I did it. You can start cheering if you want, or not if you don't want to do it. I have good news. After that horrid 'waste' incident I have decided to get an editor. Everyone I'd like you to meet Neo. Neo, this is everyone. Hopefully between the two of us we'll be able to catch those nasty mistakes I kept making. And if we don't then at least it'll be a little better then before.
As usual, this story is in no way, shape and or form is supposed to reflect anything about the members of Nsync. This story, though entertaining, is not reality. If homosexual themes offend you, you are too young, or it's illegal in your area to be reading this, leave. It'll be better all around that way.
I'm going to cut this short so I can get this sent off to David. If you want to let me know what you think of the story (and I'd love to hear from you) you can send your e-mails to one of two addresses. Mist_dark@hotmail.com or Mist_dark@yahoo.ca
That's it from me for now. Until next time, Rune
CHAPTER EIGHT
"Egads," Joey said. "This place is huge."
The group was standing outside Sean's parent's cottage. The bodyguard hadn't been lying when he said it was a house in the woods. The house was at least two stories high; it was difficult to tell because it was on a slight hill. It had a rustic look to it because the wood panels had been left natural colour rather then being stained. A number of windows dotted the wall that was facing them.
"We'll have to open windows to air it out," Sean told them. "Mom said it hadn't been used in a while." He jogged up the front steps and opened the door. He stuck his head inside and snapped it out quickly. A look of disgust was displayed on his face. "Definitely needs to be aired out. The air's really stale." Sean made an exadurated display of courage and dove through the door. A few minutes later windows were being slid open.
"Let's get this place set up and then go for a swim down at the lake," Justin suggested while they waited for Sean to finish opening windows. He pointed through the trees down to the lake. The water was just visible through the trees.
"Sounds like a plan," Cody said. He picked up two of the bags that had been packed and headed into the house. A few seconds later he reappeared and just looked at the rest of the group. "Are you guys going to help?"
"Nope," Deana said. "I thought I'd just let you do the work." She batted her eyes at Cody. "You wouldn't want me to break a nail would you?"
Cody arched an eyebrow. "And since when have you been concerned about being a lady?"
"Never mind that," Deana said. She grabbed Sheryl's hand and the two of them darted past Cody and into the house.
"I guess we've got to do the work then," Lance sighed. "As per usual."
"And when have you done physical labour in your life?" Joey snickered. "Mister management."
"I wasn't referring to me doing the physical work," Lance told him. "I was planning on making sure you didn't hurt yourself while you did it."
"Why should you get out of it?" JC asked.
"Albinos are to rare to risk doing such menial tasks."
"I don't care," Cody said. "Each one of you grab something and bring it inside."
"Even me?" Chris asked with puppy dog eyes. "You wouldn't make me do something like this would you?"
"Watch me," Cody said with a grin. "Not even you are getting out of this."
With much complaining and groaning the guys eventually moved everything inside the house. Sean had disappeared into the basement to check the fuses. Deana and Sheryl began unpacking the food as it was brought in. By the time Sean reappeared from the basement everything was unpacked or in its appropriate place to await further unpacking.
"Everything's in working order down there," Sean said as he came into the kitchen. "What's planned for the day?"
"We figured we'd go swimming for a bit," Justin said. "If the lake's alright to swim that is."
"It's fine," Sean said. "But it is a bit cold."
"We're men," Joey said. "We can deal with some cold."
"Now if only they could deal with other things," Deana snickered. She dropped the snicker and made an innocent face when Joey shot her a dirty look. "What?" She looked at Sheryl. "You'd think I had said something."
"I know," Sheryl said. "Just plain awful aren't they?"
The two women walked off arm in arm whispering to each other. They disappeared up the stairs to the bedrooms to change. Chris watched them disappear with a smirk on his face.
"And to think you're dating one of them Justin," he said aloud. "Glad mine isn't nearly as opinionated." He wrapped his arms around Cody's waist.
"Oh I'm opinionated," Cody said. He kissed Chris on the top of his head. "I just have most of the same opinions as you."
"Same thing as not being opinionated," Chris told him.
Sean had lied. The water was freezing. Joey nearly flipped out of the water when he jumped in. Somehow no one noticed how Sean was the last one to the lake and he didn't move to dive in like everyone else. Both Justin and Josh were already airborne when Joey let out his howl as he realized how cold the water was. Deana was too committed to her dive to stop, but tried to anyway. She entered the water in a most ungraceful manner. Her head popped out of the water and she immediately started cursing Sean. The rest of the group learned from the others' mistake.
"You are going to regret that," Deana promised as she pulled herself out of the water. It was amazing she could move as quickly as she did. In less time then it took for the rest of the guys to get out of the water Deana had Sean on the ground and was sitting on him. Every time he attempted to move she tangled up his legs so he couldn't stand. She didn't have to do it for long. Once Joey, Josh and Justin arrived Sean was doomed.
"You wouldn't hurt your host would you?" Sean asked as he was being dragged toward the end of the dock. He was struggling valiantly, but to no effect. "CODY!!" He shouted. "Help me."
Chris stepped in front of Cody and wrapped his boyfriend's arms around his shoulders. "Not a chance of him helping you Sean."
Cody kissed the top of Chris' head. "And why shouldn't I help him?"
"Because this is too much fun to watch," Chris replied with a straight face. "That and it's too late to help him anyway."
Chris' comment was punctuated by a splash. Seconds after the splash Sean came to the surface sputtering and cursing. He muttered a few choice words under his breath before swimming to shore. He thought about trying the dock, but decided against it when he saw the determination on Deana's face.
"It seems swimming is not a good idea," Sheryl said. "Any other suggestions?"
"Oh the water's fine once your heart starts again," Sean said. "If it starts again that is."
"I think I'll just go with sunbathing," Sheryl said.
"Good idea," Cody agreed. "Up for working on your tan Chris?"
"Do I have to share my towel?"
"You don't have to," Cody said with a pout.
"What if I want to?"
The nurse looked at the chart for the patient and shook her head. She'd never seen anything like this before. She had worked in several hospitals over the years and had seen a great many things, but this one was completely new to her. She glanced at the equipment to make sure she knew what she was reading. She was one of the three people in the hospital that could read this equipment properly, and of them all, she was the one with the most experience. She knew that she was reading the equipment properly, but it didn't make any sense.
"This just isn't possible," she muttered to herself. She took the patient's pulse again and sighed in frustration.
All of the patient's vital signs were normal for a woman of this age. The lines that kept dancing on the monitor said her heart rate and respirations were normal as well. They were all normal, if the woman had been running for half an hour. What was not normal were the lines on two other monitors. One of them registered higher brain functions such as the activity that occurs during speech. This monitor had one solid line across it. No activity. The other monitor registered lower brain functions. Its line was waving madly. Her vital signs and her lower brain activity suggested she was having some sort of vivid nightmare, but the higher brain activity didn't show any signs of that being the case. The nurse had checked the equipment over several times. It was all in perfect working order.
Sighing again the nurse charted the results of her findings. She put the chart back and then moved on with the rest of her examination. She took the vital signs again just to make sure they were consistent, they hadn't changed. The patient's pupils failed to dilate when exposed to bright light and she would not respond to any sounds. If it weren't for the rapid pulse, respiration rate and the lack of higher brain activity the nurse would have said the woman was in a coma.
"What happened to you?" She wondered aloud. She took the chart up again and wrote down the patient's reactions. She was starting to think she should stop doing it. She had done all of this countless times over the last few two days and nothing had changed. Not one damned thing. With one last frustrated sigh the nurse continued on her rounds.
"Doctor," the orderly said. "Mr. Brock is acting up again."
"Again?" The doctor asked. "How many times is that so far?"
"Ten in the last five hours," the orderly informed him. "He keeps falling into moments of quiet, but then starts shouting again."
"Still the same sequence of cries?" The doctor asked as he flipped through Mr. Brock's file. The file had grown fairly large in the last two days. If he hadn't been the one recording the file, the doctor would have assumed it had all been made up.
"Yes. He cycles through a variety of emotions during each of his episodes. He begins crying in fear and then moves on until he's pounding the walls in some primal rage. It always ends with him on the floor in a catatonic state."
"Is he still as violent when approached?"
"Worse," the other man told him. "He broke Mark's arm and almost ripped out Shannon's throat when they went into to administer a sedative. I don't know how much more of this we can handle."
"I've already called in favours from some of my colleagues. They'll be sending some help shortly." The doctor rubbed his face before closing the file. "I'm aware of how dangerous this man is becoming. If I can find nothing else about him, I want to know what happened to him."
"He was attacked," the orderly mused. "But by what? What in God's name could do this to a man?"
"I'm almost afraid of the answer," the doctor replied.
Mara smoothed her suit as she stepped out of the car. She particularly like the rustic aspects of nature, but recognized the power these places held. She would have worn more appropriate clothing, but she didn't own anything that was suitable for this trip. Banishing the thoughts about alternative clothing she walked away from the car into the field in front of her.
The field went on for miles in all directions. A tree line was barely visible in the distance. At least she assumed it was a tree line. In the darkness it was difficult to tell. The field was covered in thigh-high grass that had dried in the sun. The new grass had yet to peak up through the old shoots. It made a slight rustling sound as she moved through it, she didn't like the feel of it against her legs.
Her destination was visible from the road that she'd left behind her. A rather large fire lit up the night sky. Since the field wasn't on fire she assumed that the grass had been cleared away from the flames. A figure could be seen dancing wildly around the fire.
As she drew closer she could make out the details of the man. He was fairly tall and wore his black hair long. It fell around his shoulders and various items were braided into it. He wore nothing but a loincloth and his entire body was covered in white ceremonial paint. He didn't cease his dancing when she stepped into the circle around the fire.
"Spirit Summoner," Mara said in a loud voice. "I have need of your services."
"I know," the man replied. He stopped moving and hunched down on the other side of the fire. She could see him shifting from side to side through the flames. He wore a feral expression. "I know why you are here. The spirits told me. You seek the Ancients."
"I do," Mara confirmed. "I need your help to release them. Will you help me?"
"The Ancients cry for release," the man howled at the sky. "Who am I to disobey their call?" He leapt over the fire and landed at Mara's feet on all fours. "I will aid you Mara of the True Blood."
Mara smiled. It had been a long time since anyone had called her that. "You will be rewarded for your services. Come we have much to do." She pulled a cell phone from her pocket and dialled a number. "Kill him. We have nothing to fear from a curse now."
"The body count in this strange string of deaths has just risen to eleven. The police discovered the body of yet another victim today in the park downtown," the anchorman glanced at his papers before continuing. Behind him a picture of a twenty- five year old man with shaggy blonde hair appeared. "Paul Walker was found by joggers this morning. The police immediately informed the media to once again ask for any help the public may have in solving this case. Mr. Walker was found exactly as the other victims. There were not signs of a struggle and there is no known cause of death as of yet. We'll have more on this story as soon as the police release the autopsy report."
TBC
So what did you think? I haven't started the next chapter yet, but I'll try to get some done this weekend. Anyway, let me know what you thought.
Rune