Hello everyone. Did you think you could get rid of me that easily? I know a number of people are waiting for the Justin/Pyre story that will is the next one in the Saga series, but I've decided to take a bit of a break from that story. So instead of writing that story I'm writing this one instead. It has a different premise altogether. I hope it should be sufficiently interesting to keep your attention. I'm hoping to work with a much smaller cast of characters in this one. I love Saga dearly, it's sort like my baby, but I had so many characters in it. Anyway let me know what you think. You can send e-mails to either Mist_dark@hotmail.com or Mist_dark@yahoo.ca I check both so you should get a response fairly quickly. That being said the frequency of the chapters may vary drastically. I've got a few backlogged, but my schooling is going to take up a fair bit of my time. Surprise on that. I'm in my first semester, but my workload is going to increase a lot. So I'll keep myself busy. But I'll try to write when I can.
The disclaimers for these things always have to appear I guess. This story is completely fiction and in no way is supposed to reflect anything about the musical group Nsync. If any of them are gay I'm not aware of it. If you are too young or it's illegal in your area to be reading this, I'd leave. Also if homosexual themes offend you, you are really in the wrong place.
That's all for now, so enjoy my story and let me know what you think of it. Until next time, Rune
CHAPTER ONE
It was raining heavily as the woman walked down the street. The streetlights did little to banish the gloom of the night or the rain. Her umbrella kept most of the water off, but the backs of her legs were damp. Her tan coloured trench coat had somehow managed to avoid being too wet. The umbrella made sure that the rain didn't touch her blonde hair.
She stopped outside a television store. Several of the televisions in the display were showing the late night news. She couldn't hear the sound, but knew what they were discussing when they showed a picture of a young man about twenty-five. The anchorwoman seemed to take the issue with all the professionalism that only newscasters can create. She laughed to herself before turning into the rain and continuing her walk.
Had she been able to hear the sound of the broadcast she would have heard:
"Today local authorities have discovered the body of yet another victim in this bizarre string of deaths. This body has brought the total count to ten victims found within the last two weeks. The police have been unable to find a reason for the deaths of these individuals. Autopsies have shown no known cause to the deaths of these individuals. All victims have been between twenty and thirty years of age and have been in perfect health. As of yet doctors have been unable to find a reason for their deaths. The best they can offer is that they just dropped dead.
"All the victims have been discovered in out of the way areas such as back allies and under bridges. Today's victim, William Harker, was found in alley behind the First National Bank. No eyewitnesses have come forward and the police are asking for the public's help in this matter. If you have any information they are asking you to contact your local authorities."
The anchorwoman finished her coverage on the deaths and moved onto the next topic seamlessly. The woman that had been watching the newscast from the street had long disappeared before the coverage had been completed.
On the other side of town Chris was feeling the first touches of a nasty headache coming on. The music in the club was too loud and the beer he'd just finished only made his headache worse. It was the first time in several months that he and the guys had had a chance to get out and go to a club. Actually the first time they'd really had to relax in anyway. Thankfully no one had seemed to recognize them, or if they did had left them alone.
Sighing Chris set his glass down and scanned the crowd for one of the guys. He had been dancing with them earlier, but a woman had been tailing him all night. Chris had slipped into a booth to avoid her. He had long ago accepted his sexuality and didn't want to make an issue out of it. That was the only part about clubbing that he hated. Having some woman come onto him. It was probably the same way the other guys felt when a guy came onto them. Since he wasn't one to make a scene, he always found a way to avoid any lengthy contact with a woman. He dated a few for press purposes, but those 'relationships' never lasted.
Spotting Lance he left the booth and darted into the crowd. Somehow he managed to make his way to his friend's side without bumping into too many people. His headache would be horrid in a few hours. Hopefully he'd be asleep by then.
The blonde saw him and turned away from the girl he was dancing with. "Starting to wonder where you'd gotten off to." Lance had to shout in order to be heard over the music.
"I hate to do this Lance," Chris shouted back. "But can we leave? I've got a monster headache starting."
Lance gave and exaggerated sigh while slumping his shoulders. "I guess so," he submitted. He turned back to the girl he'd been dancing with and said something in her ear. She nodded before pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. She wrote something on it and handed it back to him. She smiled at him before disappearing into the crowd. "Let's go then."
Chris grinned to himself as he led the way to the club's exit. He had no idea how Joey got the label of being the 'lady's man'. Granted Joey had more girls' numbers then either Justin or Josh, but Lance easily had twice as many as Joey. He guessed that Lance was more discreet about it then Joey was. Having more numbers didn't substitute Lance's morals though. He never led a girl on, and if he said he would call, he would. But he wouldn't lead them to believe that he cared for them when he didn't. Chris could only remember Lance having fallen for a girl twice. Both times they'd hurt him badly, but he never treated anyone else that way.
The rain had stopped when they stepped out of the club into the night air. Judging from the moisture that still hung in the air, Chris guessed that it had only stopped moments before. The clouds were starting to part to show the stars above. The stars were the only lights in the sky because the new moon hadn't shown itself yet.
"So Chris," Lance asked. "Is it really a headache or are you just dodging women again?'
The brunette punched his friend in the shoulder before grinning at him. There were very few people around as they made their way down the street to the parking lot where Lance's jeep was parked. No one was paying the two men any attention.
"Both actually," Chris admitted. "I do have a headache coming on, but some chick was tailing me all night. She kept trying to do more then dance with me."
Lance grinned wickedly at his friend. "You know you could just tell her that you're not interested because she's missing certain appendages you find interesting."
Chris turned red and punched his friend again. "Shut-up."
"It'd probably work you know," Lance told him. "And it might even attract the attention of fine young man." The blonde singer laughed quietly. "But in all seriousness, when are you going to start dating? I rarely see you with anyone and even when I do, they never last more then a date or two."
"I guess I haven't found the right guy yet," Chris said. "It's been a while since I've even seen someone I've been attracted too."
"I've noticed," Lance said. "When was the last time you got laid? Years? I know you haven't lost your sex drive. If the sounds coming from your room are any indication."
Chris blushed again. Lance was polite most of the time. But now and again he delighted in making his friends turn the brightest shade of red possible. Since Chris had told the guys that he was gay two years ago it had become Lance's new hobby. He could make Josh turn red in less then five seconds, Joey was the hardest. But Chris was his new favourite target. It was difficult to get the blonde to get flustered about anything. He could talk about sex in the frankest matter, no matter what aspects he was talking about. Chris smiled when as he remembered Lance's little lecture to Justin about the stimulating effects of a dildo on both men and women. Justin looked like he was going to dry up as all the blood rushed to his face.
"It hasn't been that long," Chris retorted. "About a year though I guess."
"You know, when I ask a question like that I don't really need the answer," Lance informed him. "Unless of course it's in front of Josh. Then give me as many details as I can take."
"For a man that's so innocent looking, you're pretty damn evil."
Lance smiled and shrugged. "When one had talents one should use them. Besides it's fun to make Josh turn red."
"Whatever," Chris laughed. "Think you can remember where you parked?"
"Should be easy." Lance pointed to the only vehicle in the entire parking lot. "I'm going to guess it's that one."
"I wonder where all the other ones went. This place was packed when we got here."
When they got close enough to the jeep they saw someone was laying on the hood. They hadn't noticed him because the jeep was parked so far back. The man looked up from the hood when they got close to jeep.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lance asked. He rarely swore, but he held a few loves in his life. His friends, his faith, music, some day a wife, and his car. He loved his car.
The man smiled. He didn't look more then eighteen, certainly not more then twenty. The youth flowed off the hood in one motion. It looked more like a sliding motion rather then an actual movement.
"Waiting for you," he said. His voice was low and husky. He wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans. In the dim light Chris saw that he had a snake tattooed around his left arm. "You were a little longer then we expected."
"We?" Chris asked.
He almost didn't want to know the answer. When he saw about ten other youths meld out of the shadows, he was sure he didn't want to know the answer. He had no idea where they'd been standing. Moments before he would have sworn to the Pope that no one else had been in the parking lot.
"What do you want?" Lance asked calmly. The blonde appeared to be weak, but he was the emotionally strongest of the group. He wouldn't last very long in a fight, but he wouldn't give up if his friends were in any trouble. And right now both Chris and him were in trouble, and Lance knew it.
"Not a whole lot," the youth said. "I'd be content to beat you up and leave you here, but my friends want to kill you. And who am I to stand in their way?"
"You won't get away with this," Chris said. "Beating two people to death will attract a lot of attention. They'll catch you."
One of the other youths laughed. "No way. The cops couldn't find their way out of the station. They won't catch us. And no one will see us because of the fog."
Chris hadn't noticed it at first, but a dense fog had blown in after the rain. Driving would be difficult and no one would be able to see more then a few feet ahead of them. People that were walking wouldn't cut through a parking lot to save time; they'd stay to the well-lit areas instead.
"You're just going to beat us to death with your fists?" Lance asked. Chris knew he was stalling, trying to figure out a way for them to get away. The youths had surrounded them and had effectively cut off any avenue of escape.
"That's the plan," one of them said.
"Leave them alone," a pleasant male voice said.
Everyone turned in the direction the voice had come from. A tall figure was appearing out of the fog. In one hand he carried a staff and seemed to use it as a walking stick more then anything else. He was dressed in black jeans and a black shirt. His light brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
'Wow,' was all Chris could think. That and 'he's hot'.
"Why should we do that?" The leader of the youths asked.
"'Cause if you don't, I'll have to kick your asses," the newcomer said.
"You really think you can do that to all of us?"
"I know I can."
The newcomer didn't wait for a response. He leapt into the air and flipped into the middle of the ring of young men. He landed with the grace of a gymnast next to Chris. Before anyone could react to his relocation he'd struck out twice with his staff and knocked two of the youth's unconscious. The pair of them fell to the ground in a heap.
"Run," he told Chris and Lance. Neither Chris nor Lance moved. Instead they stared at the newcomer's incredible fighting abilities.
He rushed another of the youths and, hen the young man took a step back to brace himself for the impact, climbed up him. When he had almost run up the youth's body he kicked the boy in the head and flipped backward. Before the boy's body hit the ground the newcomer had dropped onto his hand and knocked another youth's legs out from underneath him with his own legs. The man's staff connected with the boy's head as he fell.
A few kicks well placed kicks had the remaining youths on the ground in various states of pain and unconsciousness. Most were starting to wake up, but they weren't moving too quickly.
The only on that hadn't moved was the leader. He'd watched everything with calm detachment. He regarded his fallen horde before turning his attention to the newcomer.
"Nicely done," he complimented him. "You must have worked hard to fight like that."
"I have," the man replied.
"Then this should be fun."
The youth moved with incredible speed. Chris wasn't sure if it was a trick of the fog or if he actually did move that quickly. The look on the youth's face never changed, even when his opponent landed a powerful blow. The two fought with a determination that almost scared Chris. They seemed to be well matched. The newcomer was the better fighter, but the youth had the speed to make up for his lack of experience.
All of the lackeys had slunk off to lick their wounds when the combatants broke off their fighting. It ended with the newcomer shoving the youth backward into the jeep. The youth flipped onto the hood and smiled at his opponent.
"The mistress won't like this, but she'll live with it." His smile sent shivers up and down Chris' spine. It was the same look a snake gave its prey. "She'll just have to wait." He gestured at Chris. "We'll be seeing more of each other soon. I promise you that." The youth back-flipped off the hood and disappeared into the fog.
The newcomer sighed deeply after the youth before turning to Chris and Lance. "The next time you're in a life threatening situation and someone offers to save your asses, take their advice and leave."
"Sorry," Chris muttered. This guy was cute and Chris didn't want him mad at him."
"It wasn't my ass on the line," the man dismissed. "If it was, I would have ran for the hills."
"Thank you though," Lance said sincerely. "You didn't have to do that^Å." He left it trailing for the man to fill in his name.
"Cody," the man said. "And you would be?"
"I'm Chris and this is Lance." Chris took the chance to shake the man's hand. It was a firm grip, but the skin was smooth and warm. He hoped deep down that he would feel that touch more intimately at some point.
"Your car," Cody asked after they'd finished the introductions. "I hope they didn't hurt it."
"Don't worry," Chris said. "Lance'll inspect it for any scratches before he goes to bed. And if there are any he'll hunt them down."
"I'm not that bad," Lance said defensively.
"Yes," Chris laughed. "You are."
"I'd suggest getting to wherever you're going," Cody said. "They probably won't come back, but they might."
"Need a lift?" Lance asked. He winked at Chris when Cody wasn't looking.
"Thanks," Cody said. "But I'll be alright. I've got a few things I want to do before I go home anyway." He nodded to each of them before vanishing back into the fog.
Chris didn't say anything until Lance had pulled out of the parking lot several minutes later. They'd just sat in the jeep to trying to absorb what had happened.
"So what did you think?" Lance asked.
"Huh?" Chris said as he was pulled from his thoughts.
"Was he cute or what?"
"Yes. No. What?"
"I'll take that as a yes," Lance grinned. "Being flustered is almost the same as saying yes."
"So he's cute," Chris said. "I probably won't see him again. And what's to say I like him?"
"What colour was his hair?"
"Light brown," Chris told him.
"I rest my case."
Chris rolled his eyes. "Just drive."
TBC
That's it for now. Let me know what you think. I'll be posting the first few chapters rapidly, but like I said after that it will slow down. Rune