Disclaimer: I do not know the Backstreet Boys, nor do I know their orientation. The following is a work of fiction! All under 18 are advised not to continue reading since this story contains content of an adult nature!
And by the way, thanks to all the people who have emailed me! I've always enjoyed writing, but just receiving such encouraging emails has made this so much more enjoyable.
If there ever were a time that my instinct dominated me, it was then. My body suddenly had a will of its own as I pried myself away from Kevin's and AJ's powerful grips and lunged forward with maddening speed. My feet ignored the pain and the burning sensation. All I could register was the intense fear of losing Nick . . . to the volcano, and to Vincent. So I plunged forward, blind to the fact that I was heading towards an angry, nearly-erupting volcano, in search of an irrational love prospect. My only fear then was that Vincent would catch Nick first.
But Vincent could not catch up to Nick, at first. Nick's speed and precision was frighteningly awesome as he leapt gracefully up the incline of the volcano. And for a while, my heart beated sickeningly as I saw Nick slip away from us. But then . . . something strange happened. Nick's feet became stiff. He started to hunch over like he was completely exhausted. And he was blowing what looked like cold air with each breath. Strange!
That totally gave Vincent the advantage as he raced towards Nick, golden object in hand. It wasn't until he flung that blob of gold towards Nick that I recognized it as a net. I dragged my unwilling feet along, by now about a hundred feet from both of them.
Vincent kneeled over Nick's compromised body, which was shaking violently. What the hell was going on? As I moved closer, I could hear Vincent's raspy voice now, voicing some incantation. Nick tried to grip onto the net and fling it off, but the more he tried, the more the net embedded into his fair skin.
I frantically ran towards the two of them, my hands ready to sear the net out of anger. I would have succeeded, had not Vincent stopped in the middle of his chant to grip my wrists. I would have screamed at him, but smoke started to escape his ears. He looked furious, might I add.
"What are you doing?" he barked. "You want him dead or alive?"
Preferably alive. "What the hell is that verbal trash you're reciting?" I said under gritted teeth.
"Preventing him from completing such a selfish act!" Vincent muttered under his breath.
The ground beneath us started to rumble as a burst of black smoke escaped from the opening of the volcano. Kevin and Aj were really vocal now, screaming for us to stop the silly squabble.
I once again took the opportunity to reach out and pull the net away until Vincent fiercely grasped my wrists and yanked me back. "You pull that net, and he'll just continue heading towards the lava."
That made my body freeze.
"Brian, turn back. The volcano is going to erupt soon!" Nick beckoned me. His face did look very pale. His teeth were chattering by now.
"No!" I replied defiantly. I nearly fell from the sifting of the ground.
Vincent grabbed me to steady my body. Then, he harshly commanded me, "Help me!" His eyes were imploring me, as if he were pleading for my help. Apparently, that incantation hadn't worked its magic on Nick. The golden net had only managed to secure Nick to the ground. That wasn't much help to get him away from the volcano. And it appeared that Vincent didn't have an alternative approach.
I turned and grabbed Nick by the arms, surprised by how cold they were. He tried to pull his arms away, but I realized that he was exerting a lot of energy to stay rooted to the ground. "Leave!" Nick's voice whispered into my head seductively. I almost did, but my love for him had helped me resist his inner voice. I shoved him back forcefully until he lay on the ground. My eyes leveled with him as I held him hypnotized in a trance. I could tell that he was greatly weakened . . . by the hot lava, by the gold net, and by Vincent. Three powerful forces working against him. I only hoped that my powers were enough to tip the balance against him.
The volcano had erupted by now and hot lava was slowly oozing out of the opening at the top. Not much time left. I blew into Nick's face a mist of dreams, lulling him into a deep sleep with a promise of beautiful happenings. "No," Nick mumbled as he slowly let go of his grip on reality. "Don't," he pleaded sadly until his eyes blinked and closed reluctantly. The muscles throughout his entire body relaxed and succumbed to the spell.
And what I had originally thought was a net had slowly laced itself into a piece of silky, golden material that fit snugly around Nick's lower half. He almost looked like one of the ancient Egyptian pharoahs, if not for his fair skin and bright blond hair. I now noticed that on his forehead was a shimmering diamond embedded between his eyebrows.
The lava was only about ten feet away, slowly gravitating towards us. Kevin and Aj were now by my side, desperately trying to pull Nick up and carry him down the volcano slopes. However, Vincent had taken control and pulled Nick's unconscious body towards him, continuing that irksome incantation as me, Aj and Kevin felt the lava's heat nearly burning our flesh. By then, I should have known that Vincent didn't want Nick dead anymore than we did.
We all bursted out of the scene with a lightness we never knew we had. Thank goodness none of our bodies betrayed our fear then as we all ran with a zest for life we never knew we had. All the while, I kept my eyes on Nick just to make sure that he would be all right. And as we quickly headed down the volcano slopes, I noticed that Nick's figure started to get smaller. Vincent was doing some incantation that shrunk Nick down. Smart! He'd better be able to reverse it though, I thought spitefully.
Funny how the mind tends to digress in times of life-threatening danger. But still, I couldn't let the subject go. By the time we were at the bottom of the slope, we continued westward, making our grand escape. And I realized that Nick was the size of a little 5-year-old boy by now, sleeping comfortably in Vincent's arms. I hope that all Vincent did to him was make him smaller, not younger . . . because if he also reverted Nick's age, I would kill him. There I go again, thinking with my hormones rather than my mind!
This running commentary in my mind was what kept me sane until we finally made it beyond the volcano's edge, into the neighboring deserted marshlands. At least we started to come across a few trees, although the land seemed as dead as when we first entered the Murien Mountains. The only good thing was, these marshlands were cooler than that boiling hot lava. One of the multitude of bad things was . . . the air wreaked of death. This could not have been the way out beyond the volcano. In our haste to follow Vincent, we had forgot to ask him where exactly he was leading us. Perhaps we weren't headed westward after all.
But Vincent had Nick and I wasn't going to part with him for a millisecond. I winced as my feet dragged along through the muddy ponds. The explosive sound of the volcano and hot lava were now replaced by an eerie, malicious silence. The only sound audible was the patter of mud as our feet dragged through the swamp. Gray! Everything was a dull gray.
I couldn't remember counting the minutes. I only recalled that Vincent had finally settled for drier land beyond the marshes. Only when the ground was sturdy enough did he decide to place Nick's body on the damp ground. Nick's body was now a quarter of my size. But it also appeared to me that he looked a bit younger as well, to my dismay.
I cautiously walked up to Nick's figure and sat down beside it. I was ready for Vincent to shove me away, but to my delight, he didn't. Kevin and Aj hastened their steps and found a place beside me and Nick.
"Cute," Aj commented playfully as he traced Nick's body with his fingers, awed. Nick would have passed for a doll, had he not looked so realistic.
Kevin smirked at Aj's description.
Vincent glared at us impatiently. "Let's hear you say that once he's awake!"
I shot Vincent an icy stare. "Speak for yourself!" I refrained from using cruder words.
"Stop this nonsense, both of you!" Kevin said in a commanding tone. Then he contentedly shoved Aj out of position and took his place beside Nick. "Now, how do we reverse this spell? Ahhh, yes." With a smug smile, Kevin started chanting softly into Nick's ears.
To my delight, Nick's figure started to increase in size and his face began to resemble our Nick. I did note that Kevin did not break Nick out of my Mist of Dreams, actually making me relieved. I didn't know what I would do if Nick still had ideas of jumping into the lava again.
What also surprised me was the fact that Vincent didn't bother to stop Kevin from reversing his spell. He only said in a soft voice, "He's awoken once again!"
Aj simply rolled his eyes. "He looks no more awake than a dead log!" Leave it to Aj to be overly obvious.
Kevin had stopped his chanting. I snuck up closer to Nick and pulled him into my arms into a big hug. I let his head rest upon my shoulder and placed my body behind his. Then, I started cradling him like he was a big boy sleeping soundly in my arms. I felt the instant chill of his body as it leaned against mine, defenseless and vulnerable. I hugged him tighter.
I tried to shift his head so that he was breathing into my neck, just to assure myself that he was not in my dreams. I felt goosebumps all over as his breath was colder than ice. His lips, I noticed, were a pale blue. Yet, he wasn't shivering. It was as if this were his natural state of hibernation. I rocked faster, hoping to generate some heat from my body, but that was difficult considering that blood didn't really run through my vessels.
Vincent snorted at my futile attempts. "He has awoken." Again, that annoying line. Hadn't he already made that point to us a few moments ago? "My dark Prince has awoken."
"Yeah? What's your point?" Aj asked, agitated.
Vincent started to walk around Nick and I, eyeing us closely. Or rather, he was eyeing Nick more closely. "My Prince must rise; reclaim his throne." I felt funny to my stomach. It was more the way that Vincent said it that gave me the creeps. Okay! So me, Kev and Aj are missing a few details here.
I started to realize that with each breath, Nick blew ice onto my neck. He felt icy cold, but his skin started to look less pale, more fair. The rhythm of his heart sped up a bit as he tried to cuddle into me. He's moving! But the Mist of Dreams that I placed on his mind. He couldn't possibly break it without us reversing it, could he?
Vincent continued to stare in awe. "The heat of the volcano had awoken him, had forced his essence to materialize!" Then he ran over to Aj excitedly, pulling Aj's arms in wonder. "Ten thousand years!!!! I've waited for so long!" By now, Vincent was crying out of ecstasy, making me really upset. Yeah, ten thousand years sure sounds dreadfully long, say an eternity? My eyes darted frantically from Vincent to Nick. I was now shivering from the cold that Nick generated.
I looked down upon Nick's face and was astonished by how much more regal it looked. That diamond that was between his eyebrows glimmered magnificently while the golden net that had formed around his lower body had clothed him perfectly.
And then, the strangest thing happened. With stunning quickness, Nick opened his eyes. I froze.
His eyes were a mysterious lavender, clouded with a black mist. Not to say they were any less beautiful. As a matter of fact, I seemed drawn to their mystic, yet majestic, beauty. It was as if I were staring into a deep, unknown world full of magic. They held me captivated. I stared and forgot about my existence. I didn't even realize I had stopped breathing. My fingers were trembling from both fear and excitement. Nick finally blinked, awaking me from my hypnotic state.
I found it rather ironic that this dreamlike state happened in the middle of the gloomy marshes. But the sound of creatures slithering in the muddy waters or swinging among the deadened trees brought this reality back home.
There was a strange feel to the air. It was a calm coldness that settled, but without wind or frost. It was a coldness that had its origins somewhere within Nick. I felt unsettled by this prospect. Yet my mind could not decide what to do. I could feel the nervous tension that Kevin and Aj exhibited in their subtle features. Only Vincent looked smugly at Nick, like he had just won a victory over his worst enemy.
Whatever the history behind Nick and Vincent, I felt that it was going to unfold very soon. Because when Nick awoke, he carried with him a subtle, but definite change in the air. He somehow appeared different. I couldn't really place my finger on it, though.
Silence.
I sat there waiting, while Kevin and Aj remained firmly rooted to the ground. What we were waiting for, we really didn't know. The air around us seemed less stale, more vibrant in an odd way. I couldn't help but take one more glimpse into those misty eyes. Funny. It seemed like he never took his eyes off of me. He had this intense gaze, neither innocent nor malicious, neither emotional nor cold.
Just plain calm.
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