Well, here we are... you guys find out who the rapist is in this chapter... if you're reading this now, I guess you really don't want to know! I'll keep it short, promise! Feedback, as always, to reader_colleen@hotmail.com.
DISCLAIMER: Not real aka, "FICTION". I don't know *NSync or BSB, nor do I know their sexual preferences. If you believe that one of them is gonna marry you someday, why are you here?
No story plugs this time, so onwards!
15: Moment Of Doubt And Pain
"Shit!" Justin said again, staring at the figure in the doorway.
"Shit ain't gonna cover it," AJ said dryly. JC hid behind Justin, who shifted slightly on the bed, giving JC more room behind him. AJ smirked. "Trying to protect Joshy?"
"Get out of here," Justin ordered, voice trembling slightly. AJ laughed and slowly advanced on the two figures sitting on the bed.
"THAT is going to scare me?"
"I'll yell," Justin threatened, causing AJ to laugh again.
"I repeat, THAT is going to scare me?"
"It should," Justin said, trying to sound brave. It didn't work, obviously, because AJ kept coming closer.
"Well, it doesn't. Now, what do we have in here anyway? Looks like a little party that I wasn't invited to." JC shook slightly behind him and Justin shifted so that his left arm was touching JC's knee. He knew it wasn't much, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances.
"Damn right!" Justin yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping someone would wonder what the yelling was all about. Nobody responded immediately, and Justin's heart sank a little more. Chris was probably on the phone, and he didn't think Lance and Joey were in their room next door. He and Josh were on their own. Then again, it was two against one, so maybe they could get away.
"Shut up," AJ said warningly.
"Or what?"
"You don't want to know what I'll do to you if you don't," AJ hissed. Justin got the meaning behind his words and started to tremble himself. He knew some of what AJ had done to JC and Lance, but he didn't know it all. He didn't think he WANTED to know it all, either. Some of the bruises he'd seen on Lance's body after he was raped the last time made him shudder. He didn't even want to think of how one human could do that to another human being. If AJ was really human, that was. At the moment, Justin had his doubts.
"What..." he heard AJ mutter. Justin shook himself out of his musings and realized he couldn't feel JC behind him anymore. He turned around quickly and found the older man had vanished.
"Where'd Joshy-boy go?" AJ asked, coming closer to the bed until he stood right in front of Justin, glaring down at him. Justin fought the urge to shrink away and instead gulped and sat up a little straighter. He heard a sound just to the right and beneath him, and smiled to himself-- JC was talking to someone on his cell phone, and he was hiding under the bed. Justin bit his lip to keep his face expressionless, but it was hard.
"I don't know," he lied. AJ's dark eyes narrowed.
"Bullshit."
"YOU were the one standing in front of us!"
"YOU were the one shielding him. Well, guess what? Even shields fail sometimes." With that, AJ grabbed Justin and ripped at his shirt, causing Justin to scream in shock. This was the last thing he expected! The shirt came off quickly and was thrown across the room while AJ and Justin struggled on the bed. Even though Justin had the height advantage, AJ had the leverage and soon had the younger man pinned down. Justin tried to squirm away, but AJ was pretty heavy for someone his size. AJ was in the midst of taking off his own shirt when he frowned and cocked his head, listening.
"What?" Justin asked, hoping it was help.
"I hear something." Justin prayed that JC had gotten through to whoever he had tried calling, and was still safe under the bed. AJ put his hand over Justin's mouth for silence and listened some more. No sound came from anywhere, not even from under the bed. AJ shook his head before turning back to Justin, removing his hand.
"What did you hear?" Justin asked, trying to distract AJ. It didn't work.
"Not important. But THIS is." AJ leaned down and tried to kiss Justin, but the younger man squirmed slightly and managed to push him away. AJ grabbed his hands and pinned them underneath his knees, leaving Justin defenseless and hopping mad.
"GET OFF!" Justin yelled. AJ slapped him, silencing the yell. His cheek stung, his hands were starting to fall asleep from being trapped, and he was trying to block out what AJ was doing to him, with little success. Satisfied that Justin wasn't going to say anything, AJ leaned down again and this time, he managed the kiss. Justin wrinkled his nose in distaste, but that was the only thing he was capable of doing in his position. AJ's hands started wandering and Justin squirmed, not liking the contact. It was too much like his nightmare from earlier. AJ ignored his struggles and hooked his fingers into the waistband of Justin's pants.
"These have GOT to go," AJ said, leering.
"Fuck you!"
"That's what I intend to do." There was a THUD on the bottom of the bed at AJ's words and he jumped back, freeing Justin's hands, allowing Justin to push the smaller man away from him and move back on the bed a little. AJ sat up fully and glared down at the blond boy in front of him. Justin fought to pretend he didn't know what was going on, but AJ wasn't as stupid as he made himself out to be sometimes.
"He's under the bed, isn't he?"
"WHAT?"
"Nice try, Joshy-boy," AJ said dryly, getting off Justin and kneeling by the side of the bed. Justin hit the floor on the other side and glared across at the older man. JC lay between them, terrified. His cell phone was clutched in his hand, and Justin could hear a faint voice calling out, wondering what was going on. JC held the other hand to his chest, obviously having hurt it when he smacked the bed above him to distract AJ from hurting Justin. AJ's face darkened and he yanked the phone out of JC's fingers, throwing it against the far wall. JC cringed slightly before AJ reached over and violently dragged him out from his hiding place. AJ threw the older man on the bed and just stood there, glaring while JC cowered in fear. Justin slowly stood up and sat down behind his friend, offering silent support. It wasn't often he saw his best friend so frightened, and he didn't like it. He offered what support he could, knowing JC needed it at this moment.
"Somebody's coming," JC said, his voice failing. "I got through to someone on my phone..." AJ smirked.
"You really think they're going to come in here when YOU tell them that everything's fine?"
"You can't make us do that!"
"Wanna bet? I can make you do anything I want you to, Josh. You raped Lance 'cause I told you to, remember?" JC flinched and looked down while Justin's temper rose. "Remember how good it felt when you finally got what you wanted?" AJ taunted. Justin had had enough and launched himself at AJ.
"You bastard!" he screamed. AJ jumped back to avoid the flying man. Justin pulled himself together and glared at AJ. If looks could kill... well, it's a good thing looks don't kill. AJ just smiled and waited for Justin to attack again. When he did, AJ reached back and punched Justin solidly, sending him flying into the wall and knocking him out. With Justin out for the time being, AJ returned his attention to JC, leaning down until the two were at the same eye level. JC wouldn't meet his gaze and AJ smirked.
"You deserve this, you know that, JC," he hissed in JC's ear. "If you hadn't have called someone, I wouldn't have had to do that to Justin."
"It was my fault," JC agreed, his eyes filling with tears.
"God, you're a sissy," AJ complained as he pulled his jeans down. He quickly did the same to JC, who lay on the bed, passive. The shirt was the next to go and AJ sat back, studying what he had 'uncovered'.
"For a fag, you're a good fuck," he said, half to himself. JC made no response, just lay there. "Maybe I should fuck Justin while I'm at it," AJ mused, knowing that would get a reaction out of JC. Sure enough, JC's hands came up and he hit AJ's chest with all his strength. AJ smiled because all of JC's strength at that point wasn't really very much.
"Leave Justin alone," JC choked out. AJ snorted.
"Who's gonna protect him-- you?" No response, so AJ went back to work, running his hands up and down JC's body, knowing that drove the other man up the wall because he hated it so much. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. AJ sat up again, cursing quietly.
"Josh?" Joey called through the door. "Josh, are you guys OK?"
"Tell them everything's fine," AJ ordered quietly so Joey wouldn't hear a strange voice in the room.
"I'm fine, Joey," JC called back, fighting the waver in his voice.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I was just being paranoid when I called you for help earlier." There was silence.
"You sure?" Joey asked again.
"Yeah, Joey. I'm fine. Justin's fine, too. Why don't you go to Chris's room and I'll meet you there in a while?" JC called to the man in the hallway.
"OK, Josh. I'll see you in a while," Joey finally responded. "I'm heading to Chris's room now." JC sighed to himself in relief. Joey had understood what JC hadn't told him, and he was going to get help! Joey's footsteps receeded down the hall and soon stopped alltogether. It was AJ's turn to sigh in relief.
"Now, where were we?"
"Leave me alone."
"Hearing his bandmate made JC grow some backbone," AJ sneered. "Nice try, Joshy-boy. But it ain't gonna stop me."
"The others will wonder where I am if I'm not in Chris's room later..."
"Oh, I'll be finished by then. So we won't worry about that just now."
"AJ, don't..."
"I HATE pleading, Joshua," AJ hissed. "I HATE wussy fags like you. Hell, I hate fags period!" JC felt a tear roll down his cheek and knew he was in for it. AJ raised his hand to strike, but was stopped by a noise outside the door.
"JOSH!" Kevin's voice suddenly bellered through the door. "OPEN UP!"
"Shit!" AJ cursed again, lowering his hand to cover JC's mouth in order to keep him silent. Kevin pounded on the door before there was silence again. AJ started to remove his hand, but heard another sound- a keycard being used on the door. AJ quickly pulled his jeans back up and just finished before the door swung open, revealing Kevin, Brian, Howie, Nick, Joey, Chris, and Lance on the other side.
"YOU ASSHOLE!" Joey screamed, going for AJ's throat. Brian, Howie, and Chris grabbed him just in time. AJ backed up a few steps, and everyone outside pushed their respective ways into the room. Lance and Nick ran over to Justin while Brian and Howie fought to subdue Joey. Chris headed for the bed, where JC still lay. That left Kevin and AJ alone by the door.
"Josh?" Chris called softly. "Josh, you in there?" The man lying on the bed didn't respond and Chris glanced up, fire in his normally calm eyes.
"How could you?" Chris demanded, face set in stone. It was not an expression the others saw very often, and it made them nervous. AJ, however, merely opened his eyes wide and proclaimed his innocence. Kevin sighed once before delivering a hard punch to AJ's jaw. The sound of breaking bones could be heard, stopping everyone dead in their tracks.
"Kevin?" Chris asked, warily studying the taller man. "What did you do?"
"I tried to break his jaw."
"Why?"
"Why the FUCK DO YOU THINK?" Chris backed off and pulled JC into a hug, even though the younger man was unresponsive to anything. Two bodyguards appeared, followed by a pair of police officers and Kevin turned to talk to them while AJ stood quietly, rubbing his sore jaw. Chris glanced over at Lance and Nick who were trying to get Justin back on his feet.
"How's Josh?" Justin asked as he stood up, shaking the last of the pain away. Lance looked over at the bed and caught Chris's eye.
"He's just laying there."
"Josh?" Justin called softly, using Nick for support as he managed to get over to the bed. "Josh, you in there?" Still nothing. A paramedic pushed her way past the blockage by the door and made a beeline for the bed.
"What happened?" Justin didn's answer for a minute, listening in on the conversation between Kevin and the police.
"You claim this man raped the man on the bed, and another man?" The first policeman asked. Kevin nodded.
"And he tried to rape Justin, it appears," Kevin said. He caught Justin's eye across the room and knew he spoke the truth.
"Do you have proof of this?"
"Other than the fact that JC and Lance are in therapy, and Justin looks like he's been in a street fight? Not really. All we have are the words of JC and Lance, but they never gave an identity."
"Then how do you know it was me?" AJ challenged, speaking up.
"JC was lying on the bed, with no pants and no shirt, you're shirtless, and your pants are half undone. Gee, I wonder," Kevin said sarcastically. The paramedic stepped in Justin's line of vision then, bringing his attention back to her.
"What happened here?" she asked again.
"Two attempted rapes," Justin said bitterly. "At least one of them was, anyway. Josh, did he touch you?" JC didn't even seem to realize someone was speaking to him. He just sat there, rocking slightly. The paramedic ignored him for the time being and studied Justin's face closely.
"What happened to YOU?"
"My face had a close encounter with the wall," Justin said dryly. What a stupid question to ask! He knew it was just part of her job, though.
"And him?" she asked, starting an examination of JC. He didn't even repond to her exam, but Justin tried to ignore his friend and concentrate on the events.
"No idea. I got knocked out and just woke up a few minutes ago."
"What did you do to him?" Nick yelled at AJ.
"NOTHING!"
"Bullshit!" Lance yelled back. "You tried to fucking rape him, asshole!"
"Prove it! Kevin just admitted that all you have is your word. And if it's your word against mine, we have a problem, don't we?" AJ sounded very sure of himself.
"Oh, I can prove it," Lance said coldly. "We can all prove you raped both me and JC. And we can prove that you just tried to rape Justin."
"You can't prove anything."
"Yes, they can," Howie spoke up. "I can prove it, too."
I'm leaving it there, 'cause otherwise, it would be ten page chapter! But what exactly does Howie know? Stay tuned!