Chapter 28

The group sat around eating dinner before the night's show in silence, nobody really having anything to say.

"You need to eat, Nick," Kevin looked at Nick, and gestured to the full plate in front of him.

"Not hungry," Nick mumbled, grabbing his glass instead. He drained it of the soda inside, before sighing, "are we done?"

"Shouldn't drink soda before a show, Kaos, you'll burp on stage," AJ remarked with a grin. "As you well know."

"Bite me," Nick rolled his eyes. "I need caffeine."

"You wouldn't if you got any sleep," Kevin told him. "You need sleeping pills?"

Nick's eyes widened, and his face contorted into a frown. "Excuse me?"

"Sleeping pills. You could see a doctor?"

Nick bit his lip and shook his head stubbornly, "no." God, couldn't anything be private anymore? Maybe he should see a doctor, Kevin says, in front of EVERYONE.

"You need to sleep."

"I will, when I need to."

"Nicky, we're just worried you're gonna crack," Howie said consolingly.

"I'm GOING TO?" Nick said in amazement. "You don't think I have already? Do you REALIZE what happened to me a week ago? Jesus christ…"

"Want to go to church with me tomorrow?" Brian asked, his blue eyes full of concern. "You need to find some sort of peace with what's happened to you, Nick."

Nick snorted, "and you really think I'm going to find it in a church."

"You might."

"Where was God last week, Brian?" Nick stood up and glared at his friend, his eyes filling with tears. "Why should I go waste my time on Him now, when He just stood by and watched me then."

Brian's eyes grew bright, and he bowed his head sadly. "It might help…"

"Nothing will help," Nick said angrily, turning around and storming out of the room.

"Church, Brian?" AJ said once Nick had left, his eyes narrowed. "What good do you think praying's going to do?"

"It will help me, ok?" Brian met AJ's gaze steadily. "I need something to hold on to."

"Do you think that's smart, though? It's pretty easy to guess where you'd be on a Sunday morning, especially when we're home like this." Kevin frowned. "Might not be safe."

"I don't care," Brian shook his head. "I need to go, and I won't be talked out of it."

"Brian…"

"I'll go with him, ok, Kevin?" AJ offered, seeing from the expression on Brian's face that he was not going to budge. "We'll bring both of our bodyguards, and a coupla of the rent-a-cops."

"I still don't like the idea," Kevin sighed. "But yeah, I guess, if you really want to go."

"Not want, Kevin. I have to go," Brian corrected. "My wife isn't here, my family isn't here, but my faith…it's all I have left."

"Just be careful."

"I will, I promise, I will."

************************************************************

"Morning," Tara let Kevin into the room bright and early.

"Did he sleep?" Kevin asked her, groaning when she shook her head no. "Dammit."

Tara had tried to get a room of her own, but the hotel had been booked solid. Not that it really mattered, she supposed, since it wasn't like Nick was using the bedroom, or talking to her. It was almost like having a room of her own. Almost. "Yeah," she said softly, waving to the bathroom. "He's taking a shower."

"Is he talking to you at all?" Kevin asked, sitting down on the couch and stretching his legs. "He's only yelling at us…"

"Nope," she shook her head sadly, sitting down across from him. "He won't even yell at me now, he just gives me funny looks and mopes around."

"Palmer's suggested bringing in a psychiatrist to talk to him," Kevin sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "I know Nick will hate me for doing it, but I really am starting to think we have no choice."

"He can't keep going on like this," Tara said, her eyes filling with tears. "He's hurting so badly, Kevin, I can see it, I know you can too. But living on Mountain Dew and coffee is just making things worse, he needs sleep, and he needs to eat."

"Hey!" Howie walked into the room, smiling at Kevin and Tara. "Good morning."

"Didn't someone get up on the right side of the bed this morning," Kevin remarked.

"I slept really well last night, for the first time in a long time," Howie told him, scowling when Kevin rolled his eyes. "What?"

"You always sleep well, D," Kevin cracked.

"I do not, not since," Howie rubbed his hand, and a solemn expression crossed his face. "You know."

"Does it still hurt?" Tara asked, looking at the reddened skin on his hand.

Howie shrugged, "it's not so bad now, but yeah, it still throbs a little."

"Has Palmer told you anything worth hearing about catching the freaks doing this?" Tara asked Kevin. "I mean, getting Nicky a shrink is nice and all, but it'd be a lot nicer if she could do her job."

"She said they lifted a print off of the action figure that was left in Brian's room, and are running it now. If we're lucky, they'll get a match," Kevin said, with a wry smile. "Wouldn't it be nice, after everything that's happened, if we caught this guy with something so simple as a fingerprint?"

"Why do I get the feeling nothing is ever that simple?" Tara asked.

"Nothing ever is," Howie agreed.

"What's this, a party?" Nick emerged from the bathroom, frowning when he saw Howie and Kevin in the room.

"Just came by for breakfast," Kevin told him.

"You didn't go with Brian to church?" Nick sneered the word, rolling his eyes.

"AJ went with Brian, and they should be back any minute," Kevin replied evenly. "They'll meet us here."

"Great." Nick sat down at the desk in the corner and opened his laptop.

"What are you doing, Nicky?" Howie asked, trying to read the computer from across the room.

"Reading my favorite website," he replied with a smirk. "What else."

"He's been doing that a lot lately too," Tara whispered to Kevin, sighing heavily. "Reading this guy's daily diary."

"Oh look, he says today's the day," Nick bent closer to the screen of the computer, biting his lip. "He'll have an update later with details."

"Today's the day for what?" Howie asked.

Nick looked at Howie, his expression blank. "Brian."

Kevin gasped, and stared at Nick. "Today's the day for Brian what?"

"Brian to get his," Nick shrugged. "Brian's turn."

"Jesus, Nick," Kevin cursed, before pulling out his cellphone. "We need to warn him."

"How can you just act like you don't care, Nick?" Howie asked him in amazement, unable to believe his calm expression. "Nick, what does it say is going to happen to Brian?"

"Same as always," Nick replied evenly. "He'd said Brian was next, right? We didn't stop him any other time, why would we think we can stop him now?"

"That doesn't mean you don't try!" Kevin shouted angrily, throwing down his phone angrily when he got no answer on Brian's cellphone. "Dammit!"

"Try AJ's, or one of their bodyguards," Howie advised.

"Why bother," Nick groaned. "He's going to kill all of us, and there's nothing we can do to stop him."

"Nick, that's not true," Tara said, her eyes wide at the words coming from his mouth. "You don't really believe that."

"Of course I do," Nick shot back, standing up and walking to her. "We're all going to die, Tara, because we can't stop this guy. He knows it, I know it, and it's about time the rest of you knew it. It'd make things much easier if you just stopped caring. At least I'm not scared anymore."

"You look pretty damn scared to me," she shot back.

"Scared?" Nick chuckled, a hard, sarcastic laugh. "Not at all. When he kills me, I'll be thankful."

"Shut up Nick!" Howie shouted, glaring at him. "He is not going to kill anyone, and Brian's not going to get hurt!"

"Oh yes he is."

"Oh no he's not," Kevin said firmly, closing his telephone with a relieved sigh. "AJ and Brian are back, they're in the elevator now."

Nick stared at Kevin, his mouth dropping open in surprise. "Nothing happened?"

"Nope."

"But…he said…"

"What, Nick, do you want Brian to get hurt?" Kevin asked angrily. "Is that it? If you did, Brian should too?"

"No, I want him to KILL ME," Nick screamed, his eyes filling with tears. "I want to be put out of my fucking misery, and I can't, not until he does everything he says has to happen before he can get to me."

"Nick," Tara gasped, reaching out for him. "Don't say things like that…"

"Why not? It's true," he said harshly, jerking away from her touch. "I don't want to live like this anymore."

"Miss us?" AJ burst through the door with a grin, Brian a step behind him.

"No," Nick replied, returning to his computer without a glance at AJ.

"You're ok, Brian?" Kevin asked, his eyes looking his cousin over as he walked into the room.

Brian sat down on the couch and took a deep breath before replying. "I'm fine."

Howie's eyes narrowed, and he frowned, "you don't look so ok."

"A little out of breath," he replied, sitting up straight and pressing a hand to his chest. "I'll be fine, just let me relax."

"He started getting this way in the car," AJ told Kevin fretfully. "He insisted he was ok, though."

"What happened at church to get you out of breath?" Kevin asked.

"Nothing," Brian replied, pausing between words to fight for breath. "A service, communion, nothing special."

"You took communion?"

Brian nodded, "of course."

"Who gave it to you?"

Brian looked at Kevin dimly. "Who do you think?"

"The altar boys had the wafers, I saw the priest taking them off of there to give to people," AJ explained. "Trust me, I was watching that close."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital, Brian?" Kevin asked, not liking one bit the state his cousin was in.

"What, you think someone," he stopped to pant for a moment, before finishing, "poisoned me?"

"Brian?" Nick looked up from his computer to stare at his best friend, the expression on his face softening for the first time in days. "You need help," he said softly.

"No," Brian shook his head slowly. "I don't."

"You look like you used to look, before…" Nick said, standing up and walking over to Brian. "Please? Get help?"

"What happened to 'we're all gonna die,' Nicky?" Howie asked sarcastically.

"Fuck off," Nick spat at Howie, before turning back to Brian. "Rok, please, let us take you to the hospital," he pleaded, his voice sounding small and scared.

Brian lay back on the couch, his breathing beginning to sound labored. "Maybe," he choked out, clutching at his chest. "It just got worse," he gasped, his blue eyes wide with fear.

"God, he's turning blue," Nick gasped, staring at Brian in horror. "Call an ambulance!"

Kevin was already calling before Nick could finish asking, unable to believe what he was seeing with his own eyes. Brian's heart was fine, they'd been told that a million times. And yet, here he was…

"What's happening?" Brian asked through gasps, looking at Nick through narrowed eyes, his skin flushed. "I can't….see…you…"

"I'm right here, B," Nick dropped to his knees in front of Brian, taking his hand and squeezing it tight. "See me?"

"No," Brian panted, trying to look at Nick, but all he could see was fuzz in front of him. "Nicky?"

"Brian, listen to me," Nick said, holding Brian's hand in between his. "Stay with me, ok? Don't go anywhere."

"I…can't…breathe…." Brian's body began to shake with a small convulsion, and a cry of pain left his throat. "Nick!"

"I'm here, I'm right here," Nick began to cry, and he pressed Brian's hand to his cheek, his lower lip trembling. "I didn't mean it, B, I swear to god I didn't mean it. I love you, and you have to be ok, so stay with me! I don't want you to die! I don't want anyone to die, don't go!"

"Frack," Brian croaked, a slight smile crossing his blue lips.

"Frick," Nick sobbed, before turning to Kevin. "Where's the fucking ambulance?"

"It'll be here in a second!" Kevin said quickly, running to the door to the room and throwing it open. "It'd BETTER be here in a second!"

"I swear Brian, I didn't mean it, you have to be ok," Nick repeated, tears rolling down his face. "Please be ok. God, please make him be ok."

AJ nodded, fighting tears himself, agreeing with the sentiment. "Please God, let Brian be ok."

***

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