Under Pressure

Chapter 31

I eventually got enough nerve to call the number AJ had given me. It wasn't so much that I was scared about calling it, I mean, it was only a number; but there were just these doubts in the back of my mind. There were a lot of doubts there actually. I tried to clear them away.

I didn't want to do it in front of the guys, so I used the phone in the room Brian and I shared. More privacy. It was hard to come by that around here sometimes. I laid there awhile on the bed staring at the ceiling and thinking of Fiona's face on the floor before I picked up the reciever.

The person on the line seemed like they'd been expecting me to call. I guess AJ had told them a lot. He's not very good with secrets. He'll tell everybody. You tell me something, I'll never tell a soul. Anyway, the guy on the phone, Tom Werner he introduced himself as, seemed to know most of the details already. He only wanted to know a couple more and then he told me he was sending over somebody from security by the name of Charles. That's all he gave me. He told me Charles would be coming within the hour. I just said okay. This couldn't be my fault this time, the guys told me to call. If something went wrong with Charles, then I'd blame them.

When I hung up the phone, I leaned back on the pillows and sighed, staring at the ceiling. I was feeling pretty bad about the whole thing. All Fiona wanted was for me to look after the key, and look at what a lousy job I was doing of it. Seemed like I couldn't do anything right lately. I couldn't help but dwell on it.

"You call?"

I almost jumped and glanced over at the door. AJ was standing there, leaning against the doorframe. I sat up a little.

"Yeah."

"Good ..." He had this odd, smug look on his face. "Good," he repeated. He moved into the room, shutting the door. I frowned.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Nothin'. You know, Nick, Sean's not that bad a guy, once you get to know him."

"What?"

"You'll see. I'm glad you called the number, it's better this way." He gave me that smug smile again and sat at the edge of the bed. "I hate to do this, Nicky, but ..."

"But ...?" Was my bad dream coming true?

"It's better this way," he repeated. "Bye, Nick." He reached behind him as if he was grabbing something and I shot out of the bed, screaming bloody murder. I slammed the door shut on my way out and ran into the main room. Kevin was the only one in there so I dived onto the couch next to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. Okay, I was scared.

"Nicky-"

"AJ's bad," I got out quickly. "Don't trust him, he's not on our side, Sean possessed him. He's evil."

"Nicky-"

"He's gonna kill me!"

Kevin was trying to detach me from him. "He's not bad, baby, what'd he say?"

"Don't let him near me, Kev, he's bad."

"AJ!" Kevin hollered. "Get in here!"

"No, don't," I pleaded. I really was convinced that AJ was evil. And that he had a gun. And that he was going to shoot me or something. I was too stressed out to even think through the logic of the situation. I didn't want him near me.

"Yeah?" I heard. AJ sounded very, very amused.

"What the hell did you say to him?" Kevin sounded very, very pissed. It's nice having the big guy on your side every now and then.

"I was just playing with him and he freaked."

"AJ, you don't joke with him on this, understand? He's not exactly up for it."

"Yeah, but-" He must have gotten some glare from Kev here because he cut off pretty fast. "Okay. I know. I'm sorry." He paused. "I'm sorry, Nicky."

I didn't answer him. Let the guilt sink in. I'm scarred for life, AJ.

"Okay, Nicky? I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm not scared," I mumbled. I loosened my grip on Kevin and tried to breathe evenly, feeling a little stupid.

"Yeah, right! You basically-"

"AJ!" Kevin interrupted. "Enough already."

"Alright, I'm sorry. You okay, Frack?"

"Yes." Way too much stress on my poor heart, but yes I was okay.

"I was just trying to loosen you up a little," AJ continued. "I didn't know it was gonna scare you so much."

"What'd you think it would do to him?!" Kevin objected. I smiled slightly. Protector mode. AJ sat down next to me on the couch and I slid away from him.

"Aw, don't be like that!" He looked hurt. I gave him an innocent look. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Okay."

"You forgive me?" He had to make sure of course. Begging for mercy, I could get used to this. I debated whether or not to make him get down on his knees. "Nick?"

"Yeah, Jay." I rolled my eyes.

"You're okay?"

"I'm fine," I muttered. Geez ...

"Alright, just checking," he answered, slightly annoyed. Oh well. The worried AJ lasted long enough I guess. I pulled up from the couch and went to get a drink before things got personal.

-

Chapter 32

I was trying to sleep. The key word here being 'trying'. I was kind of having a hard time of it. You know when you're exhausted, but you just have so much crap on your mind that you can't drift off? You just kept thinking about everything instead, no matter how hard you tried?

Well that's what was wrong with me.

"Nick? You up?"

I think the same thing was wrong with Brian.

"Mm?" I rolled over as I felt the bed sink down next to me.

"I can't sleep, can you?" he asked softly. I shook my head and he stretched out next to me on the bed, an extra pillow behind his head. "You doing okay?"

I nodded.

"I'm sorry about before."

"Why?"

"You know, just not being there. For getting upset before."

"You didn't ..."

"Still." He shrugged. "I don't know. I just hope everything goes back to normal soon. That we can forget about all this."

"Me too," I whispered. More than anything in the world, I just wanted to forget about everything. Forget about whose side I was on, what it was all about. Just erase it from memory. No more blood on the tiles, no more Fiona's face, no more key, no more running, no more fear-

" ... -Nick?"

"Huh?" I tore my gaze from the ceiling and looked over at Brian. "Yeah?"

"You sure you're alright?"

Good question. I wasn't so sure. I nodded slowly.

"Get some sleep, okay? You look tired." Brian started to get up but I caught his arm.

"I can't," I started, sitting up more. "I want to just forget, but I can't." I sounded like a nutcase.

"You will." Brian sat back down easily, grabbing the pillow again. "You will, it just takes time, you know. Like everything else. It's okay. Just give it time."

Right. Time. Hopefully if everything goes the way it's supposed to I'll have some of that left. I looked back at the ceiling, taking a deep breath. There was no way I was going to sleep. I would have nightmares.

"Wanna play Nintendo?" I tried, looking at Brian hopefully. I could tell he was going to say no at first, but I gave him a pleading look and he rolled his eyes.

"Sure, why not," he said, stifling a yawn. "C'mon."

We'd had it set up in the main room from another time, so we just muted the sound on the TV and grabbed our spots on the floor. Brian won two games, I won four, and we were on our seventh when I glanced over and found him curled up on his side, sound asleep on the floor.

Well.

Steep competition here. I restarted the level for a solo game instead, not wanting to wake him. I was getting pretty tired myself though, but I didn't want to sleep.

"Hey," a voice hissed. I jumped, turning my head. Kevin was standing near the kitchen with a glass of water in his hand. I guess he'd gotten up to get a drink and I hadn't seen him pass.

"Hi," I answered back in a whisper. "Wanna play?"

He shook his head. "You look exhausted, Frack. Why don't you get to bed?"

No thanks, I was perfectly fine. I didn't answer.

"C'mon." He set his glass on the counter and started over. "I see my cousin's out for the count, huh?"

"Pretty much. He just drifted off mid-game."

"Take a hint from the boy, c'mon." Kevin took the game controller from Brian's hand and shook his shoulder. "Bri?" No response. "Brian, you wanna sleep on the floor?" Still no answer. Kevin gave up and just hoisted him off the floor. If Brian was tired, then once he was out, he was out. Kevin started toward the room. "C'mon, Carter."

I flipped of the game and the TV with a sigh. I guess I was tired anyway. Pulling myself off the floor with a yawn, I glanced at the clock. Two-thirty. Yeah, I was tired.

Brian slept through being dumped on his bed by Kev as I went over and collasped on my bed heavily. I really was tired too. I was half asleep by the time my head hit the pillow.

"Night, Nick."

"Night," I answered into the pillow. Kevin flipped off the light and I heard him leave. I rolled over and stared at the ceiling for a second. Tomorrow, things would be better.

Somehow, that thought let sleep come.

-

Chapter 33

"Nick ... Nick, wake up."

"Five minutes," I mumbled into my pillow. I finally get to sleep and I have to wake up?

No.

"Wake up." Brian hit me through my blankets. "C'mon ..."

"I'm awake, I'm resting ..."

"Then get up," he restated, grabbing the edge of my covers and giving a tug. That was cruel. I tried to curl up and go back to sleep, but I was beginning to lose hope of that even being possible. "Nickolas ..."

"You're mean," I said as he took my pillow from under my head and hit me with it. Very mean. I was almost awake when he swung the pillow again, soI just grabbed the other pillow and swung back at him. Score.

"Littrell, I said wake him up, not start World War III," I heard Kevin say from the door. Luckily, at that Brian left me and went to attack his cousin with my pillow. I took advantage of the rare opportunity to go back to bed, pulling my comforter up off the floor with me. Ah ... sleep.

"Nicky! Outta bed!"

"Nick, get up."

Alright, so now they were both after me. Great. I moaned. What did I have to get up for anyway? Not like we were doing anything special today anyway. Were we?

I sat up and stared at them with a sleep clouded mind. "What're we doing?"

"Well your friend Charlie had come yesterday, so-"

"Charlie? Friend?" I interrupted. What friend Charlie? I didn't have a friend named Charlie ...

"You know. Charles? The security guy from the station?" Kevin gave me his 'duh, earth to Nick' look. Oh. That Charlie. Okay then.

"That's fabulous," I said, falling back into bed. I was prepared to fight for extra sleep.

"He wanted to ask you some questions about everything," Kevin continued.

"Well tell him to see me at a decent time."

"It's already one o'clock, Nick."

Oh well, there goes any point I was trying to make. I rolled over and stared at the ceiling. So when I have time to sleep, I can't; yet when I can sleep, I'm not allowed to! I was slowly learning the facts of life.

I gathered enough energy to get out of bed, sending Brian and Kevin the most annoyed glare I could muster.

"You guys suck," I told them.

"Thanks man," was Kevin's reply. Brian just hit me over the head with the pillow.

-

"These are all guys that you're after? That you haven't caught?"

I stared at the huge, heavy binder on my lap and then looked across at Charlie, who was sitting in an armchair, looking back at me nonchalantly. Charlie the guy from the station who was supposed to protect me and catch this guy. Charlie the guy who had given me this hundred pound binder full of criminal sketches to point out Sean. Each one had a serial number underneath the picture.

"Most of them are just suspects," he answered easily, rubbing his short beard. He reminded me of that guy Wilson from Home Improvement. AJ flipped the page over to scan the next one. He was sitting next to me and had half the binder on his lap, it was that big.

"Oh look, it's my eighth grade English teacher," he told me, pointing to a rough sketch of this scary looking lady with a scowl on her face. "Mrs. Bickle ..."

"You're awful," Kevin said, hearing him from his spot on the couch. AJ just grinned and went back to pointing out funny looking people and trying to make me laugh.

Once his finger landed on a hard faced guy with a scar across his cheek and he told me it was his uncle on his dad's side. It wasn't funny because I knew he was only half playing around. AJ thought it was funny though. My eyes were getting too tired after about the fiftieth page anyway. I thought I would never find the picture we were after.

"That's him," I said suddenly. I pointed to a sketch on the right side of the page, thanking God I'd finally come across it. My sleep was going to be filled with nightmares of all these empty faces.

"My uncle?" AJ moved my finger down to see the one I was pointing at.

"No dumbass."

"Oh," AJ answered as Charlie leaned forward and lifted the massive binder off our laps. It looked like it weighed nothing when he handled it.

"Which one?"

I pointed to it again and he wrote down something on a pad of paper.

"Is that even gonna help you?"

He looked up at me. "Maybe." He got up from his chair, pulling out a cellphone and heading to the hall for privacy.

I sighed and leaned my head back against the couch. Or maybe not, was what he was reallly thinking. I knew it. It was probably a hopeless deal and here everybody was leading me on that everything was going to be alright. AJ threw an arm around my shoulders and copied my sigh dramatically.

I elbowed him in the side with a smile and he laughed.

Charlie rushed back into the room a second later, grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair. "Something's up. Don't move," he directed, jogging toward the door. "Lock this behind me."

Kevin jumped up to do just that, and I turned to the rest of the guys with a frown. "What's that supposed to mean? What's happening?"

They shrugged, speechless.

"Don't worry though," Howie tried after the long pause. "Right, Kev?" I looked up as Kevin came back in the room, catching his eye for a second.

"What?" he asked, looking away in Howie's direction. I swallowed.

"We shouldn't worry?"

"I don't know, fellas," came his too honest answer. Why couldn't he just lie to us? Sure I was complaining about that a second ago, but that didn't mean I rathered the truth.