crimson regret

Kevin struggled to read the map and keep the rented SUV on the road, annoyed that the others were laughing and clowning around instead of helping him figure out where they were going.

But not too much.

Hearing the guys laugh proved to him this break was exactly what they all needed.

Nick howled as AJ told him the punchline to a dirty joke, and Brian just shook his head while Howie rolled his eyes. Kevin had to smile. This was how they were supposed to be. Relaxed and enjoying themselves, not stressed out and irritable, which was what they’d been for months now. And with their lawsuit against their record label about to get ugly, Kevin had decided they needed to take some time away from everything.

“A vacation from the spotlight and the bullshit,” he told their management firmly, leaving no room for argument. “Three days, maybe four. No bodyguards. No press.”

They had decided to give nature a try, so they boarded a plane and landed in the small airport in Binghamton, New York, then rented a red Lexus SUV to drive the rest of the way to a cabin in the Pocono Mountains. The scenery was beautiful as they drove, with tall, swaying trees towering on either side of the road. Since it was late October, the leaves were brilliant shades of orange, red and yellow.

Kevin finally found where he was on the map and tossed it at his cousin, sitting in the passenger seat.

“We doing all right?” Brian asked.

Kevin glanced sideways. “Sure,” he said, wondering if Brian meant the trip or the welfare of the group in general.

Brian nodded and folded the map into a neat square. “This was a good idea. I haven’t been fishing in years.”

“Some rest will do us all some good,” Kevin said. “We’ve got about two hours before we reach the cabin.”

Brian looked out the window. “We’ll make it just before dark. Good.”

“Hey! Where’d you hide the Cheetos, Bri?” Nick called from the far backseat.

“The green duffel bag,“ Brian answered, “but try not to eat them all.”

Kevin turned slightly to yell out a quip of his own when a figure dashed out in front of the SUV. It was so quick, at first Kevin thought it was a shadow from the overhead trees, but then the figure paused for a moment and stared straight at him. It was a young girl with long blonde hair, wearing a dark brown dress. Kevin yelled out and swerved to miss her, jerking the steering wheel hard to the right. The SUV slid down the embankment and Kevin slammed on the brakes just inches away from a huge tree.

Kevin recovered first and began calling out to the others. He unbuckled his seatbelt and reached for Brian.

“I’m okay, I’m fine,” Brian said. “Check on Nick, he was in back.”

Kevin got out of the van, saw the flat front tires and grimaced. AJ and Howie stumbled out, shaken but unhurt.

“Nick?” Kevin asked, going around to the back. He lifted the door and caught the younger man by the arm.

Blood dripped from a cut above Nick’s right eyebrow.

“Shit,” Kevin murmured.

Nick sat on the grass and coughed. “What happened?” he asked, holding his head.

Brian searched their bags for a bottle of water and a clean towel. Kevin tilted Nick’s head upward, staring into his eyes. He cupped Nick’s chin in one of his large hands and ran the fingers of his other gently over Nick’s face. Brian gave him a towel soaked in water, and Kevin gently wiped away the blood.

“Someone ran in front of me,” Kevin said. “A girl. She just ran out onto the road.”

“Did we hit her?” Howie asked.

Kevin shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Which way did she go?”

Kevin pointed and Howie scrambled up the road to see if he could find her.

“I’m all right, really,” Nick insisted, his voice soft, and his eyes never wavering from Kevin’s face as Kevin finished cleaning him up. “I just have a headache.”

Brian frowned. “You might have a concussion. We should get you to a doctor.”

Howie returned a minute later, his face flushed from running. “I don’t know what you saw, Kev, but she’s gone.”

“Howie, you got your cell phone?” Brian asked.

“Already tried. No signal out here.”

“So now what, oh fearless leader?” AJ asked. He tapped out a cigarette and lit it.

“There’s no way we’re getting back on the road, not without a tow truck,” Howie said. “The front axle’s busted.”

“I think there was a small town not far from here,” Kevin said. He retrieved the map and spread it out on the ground. “We could walk it.”

“In the woods? In the dark?” Nick asked. “Huh uh. No way.”

“The road is paved, and it’s not dark yet. We could make it.”

Nick grinned and stood up. “I’ve got a better idea. How ‘bout we hitch a ride?”

All of them turned to the road where a huge tow truck was rumbling toward them. It slowed to a stop, and the driver came over and peered down at them. He was a big man in his fifties, with a beard and graying hair. He was dressed in greasy overalls and a dirty ball cap.

“Havin’ some troubles?” he asked with a grin.

“We kind of ran off the road,” Kevin said, going up to talk with the man.

The man blinked at Kevin as if he recognized him, shook his head and stared again.

“Uh, I can pull you outta there,” the man said, sounding confused. “I’m Rick, the mechanic in Buster Creek. It’s about 15 miles down the road there, small town but homey. There’s a hotel there where you boys can stay while your car gets fixed.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Is there a doctor? My friend hit his head pretty hard,” Kevin said.

Rick smiled. “My wife’s the doctor. She’ll fix him right up.”

An hour later, the SUV was hitched to the tow truck, and everyone was squeezing in the cab with Rick.

“You’re not from around here?” he asked, making small talk. He looked at Kevin.

“No, we’re from Florida. We were headed for the Poconos.”

Rick squinted at him. “Do you have any family around here?”

“Most of my family is in Kentucky.”

“You just look very familiar to me.”

“Oh, well, we’re kind of famous,” Nick threw in.

“Really?”

“We’re a music group. The Backstreet Boys.”

“You’re singers?”

“Yeah,” Nick said.

“Sorry, I’m not into popular music. Some of the younger kids might know you though.”

Howie coughed politely. “How big is Buster Creek?”

“About seven hundred.”

“Seven hundred people? Wow, that’s small.”

“That’s depressing,” Nick muttered. Howie elbowed him in the side.

They reached Buster Creek and Rick parked inside the garage of his shop on Main Street.

“This is going to take some time to fix. I probably won’t get it done until tomorrow. Are you boys expected somewhere at a certain time?”

Kevin shook his head. “We’re on vacation. Is there much to do around here?“

Rick’s mouth twitched into a smirk. “There’s a diner, a hotel, and a drive-in.”

“What about fishing? The place is called Buster Creek,” AJ said.

“Creek dried up about fifty years ago.”

“Oh.”

Rick pointed down the street. “Hotel’s down there, on your right. I’ll call my wife and have her meet you there.”

The guys gathered their stuff and began walking. Darkness was just settling down around them, casting the town in a soft, eerie light.

“This place is creepy,” Nick said. “And that mechanic kept staring at Kevin. What’s up with that?”

“I must have reminded him of someone,” Kevin said, shrugging.

They arrived at the Buster Creek Hotel, which was situated at the end of the street with a patch of woods behind it, and took a moment to stare up at it. It was a three story powder-blue building with white shutters. A swing hung on the front porch, and thick potted plants sat on the steps. It was nice looking, but Kevin couldn’t stop the sudden chill that trailed up his back.

“Well, let’s go,” he said, noticing his voice sounded strained. “Let’s get some rooms and find some food.”

He led the way inside, stopping in a nicely decorated lobby. An older man greeted them from behind the polished front desk.

“Welcome to Buster Creek,” he said with a smile. A smile that faltered as his gaze fell on Kevin. The older man lifted his glasses to rub at his eyes. “Um, you need rooms, I assume. My name is Matthew, I own the place.”

“Nice to meet you. Are there five rooms available?” Kevin asked.

Matthew swallowed and nodded. “You’re the only ones here. Second floor okay?”

“Fine.”

Matthew had them sign in, then produced five keys.

“Wow, actual keys and not cards,” AJ said, examining his.

“Rooms one through five, top of the stairs, second floor to your left,” Matthew said. “There’s a lounge down here. Sorry, no room service.”

“Do you have a pool?” Nick asked.

“Internet access?” Howie asked.

Matthew shook his head. “Sorry.”

“We’ll be fine without them,” Kevin said.

As the five of them moved up the staircase, AJ glanced back at the owner. He was standing where they’d left him, and he was staring at Kevin. AJ tried to ignore the unease that was building in his stomach, but he couldn’t. Something was weird about this place.

Kevin and the others agreed to meet in the hall in thirty minutes to go to the diner. In his room, he stretched out on the bed and took a deep breath. He still couldn’t figure out what he had seen in the road, and why had Rick and Matthew looked at him so strangely?

Shaking his head, he sat up and made a quick call to his mother, letting her know what had happened and where they were. Then he washed his face and changed clothes.

His room was closest to the stairs, and when he stepped out, he almost ran into a woman carrying a black bag. Her face instantly paled, and her eyes widened in shock.

Strike three, Kevin thought.

“I’m, I’m Kim Porter,” the woman stammered. “My husband Rick said someone was injured.” Her hands fumbled with the straps of her bag.

“Oh, yeah. My friend Nick hit his head in the car we were in. We had an accident. I’m Kevin.”

“Kevin?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, where is Nick?”

Kevin knocked on Nick’s door and walked in. AJ was lounging on the bed, channel surfing.

“No cable,” he said without looking up.

“This is the doctor,” Kevin said. He pointed at Nick. “He’s the one that was hurt.”

Kim Porter moved sideways away from Kevin. Nick noticed and threw a questioning look at Kevin, who only shrugged. Kim checked out Nick and told him to rest. She didn’t believe he had a concussion, but she did want him to take it easy. As she packed up her bag, she kept throwing hesitant looks at Kevin.

Just before she left, she asked him, “Are you staying here long?”

Kevin shrugged. “Until our car is fixed.”

“And then you’ll be leaving?”

“Yes.”

Kim Porter nodded. “Good.”

She scurried away, and they could hear her running down the stairs.

“What the fuck was that about?” AJ asked. “Is everyone in this place on crack or something?”

Kevin sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Let’s just go get something to eat.”

“Howie’s in the lounge,” AJ said. He switched off the TV and the three of them went to get Brian, then headed down for the lounge.

The doctor was talking with Matthew, her hands flailing and her expression wide-eyed. When she saw them on the steps, she abruptly stopped talking and made a hasty exit. They found Howie browsing through the collection of books in the lounge.

“Hey, D, you ready to go?” Brian asked.

“Yup, sure. This is a pretty eclectic mix of books,” Howie said. “Classics, contemporary, horror. I’m impressed.”

Kevin scanned the shelves, taking in all the framed photographs, but one jumped out at him. He picked it up from the shelf.

“That’s her,” he said.

“Who’s her?” AJ asked.

Kevin pointed to the picture. “That’s the girl that ran out in front of us.”

They stared at the picture of a young girl, maybe seventeen or eighteen, with long blonde hair and bright green eyes. She was beautiful and vibrant in a blue print dress.

“Well, who is she?” Brian asked.

“That’s Amelia,” came the gruff voice.

All five of them jumped at the sound and turned to see Matthew standing in the doorway.

“Is she your granddaughter, sir?” Kevin asked.

An emotion flickered in the older man’s eyes. Sadness, fear, maybe suspicion? Kevin couldn’t tell.

“She was my daughter. She ran away 28 years ago, never heard from her again,” Matthew said. “That’s the last picture taken of her before she left.”

Kevin frowned and looked again at the photo. The girl he had seen looked just like this, but how was that possible?

“Uh, well, we’re going out for dinner now,” Nick said, edging towards the door.

Howie took the frame from Kevin’s hands and placed it back on the shelf. They left the hotel and headed for the diner, all of them feeling Matthew’s eyes on their backs.

It was dark out now, and they walked close together, practically stepping on each other’s toes. It would have been funny, except that all of them were a little freaked out by the strangeness of the town.

“Okay, just what is the deal here?” AJ demanded when they reached the diner. “Kevin, are you sick or something?”

“No, I don’t understand,” Kevin said.

They chose a booth and sat down. A waitress brought them water and menus, then left them alone to decide. A high-pitched shriek made Brian spit water all over himself.

“Shawn! Shawn, is that you?”

They stared as a woman barreled over and pulled Kevin from his seat, running her hands over his face.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I think you’ve got the wrong person,” he said.

The woman froze, then dropped her hands to her sides. Her lower lip began to tremble as she said, “No, no, I guess you couldn’t be Shawn. You just look so much like my older brother Shawn. I just, I’m sorry.”

“Your older brother?” Howie asked.

“He left town 28 years ago. You look just like him.”

Howie and Nick exchanged glances. Twenty-eight years ago?

“Ma’am, did he leave with a girl named Amelia?” Howie asked.

The woman gasped. “Do you know where they are?”

AJ gave an exasperated sigh and said, “Okay, really now. What the hell is going on?!”

“Maybe you should join us,” Kevin said. He brought a chair to the table and introduced himself and the others.

“I’m Sally Landon,” the woman said. “My older brother was Shawn Landon.” She pulled a small wallet from her purse and took out an old picture.

An uneasy silence descended upon the table. Shawn Landon could have been Kevin’s twin.

“How do you know about Amelia?” Sally asked, puzzled.

Nick cleared his throat and explained they were staying at the hotel owned by Amelia’s father while their car was being fixed.

“Poor Matthew. He loved his daughter so much,” Sally said. She took the picture back from Brian and looked at it. “He was so handsome. It’s no wonder Amelia fell in love with him. But her father didn’t like Shawn because he was older. Amelia Winter was seventeen, and my brother was twenty-two. They fell in love in the summer of 1973, and Shawn proposed. But old Matthew wouldn’t allow it. He had raised Amelia alone after his wife died, and he was very protective of her. So they decided to run away. I haven’t heard from my brother since then.”

Sally splayed her hands on the table and stared at her fingers. “Personally,” she said, her voice dropping to a near whisper, “I think they’re both dead.”

“What makes you say that?” Kevin asked.

“If there was one thing I could always count on my brother for, it was him keeping his word. He told me about their plans to leave, and he swore he would contact me when he and Amelia were settled. But he never did.”

Howie tapped his finger against his chin in thought. “Did anyone look for them?” he asked.

Sally nodded. “Oh sure. Stories flew around for months about them. My parents hired a private investigator after the police said there was nothing more they could do. Some people thought Shawn killed her and left town.” She snorted and said, “Absurd. He loved Amelia, he would never have killed her. If anyone killed her, it was Kim Reed. I guess she’s Kim Porter now.”

“The doctor?” Nick exclaimed.

“Yes. She and Shawn were an item for a year, and then Shawn took notice of Amelia. She’d grown into such a beautiful young woman, and so smart and polite. He dumped Kim right away. I think Kim was crazy with jealousy, but I can’t prove it. She and her husband avoid me now. It’s funny, but not long after Amelia and Shawn disappeared, they up and got married.”

“Why is that funny? Maybe she just moved on,” Howie suggested.

“It’s funny because for as long as I can remember, Rick Porter had the biggest crush on Kim, but she wouldn’t give him the time of day,” Sally said. “It was all very suspicious, but no one could find out anything. They got married and moved away while Kim went to school, then they moved back here about 10 years ago. She took over the doctor’s office after my father died. Makes me sick. Shawn was going to be a doctor. The place should have been his.”

She swiped at her eyes and then looked at Kevin. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I don’t even know you boys.”

“It’s all right, ma’am,” Kevin said.

Sally stood up and smoothed her hair back. She gave Kevin a small smile and said, “You really do look like him. It’s uncanny. Well, I’ve disrupted your dinner enough for one night.”

She said goodbye and left the diner, clutching the picture of her brother. AJ watched her go and shivered, rubbing his arms.

“I don’t know about you guys, but this is some creepy shit, and I want to get out of here,” he said.

They ordered food to go and practically ran back to the hotel. Matthew eyed them as they bolted up the stairs. They all gathered in one room, Howie’s, and positioned themselves in various places to eat. But they merely picked at their food.

“Okay, so, Kevin saw a ghost of this dead girl, and all these townspeople think he’s her lover or something,” Nick said. He set aside his barely touched dinner. “Can we call the auto shop and see if our car is ready? I want to leave.”

Brian said nothing, but he did notice Nick scoot closer to where Kevin sat on the floor. AJ nodded in agreement with Nick.

“Yeah, call the guy, what was his name? Rick, yeah, and ask if there’s a rental place nearby. I’ll pay to have the stupid SUV towed back to the airport. Hell, I’ll buy the damn thing and toss it into Buster Creek.”

“The creek dried up,” Kevin said, and AJ rolled his eyes. “All right, I’ll call.”

He stood up to find a phonebook, and Nick got up too, sticking close.

“What are you, my shadow now?” Kevin teased.

Nick jumped and tried to look innocent. “Huh? No, I just, I have to use the bathroom.”

He hurried away, slamming the door behind him. Howie leaned back against the headboard of the bed and said softly, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was worried about you, Kev.”

Kevin paused in flipping through the phonebook and looked up. “Why would he be worried about me?”

“Because he cares about you,” AJ said, his voice barely above a whisper. “And not just in the brotherly way that we do. Haven’t you seen it?”

Howie and Brian nodded.

Before Kevin could say anything, Nick left the bathroom and went to stand next to him. “So, you call yet?”

Kevin simply blinked and then shook his head. “No, not yet.” He turned his attention back to the phonebook, found the number and picked up the phone.

After listening to Rick explain that there were no rental agencies nearby, and it was too late for him to take them to the nearest one, Kevin hung up and sighed.

“We’re stuck here for the night. Rick says he’ll take us to a car place in the morning, because his wife doesn’t want him to go right now.”

“So let’s call a fucking cab or something,” AJ said, throwing his hands in the air.

“Let’s just calm down, okay? Nothing bad is going to happen,” Kevin said, even though his heart beat just a little faster as a tree tapped against the window.

Brian leaned over to look outside and said, “Uh, guys. Someone’s out there.”

“Kill the lights!” Nick hissed, diving for the switch himself.

They all crowded by the window and peered out.

“I don’t see anything,” Howie said, his eyes darting every which way. He gulped audibly, making AJ shudder.

“It was over there, behind those trees. I swear I saw someone standing there,” Brian said.

“You know what? I don’t care if I sound like a baby, but I’m not sleeping alone tonight,” AJ said. “No fucking way man.”

“I agree,” Howie said. “We should all stick together. Just in case.”

Kevin moved from the window and turned on the lights. The rest of them screamed and jumped back.

“This is ridiculous,” Kevin said. “We’re scaring ourselves, and over what? Nothing.”

“Tell me you didn’t see a girl in the road,“ Nick said. “Tell me that no one else thinks you look like her boyfriend. Tell me this town isn’t completely fucking scary.“

Kevin pursed his lips. “I don’t know what I saw. And it’s just a coincidence about the resemblance. And as for the town, it’s small. People don’t have anything better to do.”

Nick swallowed and shook his head. “I think we should all stay together. Please, Kev, please.”

Kevin heard the fear in the younger man’s voice, saw how huge his eyes were, and nodded.

“All right. We’ll room together. It’ll be fun, like the old days,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Great. We’re all going to suffocate from Nick’s farts and Howie’s smelly feet,” AJ teased.

A nervous laughter filled the air, and Kevin saw everyone relax slightly. They gathered their bags and the pillows and blankets from the other rooms and piled into Howie’s. Nick planted himself on the floor beside Kevin, while Howie and Brian decided to share the bed. AJ claimed the spot in front of the TV, and declared himself King of the Remote Control.

They watched sitcoms for awhile before they started drifting off to sleep. Kevin was the only one awake by then, so he turned off the TV, but left the lights on. Looking over each of the guys, his gaze finally settled on Nick. He was still baby-faced, and in some ways, very innocent, and Kevin admitted to still feeling very protective of him. If what the others said were true, then Nick had deeper feelings for him, feelings Kevin had been completely oblivious to.

Needing some time to think, Kevin decided to go down to the lounge and sit for awhile. He left the room, making sure to lock the door behind him. The hall and stairway were brightly lit, and he made it to the lounge with no problem. Matthew was no longer standing watch at the front desk, but there was a “ring bell for service” sign set up.

Turning on the lights in the lounge, Kevin was immediately drawn to the picture of Amelia on the shelf. He picked it up and stared at it again, wondering if he was going crazy, or if this was just some kind of strange dream brought on by all the stress they’d been dealing with recently.

No, he decided. He was certain he’d seen this girl on the road. There was no way he could have imagined her.

“I don’t know your story,“ he said to the photo, “but I wish I did.”

He had just placed it on the shelf when he felt a sharp crack of pain at the back of his head. He fell forward, knocking his chin against the edge of the shelf.

Then everything went black.

~*~*~

Nick sat up with a start, blinking against the light. He looked to his left, reaching out at the same time, and coming up with nothing.

“Where’s Kevin?” he asked loudly, pushing back his blankets. He quickly checked the bathroom, but there was no one there, and the door to the room was locked.

“What? He’s not here?” Brian asked.

“No,” Nick said. He unlocked the door and went into the hall. The others stumbled out after him.

They split up and checked the other rooms.

“Empty,” Brian said. “They’re all empty.”

“Where the f-fuck did he go?” AJ asked, and they could all tell he was working very hard not to stutter.

Nick dashed for the stairs, taking them two at a time. He nearly fell halfway down, but managed to catch himself on the railing. His hands were slippery with sweat, and he was dizzy with fear.

Howie ran to the front desk and started ringing the bell. Nick went straight to the lounge, instinctively knowing that Kevin had been there.

“Her picture’s knocked over,” he said, pointing.

Brian moved closer and suddenly stopped. “Is that blood?”

Howie came in at that moment and said, “Matthew’s gone. Holy shit, is that blood?”

Nick nodded slowly. “Kevin’s in trouble. We have to find him.”

He turned and ran for the stairs before the others could even blink.

“Where are you going?” Brian asked.

They were pulling on their shoes and grabbing jackets, while AJ dug around in his suitcase for the flashlights he knew he’d brought along. He tossed one to each of them, and tucked the last one in his coat pocket.

They hurried from their room and ran outside. Everything was quiet and dark, and Nick felt the fear clawing its way up his throat, threatening to choke him.

“Jesus Christ, which way do we go?” he asked.

Howie looked up at the hotel. “Bri, where did you see that person?”

Brian whirled around. “Over there, behind that tree.”

“Then let’s start over there.”

As a group, they made their way over, aiming their flashlights all around.

“We should have called the police before we left the hotel,” AJ said as they reached the tree.

“We don’t know exactly what happened,” Howie said.

“The fuck we don’t. Kevin’s been attacked and dragged off somewhere, probably by whoever killed Amelia and Shawn,” Nick said.

“We don’t know what happened to them either,” Howie said, trying to stay calm, but Nick wouldn’t hear it.

“I’ll bet it was the doctor,” he said. “You heard Shawn Landon’s sister. The doc was nuts over him.”

AJ peered down at the ground by the tree. “It sure looks like someone’s been here. The grass is all flat.”

“Do you think they went into the woods?” Howie asked.

Nick said nothing, he just marched on. The others had no choice but to follow.

~*~*~

Tick. Tick. Tick.

That was the first sound that Kevin heard as he slowly woke up.

Crickets, he thought.

The second was something he couldn’t quite identify. He blinked and tried to focus, but everything was blurry. He knew it was still dark out, but he didn’t know where he was, and his head ached something fierce.

He swallowed, felt his throat burn and gagged. His jaw was stiff and swollen. He tried to sit up, but his balance was off. He realized his hands were tied behind his back, his legs tied at the ankles, and he was lying on dirt and brittle leaves.

A few yards away, he could make out a figure, but he couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. But what he did see made panic rise in his chest.

A shovel. The figure was digging, throwing aside dirt, one pile after another.

“Oh God,” Kevin croaked.

The figure paused, hearing him, and Kevin clamped his lips together and squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to remain still, but he was trembling so hard, he knew it was obvious he was awake.

After a moment, he heard a grunt, and then the digging resumed.

“I don’t know who you are,” the figure said, and Kevin thought it sounded like a man, but he couldn’t be sure, “but you’re causing too many folks to look at you. I can’t have that, not after all this time.”

“Did-did you kill them?” Kevin asked.

“Doesn’t matter anymore. But I have to get rid of you.”

Kevin couldn’t see how deep the hole was, but his imagination saw six feet, a grave. The bile rose in his throat, and he turned his head and retched. His head swam, and he collapsed on the ground, cursing himself for leaving the hotel room in the first place, and praying for someone to find him.

There was a clang as the shovel was tossed aside, then footsteps coming closer to him. The figure crouched over him, and Kevin recognized the face of Rick, the tow truck driver.

“I’m sorry, but I have to protect her,” Rick said. He moved towards Kevin’s head, then lifted him under the arms and started to drag him towards the grave.

“Who? Kim? Did she kill them?” Kevin asked. He struggled to slow Rick down, but too much movement made him feel the need to vomit again.

“Stop it, will you? Or she’ll have to hit you again,” Rick said.

Kevin saw Kim emerge from behind a tree, her eyes flashing in the dim light of the moon.

“I’m not Shawn Landon,” Kevin said. “Please, I won’t do anything to hurt you -”

“No, you won’t,” Kim said, her voice emotionless. “Not anymore.”

Rick hauled Kevin to his feet, putting him at the edge of the grave. Kevin didn’t dare look behind him.

“Just tell me, did you kill them?” he asked, looking at Kim.

She regarded him for a moment before answering. “I killed her. I didn’t mean to, it just happened. I caught her waiting outside Shawn’s house. I knew they were planning on running away, and I wanted to talk to her, make her change her mind. I loved him, you see. I wanted him to stay and be with me, like he was supposed to. But she kept saying how much they were in love, and how I couldn’t stop her.”

Kim broke off, tears running down her face. “She turned to walk away from me, and I picked up one of those heavy ceramic flower pots that Shawn’s mother kept outside, and I hit her over the head with it. She went down, and that’s when Shawn came out of the house. He was in a rage and he came at me. And then, out of nowhere, Rick appeared.”

Rick nodded and looked at Kevin. Kim smiled and said, “He stopped Shawn. I think he broke his neck. And there we were, with two bodies and neither of us wanting to go to jail. So we took Rick’s truck and loaded them in, then buried them out here.”

“Out here?” Kevin asked.

“Yes. You’ll be joining them soon.”

Before Kevin could react, Rick hit him in the stomach with the handle of the shovel, pushing him backwards. With a yell, Kevin fell into the hole, landing on his back and twisting his right wrist beneath him. The wind knocked out of him, he lay there, motionless and hurt.

As the first shovel full of dirt hit him in the chest, he opened his mouth to scream, and wasn’t surprised at all when no sound came out.

~*~*~

Nick was close to having a breakdown. They’d been walking for what felt like hours, but in reality had only been a few minutes. They were afraid to call out for Kevin, in case he wasn’t alone, and they kept their flashlight beams aimed down.

“Shh,” AJ said, holding up a hand. “Do you hear that?”

They stopped and listened.

“Voices,” Howie said. “From over there.”

Nick looked ready to run in that direction, but Brian grabbed his arm. “We have to be quiet. We don’t know what’s happening.”

“But Kevin...” Nick whispered.

Brian nodded. “I know. We’ll get to him.”

Single file, with Nick in the lead, they hurried through bushes and darted around trees towards the voices. Nick had just stepped into a small clearing when he heard, “You’ll be joining them soon,” and saw Kevin get pushed into a hole in the ground. The person with the shovel threw dirt in the hole, and Nick almost threw up at the thought of Kevin being buried alive.

“Fucking bastards!” he shouted and ran towards the one with the shovel.

The other person, who Brian recognized as Kim Porter, the doctor, screamed and took off running, but Howie tackled her and held her down. AJ jumped on her as well, trying to grab onto her arms.

Nick swung his flashlight like a baseball bat, cracking it against the person’s head. The shovel fell to the ground, and Nick swung again, this time hitting the right shoulder. Bone cracked.

Nick saw it was Rick he’d hit, and grabbed onto his shirt collar.

“You fucking asshole!” he screamed in Rick’s face, then punched him, knocking him out.

Kim shrieked and fought, but Howie and AJ stayed on her. Suddenly a rifle shot split the air, causing everyone to fall silent.

Standing at the edge of the clearing, right where Nick and the others had burst through only moments ago stood the sheriff, two deputies, and Matthew Winter. One of the deputies held a rifle, while the other one and the sheriff had their guns out, aimed at them.

“What the hell is going on here?” the sheriff demanded.

“These two kidnapped our friend and tried to bury him alive,” AJ yelled.

Nick jumped to his feet and moved towards the grave.

“Son, don’t you move,” the sheriff warned.

“Shoot me in the back if you want, but my friend is down there and he’s hurt. He needs help,” Nick said.

He slid down into the hole, wincing at the sound of dirt falling. He could hear Kevin’s labored breathing and knew he was hyperventilating.

“Kev, can you hear me?” Nick asked, reaching for him in the darkness. He touched Kevin’s chest, moved his hands towards Kevin’s face. “I’m right here, you’re safe now. The police are here. Just breathe normally.”

Up above, the sheriff radioed for an ambulance and the deputies placed Lisa and Rick under arrest.

“How is he?” Brian called down.

Nick swallowed. “He’s in shock, I think. We need to get him to a hospital. Can someone shine a light down here? I can’t see anything.”

A deputy shined a megawatt spotlight over him, and Nick quickly untied the rope around Kevin’s ankles, then tried to reach the one around his wrists.

Kevin moaned in pain, and then went still.

“I think he’s passed out!” Nick yelled. “Get an ambulance here!”

“It’s on the way,” AJ said, his voice shaking.

Nick blinked back tears and gently rolled Kevin onto his side to get at the rope. “Aw fuck, shit,” he said. “I think his wrist is broken.”

“Nick, help is here, come on, you need to get out of the way,” Howie said, leaning down to pull Nick out.

It wasn’t until two paramedics had slipped down beside him that Nick allowed himself to move. They watched as Kevin was strapped to a board and carefully lifted out.

“Is he okay?” Nick asked, hovering nearby.

“Looks like a nasty head wound, but we can’t tell if the wrist is broken or sprained. We’re taking him to the hospital.”

“Can I ride with him, please?” Nick begged. “Please, he needs me.”

The paramedics exchanged sympathetic glances, and finally nodded. The sheriff offered to drive the others.

Nick climbed into the ambulance and held onto Kevin’s uninjured hand. Just as the doors were closed, he saw Matthew Winter standing by the grave. He was sobbing.

~*~*~

Kevin sighed heavily and opened his eyes. The room he was in was unfamiliar. White, with a window to his left. A small nightstand was under the window, covered in flowers and balloons. He frowned, wondering if it was his birthday.

He raised his left hand and saw an IV needle there. His right arm was in a sling, and he felt a bandage on his head. Then it all came rushing back. Amelia, Shawn, Rick and Kim, all caught up in a twisted tale of love and murder that had somehow involved him as well.

“Hey, you’re awake.”

He slid his gaze to the right, to where Nick was sitting in a chair and yawning.

“How do you feel?”

Kevin shrugged. “Like hell.”

“You look like it too.”

“What happened?”

Nick took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s a long and complicated story. Do you want to talk to a doctor first?”

“No. I want to know what happened. Where are the others? Are they all right?”

“Yeah, they’re fine. They’re down in the cafeteria trying to eat some really bad meatloaf.” Nick grinned. “I passed and ate your really bad tuna noodle casserole instead.”

“You ate my dinner?”

“I saved you the Jell-O,” Nick said, pointing to the food tray. A glob of green wiggled in a plastic cup.

Kevin raised a brow. “No thanks. So, tell me.”

“Well, the good doc and her grease ball mechanic husband are in jail for murder and attempted murder. They confessed to killing Shawn and Amelia all those years ago,” Nick said. “See, basically, Rick blackmailed Kim into marrying him. He said he’d confess to killing Shawn, tell the cops he witnessed Kim kill Amelia and helped get rid of their bodies if she didn’t marry him. She didn’t want to go to prison, so she did. Seeing you just freaked the hell out of both of them, and Kim talked Rick into getting rid of you.”

“She hit me,” Kevin said. “She whacked me in the head.”

“I know, what a bitch, huh? They took you out to the woods and started digging.” Nick suddenly averted his eyes and gulped. “Uh, they were going to bury you in the same spot they buried Shawn and Amelia.”

Kevin blinked. “What?”

Nick nodded. “The cops checked it out. Rick and Kim had actually dug into their grave. Some bones were sticking up out of the dirt about two feet away from where you were, and they found two complete skeletons.”

“Oh my God.”

“Yeah.”

Kevin stared at the wall. “At least everyone knows the truth now.”

“Matthew and Sally are taking it pretty hard. And really, it was Matthew that kind of figured it all out.”

“How so?”

“Remember when we saw Kim talking to him? After she checked out my head? She was telling him she didn’t like a Shawn look-a-like just showing up out of the blue like that, and half expected a girl like Amelia to pop into town wearing a dark brown dress.”

Something about that rang a bell with Kevin, but he couldn’t quite place it.

“Amelia was wearing a dark brown dress the day she disappeared, but back then, when Kim was questioned by the police, she said she hadn’t seen Amelia at all that day,” Nick said. “So Matthew went to talk to the sheriff about it. They were coming back to find her and Rick, but they were already gone. And when they checked the hotel and found us gone, they started searching.”

“The girl on the road,” Kevin said, remembering. “The girl I saw was wearing a brown dress.”

Nick sucked in a breath. “She was? You mean, you really did see her?”

Frowning, Kevin shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe.”

“I believe you did. Come on, after all this? A ghost isn’t that much of a stretch.”

“So when do I get to go home?” Kevin asked, changing the subject. He didn’t want to talk about ghosts or murders anymore.

“Well, I think the doctor said tomorrow at the earliest. Your wrist is sprained, so no piano playing for awhile.”

“That’s okay. No one to play for anyway.”

“You can always play for me.”

Kevin tipped his head a bit to look at Nick. “What’s going on with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the guys say you, that you, uh...” Kevin faltered, unsure of how to say it.

Nick examined his fingernails for a moment. “Hmm. Guess I haven’t been very good at hiding it,” he mused.

“Um, hiding what?”

Slowly, Nick raised his head and locked his eyes with Kevin’s. “My feelings have changed some, I suppose you could say.”

“About me?”

“Yeah.”

Kevin chewed on his lower lip, and Nick rubbed his eyes.

“With all the stuff that’s been happening, with the group, with the label and our management,” he said, “I’ve realized that there was one person I could truly count on, all the time, no matter what. And that I cared about that person in more than just a friendly or brotherly way.” Nick broke off and took a deep breath. “When I saw you fall last night, I flipped out. I practically knocked Rick’s head off, I was pissed. But I was also scared. For you. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t –”

“So,” Nick interrupted, smirking a little when he saw that familiar look of annoyance cross Kevin’s face, “I want to make sure you know how I feel, even though I know nothing will probably ever happen. I just don’t want to regret not telling you that I really do care about you, and all that mushy stuff.”

Kevin smiled and shook his head. “All that mushy stuff?”

“Hey, I’m not good at talking about my feelings.”

Kevin reached over and took Nick’s hand. “Thanks for being honest with me. I appreciate it. I also want to know why you think nothing would happen between us.”

“Be...cause?” Nick asked uncertainly.

“Maybe if we just take it slow, see how things turn out,” Kevin said.

“Huh?”

“What part of this don’t you comprehend?”

Gently cupping Nick’s face in his hand, Kevin brushed his thumb across Nick’s lips, then leaned down and tasted them.

Outside the room, AJ, Howie and Brian moved to block the sheriff and his two deputies from entering.

“Can you come back later? He’s still resting,” Howie said. “Head trauma and all, he’s still in pain.”

Unfortunately, the three of them weren’t the tallest members of the Backstreet Boys, and the sheriff peered over their heads.

“Uh huh. He looks like he’s suffering all right,” he said with a wry grin. He signaled to his deputies to leave with him. “We’ll be back later.”

AJ glanced into the room. His expression went from amused to fascinated to slightly horrified.

“Dude. They’re practically sucking each other’s faces off,” he said.

Brian steered them away. “Let’s give them some privacy, huh?”

They settled down in the waiting room at the end of the hall. Howie tapped the arm of the couch and said, “I think it’s great that Nick finally told Kevin how he felt.”

AJ nodded. “Yeah. Too bad it happened because Kev almost got killed.”

Brian suppressed a shiver and said, “At least Rick and Kim are in jail now, and Sally and Matthew can properly move on. Some good came of this whole situation in the end.”

AJ snorted and let out a small giggle.

“Is it selfish of me to still want to go fishing?”

~end