Chapter 24:
The Next Day
Brian slowly opened his eyes, aware that
the shaft of sunlight was directly beaming onto his face, then squinted.
Throwing a hand over his eyes to keep from being blinded, he rolled over to the
middle of his bed and stretched, immediately sorry that he did. A spasm
tightened around the calf of his right leg, causing him to gasp. It seemed like
forever before the pain lessened enough for him to stagger up from bed, his
whole body screaming from aches and pains. He glanced at the clock, his eyes
widening in surprise. It was almost three in the afternoon; he had slept longer
than he could ever remember and he still felt like shit. He hurriedly took a
shower, then shaved quickly, ignoring the ever-changing colors of bruises on
his face. Throwing on whatever looked and smelled clean enough Brian sat down
on his bed, reaching for the phone and ordered room service, hoping they would
hurry. He knew one of the reasons he felt so bad was because he was starving.
While he waited for his food he called his mom to see how Harold was, then
talked to his dad for a few moments. Satisfied that they were okay, he cut the
conversation short when he heard the buzz of room service. Brian hurried to the
door and was pleased when an older gentleman ushered in his meal. Usually room
service consisted of a nervous, star-struck kid who wouldn’t leave Brian alone
until he had signed enough autographs to make the kid rich on E-bay. He gave a
generous tip to the grateful man then began to devour his food, trying to ease
his hunger pains. As he finished the last bite he began to relax and eyed his
phone, realizing he should check his voice messages. He punched in a few
numbers then listened patiently as the recorded voice announced six new
messages. Brian immediately deleted the first two, saved three, then frowned at the last one, cupping one ear to listen
better. A woman was crying, talking almost incoherently, and it took a moment
for him to finally recognized it as Kevin’s mom. His stomach started to twist
into knots as he strained to follow what she was saying but he grasped the
general idea and swore, slammed down the receiver and flew out of his room,
racing towards Kevin’s room. Brian found the door ajar and fearful, carefully
pushed it open to discover Kevin slumped over in a chair, face in hands.
"Kevin?" he questioned, not
being able to keep the fear out of his voice.
The tall singer turned his head to look at
Brian, his eyes rimmed with angry tears. Silently he held out a small picture
to him, unable to speak. With a shaking hand, Brian came over and took it. He
glanced at the picture a second then closed his eyes, trying not to gag. He
finally forced himself to open his eyes, to examine the photo displaying the
mutilated form of Kevin’s dog, Sam. The pet looked like it had been tortured
and next to the dead dog was Sam’s name and the initials BSB scrawled into the
blood-soaked earth.
"I listened to Aunt Ann’s message but
I could hardly understand her," said Brian. "Did she get a picture
too?" Brian’s heart sank as he watched his cousin nod his head.
"I loved that dog," Kevin spoke,
his voice filled with agony. "What kind of sick bastard would do
this?"
Brian knew. He dropped to the ground
before Kevin’s feet, too weak to stand. Brian began rocking slowly back and
forth, his arms wrapped around himself. "I am so sorry. I am so sorry,
Kevin," he mumbled over and over.
Startled by Brian’s reaction, Kevin looked
at his cousin confused, then placed his hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Brian,
it’s not your fault," he said gently. Brian covered his eyes and moaned
when he heard this.
"I’m gonna get that asshole," he
whispered and Kevin gazed at his cousin, now more confused than ever.
"Brian, what are you talking about?
We’ll never know who did this. Look at the initials in the picture. BSB.
Whatever sicko killed Sam did it because I’m a Backstreet Boy. To hurt me and
my mom. Understand?" Kevin shook Brian’s arm to get his attention.
Brian pulled his hands away and looked
miserably at Kevin. "Yeah, I understand," he said dully.
As distressed as he was over his dog,
Kevin was more troubled by Brian’s odd behavior. "Brian, what’s
wrong?" A sudden thought came to him and Kevin looked concerned. "Is
it that intruder? Are you okay? You didn’t meet him again, did you?"
"Uh, no. I’m okay, thanks."
Kevin gave Brian a questioning look.
"Come on. You don’t look that great. Is it about Xavier? Last night Xavier
nearly scared the shit outta me when I found him in my room."
Brian immediately tensed up, forgetting
about the emotional slip up he made in front of Kevin. "Xavier was in your
room?" he questioned, trying to act casual but desperate for more
information.
"Yeah. I woke up from a dead sleep
and there X was, just staring at me. It was weird. Said he was checking up on
everyone; that he thought the intruder was back."
Brian stood up from the floor, struggling
not to show the alarm he felt but Kevin knew his cousin too well. "It’s
Xavier, isn’t it," stated Kevin flatly. "He’s the problem,
right?"
Brian shook his head quickly, feeling
himself break into a sweat. He turned away from Kevin, praying he wouldn’t
notice. "That’s it. Is Xavier bothering you? Does he intimidate you?"
Keeping his tone light, Brian forced himself
to face Kevin. "Sure, all the time," he joked with a little laugh.
"You’ve seen him, Kev. He’s huge."
Kevin waved Brian off. "No, not that.
What I mean is sometimes..." Kevin was at a loss to explain and it
irritated him. "Oh, I don’t know. I don’t like him that much. He makes me
uneasy. How about you?"
"No, he doesn’t," said Brian
firmly, relieved at the possibility of throwing Kevin off track. I understand
what your talking about, but I think he’s just overly anal about his job. He
really is a good bodyguard. Remember, he did save me from that intruder…"
Brian had a hard time not choking on that, but kept a straight face, waiting to
see if Kevin agreed.
"Yeah, I guess so. Still..."
Brian grabbed the opportunity and put on a
convincing smile. "Hey, he’s my bodyguard Kevin. He’s just out to protect
me and you guys too."
"Well if it isn’t Xavier, it must be
that intruder. You’ve got to admit you haven’t been yourself these past few
days."
Brian mentally sighed as he saw the way
out. "You’re right. That intruder has upset me more than I’d like to
think."
Kevin rubbed his face tiredly and shook
his head. "God, I’ll be glad when this concert is over tonight. These last
couple of days have really sucked." He looked at Brian, noticing his
cousin’s angry bruises and felt bad for what had happened to him. "Uh,
Brian," he began, "I just want to say I’m sorry about losing my cool
last night and yelling. I know you meant to tell me about Harold and all. Guess
we both have been under some stress."
Brian heaved a sigh of relief, which
showed in his face. "Yeah." He slapped an affectionate hand to
Kevin’s shoulder.
"Ah, a tender moment. Can I have a
kiss?"
Brian and Kevin turned to see Nick poking
his head into the door, his mouth puckered exaggeratedly. He grinned, then
walked in, waving a new Nintendo game into the air. "About time you woke
up, sleeping beauty," he growled. "Look what I just bought!"
Nick smiled wickedly at his friend. "Ready to get your ass whipped?"
Brian deftly snatched the game from Nick’s
hand, studied it for a second, before tossing it back. "You’re on. There’s
no way you’re going to beat me." Brian looked at Nick and smiled, knowing
from years of experience that this was Nick’s way of mending a rift.
"How’s Aaron?"
Nick shrugged. "Pissed off at
you."
"And you?"
Nick smiled. "Pissed off at you. But
I realized you did it because of the threats, Rok. I understand."
"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt
Aaron."
"I know. What about my kiss?"
Nick held out his arms.
"Here, you can kiss this,"
wisecracked Brian, pointing to his ass.
"Girls, girls, take it outside,"
grinned Kevin, glad to see the tension gone as the two mock wrestled with each
other.
***
