| Chapter 25 The next several days went by in a blur. A.J. had left and gone home, leaving Nick alone in the house with Brian and Aleisha. Nick could tell that Aleisha really didn't want him there. She looked at him differently now. He couldn't explain it, all he knew was that something was going on with her. He and Brian had started hanging out like they used to, watching movies, telling jokes. Everything seemed to be getting back to normal. All except the dreams, they got worse every night. The last one he had, he accidentally punched Brian before he realized it was him. Angel had jumped on him growling, still Brian's protector, no matter who it was. Nick was starting to think that all his apprehension about Aleisha was just in his head. No one else seemed to see what he did. He was seriously thinking about going home, he missed Lyn terribly, but Tracy's warning kept sticking in his mind. So he stayed. Nick was in his room, sitting in the window seat drawing. Brian poked his head in, "Hey." Nick looked up, "Yeah?" "Kev and I are going to see the new studio, you wanna come?" Brian asked. Nick looked down at his sketch pad, then back at Brian, "Um, no that's OK." "You sure man? They added a lot of state of the art equipment and all. And I hear the game room is to die for," Brian said, trying to convince him to go. Nick laughed, "Naw, I'm kinda in the middle of this. I don't wanna stop till I finish it." "OK, we'll be gone for a while. You want us to pick up some lunch for ya?" Brian asked. "No, that's OK," Nick said, starting to draw again, "Is Leisha going with you?" "No, she wants to go in and look around the city, and do some shopping though. So it's just gonna be you and Angel here," Brian answered. Nick smiled, "OK." "See ya," Brian said, leaving the room. Nick looked down at Angel. She was sitting in the floor watching him draw. "I like it when we're here together. Helps me think," he said. She wagged her tail and barked at him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian came downstairs. "Is he coming?" Kevin asked. Brian shook his head, "No, he's working on a drawing." Kevin laughed, "Artists." Aleisha walked up, coat on, keys in hand, "I'm leaving." Brian hugged her, "You sure you don't want to come with us? We could take you around after we leave the studio." She smiled, "No, you two go have fun. I'll find my way around. Besides, I don't think you guys want to go shopping with me anyway." "Now if A.J. were here you'd have a serious argument on your hands," Kevin said. They all laughed. Brian grabbed his coat, and they all left. Aleisha went to Brian's car, as Brian headed for Kevin's. "Call if you need anything," Brian called after her. "I will," she said, getting in the car and turning it on. She backed out and headed down the drive. Brian watched her go. "Yo, earth to Bri," Kevin said. Brian smiled, "What?" Kevin shook his head, "She's going to town, not leaving on a three month tour." "I can still miss her can't I?" Brian said, grinning. "Yeah, I guess," Kevin said, starting the car and following the path Aleisha had just taken. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick glanced out the window when everyone left. Then returned to his drawing. Angel sat quietly at this feet for a few minutes, then left the room. Coming back a moment later with her ball, dropping it at his feet. Nick smiled at her, "You want to play now?" Angel barked at him happily, wagging her tail. Nick reached down and picked the ball up, throwing it across the room. Angel ran to get it, returning it to Nick's feet. Nick sighed, "Angel, I can't draw and play with you at the same time." Angel looked at the ball and whined. Nick laughed, "Don't do that. Tell ya what, when I get done I'll play with you for as long as you want, OK?" Angel stared at him for a few moments, then laid down. "Good girl," Nick said, returning to his drawing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aleisha watched as Kevin drove past her and down the road. When the car was out of sight, she pulled out from behind the billboard and back onto the road, heading back to the house. She made her way up the drive, parking the car and getting out. Once inside the house, she took off her coat and laid her purse and keys on it. Angel came downstairs, seeing it was her. "Angel, come here girl," she said, leading the wolf into the exercise room at the back of the house. Angel followed her in, looking at her curiously. Aleisha bent down and patted her on the head, "I need you to stay in here for a little while." Angel whined as Aleisha left her in the room, shutting the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick was lost in thought. He hadn't noticed that Angel had left the room, nor had he noticed that Aleisha was standing in the door watching him. She walked in and over to him, looking over his shoulder at the drawing he was working on. "That's good," she said. Nick jumped, turning around, "Damn you about gave me a heart attack." She laughed, "Sorry," she said, walking around and sitting in front of him. Nick stared at her, "I thought you were going into town." "I was, I forgot something, so I came back," she said. "Oh, OK," Nick said. "Nick, would you show me some of your art?" she asked. "Now?" he asked. "Yeah, I'd like to see it," Aleisha said, smiling. Nick handed her the sketch pad, watching as she thumbed through it. "These are really good. Have you sold any?" she asked. "Yeah a few," he said, "There's a gallery back home that displays my stuff." "Really? That's great Nick," she said, looking at him. Nick was starting to feel awkward, "So what'd you forget?" "Huh?" "You said you forgot something, what was it?" he asked. She put her hand on his knee, dropping the sketch pad on the floor, "I forgot," she said laughing. Nick stared at her. He scooted back a little, "Yeah, I do that sometimes." Aleisha crawled forward, running her hands up his chest. "What are you doing?" Nick asked, grabbing her hands. She smiled at him, "Something I should've done a long time ago." "What's that?" he asked. "This," she said, leaning in and kissing him. Nick was in shock. He couldn't believe what she was doing, and even more so that he wasn't stopping her. He didn't want this, but his mind and his body were two separate things. His mind was screaming at him to stop, but his body was craving her touch. He finally pushed her away, "Leisha, I don't want this," he said breathlessly. She smiled at him, "Oh I think you do." He shook his head, getting up, "No, this is wrong." She got up and grabbed his hand, keeping him from leaving. "This isn't wrong," she said. Nick looked into her eyes, his mind was swimming. He loved Lyn, this wasn't what he wanted. He pulled his hand away, "No. How could you do this to Brian?" She walked up to him, putting her hand on his chest, "Brian doesn't have anything to do with this." Nick's mouth dropped open, "What? How can you say that?" Aleisha backed Nick into the bed, pushing him down, "You talk to much." Nick started to get up, but she crawled on top of him, straddling him. She bent down and started kissing his neck. Nick closed his eyes, the most intense feeling of pleasure coming over him. Aleisha kissed her way up his neck to his ear lobe, taking it in her mouth and gently sucking on it. "Oh God," Nick whispered, wrapping his arms around her. She smiled, knowing she had him. She ran her hands down his chest unbuttoning his shirt. Nick watched as she kissed her way down his chest to his stomach. He'd never felt such pleasure in all his life, and he couldn't fight what his body wanted to do. She glanced up at him as she ran her hand over his jeans. Nick moaned when she touched him. "Nick, I want something from you," she said. He looked down at her, "Anything," he whispered. She started unbuttoning his jeans, "I want you to give me your heart." Nick looked at her, confused, placing his hands on hers, stopping her, "What?" "I want your heart," she repeated, staring at him. Nick blinked his eyes a few times, looking around and seeing what they were about to do. He pushed her away from him, "What are you doing to me?" She laughed, "You are the fighter aren't you?" Nick sat up staring at her, breathing heavily, "I don't want this!" Aleisha reached out and touched his cheek, "Nick, don't fight it, just let go." He shook his head, "No. Stop it." "I can't Nick, you have to be on my side," she said, leaning in and kissing him. Nick found himself kissing her back. No matter how much he knew it was wrong, he couldn't stop. He knew this wasn't how he really felt, he loved Lyn, not her. She was doing something to him, making him feel what he was feeling. Aleisha reached down and started running her hand over his crotch, feeling him become more and more excited. She pushed him down to the bed again, rolling over on top of him, "You can't fight me Nick." "No," Nick whispered, tears in his eyes. Aleisha unbuttoned his jeans and started to unzip them. Nick closed his eyes, God help me! Just then an image of Lyn flashed in Nick's mind. He had to fight, he couldn't do this and live with himself afterwards. Nick sat up, pushing Aleisha off him. He stood up, zipping up his jeans and fastening them. "I refuse to let you do this to me. I don't know what the hell you are, or what you're doing, but it stops now," he said. Aleisha stared at him in disbelief. "Nick, I can't let you leave," she said. He glared at her as he was buttoning his shirt, "You can't stop me." He turned to grab his keys off the dresser when Aleisha pushed him from behind. Nick threw his hands up just as he hit the mirror, his hands going through it, shattering it into a million pieces. Nick quickly pulled his hands out. They were covered in blood, shards of glass protruding from them. "Fuck!" he yelled, backing away from the dresser. He noticed that blood was squirting out of one of his wrists, he grabbed it with his other hand, looking up at Aleisha. "Nick, you should've let go. Now we're gonna have to do this the hard way," she said. Nick was in shock, this little woman was manhandling him like a rag doll. He backed out of the room, tripping over his own feet. Aleisha followed him, stopping at a display case in the hall and grabbing one of Brian's autographed baseball bats. Nick looked up at her, "No Aleisha, don't!" She brought the bat down hard against his side. Nick screamed in pain. She shook her head, "Everything was great until you entered the picture. Why couldn't you be as easy as the rest of them? Why'd you have to start asking questions?" Nick was trying to crawl away from her. She bent down and grabbed his leg, stopping him. Nick rolled over, looking at her, "Leisha please." She laughed at him, "Please? Now you're gonna beg?" Nick watched as she swung the bat again, catching him in the same place. He coughed, gasping for air, "What are you?" She looked at him, "You know what I am." Nick was holding on to the banister trying to get to his knees, "No, tell me." "Might as well, you aren't gonna be around long enough to tell anyone anyway. Let's see, how do I described myself? Do you read much mythology Nick?" she asked. Nick was using the banister to pull himself toward the stairs, "No." Aleisha grabbed him by the back of the head, pulling him back, "Do you know what a siren is?" Nick stared at her, it made sense now. "I see you do, well mythology got some things wrong, but hey," she said, slamming his head into the side of the railing. Everything was spinning, but Nick kept crawling towards the stairs. He had to get away form her. Aleisha followed him, laughing at his efforts. "You just don't know when to quit do you?" she said. "Why Brian? Why us?" Nick asked. "Why not?" she said. Nick reached the stairs and pulled himself up, getting his legs underneath him. He stood up, on shaky legs and stared at her, "I won't let you do this to Brian." "Oh, I don't intend on doing this to Brian. I intend on getting everything I want from him, and when I'm tired of him, I'll leave," she said. "I'll stop you," Nick said. She laughed, "You can't stop me when you're dead." He stared at her in shock as her eyes changed. "God no," he whispered, feeling the fear overtake his body. He was staring into the same eyes as the dragon from his dreams. She smiled, "Only now, at the end, do your dreams make sense." Nick looked behind him, realizing what was about to happen. He looked back at Aleisha, terror in his eyes, as she swung the bat, and he fell backwards down the stairs. Aleisha walked down the stairs, smiling. She walked up to Nick, looking down at him. He was having trouble breathing, and was white as a sheet from the blood he was losing. Nick looked up at her with unfocused eyes. Aleisha dropped the bat in favor of a smaller object. She picked up the candlestick from the table next to the couch and held it over Nick's head. Nick could hear Angel barking and jumping against something. "Angel, help me!" he yelled. Aleisha laughed, "You think she's gonna help you? She can't hurt me you know. She knows what I am, but she also knows if she does anything to give me away, that I'll kill everyone she loves, starting with Brian." Nick glared at her. Aleisha smiled, "See, you can't win." She bent down and kissed him on the mouth. As she raised up, Nick spat in her face, "Bitch!" She laughed, wiping the spit off, "Goodbye Nicky." She reached out and grabbed his face, turning it so she could hit the right place. A tear left Nick's eye as he realized what she was going to do. He closed his eyes as she raised her hand, bringing the candlestick down hard on its mark. Nick's body went limp, and Aleisha stood up, dropping the weapon next to him. She looked down at herself. Nick's blood was on her shirt. She shook her head, "You mess up everything don't you?" She ran her hand over the stain, it disappeared as soon as she touched it. "There we go," she said, looking around, "Let's make this place presentable shall we?" She went through the house, breaking things, knocking furniture over, taking a few of the more valuable pieces and putting them in her car. When she was done she let Angel out. The wolf snarled at her, barking. She pointed her finger at her, "You know what I'll do." Angel glared at her. Aleisha turned and left the house, "This is to easy," she said, as she pulled down the drive. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian and Kevin were on their way out of the studio when Brian's cell phone rang. He pulled it out, seeing Nick's number on the caller ID. He pressed the button, "Yeah man, you decide you want lunch?" All he could hear was Angel whining. "Nick? You there?" Brian asked. Angel whined even more. "What is it?" Kevin asked, seeing the look on Brian's face. "All I hear is Angel," he said. Kevin took the phone and listened, then handed it back. "Maybe we should go back," he said, feeling a sense of urgency. "Yeah, let's hurry too. I don't feel good about this," Brian said as they ran towards the car. They sped back to the house, noticing the front door was open when they pulled up. They jumped out of the car and ran into the house. "Jesus Christ!" Kevin said, seeing the state the house was in. "Nick!" Brian yelled. He could hear Angel barking in the living room. They both ran in stopping dead in their tracks at what they found. Nick was laying at the bottom of the stairs, covered in blood. Blood had pooled around his hands, and it was streaming down his face from the wound on the side of his head. Angel was laying beside him, Nick's cell phone next to her. Brian ran over, tears streaming down his face, "Oh God, Nick!" Kevin immediately called for an ambulance and the police. Brian looked around, seeing the blood on the stairs and on the banister. "God, Kevin what happened?" he asked. Kevin grabbed an afghan off the couch and laid it over Nick, seeing his wrist pouring blood. "Damn, he's gonna bleed to death before they get here," he said, running into the kitchen and grabbing as many towels as he could find. He came back and wrapped them around Nick's wrist, applying pressure. Brian was in hysterics, yelling at Nick to wake up. "Brian, stop it!" Kevin yelled. Brian looked at him. "Hold this," Kevin told him. Brian moved over and held Nick's wrist while Kevin got up. "Where are you going?" he asked. "Upstairs," Kevin said. Brian watched as Kevin went up the stairs, careful not to step in any blood. He made it to the top, looking down the hall towards Nick's room. Blood was smeared all over the carpet, and bloody hand prints were on the banister. "God," he said, as he made his way down the hall and into Nick's room. He saw the broken mirror, shards of glass everywhere. Nick's sketch pad was in the floor next to the window. The bed was messed up also. "What happened?" he asked himself. "Kevin, they're here!" Brian yelled. Kevin made his way back down the stairs, and watched as the paramedics started working on Nick. He told them of his head injury and of his up coming surgery. They nodded and continued to work on him. The police walked in, and Kevin told them how they found Nick, and that someone must have broken in, not expecting him to be there. Angel stayed close to Brian, whining. The paramedics loaded Nick onto the gurney and rushed him out of the house, just as Aleisha pulled up. She jumped out of the car and ran in to find Brian. "Brian, what happened!?" she asked, panicked. He was in tears, "Nick....God it's awful." She reached out and held him as he cried. Angel glared at her, growling. Aleisha looked at her and she shut up. Kevin came over, "Come on, we'll drop Angel off at my house on the way to the hospital." They all ran out of the house, leaving the police officers there to piece together what happened. Kevin quickly stopped at his house, dropping Angel off and picking Kristin up before heading up to the hospital. Brian called Howie from the car and told him what was going on. When they reached the hospital they were lead to a small waiting room. They could see the room Nick was in, and watched through the window as the doctors and nurses worked on him. Several people ran into the room with equipment, taking x-rays and checking blood type. Nick had been in the room for almost two hours when the doctor came out. Everyone crowded around. "We are gonna have to take him up to surgery," the doctor said. "For his head?" Brian asked. "No, for his internal injuries, and to remove the glass from his hands. We won't be able to do the surgery on his skull," he said. "Why not?" Kevin asked. "Because of the trauma he's sustained. His brain is swelling and we can't risk doing it until that is under control," the doctor said. Just then a nurse came out of the room, "Doctor, we need you." Everyone watched as the doctor ran back into the room. "What's going on?" Kira asked. Kevin watched, seeing Nick's hands twitching, "Christ, I think he's having a seizure." "Oh God," Howie said, watching as the twitching turned into full convulsing. Brian was crying uncontrollably, "He warned us. He told us something was going to happen and we didn't listen." "Brian, you couldn't have known," Aleisha said, holding him close. "I should have," he said. She pulled him close to her, letting him cry on her shoulder. "Kev, someone needs to call Lyn," Howie said. Kevin walked over to a chair and sat down, rubbing his face with his hands. Kristin sat down next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. He smiled at her as he pulled his cell phone out and dialed the number. "Lyn, it's Kevin. Something's happened to Nick......." Chapter 26 |