- Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
This'll teach me to save my stories! -- I had to edit the ending because I'd only had the first part saved! It's essentially the same though :)

It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you... there's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do...

"SHHHH!"

I blessed the rains down in AFFFRICCAA!

"NICK!"

The young man stopped singing abruptly and looked up at his friend with a smirk on his face. "You are no fun D. No fun at all."

Howie simply shook his head as he trudged along ahead of Nick, using his machete to push branches and bushes out of the way, occasionally pausing to wipe away the rain drops that were dripping down his face.

"Hey loud mouth," Howie spat as he slapped at what felt like the millionth biting fly of the hour, "did you listen to a word the guide said back there?"

All Nick could do was shake his head because seriously? Listen? Nick Carter listen? Ha.

"Well let me refresh your memory, she said to stick to the path and to be respectful. We're already lost because YOU had to find the perfect flower for Lauren, and now you're singing about Africa at the top of your lungs." The annoyance in Howie's voice grew by the second, "PS dumbass, Fiji is NOT in Africa."

Nick could do nothing but laugh, "Man relax," he whispered, catching up with Howie for a minute and laying a hand on his shoulder, "We're out here in the jungle, and it's beautiful!"

Howie rolled his eyes, continuing on as he stared up towards the sun, trying his best to figure out it's position in the sky. He wouldn't call this "beautiful". Beautiful was lying on the beach with his wife back at the resort. Beautiful was sticking to the trail the guide had cautiously warned them to stick to. Beautiful was living to see another day with his son. But this... this was NOT beautiful.

"And look on the bright side D... it's not raining anymore!"

I can see clearly now the rain is gooooone...

Howe had to clench his teeth to keep from turning around and decking him when he started singing again. He tried to pull his mind from the insanity of the man behind him and focused instead at getting them safely back. Nick grew quite after a time and he kept walking for what felt like forever until he finally saw a light in the distance. He squinted and climbed up on a rock to make sure but... yes... yes! It was the lights from the tops of the villas, shining like a beacon guiding them home.

"Nick!" Howie called out, glancing behind him, excited to let him know he'd found the way. But instead of Nick all he saw were the bushes and trees he'd just come through. "Hey Nick!"

He called out several more times to no avail, getting angrier with each passing minute. "Nick Carter!" He yelled, this time as loud as he could, "If this is your idea of a sick joke, I will find you and when I do I will beat your ass!"

Silence.

Howie decided to backtrack, following the path he'd cleared the first time he'd ventured through. All was silent for a few minutes, but then... a scream. A horrible, gut wrenching scream. Howie felt his heart stop and then leap into his throat. He knew the scream was Nick's and he knew he had to do something. He hurried closer to where the screams were coming from, wondering the whole time what the hell kind of animal could bring on screams like that and if a small latino with a machete could possibly stand a chance against it.

He breathed deeply... it wasn't optional. This was his friend and he would damn well try to save him.

Howie walked closer still to where the screams were coming from. They never stopped and his heart raced faster and faster with each step. Suddenly all was quiet for a brief moment, and in that moment he heard the sound of voices. Human voices.

Howie crept closer, kneeling on his knees as he edged his way through the weeds. He could see the sun from a clearing in the distance and knew that had to be where Nick was. Maybe someone had already saved him. Maybe it was too late.

But then, there were the screams again, even more agonizing than before and Howie hurried faster.

He came to the edge of the clearing and pulled back the leaves of one of the bushes, peering quickly in, and the sight he saw there would forever haunt his mind. There was Nick, a fire beside him, his arms and legs tied behind him. His eyes shut tight. His mouth open in that God awful scream...

And there surrounding Nick were a group of horrid looking men, there mouths dripping with blood, there eyes without a trace of humanity as they knelt beside his body and ripped chunks of flesh from his bones. One was roasting a piece of him over the fire, another was preparing to tear away at his side.

Howie could look no longer. He couldn't scream, he couldn't breathe... he just knew he had to get help. He turned from the clearing and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, stopping only momentarily to vomit on the side of the trail in a patch of Fiji'n flowers.

He ran straight back to where he'd stopped before, where he'd seen the lights. He ran on down from the jungle and to the gates of the resort where he collapsed into a heap of exhaustion and fear and sickness until a guard had found him sometime later.

Howie couldn't find the words to describe what he'd seen, but the guards knew that something bad had happened. They followed Howie back up into the jungle, and to the clearing where they all stopped in their tracks.

The fire was out, the cannibals were gone. Birds were picking the last remaining bits of skin from the pile of bones. The fresh puddles of blood were the only thing left to let them know this had been a recent attack.

Howie knelt beside the remains of his friend and cried. He would forever be haunted by the things he saw that day... by the images that would constantly run through his mind.

And of course... by those damned songs.