“What just happened up here?”
“I didn’t know what else to do!”
“Where did he come from?”
“He was in here…I heard the phone and just didn’t know what to do.”
“So, you hit him? He’s not dead is he?” I felt cold fingers on my neck; my guess is looking for a pulse. I couldn’t open my eyes, because I was somewhere in the state of half awake and half asleep. I should have turned around and kicked him away, made him leave me the hell alone, but instead I just laid there.
“Okay he’s alive. I feel a pulse…this is just great! Did he see you?”
“No, he was bending down to get his phone. I snuck up on him from behind.”
Probably the most disturbing part of this entire conversation was the fact that it was a girl who knocked me on my ass! Yes, a girl. Sure she blindsided me, but still.
“He’s groaning…we need to get out of here.” I was groaning? Nice to know…
I heard them scrambling around and as hard as I tried to open my eyes and take a peek at my assailant and friends, I just couldn’t move my head. At least by them being in a rush to go, it meant they weren’t going to kill me I guess. That’s a plus, although my head hurt so much maybe death would be a better option at that point. What the hell did she hit me with anyway? One of those big iron mallets you see in those Road Runner cartoons?
I giggled thinking about how funny I would look as the roadrunner, his body and my head, running from Wile E Coyote who would be chasing me with a mallet.
Meep! Meep!
I used to be afraid of the Road Runner when I was a kid. There was something about the way he looked at the screen right before he took off, leaving nothing but dirt in his wake. You can’t trust people like that…or cartoon characters I guess…
“Nick!”
“Huh?” Okay if that’s the Road Runner I’ll be really freaked out!
“Hey…Nicky…open your eyes.”
I finally managed to open my eyes to see the concerned faces of both AJ and Kevin staring down at me. What the hell was happening? Where the hell was I?
“Jeez it’s about time. We were going to hold a mirror to your nose to make sure you were still breathing.” AJ said this as he bit on his bottom lip. I looked up at them again to notice Kevin was sitting next to me on the bed, staring intently.
“Why am I on a bed? Where am I?” I started to sit up but he pushed me back down. What the hell was going on?
“You’re at my place…why, I have no idea but here you are.” He looked at me strangely again. Ugh I hate that look.
“Oh…the book!” I tried sitting up again and this time he let me.
“What book?”
I ignored Kevin and looked over at AJ “They took the book AJ.”
“What’s he talking about?” Now Kevin was ignoring me and talking to AJ. You know it’s bad when AJ is the link to any kind of common understanding.
He shook his head at Kevin as if he had no clue what I meant. That’s when Kev turned his attention back to me, “We were worried when you weren’t at the hotel. AJ said we should check here. I told him he was nuts but I guess he was right this time. What are you doing here? And why were you asleep on this old dusty bed?”
Now that was a good question. The last thing I remember was being on the floor. When did I end up on the bed? “I don’t know…I wanted to surprise you.”
“Surprise me how?”
“By…doing stuff here I guess?” My head hurt too much to try to come up with some kind of elaborate lie on the spot.
“Like what? Are you okay? You’re worrying me.” I rubbed at the back of my head and felt the huge bump. When I winced he gave me a look again.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nick.” Kevin placed his hand on my shoulder, “What’s going on with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean this.” He pointed to the room I was asleep in. Eh, I guess he had a point.
“Some people broke in and hit me over the head.” Way to break it to them gently Nick.
“What?” They both said that in unison with the same exact inflection in their voices and it made me laugh, I couldn’t help it. “Why are you laughing? Are you on crack or something?”
“I was bending over to answer the phone and someone hit me from behind.” I turned my head and let them see the huge bump.
“Christ! And when were your finally going to tell me that? God lord, let me see…” He pulled my head towards him, ever so gently…NOT…And placed his hand on top of my bump.
“Ow! Shit Kevin…easy! That fucking hurts!”
“Sorry…how many were there? Are you okay? Did they do anything else to you? AJ call the police! What did they look like? Never mind I’ll call the police. I should also call an ambulance….”
“Kevin…calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down Nick! You were attacked in MY home! I can’t believe this! Did they know it was you? It was a stalker wasn’t it? You told one of those looney’s from your Myspace page or that stupid Livedaily place you were here and they came and attacked you, is that it? You need to be more careful! I can’t believe you tell everyone every little thing. There are dangerous people out there Nick, you can’t be that trusting.”
“Dude, what the hell are you going on about?” That wasn’t me…that was AJ! I was thinking it, but he actually said it! I love AJ sometimes. “Why don’t you go and see if anything was stolen and I’ll sit here with him. You need to walk away and calm the heck down Kev; otherwise the police will just think you’re a crazy person.”
Kevin stood up then, never taking his eyes off of me. I felt like I was 15 all over again and had just been the reason we were all kicked out of a hotel. He was giving me that same look. “You’re right. I’ll go look around.” I could tell he wanted to say…or scream more, but he left instead.
“Wow, thanks man…I owe you for that.” I said once the coast was clear.
“What the hell happened? You said no one was here! I even asked you a ton of times and you said you were sure you were alone!” AH! Now he’s doing it!
“Man you just told Kevin to chill out and now you’re here ragging on me!”
“Kevin has no idea what the hell happened here! I was the one you freaked out when you called me and told me some people were here and then I was the one who had to pretend everything was all good when you weren’t at the hotel while I was crapping my pants because I had a feeling something awful had happened to you! I called you a ton of times!!”
“Sorry, I was busy being knocked out!” I rubbed my head once again to remind him that I was injured and you should not be yelling and screaming at injured people! I think it actually worked because he sat down beside me and sighed.
“You’re lucky they didn’t kill you Nick.”
“They took the diary AJ, the one that I found upstairs in the attic. I’m not sure if that’s what they were looking for or not, but it’s gone. Unless…” I stood up; hopeful that maybe it just got knocked under the bed or something. My heart sank when I didn’t find it there though. “They have it now.” I said as I sat on the floor.
“You think they came just for that?”
“They were looking for something. The reason I didn’t hear them before was because they were in the secret room. I heard them talking though, they were mad because they couldn’t find what it was they were looking for.”
“Do you think that means they intend to come back?”
That was a good question, I hadn’t thought about that. What if they came back after Kevin moved in with his wife? “I don’t know dude, I hope not though.”
“Did you get a look at them?”
“No, but from what I could tell there were three of them, two guys and a girl.”
“Well, hopefully they found what they were looking for and will just leave us all the hell alone now.”
“Unless it’s only the beginning.” I answered just as Kevin walked back into the room.
“The police are on the way.” He walked over and handed me a paper towel filled with ice, “Hold this on the back of your head. It’ll keep the swelling down.”
“Thanks.” I half smiled at him.
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I’ll live.”
“I’m sorry for yelling at you.”
“It’s okay, you were worried. It happens.”
“I am still worried. What’s going with you Nick? You’ve been kind of acting crazy since you’ve been here.”
“I always am crazy.”
“Okay that’s true…let’s say crazier than usual.”
“You know…I’m gonna go smoke or something…” AJ said quickly deciding to bail out before the inevitable lecture happens. “I’ll wait for the cops.”
Kevin nodded and I did as well, not much more I could do. I mean besides beg him to stay. “Okay, so talk to me buddy. What’s going on in that head of yours?” He asked as soon as AJ walked out of the room.
“Nothing Kev.”
“Nick, seriously…”
“You’re leaving the band aren’t you?” It was out of my mouth before I had a chance to edit myself. I’m not sure why I said it, but for some reason at that moment, it needed to be said. I took him by surprise, he just sat there silent as I continued, “That’s why you asked AJ and I to come up here to be with you. You plan on telling us about it here, don’t you?”
The silence was too much to take. If it wasn’t true he would have jumped all over me by now. He didn’t though; he just sat there for a few minutes. I could see his brain actually trying to figure out the perfect thing to say to me.
“Let’s not worry about that right now.”
“It’s true though, you didn’t say it wasn’t.”
“Nick, to be honest, I don’t know what’s going on with me at the moment, okay?”
“No, it’s not okay.”
“We’re not talking about me right now anyway, we’re talking about you.”
“You were talking about me, just like I’m trying to talk about you.”
“Look, I’ve just been thinking about my life lately, I’m not sure I want to spend the rest of it as a Backstreet Boy that’s all. But I haven’t made any decisions yet.”
Oh my God, it was true. I felt a knot form in my stomach and I really thought I was going to throw up suddenly. This conversation was making me nauseous. AJ is going to be so angry that I brought it up. He’ll probably never talk to me again. “Please stop trying to change the subject on me though Nick. Tell me what’s going on with you.”
Since he was so honest with me, I figured I owed him the same justice. “I wish I knew…I’m just feeling empty lately. I thought this time with my family would help but it only kind of opened up more stuff. You know… things I haven’t thought about in a long time. I guess this girl…the one who used to live here, she kind of reminds me of me in a way.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
I shrugged at him, “I just find myself wanting to know more about her. I feel connected to her for some reason.”
“You could have just told me that, instead of sneaking in here and breaking in like you did.”
“How did you know I broke in?”
“Because I only have one key.”
“Oh…sorry.”
“And it’s okay to feel connected to her, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I think something bad happened to her.”
“Do you think something bad is going to happen to you?” It seemed like such a ridiculous question I wanted to laugh except for the fact that maybe I did feel that way.
I looked up and saw him staring at me again, same way he always has ever since I’ve known him. His eyes saying, you’re safe with me and can tell me anything. “Sometimes I think my life is not going to have a very happy ending and that scares me.” That was such a deep confession. I am surprised I actually verbalized it, but like I said. He made me feel safe and unguarded.
He pat my back and gave it a rub before moving his hand away. “Don’t say things like that. It scares me when you talk like that.”
“You asked.”
“I know, but still…everything always works out in the end Nick.” I wanted to say more, maybe mention that most likely Belle thought the same way and chances are she was right. Her life probably ended tragically, in fact, she was probably buried somewhere in the depths of this house, probably after missing for years. I kept all that to myself though, because what was the point? He already was looking at me as if I was the most pathetic being on the planet.
“As far as your family goes…” Okay here’s were this gets fun now.
“Maybe it’s a good thing that it’s stirring up all these emotions in you. I think it’s maybe a good idea to talk to someone about it. You know, maybe a professional, someone who can help you deal with your feelings.”
“I have been, in fact we all have been.”
He seemed pleased by this news. “That’s good, I’m happy to hear that kiddo.”
“I don’t want you to leave the group Kevin.”
“I know…”
We sat quietly on the bed for a few more minutes, before he continued on, “One more thing…”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think maybe we can go one day where I don’t have to worry about rushing you to an emergency room? I mean first you get stabbed then this…I mean, I don’t want to look out my window tomorrow morning and see you being chased by a swarm of bees or anything.”
I laughed at him.
“Seriously, I’m getting old Nick…you know the heart can only take so much!”
“Getting?”
He hit me on the back of the head, forgetting I had a brain injury there…okay maybe not that bad, but you know what I mean. I of course winced and groaned because…well it hurt…duh!
“Oops sorry about that! See what I mean? I’ve already forgotten about your bump. Is the swelling going down at all?”
I turned my head for him to see my poor wound, as I heard voices coming from downstairs. “I think the cops are here.” I said when flashing lights illuminated the windows, making the room turn an eerie shade of red.
AJ was talking to them as he walked up the stairs. “Only one of us was here at the time. He’s in the bedroom.”
“You ready to talk to them?” Kevin asked me just as they came into the room.
They both came in and walked over to Kevin and me taking turns, shaking hands before pulling out their note pads. “So which one of you was here when it happened?”
“Me…” My voice sounded small, very much like the way I used to answer questions when I hated being interviewed.
The policewoman looked over at me and smiled. I am pretty sure she might have recognized us as being famous. I could tell she was trying to figure out why we looked familiar.
“I hear you got a little bang on the head?” Her male partner said to which I just nodded.
“Well, I’m officer Parker Daniels and this here is my partner Linda. We’re here to take care of you.” That name made me look up, Parker, that’s the same name as one of the people who broke in here.
“Yes, we’ll take really good care of you.” That’s why she had that look on her face. She didn’t know I was a Backstreet Boy, she knew she was the one who hit me on the back of the head! It was them! I recognized their voices. They were the two arguing while I was on the floor and now they were here seeing how much I knew or remembered.
That knot I had in my stomach when Kevin never answered my question about leaving the band grew about fifteen feet as I tried to figure out what I was going to do now.
