| Chapter 24 Nick was standing to himself backstage, waiting to go on. Jered and Ephah were back now, and mercilessly taunting him. Tara stayed around, knowing she couldn't help him, but maybe just being there and praying for him would be help enough. One of the crew motioned for the guys to take their places, and they all filed down to the podiums. "Oh this should be fun," Jered said. "Yeah, wonder how far down it is?" Ephah asked. Nick desperately wanted to scream at them to shut up, but his mic was on, so he quietly endured it. The guys were shot on stage to the screams of the fans. Nick kept his mind on what he was doing, but also knew exactly where Jered and Ephah were at all times. He knew if they went after the guys, he would be the only one to stop them. "Look at the crowd Nick, you could have any of them you want," Jered said. Nick ignored him, singing his part perfectly and never missing a step. "Can't you feel all that energy? It's all aimed at you Nick, all of it," Ephah said. Nick kept right on going. He wasn't about to let them distract him and make him leave them on stage with the guys. Half way through the show, Nick felt them move toward Brian. Brian was singing the lead, and therefore right at the front of the stage. He was walking from one side to the other, looking out at the crowd, and waving. Nick moved closer to him, anticipating what the two had planned. He was right. Brian was half way across the stage when he seemed to trip and started to fall. Nick quickly reached out, grabbing the back of his shirt, and pulled him up right, dancing around him, to make the audience think he was just goofing off. Brian smiled a thank you, and Nick gave him a you're welcome look. "Aren't you smooth?" Jered spat. "Yeah, saved buddy there from a nasty fall," Ephah said. The song was almost over, then it was a costume change. Nick prayed for it to come quickly. "Well lets see how you fix this," Jered taunted. Nick could feel them separating on stage. One heading for Kevin, the other for Howie. They were on opposite ends of the stage. Nick thought frantically of how to save both of them. Then he got it, he only prayed that he had enough strength to pull if off. Just as Jered and Ephah pushed Howie and Kevin, Nick lifted all of them into the air. The crowd went nuts, thinking it was part of the show. All the guys looked at Nick, then being the professionals they were, finished the song, floating several feet above the stage. When the song was over and the lights were fading, Nick lifted them all up to the cat walk above the stage, setting them down gently. "What the hell was that?" A.J. asked. "They're on stage with us," Nick said, "Trying to hurt you guys." "Oh crap," Brian said. "Guys we have like three minutes to get below and change," Howie reminded them. They all looked at one another, then ran down the cat walk to get to their places. The rest of the show was filled with Nick dodging Jered and Ephah's attempts to hurt the guys. He knew the crowd had no idea what was going on, and tried to make it look like he was just goofing off with them all. The guys played into it, hoping the crowd was buying it. As the show ended and they walked off stage, Nick sank to the floor, completely exhausted. "Aww poor Nicky," Jered teased. Nick pulled his head set off, and took off the battery belt, and laid them to the side. Kevin came over with some water, and knelt down beside him, "Thanks for helping us. You gonna be alright?" Nick nodded, to tired to even speak. He took the water and drank for a minute before handing it back to Kevin. "You need some help?" Brian asked, coming over. Nick knew accepting help from them, would be a sign of weakness to Jered and Ephah, so he declined. Slowly he got to his feet, and made it down the hall to the dressing room. Brian looked over at Tara, who was standing a ways behind them. "They are both with him, I can't help," she said. Brian could see the pain in her eyes when she said that. "He's so tired from trying to help us," Howie said. "Yeah, how's he gonna keep fighting when he doesn't have any strength?" A.J. asked. They all looked at Tara, she just shrugged her shoulders, wondering that herself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick sat in the car on the way to the hotel. Jered and Ephah would not shut up, and he desperately wanted to sleep. He caught the looks from several of the guys, weakly smiling at them to reassure them he was OK. He wished he believed that himself. Tara he couldn't fool, she knew how he was feeling, and he could tell she wanted to come and help him. But they both knew she wasn't allowed to. The car pulled into the hotel, and everyone piled out. They silently walked through the lobby and into the elevators. Nick leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, waiting for the doors to open. When they did, he was the first one off. He headed down the hall to his, Brian's and Tara's room, and opened the door. Brian and Tara walked in just as Nick was walking into one of the bedrooms, and shut the door. They looked at each other with worried expressions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick threw his bag on the bed, and unzipped it. He got out his sweats and t-shirt that he'd started sleeping in, and went into the bathroom. He took a quick shower and got out, drying off and getting dressed. He then brushed his teeth, and washed his face, then walked back into the bedroom. He took the bag off the bed and pulled the covers down. The entire time, Jered and Ephah watched him. He seemed to be on automatic piolet, and they wanted to see what he would do next. Nick started to crawl into bed when Jered put his hand on him, "No so fast." Nick looked up at him, a tired expression on his face, "You've had your fun, now let me sleep." "Oh no, we're just getting started," Ephah said. Nick sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, "Fine, what now?" "I know what you need, that you don't have yet," Jered said. "And what would that be?" Nick asked, not really in the mood for a guessing game. "Control. You wouldn't be so tired right now if you had complete control," Ephah said. Nick just sat there, staring at the floor. "Nick, you could have it right now," Jered said. "You'd never have to feel like this again. Never be frustrated because you couldn't handle something," Ephah added. "Think of it Nick, you could do anything you wanted, and not feel like this after," Jered said. Nick bit his lower lip and closed his eyes, he just wanted them to leave him alone. Jered looked over at Ephah, smiling. "Nick, let us show you what it feels like," he said, in the most gentle tone he'd ever taken with him. Nick didn't respond either way, he just sat there. "Yeah Nick, we could help you, make you feel better," Ephah said. Nick stood up and walked to the window, looking out. The two walked up behind him. "Please leave," Nick said. "You know we can't do that," Jered said, putting his hand on Nick's shoulder. "Let us help you Nick," Ephah said, placing his hand on the opposite shoulder. Nick shook his head, "No." "We're all you have now," Jered said, "She can't help you. Your God has turned His back on you." Nick closed his eyes, he knew he should be angry at that comment, he should be fighting them, but he was to tired. Jered gently turned Nick around so he was facing the two, reaching down and grabbing him by the wrist. Ephah did the same with the other hand. "Nick, we can stop this right now. Let us show you," Jered said softly. Nick looked up at him, then over at Ephah, to tired to do anything but stand there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tara was sitting on the couch playing with her sword. She could feel them in Nick's room, feel Nick's exhaustion. She was worried. She knew Jered and Ephah had done that during the show to tire Nick out. And it had worked. In all his time of fighting them, he had never been so drained. Suddenly screams could be heard coming from Nick's room. Tara stood straight up and looked at the door. Brian ran over to her, "What's happening?" She didn't answer him, concentrating on what Nick was feeling. "Oh God," she said, moving past Brian and into Nick's room. Jered glared at her when she came in. "You aren't suppose to interfere," he spat. "Well, some rules were made to be broken," she said, holding her sword at the ready, "Now let him go." Nick had fallen to his knees, his head bowed towards his chest, breathing heavily. The two still had him by the wrists. "I said let him go," Tara said, taking a step toward them. Jered smiled at her, "Fine, but you may not want him now." And with that they let him go and vanished. Nick dropped to the floor, folding his arms around him, and resting his head on the floor. Tara didn't approach him, instead she walked over to where Nick's sword was and took it, handing it to Brian who was standing behind her. Kevin and the other guys came into the room, having heard the screams. Tara stopped them from approaching Nick. "What happened?" Kevin asked. She handed him her sword, "Don't let him leave this room." They looked at each other. "What's going on?" A.J. asked. She looked at them, "We're about to lose him. If I can't get through to him, do whatever you have to, to stop him from leaving." "Shit," A.J. said. Tara turned around and slowly walked towards Nick. He was still breathing heavily, and she could tell he was in a lot of pain. "Nick, look at me," she said. "No," he said, almost in a whisper. She stepped closer, kneeling down, "Please Nick, look at me." Nick shook his head, again refusing. Tara leaned over and started to put her hand on his back. "Don't touch me!" Nick screamed, crawling closer to the wall, away from her. "Nick, I'm here to help you, please look at me," Tara said, in a calming voice. Nick slowly lifted his head, staring at her. The look in his eyes made her take a step back. His normally calm, peaceful eyes had been replaced by anger and darkness. "Tell me what you're feeling," she said, inching closer. "Don't," Nick said, "Leave me alone." "Nick, I will not leave you like this. Now tell me what they did," she said. "They showed me what it was like to have control," he spat, "Why didn't you tell me it could feel like this?" "Nick, I know what you're feeling right now is incredible, but please trust me when I tell you that it's only a drop in the bucket compared to what you will have," she said, scooting a little closer. "You're lying," Nick said, angrily. "No, I would never lie to you," she said, "I've been there, remember? I know what you're feeling right now, and I can honestly tell you that what I have now is so much more, it doesn't even compare." Nick was trembling as tears left his eyes, "Please, kill me. I can't take this anymore." "Nick?!," Tara said, somewhat shocked, "I will do no such thing. Let me help you." "No," Nick said, cowering away from her again, "That's what they said. That they would help me. I can't do this anymore," he whispered. "Yes you can," she said, finally putting a hand on his back, "I will help you." She could feel the emotions coursing through him, the anger, fear, pain, and confusion. She inched even closer, pulling him to her and running her hand through the back of his hair, comforting him. "Nick, God loves you. He doesn't want you to feel like this. Please let go of it and let me help you," she whispered. "I can't," Nick said, "I can't go back to feeling so confused all the time." "You were almost there Nick, just a little while longer, and I promise it won't feel like that," she said. "No," Nick said, jumping to his feet and running towards the door. Brian and Kevin held up the swords, blocking his exit. "Nick, don't make us do this," Kevin begged. "Please come back to us," Brian said, tears in his eyes. Nick stared at them, then stepped back, putting his head in his hands and breaking down. When he lifted his hands, everyone could see the source of his pain. On each wrist was the perfect imprint of Jered's and Ephah's hands, burned into his skin. "Oh God, Nick," Howie said, moving closer to him. Nick looked up at him, tears streaming down his face, "Get away." Howie stopped where he was, looking to Tara for what to do. She walked up behind Nick and put her hand on his shoulder, flooding him with a feeling of peace. Nick's knees buckled out from under him, and she caught him by the upper arm, leading him to the bed, and helping him lie down. She sat down on the edge of the bed, running her fingers through his hair, again soothing him. "Nick, let me help," she said. He let her take his hand, and look at his wrist. He watched through his tears as she gently placed her hand over the burn and healed it. Then she took his other hand and repeated the process. "There, isn't that better?" she asked. He nodded his head, letting the tears fall, "I'm sorry." "It's OK," she said, in a calming voice, "Now let go of your anger." He sniffed and wiped his eyes, "I'm not sure I know how." Tara smiled at him, "I'll help you." The guys watched as she took his hand and stared into his eyes. As she did that, Nick's eyes finally softened, and his muscles relaxed. He blinked a few times and looked at her, realizing what had almost happened. "Oh God, I'm so sorry," he said. "It's alright, you're back now, that's all that matters," she said. "But if you hadn't been here....." Nick started, getting more upset by the second. Tara put her hand on his cheek, "But I was here. Now calm down, you need your rest." Nick stared up at her, not able to stop crying. She watched him for a moment then leaned closer to him, "Let me make you sleep, OK?" she whispered. He nodded his head, and she placed her hand over his eyes for a moment. Instantly he was asleep. She looked over at the guys, "He'll be alright now." All of the guys were shaken, the thought of almost losing their friend to much to bare. "That was to close," Brian said. "Yeah, much to close," A.J. said. Tara looked back at Nick, and wiped the last of his tears from his face. She had almost lost him, and she vowed right then, that she wouldn't. No matter how many rules she had to break, she couldn't lose him, ever. Chapter 25 |