I laid there as stiff as I could hoping that Joe would just think I was sleeping and leave me alone, I wasn't in the physical shape to have to try to fight with him. Even with the metal pole from the bed, I knew I wouldn't beat him. He was too big and strong, so I just closed my eyes without moving, barely even allowing myself to breathe.
I heard him walk towards me, footsteps of a crazy person right next to my ear. I could swear that he was humming something. To make things worse, I think it was one of our songs. I felt his breath on the back of my neck followed by two of his fingers touching to feel a pulse. His hands were cold and clammy. His breath smelled of garlic. I tried my best not to flinch but I couldn't help it.
"Nick? Kiddo, are you awake?" I ignored him. He gently shook me, pulling me onto my back. I remained still with my eyes shut. "Nick? Come on please open your eyes! Oh Trish is gonna be so mad at me please" He cried, his voice becoming very shaky and child like. I heard him move away from me.
Suddenly I heard him rush at me screaming at full force, my instinct made me instantly open my eyes and roll out of his path. He stopped and smiled at me.
"I knew you were playing games with me Nick, I saw you moving your face. Silly boy" He slumped down next to me, while I concentrated on my breathing. It hurt like hell when I rolled out of the way. The pain in my shoulder was excruciating. I sat up and rubbed my neck trying to make the flaming sensation go away. He scooted next to me with an ironic look of concern on his face.
"What's wrong Nick? Are you in pain?"
"Yes, a little" I was startled by the lack of voice I had. I sounded so weak and defeated, not at all like I wanted to. I was hoping to sound much stronger. No such luck.
"Here, let me see" he said pulling my shirt off my shoulder so he could peek. I moaned. He examined the area and stood up heading for the bathroom, "That's a nasty bruise you have forming there, I'm gonna ice it down for you"
While he was gone I looked over to my pole and was happy to see it was well hidden. If I needed to, I could easily grab for it. He came back with some Ben Gay, he gently rubbed some on my shoulder by just pulling the clothes away from my skin. "I'm gonna go upstairs and get you an ice pack" he said getting up to leave again, "Now don't go anywhere...Just kidding" He laughed as he ran upstairs...
After the police arrested Trish, the FBI got involved immediately. They brought her to their local headquarters leaving us just sitting at Kevin's house completely baffled and perplexed by the while thing. AJ and Kevin did their best to fill in the blanks but missing the entire thing I was at a loss! One thing I knew for sure was Nick was sending us a message.
"I told you guys, the cornbeef thing was a message from Nick, warning us about Trish. If we had only picked up on it sooner!"
"Brian stop, none of us would have ever suspected her in a million years" Howie said still in shock. We all were definitely in shock.
"At least we know he is alive" AJ finally said. He didn't sound very sure of it, but I could tell he needed to say it. "We're gonna get him back very soon" He continued, while still trying desperately to speak with that air of confidence in his voice.
I had convinced myself that he would come back to us shortly too. Now that we knew who had him, it would only be a matter of minutes before the FBI stormed in and grabbed Nick. When Agent Trostle showed up at our doorstep however, it changed any hope we had...
I had fallen asleep in the sitting position nursing my elbow, I awoke to hear the humming slowly descending the stairs. Joe had arrived with ice pack in one hand and a beer in the other. He sat beside me once again, handing me the beverage.
"Here ya go, I thought you could use this, you have not had a good day" I smiled at him. He opened the tab for me and even though I did not particularly enjoy the taste of beer, I chugged it. Anything that would help dull the pain was fine with me.
"Hey slow down there, the last thing we need is for you to get sick" He grabbed the can away from me. The ice felt great on my shoulder. "Sorry that this had to happen to you" I looked at him and frowned.
"Joe it happened to me because YOU made it happen to me" He looked hurt. What was he surprised about? Like he didn't have anything to do with me being here?
"Nick sometimes, it's a higher power that calls on us and tells us to do things, even if we don't want to" I took another sip of beer. "Like I am supposed to think that a higher power has anything to do with this" I said while gulping. He stood up looking around the room, "Do you think Abraham wanted to kill his son for God?" He sat directly in front of me. I shifted my gaze away from him. I had NO clue what he was talking about.
"Probably not" I returned hoping it was the right answer.
His eyes brightened. "Yes, you are right. He didn't want to, but was going to anyway. Out of love for God, and do you think that I.." He paused collecting his thoughts, "Do you think that Jesus really wanted to die on the cross?" I just shook my head NO quickly losing interest in this conversation.
What he did next just floored me. He bowed down on the floor and belly crawled over to me dramatically whispering in my ear.."Can I tell you a secret..."
When Agent Trostle told us to sit down and pulled out the huge file, We knew the news was not going to be good. He pulled out pictures of men, all with two things in common, all were around Nick's age and had similar features as him and all were dead. He talked about A spree and every four years a boy would go missing only to turn up dead, he explained that the newspaper articles matched several of these killings which until now, hadn't been relatable. They were all placed in the dead files of the FBI. He explained that he was now able to trace them back to Trish. She admitted to killing them all.
I listened as he said that she insisted it was the work of God. This woman who had an incredible head on her shoulders, this woman who I had played more than one late night game of chess with, this woman who we had trusted with our finances, our career and most importantly our youngest band member, this woman was a serial killer? I felt numb. How do you get over hearing news like that? It was the next part that was the worst, she said Nick was alive but would very soon be dead. She refused to cooperate with the FBI. There was NO way she was gonna turn in her partner. They even offered her a clemency, she refused.
He talked of 'only hopes', and spelled out different scenarios, I had turned him off at that point. Too much information was ringing through my brain and I was afraid I would have a cerebral hemorrhage right then and there. Then he made a suggestion that made me crash back to earth, he thought maybe one of us should go talk to her. She seemed like she was in shock and with familiar faces in the room, maybe she would open up to one of us. Management thought it was ludicrous, but I thought it made perfect sense and before he was even done filling in the rest of the blanks I volunteered.
"Mr. Littrell, this will not be dangerous at all, she is under extreme supervision and you will not be left alone with her." It didn't even bother me, I just had one goal in mind now, get Nick back so I could kill him myself for putting us through all of this worry!
"I'll go too" Kevin said in that tone that implied better get used to it because I'm not taking no for an answer. The agent nodded, "Very well, we will set up a meeting with her tomorrow"
When he left we all looked at each other devoid of any emotion. Emotion would have been dangerous at that point. We had all far surpassed our capacity...
I nodded at Joe not really sure I wanted to hear what he had to say. He smiled a sinister yet childlike smile before bending in close to my ear, cupping his hand to magnify his voice, "I am" He said. Then pulled away. I was waiting for him to continue but he seemed to be done.
"You are what?" He looked mad. Great, the last thing I wanted to do was make this idiot angry.
"I am, I am"
I was tired, so tired of all the games "You are you are WHAT!!!" I screamed at him. "JUST FINISH YOUR DAMN STATEMENT FREAK!!!"
In one swift movement he grabbed me from the floor and pushed me against the wall. His eyes were vacant. He wasn't home.
"How dare you speak to the Lord that way!" He said in a deep deep voice. He let go of me and I dropped to the floor. He was mumbling under his breath, talking to himself but I couldn't make out what he was saying.
"I am the moon, the stars, the air you breath, I am salvation, I am the reason for your existence. I am your friend, I am your brother, I am your father, I am the Savior" He looked at me and smirked. I felt tears streaming down my face. I don't recall crying but there they were, fresh and falling in buckets. He sat on the floor next to me cross- legged, both hands gripping my trembling arms. "Don't be scared my son, everyone is scared the first time they find out. Tell me Nickolas, what does it feel like to look into the eyes of God?" He asked me, I had no answer. All I could do was cry...
Revelation by Mare
