brought Izzy back into the moment.  She sighed and looked out the peephole gasping when she saw Mike on the other side looking upset. 

“Mike?” Izzy questioned as she opened the door.  “How did you find me?”  She was in Pennsylvania and didn’t remember telling him before she left or last night on the phone where she had gone. 

Before Mike could enter someone stepped out from the wall next to the door and stuck something in his arm.  The man collapsed on the floor of the hall and Izzy quickly tried to shut the door before the other person could force their way inside.  A foot stopped the door from closing all the way and a well manicured hand held onto the door and forced it open wider.  It wasn’t long before Izzy was standing face to face with Mike’s wife, Patricia.

The other woman’s eyes darted around the room and fell on Megan. 

“What are…?” Izzy started to ask but Patricia cut her off.

“Get her out of here,” She demanded pointing to the sleeping form of Megan.

How was Megan still asleep? Izzy wondered as she walked over to the girl.  “Megan,” She whispered shaking her friend.  “Megan,” She said again. This time the other girl opened her eyes. 

“What, I’m sleeping.” She groaned and tried to roll over again to go back to sleep.

“I need you to do something for me.”

“What?” Megan sounded annoyed now.

“How about you go get some breakfast?”

“What the f…” Megan sat up quickly stopping suddenly when she caught sight of Patricia standing in the room.  “Yeah, sure.” She finished and quickly grabbed her jacket and the keys and headed out the door making sure she stayed out of Patricia’s way.

Izzy listened for sounds from the bathroom but heard none; maybe he was out and was staying quiet?

Once Megan was gone Patricia’s smile widened and she laughed.  “I didn’t think I would get to be the one.” She said as she removed her jacket and folded it.  She placed it carefully down on the edge of the second bed and set her bag next to it. 

“I thought for sure that the role they gave me, as your boss’ wife would not be close enough.  I even petitioned at one point to be made your boss so I would have closer access to you but that was not to be.” 

Izzy stared at this woman and watched as she cracked her knuckles.

The woman moved closer to Izzy but turned at the last minute and moved to the nightstand between the beds.  She picked up something and looked at it briefly before putting it down again.  She moved back through and away from Izzy again. 

Each time she moved Izzy could feel her muscles tense expecting the woman to act, to pull something out and attack her but she just moved around the room taking in everything from Izzy’s little bit of luggage to the décor.  The way she moved reminded Izzy of a cat that was toying with a mouse.

“Did you come here to talk?” Izzy crossed her arms and looked at the other woman.  Patricia turned back to face Izzy and smirked.

Izzy moved closer to the woman and threw her hand at the woman’s face attempting to use the use the palm to break the woman’s nose.  Patricia was too fast though and grabbed Izzy’s had twisting her arm behind her.  She held Izzy’s arm tight behind her back bending it further.  Izzy felt the pain in her back as the other woman hit her kidney.

Another hit had Izzy dropping to the floor, where was her mystical ability to pull fight moves out that she couldn’t remember learning now?  The other woman was continuing to hit Izzy, she had no idea Patricia knew how to hit with as much force as she could. 

Izzy was now on the floor trying to pull away from Patricia but she still had a firm grasp on her arm.  Izzy managed to swing on leg out and backwards.  She felt her arm dislocate as she knocked the other woman to the ground but at least her arm was free.  

Patricia did a spin kick but Izzy managed to grab the woman’s foot with one hand and turn her ankle enough that she fell to the ground. She easily got back up and attacked again.  Izzy managed to block her attacks one armed but it was getting harder and Patricia was learning what moves were harder for her to defend against with only the one arm. 

The other woman backed off and moved to sit on the edge of one of the beds.  Izzy stood breathing deeply wondering what her ploy was now.

“Mike thought I spent all my time shopping and going to lunches with my friends, but I was constantly training, hoping for a chance like this.” Patricia pulled a towel out of her bag and dabbed her forehead.  She looked like a woman who was merely taking a break from a workout class and not a break from trying to injure another human being.

“Why?” Izzy managed to ask.

“To go up against someone like you and win would show how much better I am.”  She smiled haughtily.

“Someone like me?” Izzy wondered how much longer she could keep the woman talking. She saw the bathroom door start to open and knew Brian would be there to help her soon.  At least she hoped Brian would be there to help her soon.

“Of course I was only on a need to know basis, but I knew who you were before all of,” She paused and looked around the room, “this.”

“Who was I? Before what?”

“Guess you don’t know as much as I thought you did.  Oh well.” Patricia stood again and started to advance closer to Izzy.  Izzy’s arm was throbbing and she knew that she was going to need to somehow get her shoulder back in the socket if she had any chance of overcoming this woman.

In only a few quick movements, Patricia had Izzy on the floor kneeling on both arms the woman flung her fists at her face and at her stomach.  Izzy felt that at any minute she was going to pass out from the pain.  How did it come to this, and where was Brian?

Izzy tried to think of a way to get out of the situation and soon she started to rock from side to side hoping she could knock the other woman off of her.  Before she could move, Patricia slumped down on top of her unconscious.

“About time,” Izzy shouted up at Brian who was standing over the two holding the clothes iron that the room thankfully provided. 

“I couldn’t find anything.”  He said as he smashed Patricia’s head one more time before dropping the iron and shoving Patricia off of Izzy.  He leaned over her and carefully wrapped his arms around her to help her up. 

Izzy moved to the wall by the bathroom and holding her breath and closing her eyes she slammed her arm against the wall.  Her arm throbbed with pain but was still dislocated.  She cried out and held her breath again before slamming her arm again.  This time she felt her shoulder fit back in the socket, though she was in pain it was less than it had been.

Brian watched horrified as Izzy put her shoulder back.  Kicked the woman on the floor’s leg before moving closer to Izzy.  Izzy was already dumping the woman’s bag out on the bed and searching for something. 

“What are you looking for?”

“Found it,” She said as she held up a needle triumphantly.   “If they are meant to make us forget they should work on them as well right?” She uncapped the needle and moved towards Patricia.  Quickly she injected the other woman and tossed the syringe in the trash can.

“Grab the rest of those and put them in here.” Izzy pointed to the remaining syringes full of the substance.   Brian complied and put the needles in Izzy’s backpack.   “Those can come in handy.”  She smiled at Brian finally feeling like they had a little bit of luck getting a supply of whatever it was in those syringes.

“Let’s find Megan and get out of here,” Izzy started to gather their stuff together hoping that Megan had not gone far.  

Brian and Izzy looked down at Mike who was still lying slumped outside their door.

“Someone will find him, he’ll be okay.” Izzy said hoping she was right.  She really did like the guy, he’d been a good friend the last, well six months she guessed it was now.

Megan was standing next to the street.  When she saw the two emerge from the room she smiled and ran closer to them unlocking the car as she ran.

They piled into the car.  “Where now?” Megan asked.

“I have an idea, a safe place.” Brian smiled and told them to turn the car towards the airport; he would buy them all tickets to Kentucky where they would go to his church.  The pastor he’d known as a child, the man that was still close to his family and him, he would help them.   

Chapter 22 by Purpura Lipstick

Izzy pulled the buzzing phone out of her pocket and glanced at the screen.  The number was unknown to her so she put it on the seat next to her and continued to sit in silence with Brian next to her.  Megan had volunteered to go into the airport to check on departure times for a flight to Kentucky.  There was no point in all of them going inside, exposing themselves to the cameras and the hundreds of others inside until it was time to actually get a flight and board it. 


The phone started to buzz again with the same unknown number.  Izzy thought about answering and telling the person to shove off but decided to just ignore it again.   She put it under her leg trying to silence the vibrating noise even more.


“Do you need to get that?” Brian asked a little jealous that she was getting constant calls from people who might be concerned about her.  Brian’s phone had not rung a single time since they left the hotel the other day after running into Nick and AJ.  Brian would have thought that Nick might have called him out of curiosity.  He took out his phone and checked it.  No missed calls, full battery life. 


“No,” Izzy blushed as she hoped the phone would stop ringing.  She looked over at Brian and smiled as he checked his phone.  “Expecting a call?”


Brian could feel his cheeks burning as he shoved his phone back into his pocket.  “No, just,” he stopped unsure how to explain that he was hoping at least one person in his life would have called to check on him.  He hoped at least one person in his life was not part of the fake life Leighanne had described.  Brian let out a barely audible sigh when he thought about Leighanne. He hoped she and Baylee had made it to where ever it was that they were going.  He hoped that when this was over she would come back. 


“I’m not your wife,” the words she spoke echoed in his mind at the same time the image of him proposing to Izzy flashed into his mind. 


Izzy could sense that Brian was tense sitting next to her.  She wondered what he was thinking about.  She tried to think of something that could possibly lighten the mood.  When she couldn’t think of anything she decided it would be better to talk about what was going on than to continue to sit in silence.


She opened her mouth to speak but she closed it again when she felt Brian’s leg move ever so slightly.  The movement caused her hear to jump inside her chest.   She turned to look at Brian who was already watching her.


Brian was watching her trying to decide how or if he should bring up some of the other dreams he had been having, some of the more intimate feeling dreams.  A few days ago it was all he could do to not see the woman from his dreams, now that he was sitting next to her he still couldn’t tell if it was real or if he was going to wake at any moment back on his tour bus, Leighanne’s steady breathing next to him.   


“Brian,” Izzy started unable to handle the silence anymore but she was interrupted by the door opening. 


“Hey guys, let’s go. We lucked out.  A flight leaves in thirty minutes.”  Megan smiled at both of them and grabbed for her one bag in the back seat. 


Brian and Izzy climbed out.  Both were tense as they walked inside the building.  They all kept their eyes to the ground as they approached the counter and purchased their tickets.  The woman behind the desk didn’t recognize, know or care who Brian was.   They managed to make their way through security and to the gate with no problems.  Since the flight was so close to departure time they were surprised they made it, they walked straight up to the gate, handed the attendant their boarding passes and got on the plane. 


Brian heard Izzy’s sharp intake of breath and wondered what it was about until his eyes fell on the men in taking their seats towards the back of the plane.  They were wearing dark suits much like the men that had attacked them earlier. 


The three split up to take their seats, they were able to get a flight but unable to get tickets near each other.  Brian’s seat was the closes to the men at the back of the plane, Megan was closer to the front of the plane and Izzy was in the middle.   How Izzy managed to get a window seat was beyond her but she scooted past the other two in her aisle and took her seat.  She crammed her backpack under her feet and sat staring out the window.


Izzy looked at the woman reflected in the window of the plane.  The brown eyes staring back at her were the same she saw on a daily basis but the woman in the window looked as though she was hiding a secret from her.   “What are you hiding from me?” She whispered to her reflection before propping her head on her arm, closing her eyes awaiting take off.


“Izzy,” Brian’s voice called out to her.  She looked up and over, Brian and a stranger were standing in the aisle looking at her.  Izzy’s heart started to jump in her chest, who was this person with Brian. Why would he be standing with him? 


“Brian?”


“This man has so graciously accepted a seat change.  He’s willing to give up his seat for yours so you can sit with me.”  Izzy could hear a slight twang to his voice as he spoke.


With the fear pumping through her it took a few minutes to understand what Brian was saying. When it hit her that she could move and sit next to Brian she grabbed her bag quickly and apologized to the people next to her as she climbed out.   “Thank you,” She smiled at the man who was trading seats.  He simply nodded in response and took his new seat. 


Brian led Izzy back to where the vacant seats were.  Brian let Izzy take the seat next to the window and he took the middle seat again.   “It’s been so long since I’ve flown coach,” Brian commented as he let out a soft laugh. 


“It could have been seven months ago,” Izzy smiled back at him reminding him that if they were to believe what his wife told him, his memories were only six months old. 


“True,” He laughed again and without thinking about what he was doing he took hold of Izzy’s hand with both of his.  He felt relieved when neither one passed out at the moment of contact again. 


Izzy felt Brian’s hands take hold of hers.  She breathed in quickly but placed her free hand on top of Brian’s when she felt him start to pull away. 


“Do you think the two guys we saw are part of it?” Izzy leaned closer to Brian and whispered.


Brian had a hard time keeping his hands on hers, he wanted to wrap his arm around her and pull her closer than she already was.   “I’m not sure,” he replied instead. 


“What if they are and they attack on here?  We won’t be able to fight them off as easily?”


“Somehow if they are part of that group I doubt they will do anything here.” Brian tried to comfort her with his words though he was still feeling an overwhelming urge to pull her close and comfort her.   


“What if one of the nine is on the plane?”


“I doubt it,” Brian released one of his hands from hers and wiped it on his pant leg.  He was nervous.  He could tell Izzy was nervous too.  “Let’s figure out who we already know are a part of the nine.” He tried to smile to reassure her but was sure that the tight-lipped smile did nothing to help calm her. 


“I know for a fact Leighanne is one,” Brian started.  He still couldn’t believe the woman he’d shared a bed with, had a child with could be in on something that sounded sinister.  It had to be sinister, what other reason would someone wipe memories and replace them? It couldn’t be for fun, or perhaps it was, he had no idea.   “And Howie can’t forget him.”  Brian muttered.


“Natalie was one, but she’s dead now.  Dr. Thompson and Patricia have both been injected with that serum they kept trying to inject in me so they may not remember.”   Izzy touched her face where Patricia had hit her several times.  It was sore but there was no bleeding, no bruise.  When she had first realized that she barely showed any evidence of an attack she thought she was going to hyperventilate.  She hardly ever got injured, she knew that, but was there another reason? Was something wrong with her?  She knew the other two noticed it but neither one said anything since they could both tell she was already having a hard time adjusting to the new information discovered about her.


“So we are safe from two,” Brian continued taking Izzy’s hands with both of his again.


“Two?”


“Natalie is dead and Leighanne is in hiding with,” he paused and felt embarrassed to say it, “with our son.” 


Izzy felt a twinge of jealousy and hurt when he mentioned the son he had with the other woman.  She couldn’t understand why though if their dreams were memories she was sure that Brian meant more to her than just a good friend. 


“I can’t help but suspect the rest of the group; AJ, Nick and even Kevin. I even suspect our manager.”  Brian admitted.  He hated to think any of other guys were in on it but if Howie was and the group was only six months old than it would only make sense the rest were involved. 


“My co-worker Tony has always despised me, I wouldn’t doubt it if he was involved.  Patricia set me up with some guy named Greg that I went out with.  The fact she set me up with him and that night when we ran into Dr. Thompson the two seemed to recognize each other but tried to hide it from me.” 


“That’s more than nine,” Brian counted.


Izzy shrugged.  “We won’t know until they come after us.” 


“Excuse me,” A small voice came from the aisle.   “Are you Brian from the Backstreet Boys?” The girl asked.


Brian immediately dropped Izzy’s hands and turned his attention to the young girl.  He smiled broadly at the girl. “I sure am,” he held his finger to his lips and winked at her making her feel special that she had picked him out. 


“Can I?” She held out a small book and a pen.  Brian took it from the girl, thankful that the person on the end of the aisle was sleeping.  He flipped to a blank page and signed the page for her.  In that moment he forgot about his life falling to pieces and being a lie.  His job now was to make that little girl’s day, to make her feel like the most special person on the plane. 


The girl and Brian talked for little longer until her mom called for her to return to her seat, they were going to land soon.  Brian turned his attention back to Izzy but she was looking out the window, she looked lost in thought so he let her be.  


“Welcome to Kentucky,” the voice of the flight attendant wafted over the speakers as the plane touched down on the runway. Brian sighed to himself. He was home.

Chapter End Notes:

sorry, I feel that chapter was more filler than I intended....

Chapter 23 by Purpura Lipstick

Izzy and Brian stayed in their seats and watched as the people around them started exiting the plane.  The man on the end looked down at the two sitting there and rolled his eyes before grabbing his things and going.  Neither one could figure out what that was for but they continued to sit and wait.  It wasn’t long before the men in the suits were walking by their aisle.  Izzy kept her eyes on them, they had no luggage with them which was unusual for business travelers but they also did not look towards Brian and Izzy. 


When the plane was relatively empty the twosome got up and grabbed their things.  Only a family trying to get their children and their stuff together remained on the plane as they exited. 


“There you are, I was starting to get worried,” Megan ran up to them as soon as they exited the plane.  “I saw those men in suits and thought they got to you.” She said dropping her voice low enough that only the three could hear. 


Izzy craned her neck and saw the men in suits walking towards the terminal exit.  If they were after them they were doing a good job of lulling them into a sense of comfort.  They never looked in their direction, they continued on their way. 


“I think they might actually be simply men in suits, perhaps on a business trip.” Izzy spoke up as the men rounded a corner and disappeared.  


Megan turned to look in that direction and, not seeing them, nodded her head in agreement with Izzy.   She fell in step behind Izzy and Brian as they walked through the terminal and towards the exit.  They saw the men standing near the baggage claim again but neither one seemed to be watching the belts for any luggage. 


“Strange,” Brian commented before grabbing Izzy’s elbow and steering her towards the exit. Megan looked in the direction of the men and made a small squeak when she noticed they started to follow them.  


“Stay public transportation,” Izzy whispered.  “They won’t do anything in public.” 


“How do you know?” Brian asked. 


Izzy shrugged unsure of where her own knowledge about these mysterious men would be coming from.  The three managed to make their way onto an already crowded shuttle bus.  Izzy started to relax and she could tell the others were too, until the doors opened again and the two men in suits clambered aboard.   Izzy turned her back away from the men and focused on Brian and Megan’s faces.  


“Ignoring them won’t make them go away if they really are part of that same group that attacked us already.” Brian smirked at Izzy knowing exactly what she was trying to do.  


Izzy shot Brian a deadly glare. “Smartass,” She teased.  Feeling the sensation of déjà vu rush through her as soon as the words escaped her mouth. 


They continued to ride in silence.  None of them thought it would be a good idea to discuss their situation while on board a crowded bus.  Brian had managed to produce a ball cap and he was now wearing it low on his face.   When the bus lurched, Izzy flew towards Brian despite her having a firm hold on the bar in the middle of the bus.  She could feel her heart racing as his caught her and helped her stand upright again.


Brian stood close to Izzy after he caught her.  He felt compelled to stand close to her, his finger running lightly down her arm.   He could feel her eyes on him as he brushed the hair off of her shoulder.  He glanced up as the bus slowed. Seeing familiar trees he decided they needed to make a move to ditch the men in black. 


 “Get off here,” he demanded as he pushed both girls towards the exit.  The barely managed to make off the bus in time.  They all sighed in relief as they noticed the men still on the bus.  Neither one of them were looking in their direction.  Perhaps they were just traveling men after all.  


“Where now,” Megan asked since they stood in front of a restaurant, not a church.


“We walk a few blocks.” Brian smiled.


Izzy was beginning to feel comfortable every time Brian smiled at her.  She hoped that he felt the same about her, she didn’t know why, but she knew her heart would break if anything happened to Brian. 


“A few blocks. So where the bus lets off next?” Megan asked looking at the bus route on the side of the bus stop. 


Brian’s nose scrunched as he thought about it.  “Dang, I think you are right.”


“So the suits can get off there and be waiting for us?” Megan questioned.


“If they know where we are going.” Izzy pointed out. 


Megan looked down the street in the direction the bus drove off in and shook her head.   “We should get moving just in case.” She decided and started to walk whether the other two were joining her or not. 


They were all hot by the time they reached the doors to the church.  Brian pulled the doors open.  He felt full of pride being able to show off his church to his companions.  He was proud of everything the church had accomplished; proud of the time he had put in to help.  He hesitated at the doors trying to remember if his memories of how he helped the church were more than six months old.  His heart dropped when he realized much of what he had done was when he was younger, but he aided the church only a few weeks ago.  That, he knew, was something he had done. 


Feeling comforted that even if this wasn’t the church he’d grown up with he’d at least made an effort to help the church and the surrounding community. 


“Brian, it’s so good to see you again.” Pastor Mike approached the group and embraced Brian.  


“Can we talk?” Brian asked the Pastor and they strolled away leaving Izzy and Megan standing alone in the church to look around. 


Megan and Izzy looked around at the stained glass for awhile longer before Megan started to walk towards the front of the church. She watched as her friend kneeled on the steps to the altar and crossed herself.  Izzy had forgotten that Megan had a deep rooted faith. There were many things Izzy had forgotten about her friend as she dragged her through danger after danger.   Perhaps she should get her friend a ticket home and away from everything going on?  It would be the right thing to do as her friend. 


Izzy sat and watched Megan pray for awhile longer before she turned her eyes to look in Brian’s direction.   They were in deep conversation but it was almost as if Brian could tell she was looking towards him.  He lifted his face and looked towards her, smiling. 


It wasn’t long before Brian and his Pastor were making their way over to where Izzy was sitting.  She stood as they approached and wiped her dirty, sweaty hands on her pants before taking the Pastor’s hand that was outstretched to her. 


“Brian’s been telling me that you are a friend of him and his wife.  This may not be their regular church, but you couldn’t ask for two more devoted members than Brian and Leighanne,” the pastor continued to smile and hold Izzy’s hand.   “He has also told me that you have run into some trouble.  I have not asked for details since I trust him, but you all are more than welcome to stay next door at the mission for the night.   You will have a bed, a meal and whatever protection the church can offer. “ 


“We can’t do that,” Brian protested when he heard the offer.  “I am not broke, Mike.  I can afford a place for us to stay the night.  I insist the mission beds remain open for those who really need a place to stay.”  Brian smiled and placed his hand on Mike’s shoulder.  “I appreciate the offer though.”


“What if they are watching our cards?” Izzy protested.  She noticed the strange look the Pastor was giving her she realized he still had her hand and quickly pulled it back.  She felt uncomfortable talking in front of him, but the man had not attacked them, tried to inject them with a needle or, it seemed, had not called anyone to do it for him. 


Brian shook his head. “I took a large amount of cash out before we headed to the airport.  They shouldn’t be able to trace the cash.” 


Izzy nodded her head.  It was smart of Brian to use the card in the city they were in, the city that people knew they were in.  Using the card at the destination would have tipped off whoever was following them to their new location. 


Brian took hold of Izzy’s hand, the hand she had pulled away from the Pastor.  Megan had finally wandered back towards the group and they introduced her to Mike.  Izzy noticed the Pastor’s eyes falling on her had that Brian was still holding.  She wondered if he would try to contact Leighanne about it or if he would have a talk with Brian later.  Friend’s held hands though right?


“Any help you can give us we appreciate.” Brian smiled.  Izzy wondered what help he could provide. Brian had already turned down the place to stay.   “And we will help serve the evening meal tonight as our way of showing thanks.”


Izzy was about to protest when Mike thanked them all heartily and showed them through the doors to the kitchen where he put them to work immediately helping.  She got the feeling he was used to hurrying volunteers to work before they could think about it and change their minds.  In the end, Izzy gave in and spooned soup to the hundreds of homeless that streamed through the mission.  Every person that came through the line she looked over wondering if they, at any minute, were going to attack her and make her forget.     

Chapter End Notes:

Okay that sort of felt like filler too, but since chapter 22 was cut in half and this was the end ... I suppose it makes sense.  :) 

Chapter 24 by Purpura Lipstick

Isabelle knew she was dreaming the minute the chase started.  She was chasing someone down the street; she couldn’t see their face even though they looked back multiple times to see how far away she was from them.   She smirked as she gained on them.  It was stupid that they thought they could outrun her, she would catch them and it would be over.

The person she was chasing turned onto a busy street and got lost in the crowd. Izzy ran through the crowds for a short time before realizing that it would be futile to expect to catch the person in the mass of people that was now surrounding them.  

She moved to the side of the walkway and tried to act casual.  Only a few people had noticed her running and none of them appeared to realize she had been chasing someone.   She leaned against a brick building and pulled something out of her pocket.   Looking at the device, Izzy felt comfortable with it in her hand but she admitted the device looked unusual. A small screen was at the top with some numbers below it, the closes thing she could equate it to was a cell phone with a large picture screen. 

She punched in what appeared to be random numbers and waited for something to happen.  A small dot appeared on the screen that was now showing an image of the streets around where she was.  The dot was moving towards an intersection.  Izzy smirked and started to walk down a nearby alley towards the blinking dot on her screen.  

She made sure the shadows covered her as she stood in the shadows waiting for the dot to finally reach the intersection.   She smiled when the person she had been chasing appeared in the intersection.  She put the device back in her jacket pocket and fell in step behind the intended target.  She managed to keep hidden as she walked behind.  She still could not see the person’s face when they turned but she knew it was who she was supposed to be following. 

Her target turned down an alley and she laughed to herself.  Stupid move, she thought as she noticed it was a dead end.  

The person turned to face her completely.  His face was still blurred but she could tell he was talking.  She could not hear what he was saying either, but she knew it was because she was ignoring what the man had to say.  There was nothing he could say or do to convince her to not do what she had been sent to do.   She said a few words back, but they sounded like the teacher on Charlie Brown. 

Frustrated with her own dream she tried to replay the last few minutes so that she could hear what was being said but her dream would not rewind.   Instead she watched herself pull another strange device out of another pocket and aim it at the man.  His hands flew up into the air but he quickly changed into a large green beast.   She tried to move away but he lunged forward.

Izzy bolted up in the bed half expecting the beast to be towering over her.  Her breaths were quick and she could feel the sweat dripping from her forehead.   She felt the body next to her stir.  Brian sat up and reached for her, pulling her into his embrace.   He leaned her head down on his shoulder and started to brush his hand through her hair.  He was singing a song softly to her, she couldn’t make out the words of the song so she didn’t know if she was familiar with it or not.  She didn’t care.  The song was still calming her, his voice was soothing her and she could feel her eyes become heavy again.  

Brian helped Izzy lay her head back down on the pillow.  She gave him a tired smile as he brushed a few strands of hair from her face.  She was almost asleep again when she felt his lips press against hers.  Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and her eyes flew open.  She was shocked but his kiss was so soft that she didn’t want him to stop.  She felt his fingers trace her arm the way it had on the bus that day but instead of stopping at her shoulder, he continued from her should back down.  Her stomach flipped and she felt tingles as his fingers brushed over her breast and down to the hem of her shirt.  

Brian’s hands moved under her shirt and started to move back towards her breasts.  She couldn’t believe what was happening, not that she really wanted to stop it.  What had come over Brian that he was being so bold with her? He really did not come off as a man who would make a move so far so fast. 

“Isabelle!” a female voice shot through the room and Izzy rolled over, shocked to find that Brian was not in the bed next to her.   Her eyes adjusted to the dark and she saw Megan leaning on her elbow across the small aisle on the other bed.   “What the hell were you dreaming about?” The other girl asked.

Izzy hesitated for a moment before she went into a description of chasing the man and how he turned into a large, hulk-like beast before her eyes. 

Megan lay listening to Izzy describe the dream, her face full of doubt.  “Sure, what else did you dream then?” She asked in barely a whisper.   “With the noises you were making I’m glad Brian gave up the other bed so I could be over here.”  Megan let out a small laugh before rolling onto her back.

Izzy’s eyes had adjusted to the dark now and she looked around the room finding Brian asleep on the couch where he had said he would sleep for the night.   “Not like we could share a twin bed,” Izzy shot back at the other girl.  Somehow they had managed to find the one hotel that had only one room left and it had twin beds.  What hotel had rooms with twin beds anymore? 

There were a few moments of silence as the girls lay in their beds, both staring up at the ceiling. 

“This is wild.  I am in a hotel room with Brian from the Backstreet Boys.” Megan’s voice came across as a whispered squeal. 

“Megan,” Izzy admonished her.  They had discussed Megan keeping her calm around Brian when they had flown out to see him in the first place.  They didn’t want him to think they were silly fan girls making something up to be near him. 

“Sorry, fan girl moment.” Megan apologized and then reached next to her.  She had grabbed her IPod and put her headphones on.  “Okay, you can go back to your sex dream now.” She was no longer speaking in a whisper since she was talking so she could hear herself with her ear buds in.

Izzy could tell she was blushing as she turned to look at the couch where Brian was still sleeping.  The man was starting to stir though and she hoped he hadn’t heard what Megan had said.

“Hi,” he whispered when he saw her looking at him.   The sun was starting to peek through the curtain and it would soon be time to start the day.  Izzy didn’t feel like she could fall back asleep, and now that Brian was awake she wanted to stay awake too.  

Brian sat up and looked at Izzy, her hair was a mess.  She must have realized that her hair was sticking out; she blushed and started to brush her hair down with her hands. 

“So what’s next? Do we just hide out here and hope people stop chasing us? Hope we remember who we are so we can continue with our lives?” Izzy wondered.

“As much as I would love to stay here with Pastor Mike and hide out, I don’t think we will be left alone and I don’t want any danger coming to him.  Mike said he could manage to get us alternate identities for traveling.  We can stop by later today to pick those up, then I think we should leave.”

“Where can we go?”

Brian brushed his hair forward and moved to sit next to Izzy on the bed.  “I thought about that before falling asleep last night.  I want to see if we can get a hold of Howie, if we can capture him somehow.  He’s bound to have information we can use and with your skills, we should be able to capture him.”

Izzy nodded.  It was a good idea.  They knew Howie was one of the nine, he hadn’t been hit with the forgetful serum and Brian knew where he lived.   She turned and looked back at Megan who looked to have fallen asleep again to her music.   She lowered her voice and leaned in close to Brian.  “Maybe we should take Megan home?”

Brian mulled it over for awhile.  If Nick was with them he would have the same feelings.  Send the person who is not involved home so that they will stay out of danger.   He almost agreed with Izzy but a thought struck him.  “No, she should stay with us.  Whoever is after us may use her to get to us.” 

Izzy looked back at Megan then turned back to Brian.  She felt his hand on her leg.  She didn’t want to speak, she didn’t want to make any sudden moves afraid that if she did he would remove his hand and she didn’t want him to.   They sat in silence listening to Megan breath.  Images from her dream flashed through her mind and she felt herself growing warmer.  She found herself wishing that Brian would take hold of her and touch her like he had in her dream, kiss her like he had in her dream.

“We should get ready.” Brian broke the spell and Izzy nodded in agreement with him. 

Silly fan girl dreams, Izzy chastised herself for even thinking those thoughts.    

Brian splashed cold water on his face as he cleaned himself up in the bathroom.  It was all he could do not to go back into the room and take Isabelle in his arms and hold her close, kiss her, and caress her.  He wanted to, but something kept holding him back.  Leighanne, he thought.  She had admitted she wasn’t really his wife, but he still had feelings for her that he could not dismiss as easily as she seemed to be able to leave him. 

By the time Brian emerged from the bathroom the girls were both sitting waiting for their turns to clean up before heading out.  Brian assumed Izzy had told Megan where they were going, she still had her ear buds and was lip synching words to the song that was playing in her ears. 

Brian opened the curtains and sat on the couch looking outside to see if he could see any signs they had been followed to the hotel.   He couldn’t see anyone.  When they were all ready, they headed down and got back on a bus to the church where Pastor Mike was waiting with three new identities for them, then it was off to find Howie. 

Chapter 25 by Purpura Lipstick

 Izzy caught Megan looking down at her new ID card again.  She elbowed her friend and looked down at the card indicating she should put it away.  Megan nodded and stuffed the card in her pocket.  It hadn’t taken them long to get their new cards from the Pastor and to head to the airport.  Mike had tried to convince Brian not to go after the people chasing him.  He felt it would be better if they took their new identifications and found a new life for themselves.   The TSA officers did not look at her strangely this time when she went through security.  Her face had healed completely.  Izzy had no idea how that happened but she wasn’t going to count it out as a blessing.


They were now standing outside a hotel waiting for Brian to come back with a room key.  Megan was going to stay in the room while Brian and Izzy headed over to Howie’s place to confront him and hopefully learn some new information.


Megan had been watching the news.   It appeared that she was either immune to the affects the subliminal messaging was having or they had not been sending them through the airwaves.  She did tell the others that it had been mentioned that Brian was having health issues and the tour was postponed to give him time to get better.   She managed to get a computer from the front desk at the latest hotel and said she was going to do some research, find out what was being said by fans and news websites.


Izzy hesitated leaving Megan alone in the hotel but it was by far the nicest they had stayed in and after ten minutes in the Florida humidity she envied Megan lounging on the bed surfing the internet and watching television.


Brian drove in silence all the way to Howie’s gated community.  He easily gained access; he was still on the list.  It’s not like Howie would remove him from the list if he thought Brian might show up there at all.   They parked a distance away and walked closer to his place.   There were some bushes strategically placed across from his place and they hid themselves behind them. 


“If anyone sees us we are screwed,” Izzy muttered realizing how badly they were hidden by the bushes. 


“He lives in a community with mostly older people.  If it weren’t for the few families I’ve seen around I’d claim he was the youngest person living here.   Wouldn’t surprise me if he moved to a senior citizen complex in a few years, he just seems to act old like that.” 


“Maybe it’s because of all the teen girls and hanging out with Nick that have him wanting an older crowd where he lives.”   Izzy let out a soft chuckle. 


Brian smiled at the thought.  The two lay in the grass together watching for several minutes before Izzy groaned.  The plant they were laying next to was starting to cause her skin to itch.  She continued to scratch but the itch would not go away.   Her eyes looked up at the building they were watching again, still no movement.  Finally, she’d had enough of the plant.  She stood and started towards the building.


“What are you doing?” Brian sounded angry at her impulsiveness. He had hold of her arm and was attempting to pull her away from the building.


“No one is here,” She snapped at him and immediately felt bad for doing so.  His face fell and he dropped her arm.  He stood in the middle of the parking lot for only a few seconds before jogging to catch up with her.   


“I’m sorry,” she whispered.  She wasn’t sure Brian heard her or if he was ignoring her apology.


“It’s locked.” He said curtly as he tried the door.  Izzy kept her mouth tightly closed to avoid telling him that it was obviously locked, no one was there. 


“How are we going to get in?” Brian’s voice had an edge of sarcasm as he spoke.


Izzy looked at the door.  There didn’t seem to be anything special about the door.  As she looked over the door her mind sent her several ways she could get through the door.  Her hands took over as they reached into her hair and pulled out a hair pin she had forgotten she was even wearing.  It was almost as if she was watching someone else crouch at the door and fiddle with the door.  It was seconds later that she heard a click and turned the doorknob.  The door opened and she replaced the hair pin.


“How the hell..?” Brian asked.


Izzy shrugged as she walked in.  She turned to face him; he was still standing outside on the porch.  “I honestly have no idea how I know that.”  She really hated having parts of herself that were hidden from her.  She knew who she was, or thought she did, but now so much was coming to light that she never knew about herself.  There had to be a reason she knew how to pick a lock and how to kill a man so easily and with little remorse. 


Brian followed her inside but she hardly noticed.  She was looking around the apartment trying to determine where they might find any information they were looking for, anything that would help them determine what had happened to them and why they were being pursued now.  


“His office is over here,” Brian turned into the room that he’d been in before.  Howie liked to host parties and Brian would often try to find a room to be alone away from the crowds for a few minutes at a time.  He walked into the familiar room, Izzy right behind him.  Everything looked the same.  The bookshelves lined one wall filled with books of all sorts.  Brian ran his fingers along the spines of the books taking in the titles.  He moved to the desk next and took a seat in the chair.  The computer sat off and he thought about turning it on briefly but something kept him from hitting the on button.  


Pictures of Howie, him and the others adorned the desk as well as pictures of Howie’s family.  How much of that was real?  Brian remembered taking the picture that was on his desk.  It was taken during one of their photo shoots but management didn’t want it to be released.  Howie had asked for the picture, pleaded that he be able to have a copy.  If he remembered correctly Nick had just let a ball of smelly gas and the picture had been their reactions. Kevin had hold of Nick around his neck with one arm; his hand in a fist over the younger’s head.  Brian was holding his nose and lifting his leg towards Nick like he was going to fart in his face.  Howie had his arm out as if he was attempting to stop the smell with his hand and AJ was feigning like he was going to pass out.   Brian couldn’t help but smile at the memory of it.  How could that life be a fake life?


He felt Izzy standing over his shoulder before he saw her.  He looked up and noticed she was looking at the picture as well.  “It looks like you had fun with each other.”


Brian nodded and slammed the picture ‘face’ down on the desk. 


Izzy watched as Brian tore through the room.  He was determined to find something that Howie was hiding that would give them an idea of what was going on. 


“What if the new memories are fake?” Izzy questioned as she too started to look. 


“What do you mean?” Brian paused briefly as he leafed through the file cabinet.


“What if the new memories were implanted to trigger at a certain point and make us upset our lives?”


“Why would someone do that?”


“I don’t know why would someone cover our old memories with new ones?  It’s a theory we can’t rule out.” 


Brian thought about the picture on the desk and nodded. He wanted things to go back to the way they were with the other guys but deep down he knew it was not his life.   Why would Leighanne lie about only knowing him six months, why would he feel so comfortable with Isabelle around despite how hard he fought it and why would he have a constant nagging feeling that he was forgetting something if the ‘new’ memories were the fake ones? 


“A safe,” Izzy’s voice snapped Brian back to the current reality of searching through Howie’s place for answers.  He turned and made his to the bookshelves where Izzy was standing.  The books he had just run his fingers along were not really books after all but a cover for a safe.  He mentally kicked himself that he had missed how fake the books looked. 


Izzy pressed her ear to the safe and started turning the dial.


“Really?” Brian was shocked and a little annoyed that this woman seemed to know how to do everything.  She was the one who had unbelievable fighting skills, she knew information that saved their lives, she opened the door to Howie’s and now she was going to crack the safe?  He hadn’t discovered any super special skills.  He’d been able to fight back, defend himself but he knew that his skills were nothing compared to Isabelle’s.


Izzy turned and smirked at Brian shaking her head.  “I thought I’d give it a shot. Apparently safe cracking is not one of my newly discovered hidden talents.”  


On impulse Brian moved forward and pulled Izzy into a tight hug.  He felt her tense only briefly before relaxing into his arms.  “As much as I am enjoying this, we should get moving. Howie could be back at any minute.” Izzy spoke up.  She hoped it wouldn’t put Brian off from hugging her again.


“You’re right,” He dropped his arms.  He started to move to the door when he stopped and looked at the safe.  “I wonder…”  He moved closer and started moving the dial.  If he were to admit it later, he had tried to open the safe as a joke, but a though struck him before he started and he used a set of numbers that came to his mind.  They were both shocked when Brian entered a combination that worked, the safe door swinging open.


“I see that safe cracking is one of your special talents,” Izzy smirked.


“No, I just remembered something from Howie’s bus.  He slipped one time when we were talking about our birthdays and said that he was born June, sixteenth.  He played it off like a joke, said it was one of his animals growing up birthday’s.   It has always stuck with me.”  Brian shrugged as he started to root through the safe.


A sound at the front of the building had both of their heads looking up.  They froze standing where they were holding papers from the safe.  When a few minutes passed and nobody came inside the apartment they continued to search through the papers. 


“Nothing,” Izzy shouted in frustration as she started to stack her papers back together to put in the safe.


“Same here.”


Brian took the papers from Izzy and put them with his own.  He was placing them back in when he realized the safe seemed rather shallow for how deep it went into the wall.   Feeling around he smiled when he found what he was looking for.  Pushing the button he released the catch and slid the back wall down revealing a hidden part of the safe.


“Nice,” Izzy stood over his shoulder looking inside.  “A safe within a safe.” She smiled and reached her hands inside pulling out a manila envelope.  She moved to the desk and unwound the string that bound it shut.  Pulling the papers out carefully she knew instantly this was what she was looking for. 


From a quick glance at the papers she saw the title ‘Back Story’ at the top of the page and flipped through until she finished the pages full of the story that would be Howie’s life assigned to him.  “His mission,” She muttered and handed it to Brian thinking he may want to read up on what Howie was assigned to be in his life.


Izzy busied herself reading the remaining paperwork.  “Here,” she said smacking Brian’s arm causing him to almost drop the papers on the floor.  


“What is it?” he asked as he placed the papers back on the desk.


“It looks to be a list of places to get the drug they are trying to use on us,” Izzy pointed to the word Clorametaphen II at the top of the page.  


“Look,” Brian’s hand shot in front of Izzy’s face and his finger pointed to one of the locations.  “There is a location only a few blocks away.”  Izzy folded the piece of paper with the address and shoved it in her pocket.


She started to put the papers back when a picture caught her eye.  It was a picture of her and Brian together, arms around each other.  The kind of picture couples would take for engagement announcements.   She held it up out to Brian who only looked at it briefly then back at Izzy.  He could feel his cheeks blush. 


“Let’s go,” he said.  It was like confirmation for all his dreams about proposing to her, confirmation that what Leighanne said was true.  He shook his head hoping that he could shake the thoughts out.  Leighanne was his wife, he was married to her, and he loved her, right?


Izzy folded the picture and put it in her pocket as well.  She was about to put the papers away when one line on the bottom of the last page read “The Cleaners” and listed a phone number.   She almost folded that paper up and put it in her pocket as well but the sound of the front door opening made her freeze in terror.

Chapter 26 by Purpura Lipstick

Izzy grabbed hold of Brian’s hand and pulled him out of the room.  She thought they could get closer to the door and hide.  Her hopes were that they would hide, the person would move upstairs where they were and they could sneak out.    


They were at the top of the stairs when the door opened and Izzy caught a glimpse of Howie before pulling Brian towards another room upstairs.  She pushed open the door and groaned when she found herself standing in what could only be the master bedroom which was only confirmed by Brian when he hissed, “this is his room,” in her ear. 


She looked around the practically immaculate, cleanly decorated room, the footsteps on the stairs forcing her brain into overdrive.  She ran, pulling Brian, through the bathroom into the walk in closet.  Some relief washed over her as she found corners that were somewhat hidden by clothes and the angle of the closet door.  She pushed Brian in first and clambered in after him.   She arranged a few of the shirts in front of her so that they covered their hiding spot.  She leaned back and tried to calm her breathing.


Izzy could feel Brian’s breath on the back of her neck as she crouched in front of him.  Their close proximity felt awkward but comfortable.  Brian’s breath hitting her neck caused her skin to tingle slightly.  She hoped it was too dark for him to see the goose bumps he was giving her. Her breath soon slowed and she could feel Brian’s chest rise and fall behind her in the same steady beat.  She was glad he caught on without her having to say anything, speaking now could only lead to disaster.


She had to stop herself from gasping when she heard the footsteps finally enter the bedroom.  She could hear the slow, steady steps walk around the room and then head into the bathroom.  The footsteps wandered around and then were quiet.  She could hear Howie relieving his bladder and flushing.  She hoped that he didn’t decide he needed a change of clothes.  She was almost certain that, even though they were hidden, if he wandered into the closet they would be discovered.


Howie started whistling as he washed his hands.  The combination of the whistling the heat from Brian’s body and her knees starting to ache were getting to Izzy. She fought the urge to come out from hiding and just attack the man who was working against someone he claimed he was friends with. 


 Izzy turned her head to look back towards Brian.  His eyes were wide as he stared straight ahead over her shoulder.  She could still hear the footsteps in the bathroom just outside where they hid so she knew he was not looking at anything in particular, he was just scared shitless.   How come she wasn’t? 


Brian’s eyes flicked to her face and she tried to smile to put him at ease and reassure him that everything was going to be alright but the smile felt fake to her so she knew he wasn't.  How can you reassure someone that they are going to be fine while you are hiding from someone who wants to take your life, your memories away, or kill you? 


Finally, Howie started to move out of the bathroom and away from the closest.  He was still whistling some eerie tune.  Izzy could hear Brian letting out a breath as Howie’s footsteps moved down the stairs.  She felt him relax as the front door opened and closed again. 


“Not yet,” she whispered as they continued to stay huddled in the closet.  Izzy wanted to make sure that he was far enough away that when they left he wouldn’t see them and if she really let herself admit it, she wanted to stay close to Brian even though the pain in her legs and the heat from their confined space were getting to her. 


After another ten minutes Izzy fell forward and crawled out of their hiding spot.  She managed to grab onto the lower of the clothes bars and pull herself up. 


“I would have thought he’d have one of those custom built, fancy closets,” Brian commented as he brushed himself off.  Izzy noticed the slight southern twang to the words. 


She smiled remembering that she loved to hear him speak with his slight accent but then paused realizing she remembered liking it.  “I remembered…”


“What?” Brian asked as he held her elbow guiding her back through the condo. 


Now was not the time to talk about remembering how she liked his accent. Izzy shook her head and pulled her arm out of Brian’s grasp.  She moved in front of him and started to lead the way towards the front door.   Before she could throw the door open so they could make their escape the front door opened and they stood face to face with Howie. 


He didn’t look shocked to see them; he smugly smiled at them and shut the door calmly behind them.  “Should I tell the fans you finally came out of the closet Brian?” Howie laughed at his own joke. 


“You knew we were there?” Brian asked ignoring his attempt at a joke. 


Howie shrugged and leaned against the door. Izzy mentally prepared herself to fight this man.  The only way they would get out of here is if they took him down.  She thought about running back towards a window. She knew she’d be able to get out, but would Brian? She wouldn’t, no she couldn’t leave him behind.


“I never expected to be in a situation where I would have to take care of both of you. I might get a promotion for bringing you both in.  I haven’t involved the cleaners yet.  Despite what you think of me now,” he looked towards Brian, his gaze steady but unnerving, “you are one of my closest friends and I would have to send the cleaners after you.” 


“Some friend.” Brian muttered.


“Brian how can you say that.  Before this,” he pointed towards Izzy looking slightly disgusted, “before she came into your life can you honestly say you weren’t happy, that your life wasn’t great.  You are famous; you have a beautiful wife and a wonderful son.  Maybe I can convince the council and the rest of the nine to let me wipe your memory again, let you go back to being a Backstreet Boy.  It is what you should be doing with your life.”


Howie was making Izzy very uneasy.  One of his hands was out towards Brian like he was going to embrace his friend; the other hand was reaching around behind him to grab something.  Brian looked like he was frozen in place.   Izzy tried to catch his eyes, looking from him to Howie’s other hand but he was transfixed on Howie.  If he stayed like that Howie would have no issue sticking him with a needle


Before Howie could get close enough to pull the needle on Brian and inject him, Izzy threw herself at Howie knocking him away from Brian but not to the ground.  She managed to move back just in time to avoid Howie’s arm swinging at her. To her surprise, the man was yielding a knife instead of a needle filled with the substance to make them forget.   


Howie charged toward swinging the knife like a mad man towards Izzy.  She found herself backing away like a scared animal unsure why her brain wasn’t taking over and pulling out the fighting skills she didn’t know why she had.  Instead she backed up and tripped over an end table and landed on the floor. 


Howie got closer and continued to swing the blade. Izzy managed to kick him in the knee but it didn’t keep the blade away and she held back the scream of pain as the knife cut through her pants and sliced her shin.  The cut stung but it did not stop her from swinging the leg towards Howie’s knee again.  Howie managed to grab hold of her leg and plunged the knife into her thigh.  She let out a shriek of pain as he pulled the knife back out and brought his foot down on her wound. 


Izzy curled so that he could not hit her wound again so instead he kicked her back several times.


“Hey,” Brian called out; she’d almost forgotten he was there.


She felt something fall to the ground near her and realized it was one of the throw pillows from the couch.  Brian must have thrown it at Howie to distract him from beating on her.   She quickly turned over and attempted to grab hold of Howie’s legs but he was already striding across the floor to Brian.


“Just let me take care of her then your life will be how it was before,” Howie pleaded.  “Don’t you want that?”


“I want to know what is really going on, why I am having all these dreams and memories.  I can’t keep anything straight.”


She watched Brian continue to back away.  She knew he could defend himself some but Howie had a knife and he’d easily be able to harm Brian if it came to that. 


“I guess I don’t have much of a choice than.” Howie moved faster towards Brian and attempted to plunge the knife into Brian.  Brian held up the other pillow he’d been holding.  It obviously didn’t stop the knife but it kept it from being stabbed into his chest. 


Izzy slowly started to pull herself up. The pain in her leg was burning trying to force her to sit back down so it wouldn’t hurt anymore.  She watched as Brian ran into the kitchen and grabbed his own knife throwing it in Howie’s direction.


Knife throwing was definitely not his skill as the knife landed short of Howie.  Quickly Brian pulled another knife out and threw it at his former friend.  This time the knife grazed the other man’s face.  Shocked, Howie stopped and touched the blood on his cheek and looked at it amazed that he’d even been hit.   Brian was standing there in shock too. Izzy wanted to yell at him to grab another knife but her mouth was dry and the words wouldn’t come out.


“I was just going to injure you both in order to take you in but I guess I could easily convince them that I accidentally killed you.”  Howie wiped the blood on his clothes and moved closer to Brian stopping him from grabbing another knife. 


Izzy watched in horror as Howie brought down the knife and Brian screamed in pain.  Adrenaline kicked in and she moved into the kitchen.  Brian was still moving to her relief and he knocked Howie’s arm hard enough to force the knife across the room.  Izzy saw the blood gushing from a wound on Howie’s arm. 


Howie was still holding Brian tightly, his hands on the wound he had just created which would keep Brian from being able to move with all the pain he had to be experiencing.  The knife Howie had been wielding was near Izzy now and she lifted it.  She could tell Brian was making sure not to look at her to give her away.  Howie was moving with Brian closer to the stove.  Izzy would not let that happen and without thinking about the pain in her leg she flew towards Howie and shoved the knife into his back making sure to twist it. 


He was still holding onto Brian as he started to fall, Izzy stabbed him in the back again this time leaving the knife in place.  When Howie fell far enough, letting go of Brian finally, Izzy used her good leg and kicked it further into Howie’s back. 


They stood looking at Howie for a minute.  Izzy could tell Brian had mixed feelings about what just happened. Hadn’t she had the same feelings about Dr. Thompson?  Someone you had thought was a friend was actually put in place to keep you in a life that wasn’t yours. 


“Let’s go,” Izzy broke silence and started to limp towards the door, she became massively aware of the pain in her leg and she opened the door. 


Brian was soon following her out.  He shut the door then put her arm around his shoulder and helped her down the stairs and to their car.  They needed to plan their next move. 

Chapter 27 by Purpura Lipstick

“Finally,” Megan practically screeched at them when they got back to the hotel.  “I was really starting to worry that you’d been…” She stopped talking when her eyes fell on the wound in Brian’s arm bleeding and Izzy’s leg bleeding.   “Oh…”


“We ran into Howie,” Brian grumbled as he grabbed and towel and sat down on the bed, wincing as the bed jostled his arm. 


Brian and Izzy watched as Megan paced around the room spewing off words under her breath. Neither one could make out what she was saying but she looked completely frazzled.  


“You are both hurt,” She finally stopped and faced them both.  Izzy was now sitting on the desk chair holding her leg out.  She was rubbing the thigh above the wound. 


“Mine looks worse than it is,” She tried to reassure her friend but she was freaking out.  She knew that her face had healed faster when she had been in the fight with Patricia but why would her leg wound already be healing.  The wound was already not as deep as it had been though it was still a burning pain. 


“What happened?” Megan demanded to know looking between Brian and Izzy wondering which would crack first and tell her. 


“Megan,” Izzy’s voice came out stronger than she thought it would after losing as much blood as she had.  “Right now we need supplies, we have to bind Brian’s wound, and my own,” She added the latter part as an afterthought. No need to freak out her friend by telling her that she was already healing.  “Then we have to figure out what we are going to do next,” her eyes caught Brian’s and they sat looking at each other for a few moments.  The door closing snapped them out of it. 


“How’s your arm?”


Brian shrugged.  “It has hurt so long I think I am becoming to become numb to the pain.” He let out an uneasy laugh as he wrapped a towel around the wound on his arm.   “How is your leg?”


Izzy looked at the large wound on her thigh and let out a small gasp.  It was still unsettling to watch her leg slowly mend without the aid of stitches or medicine of any kind.  “It’s healing,” She whispered.  “And it’s freaking me out.”


“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” Brian smiled at her and she relaxed some.


“I’d feel better about it if I knew why I healed like that.  I am so unsure about my life and everything in it right now that having one more thing that doesn’t make sense is really freaking me out.”


“If that picture is real and we knew each other, if you heal, why don’t I?” Brian asked.  It was apparent that he was upset that she was finding all sorts of skills that were making her useful.  Sure he found he could defend himself but she was the fighter.  She picked a lock, she seemed calm going through another person’s stuff looking for information and she healed fast.  


“You are important,” Izzy moved to the bed and sat next to him.  “They wouldn’t have done everything to you if you weren’t important, right?” Why would they erase someone’s memories and given them new ones along with a new life if they weren’t important, if they didn’t hold some sort of key?


“Sure,” He replied.  He opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted when the door opened quickly.  Megan rushed into the room letting the door slam.  She tossed a bag from the store on the bed next to Izzy and rushed towards the television.  Megan fiddled with the television as Izzy opened the bag and pulled out pain killers, alcohol, gauze bandages in bulk. 


Izzy took the bottle of alcohol and the bandages and prepared herself.  She opened the bottle, cursing as she tried to pull security seal off.   When she finally managed she noticed Megan had stopped surfing and had settled on a news station.  She didn’t have time to wonder what her friend was doing; she needed to take care of her wound and get Brian patched up. 


Moving back to the desk chair Izzy braced herself.  She counted to three in her head and poured the alcohol on her wound.  She held back her initial scream but when she poured it the second time the pain was overwhelmed her and she let out a guttural groan. 


Brian and Megan both turned their attention away from the television to look at Izzy.  She was on her feet already removing her pants; Brian blushed and turned his attention back to the television.  With Megan’s help she wrapped the bandage around her leg a few times. 


“Did you see the TV?” Megan asked as she helped her friend steady herself as she pulled her new pair of pants on. 


“I was a little busy,” Izzy shot out at her friend.  


“Sorry, I know, I just wasn’t sure if you heard any of it even.” 


Izzy moved towards the bed and tugged at Brian’s shirt.  “Do you have an extra?”


Brian shook his head, his eyes still on the TV.  “Howie’s dead.” He whispered and looked towards her, eyes wide.


Izzy nodded.  “We knew that,” her eyes glanced at the television where they were reporting the news of a neighbor calling the police when they heard what sounded like a fight at the condo next door.   They arrived to find the Backstreet Boy face down in a pool of his own blood.   They released that he’d been stabbed in the back. 


“Last time I thought he was dead he showed up again and injected me,” Brian’s voice continued to be barely above a whisper. 


“Wanted for questioning is fellow band mate Brian Littrell and a female traveling with him who were seen entering the premises but have not been seen since,” The reporter on the news spoke. Both Izzy and Brian looked towards the television as they showed an image of the two of them entering the complex.  Izzy had managed to get them out avoiding people and cameras, which had been difficult given their condition. 


Izzy shook her head and took hold of the bottle of alcohol again.  She removed the towel wrapped around Brian’s arm and held on above the wound.  She gritted her teeth as she poured the liquid into his wound.


“FUCK!” he screeched as the liquid poured into the wound. 


Megan stared at the man sitting on the bed.  “You said…” She started but stopped when he glared at her.   He had always made it a point never to use swear words if he could help it but he it was a reaction, he couldn’t control the word that escaped his lips.  He instantly felt bad for saying it but he didn’t need someone else pointing it out to him.


“That hurts worse than when Howie stabbed me.”  Brian growled as he tried to hold back the pain. 


“Breathe,” Izzy demanded.  “You are not going to make it hurt less by holding your breath.”   She stopped her ministrations as she waited for Brian to start breathing again.  He let out the breath he’d been holding in and she waited a bit longer for him to relax.


“Now, breath deep and evenly.” She smiled at him as she continued to clean the wound.  Even through Brian’s face turned red from pain, he did what she asked and continued to breathe.  Keeping his eyes averted from what was actually going on seemed to help.  Izzy managed to get his arm wrapped up.  She tied the bandage and patted his shoulder lightly when they were done.    


“Is that it?”


“Without sutures it will be all I can do at the moment.” Izzy cleaned up the bloody gauze and the towel and tossed them in the trash with her torn pants. 


“Don’t tell me, you just realized one of your many talents is to stitch up wounds too,” Brian half laughed at his comment.


Izzy paused and thought about it.  She didn’t know why but she was pretty sure she would be able to stitch up his arm and her leg if need be.  She shrugged and turned back to the others.  She was about to talk about what they should do next now that they would have more than just the nine, thanks to Howie’s death, looking for them when her phone started to ring.  She glanced at the screen and hit the hang up button.


She looked up to see Brian and Megan’s curious stares.  “I didn’t know the number.” She shrugged and tossed her phone done throwing stuff back into her bag.  The phone started to ring again and she picked it up ready to give the person on the other end a piece of her mind, only her phone wasn’t ringing when she grabbed it.  She looked at the other two and Brian gasped.


“That’s mine,” he grabbed his phone and flipped it open.  “Hello?”


“Brian where are you? Have you heard about Howie and what they are saying about you?” Kevin’s voice came immediately over the phone.  He was speaking loud enough that Izzy had no issues hearing what the other man was saying. 


“I didn’t do it,” Brian fought back.  It was true, Izzy had been the one to stab Howie, but he was there he hadn’t stopped it.   If Izzy hadn’t, Brian would likely be dead or brainwashed again. 


“I know you didn’t but you need to come in, we need to figure this out.” 


“Why so you can finish what Howie started?” Brian snapped.


“What are you talking about?  I wouldn’t hurt you; I’m your cousin…”


“Is that the role you were given to play,” Brian quickly hung up the phone and running into the bathroom he threw the phone into the toilet and flushed.   He came back out to the open mouthed, wide eyed stares of the girls he was with.  “What?” He asked nonchalantly.


“You… flushed…your phone?” Megan asked.


Brian nodded.  “I panicked, but it is one way to keep people from getting a hold of me.” He smiled.


“But, “ Megan started but Izzy shook her head at her friend.    No one really said anything more as they watched Brian move around the room looking like he had purpose.  He had a few items that he threw into a bag, they would need to get him a new shirt before they went anywhere. 


Izzy stopped staring and started to get her things together and think of what they were going to do next.  Traveling was going to become more difficult now that they had been identified as persons of interest in the murder of a famous figure. 


“Megan I think you need to go back home, this is becoming more dangerous and I don’t want you to get hurt because of this. “ 


“No,” Megan protested.  “I won’t leave you, you both need someone with you to help.  Who will be the one to run to the store for food or for medical supplies.  You can hide out while I do those things.”  She argued and Izzy noticed Brian agreeing with her out of the corner of her eye. 


“I see your point, but I can’t risk you getting hurt or worse.”


Megan shook her head.  “I am not leaving you and that is it.” She sat down next to Brian and crossed her arms watching her friend stand there struck dumb by her friend’s insistence that she stay.


“Fine, you can stay.”


Megan smiled at winning the argument but frowned when she heard a phone ringing.   “If that is your phone,” she turned to Brian, “then I want to know who made it.” 


“It’s mine,” Izzy muttered and pulled her phone back out of her bag. She noticed that the number was still an unknown number to her.  She wondered who could be calling her.  She knew she wouldn’t know unless she answered the phone so she quickly answered and greeted the person on the other end.


“Izzy, it’s great to hear your voice.” A male voice on the other line replied.


“I’m sorry, who is this.” Izzy was feeling a bit nervous that an unknown male was calling her.


“It’s Greg, I got your number from Patricia, and I hope you don’t mind that I am calling you.  I really enjoyed our date the other night and would love to get together with you again.


She could feel heat start to rise in her cheeks as she blushed.  She hadn’t been expecting a call from Greg but he was calling, she had a hard time not feeling flattered.  “It’s nice to hear from you but I am so busy right now with work that I don’t have any time to get together.  Can I give you a call when this is over?”  He agreed and they got off the phone with each other, she saved the number on her phone under his name.  She couldn’t keep the grin off her face, Greg was the one good thing that had happened in the last few days. 


“Who was that?” Brian asked as soon as she hung up.


“A guy I went out with once, he was calling for a second date.” Izzy could feel her grin broaden on her face.   


Brian shook his head stood.  “Do you have the stuff from Howie’s?”   He asked her holding his hand out.


She moved to her bag and put her phone away and grabbed the papers they found in Howie’s vault including the picture of Brian and Izzy leaning in close to each other.  It looked like they were holding the camera and taking the picture.   She glanced at the picture and quickly shoved it back in the bag, it wasn’t necessary to have out in order to figure out their next move.


Megan was back to watching the television, flipping channels to Izzy’s annoyance.  She sat on the edge of the bed next to Brian and moved to grab some of the papers.  “It says here that the main building is located in California.  I bet we would get answers there and since Florida police are on look out for us I think it would be better to head out there.”


“I agree but how are we going to get there. Flying won’t happen now, you can bet airports will be on the lookout for us.”


“Lemme borrow your phone.” Brian held out his hand waiting for her to give him her phone.  He briefly debated deleting the number of the guy but since he didn’t know the guys name and he didn’t want Izzy to get mad at him, he let it be.   


“Who are you calling?” Megan asked.


“Pastor Mike.”


“What can he do?”  Izzy scoffed at Brian’s big idea.


“You would be surprised how many people he’s helped.  He got us new identifications already right?”  He ignored Izzy’s reply back to him and moved across the room to talk to the Pastor.  


“Thank you,” he told the Pastor after he told him their problem.  “I appreciate everything you have done for us and I will make it up to you when this is all straightened out.”    Brian hung up the phone and handed it back to Izzy.   “He has booked us tickets on Amtrak leaving in an hour to California.”


“Great,” Izzy forced a smile on her face. 


Brian beamed.  He’d finally been able to do something before Izzy could pull another hidden talent out of nowhere and fly them all to California with the wings she stored under her shirt.  He chuckled at the idea but stopped when Izzy looked at him confused.   They all grabbed their stuff and headed to their rental car to head to the train station. 

Chapter 28 by Purpura Lipstick

Brian couldn't help but keep his eyes averted from everyone they ran into as they maneuvered through the crowd to board the train. He wished he could have Izzy's confidence and look them straight on. Just another thing that she was better than him at.

“It's good you are keeping your face low,” Izzy spoke up as if she could read his thoughts. Could she? Maybe, she seemed to be able to do everything else. “We can't risk someone noticing who you are right now.” She took hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly before letting it go so they could climb aboard the train.

Brian followed Izzy as she pushed her way through the crowd, Megan following behind. The train was almost harder to board than an airplane. People trying to put their items away and take their seats. Many bumped into him and when he sucked in his breath from the pain shooting through his arm, the person that ran into him actually apologized. Brian kept looking around wondering which seats were theirs but Izzy kept going.

“Here we are,” Izzy said as she stopped abruptly. Brian almost ran into her backside and Megan did run into him. He could hear Megan muttering apologies as Brian looked at where they stopped.

“A sleeper car? Are you sure?” Brian asked.

“It's what the tickets said. You didn't look at them before handing them to me?” She asked as she made her way inside and put her bag down. She threw herself down on the seat apparently oblivious to the fact that she had had a serious gash in her leg only hours before. Brian sat carefully down so that he would not jostle his arm more than he could help.

“Guys...” Megan was looking out the window at the others who were boarding the train. “This might not be as leisurely a ride as we had hoped.” She pointed at a pair of people who were walking on the platform. Izzy glanced out the window and cringed.

“Dammit,” She muttered and moved away from the window. She pressed herself back against the seat hoping that the people she just saw did not see her.

“What?” Brian asked but before anyone could warn him he looked out the window to see two men in suits looking into their window. He threw himself back against the seat causing a searing pain to rip through his arm. He sucked in his breath, held it for a few seconds before letting it out again. “How do they keep finding us?”

“Maybe they aren't part of that group, maybe they are business men?” Megan suggested hopefully though non of them believed what she was saying.

Megan took her seat next to Izzy and all three kept looking between the window to the platform and the door to their compartment. Izzy kept expecting it to open any minute and for them to fight another battle. She had wished that the train ride would give them all a chance to rest. Once they reached California she knew that the worst was yet to come.

When the train started moving and the men continued to stand on the platform, they all let out a sigh of relief.

“Businessmen,” Megan breathed the word out and forced a smile to the other two. Izzy looked down at her hands and back to the door then to Megan. “You know,” Megan started. “I am starving and I bet you two are too. I am going to see about getting us some food, or at least find out when we can get some food.” She smiled at Brian and Izzy and promptly opened the door to their sleeper car closing it gently behind her.

Brian sat looking out the window as the pace of the train started to pick up and the scenery started to blend by. He looked towards Izzy briefly before looking back at the window. She was looking down at her hands still. They must have sat like that for close to fifteen minutes but still Megan did not return.

“We can't just not talk the entire trip,” Izzy spoke up. “We do need to make a plan.”

“You mean you need to make a plan, take me along, carry out the plan and protect me?” Brian huffed.

“I don't understand why you are being like this.” Izzy moved to sit next to him but he continued to look out the window.

“How would you feel if I had these powers that I didn't know why I had that I was always using to save you.”

“Grateful.” Izzy honestly answered. “It's more than that though isn't it?”

Brian continued to look out the window. There was more, the fact that she could fight, heal fast and somehow knew how to pick a lock annoyed him but it didn't make him mad at her. He wasn't sure he could really admit why he was upset with her.

“Spill it Backstreet Boy.”

Being called a Backstreet Boy again made him smile and he turned to look at her. She was grinning at him and he relaxed.

“I just don't understand how you can make plans with that guy.”

“Who Greg?”

“Yes, Greg.” Brian smirked.

“You're jealous?” There was a twinkle in her eye as she spoke.

“No, just...how can you make plans with him when you saw that picture with us, together?”

Izzy shrugged and moved back to her own seat across from him. “Do you still love, or believe you love, Leighanne?”

She had him there. He had planned to find Leighanne and Baylee when this was over and continue their lives as if nothing had happened. Even if Leighanne was set up in his life to be the perfect wife as a cover, they still had a child together. Baylee was still his, Leighanne had said that much.

“How can you trust him?” He blurted out.

“Trust who?” Izzy said before she thought about it. “Oh, Greg.”

“How did you meet?” He asked a tone of jealousy still in his voice though he tried to hide it.

“Patricia....” Izzy started to speak and then stopped talking. Of course, if Patricia set him up with her then he was probably working for The Nine and was probably helping to keep tabs on her. He could have been but then wouldn't he have been persistent about getting together with her? Finding out where she was? “Well when this is over, I will know if he was involved or not and can continue based on that.” She said with finality.

There was silence between the two for another few minutes. Brian took in the surroundings of the car. He was sitting on the larger of the two sitting areas. He was on the larger bed, Izzy was sitting on the second bed and he noticed that the rack above Izzy was not a luggage rack as he had thought when he entered, but the space for the third bed complete with a metal bar to keep the occupant from tumbling out during while they slept. The room was done in dark wood and reds, it made it look elegant. He wondered how much Mike had put down for this and knew that he owed the man big time for what all he had done for them.

“I can't believe he's dead,” He heard himself saying. “I wonder if he really is.”

Izzy nodded in response to his comment. It had been a shock that she killed him as well. It had seemed so easy to kill the men in the suits but for some reason, Howie felt different. Her killing Howie had seemed, not difficult, but unnatural.

“He has to be,” Brian continue to speak. “It would be strange to have the television say he is dead only for him to show up later. But why would the television say he's dead? Why so soon?”

“They are probably trying to flush us out now. They want more people looking for us, turning us in if they see us. There are millions of girls out there that would love to get their hands on me and do their own damage before turning me over. They probably all think that I have kidnapped you and killed Howie when he tried to save you.” Izzy laughed though it sounded more nervous than an actual laugh.

Brian could feel tired, he wanted, no he needed to sleep. Being injured took a lot out of him and he wasn't sure when he'd really get to rest again. He needed to take advantage of the train ride. He lay down and looked over at Izzy who was staring at the spot on the leg that had been wounded.

“How is it?” He asked wondering if she knew.

“I can tell that it's almost gone completely.” She shrugged at him. “How is yours feeling?”

“Like I have a gaping hole in my arm.” He rolled over and closed his eyes.

Izzy watched him fall asleep. She hadn't told him that she had a waking memory. As she had been looking at her leg, before he spoke and brought her out of it. She remembered being in a sterile room, not a hospital room, but more like a lab. There were metal tables all around and instruments on different metal trays. She was sitting on one of the tables, a man in a white lab coat sat in front of her.

Congratulations for passing.” The man clapped his hand on her back. “Now comes the hard part.”

What do you mean?” she answered.

Do you ever wonder why there are so few females in the program?”

Izzy had noticed but hadn't given it much thought. She had always thought it was because many women couldn't handle the types of requests that were made of them. She nodded her head, wondering if he was going to tell her.

Most women are not compatible with the second part of the process but those who are, are better.” The man grinned at her, it wasn't an evil grin but it made Izzy feel uncomfortable. “You are.” He said matter-of-factly. This will hurt, but won't kill you.” Now his grin looked evil as he grabbed a syringe and plunged it into her arm.

The pain had been excrutiating and lasted for several days. She was in and out of conciousness. She thought was going to die but eventually the pain faded and she managed to come around longer and longer.

Well, you made it through.”

What was that exactly?” It was in her training not to ask but to take everything she was told to do and do it but she couldn't help but wonder.

Ah yes, they do not tell you, I forget this. Let's just say I made it so you can heal faster.” The man smiled, this time warmly and helped her out of the room, a different room than when they first started.

That was all she remembered before Brian had spoken up.

The door to their compatment opened and Izzy jumped slightly, relaxing when she saw Megan enter.

“So, did you two talk?” Megan asked with a smile and a wink.

Izzy shook her head. “Not about much.”

“Why haven't you made a move? It's obvious to me that you like him.” Megan whispered.

Izzy hoped that Brian's even breathing meant he really was asleep and that he wasn't listening in as they spoke. “I feel a connection to him, I can't deny. I have felt it since that damn meet and greet you forced me to go to.” She nudged her friend slightly. “But I doubt anything will come from it. He still feels a fierce loyalty to his wife. We had other lives before we met, and after this is over we will return to separate lives.”

Izzy didn't feel any confidence behind the words she had just spoken. Hadn't they been learning that most everything in their lives had been programmed into them? What, then, would they go back to when this was over? Izzy climbed up to the top bunk and lay down looking down at Brian. She sighed and let her eyes drift close for some much needed sleep.

Chapter 29 by Purpura Lipstick

 The pounding on the door was so loud that Izzy thought for a moment it was her head.  She groaned rolling over.  She looked down at the bed below her and noticed that Megan was staring at the door, eyes wide, Brian was still sleeping.  Her first response had been that it had been one of them knocking because the door was locked and they couldn’t get in, but she realized how flawed that was by the time she had flung herself out of the bed and onto the floor facing the door.  


She grabbed the closest weapon she could find, a knife, and made her way to the door.  She stood with her ear pressed against it, she couldn’t hear anything outside.  She moved out from behind the door and stood flat against the wall.  She pulled the door open slightly.


“Hello?” a friendly voice called out.  


“Who is it?” Izzy asked still standing mostly out of sight. 


“Sorry to disturb you, my name is Max.  I’m the porter and I didn’t see any bags for this car when the train boarded, so I wanted to make sure you weren’t missing your luggage. “


Megan stood quickly and opened the door wider, smiling at the man outside the door.  “Well hello,” she said winking.


Izzy shook her head and grinned, moving the knife into her waistband, she made her way to Brian’s bed and sat on it mostly to block the porter from seeing who it was sleeping there, but somewhat for her own comfort, just being near Brian made her feel better.   She could feel Brian start to stir and knew he would probably wake soon.


“We travel light,” Megan was talking to the porter.  “We didn’t have any more bags than what we brought with us.” 


The man nodded and started to walk away but Megan was not going to let him get away from her.  “I was wondering if you could, maybe, give me a tour of the train.”  Izzy could hear the tone of voice Megan was using.  It was the same one she used whenever she wanted something that she was sure the other person wasn’t going to want to agree to.  “My daddy loved trains and we would go every weekend to chase trains, he died and I miss him dearly.  He died just last year and I miss him so much.”  She pouted and looked like she was on the verge of tears. Izzy was amazed at her friend’s acting ability sometimes.  “A tour might be just the thing to help raise my spirits.” 


The porter looked unsure as he stood just outside the door.  Megan put her hand gently on his shoulder and he started to mumble.  “Well… I guess… alright.” He finally answered and Megan, beaming, pulled him into a hug. 


Megan looped her arm through the porter’s and turned to smile back at Izzy.  She winked at her friend and mouthed “Talk to him” nodding her head towards Brian before shutting the door and wandering off for her tour. 


“What was that,” Brian asked as he rolled over and sat up noticing Izzy on his bed. 


“Just Megan,” Izzy shook her head.  “Brian,” she said turning to face him. 


“Isabelle,” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes before sitting up completely. 


“We really need to talk.  I feel like there are things that you are holding back.” She had felt that way when they talked earlier, it seemed that he was avoiding a topic of conversation with her.  He never really answered her question about going back to Leighanne, but she could see it in his eyes that there was more.


Brian sighed and looked out the window at the passing scenery.  He knew this was coming.  There was no way to avoid not giving her the information she wanted. What was going on him involved her, she needed to know everything.  He opened his mouth to say something but Izzy cut him off.


“Maybe if we talk about what we remember, what we have dreamed then something will spark and our memories will come back.  At least then we would know why we are being chased, why there were people inserted into our lives. What is real….” 


He could no longer push the dreams he’d been having about her away, he turned towards her so that he could look her in the eyes as he told her all of what he dreamed.   “Some of my dreams are so broken that I’m not sure what is real and what is not.  You have been in my dreams since the day we met.  I always felt comfortable with you, always felt like I belonged where you were when I was dreaming. “  It was as if the flood gates opened. Brian couldn’t contain what he’d been keeping hidden since they started.  He told her about the picnic, the proposal in the park, the brief glimpse of their vows, being chased by the dark van, falling from the sky and finally he told her about the lab and being strapped to


As Brian had let the words flow out of him Izzy had closed her eyes and let his words wash over her.  When the images started to come into her head she thought it was only because Brian was describing them but she knew they were different.  She was seeing the events from her eyes.  “That day in the park was perfect,” she whispered afraid that if she spoke any louder the train would derail and their world would be thrown upside down again.


“What?”


Izzy opened her eyes and looked at Brian. She felt like this would be a moment to have tears in her eyes but her eyes were dry.   “I remember…us.” She sighed feeling relieved that she finally remembered something complete, not just feelings or broken images.  “I don’t remember all the details.  I know we met at work but I couldn’t tell you what our jobs were.  But I remember that picnic.  You were so nervous as you held out that ring to me.”   Izzy was smiling but she noticed that Brian’s expression made him look more confused than anything else. 


She could tell that Brian was still in the same place he was before.  He only had the dreams, the images in his mind but that is all they were, dreams. 


“I remember the lab, the injection and then the next thing I remember is sitting in Dr. Thompson’s class.”  Izzy pondered out loud.  She couldn’t help but smile as her head started to feel more at ease now that she knew some information about her life before, the life that had been hidden from her. 


Brian felt frustrated.  They had been his dreams, his supposed memories but she was the one that benefited her.  So now she was having correct memories on top of random skills come to her.   “What about the dream with Kevin and the van?”   


She shrugged.  “I don’t remember that one. You said I was there?” 


Brian nodded.  “We were being chased down the alley; I pushed you behind some boxes to hide you.”


“Maybe it’s part of why we were given new memories and a new life? I still can’t remember what I did before, can’t remember why they would want to do this to me, I don’t even know who they are.  I can only remember that you and I met, fell in love and married before this all happened.  It’s not just a picture from Howie’s files as proof either, I remember getting in my wedding dress. ”  


Brian let out a growl of frustration before looking back towards the window.  Maybe if he prayed about it he would find his answers. 


“What’s wrong?” Izzy asked laying her hand gently on his shoulder.  She had moved closer to him and he could feel the heat from her body.


“Those were my dreams, how come you go the revelation and I am still just as confused as I was before?” 


Izzy looked out the window and thought about why she would be having a break through.  “Maybe,” she started.  “Maybe it’s because,” She shook her head and stood.  He wasn’t going to want to hear what she was going to say, she knew that, it was best if she kept her mouth shut.  Too bad she hadn’t thought of that before she started speaking.  When she turned back to face Brian he was looking at her expectantly. 


“Because?”


“Maybe it’s because I have nothing attaching me to this new life.  People that were close to me betrayed me and I have lost those feelings of closeness with them.  Dr. Thompson, a father to me, was part of whatever this is.   But when he attacked me, I lost the love for him.   You found out your wife was part of it but you are still hold on to the love you feel for her, you are keeping yourself connected to this woman.  You took vows, even if they didn’t actually happen, they are real to you and you take them seriously.” 


Brian continued to look out the window not responding to what she had just said.  She could tell he was thinking things over, keeping his calm.  She knew that he would have to think over what she just said before he could respond to her, but she knew he was right about him.  Once he made a promise he kept it.  Izzy pulled herself back up on her bunk and lay down looking at the ceiling.    She couldn’t get over the fact that she actually knew that about him. She also knew it was one of the things she loved about him.   Her eyes were still dry as her mind wandered.   He also made a promise to you in your vows to love and cherish you forever but he’s forgetting those to return to his other wife.  She thought to herself. 


“It’s Baylee,” Brian’s voice cracked as he spoke to Izzy.   He didn’t really want to talk about this with Izzy, though he was sure he’d mentioned something before.  “Baylee is my son, her son too.  Even though he was grown in a tube, he still is part of me.  I can’t abandon him and his mother because I am having memories of another life.  I just can’t…” his voice faded out.  Izzy stayed silent after he finished speaking.  He wasn’t sure if she heard him or if she believed him but he’d said his piece. 


The train started to slow and Izzy sat up looking out the window.  There was no way they should be stopping already, they hadn’t event travelled a full day yet.   Both Brian and Izzy whipped their heads towards the door as Megan whipped open the door. 


“Guys, we have an issue.”  She said slamming the door shut and locking it behind her. 

Chapter 30 by Purpura Lipstick

“What do you mean Megan?” Izzy was sitting up straight on her bunk.  She knew this trip was going to easy, she knew something had to happen. 


“I was walking with Max; he was talking about how the cars couple together.  It was really boring but I faked it anyway.”  She smiled at Izzy before continuing.   “He was rambling on and I was taking the opportunity to look around. “


“Get to what you saw,” Izzy practically shouted.  Megan looked at her hurt.  “I’m sorry, can you please continue.” 


“Anyway,” Megan now turned towards Brian to continue with what she saw.  “There were three guys in suits talking to the conductor, at least I thought he was the conductor, maybe he was the engineer.” 


“Could they have been business men like the two we saw on the platform?” Brian asked.


“They could, but I could see the muscle definition under the suit on one guy.  He definitely did not look like a typical businessman.” 


“Why would business men be on this train wearing their suits?  It’s not a commuter train,” Izzy said as she climbed back down holding her bag.   “We need to find a way off this train.”


Brian and Megan agreed, each grabbing their own bags.  They all did one last look through the room to make sure they had not left anything behind before they opened the door to their sleeper car and made their way out.    The train had reached a full stop as they made their way through the car towards the back of the train.  Izzy glanced outside and noticed they weren’t at a station and they weren’t the only ones confused as to why the train would be stopping in the middle of nowhere. 


“Looks like Texas,” Megan mumbled at the back of the group.   Brian was leading the group keeping his eyes down, his hat pulled down.   They had entered a passenger car and people were standing in their seats.  Izzy heard Brian’s soft southern drawl saying ‘excuse me’ several times as they moved through the car.  


“How do you know what Texas looks like?” Izzy asked her friend.   She couldn’t remember her friend ever having been to Texas before or even talking about Texas before. 


“I have family here.”  Megan answered.  “We visited a few times when I was young; I didn’t care for it much. Not much to talk about.”


Izzy was going to ask Megan if she was still close to her Texan family, they might have need of a place to crash, when she found herself running into Brian’s backside.  “What…” She started to ask Brian but when she looked up she noticed that there were two men in suits walking towards them.  They were definitely not men who sat behind a computer in an office all day.  Izzy quickly moved Brian behind her and gave him her bag.  She planted her feet and prepared herself.


The men simply stopped walking and stood towards the back of the car, blocking the exit.  They didn’t advance further and they didn’t attack.  Several of the other passengers were looking at the three people in the aisle and the two men at the back.   Izzy hoped that they could manage to get off this train without having to fight their way off.  These people could get caught in the middle and injured; she didn’t need any more reason for people to look for her. Wanted for the death of a pop star was enough already.  


“Turn,” she barked the order. She kept her eyes on the men as she walked backwards towards the other end of the car.   They stood at the back of the car keeping their eyes on the three.  Izzy noticed none of the other passengers were even attempting to move from their seats, it was as if they knew that something was going to happen.  Many of them were standing against the windows, watching. 


Izzy collided with Brian again and turned her head to see why they had stopped.  Three more men in suits were walking towards them from the other direction.


“Shit,” Izzy muttered as they stood in the middle of the car, five men blocking them from leaving.  None of the men approached, they just stood there. 


“Why are they just standing there?” Megan asked.  The fear in her voice was apparent.


“Towards the back,” Izzy whispered and they started to move back towards the two men again.  The three men continued to stand, watching. 


Izzy got closer to the men, they still did not move.  “Excuse us,” Izzy said.  Maybe they were all being overcautious and these men weren’t there for them.


One man looked down her, “humph,” escaped from his mouth.  The other man reached down to take hold of Izzy; she took this as her sign to attack.  Using her elbow she jammed it into the gut of man who was reaching for her and at the same time she kicked her foot out towards the knee of the other man.  The man she elbowed hardly seemed phased by her hit and he had both his hands wrapped around her arms.  He held them tightly behind her back as the other man recovered from the knee hit.   The second man grinned as he slapped Izzy across the face. 


With her arms pinned Izzy couldn’t think of what to do next.  She tried to kick out at the other man, to use her weight to flip the one holding her over, but with the limited room of the train she was having a difficult time moving.   The second man prepared himself to hit Izzy, this time with his fist when a bag hit the side of his face stunning him.  Izzy felt another bag brush her shoulder as it fell from hitting the man holding her.   His grip loosened in the shock.


Izzy stepped backwards slamming her heel into the man’s toes as she wrenched her arms free.  Holding one hand over her first she slammed her elbow into his gut again, this time the second arm provided enough force that the man bent over in pain. Izzy quickly slammed her arm upwards into the man’s nose, her second hand, now a fist, slamming into his nose seconds later.  She could feel it break as she whipped her hands behind the man’s head and pulled his face down on her knee. 


The first man dropped, covering his face with his hands.  Izzy spun around and attempted to jab her elbow into the second man’s gut but she stopped as she realized Brian was punching him.  It appeared that Brian had gotten some good hits in; the second man’s face had blood dripping from the side of his mouth and what looked to be a bruise already appearing on his cheek.  Izzy wasn’t sure how Brian was getting the hits in with only using one arm. 


Izzy pulled the other man away from Brian and punched him in the throat.  He started to gasp for air and she pulled his head down to meet her knee.  Blood covered the knee of her pants from both men.  She glanced up and noticed the other three approaching.    The two they just fought were still down.


“Let’s move,” she barked out to Brian and Megan.  She grabbed her bag off the floor and headed off the train.  She was already standing on the platform when she noticed that Brian and Megan were no longer with her.   She noticed Brian was fighting off the three other men; the two bloody men were standing and heading off the train behind her.  They motioned towards the other men and two more started to head off the train with them, leaving one man fighting Brian. 


Four men exited the train and started to advance on her.  As much as she hated to leave Brian and Megan on the train, if she could lead the four men away and take care of them away from the watching eyes of the passengers, the better.  She ran, kicking dirt as she moved.  She almost tripped on a patch of grass but managed to catch herself. 


She turned and noticed the men were not following her.  They were standing near the train.   They were splitting them up. 


“No,” She muttered as she started to run back towards the train.  She would fight them all off if she had to, she was not going to find herself separated from Brian again.  As she got closer, a fifth figure emerged from the train.  Izzy thought that the final man had joined the others, but this suit was too thin to be one of the bulky men that had been on the train. 


When the person stepped off the train, her hair flew in the slight breeze as she started to run towards Izzy.  Izzy bent down right before the woman reached her and managed to charge the woman knocking her to the side.   


The woman smirked at Izzy and reached behind her, pulling out a wood baton, it looked similar to a police nightstick.  She flew towards Izzy swinging the baton at her.  It was all Izzy could do to back up from the woman, sidestepping each attempt the woman made to hit her.  


“Start fighting back,” the woman yelled at her as she swung again. 


Izzy barely moved away from the baton as it came crashing down.   When the woman reached up again Izzy stopped the attempted blow with her hand.  She pushed the woman’s arm away hopping she could disarm the woman.   The other woman pulled back on the baton and Izzy fell forward.  She felt the impact of the baton on her back as the woman slammed the butt of it into her spine.  Izzy sprawled towards the ground. 


Quickly she rolled to the side and missed another attack by the woman.  Izzy kicked both her legs out and stood up facing the woman.   She had dropped her bag a few yards away as she had made a run for the train, if she could get back there she might be able to get to the knife that was tucked away inside. 


Izzy rushed towards the woman and ducked when she swung the baton at her.  She ran at full speed to the bag and managed to snag it off the ground and turn to face her attacker before the woman could swing the baton at her again. 


Izzy held up the bag to block the baton being swung down towards her head again. She used her strength and the bag to push the woman back.  Finding the zipper she pulled at it managed to get it open but not get the knife out before the baton connected with her arm.  She held back her cry of pain as she dropped the bag and grabbed the woman’s arm.  She tried to wrest the baton away from her but the other woman pulled away quickly. 


The sun glinted down on something distracting Izzy for a second; the knife had fallen out of the bag.  The other woman noticed it to and they both lunged for the knife at the same time.  The other woman go to it first but Izzy wasn’t far behind, she shoved her foot down on the woman’s elbow as she picked up the knife.  The other woman’s arm broke under the pressure.  Izzy wrenched the knife from under the woman and plunged in into her back as she was still bent over holding her broken arm. 


The whistle on the train sounded and Izzy whipped her head around to see the train start to chug along the tracks.  She started to run towards the train, the four men had disappeared. She hadn’t seen where they went; did they get back on the train?  She hoped not, for Brian and Megan’s sake.   They must not have gotten on the same car as them though as she saw them standing at the door to the car motioning for her to come on. As she neared she could hear them calling to her. 


She pushed with whatever energy she had left and ran towards the train. The car with Brian and Megan was too far ahead of her now.  Still running, she tried to reach out towards the last car to grab onto the handrail so she could pull herself aboard.  The toll of the fights and the train speeding up too quickly caused Izzy to fall back.  She leaned over huffing in exhaustion. She looked up to see Brian leaning out the doorway, it looked like he was about to jump off the train.  Before he could a pair of hands pulled him back inside.  


In a matter of minutes the train was gone and she was standing near empty tracks.  She looked back to where she fought the woman, she was gone.   She’d seen no cars, so where did she go.  Keeping her eyes vigilant for this mystery woman, Izzy started to follow the tracks hoping she would reach a town sooner or later. 

Chapter 31 by Purpura Lipstick

Brian knew he was glaring at Megan, how could he not?  She had just pulled him back onto the train after he attempted to jump off.  If Izzy couldn’t jump back on the train, the logical thing, in Brian’s mind, was to jump off so they could travel together.  There was no way Brian would be able to do what was needed when he reached California.  Megan was shifting around uncomfortably on her bunk; she kept her eyes averted from him.

“You would have been hurt,” Megan finally broke the silence between them.

“Izzy and I need to stick together,” Brian retorted.   

“Brian, trust me, you would not have made that jump.   You already have an injury in your arm that needs stitches; you didn’t need to break your ankle or worse.”  Megan was rubbing the nail of her forefinger as she sat across from him.  “She’ll find us.”  She meekly added.

Brian shook his head and sat back on his bed.  The remaining suits had gotten off the train shortly after Izzy.  They had been left alone as Izzy was pursued.  Brian watched her fight the other woman from the window, most of the men departing in their dark vehicles.  It was almost as if they assumed the other woman would take Izzy down.   Brian tried to think of what he could do in order to find Izzy again but he was at a loss.  Maybe the train would make it to California without further incidents and he could wait for her, but where could he wait that she could find him? 

“Brian, what is going on with you and Izzy?” Megan blurted out the question quickly. 

Brian waved his hand as if to wave the question away.  He really didn’t want to talk about his relationship, what it was, what it is and what it should be with her friend. 

Megan simply sat staring at him, waiting for him to speak.  He felt like her eyes were drilling a hole into his skull as he continued to avoid looking at her.  Finally, after several more minutes of staring at the blur going by outside, he turned his attention back to Megan.  She was still watching him.  He shuddered slightly but decided it would be better if he just talked to her, maybe then she would stop staring.

“This whole situation has me confused.  I have no idea what to do or what to make of the situation.  I can tell you that this is something I will have to think and pray about.  I cannot abandon the woman I have a child with even though I know there is betrayal.  We can fix that.”

Megan opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again.  She waited to see if Brian was going to continue talking and when it was apparent that he wasn’t she started to talk.   “Izzy filled me in on some of what is going on between you two.  I know about the picture you found.   If you had a relationship with Izzy, and it’s kind of looking that way, how do you think she views your insistence to be with this other woman?  Put yourself in her shoes.   You can already imagine the past being ripped from you and finding yourself confused and feeling alone.  Then you find out there is someone who shares your confusion someone you feel drawn to.  Now, you are her and you know there was something between you. You find proof you were a couple and married but she refuses to acknowledge promises you made to each other because someone else was forced into her life and kept her tethered to false memories. “

Brian held up his hand. He didn’t want to hear anymore of Megan had to say.  She thankfully got his point and stopped talking.  She shrugged and mumbled “just saying” before opening her bag and searching around for something. 

Brian stared at Megan as she looked around her bag.  He felt uneasy about the way she was looking.  Was she looking for a needle? He pulled his feet back on the bed; if she lunged at him he could kick his feet out at her and push her away perhaps that would give him enough time to get out of the sleeping car and off the train.  Is that why she pulled him back on so that she could inject him?   He chastised himself for thinking thoughts like this about Izzy’s friend.  Izzy trusted her so why was he having his doubts.   He jumped slightly when she brought her hand out of the bag. 

She must have sensed his unease.  “Sorry,” she muttered and showed him the tube of Chap Stick she held in her hand.  She undid the top and applied it to her lips, tossing it back in the bag when she was done.    

"Sorry, I don’t mean to be jumpy,” Brian tried to apologize. 

Megan shook her head.  “No need to apologize. If I had people I thought I knew turning on me and trying to inject me with needles, I’d probably be jumpy too.” She smiled. 

The two sat in silence except for the sound of Megan reaching into her bag again.  Brian watched her but did not prepare himself to flee this time.  She pulled out a water bottle and started to open the cap.  He must have been eyeing the water bottle because she stopped and made sure the lid was tight before tossing it over to him.   She reached into her bag and produced another bottle quickly opening and chugging the clear liquid. 

Brian followed suit and drank until his bottle was empty.  He grimaced slightly as he noted the strange after taste to the water.  “Where did you get those?” He asked somewhat wary.

“From the hotel before we left.” Megan smacked her lips and looked down at her half full bottle. She closed it and put it back in her bag.  

Brian nodded.  Maybe whatever everyone had been injecting him with was messing with his taste buds.  He shrugged and tossed his bottle to the side of this bunk.   “So Megan,” He wasn’t sure what to talk with her about.  He didn’t want to talk about Izzy anymore, at least he didn’t want to talk about the past with her that he still couldn’t completely remember or what was going to happen after this was over, if it was ever over.   Maybe Megan could give Brian more insight to the other woman though.  He only knew her from the brief dreams and the few experiences they had shared recently. 

“How did you meet Izzy?”  Brian asked.  

Megan hesitated for a minute before she started talking.  “I'm sorry, I still can't believe I'm here with you." She smiled embarassed and then continued. "We met in a college English class.  The funny thing was that she followed me all the way to the class from our dorm.   Then, the strangest thing, we had been paired up to work on a project together and so we started to talk to get to know each other.  She talked about where she’d grown up and her family and it turns out that we knew each other when we were in kindergarten.  We’d been friends.  I talked to my mom and she gave me a picture of the two of us in our green outfits getting ready to dance an Irish jig at some recital.”  Megan laughed and pushed a strand of her hair back. 

“Small world,” She smiled and looked like she was off in thought thinking about her friend.

“Sounds nice,” Brian was a little envious.  Izzy had a friend; the people he thought had been his friends he couldn’t be sure about anymore.   Brian’s eyes were starting to feel heavy as he looked at Megan expecting her to continue the story.  He noticed that she was rubbing her eyes too.   

 

Something inside of him told him to get up to start moving. That he and Megan needed to get out of that car and off the train but his feet wouldn’t obey him.  He concentrated on moving his feet, his eyes glared at his feet willing them to move but they would not obey.   His eyes found Megan’s and he could tell she was as afraid as he felt.  Darkness started to drift in around him and it wasn’t long before his eyelids succumbed to the same force his legs were under and they dropped him into completely darkness.  

Chapter End Notes:

Sorry it is so short.  I know it seems like filler but it's not filler ;)   Thanks for sticking with me.

Chapter 32 by Purpura Lipstick

 She’d been lucky that she found a road after the train disappearing. She had followed it until a good Samaritan picked her up and took her to the next town over, Now Izzy sat behind the steering wheel of the car staring at the wires she held in her hands.  If she could pick a lock, hotwiring a car seemed like another skill she should know. She had been sitting there for at least ten minutes willing her hands to take over and get the car started, but it was to no avail.  Either she was too stressed over being separated from Brian and Megan or she never knew how to hotwire a car in the first place. 


“Need help?” A man’s voice standing outside the car caused her to jump.  She quickly got out of the car and stood ready to fight.  The man comes closer and Izzy sees that it is Kevin.  Millions of thoughts raced through her mind.  How did he find her?  Was he one of the nine? Why is he standing there grinning at me like an idiot?  She tried to make her face look like she didn’t know who he was. He was placed with Brian so maybe she could play it off that she didn’t know him at all.


“I’m fine, just can’t find my keys,” She dropped her hands and her stance and said in a sing-song voice. She hoped he would just leave, the sweat was beginning to form on her brow and if he saw it he could probably tell she was lying.


“Isabelle,” He stated calmly and stepped forward. 


Her hands were instantly up again ready to guard herself from attack.  How did he know her name?  And it wasn’t Izzy, he called her Isabelle.   He was still moving towards her so she took her opportunity and charged at him.  He wasn’t going to get the jump on her again. 


She swung her elbow towards his face but he easily moved out of the way and shoved her elbow to the side.  The momentum of his shove gave her enough to throw a punch towards his side.  He put his hand out and blocked the move grabbing hold of her fist.  Izzy moved to kick his knee but he stepped out of the way still holding her fist.   She moved to swing her other arm towards him but he pushed it away with his free hand.  Why was she unable to connect? She just fought several people but trying to fight this man she couldn’t get a punch in?


“Stop,” He commanded.  “Where is Brian?” He asked her.


Maybe he would leave her alone; maybe he was only after Brian.  Maybe she could send him on a wild goose chase, get the car started and find Brian before him.   After what Howie had told them, she found it highly unlikely that this man would not take the opportunity to capture both of them.


“Is there a bigger reward to bring us both in?” She practically spat the words at him.


Kevin’s face showed no emotion change, he continued to hold her wrist and block any attacks on her.  She knew she was beaten, how was he able to block her?


“He needs to be with you, he is safer with you,” He finally said letting go of her hand and taking a step back.  He held both of his hands out showing he had nothing in them. 


Izzy moved closer to the car and stood with her hands crossed.  She knew he wasn’t going to attack her, but how did she know?   “So, what, I’m his bodyguard?”


“No, you are his wife.” Kevin said the words and even though she knew that for herself, hearing someone else say it made it all the more real.   She nodded in agreement with him. 


“I remember,” She admitted.  “Brian still thinks he is going to go back to Leighanne when this is over, despite her admitting she was one of the nine.”


“It was smart of them to make them have that child.  Brian will stay devoted to the mother of his child.” 


Izzy stood facing him trying not to show what he had just said hurt.  No matter how she felt towards Brian, even if Brian’s memories came back he would always go back to her for Baylee’s sake.   He had told her as much but having another person say it made it all the more real. 


“We need to get to him,” He said taking a step forward.  Izzy put her hands up again ready to attack. Kevin smiled at her and continued to come closer.  “You aren’t going to attack, and even if you do your heart won’t be in it and I’ll easily block you.”


“Why? How do you know?”   He moved her out of the way and motioned for her to get in the passenger’s side of the car. 


“You know why you just have to remember,” he said with a smirk.  Izzy wanted to punch the smirk off his face and force him to give her the answers, instead she sat in the seat and put her seat belt on watching him mess with the wires.


“Who are you?”


“You know that too.”


He was infuriating her with his vague answers but what was more infuriating was that he was starting the car and she was just sitting there.  He could get the car started and take her in. Why was she just sitting there? 


The car soon came to life and Kevin put it in gear.   


“I’m not going anywhere until I get a few more answers. How do I know that you aren’t just going to turn me in the next chance you get?”


“Isabelle,” Kevin sat there with the car running.  “There isn’t time for this; we can talk on the way.” Kevin started to turn the car towards the open road.   But Izzy pulled the steering wheel causing them to swerve off to the side of the road.    


“Give me one thing that I can use to trust you.”  Izzy looked at him.  There was something in his eyes that she trusted but she had trusted Dr. Thompson and he was part of it. 


Kevin sighed and reached into his pocket producing a picture.  He tossed the picture on her lap and turned the car back onto the road. 


Izzy picked up the picture and stared.  Could this have been faked, it was possible yes?  It was a picture of her wedding day, she was standing next to Brian beaming and on his right was Kevin looked towards them smiling. 


“You were at our wedding?”


“In your wedding.”


“You were the one who performed the ceremony.” Izzy announced.


“See you are already starting to remember.” Kevin turned the radio on and let the soft music waft through the car.  Izzy continued to stare at the picture then turned to look out the window watching the Texas scenery fly by.    


“Let’s get my husband back,” she said with determination and Kevin pressed the accelerator to the floor as they passed a sign announcing how far until they reached the next largest city in Texas.   They were far behind the train, but with any luck they’d catch up before anything more could happen to Megan and Brian. 

Chapter End Notes:

I'm sorry, this one is even shorter.... but there is some exciting stuff coming up.  Well exciting for me, we are going to start finding out what is really going on.... thanks for sticking with me, let me know what you think. :)

Chapter 33 by Purpura Lipstick

Brian’s throat felt very dry and he smacked his lips as he started to move around.  He was laying on a bed, that much he could tell and he wasn’t on the train anymore, the smells were different.  He let out a small groan as he managed to get his eyes open.  The room was white and clinical.  There was the bed and a few machines he’d been hooked up to.  There was no television set, there was no guest couch and there was no window. 


Brian attempted to sit up but a pounding in his head forced him to lie back down.   He tried to lift his arms to remove the IV but his arms would not move from his sides.  He glanced down and noticed that he was strapped down to the bed.   Seeing the straps caused him to panic.  Where was he?  He was more awake now and glancing around at everything trying to get any indication where he was.   The heart monitor next to him started to increase in sound as he struggled to get off of the bed.


The door to the room opened and a man in a white coat entered and calmly walked to Brian’s bed.  He placed his hand on Brian’s arms to calm him. 


“Dr. Smith?” Brian couldn’t understand what his cardiologist was standing next to his bed.  His hands immediately flew to his chest.    “What’s going on? Where’s Megan?” He craned his neck in an attempt to look around the doctor, maybe Megan would walk in behind him.  Laying in the hospital bed, strapped down with his cardiologist standing over him was making his blood pressure rise.  He was scared and he wanted out.


“Who is Megan?” the doctor looked at him perplexed.


“I was with her on the train,” Brian tried to pull his arms out of the straps again but to no avail.  Dr. Smith placed his hands on his chest and pushed him back down towards the bed.  “I need to get out of here.”


“Calm down Brian.  If you continue to stress your heart I am afraid you could go into cardiac arrest.”


Brian couldn’t understand.   What was going on?   “I want Megan, or Isabelle. I want to see them.” 


The other man shook his head.  “Brian I don’t know what you are talking about.  There was an accident.  You collapsed while you were turning with the guys when you over exerted yourself and collapsed.  They stopped the concert and rushed you here.”  He motioned around him to indicate the hospital they were in.   “You’ve been here ever since. “


“No, I was traveling to California with Isabelle’s friend Megan.  We were…” Brian stopped talking not wanting to talk about what they were planning to do once they got to California.  What if he was one of the nine?  How could he be one of the nine thought? Brian had known him from before he was famous.  He’d taken care of him several times before when he was having heart troubles.


The doctor continued to shake his head.  “You must have been having some very vivid dreams.  You have been here for the past week in and out of consciousness.  You took a turn for the better only eight hours ago.” 


Brian laid in the bed staring up at this man who was telling him everything he’d experienced, everything he’d felt the past few days had been in his mind.  He thought about Isabelle and seeing her face.  The dreams where they were talking and laughing together, the dreams where they were being chased and then ultimately having their memories changed were all just that, dreams.   He couldn’t believe what he had felt had been just a figment of his dream.   He reached to his arm and touched the bandage that covered the wound he had received when fighting with Howie.  How could that pain be made up, and the injury was there, wasn’t that proof that he hadn’t been dreaming, that this was either a dream or he’d been captured?


“You received a nasty cut when you fell.” The doctor spoke up supplying an answer when his hand touched the bandage.    Brian looked at him warily.  The injury happened after he’d started dreaming.  If the injury happened when this had started wouldn’t he have a dream to explain it sooner?


Almost as if he could sense what Brian was thinking, Dr. Smith spoke again with an explanation for the timing.  “You were brought in and on heavy pain medications for the first few days.  You probably wouldn’t have felt it.  After we weaned you off of the meds the pain was probably terrible and your mind tried to find any way to explain this new pain.  You’ve been locked in a world of your own design.”   The man looked at the monitors and fiddled with the IV in Brian’s arm.  “Everything else looks good.”


“I want to see my wife, Leighanne and Howie.” Brian spoke with determination.  Leighanne was in hiding and Howie was dead.  Seeing them would go a long way to actually proving what the doctor was saying. 


Dr. Smith smiled at Brian.  “Leighanne is right outside.”  He turned and exited the room. 


Brian wanted to pull the IV out of his arm; he didn’t want drugs being pumped into him until he knew what was going on but his arms were still strapped down to the bed.  He pulled on the arm without the IV in an attempt to get his arm out of the binding but the straps were too tight, or he was too weak from whatever they were pumping through him.


The door opened and Brian quickly lay back down as if he’d not been doing anything.  “Brian?” a female voice said from the door.  He looked up and watched as Leighanne approached his bedside, tears in her eyes.  She wiped the tears away before leaning down and hugging him quickly.  Dr. Smith entered the room carrying a chair.  He placed it next to the bed for Leighanne to sit in then continued to look over the machine print out of Brian’s heart activity for the past several hours.   Leighanne took her seat and grabbed hold of Brian’s hand.


Brian hesitated to say anything with the doctor still standing here.  He wanted to ask Leighanne if she came out of hiding or if they found her.  If they found her, where was Baylee?   


“I was worried about you,” Leighanne spoke looking from the doctor back to Brian.  Brian’s thumb moved to caress the back of her hand.  He continued to rub her hand and look at her face.  He wished they could communicate without words.  He had so much to ask her, so much he wanted to know but he still felt uneasy discussing it in front of his doctor.  


“Everything is looking good,” Dr. Smith finally spoke up and smiled at both of them.  “I’ll give you two some private time.”  He put his hand on Leighanne’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly in comfort before leaving. 


Brian opened his mouth to start talking but Leighanne was shaking her head ‘no’.  


“I was worried about you when the boys said you’d collapsed during a show.  I’ve been here almost every day sitting with you.  You have been muttering in your sleep.”  Leighanne smiled at him.


“It doesn’t feel like I was sleeping.” 


Leighanne smiled at him and he felt calmer.   It was a relief to see her face again. Maybe it really all was a dream.  “So what did I talk about?”


Leighanne shrugged.  “You muttered a few names, something like Isabelle and Megan I believe.  You said something about ‘false memories’ and how you were still in love with me no matter what Isabelle told you about your past and cell phones.”  Tears were beginning to form in Leighanne’s eyes again as she talked. 


Brian laughed.  “I must have muttered something about flushing my cell phone.” He shook his head remembering flushing the phone after talking to Kevin.  Or had he talked to Kevin.  His head was beginning to hurt with all the confusing thoughts running through his mind. 


Leighanne looked away from him for second before staring up again.  “Baylee misses you. He’s not been able to see you while you’ve been in here.” 


“I miss him too.  How is he doing?”   This felt so right sitting in this room with Leighanne, this had to be right. 


“He’s still safe, he’s with his cousins.” 


Brian leaned back on his pillow and smiled upwards.  “I’m glad that things are back to normal.”  He pushed the thoughts about Izzy and Megan out of his mind.  It had been a complication from the accident and his heart he told himself.   “So where’s Howie?”


He loved his wife and he believed her but he still had to see Howie.  See that he was alive and well that he hadn’t been involved in some plot which ended up killing him. 


Leighanne’s face dropped and she avoided his gaze.  “Howie, he….” She looked towards the shoulder the doctor had touched and cleared her throat.  “You don’t remember the accident?”


Brian shook his head wondering what she was going to say.  Her mood changed drastically and he’d only seen her like this a few times and it was never good news.  “Leighanne?”


“A lighting rig wasn’t fastened correctly.  When it fell, it nicked your arm,” She pointed to his bandaged arm that he no longer felt pain in.  He wondered briefly if he was on pain medication for it again.  “But Howie, he was under the rig and it killed him.”   Tears started to flow freely from her eyes and she gripped Brian’s hands with both of hers.  “I’m so sorry.”  She whispered. 


Brian sat in shock.  Howie really was dead.  Maybe his mind, in an attempt to cope with everything had created the scenario of the fight.  In his mind he was injured in the fight with Howie that ultimately lead to his death.  In reality he’d been injured in the accident that killed Howie.  It made sense.  


They sat together in silence.  Brian wanted to ask her more questions but he thought they’d sound ridiculous.  They were based on his dreams.  He needed to get better so he could get out of here, mourn his friend and be with his family.   The doctor entered the room and requested that Leighanne leave so that Brian could rest.  He reassured her that he shouldn’t be in the hospital much longer now that he was awake; everything was looking good for his return.  


“Leighanne,” Brian called out.  She turned at the door and looked at him. Her eyes seemed sad but she was probably mourning Howie, he was her friend too.  “I love you.”  He said smiling at her to help reassure her that everything was going to be alright now. 


“I love you too,” she said in almost a whisper and then exited the room. 


Brian continued to look towards the door, he half hoped that Leighanne would come back in despite what Dr. Smith had said.  He wanted her to sit with him while he slept.   He wasn’t sure why he was told he had to rest. He just came out of a coma, hadn’t he rested enough?  He turned to ask the doctor why he had to rest when he saw a needle coming towards his arm. 


“No!” he shouted out and tried to move in the bed as far from the impending needle. 


“Brian, calm down.”  Dr. Smith halted the needle and held it away. 


“No, no needles,” he asserted.


Dr. Smith smirked at him.  “It is a sedative with mild pain meds. I want to remove the IV but don’t want you to be without pain medication yet.” 


Brian continued to breathe hard, his eyes never leaving the needle.  It was just a dream right? People weren’t injecting him with something to take away his memories right?  He continued to breath quickly and soon felt lightheaded.   His vision blurred but he could see the doctor approaching him again with the needle.  He felt the slight prick of the needle as it was inserted and the pain the medication brought with it.  His arm felt cool as the injection flowed through his veins.  It wasn’t long until his eyelids became heavy. He fought to keep them open but soon lost the battle.  He fell asleep wondering what dreams his mind would give him this time. 

Chapter 34 by Purpura Lipstick

Izzy kept looking sideways at Kevin, stealing glances at him.  She still couldn’t believe what her own mind had remembered.  Kevin was on their side.  At first she questioned her memory, with altered memories still floating around she wasn’t completely sure she could trust her own mind.  It wasn’t until she thought about it more and realized that none of the memories concerning her and Brian were altered.  Her mind only felt conflicted when she thought of those memories.  All of her other memories felt real.  She used this to judge what was real and what wasn’t.  Everything she remembered about Brian and her life with him was real; it was what she had been forced to forget, but why?


Why couldn’t she remember anything about why this had been done to her? Kevin said it was all in her mind she just had to force herself to remember but it felt that those memories had been erased.  Could they do that? She felt for sure that if they could alter her memories they could definitely erase them. 


Her eyes moved from watching the road in the front to looking out the passenger window.  Her eyes searched for the railroad tracks.  She groaned with frustration when her strained eyes couldn’t make out the tracks.  She glanced back at the dashboard and looked at how fast Kevin was pushing the car.  He was driving well over the speed limit.  She hoped they wouldn’t run into any cops or worse the men in suits that were chasing her. 


She looked back out the window and tried to hide her apprehension.  She wasn’t scared for herself, she was afraid for the two who were still on the train.  What if not all the men in suits got off, what if they’d been captured?  She couldn’t take the quiet anymore; she needed to talk to distract her from the thoughts running through her mind. 


“I want to know more.  How are you involved in this? I wouldn’t think someone from our past would be able to have access to one of us so easily. How did you get to be so close to Brian?”  Her new questions made him wary of him again.  They wouldn’t just let someone who knew them in a past life so close.


“I was supposed to go under the same treatment as you.”  Izzy continued to wait for more of an answer but it was all he gave.  The tires on the pavement were the only sound in the car.  After a few minutes, Izzy figured he wasn’t going to add to his statement so she pushed for more answers.


“Tell me what happened.  Maybe something you say will spark a memory for me.”    


Kevin continued to sit in silence for a bit longer as if he was deciding what to tell Izzy.   Izzy had almost given him up on giving her any information and had turned to look out the window when he started to talk.


“You came to me a little more than a year ago.  You had recently uncovered some information that you felt would put you and Brian in danger.  You asked for my help and I was, unfortunately, unable to help you in time but I thought I could get Brian to safety but he refused to leave without you.   When I told him that I might not be able to help get him out a second time he brushed me off.  He wouldn’t leave without you.  I knew that you’d be pissed if Brian was in danger because he tried to be gallant, so I tried to force him to come with me.  He fought us but we managed to almost get to our safe house but the cleaners found us.”  He shrugged his shoulders, his face showing him how sorry he was that he wasn’t able to get Brian to safety. “I failed helping you, I’m sorry.” 


Izzy didn’t know what to say.  Should she be upset with him that he couldn’t help them, should she feel anger that they’d been caught when they were supposed to be taking Brian to safety?   She sat silent unsure how she should respond to Kevin’s apology.  Her eyes were starting to get heavy as she watched the road speed by and her stomach was starting to grow hunger pains.   Kevin must have felt the same way or heard her stomach.


“We are almost at the next city; we can stop for food there.  I’ll need some coffee to keep driving but you are more than welcome to sleep.”  


She hesitated to close her eyes.  What if he’d been turned? He had mentioned that he was supposed to have gone under the same treatment as her, why hadn’t he?


“Why hadn’t I what?” Kevin asked. She must have spoken the last words out loud.


Izzy put her hand on the door handle for a quick exit if his answer to her question was not what anything she wanted to hear.  “You said you were supposed to get your memories wiped, why didn’t you?”


Kevin sighed.  “I had an inside man inside the facility that was used for the procedure. “


Izzy looked at him as he spoke.  He looked embarrassed to admit that it was his choice to have his mind intact.  There was only enough of the placebo serum for one, Kevin had made the decision to have himself injected with it.   He felt that he could have done more if he had his memories.  He talked about the pain he felt as they fused his mind with the memories that were supposed to supersede his own memories.  He regretted his decision during the entire procedure; he realized he should have let Izzy be injected with the placebo.


“So I could experience the pain?”


“You did, you just don’t remember because they altered that memory too.” Kevin sighed again.  “You should have had the placebo.  You had the information we needed, you had the skills to keep yourself safe and get to the rebellion.  You could have stopped this months ago.  I was selfish wanting to keep my own memories.   If you’d been kept aware you could have helped to end it and I would have been brought back to my normal self.”


Again, izzy wasn’t sure how she should respond to Kevin.  Should she be upset? She didn’t know so she sat silent thinking about what he had said. Kevin said rebellion, finally, a clue. She focused on that word and tried to think about why she would be involved with a rebellion. He unknowingly answered her next question. She had been wondering what had made her important enough to be able to solicit help from him.


“What did I know?” She asked quickly as she saw the city approaching.  They would be stopping soon for gas and food. She would need to also use that time to find out anything about the train’s movements.  If there had been more suits on the train, maybe they had stopped sooner to let them off.  She felt like she was grasping at straws with that idea, but it was worth investigating. 


“Some things really are better if you discover them on your own.” Kevin spoke bringing her out of planning and back into the moment.   She found herself accepting this answer but still had more questions she hoped he would answer.


“Tell me more about your role.  What were you supposed to be doing in the group with Brian?” 


 “I became a role similar to a warden in a prison.  Brian was involved in a trial rehabilitation program.”


Izzy laughed at this.  “Where can I sign up for a rehabilitation program that makes me rich and famous?”


Kevin turned to her and smiled adding a soft chuckle before he started to talk again.  “Our people had more of a use for them than just that.  What could be better to infiltrate the population than with a group of attractive males that sang about love and asked such pertinent questions such as ‘Am I Sexual?’ My main job was to watch the members for any signs that their past lives were coming out.  Anything that would show the program wasn’t working.”


“Did you know about Howie? That he was part of the this group, the nine that were placed in our lives to watch us?”


Kevin shook his head. “I was told they were all criminals, I had to act with what my new memories were supposed to be.  I was not supposed to be aware that I’d been specifically placed there to keep an eye on Brian and as far as I knew, the other three were criminals.  I had no idea that they actually had people who were aware that they were to keep an eye on Brian to keep his memories from returning.”


Kevin turned the car off the highway and pulled into a gas station.  He turned to look at her and continued speaking.  Izzy hoped that nobody would think it strange they were simply sitting next to a gas pump not getting gas.


“The main focus of the group was to broadcast messages through the songs and our actions.”


“Like the television?” Izzy asked putting together some of the pieces.


“Yes, like the television. Except sending messages through the air waves and then through a screen diluted the subliminal messages resulting.  The music worked better but it still didn’t bring the effects they hoped for.  They’ve been working on something for awhile now, something that people would use constantly to renew the subliminal mind control.” Kevin paused after speaking those words.  He was looking at her expectantly.  There was something about what he said that he was trying to emphasize. She thought about what he said and a fog over her head lifted.


“The phone,” Izzy murmured the phone that she’d been attempting to procure for her company, the phone that was supposed to be the hottest new thing. That would allow persons to carry their phone around and access their computers, play games, talk and text and browse the web.   Mark himself had predicted that people wouldn’t be able to put it down.  They would be glued to it, it would become their lives.  It had to be it.  If it was always with them, if they were always using it, the phone would help control the human race.  It was like the phone was the trigger.  Once she remembered what the phone would be able to do the cloud that was her life before lifted and she remembered.


“Yes, the phone.” Kevin’s voice was calm and even. She turned to him and his eyes held her own.  She could see that he was still wondering if this was one thing coming through or if she remembered more.  She smiled at him and moved to open her door.


“I remember everything.” She emphasized. 


Kevin smiled broadly and pulled out a small rod.  A full capsule, Izzy smiled remembering.  Her hunger forgotten she smiled as the gas tank filled after he injected the rod into the steering column.   “Drive, fast.” She commanded feeling more herself than she had in quiet a long time. 

Chapter 35 by Purpura Lipstick

She stared out the window as the scenery blurred by.  She had managed to look at the speedometer and noticed Kevin had pushed to the maximum speed but the car wasn’t having any issues.  The fuel stick he had used must have had an additive to keep the car running at optimum no matter the strain it was under.  Even with the boost she knew it was a matter of time before the engine couldn’t take it anymore and the car would die. She’d used speed sticks many times on assignment from The Company.  She could only hope that they reached the train and found Brian and Megan before then. 


Now that she remembered everything, she couldn’t help but think about her past and what lead her to this point.  She’d always known that The Company had used some mind control, it was important that they used it every so often so that the population was unaware of The Company and what they did, who they protected and who they protected the majority from.  


The Company was trying to find ways to make better use of their resources.  It was becoming difficult to ensure that the people who had been exposed to what they do did not remember what they had seen.  The use of the television and the radio was good for short term effects and worked well enough on the majority of people never had to be dosed again since often they would simply believe what they had seen had been part of a dream instead.  There were others that the effects would not last as long with.  The Company tried to figure out why these people were immune and started to develop a stronger form of the wash that was used to wipe their memories of certain events.


The drug that was created was determined by The Company to be too extreme to use on the public, but it was kept.  It would be useful to use on their own people that needed complete new memories so that they couldn’t remember who they were or what they had done.  Isabelle scowled to her reflection in the window, she had voted to keep the drug and it was used on her. 


The Company continued to find a way to have a longer brainwash on the public.  The advancement of the planets technology aided with their search.  Phones were advancing and it didn’t take long for The Company to find a way to make use of the phones to create a longer lasting brainwash.  It didn’t hurt that they were making the phone to have internet access and applications such as games.  The human race would be plugged into their phones soon and The Company could take advantage of that.  They made sure each phone emitted a frequency that would keep the person’s memories of whatever they saw away, keeping The Company safe. 


“Brian don’t you see the possibilities with this new technology.  I will no longer be dispatched to help keep the unruly humans under.  It is only to help ensure our safety.”  Isabelle and Brian were sitting across from each other at their favorite restaurant discussing the newest development brought forth by The Company.  “I could be home more, we could finally start our family,” Isabelle reached across and placed her hand gently on Brian’s.  She knew he’d wanted to start a family but with her job taking her across the country and sometimes the world on a moment’s notice, they were finding it difficult to find the right time to really start.


 “No, Isabelle, you don’t understand what this technology can lead to.” He moved closer to her and started to whisper.  “What will stop The Company from using it to take over this planet, from enslaving the population?”


“Brian, don’t be ridiculous. The Company would never do that.  It’s not our purpose here.  We came here to create a new life.  We only wanted to be able to live where we could be free, freer than our home would allow.”  Isabelle had to be careful not to speak about their home world aloud.  Too many humans around them could hear and then they would possibly need mind altering. 


Brian looked at her sharply to reprimand her for how she was talking.  One of the reasons they chose this planet was because they looked similar to the humans, externally.  It was usually those who saw what they looked like internally that had to have their minds altered, or those that overheard dangerous conversations like Isabelle and Brian were having.


“I think your worries are in your head,” Isabelle said removing her hand from Brian’s. 


Isabelle could feel a tear falling down her cheek.  That dinner had been one of the last times they had lead a normal life before everything happened.   They had gone home that night and made up after their disagreement.    Isabelle opened the glove box in front of her and found what she hoped would be there, a knife.   She stuck the tip of the blade into her skin and cringed. 


“What are you doing?” Kevin asked as the car swerved slightly since he briefly took his eyes off the road.


“I want to make sure,” Isabelle pushed the blade in further.  The red blood dripped onto the seats. Eventually the red became blue and Isabelle sighed with relief.  “Needed to see for myself that what I am remembering now is true.”  She smeared her blood on her arm and put her head back smiling.  The wound was already healing. 


Kevin nodded and continued to drive.  Dark clouds started to fill the sky but Isabelle doubted it would rain much if it did rain. 


She was about to walk into her superior’s office.  She needed to debrief her latest assignment.  She’d caught the man who constantly got tattoos.  It wasn’t that he was getting the tattoos; it was because he constantly went to human tattoo artists and he didn’t take care to change his blood to red prior to going.  Voices inside caught her attention and she stopped at the door and listened.  


“We shouldn’t have to hide.  With technology we could rule this planet.  Instead we hide as if we are part of their population.” The voice she was hearing was not her boss’. 


“I agree, but you know the current administration wouldn’t hear of it,” This voice was not her superior’s either but Isabelle recognized it as a very important part of the Council. 


Isabelle quickly moved away as the door opened and the two men walked out.  She made it appear that she was approaching the office instead of leaving.  “Is he there?” she asked as if she had heard nothing.


“No, he’s in a meeting until one.”  She nodded and turned to walk away, hoping that neither of them saw how quickly she wanted to escape.


After talking it over with Brian the night after she overheard the conversation, Brian convinced her to bring it up with her superior.  He should be made away that there are dangerous grumblings.  She agreed with him and headed into the office early to talk with him before many others arrived. 


“Hello,” she called out as she knocked on the door.  It was open so she pushed.  The light was on but she couldn’t see anyone.  “Hello,” She called out again.   Slowly she moved closer to the desk.


Isabelle pulled her knees closer as she remembered seeing the man’s body on the floor drenched in his own blood.  She was not a screamer, but she put her hand to her mouth to stifle any other noise she might make.  It was her training that kicked in when she saw the body.  She rifled through the papers on the desk, desperate to find any other information she could, anything that might lead her to the killer even though she had her suspicions already.


She wasn’t sure how she could ever forget the face of the woman that stood at the door watching her.  The look of horror she had, Isabelle would have thought that image would stay with her even through a memory wipe.  The woman screamed and alerted security.  They were there mere seconds later.  Shouts of killer were thrown at her as she fought her way out of the building.  She knew none of the men they sent after her could capture her.  She was unique.  Something about women Cleaners made them better fighters.


She went home and told Brian what she had seen, what she had been accused of. 


“We have to get out of here,” He was throwing clothes and some of their belongings into bags as he talked to her. 


“Brian, you aren’t wanted; you don’t have to go into hiding with me.” Isabelle didn’t want his life to be turned upside down for her.


“We will prove your innocence and then there will be no issue,” He stopped and touched her face gently.  “I could never leave you, especially when you need someone who believes you the most.”  He gently kissed her forehead before grabbing hold of the bags. 


Isabelle had been glad Brian had come with her into hiding.  She knew then that if he hadn’t, they would have used him to get to her. 


“Isabelle,” Kevin’s voice startled her.  Her arm shot out from instinct stopping a few inches from his face.  As far as she could tell, he did not flinch.   “Look,” He said moving her arm from in front of him.


She turned her attention to the window and gasped when she saw the train creeping up.   “Pull off the road and as close as you can,” Isabelle rolled down her window and started to climb out and onto the hood of the car.  She would have been surprised at her ability to do this if she had not woken up to her memories.  This was not the first time she’d been on the hood of a speeding car. 


Kevin drove, despite terrain they were driving over he managed to get the car close to the train.  Isabelle looked up and noticed that a city was coming soon.  They wouldn’t have much time for her to make it on. Good thing she knew what she was doing now and had no doubt her ability.  As Kevin approached she crouched on her feet and sprung at the right moment grabbing hold of the hand rail on the outside.  


The force pulled her arm almost pulling it out of her socket.  She managed to grab hold with her other hand to ease the strain on her one arm.  She noticed Kevin speed off back to the road.  He would likely continue following the train. She would find Brian and Megan, stop the train and then she could get Brian and Megan into hiding while she went after the Council to end what they were planning to do.

Chapter End Notes:

Yes, I know, strange! I don't blame you if you stop reading, this story has always been planned this way, crazy crazy.  I hope you do stick with me though. :) 

Chapter 36 by Purpura Lipstick

 It was a dream he knew it was a dream the minute he found himself sitting across from Izzy at an Italian restaurant.  The restaurant seemed familiar and he could almost smell the garlic and pasta sauce as he took in his surroundings.  The table clothes were checkerboard red and white and each table had one lit votive candle.   A basket of breadsticks sat on the table.  They were untouched.  Sounds of Dean Martin wafted around him as he sat across from Izzy.  His hands were resting on his legs, sweaty.  He remembered this night, his first date with Isabelle.   


“Do you really believe that?”


Brian looked at Isabelle confused. Those weren’t the first words he remembered.  He wouldn’t forget the first words from his first date with her.  She had threatened that if he whispered rumors about that night, rumors that weren’t true, he would be unable to procreate.   He had thought about leaving her, her face was so serious but when her smile broke out across her face and she laughed he felt at ease.  She apologized, her sense of humor wasn’t finely developed she had told him.   She never said the question she now asked.


“Don’t tell me you believe them so easily Brian. They couldn’t even keep it straight.  What was it?  Did you collapse or were you involved in an accident with a lighting rig?  Your doctor told you that you collapsed but when you remembered your injury suddenly he is talking about an accident that conveniently killed Howie?”  Isabelle sat back in her chair and crossed her arms and stared him down.


Brian closed his eyes from the image in front of him.  It wasn’t real.  She wasn’t real. She was just a fan he had met and his mind focused on to help him cope with everything that had happened.  The memory of their first date wasn’t even real.  There was no first date with this woman; there was only his first date with Leighanne.  He tried to picture that first date and when he couldn’t he focused on when he met her.  The video shoot for As Long As You Love Me.  He couldn’t remember being so captivated by a woman before.  Not only was she beautiful outside but she was kind and warm.  She was exactly like someone he always thought he’d end up with.   He focused on Leighanne’s smile when he finally asked her out, she had been so shy around him he wasn’t sure she liked him at first.  When she said yes, he couldn’t believe how happy he was to hear that word.


“Why was she sad?  Why did she sake her head when you started to talk? What was she keeping from you? You know she wasn’t her usual self when she was there.  Something was off.” 


Brian shut his eyes tighter to Isabelle’s voice.  He didn’t want to hear her voice; he wanted to hear his wife’s voice.   He wanted to wake up and to have Leighanne and Baylee next to him.  He wanted to be on tour with the guys getting ready to sing in another city to a crowd of thousands.  Better yet, he wanted to be home helping Leighanne build the business she had started when Baylee was very little.  Why couldn’t this other woman’s voice simply go away and leave him alone.


“It’s because you know I’m right.”


The voice responded to his thoughts and he opened his eyes to see Isabelle still sitting across from him.  Her arms were crossed but now her face was swollen and bruised, her lip was fat and one of her eyes was almost closed from the swelling. 


Brian gasped and stood.  He wanted away from her, she only lead to trouble.  But he couldn’t help but think about some of the questions she’d been asking.  He moves to leave the restaurant when but Isabelle grabbed his arm and pulled him to face her again.  Now she was wearing a white wedding dress.  He couldn’t help thinking that she looked gorgeous.  Her tan skin complemented the white like so few women wearing white did.   Instead of the harshly pulled back ponytail he’d grown accustomed to seeing her with; her brown hair was soft and wavy.  He reached out to grab one of those curls but stopped midway. 


This was not his wife.  This was a dream.


If this was a dream, how come he couldn’t control it? No, he could control it if he thought about changing it he could.  Brian turned away from Isabelle again and focused on the set of the music video again, his first meeting with Leighanne, what better way to end the images of Isabelle and refocus on his wife?   He smiled as the blond woman smiled up at him and started to walk towards him her arms outstretched to embrace him.  


He sighed as the scene completely changed to the video shoot, he could see the other girls on set and the guys dressed in their crazy costumes.  He chuckled remembering the antics on set and how they released the behind the scenes video for the fans later.  The fans loved it and they loved sharing that part of themselves with the fans.    All thoughts of Isabelle and the other life he supposedly lead were seeping away, he could feel them leaving.  This was his life, he was sure of it.   Leighanne was getting closer; her arms were almost around him.  Once they were, he knew everything would be alright and he would be whole again. 


“And why did she say Baylee was ‘still’ safe?”


The voice came softly into his ear.  He could almost feel the warmth of Isabelle’s breath as she said it.  Those words brought the world around him down.  The video scene faded out, the guys disappeared one by one, and the set became black.  Brian tried to reach towards Leighanne to hold her close, he didn’t wan to lose her, but she also faded into the blackness. 


Brian spun on his heel to confront Isabelle.  It was her fault this had happened to him. It was her fault that he lost his entire life.  When he turned, she was not there either.  He was surrounded by darkness. 


His breaths were heavy when his eyes shot open and he sat up in bed.  The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer strapped down to the bed.  He rubbed his wrists and looked around the room.  It was windowless, like the other, but larger.  A dresser sat across from the bed, he stood and moved closer opening the drawers he saw his shirts, pants, socks and underwear inside.  


He made his way into the rest of the room. It was more like an apartment than just a room, but the entire place was windowless and he was sure that if he tried to open the door it would not budge.  He opened the fridge and found that it was fully stocked.  The kitchen had everything he needed to live.  He took note of where the knives were located.  There was a couch, a television, books and even a computer for his use.  This was meant to be like a home for him.  It didn’t take him that long to figure out where he was.   He had been in one of these rooms before.  They were for observation after someone goes through the memory altering ‘treatment.’ 


He sat down on the couch and turned on the television.   He knew that in order to get out of these rooms he would have to play along and pretend that his memories had been altered. They would be watching to make sure the memory erase took place, to make sure he only remembered what they wanted him to.  Playing along shouldn’t be too hard, he hoped.   He flipped through the channels and smiled at himself.  He would get out; he would find Leighanne and Baylee and make sure they were safe.  He would help Isabelle to get those after them stopped, and then he would settle back down into his life.


“But which life, with which wife,” He heard Isabelle and Leighanne’s voices whisper in unison.

Chapter 37 by Purpura Lipstick

 It was harder than Brian thought it would be to ignore the fact that he knew he was under constant observation.   He sat on the couch in his apartment acting like living in a box with no windows was perfectly normal.     The television was on but he wasn’t watching what was on the screen.  He was sure that if he did pay attention to the images being shown his mind would be altered.   He started to whistle a Backstreet tune trying to keep his mind off of trying to get out.   He needed to make whoever was watching believe that he had forgotten Isabelle, that he believed he was Brian from The Backstreet Boys and that at some point he would be going on tour with the rest of his friends.


Thoughts of the guys made him think about Howie.  Should he be mourning his death? Should he still view him as a friend?  Will they replace him in the group with another guy who will go by Howie?  How will that be explained to the other guys?  Why was he worried about the other guys? Their minds would simply be altered so that they believed what The Corporation would want them to believe.  


Thousands of questions floated through his mind as he stared blankly at the television.  He stopped whistling when the thought crossed his mind that maybe they had already tried to alter his memory and that he wasn’t a Backstreet Boy any longer, maybe he wasn’t supposed to know that song anymore.   


Remembering that he was in an observation room had helped his mind with a breakthrough.  He understood a lot of what happened but he still did not have all his memories.  When he pulled up memories from his wedding the images flickered between the wedding with Leighanne and the wedding with Isabelle and he had a hard time convincing himself that the Leighanne memory was false.   He no longer denied that his life with Leighanne was not real so why wouldn’t his mind remember everything?  He started to worry that the injections that he’d been given to keep his memories of Isabelle suppressed mixed with meeting Isabelle had somehow messed up his brain. 


He was contemplating this when a portion of the wall opened and a door slid away to reveal Dr. Smith and Leighanne walking into the room.  Leighanne had her usual vibrant smile but it did not reach to her eyes.  He knew something was wrong but he would play along, he had to. 


Brian sat waiting for them to enter the rest of the way inside. He watched the door slide shut and appear seamless with the wall once again.    They continued to approach him, he stood, unsure how to greet them. 


“Brian,” the doctor spoke sticking out his hand in greeting. 


Brian took the other man’s hand and shook it lightly.  He still kept his mouth closed. He wanted the other two to speak first.  Was he supposed to remember Leighanne? He didn’t know he felt it would be safe to remain mute until he knew.   


He sighed with relief when the doctor spoke next and let him know what he needed.  “Your wife is here to see you,” Dr. Smith turned towards Leighanne and stepped aside so Leighanne could step forward.   Her hands were folded in front of her; she thanked the doctor and moved closer to Brian.  Brian pulled her into a hug, he felt her relax a little. 


“How are you feeling?” Leighanne asked as they broke their hug and sat down. 


Brian noticed that Dr. Smith sat down too. He had hoped that the doctor would leave him alone to talk to Leighanne.  He supposed that was too much to hope for so soon. 


“I’m feeling okay,” he said reaching her hands.  She pulled her right hand closer to her body but allowed Brian to take a hold of her left.  He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand hoping to calm her down more.  He could tell that she was trying to hold herself together and he was sure it was because the doctor was there.  She had said Baylee was still safe, but for how long.  He wondered how long his son would be safe if Leighanne had been caught.  Brian watched Leighanne’s face intently.  Maybe she could give away something by looking at him, but she was keeping her eyes cast down at their hands. 


She looked as if she wanted to say something but before he could prod her Dr. Smith spoke up.  “We’ve been worried about you Brian.  We’ve,” He indicated himself and Leighanne, “been talking and we are concerned about your mental break after waking up.  Your mind created a very strong world that we think might still be affecting you.  We understand that Howie’s death was a lot to take in but your break with reality is really concerning.  We’ve talked about it and decided that we should treat you.  We are afraid if left untreated you will completely break from reality and live in this world your mind has created to cope with Howie’s death.”


Brian shook his head.  “I don’t understand. What treatment?”  Brian looked at Leighanne but her eyes were cast down, he noticed that she pulled her right hand even closer to her body.  Brian wondered what that was about.  He wanted to rip it away from her body; did he hurt her to cooperate? 


“Just something to help you cope.” The Dr. smiled as he stood. 


“I feel fine now though.  I’d like to go home with Leighanne.” Leighanne’s left hand was still clinging to his but she was not standing.  He knew something was seriously wrong with her but he also knew she wasn’t going to talk about it with the Dr. in the room.   “I just want to go home with my wife to grieve.  I also think spending time with the rest of the guys will help.  Where are Kevin, Nick and AJ?” 


“Leighanne and I still think the treatment will be the best but I will see what I can do about contacting your friends.”  The doctor looked down at Leighanne and back at Brian.  “I will leave you two to talk about it for a little while.  I will be back in five minutes.” 


Brian was just thinking that five minutes wasn’t enough to discuss anything as the door slid open and let the doctor out.


Brian turned his attention back to Leighanne.  “Babe, we don’t have a lot of time. What is wrong?”


Leighanne, still clinging to his hand, pulled him down and brought her right hand forward grabbing hold of him.  He wondered why all of a sudden she was using her right hand when he felt a piece of paper being pressed into his hand.


“Brian, I want you to know that I love you so much.  You have been a blessing in my life.”


“Leighanne, what are you getting at.  We are going to leave here and go home.” He dropped his voice to a whisper.  “We can forget this whole thing; I will live with you and Baylee and forget that other woman.  I won’t cause trouble; I just want you and Baylee.”


Tears were starting to form in Leighanne’s eyes though he could tell she was fighting them back.  “I will always be with you.” She pressed her now empty hands to his chest holding his eye contact.


Brian leaned closer to her pressing his lips to hers.  He could taste the salt from her tears on his lips.  The sound of footsteps entering the room caused them to break, too soon for Brian. 


“Leighanne, we should get going.  Brian will need time to rest before the treatment.”  Dr. Smith placed his hand on the small of Leighanne’s back as she stood and helped to steer her out of the room.  She looked back at Brian and smiled weakly at him. 


The door slid shut and he wanted to rush at it and find a way to open it.  He wanted to get to Leighanne.  He knew something was wrong, he had to save her.  He was upset that their five minutes had seemed more like two.  He wanted to throw the chairs and cause of fit.  He wanted his wife back.  It wasn’t until he calmed down that he remembered the paper that she had passed him.   He clenched his fist around it and glared up at the camera.  He moved towards the bathroom and closed the door.  It was the only room he hadn’t seen a camera. 


Putting the seat to the toilet down he sat and opened the paper that Leighanne had given him.


Brian, my love, I don’t have much time left.  They allowed me one final time to say good-bye. Though I wasn’t allowed to tell you that it was the last time I would see you.  They are going to wipe my memory and assign me elsewhere.  You will also be going through a memory wipe to remove me from your memories, or hopefully simply alter them so you believe I died.  Baylee is still safe; I would not tell them where he is.  If there is a chance you will remember him, I hope you find him before they do and keep him safe.  I want to reassure you that I loved both of you.  You were my world even though you were never really mine to love.   


Brian sat looking at the words longer than he probably should have.  He ripped up the letter and flushed the papers. He watched as Leighanne’s words were washed down the drain.   Tears would not fall through the anger he felt at The Corporation and what they had done to him.  They tore him away from Isabelle and put him with another woman he couldn’t help but love. They gave them a child to solidify that they had been together now they were tearing down that world.   He wondered briefly what they had planned for him as he exited the bathroom. 


He turned into the living space to find Dr. Smith standing there waiting for him with a smirk on his face, two men in suits standing next to him.  

Chapter End Notes:

oh my gosh, after a month, I'm so sorry that I got a bit of the writing slumps. I hope to get this finished and I know I want it done before the end of the year but I'm hoping I can finish sooner than that.

Chapter 38 by Purpura Lipstick

 Isabelle stood on the moving train and stared.  The car she had managed to jump onto was empty.  Thankful that nobody was there to cry out in alarm at her appearance she made her way through the car.  When she approached the door at the other end of the car she kept out of sight and peered around looking for signs of any remaining Cleaners.  

 

When she saw none she opened the door and moved through to the next car.  This car was empty too.  Isabelle was starting to find it strange that there were no people in two passenger cars so far.  They were cars that were close to the back of the train.  Perhaps they had not sold many seats.  She continued on her journey through to get to the car that contained the cabin she’d shared with Brian and Megan.  By the time she reached the fourth empty car she stopped being cautious and checking for the Cleaners and started to run through until she reached the car that she’d last seen Brian and Megan in. 

 

She knew there had been people in this car.  She remembered frightened eyes watching her fight the Cleaners, people moving as far away from the fight as they could, parents with their arms wrapped protectively around their children.  Now the car was eerily quiet.  Isabelle glanced looking or any signs that there had been anybody on the train at all.  There was no luggage, nothing save for a stuffed teddy bear sitting on a middle seat staring forward.  Isabelle picked up the bear and made her way towards the sleeper cars, again, no signs of life.  Isabelle squeezed the bear to her chest as she pulled open the door to her compartment. 

 

She released the breath she didn’t even know she’d been holding when she realized it was empty.  She’d hated to admit to herself that she half expected to see the dead bodies.   Killing them would have been a dumb move for The Company; they would use them to get her to come to them.  They knew she would follow Brian wherever he went.  Clutching the bear still she moved towards the bed that had been Brian’s. She sat and glanced around, her eyes trying to find anything out of place.   They would have left something for her to find.   She glanced down at the teddy bear in her arms and shook her head putting it down on the bed and searching the room.

 

She laughed when she picked up Brian’s pillow and saw a piece of paper.  They hadn’t worked hard at hiding it but then why would they have to worry about hiding it at all on an empty train?    She glanced at the paper and read the note. 

 

Isabelle,

 

If you have your memories you will know where Brian is being held.  Turn yourself in and he will be released.

 

Isabelle shoved the paper in her pocket as she grabbed the bear and made her way out of the cabin.  She glanced up and found the emergency stop cord and pulled.  She was thrown forward when the trains started to screech to a halt.  As it continued to slow, Isabelle regained her footing and made her way towards the door of the car. She hung out of the car as she watched the landscape slow enough for her to jump from the train.  She landed smoothly and walked calmly towards the road.   

 

It wasn’t long that she traveled along the side of the road that a car pulled up alongside her. 

 

“Isabelle,” She heard Kevin’s voice call out to her.  The car stopped and she walked backwards to get inside.  “I take it they weren’t there?”

 

She shook her head as she absentmindedly pulled fuzz off the bear she placed in her lap.   “Rifle,” She managed to mutter.

 

“What was that, the bear’s name?” Kevin asked in confusion.

 

“They are in Rifle, CO.  There is a Cleaner training facility and prison there.”   She saw Kevin nod out of the corner of her eye and pull out another fuel stick.  “That won’t get us to Rifle fast enough.”

 

“No, but a plane will.” Kevin grinned and pointed to a sign that said how far the airport was. 

 

As they approached the airport Isabelle became anxious.  “You know they will be waiting for me here don’t you?”

 

Kevin shook his head.  “If they requested your presence in Rifle wouldn’t they allow you to get there? Why attack you if you are coming in yourself.”    Kevin looked at her; there was sadness in his eyes she couldn’t place.  

 

They arrived at the airport faster than Isabelle even thought possible. She supposed they could have increased the efficiency of the fuel sticks in the past six months.   They sat in the car in front of the airport for a few minutes before they decided to get out.  Knowing they would never see the car again, Isabelle carried the teddy bear out with her.  She couldn’t explain why she had found herself so attached to this bear but she didn’t want to leave it in the car to a fate she wasn’t sure of. 

 

They approached the ticket counter unsure of what she was going to say to get a ticket to Denver.  She knew she couldn’t fly from Texas directly to Rifle; she would have to go through DIA first.   She took deep breath and approached the counter, she had talked her way onto a plane before even during the highest security after 9/11 she shouldn’t have an issue now but for some reason words wouldn’t come out of her mouth as she stood facing the ticket agent. 

 

“Isabelle Littrell?” the female agent asked her blinking calmly at her.

 

“Yes?” She questioned wondering what the hell was going on for a split second before a ticket was slid along the counter to her.  Of course, The Company would have provided her a ticket.  But how did she know that she would come here.  Immediately she knew that the train was headed this way originally. If she had managed to get on the train and get the note realizing where and how she would need to get there would only lead her to the airport.  

 

“Thanks,” She pressed her lips tightly together as she took the ticket and left the line to stand next to Kevin, holding up the ticket for him to see.   “Of course.” She muttered looking down at the departure time.  It was several hours from now but she knew that if she went to the gate now they would be ready to depart.  She was willing to bet she was the only passenger on the flight and if she tried not to take this particular flight, she would never get there.  The Company would bar her way if she tried to slip the flight and take another.    

 

“I hate that I feel so helpless walking into what is obviously a trap,” Isabelle sighed as she looked around at all the ticket counters as if she was expecting to see someone from The Company watching her.

 

“I bet,” Kevin squeezed her shoulder and turned her face to him holding eye contact with her.  “I will get there no matter how I have to get there.  I will be there to help you and Brian, I promised once and now I will make sure to help.”   He offered a soft smile before turning and heading back out of the doors of the airport.   

 

“Wait,” Isabelle called out to him. She jogged up to him as he turned around.  “Here, take this,” She said handing him the teddy bear.  She would have hated to see the toy destroyed and it was inevitable that it would have been torn apart as it was checked for weapons.  

 

“Thanks,” Kevin chuckled.  “I think I’ll call him Rifle.” The smile on his face forced Isabelle to smile in return. She hugged Kevin tightly before he turned to leave again. 

 

Isabelle watched him through the doors for only a few minutes more before sighing to herself and turning to make her way to security.   She was ushered through security, bypassing the line that had queued to get through the three open check points.   A big female security officer was the one to perform her pat down.  If she hadn’t regained her memories she might have felt violated by all the attention this woman was giving her but she knew this was a mild intrusion.  

 

Even though the ticket had a departure time of a few hours away, Isabelle jogged through the airport and arrived at her gate quickly.  No one was waiting in any of the seats at the gate.   She walked up to the check in desk and slid her ticket across the counter. 

 

“Welcome,” the woman smiled at her and took her ticket.  The woman removed the rope and told her to enjoy her flight as she moved through the bridge that connected the airport to the plane.  Her palms were beginning to sweat unsure of what she was going to find once she got on board. 

 

The door the plan was open and another woman stood smiling in the doorway. “Isabelle,” She ushered her inside.  The flight attendant slammed her against the wall and forced her arms behind her.  Isabelle wanted to fight her to get free, she knew she could fight her but what would that mean for Brian if she escaped and didn’t get on this flight? “Feel free to sit where you like.” The woman seethed in her ear.

 

Isabelle looked up and sighed.  There were three Cleaners and the flight attendant on board; they would be her companions for the journey.  She selected her seat towards the back of the flight leaving two Cleaners in front of her and one behind.   She sat and noticed the flight attendant had followed her all the way to her seat. 

 

“I hate to inform you that there will be no in flight snack, drink or movie.” The smile the woman had on her face was condescending.  “But we have lovely jewelry for you to wear.”  She held up the tie cord and waited for Isabelle to stick out her hands.  The woman tightened the cord causing Isabelle to flinch slightly.  “Have a good flight,” The woman said in a chipper voice as she headed back to the cockpit to inform the pilot that they were ready to take off. 

Chapter 39 by Purpura Lipstick

Isabelle watched the runway start to blur as the plane sped up for takeoff.  She was in the aisle but didn’t want to look at the faces of the others that were on the plane with her so she turned her attention to the window.   Her eyes started to get heavy but she reminded herself that she couldn’t allow herself to fall into any kind of travel stupor.  She needed to be alert, she needed to figure out a way to get away from The Cleaners on board and get to Brian in Rifle. 


“Brian you don’t understand, you have to get away from here, you have to get away from me.” Isabelle had pleaded with her husband.  “If you don’t go into hiding, they will hunt you down and use you against me.” 


“Isabelle, I understand but I will not leave you,” Brian took her hand kissed her fingers.  “I promised you when we married that I would stick with you through everything.  What kind of person would I be if I backed out of my vows now and left you because you are being hunted by The Company so they can tear information away from you?” There was a hint of a smile on her face.  The way he worded what she faced combined with his smile caused her to smile in return.


“I should tie you up and hand you over,” She playfully shoved him away from her.


“I’d chew the binds and find my way to you,” He pulled her close and nuzzled her neck. 


“Brian this isn’t a game. You can’t be around me.  I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to you because of me.”  She wanted to push him away but the warmth of his body made her feel reassured.  He made her feel that everything would be alright in the end.  He was the reason she was going to fight The Company and release the truth of what happened, of what was going on.  It was all for him.  If she had not met him and fallen in love she might have been involved with the very plot she was fighting against.  But if he stayed with her, if he got injured, captured or killed she didn’t know how she could go on with the knowledge that it was because of her that she would never see him, feel him, again. 


In the end they had decided to go into hiding together.  They would keep hidden until they had developed a way to make it known what was going on, until they had a way to expose the faction inside The Company.   That had been the plan anyway.


Isabelle could feel the pain in her eyes as she fought back the tears remembering how sure they were that they would be safe until they came forward.  How confident everything would go according to their plan especially when her training screamed at her otherwise.  She should have known there was really no where safe for them if they were being hunted by The Company.   She tried to push the thoughts out of her mind but one phrase kept repeating, “I promised you when we married that I would stick with you through everything.”  It had been a similar statement he had said in regards to Leighanne.   How could one of the reasons you loved someone so much be a reason that could tear you apart? 


She shook her head and felt the binds on her hands tighten as she attempted to move them apart from each other.  She needed to stop lingering in what had happened, what had brought them to the point they were at now and think of a way she could get away from her captors so she could free Brian.  Even if Brian went back to Leighanne and their son, he would be alive.  She could live if he was alive but if he were to die, Isabelle couldn’t bear the world without him in it. 


“Can I offer you any refreshments?” the sickly sweet voice of the flight attendant rang out.  Isabelle turned to see the woman holding a cup of some liquid out towards her, a smile plastered on her face. 


Isabelle threw back her head in a muffled chuckle.  This woman who had slammed her into the wall of the plane when they boarded, the one who had tied her hands together was now acting the part of a real flight attendant. 


“No thank you,” she managed to mutter.  Her throat was dry and she could really use a drink but she knew that there was more than just water in that cup. 


“Really, I insist,” The woman held it close to Isabelle’s mouth motioning for her to move forward so she could help her take a drink. 


“No,” Isabelle’s voice was strong and clear despite her desire to grab hold of the cup and drink.  “It will have to be enough that I am sitting here calmly.  I refuse to be drugged when we arrive, besides I thought you said there would be no drinks on this flight.”  Isabelle couldn’t help but add the last quip.


The woman smirked at Isabelle and put the cup to her own lips throwing back the clear liquid, crushing the cup with a satisfying smirk as she finished. 


Isabelle’s throat screamed at her for not taking the drink when she got the chance.  Now that she knew it wasn’t drugged she knew it would be the one and only chance for a drink she would receive.   She hadn’t really noticed the dryness of her throat until the drink was offered, now that she couldn’t have it, it was all she could think about.  


For the next couple of hours, Isabelle’s mind was running full force trying to discover a way that she could get out of her binds and free from the plane.   She couldn’t arrive under guard.  She needed to show up to Rifle and get a lay of the situation so she could formulate her plan to get Brian out and both of them safely away.   She played with the armrest, it moved loosely in her hand and an idea formed in her mind. Her prospects were dim but she knew she had to give it a chance.


The seatbelt light flashed above the cabin and the flight attendant moved from where she was talking to the Cleaner the furthest in front of Isabelle and took a seat.  That must have been the notification from the pilot they were landing.  Isabelle looked out the window and she could tell the plane’s altitude was dropping, the plane turning slightly to align with the runway for landing.  This was it.


“Wait, wait, I want the drink.  I’m really thirsty.”  She called out kicking the seat in front of her.  She knew they wouldn’t really give her a drink but she hoped if she caused enough noise the woman would come back and try to shut her up.   “Drink,” she repeated like a spoiled child while she kicked the seat in front of her.   She allowed herself a small smile when she saw that it was working, the woman was rising from her seat to see what was going on. 


“Isabelle, really?” The woman asked as she got closer.  Isabelle wrenched the loose armrest off and aimed the hit to crash into the woman’s temple.  She shoved her woman’s body back the direction she came from hoping to block the aisle from the two Cleaners towards the front.    The force of the blow caused her to drop the armrest.  She had hoped that she could use that again but she wouldn’t have time to pick it up.   This had not been the first time she’d been bound in a fight; the Cleaners would know that, it was a part of their training. She had to move quickly.     


Isabelle turned her attention to the Cleaner at the back of the plane.  She saw him pull his gun from his waist band.  She moved out of the way as the tranq dart flew past her and landed in the chest of the cleaner that was moving the flight attendant out of the way.  He fell providing more blockage for the final Cleaner.   Before the other man could aim again, Isabelle was using the force of her fists together to, slamming them in the side of his head.  She then brought them up to impact with his face.  She felt the man’s nose break.  She leaned back as he attempted to hit her with the butt of the gun. 


With a quick turn, Isabelle brought her foot up and kicked his back.  He stumbled forward and lost grip on his gun. Isabelle grabbed for it and started to fight with him to release it.  She managed to turn it around to face him and used the man’s own hand to pull the trigger, shooting him with a dart.  He stumbled backwards.  She managed to grab the gun and pull it from the man’s hand.


She turned quickly to fire the remaining dart at the final Cleaner.  She turned and shot missing the man’s leg.  She thought she heard him make a “tsk” noise before he brought the arm rest down on her head knocking her unconscious. 

Chapter 40 by Purpura Lipstick

She could feel the bindings on her hands before she opened her eyes to see that they were tied in front of her.  It didn’t take much movement to notice that her arms were tied to each other with a cord running behind her and this time her feet were bound together as well.  She groaned internally as she realized that she was on a different plane.  If she had not been a Cleaner she would have wondered how they had gotten her through the airport unconscious and onto another plane without raising alarm.  


Isabelle only wondered how close they were for a brief time until she felt the plane start to descend.  She craned her neck to look over the Cleaner next to her and out the window and saw; mountains, sporadic buildings and one long road going by the town.  They were arriving in Rifle and she was tied up.  Some rescue plan, she thought to herself.


Always on, she thought she might still be able to get away from the four that were bringing her in.  She turned her head to see the barrel of a gun pointed in her direction.  The flight attendant was across the aisle, one row up, holding the gun in her direction.


“Good morning sunshine,” the woman’s voice was sweet as she spoke but her eyes were shooting daggers in Isabelle’s direction.


Isabelle smirked at the woman when she noticed the large bump that had formed on the other woman’s head from where the arm of her seat had collided with her head.   She let out a soft chuckle which she could tell immediately irritated the flight attendant.  So far she would have to get away from the Cleaner next to her and take out the flight attendant with the gun all while her hands and legs were tied together, not impossible.  She turned to find the other Cleaners.   She groaned when she realized how close in proximity the other two Cleaners were, one across the aisle from her and one sitting one aisle behind him.  There was no way, with her hands and feet tied, she could get away from all four before they managed to take her down again and she needed to be alert when they got off of the plane.


The plan was touching down as Isabelle sighed with the realization that she was not going to escape, she was going to have to play along and hopefully she could figure a way out of this mess and get her and Brian away safely.  Her mind quickly flitted with the question wondering what they would do after that. How would she keep him safe after she saved him?


“Get up,” the woman barked at her as the fasten seatbelt light dinged off.   


Isabelle leaned forward to stand but with her arms strapped down she quickly lost her balance and fell back in her seat.  The Cleaner next to her gently grabbed hold of her arm and helped her to her feet.   She could have been imagining things but she thought she saw the man smile at her and not in the cold ‘you’ve been beaten’ kind of way the flight attendant was giving her.   


She let the man help her to her feet and did not attempt to shrug his arm off when she stood.  With her feet cuffed, walking was going to be difficult.  When she passed the flight attendant she was forced to stop walking and when she started again she could feel the gun barrel poking sharply into her back. 


“Move,” the other woman barked at her as she twined her hand through Isabelle’s hair and pulled sharply backwards.   Slowly, Isabelle made her way towards the plan exit but halted at the steps of the plane.  There was no way she would be able to get down those steps with her feet bound and the woman pulling her hair backwards.


One of the Cleaners came forward and moved to lift her off the ground.  She shoved her body against him the best she could, she did not want to be carried.


“Let her walk,” the voice at the bottom of the stairs called up.   Isabelle tried to move her head down enough to see who had been talking but the woman held tight to her hair and the glare from the sun made it impossible to see who had spoken.


The Cleaner looked at the woman standing behind Isabelle, a silent exchange happened between them. Isabelle hoped that her hair would be released but when the Cleaner whipped out his knife and undid the binds on her feet she knew that the woman wanted to accompany her down holding tightly to her hair. 


“Celia, that is enough,” the man standing in front of them at the bottom of the stairs said to the woman behind Isabelle.  Isabelle felt the gun leave from between her shoulder blades and the woman release her hair.  She looked down at the man standing in front of her letting out a slight gasp.


“It’s so nice to see you again Isabelle,” The Doctor smiled at her.  “You were one of my greatest accomplishments and one of my worst failures it seems.” 


Congratulations for passing.” The man, Dr. Smith, clapped his hand on her back. “Now comes the hard part.”


What do you mean?” she answered.


Do you ever wonder why there are so few females in the Cleaner program?”


Isabelle had noticed but hadn't given it much thought. She had always thought it was because many women couldn't handle the types of requests that were made of them. She nodded her head, wondering if he was going to tell her.


Most women are not compatible with the second part of the process but those who are, are better.” Dr Smith grinned at her; it wasn't an evil grin but it made Isabelle feel uncomfortable. “You are.” He said matter-of-factly. “This will hurt, but won't kill you.” Now his grin looked evil as he grabbed a syringe and plunged it into her arm.


“You and your husband have given us many headaches for too long.” The doctor continued.


“You are one of the nine,” Isabelle did not question the man but he nodded in response. 


“The Company played wanted to try out giving someone the memories of a medical condition and if it would affect how they acted on a daily basis.  If their mind would make them act how they should if they really did have the condition or if the body would overpower those thoughts.” The man shrugged and motioned for her and the others to start walking towards the building they were outside of.   He moved so that he was walking next to Isabelle.  “When we reprogrammed Brian we gave him the memory of having heart problems and ultimately surgery.  I was installed as his doctor to monitor him.”


“I know what you are thinking,” he stopped walking and grabbed her arm to get her to stop too.  “I did what I was told to do Isabelle, something you should have done and you would not be here now.  You and Brian could have started that family you were hoping to have one day.”   They started walking again; the man crossed his arms behind his back and looked towards the sky thinking.  “Tell me something, which of these rumors are true.   Did you kill your boss, David, to take his job? Were you secretly involved with the rebellion to overthrow the Company? Or, my personal favorite, you were having an affair with David and Brian found out, killed him and you took the fall to protect him?”


The man chuckled thinking he was clever, Isabelle wished she could punch his nose to make him shut up. Instead she spoke up.  “I did not kill David.  He was dead.  I was framed because I know who did.” She muttered. 


“Hrm and this is the information you went to the rebellion with? Did you tell any of them?” 


Isabelle remained silent.  She should have known that Dr. Smith would be involved with David’s death and the takeover of the Company.   His evil grin as he injected her during the second phase of her Cleaner progress should have told her everything.  He enjoyed experimenting on people and seeing what they were capable of, he’d wanted to experiment on humans and if he was involved it would be because he was promised he could.   


“Of course you didn’t tell anyone.  You were ever the cautious one.  You wanted to make sure you could trust them with the information.  You wanted to make sure they would use it for the right reasons and if they threw down the Company they would instill something better in its place.”  The older man grinned at Isabelle.  There was something in his eyes that she found unsettling.    “You didn’t trust them.”


The doors the compound they were walking towards opened and Isabelle saw a man walking towards her. She gasped and started to move backwards trying to get away from what she was seeing but Celia was still behind her and she felt the gun in her back as she moved. 


“It would seem not trusting them was one of your better judgment calls,” Dr. Smith cackled at her as Kevin came to stand in front of them. 


“I’m sorry,” he mouthed.

Chapter 41 by Purpura Lipstick

Brian turned his hand over in the light, watching the dust particles settle then turning his hand again so they would fly through the air once more.  It wasn’t the most thrilling way to pass the time but he had found that it was working for him, plus it kept him close to the only light source in the room.  The light was coming through a slit in his door from the lamp hanging in the hallway outside his cell.  The cell he’d been taken to shortly after visiting with Leighanne the final time and reading her letter.    He had failed convincing them that any memory change had occurred; of course he wasn’t sure that they had tried to change his memory.      


Brian sighed as he recalled walking down the hall towards the cell with the Doctor. 


“You were quite the failure of an experiment.” The Doctor had started as they walked down the hall.  Brian guessed that he wouldn’t have long to live if the Doctor was talking openly with him now about what happened.  “It was my idea to keep you alive.”


The man turned to grin at Brian like he should be thankful that he kept him alive.  “The Company couldn’t see the possibility but I did.  I had pitched a rehabilitation program to The Company and decided this was something you could easily be adapted to.  You and four other guys would use your music and fame to promote what we needed to be pushed through to the human race.”


Brian shook his head.  He hated that he was used.  He worked for The Company and he never thought they would use people the way they had been. 


“Isabelle?” He managed to croak out.


The Doctor chuckled.  “Isabelle… well we still needed her and she’s trained to withstand torture so we had to think of a more creative way to get the information she had on The Company from her.  She is a very persuasive person, as I’m sure you know.  We knew we could use her to convince anyone that they needed the hottest new products.  It worked too; the phone has already started to take off.  So may preorders it will be on backorder for months.   We figured, eventually some of the information she held in her head would slip out somehow and we would know, she doesn’t even know the importance of some of the information she carries inside.”


“If you took her memories how would she even remember anything from her prior life?”


The Doctor laughed and stopped in front of a door, waiting for another man who had been following them to unlock the cell.  “I can’t give away all our secrets even though you are a walking dead man now.” The man smirked at Brian as the guard shoved him inside the cell. 


The door closed on Brian as he stood staring at the Doctor until the door closed.  Brian slumped on the floor dropping his head into his hands. The light in the door was temporarily blocked as the Doctor popped his head into the opening to fling one final thought at Brian.


“Enjoy doing nothing but thinking about how you will help in trapping your wife before you are killed.” The Doctor laughed. 


Brian sighed and rubbed his eyes.  He glanced down at the floor where he had started to mark how many times they fed him.  He’d been fed four times since he’d been thrown in the cell so he guessed he’d been in the cell anywhere from just over one day to four days.   


With nothing to do but play with the dust in the one beam of light that entered his cell, Brian had plenty of time to think.   If he was Isabelle, he’d probably be thinking about a way to escape, but he couldn’t even remember if he’d had enough training to fight the guards off enough to break away.   Brian was annoyed with how foreign his own brain seemed to him.  He knew certain things with certainty.  He knew he’d been married to Isabelle, knew he had loved her, knew he loved his son and even had some love for Leighanne.  Brian knew about some of the inner workings of The Company but being a Backstreet Boy still felt real to him.   Some of his previous life still felt like a dream and the life he’d been thrown into felt real.   The more time he tried to wrap his brain around the situation; the more confused he made himself.   So he stopped trying to figure it all out. 


Instead of trying to figure out what was real and what wasn’t, Brian used his time to think about what would happen if he got out of this alive.  There was a part of him that still felt like this was a dream and any moment he would wake up and Leighanne would be lying next to him soundly sleeping.  


Brian rubbed his eyes again and thought about the two women in his life.  If it was true and Leighanne was losing her memories as he sat in the cell would she know him? Would there be any future with her?  There had to be a way they could be together.  Memories of her flooded through to him and he couldn’t help but love her again until he remembered that most of those memories were not real.  She had never met him at the video shoot. She had never held his hand as he went into the hospital for surgery and her face was not the first one he’d seen when he woke.  Absentmindedly his hand brushed over the spot where his scar was on his chest.   He realized what he was doing and sighed.  Even his surgery had been faked. 


Once he pushed thoughts of Leighanne out of his head he started to think about Isabelle.  They had met in the office.  He’d been interested in another girl and she had shot him down.  Isabelle had seen the whole exchange.  Brian couldn’t believe that the Cleaner would have given him the time of day but Isabelle seemed more down to earth than the other Cleaners he’d had encounters with.    He was even more shocked when she pursued him and was the one to ask him out.   


Isabelle had made it easy to love her.  He would never have thought a woman who had to deal with what she dealt with could be so loving and compassionate.  Of course, he liked her bad ass side also.  The thought of never seeing her again was too much to bear.


He could feel his eyes starting to water; he rubbed them again willing the tears to stop.  He didn’t need his captors to see him cry.   If only he had listened to Isabelle and gone into hiding when he had the chance then maybe she could have stopped those trying to take control of the Company and change its mission from keeping those of his race safe and protected, to taking over the human race.   Maybe they would have already reunited and have started their own family.


Thoughts of starting a family brought him back to his memories of Baylee.  He pushed aside any memories of his birth of growing up and focused on the older boy he’d last seen.   He was still his, he had a son.  He had to get out of this cell; he had to find a way to live.  If Leighanne could not get back to their son he needed to find a way to survive so that he could raise his child. 


The door creaking open startled Brian.  He pushed himself away from the flood of light that entered the room. 


“Time to go,” the guard said as he approached and pulled him to his feet. 


Brian tried to shield his eyes when he walked through the door but both guards were holding his arms down so he had to squint as they walked.  As they walked through the hall Brian found that he was counting how many steps they were taking.  He had no idea why he started it but once he figured out he was doing so, he did not stop but made an effort to remember the count as another door opened in front of him and he was pushed inside.


Brian held his arms, rubbing them where the men had held him.  He turned around the room several times but there was nothing to see.  He was in a metal box with tiny holes all around. 


This is it, he thought.  He’d been taken to a gas chamber and they were going to put him to death.  He heard the whirring of a machine behind the walls and braced himself.   If they were killing him it meant Isabelle had arrived and he was no longer needed as bait.  He continued to stand and wished the gas would just seep into the room and get it over with. 


Several more seconds passed before he finally felt something. The initial contact had caused the tension he’d been holding to release and he jumped several feet before realizing that water was soaking through his clothes.  He opened his eyes but the pressure of the water forced him to close them again.   They were cleaning him?  He was confused and relieved at the same time but before he could really wrap his head around things the water stopped and the door opened again.   Hands pulled him back towards the door.  When he got his eyes opened he noticed the same two guards clinging to him directing him to another room.


“Here,” the second guard spoke as he opened another door and shoved him inside.  Brian was immersed in darkness again.  Was this their tactic to kill him? Get him sopping wet and let him catch his death in a cold dark room?  


He sighed in some relief when the guard turned an overhead light on before closing the door.  Brian looked around the room, shivering where he stood.  He noticed a bench with a fresh change of clothing and a note that directed him to change.   


Shivering the entire time, Brian changed into the clothes provided.  He was wearing a blue jumpsuit and very basic shoes and the underwear was itching him like crazy.   He used the towel they had provided to dry his hair so it wasn’t dripping into his eyes any longer and then sat on the bench.  His hands fell behind him and he felt along the bench checking for anything loose he might be able to grab a hold of and hide for use to escape.  When he found nothing he couldn’t help but cringe as he waited for the door to open and the guards to come back for him.


He stood as the guards came back into the room and walked towards them.  He waited for them to grab his arms before leading him out of the new room.  He had resigned himself to his fate.  His thoughts flew to Isabelle, Baylee and Leighanne.  He would not be able to help any of them, he was going to die.


He was shoved into one final room where he immediately noticed the glass.  A one way mirror? He thought to himself as he approached.  Sitting in the room next to his in a chair in the middle of the room was Isabelle.  She was strapped to the chair and looked as though she’d already been beaten. 


“Isabelle,” He shouted.  He knew she probably couldn’t hear him.  He started to hit his hand on the glass shouting her name.  He wanted to know that he was there, that he was still alive, that she should fight.  She’d been in tougher jams, he was sure of it, and escaped. He needed her to now.  He continued to hit the glass until his hand hurt but she still did not look up. 


Finally he placed his hand, palm flat against the glass.  “Isabelle,” he whispered.   The tears were already falling down his cheeks but he could not help but smile when he noticed that she was finally looking up towards the glass. 


The door to her room was opening and another woman was entering. She must have known that they would not return until he was in the next room to watch her interrogation. She looked up when the room entered and looked straight at the glass and mouthed “I love you,” before the other woman stood between the glass and Isabelle and Brian’s view of her was blocked. 

Chapter End Notes:

Not long now until the end.  Tell me what you think. :)

Chapter 42 by Purpura Lipstick

Isabelle felt the binds that were holding her hands together.  She knew she should be able to get out of the bindings but she felt weak, drained of any kind of energy.  They drugged her; it was the only explanation for the way she was feeling.  Since she was captured by the doctor that helped create the Cleaners she was sure whatever was coursing through her veins was something powerful enough to kill a normal person.   


The woman Cleaner she had fought when she’d jumped off the train was standing in front of her blocking her from seeing the one way mirror she was sure Brian was standing behind. Why else bring her in a room with a mirror if they didn’t want anyone viewing what was going to happen?   Isabelle knew the cells they normally did interrogating in and this room was plush in comparison. 


Isabelle felt the pain of the punch before her brain processed that a fist was coming near and she should move.  She was definitely drugged.  She shook the pain away and sat glaring up at the woman who had hit her.   The woman had a smug look on her face as she hit Isabelle again. 


“Just tell us why you did it.  If you confess I am sure The Company will go easier on you.” The woman spoke before knocking her fist on the side of Isabelle’s face again.


Isabelle merely spat the blue blood from her mouth towards the other woman and prepared herself to be hit again. 


“We know you are involved with the rebellion, we know that you were trying to take over a higher place within The Company so that you would be better positioned for when the rebellion took place.  There is no use keeping quiet about it, just tell us why.”


Isabelle knew the silence was unnerving the other woman and making her angry.  She knew that the other woman would unleash more abuse in a short time if she continued to stay silent which she intended to do.  Those that had killed David must have already infiltrated enough of The Company that they needed to make sure they had a scapegoat in her, a way to link the entire thing to the rebellion.  If they could do that they had a stronger stand for what they intended to implement when the new phones went live. 


She took the assault to her face in stride and when the woman stopped hitting her again she forced herself to look calmly at the other woman.


“Where is Brian?” She managed to get the words out.  “Where is Megan?  Tell me where they are, tell me if they are alive and still have their own memories.”


“You are the one being questioned; you don’t get to ask your own.”  The other woman said before punching Isabelle straight in the face.  Isabelle could feel the bone break ask the woman’s fist collided with her nose.


“Now Trish, if you continue to assail her how will she be able to speak?” 


Isabelle turned her head to see Dr. Smith opening the door and walk into the room.  He had a glass of water and some gauze.   “Physical violence will not break her, you should know.” His look to Trish was stern.


“Oh I do.” Trish laughed before hitting Isabelle’s nose again.  The pain that came from that hit made the room turn black for a few seconds.  When she could see again, Trish was no longer standing in front of her but off in the corner of the room leaning against the wall.  Dr. Smith was now sitting in a chair in front of her holding the gauze covered in water.  He gently dabbed her face wiping the blood off her face.  He was quiet and gentle as he worked. 


“It won’t work.” Isabelle told him as he wiped the blood way from her lips.  She could feel her skin already starting to repair itself. 


“Hold still and prepare yourself,” Dr. Smith said as he set the glass of water, now the color of Isabelle’s blood, down on the floor.  He took hold of her nose.  She knew what was coming and prepared herself as he put her nose back in place.  “We wouldn’t want it to heal crooked now would we?” He asked smiling.  


“Isabelle the Company is past caring why you killed David.  There is more information from you they want.”


Isabelle glared at the doctor but he continued unfazed by her, after all her glare couldn’t shut him up. 


“Brian and Megan are both still alive and with their own memories, for the time being.” The doctor offered the information up to her and she tried to make it evident that it did not relax her but it did. She felt a weight lifted, if they were alive with their memories she could get them out still.  She could feel the drug starting to wear off though she continued to keep her limbs relaxed in an effort to make it appear the drug was still working. 


“The information the Company wants from you could help convince them to let you and Brian leave here in peace with your memories and as long as you stay in a remote location of their choosing they will leave you two alone to live out your lives.”  The doctor resumed administering to her wounds though it was mostly wiping the blood away, most of the cuts had already healed and she could feel the bones in her nose knitting back together as he spoke.    Of course the drug wouldn’t inhibit the healing ability.  During interrogations they would want to be able to injure a Cleaner in this position several times in an attempt to break them.  Isabelle knew she was in for a long night if she didn’t cooperate. 


“I don’t know what you want. I saw who killed David but I doubt the people you are working for want to know that, they were there after all.”   Isabelle could see Trish move closer to her moving to strike her for her comment but Dr. Smith held up his hand to stop the other woman.     


“You have your memories back then I am sure you know what it is that we want from you.”


Isabelle shook her head.  She really did not have any idea what he was talking about and she said as much to him.  His face fell in disappointment.


“I really didn’t want to have to resort to this,” He made some gesture with his hand and the light behind the one way mirror flickered on and Isabelle could now see who was behind it, and what was behind it.  She gasped out when she saw Brian strapped down to a metal table fighting against the restraints.  A woman picked up a needle off of the table and injected him.


“NO!” Isabelle screamed.  She struggled against her binds.  She knew the drug was wearing off but it wasn’t leaving her system fast enough, she binding was still holding her tight.


“Don’t worry, that wasn’t to suppress his memories.” The doctor smiled at her.    “You may be able to withstand the torture due to that lovely serum I invented but your husband has not had the benefit of that serum.”  The doctor’s face looked like he was enjoying the pain that was going to be inflicted on the man strapped down in the room next door. 


“I don’t know what you want!” Isabelle screamed at him. She tried to move closer to the window but the other woman was holding her chair in place. 


“Just let your subconscious take over, let the memories surface.” He doctor prompted her.  She didn’t know how she was supposed to let anything take over while she sat watching Brian prepped for some kind of procedure, or torture.  “I am sure what we need you have buried deep. When we altered your memories we tried to get it out of you then but we could not access it.  Somehow your brain knew what we were looking for and pushed our probing away.”


Isabelle shook her head.  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”


The doctor stayed silent for a few more minutes. When Isabelle did not offer any more information he pushed the button next to the window.  “You may begin.”


“No, no…” Isabelle muttered to herself as she watched the man in the other room grab a hold of Brian’s left hand, the pinky finger, and broke it.  Brian’s screams rang through the room that Isabelle was in.  She wanted to turn away as the man grabbed the next finger and broke it but she could not, it wouldn’t be right for her to look away from his torture if she was the reason he was being tortured.  When the third finger was broken Brian finally passed out from the pain.  The woman standing next to him injected him with another syringe and held a bottle under his nose. 


There were tears streaming down Brian’s face as his eyes opened again.  Isabelle’s eyes met his and she could feel the anger building inside of her.  She began to twist at her binding; she could feel more strength running through her.  The drug was out of her system enough that she should be able to break free.  She needed to act fast before they caught on and dosed her again. 


Letting her anger fuel her she made her move.

Chapter 43 by Purpura Lipstick

“Now, now, let’s not get overworked,” Dr. Smith noticed Isabelle’s face and the anger that appeared.  “If you just told us what we wanted to know we would leave your husband alone.” 

“Doctor,” Trish spoke up from the corner but he waved her off.  It was a good thing that Dr. Smith was an egocentric asshole or he might have stopped to listen to Trish.  Isabelle knew the other woman could tell the drug they had injected her with was wearing off. 

“I’ve told you several times I do not know what it is you want.”  Isabelle’s voice was forceful.  She needed only a few more seconds before she could break out of her binds and make her move.  Another scream of pain from Brian made her jump and look towards the man she loved in the other room. 

Dr. Smith moved closer to her, his face was now in hers.  “What you see in the other room won’t stop unless you talk, or allow us to probe your mind.”  The smirk on the man’s face made Isabelle want to gag.  Instead she slammed her face forward knocking her head against the doctor’s.  He stumbled backwards holding his nose that was likely broken from the impact.  He was waving his other hand at Trish, the other cleaner in the room, to get Isabelle under control.   Isabelle was ready for her.

Trish grabbed hold of Isabelle from behind wrapping her arms around Isabelle holding her tightly to the chair.   Using the strength she could muster, Isabelle pushed herself into a standing position.  She couldn’t move well with her legs tied together so she pushed as hard as she could hoping that the wall was close enough to slam Trish into it.  

Isabelle felt Trish let go of her seconds before the chair slammed back onto the floor.  The impact of the hit jolted her.  She felt Trish grab a hold of her again and laugh in her ear.   Isabelle attempted to throw her head backwards to knock it into the other woman’s face but it was to no avail.  Trish moved enough to the side that Isabelle’s head simply slammed backwards against nothing. 

“You forget…” Trish started to speak but Isabelle managed to stand again, this time throwing herself forward.  Trish was lifted into the air for a brief second before Isabelle slammed her chair back down.  She heard the chair crack and a slight sound of discomfort escape Trish’s lips.  Trish let go of Isabelle from the impact. 

Isabelle stood again and slammed the chair down again.  This time, without Trish’s weight the chair broke and Isabelle was able to maneuver her arms free of the chair.  Isabelle turned to face Trish, never turn your back on an enemy was drilled into her during Cleaner training.   She turned just as Trish started to charge her.  Waiting until the right time, Isabelle stood until Trish was close then jumped swinging her arms under her legs.  As her arms came in front of her she hit Trish’s chin knocking her back again. 

Now that Isabelle’s hands were in front of her she felt more confident in being able to escape.   Quickly leaning down, Isabelle had to untie her feet; she needed to be able to move around the room easily.  It wouldn’t be much longer until Dr. Smith would start to come after her with another dose of the serum to render her unable to fight back.  

 She almost had the binds off when she felt herself fly backwards, Trish had slammed into her.   The woman grabbed Isabelle’s hair and pulled her to her feet smashing her fist into Isabelle’s abdomen.   The hits kept coming and they hurt enough that Isabelle knew the serum hadn’t completely worn off yet. 

Another scream of pain came through the speakers in the room spurring Isabelle to take her hands and throw them against Trish’s side.  The impact moved Trish enough away from her that Isabelle was able to pull one of her legs out of the loosened binds.  She used her foot to push the other woman away towards the wall.  

Trish reached behind her and drew out a knife charging her target again.  Now able to move freely Isabelle quickly side stepped the other woman and turned quickly to face the next assault.  Her eyes flicked to the door and noticed that no one else was coming into the room, those torturing Brian must not know anything was going on either as they were still calmly picking up torture devices to use on the man who looked like he had passed out from the pain.  

A cry of frustration pulled Isabelle’s attention back to the other Cleaner in the room.  Isabelle smirked as she realized that Trish was letting her anger and hatred towards Isabelle overcome her.  When Trish charged at her again she grabbed the other woman’s wrist that had the knife and wrenched it from her hand and easily plunged it into Trish’s back as her own forced hurtled her past Isabelle.   With the knife still in her hand, Isabelle approached the other woman who looked like an animal about to be slaughtered.     Even without a weapon and fear coming over her, Trish was a Cleaner and Isabelle knew she wasn’t done fighting. 

Trish swung around throwing her leg out attempting to kick Isabelle’s hand holding the knife away but Isabelle grabbed hold of her ankle and gouged the other woman’s leg with the knife.    She drove the knife in further with her hand, giving it a twist.   Trish collapsed to the ground in pain.  Isabelle pulled the other woman up by her head and twisted until the other woman went limp in her arms.   She dropped the lifeless body and pulled the knife from Trish’s leg.  She turned towards Dr. Smith but she found the door to the room open, he had left while she had been busy with Trish. 

Isabelle’s eyes flew to the other room where Brian was, Dr. Smith must have informed them that she was loose as Brian was laying strapped to the table with no one around.  Quickly she ran out the door and into the other room to be at Brian’s side.

“Brian,” She whispered wanting to touch him but unsure if her touch would cause him more pain.   “Brian,” she said a little louder this time.  His eyelids fluttered but he did not open them or respond.  “I’m sorry,” She apologized as she put the knife through her belt and started to undo the straps that held him down.  

As she worked she continually looked towards the door expecting someone, anyone, to come into the room to try and stop her.  It wasn’t until she reached the hallway again that she noticed a red light blinking indicating a reason to evacuate the building.  Isabelle knew that many thought she was a force to be reckoned with but she could hardly be the reason for a building wide evacuation.   Carrying Brian carefully she slowly made her way through the halls glancing through any doors she was able to push open looking for Megan.  

Moving through the building was slow but her adrenaline kept her moving forward.   The reason for the evacuation was still not clear to her but if she was not running into anybody in the halls there had to be a valid reason the building was empty as she had never known this building to be so vacant. 

“Isabelle,” a voice called out sending chills down her spine.  She turned down the hallway that she heard the voice come from and glared at Kevin.   “I’ve been looking for you two; we need to get out of here.”  He shouted jogging towards them.

“Get away,” Isabelle started to back away from the direction Kevin was coming from but dragging Brian with her slowed her down and Kevin easily caught up.  

Moving so she had a free hand she pulled the knife out of her belt and held it threateningly at Kevin.   Kevin stopped moving and held his hands up in surrender.   “Isabelle,” he spoke softly. 

“Get away.”  Her voice was firm but she did not yell.

“There is a bomb set to go off in under two minutes,” Kevin stated moving to take some of Brian’s weight from her.

Isabelle moved quickly backwards taking Brian with her.  She slashed the knife towards Kevin. “Leave us.”

“You know you will never get Brian and yourself out of here in less than two minutes without some help.” Kevin moved again taking Brian from her arms and lifting him like a sleeping child into his own. 

“I can’t trust you,” Isabelle held the knife point in Kevin’s back.  

“You will have to for now.” Kevin said and started running back the way he came.  

Isabelle stood glaring after the man before she started to run after him.   Thoughts flew through her mind as she continued scouring doors looking for Megan.  Why was Kevin, a traitor, the man who turned her in to The Company, helping her now?  What game was he playing at?

“What are you doing?” Kevin shouted back to her as she opened yet another door.

“I can’t leave Megan behind!” She shouted at him and moved to open the next door.

“She’s not here,” Kevin muttered in apparent frustration.   “She never was.” He added.

Isabelle took a look at the door in front of her.  Could she trust Kevin enough not to look for her friend? 

“C’mon, we don’t have time,” Kevin shouted and started jogging towards the exit still carrying Brian. 

Isabelle sighed and knew if she was going to protect Brian, her husband, her love, she had to leave now or she would be taken with the building.    She sighed some when she saw Kevin and Brian exit the building.  She was inches from the door herself when another voice caught her attention.

“You can never really get away,” the voice told her.  She looked around and saw Dr. Smith crumpled in a corner near the door.  She looked down and saw a blood smear in the hallway that ended with him.  He was injured and was dragging himself towards the door to freedom.  His energy failing, he couldn’t make it the final feet out the door, though even if he did it was likely he’d still be killed in the blast.   “Do you think The Company will just give up on you?”

She didn’t bother answering him; she ran out of the building looking around for Brian and Kevin.  She felt the heat of the blast behind her as Kevin pulled up in a car alongside her. She climbed into the backseat where Brian lay still unconscious.  She gingerly placed his hand over top hers, careful not to disturb his fingers.   She moved his hand towards her lips, “I love you,” she whispered before kissing his hand.  

She glanced at Kevin who drove on in silence; she would ask him questions later, whose side was he really on? She watched the moving scenery in silence and she knew the Doctor’s words were true.  The Company would never stop looking for her.  She was a liability.  She knew something they did not want public, they would never stop hunting her.   She felt Brian’s fingers twitch very slightly, she glanced over and saw that his eyes were open a slit and he was looking at her.  She smiled at him wishing she could have kept him safe.  She knew then that it was time to stop running and hiding.  It was time for her to stand her ground and take the fight to them. 



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