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He couldn’t move.

Every time he tried, pain shot through his arm. He couldn’t move his arms or legs. Panic began to fill his mind.

It was dark. He still couldn’t move. His wide blue eyes roved around, searching for something... anything in the black void he found himself in. As his breathing turned panicked, some area of his mind told him he was tied to a chair. He could now feel the coarse ropes biting into his soft skin, his body stiff from the uncomfortable position, his hands tied behind the chair.

Fear replaced the panic as realization of where he was dawned. No. Not again... This can’t be happening again... His neck ached from the way he had slept through the night, but he still craned it around as the darkness began to recede and the remembered confines of the log cabin materialized.

Only this time... he was alone.

He was alone in the room. He didn’t want to believe it, they had escaped this place. He couldn’t be back here. The silence and emptiness was getting to him.

“Hello?” he croaked cautiously. “Is- is anyone here?”

“Why, hello,” came a cold and all too familiar voice.

“Y- you’re in jail,” he stammered to the female voice behind him, “This can’t be happening.”

He heard her laugh, “Oh, but it is. When we last met, my Jakey was playing the most entertaining game...”

He froze.

The woman now stood behind him, she continued, “I would so much enjoy a continuation of it since he was so rudely interrupted.”

He gasped and shut his eyes tight at the cold feel of a gun barrel on the sensitive skin of his right temple.

The woman smiled, “Wouldn’t you?”

Before he could even think of a reply, he heard a click and jumped. His breathing quickened as shock rolled through him, the woman’s laughter being heard as she pulled the trigger again.

click

He felt himself fading away, the fear and panic taking a toll on his weakened body. The laughter was now heard dimly, but the...

click

... was heard all too crisp and clear. Where are my friends? Why am I alone?...

click

... Oh, God! Please, make it stop!

click

“Well well,” mused the woman, smiling at the trembling form before her, “only one chamber left. Any last words?”

She didn’t give time for a reply before she pulled the trigger...



~/~/~/~/~()~~~~~



Brian jerked awake, a scream escaping his lips as he fell from his bed and onto the cold, hard floor with a thud. Breathing hard, he looked wildly around, seeing only his familiar bedroom in the early morning’s gray light that seeped through the window.

No cabin. No insane woman. No gun.

Brian tried to relax his breathing, unconsciously bringing his hand up to massage his right temple. He realized what he was doing and jerked his hand away, staring at it. It was a dream. It was only a dream.

Brian raked his now shaking hand through his sweat soaked hair, his blue eyes blankly staring at the wall. I’ve never had a dream about that before. Why’s it all coming back to haunt me now? Almost a year after it happened?

A shrill buzzing jerked Brian from his thoughts so abruptly he cried out in surprise, still feeling the after effects of the dream. He calmed down when he realized it was his alarm clock, telling him it is time to get up and get ready. As he climbed to his feet and shut the alarm off, he tried to remember why he had to get up.

Oh, yeah. he remembered. Concert rehearsal.

The last concert of their US ‘Black & Blue’ tour. The finale was in Orlando, Florida, so the guys each had a home to stay in instead of some hotel. Tomorrow night was the concert, with rehearsals early today and tomorrow with appearances and interviews in between.

Brian forced his way into his bathroom, turning the water on for a shower. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and was taken aback. He could see apprehension and fear written in his own blue eyes staring back at him. He roughly rubbed a hand over his face, trying to wipe the feelings away. He pushed it all to the back of his mind, it was nothing. Just a dream.



~/~/~/~/~( at the stadium, just after finishing rehearsals )~~~~~



“Hey, Frick!” called Nick, rushing up to Brian’s side. “Did you know that Kev got a new car?”

“Nope,” replied Brian, grabbing a water bottle off one of the stage speakers. “What kind?”

Nick shrugged, running a hand through his sweaty hair, “Don’t know, he said it has all kinds of those high tech gadgets though. He showed me the key chain, its like a frickin’ remote for a TV! Must’a been ‘bout twenty buttons on the thing.” Nick swiped the water bottle from Brian, taking a drink, “He said he’d give us all a ride, wanna come?”

Brian smiled, “Sure,” then he grabbed the water bottle back and sprayed Nick in the face.

“Brian!” cried Nick, bringing a hand up, “Whad’ya do that for?!”

Brian shrugged, “Don’t know,” he said, just as Nick did earlier, then grinned, “I jus’ felt like doin’ it!”

“Well, next time resist the urge!” Nick then shoved Brian to the stage stairs, “C’mon, I wanna check out that car!”

Nick basically pushed Brian down the stairs, “Hey!” Brian cried, almost tripping on the last step, “I’m goin’ already, I’m goin’! Stop with the shovin’!”

“Well, get goin’ a little faster, Kev said he was leavin’ in five minutes. With or without us.”

“Jeez, all this excitement just so Kev can show off his new car?” asked Brian.

Nick just smiled, “Yep!”

Brian shook his head. “Man, we live non-stop lives!” the sarcasm was easily heard. Brian stopped and pretended to hold a microphone, “Today on ‘The Life Of A Backstreet Boy’, we see Kevin’s new car. Let’s sit in and watch this intriguing and exciting moment as it unfolds,” prattled Brian in a woman’s announcer voice.

Nick just laughed, “C’mon.” He grabbed Brian’s arm and pulled him to the back exit.



~/~/~/~/~( )~~~~~



Howie and AJ have already managed to get lost in the back hallways of the stadium. Howie turned to AJ, “Are you sure we were supposed to take that last right?”

AJ guffawed, “Absolutely!” AJ tapped a finger on his forehead, “A rock. That’s my memory. Solid as a rock, I know where we’re goin’.”

Howie raised an eyebrow, but chose to say nothing. They continued to walk... and walk. Howie saw a room that looked very familiar, “Uh, AJ? I think we’re goin’ in circles.”

AJ looked at Howie through his yellow tinted sunglasses, “No way! That’s only the fourth time I saw that room. They must have a bunch of those rooms all over this place.”

Howie stopped, “AJ, its the game room. They only have one.”

AJ stopped too, “Oh.”

Howie sighed in frustration, “We are supposed to meet Kevin in,” Howie looks at his watch, “five minutes, and we don’t even know where the hell we are! AJ, I thought you knew where you were goin’?!”

“Hey,” defended AJ, “so did I!”

“Oi!” cried Howie, “Sometimes I just don’t know about you, AJ.”

“Well, why don’t you find the way out then.”

“Fine, I will.”

Howie lead AJ on about as productive a walk as AJ did him. Howie was so intent on looking at the rooms and hallways around them, that he didn’t see the person coming from the other direction until he slammed into the person.

“Oomph!” Howie fell back to the floor with a grunt.

“‘D!” scolded AJ, “You should watch where yer goin’!”

AJ reached down to the person Howie knocked to the floor, “I’m sorry, my friend wasn’t payin’ attention. I-”

AJ broke off as the person abruptly moved away from his offered hand up. The person wore a maintenance suit and a baseball cap pulled low over the face. AJ and Howie heard a muffled voice say, “S’okay, I’m fine. No harm done.”

Then the person scrambled to their feet and quickly fled from the stunned Howie and AJ. AJ looked at Howie as he pulled him up, “What the hell was that?”

Howie shook his head, “No idea.” Howie stared for a moment, then he looked at AJ, “Um, ‘J?... Did you... Um, did that person seem familiar to you?”

AJ looked thoughtful, “Yeah, they did... I don’t like it either, ‘D.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, its just... I swear I heard that voice before,” AJ shivered, “I don’t like it.”

Howie nodded, “Me neither.”

“Hey! Are you guys comin’?!”

AJ and Howie turned to see Nick a ways down the hallway, pulling Brian along behind him. “Yo!” he yelled, smiling, “the exit’s over here!”

Then Nick and Brian disappeared around the corner. AJ looked at Howie, “How did he know we were lost?”

Howie shrugged, “Are we that obvious?”

“Well, c’mon. We better get going before Kev gets pissed.”



~/~/~/~/~()~~~~~



The guys are all walking to the parking lot, three of them looking bored out of their minds. Kevin was smiling as Nick fired question after question about his new car. Kevin didn’t give him any answers, just kept smiling.

“C’mon Kev!” whined Nick, walking backwards in front of Kevin, “Tell me somethin’!”

“All right!” laughed Kevin, relenting, “One of the things it has is an automatic start by remote. You can be 50 feet away and start your car.”

Nick’s face brightened while the others rolled their eyes, “Really? Cool, can I see the remote again?”

Kevin fished his key chain out of his pocket and tossed it to Nick, “Here, and turn around before you run into somethin’.”

Nick faced forward, not taking his eyes off of the remote as he studied it. He slowed his pace to walk beside Kevin and pointed to a button, “Is it this one?”

Kevin nodded, “Yep. Now give it back.”

Nick dodged Kevin’s reaching hand and ran ahead, “No way! Now I can find out which car it is!” Nick called as he scanned all the parked cars rowed in front of them.

“Nick! We aren’t close enough yet!” Kevin’s attention moved from Nick momentarily as his cell phone rang. He watched Nick walking ahead of them, absently acknowledging the caller.

“Hello?”

“Why Kevin! Its so refreshing to hear your voice again!”

Kevin nearly dropped the phone, his steps faltering. Brian, AJ, and Howie looked at him curiously. He glanced at them with wide eyes, but continued walking, his eyes now watching Nick who continued to scan the cars ahead of them.

“How-... Why-...”

“How am I able to call you? Why am I calling you?” Laughter. “Oh, I just wanted to say how much I miss you guys!”

“You’re in jail,” declared Kevin, as if to reassure himself. Brian, Howie, and AJ’s attention now fully resided on Kevin and his phone call.

“Am I?”

Kevin dimly heard Nick calling, asking if they were close enough yet. Kevin absently nodded his head, his eyes gazing off into space as his footsteps came to a stop. AJ, Brian, and Howie stopped too, concerned by Kevin’s weird behavior and the obviously disturbing phone call.

Brian reached a hand out and shook Kevin’s shoulder, bringing Kevin out of his daze, “You okay, Kev? Who’s on the phone?”

Kevin ignored him, anger making its way through his shock, “What do you mean?”

His question was ignored, “Such a nice car you have now, Kevin. A sports car, never thought you were the type. Bet its a blast to drive with that explosive engine under the hood. Nice color too, a flaming red. A real fireball, charged and ready to blow.” Laughter. “Don’t you agree, Kevin? You go and enjoy your joyride, its bound to go up with a bang from the moment you turn the key.”

The dial tone reverberated in Kevin’s ear, then his face drained of color as the meaning of her words sunk in. AJ glanced at Brian and Howie, “Kev?”

Kevin’s eyes came back in focus, Nick’s distant figure forming in his sharpening vision. His mind slowly registered Nick bringing his arm up with the remote. Kevin gasped, the cell phone falling from his fingers, then he broke into a run, “Nick! NO!”

Nick turned his head at the shout just as he pressed the auto-start button. The next thing he knew there was a deafening roar, a blinding light, and then a blast of heat and wind slammed into him with such force that he felt his feet leave the ground. He had the vague awareness of floating in mid air before he landed hard on the cold cement, he swore he actually heard his head crack when he hit.

Nick felt the cool, rough pavement against his face, his hands palm down on either side of his head. He grimaced, his fingers flexing, he half opened his eyes. He tried to push himself up, but his arms were weak and his head pounded, causing the ground to heave and lurch up at him. He groaned and decided to stay still. He closed his eyes, his mind soon clouding over and then turning black.

Kevin slowly moved his head, the awareness that he was lying on the ground soon reaching his muddled thoughts. He opened his eyes, blinking them until they focused. With a groan he pushed himself up, rolling around to his hands and knees. Turning his head up, he squinted and saw Brian, AJ, and Howie picking themselves up off the ground. Kevin ducked his head, closing his eyes as he tried to remember what happened. Air sucked through his teeth as the memory came back with a rush.

Kevin burst to his feet, nearly falling back down before catching his balance, “Nick!” Kevin spun around, his movements desperate, “Nick!” Then he stopped, seeing Nick’s prone form sprawled ten feet away. “Nick,” he choked, soon falling to his knees by Nick’s side.

Kevin hesitantly reached his shaking hands out, resting them on Nick’s shoulder’s. He let his breath out when he saw Nick’s back rising rhythmically as he breathed. The sound of crackling caused Kevin to look up, his eyes seeing the remains of his car. All that lingered was a blackened frame that was still ablaze in flames, other random parts were littered around him, some still burning. He turned back to Nick, leaning over him, “Nick... Nick, c’mon! ... God, this can’t be happening again... Nick, please wake up!”

Nick moaned, moving his head. “Yeah,” urged Kevin, “that’s it, Nicky. C’mon, wake up.”

Nick turned his head, resting his forehead on the cement, “Kev?” he croaked.

“Yeah, you okay? Can you get up?”

“Mm-hmm... jus’ give me a sec,” he mumbled, waiting for everything to stop spinning.

“Nick!” Brian called, he and the others running to Kevin’s and Nick’s forms. “Nick, you okay?”

“Yeah,” Nick strained out, pushing himself off the ground and managing to obtain a sitting position. He turned his head to his friends, “I’m fine.”

AJ kneeled before him, his brown eyes watching as Nick’s blue eyes tried to focus on him. AJ sighed, “Nicky, you are not fine. You’re bleedin’.”

Nick brought a hand up to his head, it coming away with blood on his fingertips. He simply wiped it on his pants and looked at Kevin, “What happened?”

Kevin smiled half-heartedly, “My car blew up.”

Even in his dazed state, Nick managed a ‘well, duh’ expression, “But why?”

Kevin didn’t know what to tell him or the others. Would they be able to handle it?... It doesn’t matter, they’ll find out sooner or later anyways. Kevin looked at each of his band mates, looking at Nick last. He cleared his throat, his eyes switching to stare at the burning remains of his car, “Sh- she blew it up... That woman, she’s back... She ain’t in jail, she blew my car up. Its starting all over again.”

Silence.

Nick looked ready to faint and AJ put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. Brian just stared at the burning car, the bright flames reflecting on his face and in his intense blue eyes. Howie raked his hands through his hair, locking them together behind his head. Disbelief was evident in his voice when he spoke, “She’s back? But... they arrested her, she’s in jail. She can’t be out... we can’t go through that again!”

Kevin ducked his head, “I know Howie, I know. But... it IS her again. That is who was on the phone, she called me. She practically told me she rigged my car to explode, ...” Kevin broke off as sirens sounded in the distance, steadily growing closer. Kevin stared into each set of stunned eyes, “We have to face the facts in front of us,” Kevin gestured to his destroyed car, “She’s back and she sure as HELL ain’t happy.”



~/~/~/~/~()~~~~~



A slim figure pushed away from the stadium wall, a smile visible under the shade of the baseball cap. The woman slipped the cell phone into her baggy maintenance suit pocket, never taking her pale blue eyes away from the burning car in the distance, or the five figures huddled across from it.

She laughed. You have no IDEA what’s in store for you, Backstreet Boys. That was a drop in the barrel compared to what I’m going to do. She narrowed her eyes, her smile falling into a scowl. Besides the fact that you ruined my game, you took away what I didn’t even know I had. And you each shall pay for it... And no one will stop me this time.

She turned and walked away as several police cars, lights flashing, tore into the parking lot and toward the five young men. Her smile returned, Now the fun begins all over again...