The Price of Friendship Chapter 16
Chris slowly slid down the face of the tree and landed heavily on his feet, seemingly not noticing the jolt that coursed through his legs. He was too shocked by what he had found some 20 feet above him, hidden in the leaves of the tree�a video camera, but not just any video camera. Oh no�this video camera also happened to be working�filming.
Chris sat down and dropped his head into his hands, still reeling in disbelief.
His first thought at finding the camera was, �oh my goodness�someone else is on the island and is possibly watching us.�
His next thought was strikingly similar��oh my goodness�someone is watching us and isn�t doing anything to help us.�
He didn�t know which thought he disliked more�having someone watching you, unable to help or, having someone watching you, unwilling to help. Both thoughts sent a shudder down his spine.
A small moan from Lance brought Chris out of his troubled thoughts. He scooted closer to Lance�s prone body and gently put his hands under his shoulders and pulled him closer to a tree. Once Chris was close enough to the tree to put his back against it, he lifted Lance�s head up and placed it gently in his lap. The movements did not cause Lance to awaken, but they seemed to still his movements and moans.
�You are acting just like Joey did on the beach the other day,� Chris said. Then, with a small laugh, Chris tenderly ran his hand over Lance�s head as he spoke.
�Now that�s funny�I�ve never been able to say those words before�James Lance Bass acting like Joseph Anthony Fatone, Jr.�
Chris leaned his head against the tree that he had sat against and quietly laughed at his own joke. His laughter died away though as he looked up and was able to just catch a glimpse of the camera above. The view caused him to think quite sobering thoughts.
�What if there are more of you around here?� he thought. �What do we do then�what�what?� he asked himself.
For a few moments, Chris played around with the possibilities in his mind�what to do�what to do. Then, he came up with a small plan that he would keep to himself for the time being.
�I�ll just keep my eyes open for right now. If I see anymore of the cameras, then I�ll tell the rest of the guys�there�s no sense in scaring them all�especially, Lance and Joey.�
Chris gave himself a mental pat on the back as he closed his eyes.
�Man,� he said quietly. �I hope that this is just the only camera and that who ever had put it up isn�t here any more.�
Another thought suddenly hit him though, causing him to open his eyes.
�The little red light had been on�that meant a power source had to be around�and a power source means civilization�civilization means rescue�rescue means home.�
With those thoughts racing through his mind, Chris continued to run his hand over Lance�s head as he closed his eyes, waiting for Justin to return.
It was well after dark when Justin finally began making his way back to Chris and Lance. Fortunately, there was a full moon and not a cloud in sight and, with that to his advantage, Justin had little trouble in negotiating his way down the path through the forest.
�Chris!� Justin called out to the pair, not wanting to startle them in his approach.
�Over here, J�over here!� was Chris�s distant reply.
�Be there in a minute!� Justin yelled in return.
He felt immense relief in not having become lost in the dark. He wanted nothing more than to see that Chris and Lance were safe and well.
At that same time, Chris heaved his own deep sigh of relief upon hearing the sound of Justin�s voice. He knew that they had taken a great risk in separating as they had, but it had been a necessary one at that. There had been no other real solution to their problem. With Joey and Lance both unable to stay awake, much less walk and JC�s being too weak to help in carrying either of them, Chris had come to the difficult decision of having Justin carry Joey first back to the cave with JC in tow.
Once there, at the cave, Justin was to get a fire going for Joey, give him some aspirin for the fever, then help JC clean and bandage Joey�s arm before returning to where they were.
Chris�s thoughts were interrupted when he felt Lance move his head and mumble in his sleep as if caught in a dream.
Chris looked down in concern at Lance, who was still sleeping deeply with his head in his lap. Chris ran a hand over Lance�s head and began speaking to him in quiet tones.
�Lance�Lansten�J is going to be here soon.�
Lance moved slightly in his sleep in response to Chris�s quiet voice.
�Come on, sleepy head�I need you to try to open your eyes, Lance,� Chris urged in a sing song voice as he gave his friend�s face several firm pats in an effort to awaken him.
Chris watched as Lance�s eyelids began to flutter briefly before opening.
�Mmmm,� Lance moaned as he blinked heavily in his struggle to bring the face hovering above his into focus.
He tried to bring his hands to his face and noticed that there was something wrong�they felt funny. He looked down and saw that his hands were tightly bound in front of him.
�How had that happened�why didn�t Chris untie me?�
His mind reeled with unanswered questions as he slowly began to once again close his eyes. He was finding it very difficult to keep them open for some reason.
�Hey�come on, Poofu�open those for me,� Chris said with a smile on his face.
Lance finally complied after several more firm pats to his cheeks once again roused him from his shallow sleep.
�Hey, there, Lance,� Chris said as the blond opened his eyes again. �It�s nice to have you back.�
Chris?� Lance croaked before coughing. He quickly grabbed at his head and moaned. He had a splitting headache and he had no idea why.
�Untie my hands,� he managed to get out in between the coughing.
�Head hurt?� Chris asked, ignoring Lance�s request. He quickly grabbed a nearby water bottle and unscrewed its lid with one hand as he carefully lifted Lance�s head with the other.
�Yeah,� was Lance�s weak answer before allowing Chris to bring the bottle to his dry lips. He took a few tentative sips before Chris took the bottle from him.
�My hands�untie my hands,� Lance said as he looked up to see Chris shaking his head no.
At that same moment, Chris and Lance heard footsteps coming near.
�Oh, no�� Lance whispered, his voice full of fear as he gazed up to see that Chris did not seem in the very least upset with what they were hearing.
�What?� Chris quietly asked with a small smile, not understanding why Lance was suddenly so fearful.
�Don�t you hear it?� Lance whispered fervently as he struggled to sit up, only to suddenly realize that a rope had also been wrapped about his ankles.
�They�re coming back!� He shouted desperately. �Untie me, Chris�please!�
�Sh�Lance�it�s just J,� Chris said in soothing tones as he pulled Lance up against his chest.
�No�no�no,� Lance cried out in terror.
�They�re coming to take me away! Chris! Don�t let them get me! Please�don�t let them get me!�
Lance began to thrash about in Chris�s strong hold, but found that he was too weak to fight against both Chris and the ropes that seemed to be multiplying by the second. He glanced down his body and saw that there were now ropes about his knees and thighs. As he noticed those, he felt something tighten against his chest, and brought his gaze up to see that there was now a rope wound about him there. Panic began to set in deep within Lance. In disbelieve, he stared up at the calm face above him.
�It�s okay, Lance,� Chris said in a smooth voice. �They�re just going to make you feel better.�
Lance looked back down at the bonds that were now almost entirely encircling his body before looking back up at Chris�s face. Lance watched in horror as his friend�s face no longer bore a resemblance to Chris�s. He was now looking at the face of one of his attackers. He then opened his mouth in a silent scream.
�Justin!� Chris shouted as loudly as he could to be heard over Lance�s screams.
He had thrown himself on top of Lance as he continued to thrash about wildly, as one possessed by an unknown force. Chris wrapped his arms and legs tightly around Lance�s body, trying to control the limbs that were lashing out in all directions. He knew that he was not going to be able to hold on much longer and needed Justin�s help...soon�now! He didn�t want to think about what might happen if he happened to lose his grip on Lance�s violently struggling form.
�Justin�help!� Chris again shouted as he dodged the flailing arms that he had temporarily lost his grip on.
�I need help here�NOW!�
Justin heard Chris�s desperate shouts intermingled with Lance�s spine tingling screams and began to race down the path in the direction of those sounds.
Within seconds of hearing the screams and shouts, Justin was down on his knees helping Chris to wrestle Lance�s writhing body to the ground.
Unknown to Chris, there was someone watching them�watching in abject horror. Davis had crept into the quiet Johnson home not 5 minutes earlier. With both Russell and Leigh Johnson were both in bed asleep, Davis had decided to pay a little visit to the video room to check on the young men if they were still within camera range. He looked down the long, dark hallway leading to it and could see blips and flashes of light emanating from the open doorway. Quickly and quietly, Davis had made his way down the corridor then entered into the darkened room. He walked over to the monitors sitting on the long cabinet to see that the monitor for cameras 1 through 4 was quiet, as was the monitor for cameras 5 through 10. He looked at the third and final camera and watched as images from cameras 11 through 15 briefly flashed upon the screen.
�Camera 11�12,� Davis whispered to himself as he watched the images. �13�14�15�oh, no��
Davis franticly pushed a button on the nearby control panel, causing camera 15�s image to remain on the screen.
�What�s going on?� Justin shouted to the older man as he struggled to keep a handhold on Lance�s frantically writhing form.
�Nightmare!� Chris replied loudly over the din Lance was creating with his screams of fright. Chris then tried shaking Lance by the shoulders to wake him up, but was finding that wasn�t going to work.
�What do we do, Chris?�
�What did you say, J?�
Justin looked down at Lance and attempted to cover his mouth with his hand in order to be heard, but only succeeded in being bitten.
�Ow!� Justin shouted in pain as he quickly jerked his hand out of Lance�s mouth.
�You okay?� Chris yelled as he quickly sat upon Lance�s chest in an effort to better hold him down. Justin nodded his head as he tried to shake the pain from his hand.
�Yeah�I�ll live!� he replied as he moved in above Lance�s head. He grabbed Lance�s arms and pulled them above his head as Chris tried slapping Lance�s face a few times to awaken him, but he was too far gone.
�It has to be whatever knocked him out!� Justin shouted.
Chris simply nodded his head at him.
�Move back!� Chris shouted.
Justin moved over as far as he dared without losing his grip on Lance and watched as Chris pulled his fist back, then, brought it down in one swift motion, hitting Lance soundly across the chin.
Lance�s head reeled violently to the side and his screams ended as abruptly as they had begun. Justin released Lance�s limp arms from his grasp Chris immediately grabbed the lax figure by the shoulders and brought him up to his chest.
�I�m so sorry, Lance�I�m so sorry, but you wouldn�t stop screaming,� Chris apologized, his voice full of emotion.
�You didn�t have a choice, Chris�you didn�t have a choice,� Justin said as he leaned in, reaching around the two figures and pulled them into his shaking embrace.
Davis hit another button on the control panel, which caused the monitors to return to their pattern of flashing images from cameras 11 through 15 in sequence. He briefly leaned heavily against the countertop, his mind reeling with the images he had just seen. There had to be only one reason why Lance was behaving in that manner�only one. There had to have been some drug residue in the syringe when he had injected the unconscious man with water, hours earlier. The water had mixed with residue�the young man now had a small portion of the drug in his system�the leaves�the leaves mixed with the drugs�the Johnsons cant� find out.
Davis quickly stood back up and hit the eject button on the VCR. He grabbed the tape from the machine and put a blank tape in its place. With one swift motion, Davis ripped open the tape in his hands and pulled the plastic ribbon out�there was no way that the Johnsons would find out about this new twist�at least not until he could get help for Lance and the rest of the unfortunate group. He shoved the videotape under his shirt and took several deep breaths in an effort to calm himself.
With thoughts of helping the young men still in mind, Davis quietly left the video room and stole down the hallway, making his way to the front door and then outside. Looking all about him and seeing nothing, Davis ran across the open yard and entered the forest. He continued to run quietly along the dimly lit path, carefully avoiding the cameras that he knew were there as he raced toward the beach where his small boat was. He needed to reach Topowgo and warn his family of the new development and the acceleration of their plans.
�Joey�you need to try to drink some of this water,� JC said as he raised Joey�s head up from a lifejacket that was being used as a pillow.
Joey weakly complied and drank a few sips before coughing.
�I�m cold, C,� Joey whispered.
JC looked over at the roaring fire that Justin had built before leaving the cave to get Lance and Chris. They had made sure that Joey was lying close to the fire, but apparently, his fever was such that the warmth of the fire was not helping him.
JC stood up and walked over to the pile of lifejackets that were lying against one of the far walls of the large rock room. He grabbed several of them and brought them back to Joey.
�See if these help you Joey,� he said as he placed them over Joey�s trembling figure. �Better?�
�Yeah,� was Joey replied tiredly.
�Hungry?� JC asked as he walked over to the supply box and pulled out the last of the crackers.
�No�I just wanna sleep,� Joey quietly replied as he allowed his heavy eyelids to close.
�Okay.� JC sat back down beside his friend and watched Joey fall into a light sleep. Minutes later, Joey awoke and pushed the jackets off his body.
�Hot�hot,� he murmured as he twisted and turned about on dirt floor.
JC reached over and gently placed his hand on Joey�s forehead. He could immediately tell that his fever was not getting any better, even with the aspirin that he had been given. For a brief moment, JC allowed a thought to enter his mind�Lance had been helped�
With a shake of his head, JC brought his thoughts away from what little he remembered of the attack. Those men had terrorized them all and had even attacked and injured Justin and Joey�but�they had also helped Lance�and�one of them had whispered something to him, but what�
JC�s thoughts were interrupted by a voice calling for him from outside the cave and recognized it as being Chris�s.
JC sagged against the wall that he had been leaning against as he whispered a prayer of thanks for the safe return of his friends.