| Chapter 40 A.J. quietly snuck out of the house. He looked back over his shoulder to make sure all the lights were out in the house. They were. Everyone had to be asleep by now, it was three in the morning. He walked over to Leighanne's rental car and got in. He rummaged through the glove box and looked in the back seat, nothing. He popped the trunk and looked in there too. Finding nothing he sighed, knowing what he was suppose to do. He really didn't want to, he loved Leighanne, but if he didn't do this Aleisha was going to stop their meetings. He couldn't handle that. He would do anything for that not to happen, including hurting Leighanne. He walked to the front of the car and popped the hood, taking out his pocket knife and going to work. When he was done he quietly went back into the house and up to his room. A.J. washed the grease off his hands and went to bed, instantly falling to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick sat in his bed, reading. The books Leighanne had managed to get for him seemed to be all the same. Wether it was Greek Mythology, or modern myths and legends, they all said the same thing about sirens. They would find a victim and get everything they wanted from them before moving on. They could control both male and female alike. The one thing that kept sticking in Nick's mind was the fact that if they bonded with someone, they lost much of their power over others, until the bond was broken. He lay back, reliving the attack, realizing that was what she was trying to do. "She wanted my heart, she was trying to bond with me. But why? Why would she do that if it was going to cause her to lose control of the others?" Nick said to himself. He got up and put the books away in the closet, then got back in bed. He'd been up almost all night, and was exhausted. His side was killing him, and his head was hurting. "This not a good start to the day," he mumbled, pulling the blanket over him, and settling in. Nick took a deep breath and closed his eyes, God, help me figure this out, and please make it fast. He drifted to sleep moments later. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne was getting ready to meet with Kristin when A.J. came downstairs. "Hey man, you're sleeping rather late today," Howie commented. "Yeah, wasn't feeling well earlier," A.J. said, walking over and sitting on the couch. He noticed Leighanne was gathering her things to leave. "Where you off to?" he asked. "Oh, Kristin and I are gonna go into town, do some shopping. You want to come?" she asked. "No, that's OK," he answered. Leighanne looked at him, "You must not be feeling well if you turned down a chance to go shopping." A.J. smiled, "You girls go have fun." "We will, see ya later," Leighanne said on her way out the door. A.J. glanced out the window as the car went down the drive. His heart was in his throat, knowing what was going to happen. "Bone, you look awful. You aren't coming down with something are you?" Howie asked. A.J. just shook his head, Only a case of the guilts, he told himself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne had gotten about a mile down the road when she heard something unusual coming from the engine. She put her foot on the break to pull over to the side of the road. Nothing happened when she pushed on it. "Oh God," she said, as she approached the steep hill on the way to Kristin's. She pulled the gear shift down into second, hearing the engine roar. She kept pumping the breaks, hoping they would miraculously start working. As she topped the hill and started down, the car gained speed. Leighanne was near panic, desperately fighting with the wheel of the car to keep it on the road as it sped down the hill. "God help me, please," she said, realizing she wasn't going to make the turn at the bottom. Just then Jade appeared in the passengers seat, "Hang on, it's gonna get bumpy." Leighanne gripped the steering wheel with all she had as the car left the road and plowed into a large tree. "Lee, wake up," Jade said. Leighanne opened her eyes and looked around. She was outside the car, laying in the soft grass. "You're OK," Jade said, "You just got a bump on the head." "Thank you," Leighanne said, looking behind her and seeing what was once her car. It was completely wrapped around the tree, a large branch protruding out of the drivers seat. "God, if you hadn't come along....." she started. Jade smiled at her, "You're alright. That's what matters now. Lee this was no accident, you need to watch your back closely, Nick too." Leighanne shuddered, realizing that A.J. had to have been behind this, "We have to get her quick before something happens that you guys can't stop." "We will," Jade said, "Now call your friends and have them come pick you up." Leighanne looked down to see her purse sitting next to her. She looked up again, Jade was gone. She took her cell phone from her purse and dialed the number, "Kevin, it's Lee. I've had an accident..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick was coming down the stairs just as Brian got off the phone. The look on his face was somber. "Something wrong?" Nick asked. "Yeah, Lee was in a car accident...." Brian started. All the color drained from Nick's face, "What?! God, please tell me she's OK." Brian was a little taken aback by Nick's reaction. Aleisha and Lyn noticed it too. "She is. She just got a bump on the head, but the car is completely totaled," Brian finished. "Thank God," Nick said, sitting down before he fell down. "Where is she?" he asked. "She's back at Howie's now," Brian said. "Can we go? I wanna see her, make sure she's OK," Nick asked. "Yeah, I was just gonna suggest that," Brian said. Nick got up and grabbed his coat, waiting on the others. They all left, climbing in Brian's car and headed down the road. Nick was anxious, he wanted to see for himself that Lee was alright. He knew that his reaction didn't make sense to them, he could see it on their faces. He couldn't slip like that again, he wasn't suppose to know anyone very well, and his reaction was a dead giveaway. He just hoped that Aleisha didn't think much of it. They arrived at Howie's and went in. Kevin and Kristin were there, and Kira had come home from work. "How is she?" Lyn asked as they entered the living room. "Alright. She's pretty shaken up, and has a mild concussion, but she'll be fine," Kevin said. "Where is she?" Nick asked. "In her room, laying down," Howie answered. "Um, can I go up and see her?" Nick asked, a little pensive. "Yeah sure," Kira said. Nick walked upstairs and knocked on the door as he opened it, "Hey, you alright?" Leighanne looked up and smiled at him, "Yeah, close the door." Nick did, and walked over to the bed, sitting down on the side. He stared at her, the noticeable bump on her forehead, "Lee, I'm so sorry." "For what?" she asked. "For getting you involved in this. This is all my fault, if anything had happened to you, I'd never been able to live with myself," Nick said. "Nick, Jade saved me. If she hadn't showed up, I would've died," Leighanne said. Nick wiped a tear, "This has to end. I can't keep up this charade much longer, and I will NOT let anything else happen to you." "We can't quit now. Not when we're so close," she said. "I know, but..." he started. "No buts. There's nothing I want more, than to see that she gets everything that's coming to her. Don't deprive me of seeing that," Leighanne said, smiling. Nick laughed, "OK. I'll get to work on everything." "Nick, you have to watch your back. She set A.J. up to do this, so I'm sure she knows something is going on," she warned. "I will. What about A.J.? We can't just let him keep doing this," Nick said. "I know. I've got an idea, but it has to wait until you're ready with everything else. I'll watch him, he'll not have another chance to hurt me again," she said. Nick smiled at her, taking her hand and kissing the back of it, "You are a remarkable woman." "So I've been told," she smiled back, "Now, let's get that bitch and send her back to hell." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A.J. was sitting quietly in the corner. He was completely torn. He felt awful for having done what he did, but he couldn't stop himself. He had to be with Aleisha, it was the only thing he lived for now. She caught his eye smiling at him approvingly. He nodded, knowing he would be better rewarded when they could meet again. Nick came down the stairs and joined the others. "She's asleep now," he reported. "What could've happened? Did she say anything about the accident?" Brian asked. "All she said was that the breaks went out," Kevin said, "But you should've seen the car, it was unrecognizable as a vehicle. I can't imagine how she just got a bump on the head." "Maybe someone was looking out for her?" Kira said. "They had to have been, nothing else explains it," Kristin said. Aleisha put her hand on Brian's shoulder, "Honey, maybe we should go and let her rest. Come back later when she's up." Brian looked at her, "Yeah, probably so. Nick, Lyn, you guys ready to go?" Nick didn't want to leave, but he was afraid that if he stayed it would look even more suspicious. Plus he would probably beat the shit out of A.J. So he reluctantly left with them. He didn't say much on the drive back, his mind was full of the plans he was making. When they got back to the house he went up to his room, not a word to anyone. Lyn and Brian looked at each other, wondering what was really going on. Lyn sat down on the couch, as did Brian. Aleisha walked over, looking at them. "Anyone know what's going on with Nick?" she asked. They both shook their heads. "Beats me," Brian said, turning on the TV. "Oh, I love this show," Lyn said, settling in to watch. Aleisha smiled as they became engrossed in the televison. She took the chance to go upstairs. She knocked on his door, "Nick, can I talk to you?" Nick sat straight up in bed, "Um, hang on." He quickly put the things away he was working on and opened the door, "Yeah?" She didn't wait to be asked in. Aleisha walked past Nick into the room and turned to look at him, "Nick are you alright?" "Yeah I'm fine," he said, leaving the door open and walking over to sit on the bed, "Why?" "Well, you just seem to be acting a little funny," she said, sitting on the bed next to him. Nick hoped that she couldn't see how nervous this was making him. "No, I'm OK. It was just sad about Leighanne though. You know you never think that something bad could happen to someone you know," he said. "Yeah, she was lucky," Aleisha said. She noticed a flash of emotion in Nick's eyes. Nick looked down, hoping she didn't catch it. Aleisha got up, "Well, I'll go back downstairs. I just wanted to make sure you were OK." "Thanks, but I'm fine," Nick said, then a thought entered his mind, "Um Leisha?" She turned around, "Yeah?" "Do you believe in God?" he asked. It was now his turn to see the anger flash in her eyes, "Um, not really. I never was much on religion and all that. Why do you ask?" "Well, from the few things I remember, I know that Brian believed. I was just wondering if you did too, cause it seemed to be such a huge part of his life," Nick said. "Oh, well, we haven't really talked much about it," she said. Nick noticed she was uncomfortable, so he went in for the kill. "Do you think that Brian and you would come to church with me tomorrow?" he asked. Aleisha looked shocked, "Um, well Nick, I don't really know. I guess you'll have to ask Brian about that." "OK," Nick said, getting up and walking out into the hall. He leaned over the banister, "Hey Bri." Brian looked up, "Yeah?" "Would you guys go to church with me in the morning?" Nick asked, giving him his lost, hopeful look. "You really wanna go?" Brian asked. "Yeah I do," Nick said, "I have a lot of questions I need answers for." Brian could relate to that, "Yeah sure. It'll be fun." Nick grinned from ear to ear, "Thanks man." He turned around and saw the look of detest and rage in Aleisha's face. "I'm so glad you guys are going," he said, gleefully, going back into his room and shutting the door, leaving her out in the hall with her anger. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Later on that night, Brian and Aleisha were getting ready for bed. Brian set the alarm to get up in time to get to church. "I'm glad we're going tomorrow. I've been needing to get back, but I never could find a way to make myself go. Guess Nick did it for me," he said, climbing in bed. "Yeah, he sure did," she said. Brian caught the distaste in her voice. "You don't wanna go?" he asked. "Well, I never held much stock in some God that just sat up in the sky somewhere trying to rule our lives," she said, getting in bed and pulling the blanket up over her. Brian stared at her, "Is that really how you feel?" "Pretty much," she said, looking at him. He stared at her for the longest time. It started to make her nervous, "Just say whatever it is that you're thinking." "I was just thinking that was kinda sad. I mean, I know I haven't been the model Christian, far from it, but to know that's how you feel, it just breaks my heart," he said. Aleisha rolled over, "Brian, it's no big deal. You believe what you wanna and I'll believe what I want to. I'll endure the church thing for you tomorrow, but I don't want you to think that I'm gonna start going on a regular basis or anything." Brian was beginning to realize just how different they were. "You don't have to go if it makes you that uncomfortable," he said. "Well, it would be rude to Nick for me to back out now," she said. Brian sighed, reaching over and turning out the light. He lay back in bed and thought about what it was he really saw in Aleisha. She rolled over and smiled at him, "You're thinking to much." "Huh?" "I know you, you're trying to analyze the situation, and see what you can do to make it turn out the way you want it to," she said. Brian looked at her, "So that's what I'm doing huh?" "Yup, you are. You just need to relax," she said, reaching over and taking his hand in hers. Brian could feel the most intense sensation of pleasure course through his body. He relaxed at her touch and pulled her close to him. All the thoughts that had inhabited his head a moment before were gone. She smiled as she kissed him. The pleasure for her was the control. To know that all she had to do was touch him, and he was putty in her hands. That's what made her tick, what gave her satisfaction. And he was so easy to control. His loss was the perfect situation for her to get her foot in the door. Now that she was there, she wasn't going to give up the gold mine she'd found. Not only would she rid Brian of all his worldly goods, but she would eventually make her way into all of the guys lives, getting what she wanted from them. Alex was already at her beck and call. Aleisha was amazed at how easy he was to take. He never fought her, letting her do with him what she wanted. She was sizing up Howie and Kevin. They would be harder to take, just for the sheer fact that they were committed. Well, she could take care of that tiny problem when the time came. The only obstacle was still Nick. Even if he didn't know it. She knew something was going on with him, and it was deeper than just concern for a friend. He was up to something, and she was determined to find out what it was. "Leisha," Brian whispered. That brought her out of her thoughts. She turned her attention back to a squirming Brian, "Alright," she said, rolling over on top of him and smiling, This is to easy. Chapter 41 |