Last Time . . .

There was a slight gasp, and just as Johnny turned around, there was Justin, mask off holding it off to the side. The look on each of the Backstreet Boys faces was of complete shock. Justin just stood there and said without an accent.

“I’ll sing my own part. You sing yours, and we will personally kick your asses.” His voice shaky as he felt all the cameras and bright flashes all turn to him. By morning, every papertron in the US would have his face on it and he would have to come clean. He figured it was a better time then any to do it. Johnny had a smile of pride on his face, and hugged his brother tightly.

This Time . . .

1 hour later

            AJ went flying into the back of a parked moving van, and Justin quickly ran and grabbed him. He threw him into a dark alley and a couple of seconds later NSYNC came out of the alley, brushing dust off of their tuxes. They didn’t sing that night; Josh didn’t want them to. He wasn’t very happy with the idea of Justin exposing himself to the public like that, but he couldn’t change what was done. As they were walking, they saw Nick sitting on a bus bench. He was sitting up, his back straight and looking across the street at an empty store. They all stopped and looked at him, he turned his head towards Lance, lightly smiled and said,

“Well, I guess there won’t be any reunion CD’s from the Backstreet Boys.”

Tears lightly rolled down his face; Lance hugged him and while holding him, looked at the guys. It was only then that they realized what they had done. They had just killed his four best friends, and didn’t think anything of it. As they left the party and were in their limo, everything was silent. There was tension in the air and it was obvious. Beryl, knowing what happened, and wanting to lighten the mood said,

“Look guys . . . You did what you had to do! If you didn’t kill them, they would’ve came after you, and they would’ve turned Nick too!”

“It would have been better for him to go down with his friends, than to be left behind, knowing the truth.” Josh said.

“The truth hurts most of the time and you know it.”

“Beryl’s right, we did the right thing. Even though we took a little too much joy in doing it, we still did what was right.” Lance said.

“Look, as much as I feel bad for Nick, and their families, it’s something that we’ve all dealt with before and I personally, have come to accept it.” Justin said getting the attention of everyone in the van. “And as much as I’d hate to admit it, it’s better that they are dead. Not because they were the Backstreet Boys, but because they could’ve caused too much damage had they lived!”

“He’s right.” Beryl agreed.

“And now, what we really have to do is concentrate on our mission at hand! That means, no more parties, gatherings, or meetings at the house. We have to once again, put aside everything else in our life that doesn’t have to do with this, and fight the good fight!”

The little speech cleared the mood in the limo and made them realize that they had to focus on the mission at hand, and it was time that they start preparing.

“CIDS, establish a vid-link with the Dream Masters’ limo!” Josh commanded.

“Establishing vid-link now.” CIDS replied as a screen turned on and there was the inside of the other limo.

“Hey guys, listen up!” Josh said once he saw the DM’s. “Starting tomorrow morning, we are going to get our plan into order. It’s time we come into focus and figure out what the hell we’re doing!”

“We were just thinking the same.” Dom said.

“Good, I’m glad we’re on the same page then! We’ll discuss this in the morning though. We’ve all had too much excitement for one night!” Josh said as they pulled up to the Manor.

They all got out and made their way inside. Josh and Lance went into the control room behind the hidden panel, Chris took the sleeping Little Justin upstairs to bed and Joey followed. Beryl went in the direction of the living room, and all the Dream Masters went up to their floor except for Vanessa. She and Justin lagged behind everyone almost unconsciously on purpose. They were the only ones left in the lobby and they just stood there.

“Well . . .” Justin said.

“Well . . .” Vanessa replied.

“I had a really . . .” They said at the same time.

“You go first.” Vanessa insisted.

“I had a really good time tonight, well . . . at least when we WEREN’T fighting vampires.”

“So did I . . . What you did tonight really took some guts. I guess that means no more hiding huh?” She said as they started to drift closer to each other.

“Nope . . . I guess not.”

“Everybody knows . . .”

“Yup . . . that they do.”

They started to close in on each other and their lips were just inches away from one another’s.

“Well, I gotta get to bed . . . we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow!” Vanessa said pulling back and backing up towards the stairs.

“Yeah, we do . . . I guess I’ll see you in the morning then?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, good night then.”

“Good night.” She said as she turned around and started up the stairs, just as he turned and walked in the same direction as Beryl.

They both stopped midway to their destination, Vanessa halfway up the stairs, and Justin, just in front of the door to the living room. They stood there for a second, then both continued on their ways.

Justin walked through the living room and into the atrium. He needed to think, and what better place to do it in a natural environment. His power derived from the elements, so being close to nature always helped clear his mind. As he came into the plant filled glass room, he could smell the plants, alive and co-existing with each other. He could feel the chlorophyll running through their stems; he could feel the water rising up from their roots. It was a feeling that always soothed him, the simplicity of nature, but the mystery of its way of life.

“Needed to think too huh?” Beryl said sitting on top of a windowsill, towards the top of the green house.

“Huh?!” Justin said a little startled. “Oh! Beryl, I didn’t see you there!”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No, no, it’s not your fault. Did you want to be alone? I could leave if you want.” Justin said, his accent coming through thick.

“No, by all means, you came here to think, then do so! If you want, I can leave.”

“No, no . . . you were here first.”

“Ok, how bout we both stay here then?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“I wouldn’t mind the company.”

“Me either.”

“Just like old times!”

“Yeah. Is there room up there for two?”

“Yeah, this thing is sturdy enough.”

“Cool.” As Justin walked over towards the glass wall, he stuck both of his hands out to his side. He then closed his eyes and motioned his hands upwards. The plants around him started to shake, and as he continued to concentrate and move his hands, they started to rapidly grow. They turned into thick branches that he stepped on top of. As they grew, he rose towards the windowsill that Beryl was sitting on. After sitting next to Beryl and looking at the full moon, the plants shrunk back down to their original size.

“So, tonight was a big night for you!” Beryl said as Justin got comfortable.

“Oh yeah . . . BIG night!” Justin said chuckling slightly.

“See, you’re not so tough as you pretend to be!”

“I’m just too tired right now to keep up my defenses, that’s all!”

“Well, you should let them down more often!”

“Well, in my line of business, you can’t afford to let them down!”

“I thought you’d be done with that business by now.”

“Well, to tell you the truth, I have NO idea what’s in store for me now! I mean, I’m back to the life that I escaped from for four years, by tomorrow, everybody in the world will know I’m still alive, including my family. I’m gonna be 26 soon and I just wound up back where I started.”

“Well, come here, give me your palms.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna try and see your future.”

“Um . . . is that safe to do up here?”

“Hmm . . . you’re right, maybe we should go and sit by the fountain.”

“Cool.”

“Ok, now that we’re down here,” Beryl said after teleporting them to the fountain.

“I love it when you do that!”

Beryl smiled and said,

“Now place your palms on top of mine.”

“Ok.”

“Now, just close your eyes and concentrate.”

“Ok, wait, how are you doing this?”

“I’m going to look into your mind, and channel into the part of your mind that knows your future.”

“There’s a part that knows my future?”

“Yes, it’s the same part that gives you prophetic dreams and helps you to complete your destiny.”

“Oh, cool!”

“Ok, now shut up and concentrate!” Beryl said as they both laughed. “I’m going to tell you what I see telepathically, so don’t worry.”

As they both sat there concentrating, it was hard at first for Beryl to get passed Justin’s defenses and look into his mind. But once he got passed them, it was smooth sailing.

-- I see that you aren’t going to go back to your former line of work. You’ve been replaced?

~ Yeah, that demon chick who, tried to kill me is top notch now.

-- They’re going to try and come after you, but they will fail. You will continue to fight the good fight, and you won’t be alone.

~ What do you mean?

-- I see a wedding amongst a time of madness.

~ To who?

-- I can’t tell.

~ You can’t, or you won’t?

-- I can’t.

~ What else do you see?

-- The scandal of you faking your death will die down, and won’t be as bad as you think. Your parents will be upset about it, but will get over it and in the end just be glad you are back.

~ If I’m not gonna be an assassin, then what am I gonna do?

-- You will be of great importance in the fight against evil. I see . . . I see a victory followed by a tragedy, leading to . . . leading to . . .

“AAHH!” Beryl screamed falling onto the floor, breaking contact with Justin.

“What happened?! Are you okay?!” Justin said shooting his eyes open and kneeling beside Beryl. “What did you see?”

“I . . . I dunno . . . I saw what I told you, but it was like I was pushed out. Like I wasn’t supposed to see what happened next!”

“Maybe you weren’t.”

“Wow . . . that was . . . that was quite a rush! I’ve never felt anything like that!”

“You think we should go tell Josh?”

“In . . . in the morning. I think I just need some rest!”

“You gonna teleport up to your room, or do you need some help getting there?”

“Too weak to teleport, need some help.”

“Whoa, dude, you’re starting to scare me now! You sure you don’t want me to tell Josh?”

“In the . . .” Beryl began to say, but fainted before he got the chance to finish.

“CIDS! TELL JOSH TO GET TO THE ATRIUM, QUICK!” Justin yelled, holding Beryl in his arms.

“Already here!” Josh said appearing in the doorway that connected the atrium to the house. “What happened?!”

“He was looking inside my mind, and then he just flipped!”

“Beryl?” Josh said kneeling beside him. “Can you hear me?”

“He passed out!”

“Come on, help me with him, we need to get him to the infirmary!”

“Damn, he’s heavy!”

“Watch out, I got him! Just go ahead in front of me!” Josh said picking up Beryl with ease.

As they made their way back into the house, through the living room, and up the stairs to the infirmary, they got the attention of the rest of the guys.

“What’s wrong with him?!” Joey asked, concerned.

“We don’t know yet Joe.” Josh said placing Beryl down on one of the tables.

“What happened Justin?” Lance asked.

“He was looking inside my mind, and then I guess he saw something that he shouldn’t have, or was about to, and then he just passed out!”

”CIDS, do a physical and mental scan of Beryl to see what’s wrong with him.” Lance said.

“He can DO that?!” Justin asked in amazement.

“Yup . . . and a shit load of other things too!” Lance said with a cocky, almost fatherly grin.

“Scanning physical and mental body now.” CIDS said as a green light started up the underside of his body, like a copy machine. “No physical damage shown, there is some mental trauma to his inner eye. Justin is right. Beryl looked into the future and was about to see something, but the Fates blocked him from it, causing his mind to go into a state of shock.”

“Will he be okay?” Joey asked.

“With the proper spell, he should be fine.”

“What spell?” Justin asked.

“A clairvoyant spell.”

“Makes sense, he’s a psychic, so he’ll need a psychic spell.” Lance said.

“Where can we find it?” Justin asked.

“We should have one lying around in the library.” Josh stated.

“There is one in your book of spells Justin.” CIDS replied.

“I’ll get it right now!” Justin said as he held out his hand, and called the book to him, something he hadn’t done in a very long time. The book teleported into his hands and Justin quickly skimmed through it to find the spell. “Found it! Ok, here goes!”

-- Clear of mind, full of heart, seer of things from end to start. Sights seen, pictures painted, viewer of things regain your vision. --

Beryl started to stir on the table, and as they all watched, he slowly opened his eyes and grabbed his head.

“What happened?” He asked trying to sit up.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Josh asked.

“I was looking into Justin’s mind, then all of a sudden, I’m here.”

“What was the last thing you saw?” Justin asked.

“The outcome of your death scandal. Why? What happened?”

“You saw something after that that you weren’t supposed to see, so the fates booted you out of my mind.” Justin said, his old Southern wannabe thug accent returning.

“He just sounded like the old Justin!” Josh said telepathically to Lance.

“Is that good or bad?” Lance responded.

“Well, whatever he saw, we’re just glad he’s back!” Joey said, bringing the attention back onto Beryl.

”Yeah, Joe’s right, now that we’ve had a long night, let’s get some rest!” Josh said. “Cause we have an even longer day ahead of us tomorrow!”

”Yeah, we gotta start preparing for our journey.” Lance said.

TBC . . .