Chapter 13

AJ’s point of view

“AJ, this is urgent, wake up!” were the first words I heard when I opened my eyes.

I couldn’t be bothered with Nick after last night, so I didn’t turn to face him. Instead I closed my eyes again.

Kevin: Heh, good move, J.

“OK, I’m awake!” I grumbled. “What do you want today!?”

“AJ, did you stick a knife in my mattress last night?”

AJ: Oh, of course, Nick, why wouldn’t I stick a knife in your mattress?

My eyes immediately snapped open, “WHAT?!”

Nick didn’t reply, so I turned over and looked over to his bed. My eyes widened as, sure enough, I saw a large kitchen knife standing upright, with its point dug into the mattress, right next to his exposed throat.

Brian: Ooh… Nicky, I don’t think that’s a good sign.

Nick didn’t move an inch due to fear filled panic.

I quickly got up and went over to his bedside.

“God, look at that thing! It’s right next to your neck!” I exclaimed.

Nick: Thank you, Captain Obvious.

“Hey, it’s a good thing you didn’t roll over onto this!”

Howie: Seriously!

“Oh, you think!” Nick stated sarcastically. “If something like this happens again, I swear I’m gonna flip or something!”

Brian: Or something.

My eyes widened as I realised something drastic, “I could have woken up…. And found you with your throat slit!”

Kevin: Well, that’s a lovely thought.

Nick looked at me with terror in his eyes, “AJ, you’re not helping!!”

“Oh sorry, man!”

I was about to pull the knife out of his mattress but he stopped me.

“Leave it! It might have prints on or something!” he exclaimed.

Howie: Hey, good thinking, Bone.

Kevin’s point of view

After Kristin and me both being woken by my cell ringing, I looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. Honestly, 7:30am! The promo interviews began at 10:45am! Yawning, I reached for my cell phone. There was no way I was getting up now unless I really had to. It was AJ’s number on my cell.

“AJ, if this isn’t important, I’m hangin up,” I stated calmly as I pressed the answer button.

AJ began to talk nervously, and my eyes widened.

“YOU WHAT?!” I exclaimed, startling both AJ, down the phone, and Kristin. “OK, stay there, I’ll be right over!”

Brian: Heh… whenever there’s trouble, there’s only one thing to do – call Kevin.

“What’s wrong?” Kristin asked.

“AJ said someone is trying to threaten or kill Nick!” I stated.

I tried to stand up, but as my feet were tangled in the bedsheets, I fell clumsily to the floor.

Brian: Haha.

“Ouch, dammit!” I mumbled.

“Are you OK?” my wife asked. I rubbed my head.

“Sure, no big deal!” I reassured, stumbling to my feet and grabbing my T-shirt.

Brian: Haha.

Kevin: Shut up.

After we had all got up and piled into Nick and AJ’s room, with the police and security, the officers soon discovered there were no prints on the knife. It scared us, and terrified Nick, when we all saw that the words ‘KEEP AWAY OR ELSE!’ were crudely etched onto the knife blade.

AJ: Keep away from what?

Brian: Yeah, and how do you etch words into a knife blade? Wouldn’t you have to have them engraved on it or something? I mean, it’s metal.

AJ: I can only imagine… “Excuse me, I need an engraving done on this knife blade. I want it to say ‘Keep away or else!’ All in capital letters.”

Brian: *laughs*

We all knew what this was about, but we made some excuse about fans or stalkers being the culprit so we didn’t have to mention aliens.

AJ: *snorts* Yeah, that sounds exactly like something one of our fans would do, stick a knife in Nick’s mattress. Not even the teenyboppers are that psychotic!

When the police and security had left the room, Nick broke down in tears. Brian and I quickly went to comfort him.

“Shh…. Calm down, you’re OK!” Brian comforted.

Nick: Psh, yeah, for now.

“They’re after me now!” he dismayed. “They’re not happy about me being with Jen so they’re trying to kill me!”

This brought fresh tears to his eyes.

AJ: Aww… poor lil Nicky’s scared!

“Nick, if they wanted to kill you, they would have done that already!” I stated. “It’s just a warning, man!”

Kevin: Yeah, but a warning about what?

“Warnings can turn to actions if you’re not careful though,” Howie pointed out.

Kevin: Exactly what I was going for.

“We’ll need more security to be safe,” AJ added.

Howie: Oh yeah, like that’s gonna work. Don’t even waste your time on security; that never helps in fanfics!

Others: *stare at Howie*

Nick tried to curl up in a ball in an attempt to protect himself, still shaken by tears.

AJ: *bursts out laughing at that image* Nick, how is curling up in a ball supposed to protect you?

Nick: How should I know?

“It’s OK, man. Well, take care of you!” I soothed, patting Nick on the back.

Brian’s point of view

“C’mon Nick, you can’t stay in here forever!” I stated, peering into his room.

“I’m not going anywhere!” he replied stubbornly. “Not after what’s just happened!”

Kevin: Not that staying in his room’s going to be any safer. We know they can get in his room – how else would they have gotten the knife in there?

I couldn’t force him to come. I would feel the same in his place.

“Look, do you want us to say you aren’t feeling well?”

“Please. I’ll just stay here where its safe,” he answered quietly.

Kevin: It’s not safe!

I sighed and left with the others.

The interviews went well, with few problems. I felt bad about lying to the fans about Nick, but we knew it was vital we didn’t tell the truth.

When we all got back, Nick was fast asleep. Howie quietly made his way over to Nick’s bed.

“Poor guy! He musta cried himself to sleep!” he stated, observing the two tear lines down my best friend’s face.

AJ: *bursts out laughing again* Nick, you are such a pansy!

Nick: Hey!

“We’d better leave him alone for now” I suggested, sitting down on the couch. The rest of the evening passed by pretty uneventfully. Howie switched places with AJ for the night, and AJ was grateful to get away from Nick for a while.

Howie: Hey, no fair! I don’t want to be in the same room with the one they’re trying to kill! What if they get me instead?!

But we were getting two unexpected visitors than night.

Howie: AHHH!

Others: *blink*