The Price of Friendship Chapter 8
It had been a long sleepless night for all the members of Nsync. JC poked a large stick at the glowing embers of the fire that he and the others had huddled around throughout the night in an effort not only to stay warm but to also ward off any further attacks.
�Time to get some more wood,� JC said quietly as he stood up with Chris also standing to quickly join him. They had all decided earlier in the evening that none of them would venture anywhere alone. They did not want to risk anyone of them going through another attack.
The pair walked the short distance into the darkness to a small pile of driftwood and gathered some pieces into their arms. JC nervously glanced about him at the shadows on the beach created by the full moon playing across the tops of the trees before he and Chris hurriedly returned to the fire. They added a few more pieces of driftwood to the faint embers and the fire seemed to miraculously revive itself.
With the gradual growing of the light from the ignited wood JC looked down at the remaining members of the group. They each seemed lost in their own thoughts...their own fears�their own memories of their attacks. As his gaze traveled from Joey to Lance to Justin, he recalled the terror that he had felt when finding his friends�his brothers, lying bound, gagged and in various states of consciousness. He could only imagine how Chris had felt in seeing the same things that he had seen. With a shiver, JC sat down near the fire and emptied his mind of all thoughts�he had to.
Chris glanced at his friends around him, wondering what each was thinking. He knew by JC�s expression, that he had met his saturation point of thought and was now wearing his �JC�s out to lunch� expression. He felt very sorry for him knowing that JC felt responsible for everyone at all times and the helplessness of the situation had to be bothering him the most�JC liked to be in control of everything at all times.
Chris then looked over at Lance to see that he had finally closed his eyes�maybe he was resting. But, after taking another more careful look, Chris could see that Lance had a scowl on his face.
�He must be trying to remember something again. Poor Lance,� thought Chris.
Lance
�Why can�t I remember anything? There has to be something there? I should have been awake�I could have protected Joey. Instead of doing that�being there for him, I had to be lying down taking a nap. I know I couldn�t have done much with the way my side feels, but I could have tried. Why can�t I remember what happened? There is just nothing there. I remember hearing JC�s voice hovering over me�so distant�too far away to reach out to�to grasp. He sounded so scared. I could feel something tugging at my wrists�my ankles�my mouth. I found out later when I saw the bruises around my wrists and ankles�I had been tied up pretty tightly. Thank goodness I hadn�t been awake to know that. I would have totally freaked out. Humph�freaking out�I did a little of that when I opened my eyes and saw a large knife embedded in the log right above my head. How did that get there? We wouldn�t find out until later�after Joey had awakened and told us that his attacker had thrown it as a threat to him. If he didn�t stay quiet, the man would not miss next time. Joey�Joey.� Lance glanced over at Joey who was sitting Indian style with his elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands.
Joey
�I should have been awake. If I had been awake, I could have done more. Well, I could have done something�that guy was big, but maybe I could have done something that would have prevented the attack. No�Chris is right�if I had been awake and tried to do something, that knife could have ended up in me and not in the log by Lance. Man�I almost died right then seeing that knife right above his head�just quivering there�That could have been his head and it would have been my fault. Thank goodness he didn�t hurt the others when they came out of the woods. I tried to warn them, but I couldn�t do much with that gag in my mouth. I had never been so happy to see the guys and at the same time so desperate for them to go away. What do we do now? Where can we go? Will he be back again?� Joey glanced over at Justin and saw that he was sitting with his knees drawn up tightly to his chest�his head resting on his knees. Joey couldn�t help but feel a tug at his heart at the forlorn sight before him. �Poor guy�I�m so glad that he�s okay�that Lance is okay�JC and Chris. Please God, help us.�
Justin
�I want to be brave�I really want to, but it�s so hard. Those men�they made me feel so helpless�so alone�so scared senseless. I thought I was going to die�really die. I was so afraid that the guys were going to find my body there in the forest. I didn�t want that�I didn�t want them to see me like that�dead. Why didn�t they kill me? Are they just playing some sort of game with us? Attack us one at a time? What about Chris and JC�are they next? I don�t want them to go through that�what I went through. Please don�t let it happen again�please don�t let it happen again�please don�t let it happen again.�
The group remained lost in their own thoughts until the rising sun signaled a new day of survival for them. They needed to stick together. They could make it if they stayed strong.
The day was also beginning for Russell Johnson. He was sitting quietly watching the many monitors on the counter before him when he heard Leigh walk into the room.
�Are they waking up yet dear?� the woman asked as she stood near the monitor displaying 5 figures lying and sitting on the beach.
�They never went to sleep. It does appear that one of them is beginning to drift off�that one right there,� Mr. Johnson said, as he pointed at one of the monitors. �I believe he is the one they call��
�Joshua Scott Chasez,� Leigh murmured.
�What?� Russell looked at his wife in amazement. �What did you say his name was?�
Leigh turned to look at her husband. In her hands were several pieces of paper. The top sheet had a large colored photograph of five, clean cut, young men splashed across it.
�Here dear. Look for yourself.�
Leigh handed the page to her husband and continued with her explanation. �I took the liberty of searching on the computer for missing persons�really wasn�t all that hard to find out who they were really. Apparently, they are a quite popular music group�worldwide as I understand it from the reading that I did last night and this morning. No one has been able to account for their whereabouts. They have simply vanished into thin air.�
Russell did not seem to be paying attention. He was too involved in finding out the identities of the young men who play part in his psychological experiment.
�Hmmm...Joshua Scott Chasez�JC�very fine chiseled features. It says that he is considered the serious one�nicknamed Dad.� Russell perused through the short paragraph on the young man before moving on.
�Let�s see�Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick�the oldest of the group�this is interesting�it says that he was the founder of this group�Nsync.�
Russell looked up at his wife and saw her satisfied grin.
�There is more there in the article dear,� she reminded him.
His eyes once again dropped to the pages in his hand and he read on.
�Justin Randall Timberlake�the baby of the group. Hmmm�very close friendship formed with Mr. Chasez during their time on the Mickey Mouse Club�might be able to use that to our advantage. Let�s see�Joseph Anthony Fatone, Jr. or Joey� known as one of the most easy going in the group�strong family background�loyal�that won�t last for long with the drugs that were administered.�
�When will he receive the next dosage Russ?�
�This evening�possibly�Davis is going to take care of it this time. Marco went too far when he hit the young man. Didn�t follow my instructions�if I had wanted the young man unconscious, I would have had chloroform administered.�
His eyes continued to scan the page and finally landed on the last individual�s name.
�James Lance Bass�Lance�known as the shy, quiet one from Mississippi. I wonder how shy and quiet he will remain when he and his friends begin to slowly pull apart.�
Russell looked up from the papers and smiled. He patted the seat beside him and Leigh sat down.
�Very good job my dear�very good in deed.�
�Thank you.� The pair looked up at the monitors, not knowing that Davis had been outside the room all the while, listening to their plans. Quietly, Davis turned and left without detection.
Sleep had finally claimed the members of Nsync soon after the sun had risen. They had exhausted themselves the night before�watching�waiting. The lay on the sand huddled closely together with Justin in the middle, Lance and Joey on either side of him, and Chris and JC on the outside of the group. They were not aware of the wind picking up�the dark clouds in the distance�the steadily growing tide, but the Johnson�s were.
�I believe that we will have to delay the next injection until the tropical storm subsides,� said Russell Johnson with disappointment.
�Don�t let that get you down dear. It may be interesting to see how they react to this change in weather.�
�Well, I better send Davis and Marco over to make sure that the equipment is secure so that we can observe them.�
�Marco�you may want to rethink that dear. After all, he did disobey your direct orders and I have a feeling that he may be too eager to do so again. We wouldn�t want him to ruin your experiment for you.�
�Yes, you are right Leigh. I will send Davis instead.�
Minutes later, Davis was standing before Russell and Leigh receiving his instructions.
�Take the next injection for Joey. Marco was not able to administer the full dosage due to some sort of reaction. Under no circumstances are you to give him less than the full dosage. I will not have this exploration of loyalties ruined because of a simple reaction�do you understand me?� Mr. Johnson practically spat out the instructions�his voice full of venom and hate.
�How do you propose that I do this Mr. Johnson? They are keeping very close watch of each other.�
�Give him no choice but to go with you Davis. Make him not have a choice in the matter.� The anger and hate on Mr. Johnson�s face slowly gave way to a look of devious delight, as did his wife�s. �Give him no choice.�