| Chapter 29 Nick sat in the dressing room waiting for the show to start. He was beginning to relax a little, still not feeling Jered or Ephah since they left him three nights ago. He prayed it was over, but still wasn't for sure. The fact that Tracy, Jade, and Gideon hadn't returned, still led him to believe something else was coming. He sighed and slumped down in the couch more, putting his hand over his eyes and trying to gather his thoughts for the show. It was kinda hard to do for some reason. The emotions were running high, this being the last show, and Howie was still on cloud nine from the wedding and the news he was going to be a father. Every time Howie came close to Nick, he could feel the joy in him. They had brought Angel with them also. She marveled at all the sights and different things going on. Tara was taking her around, showing her things. Nick was glad Tara did that. He loved Angel, but she had a tendency to talk your ear off, and he was having a hard enough time concentrating as it was. Stephen walked into the room, "Everyone ready?" "Aren't we always?" A.J. asked. "Well, just think guys. You get tonight over with, you have six weeks to relax before we head to Europe," Stephen said. "And we are looking forward to it too," Kevin said. "Yeah, not that we don't love ya and all Stephen, but we're looking forward to the break," Brian said. "Understandable. I need a break myself, this has been one interesting tour to say the least," Stephen said, looking over at Nick. "I'm fine," Nick said, not looking at him, but knowing what he was gonna ask. "You sure. You look um kinda frazzled," Stephen said. Nick looked up at him, "I'm fine. There's just a lot of emotions to deal with right now." "Yeah man, listen to that crowd already," A.J. said, hearing them chanting. "OK then, have a great show, and don't forget the party," Stephen said, turning and leaving the room. "Is he kidding? When did we ever forget a party?" Nick asked, smiling. Tara came back in the room with Angel. Angel walked over to Nick and started telling him everything she had seen. He laughed, "I know, I've seen it." Angel put her paw on his knee, still whining at him. Nick looked over at Tara with a �help me' look on his face. She shook her head, "It's your turn," she mouthed to him. "Angel, stop for a minute," Nick said. Angel cocked her head to the side, and stopped talking to him. "Honey I love you, and I'll listen to everything you want to tell me, but later OK? Right now I gotta get ready for the show," Nick said, running his hand through the fur on her neck. Angel whined at him, then jumped up in his lap and licked his face, before jumping back down and heading over to her toys that were lying on the floor. Nick smiled, watching her pick out a ball to play with, bouncing it across the room, then chasing after it. "Who thought it would be that simple?" Tara asked, coming over to sit by Nick. "Yeah, we should have thought of it a long time ago," Nick said, getting up and stretching. "Where you going?" Brian asked. "I just need to take a walk, I'll be back in a few," Nick said. "Oh, you might want to take someone with you. We got fans with backstage passes already here," Tara said. Nick shrugged his shoulders, "I'll be fine." Then he headed out the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick was wondering the hallways backstage. He prayed as he walked, trying to focus on the nights show, and on controlling his emotions. He knew that tonight would be hard for him. All last shows were very emotional, and this one looked to be no different. The crowd was always very excited, and the crew and the guys were always ampted. He laughed, for once thinking that he may be the calmest one on stage tonight. He stopped walking and leaned against the wall, rubbing his neck. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply and willing himself to focus. He could feel a lot of people in the halls, recognizing most as the crew, but there were some fans back there. He opened his eyes, just as two girls came around the corner. He smiled, recognizing them. "Hey girls," he said. "Hi Nick," the first girl said, walking over to him, "We were hoping to get to see you before the show started." "Well, here I am," Nick said, smiling at them. "We just wanted you to know how much fun we've had following you around," the other girl said. "Well, I can't tell you what your support means to me," he said, "I can't believe you guys were at every show." "Thanks," both girls said. "What are your names anyway?" Nick asked. "Oh sorry. I'm Evi," she said. Nick held out his hand to the tall blonde, "Nice to meet you." She took it and blushed. "And I'm Serenity," the shorter brunette said. "Nice to meet you too," Nick said, taking her hand. Both girls seemed genuinely impressed at Nick's down to earth manner. "Well I hate to but I gotta run and get ready for the show," Nick said. "OK, we'll catch you later," Evi said. "K, see ya out there," Nick said, turning and walking down the hall. The girls watched him until he turned the corner, out of sight. Evi smiled, "He doesn't suspect a thing." "Yeah, this is going to be to easy," Serenity said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The guys were standing on their marks, ready to be launched on stage. The crowd was insanely loud, and Nick was fighting with his emotions. He didn't tell the guys about meeting �his girls' in the hall. Knowing that they all felt weird about them. He wondered why, they seemed like nice normal girls to him. The next thing he knew, he was on stage. The crowd cheering, and the band playing. The routine took over, and he made it through the first part of the show with no problem. He did notice that Evi and Serenity were in the first row right in the center. He couldn't help but look at them from time to time. They were both beautiful girls. Evi being a tall blonde, with gorgeous blue eyes, and fair skin, and Serenity being a shorter petite brunette with piercing hazel eyes and tan complexion. Her eyes reminded him of Lyn's. "Hey earth to Nick," Brian said, nudging him. "Hum? What?" Nick asked, being pulled from his thoughts. "It's your turn man, get out there," Brian said. Nick looked over at Angel who was sitting next to Tara and Lyn. "Angel, come with me," he said. Angel got up and followed Nick out on stage. The crowd went nuts, the quieted down, seeing the wolf. "Hi guys," Nick said into his mic, "I want you all to meet the newest member of the Backstreet family. This is Angel. We've been through a lot together and I probably wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for her." The crowd cheered and awed at the wolf, and Angel loved every second of it. "Well, I hope you have fun the rest of the show, and thanks for all your love and support," Nick said, looking down and winking at Evi and Serenity before he and Angel left the stage. Angel trotted back over to Tara and Lyn as Nick grabbed a bottle of water while Kevin was taking his turn. "Thanks Nick, she'll be talking about this for weeks now," Tara teased. Nick smiled, "Yeah, I know." Lyn gave him a kiss, as he turned and headed back on stage to finish the rest of the show. The guys did three encores, and by the time they left the stage, they were exhausted. The after party was at a trendy club on the strip, so the guys showered at the venue, dawning their best party attire and headed down the hall for the trip to the club. Nick was walking behind everyone else, Lyn on his arm and Angel trotting beside him. "Nick!" he heard from behind him, turning to see Evi and Serenity there. Nick looked over at Lyn, "Go on, I'll catch up." Lyn looked concerned, "Are you sure, all the body guards are ahead of us." "Yeah, it's fine. Take Angel with you," Nick said. Angel started to protest, seeing the girls approaching. Nick looked down at her, "Angel, no buts. Go with Lyn, now!" The wolf snorted at him, and turned, following Lyn down the hall. Nick watched them disappear around the corner, then turned to face his fans. "Hey girls, you like the show?" he asked. "Oh my God, it was the best one ever," Evi said. "Yeah, you were really on tonight," Serenity said. Nick blushed a little, "Thanks." "Um, so you look like you're going somewhere," Serenity said. "Oh yeah, we always have a little after party for the last show," Nick said, "You guys could come if you want." "Really?" Evi asked. "Yeah, I can leave word with security. They'll let you in," Nick said. "Well that's nice, but we can't," Serenity said. "Aww, how come?" Nick asked. "We have other plans," she answered. "Oh well, maybe some other time then," Nick said, turning to go. "Um Nick, could we get your autograph before you leave?" Evi asked. Nick turned back to them, "Sure, but didn't you already do that at the first show?" Serenity laughed, "You remembered that huh?" "Yeah, hard to forget," Nick said, taking the piece of paper and pen from her. "Could you make it out to our sister?" Evi asked. Nick looked at them, "You guys are sisters?" "Well sort of, it's like a sorority type thing," she said. "Oh I see. OK, what's your sister's name?" Nick asked. Both girls glanced at each other then to Nick. "Aleisha," Evi said. Nick's heart caught in his throat, and he looked up at the two. "Aleisha?" he asked. "Yeah," Serenity said, taking a step closer to him. Nick instinctively backed up, realizing to late that he was standing next to the wall. Evi put her hand on his arm, "Are you OK?" As soon as she touched him, he felt it. The emotions running through him, bringing back memories of how it felt when Aleisha attacked him, then took him. Serenity took his hand, staring into his eyes, "Don't fight us Nick, you won't win." He blinked, trying to focus enough to get out of the situation he'd gotten himself into, but with both of them touching him, he couldn't. "We want you to come with us," Evi said. Nick shook his head, "No." "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way," she said. Nick stared at her, those words bringing back memories of when Aleisha had said them. He was trembling now, afraid of what they were going to do. Scared to death that they wanted the other guys, just as Aleisha had. "Come with us," Evi said, pulling on his arm. Nick yanked his arm back, "No!", turning and trying to escape down the hall. Just then Jered and Ephah appeared in front of him. "Going somewhere?" Jered asked. Nick's eyes were wide with fear, he turned back around to see the two sirens. He was surrounded. Jered and Ephah grabbed him, holding him still, while Evi and Serenity searched through his pockets. "Got it," Evi said, pulling Nick's cell phone out of his jacket pocket. "What are you going to do?" Nick asked, watching her place the phone on the floor, along with a note. "Oh wait and see," Jered spat. Nick struggled against the two, praying for escape. Serenity pulled a syringe from her purse and walked toward him. Nick struggled harder, "No!" Jered and Ephah slammed him against the wall, holding him there. Jered held Nick's arm out for her, Nick trying desperately to pull it back. She smiled at him, "It won't hurt." She grabbed his wrist, flooding him with the most intense emotions he'd ever felt, then stuck the needle in his arm, injecting the contents of the syringe. Nick felt his knees give out, and struggled to stay awake, Jered and Ephah holding him up. His mind was fuzzy, and he couldn't think straight, he couldn't focus, and felt his body giving in to the drug. In desperation, he did the only thing he knew to do. "Tara, help me!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Jered punched him in the stomach, letting him drop to the floor. "Oh she can't help you now. Now you're ours," he spat. "God help me," Nick whispered as the drug took him into unconsciousness. "Come on girls," Ephah said. He and Jered picked Nick back up, each holding an arm over their shoulders. Evi and Serenity walked over and put their arms around Jered and Ephah's waist. Together they all vanished from the hall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Angel ran up to Tara whining furiously at her. Tara got a concerned look on her face, looking up at Lyn, "Where's Nick?" "Some fans stopped him in the hall. He said he would catch up," she answered. Angel again whined. "OK," Tara said, turning and walking down the hall with the wolf. "What is it?" Brian asked. Tara looked at him, "Angel says the two with Nick are like Aleisha." "What?" Kevin said, suddenly feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "I'm going back to get him," Tara said, turning down the hall. The guys all turned to follow her when they heard Nick scream. "Oh God," Tara said, taking off at a dead run, the guys on her heals. Tara rounded the corner, just as the group vanished with Nick. "NO!" she screamed, not being able to feel them as soon as they disappeared. "Where'd they go?" A.J. asked, looking around. Tara felt everyone's eyes on her, "I can't feel them now, I don't know where they are," she said, tears running down her cheeks. Kevin and Kristin held Lyn as she broke down. "I knew I shouldn't have left him," she cried, "I knew it!" Howie looked down the hall, seeing Nick's phone on the floor. He walked over and picked it up, along with the note. "Shit, guys they left this," he said, holding the note and phone out for them to see. "What does it say?" Brian asked, almost afraid to hear. Howie took a deep breath, and began to read. We want five million dollars in unmarked bills. You have three days before we call with instructions. Do not involve the police or we will return Nick to you one piece at a time. No �other' involvement will be tolerated either, we know what he is and will make him pay dearly if we so much as feel another one like him close. This is your only warning. You have three days. Howie stared at the note, then at Nick's phone in his hand. "God, three days? We have to wait three days for any word?" A.J. ranted. Brian looked at Tara, she was trying to hold it together, to be the strong one, but he could see the fear in her eyes. "Baby, who has him?" he asked. "Jered and Ephah. And there are two sirens with them as well," she said. "Lyn, what did those fans look like?" Kevin asked. Lyn wiped her eyes, "Um, one was tall, blonde, the other bout my height, brunette." All the guys stared at one another. "Shit, Nick's girls," A.J. said, "God I knew there was something about them." "But how could he not feel them?" Howie asked. "We can't until they reveal themselves to be what they are," Tara said, "They aren't like Jered, or me. We can feel each other, somehow they can hide themselves from us." "What are we gonna do?" Lyn asked, in tears again, "God knows what they're gonna do to him?" Kevin looked at them all, feeling the need to take control of the situation. "We start getting the money together, and pray," he said, "Lets go back to the hotel and get things rolling." Everyone reluctantly followed him down the hall, all numb with what had happened. Brian held Tara's hand as they walked down the hall, looking over at her. "Why would they want money?" he asked. She looked at him, immense fear and sadness in her eyes, "They don't. They want Nick, the money is just a ploy to stall us." "Then what do we do?" he asked, "They said if they feel you guys they'll hurt him." Tara stopped walking and looked at her husband, "I'm afraid they will anyway." Chapter 30 |