"Thank you guys for coming out! We hope that you had as much fun as we did! Good night!" The five of them took their bows and waved to the crowd of 50,000 people before running off stage. The five of them all made their way to their dressing rooms.

Justin groaned as he and Joey reached their dressing room. "I'm so tired."

"Me too. The crowd was great tonight though. Full of energy," Joey replied.

"Yeah." Justin saw Joey wince while taking off his shirt. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"Yeah. I ran into one of railings. I guess I wasn't paying attention." Justin and Joey both laughed. They made their way to the buses where the others where standing, waiting for them.

"Where are we going?" Chris asked.

"On the bus," Joey said as if it wasn't obvious enough.

"I know that. I mean where's our next stop?"

"You know. New city, new state, same country," Justin answered.

"And which city and which state in this same country?" Chris asked again.

"Uh…somewhere that has a lot of trees?"

"That really helps. Thanks a lot, Scoop," Chris said sarcastically putting emphasis on Lance's nickname since he didn't really have the 'scoop'. The guys all laughed.

"Who's riding with who and on which bus?" JC questioned rubbing his eyes.

"I'll ride with Chris on that bus." Justin pointed over his shoulder to the bus that was behind him.

Lance looked questioningly at Joey and JC. "Should we let these two alone together?"

"They know better than to misbehave." JC gave them a warning glance.

"Yeah or he'll kick your asses!" Joey quipped.

"What are you guys talking about? We've never been bad," Justin objected.

"I seem to recall a time that you two thought it would be funny to play a prank on James when you reached a rest stop. James nearly left you two stranded there." Lance laughed along with Joey and JC.

"It was all Justin's idea!" Chris pointed toward Justin.

"Was not!"

"Was to!"

"Was not!"

Chris raised himself up on his toes to try to match Justin's height. "Was to!"

"This is so childish," JC muttered. Chris had heard what JC said and turned from Justin to JC.

"Oh, look at Big Daddy. So mature and responsible." JC rolled his eyes.

"We really need to get going, guys," Jenny said looking at her watch. Lance jumped and turned in surprise at hearing her voice.

"Oh, I forgot you were there!" Lance exclaimed.

Jenny was Johnny Wright's daughter. He had asked her to make sure that the boys ran on schedule since he was too busy with other things to follow them on tour. "Right. Anyway, it's going to take a day and a half to get there and we don't need to be late. So get movin' or I'll have your heads."

"Yes, ma'am!" Chris stood up straight and saluted Jenny before he got on the bus with Justin right behind him, but not before telling the others that they would see them later. Once Justin and Chris were on their bus, the remaining three guys got on the remaining bus.

Joey plopped down on the couch while JC headed for his bunk. "I'm going to sleep. I'm beat. Good night guys."

"Night," Lance and Joey chorused.

"Why don't you go to sleep in your bunk, Joe? It's like three feet away," Lance told him.

"So's yours," Joey replied.

Lance chuckled. "Good night, Joe." Joey didn't hear him though. He was out like a light.

Lance winced looking at the position that he fell asleep in. "He's not going to feel too good when he wakes up." Joey was half sitting on the couch with his head back and off to the right.

He yawned and knew that he should go to bed so he went into his own bunk to get some sleep. He managed to fall asleep only to wake up a couple hours later from a nightmare he had.

Even after a year later, the nightmares still haunted him. A lot had taken place in the cabin and Lance felt that even though the ghosts were gone, the fear of them and what could've happened lived inside him. He would usually always wake up in a cold sweat. Luckily, he never screamed when he woke up. He knew that if he did, the others would come running. He used to awake screaming right after they came back from the cabin, but since he was in his own house, none of the guys knew.

Lance sighed and stood up. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep for at least another hour. He quietly entered the kitchen slash living room area and got himself a glass of water. He could hear two people snoring. The one was the other driver, Tom. Lance knew that he would probably take over the driving soon. The other person was Joey. He had stretched out on the couch since Lance had last seen him. Lance finished his water and settled down on the couch in the back of the bus.

The couch was really comfortable and Lance fell asleep within minutes. He normally didn't get that tired, but since he'd been having nightmares he hadn't been getting as much sleep as he normally does. None of the other guys seemed to notice though and Lance liked it that way too. Things had finally started to get back to normal and he didn't want to disrupt that.

He could remember when they first got back JC wasn't himself. He locked himself in his house. He would only come out to go to the recording studio and pick up some food. He had gone through a period where he wrote a wide range of songs. Some of them had sad lyrics while others had angry lyrics. None of the songs he wrote had happy lyrics. They all knew that music was JC's way of coping with what happened. JC had refused to put them on the new album though.

"It was therapeutic for me and I don't care to share my personal thoughts and emotions about what happened with the whole world," JC had said. Lance knew that the other reason JC didn't want them on the new album was because it was easier to forget if he got it all out of his system and didn't think about it again. He remembered when Justin and JC had an argument about JC's songs being put on the album.

"JC?" Justin said to get JC's attention. JC was sitting behind the recording booth messing with the controls trying to find the perfect sound to a song they were currently working on.

"Hm?" JC asked not even bothering to look up at Justin. His mind was completely focused on the task at hand.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you about your song."

JC groaned and looked up at Justin. He was annoyed that Justin had found his songs. He hadn't planned on any of the guys reading what he wrote. It was his way of letting go of what happened.

"What about it, Justin?" JC cocked an eyebrow at Justin.

"I was just wondering when you want to start rehearsing it."

JC shook his head. "We've already talked about this, Justin. I told you I don't want this on the album. Did you think that my answer was going to change?"

"I was hoping. Besides, that's what you said about the song I asked you about last week. This is a totally different song," Justin protested.

"I don't care. The answer is no. I don't want any of those songs on the album," JC said.

"But Josh," Justin whined. "You don't understand..."

JC interrupted him. "I don't understand? No, you don't understand. I said that I don't want those songs on the album and I mean it. Why can't you just let it go?"

"Because if we put more songs on the album like the ones you're writing then we'll be taken more seriously and respected more because it doesn't sound 'popish'. We'll be looked at as men with talent rather than 'just another boy band'," Justin explained.

"I don't care. They're too personal. I didn't write the songs that I did for the fans, the media, or for the respect. I wrote them for me. No one else."

Justin had finally accepted that JC wouldn't be putting any of his songs on the album and let it go. They had released the album two months ago and it broke all of their previously held sales records. The fans had really missed them and pulled together to shoot the sales through the roof. Lance smiled at that as he finally gave in to sleep.

Later Lance woke up to someone shaking him awake. He groaned and rolled over while the person snickered at him. "It's time to wake up Sleepyhead," Joey said petting Lance's head.

Lance groaned and rolled back over to face Joey. He looked at his watch. It read 9:20 am. "Too early."

"You hungry?" Joey asked. "Besides, who do you think you are hogging the couch like this? Where are JC and I supposed to sit? On the floor?"

Lance rolled his eyes and got up. He stretched and sat across from Joey and JC in the booth. JC handed him a tall cup of coffee. "Thanks," Lance said as he inhaled the scent of his coffee and took a sip. He felt more awake now.

"McDonald's again?" Lance groaned when he saw Joey pulling his food out of the bag.

JC laughed seeing the frown on Lance's face. "There was a gas station next door and I got you donuts instead."

"Thanks, Jace. I really appreciate it." Lance smiled his thanks as he picked up a chocolate donut.

Just then JC's phone rang. He looked at the caller id. It was Chris. "Hello? Chris?" There was no response on the other end though. All JC could hear was screaming and really loud music before the line went dead.

He looked down at his phone confused. "What the hell?"

"What? Who was it?" Lance asked.

"It was Chris on his cell, but he wasn't saying anything. It sounds like they have a party going on with all of the loud music and screaming."

"They probably are. They don't have you or Lance, the voices of reason, to stop them from doing what they want," Joey said.

"They're so juvenile," JC commented shaking his head.

"Maybe they're just trying to live up to their stereotypes as the goofy ones," Joey suggested.

"I'd say they're doing a good job then with all of the pranks they pull together," Lance replied.

"We should get them back someday for all of the pranks they've pulled on us." The three of them laughed together.

"I'm going to take a shower," Joey said. Conversation had died off to allow them to finish their breakfast. Joey was the first one done and decided that he needed a shower since he had neglected to a take a shower the night before.

"Good thing. You stink." JC crinkled his nose up and laughed along with Lance.

"You have no room to talk. You didn't take one either," Joey pointed out.

"I know, but I don't sweat as much as you." JC laughed as Joey made a face. "Go take your shower already. I need one too."

Lance and JC watched Joey walk to the bathroom and listen to him grumble all the way. Lance looked at JC. "I'm going back to bed."

"You're not going to wait to take a shower?" JC asked.

Lance shook his head. "No. I didn't get much sleep last night. I'll take one when I wake up."

"OK. Good night."

"Night," Lance replied and made his way to his bunk where he laid down. He didn't get under the covers because it was too warm to do that. Lance laid there for a little while before he finally fell asleep.

There Lance stood in a forest with three of his best friends at his side while Katrina was holding onto JC. He knew that she was determined to carry out her revenge.

Lance was trying to muster up the courage to speak when Chris said, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Katrina snapped.

Lance watched as she pushed JC over by a tall Oak tree. Lance stood frozen as lightening struck the tree's trunk and fall half way before stopping. Lance had seen JC's face as he had braced himself for the impact and then sigh in relief when the tree didn't fall on him.

Lance hardly acknowledged Katrina when she asked what he was doing there. He was too concerned in making sure that JC was okay. He could hear her continue on when he made no reply.

"Don't bother with him. His suffering's going to end shortly."

Lance finally managed to speak. "I won't let you do that," he said. His eyes never left JC's. Lance wasn't sure how he was going to stop Katrina, but he was sure that he didn't want to lose his best friend.

Just then another lightening bolt struck the tree's trunk. He watched as the tree fell. "No!" Lance screamed. He tried to run toward JC to save him from being crushed by the tree, but he couldn't move. All he could do was watch in horror as the tree fell and killed his best friend.

Lance jolted awake. His heart was racing from the nightmare he just had and his clothes were sticking to his damp body.

"Hey." Lance jumped at the voice and bumped his head on the top of his bunk. He looked to the left and saw JC sitting there.

"You scared the hell outta me!" Lance exclaimed while rubbing his head.

"Sorry," JC apologized. Lance knew that he wasn't really sorry though because he was smiling. But it didn't last long and JC turned serious.

"You want to talk about it?"

"About what?" Lance asked.

"Your nightmares," JC answered.

"How did you know?"

JC shrugged. "I just knew."

Lance laughed. "What do you mean you just knew?"

"I've noticed how tired you've been. Besides, I've had my share of nightmares before. I know the signs," JC explained.

Lance sighed. He had been figured out. He briefly wondered how long JC knew that he was having nightmares, but knew that it didn't really matter now.

"You want to talk about it?" JC asked again.

"No, not really."

"C'mon, Lance. Talk to me." JC paused then added, "They won't go away until you do and you know you'll sleep better when they're gone."

Lance ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Alright." Lance paused for a moment to try and get his thoughts in order.

"I'm not sure where to begin."

"How about the beginning?" JC suggested.

Lance nodded. "OK. I've basically been having the same nightmare since we got back from the cabin."

JC hadn't known that Lance had been having nightmares for almost a year. He could tell that when they first got back from the cabin that he was acting different. But that was to be expected because of what he went through so JC had left it alone. It had taken JC about six months to get over what happened and he just assumed that Lance was over it too. It was only a month ago that JC noticed how tired Lance was and how his behavior had changed. He had been a lot more distant and just not totally there.

"Well what happened in it?"

"It was basically everything that happened that night out in the forest except…" Lance stopped. He couldn't say it. He hated thinking about it and didn't feel comfortable enough to tell JC that he had died.

"Except…C'mon, you can tell me." JC said softly not wanting to press Lance and not have him say what he needed to say.

Lance took a deep breath and looked at JC. He sat there patiently waiting to hear what Lance had to say. That made Lance feel a little better knowing that JC was just there to listen to him to talk in hopes of getting rid of the nightmares.

"It was all the same except you…died." There he had said it.

JC looked surprised for a minute, but quickly recovered. "How?" he asked softly.

"The tree fell and I…I wasn't able to save you. It was like my feet were glued to the ground," Lance replied just as soft.

"But Lance, that didn't happen. You saved me."

"I know. I just can't help but think of what could have happened. You could've died."

"You could've too," JC pointed out. "It doesn't help to dwell on the past and what could've happened. Live in the present, not in the past."

"You're right," Lance said.

"I'm here and I will always be here if you, or the others, need me. You couldn't get rid of me if you tried." Lance laughed and JC smiled. "Feel better now?"

"No, not yet. I need to take a shower and then I'll feel better," Lance replied and JC laughed.

"Well go on then. Joey and I already had ours so it's all yours." JC stood up from Lance's bunk and Lance got out as well.

Lance went to head toward the bathroom when he turned back around to JC and hugged him. "Thanks, Jace. I needed that."

"No problem," JC said as he patted Lance on the back. "Go take your shower. By the time you're done we should be stopped for lunch."

"OK." Lance stepped out of the embrace and went into the bathroom while JC went to join Joey on the couch watching a rerun of Friends.

JC was right. As soon as Lance stepped out of the bathroom he knew that the buses were stopped for lunch. JC and Joey had been waiting in the living room for Lance and the three of them left the bus together when Lance came out. They met Justin and Chris at a booth in the back of a family restaurant.

"Hey guys," Chris, who was sitting across from Justin, greeted the other three. Chris and Justin slid over to make room for JC, Lance, and Joey to sit down. They ordered their food and made meaningless conversation until the food came. Once it did, no one really said anything until they were almost done.

"You know Chris and I were wondering if one of us could switch with one of you guys. That is if none of you mind," Justin said.

JC, Lance, and Joey all shook their heads. "No we don't mind," Joey told Justin.

"Cool. So who's going to switch with me?" Chris asked raising an eyebrow. No one volunteered.

"Aw, c'mon guys. I'm not that bad," Justin whined. "What about you, JC? It can be like old times."

"A lot's changed since The Mickey Mouse Club, Justin," JC reminded.

"I know, but how 'bout it? Will you ride with me?"

"Sure, J. I'll ride with you." Everyone had finished up their food and went to walk around for a few minutes before they had to get back on the buses. JC and Lance were already standing by the buses and talking while they waited for the others to make their way over.

"Why do I get this strange feeling that I won't see you again?" JC asked Lance.

"I don't know, but I have the same feeling too."

"Well just take care of yourself and Joey and Chris," JC said as he and Lance watched the other three walk toward the buses.

"I will. Make sure you do the same," Lance replied.

"If you need to talk or anything, just call."

"I will, JC. Thanks. See you at the venue," Lance told JC as well as Justin before getting on the other bus with Joey and Chris.

Once on the bus, Chris made his way over to the stereo and turned it on. He put on one of his favorite songs and blasted it.

"Chris! Turn it down!" Lance yelled, trying to be heard over the stereo. It didn't work. Chris was dancing around and not hearing a word of what Lance said. Lance sighed in annoyance and walked over to turn it off.

He pushed the off button and Chris protested, "Hey!"

"Sorry, Chris. It was too loud."

"No it wasn't," Chris denied.

"Then tell me why you couldn't hear me when I told you to turn it down," Lance replied.

Chris sighed knowing that Lance got him. "You're no fun," Chris said. Joey laughed while Lance shrugged.

"I can be a lot of fun."

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "When you're drunk."

"Right. I'm a lot of fun when--hey!" Lance protested as what Joey said hit him. The three of them laughed and were thrown forward a few seconds later as the bus slammed on its brakes.

"Are you guys okay?" Tom asked as he came from the front of the bus.

"Yeah, we're fine," Chris answered as he pulled himself off the floor and Joey helped Lance up.

"What happened, Tom? Why the sudden stop?" Joey asked once they were all back on their feet.

"Some animal was in the middle of the road. I served to the left and slammed on the brakes to try and miss it. I did miss it, but now we have a flat tire. A stick went right through it," Tom explained.

"How long will it be until it's fixed?" Lance questioned.

"About an hour," Tom replied.

"Do you think we can go for a walk in the woods while you're changing the tire?" Chris wanted to get off the bus if they were going to be stuck here for an hour and he figured that they could take a walk.

"I don't know. What if you guys get lost?"

"We won't get lost, Tom. We'll be back before the hour's up."

Tom looked at Chris. "Alright. Just be careful. OK?"

"Hey, no problem. We'll see you in a few." Chris left the bus with Joey and Lance following behind.

They had found a trail and Chris continued to lead Joey and Lance. Chris had no clue where he was going, but knew that they would be able to find their way back eventually.

"Shouldn't we mark the trail so we know how to get back?" Lance asked.

"No, we should be fine as long as we don't leave the trail and follow it back," Chris assured him.

"OK," Lance replied, but was still doubtful about what Chris said.

The three of them had been walking for a half hour and were already deep into the woods. So deep that they couldn't see the highway anymore.

"I think we should head back now," Joey said as he looked at his watch.

"Yeah," Lance agreed and they turned around to head back to the bus. They had just started walking when they heard a twig snap.

"What was that?" Lance asked looking around.

Chris shrugged. "It was probably nothing." They resumed walking when they heard it again. They all froze as they heard it coming closer and closer.

"Still think it's nothing?" Joey looked over at Chris. Chris shook his head.

"I think it's a…bear. Run!" Chris yelled when he saw it and they did. They all took off in the opposite direction. They knew that it wasn't the smart thing to do, but they didn't care. This bear was chasing them.

They zigzagged in and out of trees for an hour before they knew that they lost the bear. Each of them leaned against a tree panting from running for their lives. Lance looked around and then at his watch.

"Shit!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Joey panted.

"We've been running for an hour and none of this looks familiar," Lance explained as he waved his around the area.

"You're right," Chris said after surveying the area. They were a lot deeper into the woods than they were before. "We're lost."

"How are we supposed to get back to the bus?" Joey asked.

"Maybe we can call Tom and get him to come find us," Lance suggested as he pulled out his cell phone and turned it on. He cursed when he got no signal.

"That takes care of that idea," Chris told them. "Even if it did work, he probably wouldn't be able to find us. We're in too deep and the trails ended a couple miles back. This is all brush and trees. I don't even know how we managed to get through all of this."

"What are we supposed to do now? It's starting to get dark."

Chris looked over at Joey. "Find a place to sleep."

"Isn't there something else we can do?" Lance asked.

"No, I don't think so. There's no way that we can find our way back now that it's getting dark. Best thing to do is stay put until tomorrow and try to get out of here," Chris replied.

"Yeah, you're right." Lance sighed. "Are we just going to stay here or try to find a different spot?"

"We might as well stay here. Like Chris said, it's getting too dark," Joey said and Lance agreed.

"Anyone know how to get a fire started?" Chris asked.

"I do."

Chris looked curiously at Lance. "Your first aid class?"

"No, boy scouts," Lance corrected.

"Right. I should've known."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lance asked Chris.

"Nothing. It's just that your actions are a lot like a boy scout so I should've known." Chris caught the look Lance was giving him. "I'm not saying that it's a bad thing. In fact, it's a good thing. Now, how can I help?"

Lance finally got a fire going. Chris had gathered the wood for Lance and Lance had been able to get it started after 15 minutes of trying. They all gathered around the fire as the night chill began to set.

"Well it could be worse," Joey said trying to lighten the mood, but just then there was a flash of lightning and it began to pour.

Lance and Chris looked over at Joey. "You just had to say something, didn't you?"

Joey sighed and was about to reply when they heard howling in the distance. Joey immediately shut his mouth and the three of them didn't dare move. They waited a few minutes to make sure that it wasn't coming any closer before sighing in relief.

Chris cleared his throat. "I think we should take turns keeping watch. You know, just to make sure nothing tries sneaking up on us."

Joey and Lance both agreed. No one wanted to go through what they had earlier with the bear.

"Who's doing first watch?" Chris asked.

"I'll do it," Joey volunteered.

"OK. Good night, Joe." Chris and Lance made themselves as comfortable as they could against the trees. Chris had managed to fall asleep an hour later while Lance couldn't. He knew that he should, but he just couldn't.

A few hours later, Lance was about to dose off when he heard Joey snoring really loud. He looked down at his watch. It was almost three in the morning. Lance decided that he would relieve Joey of his duty since he couldn't sleep and Joey could.

"No sense in both of us staying awake," Lance said to himself as he walked over to Joey and tapped him on the shoulder. Joey jerked awake.

"Huh? What? I wasn't sleeping."

Lance chuckled. "Go on, Joe. I'll take over from here. Get some sleep."

"Are you sure?" Joey asked Lance.

"I'm sure." Lance nodded.

"Alright. Good night."

"Night, Joe," Lance replied watching Joey take the spot that Lance had occupied moments ago.

Joey fell asleep almost immediately and Lance just sat there listening to the rain beat down on the trees. Lance looked at his watch a couple hours later. He hadn't heard anything so far, but knew that he wouldn't chance it.

"Damn it. I knew something like this was going to happen," Lance mumbled as he reflected on their situation and what brought them here.

He tried not to think too much of the warm bus instead of the cold, saturated ground. He looked up at the sky. It had stopped raining a half hour ago, but the sky was still cloudy, threatening to pour down upon them again.

Lance watched as the sun began to rise and knew that they would be less likely to run into an animal during the day. He sighed in relief as he realized that they made it through the night. He couldn't help but question just how many more nights they would be able to survive if they weren't found.

----------------------------------------------

Meanwhile at the next city JC and Justin were sitting in their hotel room waiting for the other bus with Joey, Chris, and Lance to show up.

"Where do you think they are?" JC asked Justin.

Justin shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe they had bus trouble and it threw them off schedule. I'm sure they'll be here later today."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right," JC agreed trying to ignore the feeling that they wouldn't be back here later today.

"I'm just being overly worried," JC told himself quietly. He wasn't going to believe that they weren't going back until he heard it from someone else.

Tom woke up at dawn. He was worried that Chris, Joey, and Lance still weren't back. He had gotten worried last night when they hadn't returned to bus an hour later as promised, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to find them in the dark and he would do them no good if he got himself lost.

A small part of him had hoped that they would return in the middle of the night while he was sleeping, but the rest of him knew that wasn't going to happen.

Tom sighed as he stepped off the bus. "I guess I should start walking the trail and see if I spot them anywhere."

He followed the trail until it ended. He was really worried now; he hadn't seen any of them while walking the trail. He looked out in front of him and saw all of the brush and trees bunched tight together making it hard to see, let alone walk, through it. He knew that there was nothing left that he could do except notify Johnny, Justin, and JC.

He pulled out his cell phone and noticed that there was no signal. "OK. No big deal. Maybe it'll work out by the bus," Tom mumbled to himself as he put the phone back in his pocket.

Tom walked the hour and a half back to the bus and pulled out his cell phone to try again. This time he cursed when there was no signal.

"Damn trees must be cutting off the signal." Tom sighed heavily. "I guess that means I'm going to have to drive to the next city to let everyone know what happened."

He climbed into the driver seat and settled himself for a six hour drive to the next city. He felt nervous leaving the three of them behind, but knew that he had to get word to Johnny, JC, and Justin because they would be wondering where they were.

----------------------

Chris was the first one awake since he had been the first one to fall asleep. He looked across from him to see that Joey was still sleeping. Then he looked to his left and saw that Lance was still awake.

"Morning," Lance said noticing that Chris was awake.

"Morning. What time is it?" Chris asked.

Lance looked at his watch. "10 o'clock."

"How long have you been up?"

"I didn't get any sleep. I heard Joey snoring around three in the morning and figured I would let him get some sleep since I couldn't. So I've been on watch for seven hours now."

"Wow, no wonder you look like crap," Chris told him.

Lance rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot, Chris. I really appreciate that."

"No problem, man." The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, then Chris interrupted it by saying, "You know you can get some sleep now that I'm awake. I'll keep watch."

"I know, but I really don't think I'll be able to."

"I know what you mean. The ground is nothing like sleeping in a warm, cozy bunk," Chris agreed.

Just then Joey's snoring stopped. Chris and Lance turned to see Joey stretching his arms above his head with his shirt riding up a bit, exposing some skin.

"I'm hungry," Joey said after he yawned.

Chris and Lance looked at each other. They had completely forgot that they hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday. They had been too busy getting away from the bear and then building a fire to think of food.

"I guess we have to go hunting or find some berries or something." Lance ran his hands through his hair and looked around, not sure which direction they should take.

"Do you happen to have a pocket knife?" Chris asked Lance.

"No, sorry. I left that in my other boy scouts uniform," Lance quipped.

Joey sighed. "I guess that shoots down the idea of hunting."

"Well let's look for berries then. There's got to be some around here somewhere."

"Which way should we go?" Lance asked Chris.

Chris closed his eyes, pointed out in front of him, and then spun around. He stopped after nearly losing his balance, opened his eyes, and found that he was pointing to his left.

"Left it is," Chris answered and led the way. Somehow he had become the navigational leader when they were in the woods. He didn't really mind though. In fact, he kind of liked it.

The three of them had been walking for two hours before they stumbled upon a waterfall that had lots of berry bushes growing beside it.

"Berries! Great, I’m starving!" Joey exclaimed while reaching out to pluck the berries off of the bush.

Lance smacked his hand away. "Don't touch those," Lance scolded. "You don't know if they're poisonous or not."

"Well are they?" Joey asked impatiently. He felt so hungry that he was sure he could eat a cow.

Lance inspected the berries by looking at their color and smelling them. "They seem okay," he said at last. "The red berries are okay to eat, but not the black ones. Those are poisonous."

As soon as Joey heard those words, he started filling his mouth with berries. Chris walked over to Lance and pat him on the shoulder.

"What would we do without you, Lance?"

"Well Joey would be dying for one."

Chris laughed while Joey protested, "I can't help it that I'm that hungry."

Joey's comment made both Chris and Lance laugh before they started eating the berries with Joey.

After they had their fill of berries, Chris thought it would be nice to go down the waterfall like a slide and go swimming. Joey agreed, but Lance didn't.

"I just don't think it's safe. You could hit your head on the way down or the water could be shallow and you'll land on a rock," Lance explained.

Joey leaned over the edge of the cliff and looked down. "The water looks deep enough to me," he said.

"C'mon, Lance. You've gotta have some fun in your life. Take some risks for a change and if we fall and crack our head open, we'll know you were right." Chris laughed.

Lance scowled. "Chris! That's not funny. Don't even joke about something like that."

"OK. I'm sorry. I promise nothing will happen. You watch," Chris told Lance. Chris rode the waterfall down into the water. He surfaced minutes later, laughing.

"See, I told you! Now c'mon!" Chris shouted. Joey went down immediately and a few minutes later, Lance went down the waterfall too.

They spent an hour goofing around and briefly it reminded Lance of the time the five of them were swimming in the lake a year ago. They eventually got out and built a fire because it was starting to get dark again.

"Do you think we should've stayed in the same place as before so it's easier for them to find us?" Lance asked while they were sitting around the fire.

"No. I mean, yeah it's best to stay in one spot, but not when there's no food. We'll just stay here from now on. It's nice here," Joey reasoned.

Lance had to agree. It was quite nice here, but he couldn’t help but wonder how long it would stay that way.

----------------------------

"What do you think this meeting's all about?" Justin asked JC as they walked down the hall to the conference room. Johnny had called their room five minutes ago insisting that they come down because they had something to talk about, but he wouldn't tell them what it was over the phone.

"I'm not sure, J," JC replied. His worry had almost doubled in the past 24 hours. He had a bad feeling that this meeting was about Joey, Chris, and Lance.

They reached the conference room, walked in, and sat down at the table. They immediately noticed that sitting next to Johnny was Tom.

"What are you doing here? Where're the others?" Justin asked.

"That's what we're here to talk about," Johnny answered.

"What happened?" JC's panic had risen after hearing that his feeling was right.

"We had a bus accident." Tom stopped as soon as he saw Justin and JC's eyes widen. "Nothing serious. I just got a flat when swerving to miss an animal in the road. Chris had wanted to walk in the woods for an hour while I was fixing the tire. I agreed and when they weren't back in an hour, I was worried. But I knew that I couldn't look for them in the dark so as soon as the sun came up the next morning I looked. I followed the trail they took, but didn't see them anywhere. I tried calling, but the trees block the cell phone from getting a signal. That's when I drove here."

Justin just stared while JC sank down in his chair. "Do you think they're okay?" Justin asked after letting everything sink in.

"We're not sure, but we can hope. They're a bunch of smart boys. They'll be fine until we can find them," Johnny assured.

"What exactly are we doing for them?" JC asked lifting his head temporarily to look Johnny in the eye.

"Everything we can. I'm going to hire people to look for them."

"What if they don't find them?" JC questioned.

"They will find them, JC."

"What if they don't?" JC asked Johnny again still skeptical about it.

"They will."

JC was sitting on his bed staring at the TV. He had gotten back from dinner a half hour ago after Johnny had dismissed him and Justin. He had recommended that Justin and JC go out and get some dinner, so that's what they did. They had thought about not going, but figured that it might take their mind off the news they received for a while.

JC watched the images on the screen flicker, but didn't pay any attention to what was going on. He was too lost in his thoughts. All he could think about was all the bad things that could happen to Joey, Chris, and Lance while out in the middle of nowhere.

After another hour, JC's butt was sore from sitting for so long, so he walked out onto the balcony and stood there. He watched the sunset, though he couldn't stop thinking about the guys. He knew that he would drive himself crazy if he kept thinking about them, but he couldn't help it. His brothers were out there where God knows what could happen to them.

It wasn't until two hours after the sun set that JC had decided to go in and get some sleep. He laid in bed for an hour or two tossing and turning, but to no avail. It was impossible to get sleep when he was so worried about his brothers.

Just then a knock at the door made him jump out of his skin. JC then quickly jumped up after realizing that it might be Johnny with some news about Joey, Chris, or Lance.

JC opened the door and there stood Justin. "Hey."

"Hey," JC replied.

"Can I come in?" Justin asked and JC moved aside to let him in.

"Let me guess. You couldn't sleep either?"

Justin shook his head as he sat down on the couch. "I've got too many scenarios and questions running through my head."

"I know what you mean. It's driving me crazy that we don't know where they are or how they're doing," JC told him.

"Do you really think the guys Johnny hired will find them?" Justin asked.

"I really don't know, J. I really don't know."

Silence engulfed the room and a million things ran through Justin and JC's heads. It was after a few minutes that JC spoke up.

"You know, I've had a bad feeling something like this was going to happen."

Justin looked at JC in surprise. Sure, he knew that JC had been worried since yesterday, but he had been too. He definitely didn't expect JC to say that. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I don't know. I guess I had hoped that my feeling was wrong. Though now looking back on it I can't help but think if they would still be in this situation if I had said something or if I didn't switch buses," JC confided.

"What do you mean?"

"Lance and I had this feeling right before we switched buses that we might not see each other again. We told each other to be careful and look out for the others and then we got on separate buses," JC explained and sighed. "I just can't help but think that if we hadn't switched buses then this would've never happened."

Justin watched JC as he bowed his head. He knew from JC just told him that he was blaming himself that this happened, but Justin knew this wasn't the case. JC was not to blame here. No one was.

"JC, look at me," Justin demanded. He was determined to make JC see that it wasn't his fault. JC slowly looked up at Justin.

"None of this is your fault, or mine, or any one's fault for that matter. It was an accident. You know how hyper Chris gets and needs to release his energy by doing something. He decided that something was a walk in the woods. There's nothing you could've done to prevent it from happening. You know how persuasive Chris can be and even if you didn't switch buses, it still would've happened because there's no way any of us would sit and wait for Tom to fix the tire. We would've done the same exact thing, so don't go blaming this on yourself. You worry bad enough without putting guilt on yourself," Justin told JC.

JC gave a weak smile. "Thanks, J. I needed to hear that."

"Anytime, C." Justin got up from the couch and looked around. "I think I'm going to head back to my room and try to get some sleep."

"OK. Good night and thanks again."

"No problem, man. Get some sleep," Justin said and patted JC on the back before leaving for his hotel room.

JC fell back onto his bed and fell asleep almost instantly since guilt no longer weighed down on his shoulders.

------------------------

Lance was up early the next morning. He had managed to fall asleep for a couple hours. It wasn't much, but he knew that he probably wouldn't get a full night's sleep again until him and Chris and Joey got to the next city where JC and Justin were.

Lance looked over to left and saw Chris and Joey were still sleeping. Last night they had decided to get a good night's sleep and not worry about animals attacking them since they hadn't spotted one all day.

Lance got up and moved to sit down by the river to watch the sun come up. It was 5 o'clock and he knew the sun would be rising soon. He always liked to watch the sunrise, even when he was a kid. It was a good way for him to just be alone and think about things. He remembered how he used to think about a girl that he liked and was to shy to ask out, but not now. The only thing on his mind now was getting to the next city and out of this forest.

They must know that we're lost by now and I know JC must be blaming himself for this happening, Lance thought.

"Don't blame yourself, JC. It's no one's fault," Lance said to himself. He knew that JC couldn't hear him, but thought he might get the message from God if he said it anyway.

"Then why do you?"

Lance whirled around to find Chris behind him. "Geez, Chris. Don't you know it's not nice to sneak up on people and scare them to death?"

"Yeah, but it's fun to watch you jump." Chris sat down next to Lance and rested his arm on Lance's shoulder.

"How long have you been up?" Lance questioned.

Chris shrugged. "I guess a little after you got up."

"How come I didn't hear you then?"

"I was being quiet. I figured I'd leave you alone for a bit so you could think and reflect. I thought it might make you feel better about everything after thinking about it," Chris answered.

"Well I think I actually feel worse rather than better," Lance admitted.

"I figured as much, but I still hoped you would. The thing I don't get though is that you just told JC not to blame himself and yet you're blaming yourself. How can you do that when you said no one's to blame?" Chris asked.

Lance sighed. "I don't know, Chris."

"Yes you do. You just don't want to say it."

"You're right, Chris. I don't so will you just lay off!" Lance said aggravated. He knew that Chris was only trying to help, but he didn't need this right now.

"Woah! Calm down. I'm just trying to make you feel better, but it's obvious you don't want to talk."

"I know. I'm sorry, Chris. It's just been lousy these past two days. I never would've imagined in a million years that I'd get lost in a forest with two of my best friends. I really wish none of this happened."

"I know where you're coming from. I don't like that this happened either and if anyone should be blaming themselves, it's me. I'm the one who suggested to walk in the woods," Chris told Lance.

"Yeah, but you didn't know a bear would chase us off the trail and make us lost," Lance pointed out.

"Exactly. If I'm not to blame, then you're certainly not to blame. I had more to do with this than you did. We're just lucky that you know your stuff or we'd be cold and starving."

"Yeah I guess you're right. Thanks, Chris."

"No problem, man. Anything for a brother," Chris said and pulled Lance into a hug.

"Aw, I always miss all the good stuff." Chris and Lance turned around to see Joey standing there.

"Good morning, Joe," Lance greeted.

"Morning. What did I miss?"

"Nothing much. You know the usual blaming ourselves for what happened, screaming at each other, and then making up in the end," Chris answered.

"Yep, you're right. Nothing unusual," Joey agreed. It wasn't uncommon for two or more them to disagree or fight and then make up in the end. In fact, it was pretty weird if it didn't happen at least once a week. That's what made them close though. They knew that even when they disagreed, they would always apologize and it always seemed they were closer after one of their fights.

Lance looked at his watch. "I guess we should go get some breakfast."

"Can we eat something else other than berries?" Joey asked.

"If you know of something around here that we could kill, then please tell us," Chris answered.

Joey thought for a minute. "What about the bear?"

"You want us to go looking for the thing that got us into this mess in the first place?!" Chris exclaimed and Joey shrugged. "OK. Say we found the bear. What then? How are we supposed to kill it? With our singing? Or how about our good looks?"

"Sorry, Joe. I know berries aren't very filling, but we don't know if there's anything else in this forest," Lance told him.

"Well couldn't we at least look?" Joey suggested.

"You can, but I'm not," Chris replied.

"Then can I go look and see if I find something?" Joey asked.

"I don't know, Joe. What if something happens to you? Chris and I wouldn't even know."

"Nothing will happen, Lance. I'll be back before you know it."

"Well alright, but please be careful," Lance relented. He had a bad feeling about Joey going by himself, but knew he couldn't stop him.

"I will," Joey promised and left. Chris and Lance picked berries and brought them closer to camp while Joey was gone. They even made up some silly games to pass the time. A couple hours later though, Lance was worried and Chris was trying to convince him that nothing was wrong and maybe Joey found something.

But just then a loud scream could be heard.

"Joey!" Lance and Chris said and took off running toward the noise. All games and food forgotten.

Chris and Lance ran into the entrance of the woods when Lance suddenly stopped and Chris slammed into him from behind.

"What did you stop for?" Chris asked.

"We can't just go running off into the woods. Look where it got us last time. Besides, we don't even know what direction his scream came from," Lance explained.

Chris sighed. "I guess you're right. What do you think we should do then?"

"Well it seems the scream was a one time thing, so we're just going to have to pick a direction and follow the trail until it ends or we see Joey."

"Why don't we just split up? It'll take less time and we'll be able to search more of the area."

"Do you really think that's wise, Chris? If we split up there's a greater chance that one of us will get lost or meet whatever it was that made Joey scream. I think it's best if we stick together."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Which way should we go first?"

Lance looked around and thought for a minute. "Let's take the trail to the right. If Joey's not on that trail, then we'll come back and try another one. We'll try to cover as much area as we can before dark."

"OK." Chris led the way to trail on the right with Lance following behind. They walked the trail for two hours before they finally reached a dead end.

"I guess we'll have to turn around and keep looking," Chris said and Lance nodded in agreement. When they reached the entrance to the woods again, they took the path opposite the one they came out of.

They followed that trail until they reached another dead end and saw no sign of Joey the whole time.

Lance sighed. "That leaves us with one trail left to try." They once more made to the opening of the woods and took the last trail. They had found nothing on this trail either, so they turned around to reach the camp before dark.

Chris and Lance sat down and ate the berries that they had picked early that day.

"I can't believe we couldn't find him," Lance said.

"I know. It's weird. You'd think we would have ran into him at some point," Chris replied.

"Well maybe he went off the trail and couldn't find his way back to a trail," Lance suggested.

"Maybe. I hate to think about what made him scream."

"Me too. I really hope he's okay," Lance agreed.

Chris sighed. "It feels so weird without Joey or even the rest of the guys. I wouldn't usually admit it, but I miss Justin and how annoying he can be."

"I know what you mean. I miss all of them and now we've lost Joey. I was lost to begin with, but now I'm even more lost than before. I know that everything happens for a reason, but I just can't find a good enough reason for God to take us from three of our brothers and stick us in the middle of nowhere. It's not fair."

"I agree, Lance. It's not fair, but there's nothing we can do about it. God knows it'll all turn out in the end."

Lance turned to Chris. "What if it doesn't? What if we never find Joey? What if we never see Justin or JC again and die in this forest?"

Chris gaped at Lance. He had never heard Lance question his faith before. He was always very religious and to see him question his faith and being pessimistic was so unusual.

Finally after a few minutes of opening and closing his mouth, Chris said, "Lance, how can you think that? We're going to get out with Joey and see Justin and JC again. I've never known you to be pessimistic. What made you change?"

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe it was getting lost in the middle of nowhere with two of my friends, one of which isn't sitting with us," Lance replied.

"I understand you're upset, Lance, but I promise you that we're going to make it out and everything will be right again." Chris saw Lance hesitate and about to speak when Chris cut him off. "I know that you don't have faith in God anymore, but have faith in me, your best friend. You know I'd never let you down and I don't plan on starting anytime soon. Tell me that you trust me and you promise you'll have faith in me and what I said."

Lance thought a minute before he said, "I promise."

--------------------------------------------------------

Joey leaned against a tree, very weak from running and what had happened to him hours ago. He sighed deeply as he recounted the events that took place after he left the camp where Lance and Chris were.

He had decided to take the trail in front of him to look for something to eat that would be more filling than berries. He hadn't seen any animal that they could hunt for food.

"What kind of a forest is this?" Joey asked himself. "It's like this forest is dead, but not."

He remembered from biology in high school about the food chains and animal life in forests. As we walked the trail he thought it was odd that he saw no animals, but all the trees and plants were a dark green meaning that they were healthy.

"There must be something in this forest that would scare all the animals away. Or maybe they're just hiding deeper in the forest," Joey said to himself.

It was then that he heard a twig snap. He paused because that was the first sign of life he had heard since the encounter with the bear. He heard another twig snap and realized that whatever was making the noise was coming closer.

Joey turned around and saw something that made him stumble backwards and fall down to the ground.

He blinked and shook his head. "I'm seeing things. I must be. There's no way I could've seen a ghost."

But sure enough when his eyes focused again, there the ghost was standing in front of Joey. He took in the ghost's features for the first time. It looked to be a guy about Joey's age with brown hair and brown eyes that weren't as deep as Joey's. The guy had on jeans and a red t-shirt.

After a few more minutes, Joey had finally drawn up enough courage to ask, "Who are you?"

The ghost smiled. "My name doesn't really matter, but since you asked…It's John, but you can refer to me as your worst nightmare."

With that said John fixed his gaze on Joey and didn't let it leave Joey's face. Then he inhaled deeply, but he didn't exhale. He kept on inhaling. Joey screamed out in agony as pain filled his body. His body felt like it was being stabbed and was on fire.

Joey realized as he grew weaker that John must be sucking out his soul, tearing away the life from him. Joey forced himself to turn his head away and break the empowering connection that John had on him.

Joey felt the connection weaken and he wasted no time in running as fast as he could away from John. He couldn't run as fast as normal in his weakened state, but he pushed his body forward. He knew that if he didn't get away from John that his soul would belong to John and he would be a goner.

Joey ran for a solid hour before he turned around to find that John was no longer following him. He had succeeded in losing him. That was where Joey stopped and leaned against a tree not being able to stand any more.

He knew that he was lucky to be alive and sent a silent prayer of thanks to God. He made sure to add that he wanted God to watch over his brothers and not let Chris or Lance experience what he had a taste of.

Joey sat there wishing that he had never thought of looking for bigger game or that he at least hadn't gone alone. No don't wish that. If you would've had Chris or Lance with you, they would've experienced the same thing, Joey reprimanded himself.

Joey knew that this would be where he was sleeping tonight because he couldn't drag himself to a different location, much less the camp where Chris and Lance no doubt were. The thought then occurred to Joey that Chris and Lance probably heard him scream and spent most of their day searching for him. He felt bad because he knew that Chris and Lance were probably worried about him.

His thoughts then traveled to Justin and JC. There was no doubt in his mind that Justin and JC were driving themselves crazy waiting to hear something about their three brothers. Joey knew that JC must be blaming himself and Justin trying to hold everything together. Justin was strong like that and that's what made him such a good friend. He was always there for everyone.

Joey was snapped out of his thoughts by a sound to the left of him. He lazily turned his to the left and didn't see anything, so he took it as him being tired and hearing things.

That was until he heard the noise again. Only this time it was on his right side. He turned his head to the right and saw nothing. When he turned his head to face forward though, he saw something that he would never forget.

A ghost stood before him, but instead of it being John, it was a woman. She had long red hair and green eyes that were much sharper than Lance's. She was in a white, silk dress that went down to her feet. It was when he was looking down at her feet that he noticed she was floating in mid air, not standing like he had originally thought.

For a minute Joey thought that she was an angel who had come to help him, but soon found that he was wrong.

The woman went up to him and went to run her long nail down his face, but her finger went right through him instead. This action sent a thousand shivers down his spine and his body felt as though it had ice running through his veins, not blood.

"What's the matter? Don't you like me?" the woman whispered in Joey's ear, which sent another sensation of shivers through his body. She laughed as she saw him shiver.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything to you. Yet." She laughed wickedly and Joey screamed.

Chris was staring at the fire with a pensive look on his face. He had been like that since he and Lance had gotten back. He was still really unsettled with what Lance said earlier and tried to think of anything and everything to get the three of them out of this mess. Try as he might, he couldn’t come up with a solution that wouldn’t involve getting into more danger. Tired of rattling his brain, Chris stood up and rolled his neck and shoulders to try and ease the tension that had settled there.

Chris looked up to see Lance sleeping. “It’s about time he got some sleep,” Chris muttered to himself.

Chris was getting ready to lay down himself and try to sleep when he heard another scream. He knew that it could only come from one person and that person was Joey. Chris looked back over at Lance to see if he was still sleeping. He wasn’t.

“What are we going to do, Chris? This is the second time in one day that we heard Joey scream and yet we can’t find him. Something’s got to be wrong,” Lance said.

Chris sighed as a billion thoughts raced through his head before finally settling on one.

“You’re right, Lance. Something’s wrong and I’m going to find out what.”

Lance stood up and rushed over to Chris. “You don’t mean you’re going to out there by yourself, do you?”

“As a matter of fact, Lance, I do. We need to find Joey and find out what’s wrong.”

“But…” Lance started, but Chris interrupted.

“But nothing, Lance. I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to say that I shouldn’t go out by myself and what will happen if we split up, right?” Chris waited for Lance to nod his head and he did. Chris continued on, “But I need to do this, Lance. You’re worried, I’m worried. I know this isn’t going to be easy and I know that I’ll probably get us into more trouble by trying to find Joey, but I’m willing to take that risk. You know why?”

“Why?” Lance asked.

“Because I’m absolutely positive that no matter how bad this all gets, all three of us are going to make it out of here. You didn’t forget my promise, did you?”

“No,” Lance replied softly.

“Then that’s all you need. I’m going out to look for Joey. You just stay here in case he comes back to camp. We’ll all get out of this and I’ll see you soon. OK?” Chris looked at Lance knowing how scared he was. Heck he was scared too, but he knew he had to do this.

Lance bit his lip. He had this feeling that something bad was going to happen if he let Chris go, but he knew that Chris was too stubborn to listen once he had his mind set on something.

“OK, Chris. Just do me one thing.”

“Just one?” Chris joked.

Lance half smiled. “Just please be careful.”

“Hey, no problem. You can count on me. I’ll see you soon, Lance,” Chris replied before heading into the woods.

Lance sighed heavily as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He just couldn’t help but feel that all of them wouldn’t be making it out of the woods.

______________________________________

Chris wandered around through the woods blindly. He cursed himself as he ran into another tree.

“Another brilliant idea of mine. Let’s look for Joey in the middle of night while the woods are pitch-black. Way to use that brain of yours, Kirkpatrick,” Chris mumbled to himself.

“Well you never we’re the brightest crayon in the box.”

Chris whipped his head around to see Lance standing behind him with a small smile on his face.

“Dude, what did you do that for? You scared the hell outta me!” Chris exclaimed not bothering to keep his voice down.

“You didn’t really think I’d let you go alone, did you?” Lance asked.

“But what about staying at the camp incase Joey comes back?”

“I think it’s safe to say that Joey’s screams indicate that there’s no way he’d make it back to camp alive.”

“You really need to stop thinking so negatively, Lance,” Chris said.

“I know, but I can’t help it. I’ll feel a lot better once we’re out of here.”

“I don’t blame you one bit. C’mon, let’s go find Joey.” Chris and Lance walked along in comfortable silence. They still really couldn’t see much, but they both felt better knowing that they weren’t alone in the dark, scary forest.

They had been walking for a couple of hours and were about to stop and rest when they heard a crack and a cry of pain. Chris and Lance both looked at each other and knew that Joey had been what cried out in pain. Neither of them had heard him cry out in pain like that except for the time he hurt his leg and couldn’t do the shoot for “Pop”.

“What do you think caused him that amount of pain?” Lance asked Chris frightfully.

“I don’t know, but let’s go find out and see if we can help.”

They made their way over to the right off of the trail where they can still hear Joey gasping and crying out in pain. They wouldn’t have even been able to see Joey if it wasn’t for the moonlight that peeked through the trees. What they saw made their stomachs turn.

They saw the ghost that Joey had encountered hours before they had shown up. The ghost that looked so transparent in her white gown seemed to be concentrating on Joey and they could tell that it was causing Joey an immense amount of pain. Though they couldn’t tell exactly how this ghost was causing it. The ghost noticed that she had visitors and stopped concentrating on Joey to focus on her intruders.

Lance took a step back when he saw her gaze land on him and Chris. Lance would’ve taken more steps back, but Chris’s hand on his shoulder stopped him. Lance took a deep breath to calm himself. He knew that he had to be strong because Joey was hurting, but seeing a ghost in an unfriendly way brought all the memories of what happened at the lake back to his head.

“What were you doing to him?” Chris asked. He had worked up a lot of courage to ask such a simple question, but he knew he had to because Lance was too scared to do it.

“Me? Why nothing really. Just replenishing myself,” the female ghost replied.

“Why?”

She looked at Chris. “Do I really need a reason? I haven’t had fed on someone in so long.”

Chris looked at her dumbfounded and Lance stood shocked. He couldn’t believe that this was all happening and it was too much like what happened last time. Just then Lance heard a sucking noise behind him and saw Chris jerk as if being pulled. It was because of this that Lance noticed the male ghost, John. He knew that whatever John was doing to Chris wasn’t a good thing.

“Ah, brother. There you are. You remember how this works, right? You suck out the soul and I suck out the life.”

“Of course, how could I forget?” John and his sister both went back to work with their victims. Lance knew he had to do something and quick, so he did the first thing that came to mind. He ran in a straight line and jumped between Chris and John and the female ghost and Joey.

Both ghosts were angered that this kid interrupted their plans, so they both turned and worked on sucking the soul and life out of Lance. Lance tried as hard as he could to fight it. He could feel his body being pulled toward John, while he felt all his energy and emotions drain out of his body as if he were bleeding.

I don’t know how much longer I can last. I need help. Someone help me. I can’t hang on much longer. I need help, were the thoughts racing through Lance’s mind. He hoped that somehow someone could answer his plea for help. He was surprised when someone did.

_____________________________

JC ran his fingers through his long curly hair. It normally wasn’t that curly, but he had just gotten out of the shower and didn’t want to dry his hair. He had decided that he would take one after tossing and turning in bed for another couple hours. He knew it was pointless to go and try to sleep. He would just be unsuccessful again.

“I wish there was something I could do. I feel so useless,” JC said to himself.

Justin had met with him earlier that day so they could go to lunch after they had met with Johnny, who had no new info on the whereabouts of Lance, Joey, and Chris. Johnny still had people searching high and low, but so far there was no trace of any of his three brothers.

JC paced for a little in his room before he went out on the balcony to sit. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t clear his head. He just had this feeling that something bad was happening and the guys were so scared. This made JC feel horrible because there was nothing he could do about it. He always took it upon himself to look out for his brothers and now when they needed help the most, he couldn’t be there. This whole situation was tearing JC up and he knew the only way it would end is when Justin and him are united with the other three.

“Where are you guys?” JC softly asked, his voice being carried by the wind.

Just then JC heard something, something that sounded a lot like Lance. JC shook his head. There was no way he could hear Lance. Lance wasn’t anywhere near him, but he heard the voice again. JC looked around to make sure no one was trying to play a trick on him. It was the third time the voice spoke that JC realized the voice was in his head. But how could that be? JC wasn’t really sure, but listened for the voice anyway.

“I can’t hang on much longer. I need help,” the voice in JC‘s head said. This time JC was certain that it was Lance and didn’t know how it was possible, but then thought of telepathy. If this was true, then that meant JC could communicate with Lance as well.

“Lance, if you can hear me, I’m getting help. Just hang on. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just hang on.”

JC paused for minute waiting to see if Lance had gotten the message and would respond.

“I’ll try, C. Just get here soon.”

He sighed in relief when he heard Lance reply. That meant there was still hope for Lance, Chris, and Joey, but only if he acted quickly.

“I’ll be there, Lance. Just hang on. Fight it.”

JC knew that Lance wouldn’t respond anymore to save his strength for the fight against whatever it was that he was fighting. JC knew there was no time to lose, so he raced into the hotel room and called Justin.

JC didn’t even wait for Justin to say ‘hello’, he launched right into it. “Get your ass up and meet me at the car. I’ll grab someone to come with us. Just hurry.”

JC hung up and ran out the door. He knew he would have to be as quick as possible if he wanted his three brothers alive.

“What’s up, Jayce?” Justin asked as he sat in the passenger seat next to JC. Justin looked in the backseat and noticed no one else was with them. “I thought you were getting someone to come with us.”

“I forgot that everyone would be asleep and I didn’t want to waste time by waking up one of our guards,” JC told him as he pulled out of the hotel’s parking lot in the rental car.

“JC, what’s going on?” Justin was puzzled by JC’s behavior and thought that he deserved an explanation, especially after being dragged out of bed. He had actually managed to fall asleep and stay asleep until JC called him.

“Lance, Chris, and Joey are in trouble,” JC said as he pushed a little harder on the gas peddle to make the BMW move faster. He knew that he had to find the others. It was a matter of life and death.

“You are just realizing this now? I was sure that we both knew from the very beginning,” Justin retorted.

“Justin this is no time for your smart ass comments. We need to find them before something bad happens.”

“Like what?”

“One or all of them could die,” JC replied softly, not feeling comfortable talking about the possibility that his brothers could die if him and Justin didn’t make it to them in time.

Justin gasped. “How do you know that?”

JC sighed deeply knowing that he couldn’t lie to Justin because he had never been good at lying. He could try to beat around the bush, but he knew that Justin had a lot of patience and would wait until JC cracked and told him what was bothering him.

“I talked to Lance.”

“You what?! How? I thought that Tom said cell phones weren’t working out there,” Justin questioned.

“They aren’t. I talked to Lance through telepathy,” JC clarified.

“Telepathy?!” Justin exclaimed.

“Yeah, it means to talk to someone through your mind.”

“I know what it means!” Justin snapped and took a deep breath. He realized that yelling at JC wouldn’t help matter.

“Are you sure?” Justin asked and knew it was a stupid question when JC glared at him. “Sorry. I just had to make sure. Wow. How do you think it’s possible for you and Lance to communicate through telepathy?”

“I don’t know,” JC confessed softly. It puzzled him, but he pushed it to the back of his mind, so he could focus on getting Lance, Joey, and Chris out of trouble.

“What did Lance say when you talked to him, JC?”

“He told me that he needed help and couldn’t hang on much longer. I told him to hang on, that I was going to get help. He told me that he would try, but to get there as soon as possible,” JC whispered.

“Exactly where are they? Do you know?” Justin wasn’t sure how him and JC were going to get the guys help if they didn’t know where they were.

“I’m not really sure,” JC admitted. “From what Tom told us, they got lost in the woods and I’m sure that we can find the spot where the bus was by the tire tracks on the road. We’ll just have to look for the guys once we reach those woods and hopefully luck will be on our side.”

“Why didn’t you just bring Tom to show us where it is?” Justin questioned thinking that would’ve been the logical thing to do.

JC paused for a minute before saying, “I didn’t think of that.”

Justin nodded in understanding. JC didn’t ever think straight when he was under pressure, especially if it was about his friends and family.

Justin looked over at JC and saw that he was tightly gripping the steering wheel and that he was doing double the speed limit. That was unusual for JC because he normally never went above the speed limit. This proved how stressed JC was by the situation and Justin was concerned about JC driving.

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”

JC looked over at Justin and realized that he was probably making his best friend nervous. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just worried about the guys and I don’t want anything to happen to them.”

“I understand, but if you can’t handle driving anymore, let me know and I’ll take over. Okay?” Justin replied.

JC nodded his head and gave Justin a weak smile of thanks before returning his attention to the road. He had to be alert if he was to spot the bus tracks that would show him where the guys were.

JC sped along the highway for three hours before he saw the tire tracks of the bus and pulled off to the side of the road.

“Are you sure this is it?” Justin asked as JC pulled off the highway.

“Yeah, those tire tracks are too wide for a car. It had to have been a bus,” JC explained.

Justin and JC got out of the car and surveyed the woods in front of them for a minute.

“How are we supposed to find the others when we have no clue how deep into the woods they are?” Justin asked.

JC shook his head. “I’m not sure. I was hoping that we would have some kind of a sign that would lead us to them.”

“Well I don’t think we’re going to get that sign for right now anyway. I say let’s just follow the trail until we come to a dead end or a fork in the road and decide which way to go from there,” Justin suggested.

“OK. Lead the way,” JC agreed and motioned Justin to move in front of him.

Justin and JC followed the trail just like Lance, Joey, and Chris did. They ran along the trail, but stopped when they came to a fork in the road.

“Which way should we go?” Justin asked looking at JC. Justin knew that he probably shouldn’t be relying so heavily on JC because JC was most likely ten times more stressed than he was. Though JC’s the one that has the special connection with Lance, not me, Justin reasoned to himself.

JC closed his eyes and thought for a minute. When he opened his eyes he answered, “Let’s go to the left. I have a feeling.”

“OK, let’s go.” Justin wasn’t going to argue JC’s feelings. They had been proven right so far. He just hoped that they would do so again.

They were following the trail when they heard screaming. JC and Justin looked at each other briefly before running as fast as they could on the trail to reach whoever was screaming.

They ran as fast as their legs could carry them. They didn’t stop running until they reached the screaming and the light that seemed to surround them. Justin and JC gasped at what they saw.

Chris and Joey were lying on the ground unconscious, but obviously in pain. The most shocking though was how Lance looked. He was still conscious, but barely. His skin was pasty white and seemed to be turning whiter every minute. It took JC a minute to register why, but he gasped when he did.

Justin had noticed what JC had. “Not again,” Justin muttered referring to last year when they had to deal with ghosts.

Justin had thought for split second that they were Lance’s dead mom and sister, but quickly realized that these ghosts were two completely different people. They were a man and a woman who he had never seen before.

JC couldn’t believe that something like this was happening to Lance again. JC watched as Lance grew weaker and weaker. He seemed rooted to where he was standing.

“Lance!” Justin yelled as he ran over to Lance. He never made it to Lance though because a ball of light was thrown at him by the female ghost, which knocked him back into a tree.

JC snapped out of his shock and ran over to Justin to make he was okay. Justin sat dazed as he tried to shake off the dizziness, but that only made everything spin faster. JC was about to ask what the hell that ghost thought she was doing when two more ghosts appeared.

“Oh no, don’t tell me this is happening,” JC mumbled to himself as he helped Justin stand up.

JC looked up in time to see another ball of light heading straight toward him and Justin. He knew there was no way he could move both Justin and himself out of the way before it hit them, so he braced for the impact he knew he was going to feel. There was no need to brace himself though because the impact never came. Justin and JC looked up to see why and gaped at what they saw.

The ball of light was hanging five feet in front of them in mid-air. The person who stopped it was one of the two ghosts that had appeared only minutes ago. It was Mandy Bass.

“Here, mom, catch!” Mandy threw the ball of light to her mom, Katrina Bass, who caught it and then threw it deep into the woods where it wouldn’t harm anyone.

“What do you think you are doing?” the female ghost snarled.

“I’m protecting my son and his friends from you and your nasty brother. You both should be in hell where you belong,” Katrina answered.

“If you think we belong there so much, then why don’t you make us go?” John taunted.

“I think I will,” Katrina replied. Katrina fought against John and the female ghost. John and the female ghost put up a good fight. They threw balls of light at Katrina, but she dodged every one that came her way and retaliated by shooting lasers at them. These lasers proved to be stronger than the balls of light because they left her opponents weak and unable to make balls of light.

“That should teach you not to mess with my son and his friends,” Katrina told them. “C’mon I’m taking you to where you belong.” With that said, Katrina, John, and the female ghost were gone.

JC snapped out of his shock over what happened and ran over to Lance. “Lance! Are you okay?”

JC leaned over Lance and felt for a pulse. There wasn’t one. JC pushed his feelings aside so as not to panic and immediately started CPR. “Don’t you dare die on me, Lance. It’s not your time yet. C’mon, Lance, breathe. Breathe.”

JC numbly went through the cycles of CPR. He couldn’t believe this was happening. If Lance dies I’ll never forgive myself, he thought. His arms started to grow tired and he slowly realized that he’d been at it for at least five minutes.

Justin had been watching JC perform CPR on Lance feeling useless because there was nothing he could do to help. JC never faltered and Justin desperately hoped that Lance would start breathing again, but JC had been at it for six minutes and Lance still wasn’t breathing. Justin unwillingly gave into the realization that Lance was gone and knew it was time for JC to realize it as well.

Justin walked over to JC and put a hand on his shoulder. “C’mon, Jayce. You’ve done everything you can do. He’s gone.”

“No, I don’t believe it. He wouldn’t leave us,” JC told him while he was doing the compressions on Lance’s chest.

“Jayce…” Justin started, but JC interrupted him.

“Just let me do one more cycle.”

Justin looked into JC’s pleading eyes and nodded. It couldn’t hurt, but after this cycle Justin was pulling JC away.

JC completed his last cycle and sat back on his heels as he watched to see if there was any sign of life in Lance. JC sighed sadly and cast his eyes downward. He had failed his best friend.

Justin went over to JC and put an arm around his shoulders. They could draw strength from each other. Justin had just helped JC up from the ground when they heard a shaky intake of breath. They turned, saw Lance’s eyelashes fluttering, and jumped back down to the ground.

JC sat on Lance’s right, while Justin sat on his left. Lance slowly opened his eyes and saw JC staring down at him with tears running down his face. Not noticing the tears, JC gave Lance a small, watery smile.

“Are you okay?” Justin asked Lance seeing that JC wasn’t able to find the words.

Lance turned his head to Justin and answered, “I will be. How are Joey and Chris?”

JC jerked up. “Shit! I totally forgot about them,” JC said as he helped Lance sit up slowly.

Justin walked over to where Joey and Chris were laying. “Hear that, Joe? They forgot about us. We’re not appreciated. Damn kids,” Chris mumbled trying to make a joke out of the very stressful situation. He understood that Justin and JC had been more focused on Lance than them. Lance did almost die after all.

Justin helped Chris up while JC had gone over and helped Joey sit up when they heard Katrina speak.

“I’m so glad you guys are okay.” The five of them all whipped their heads in her direction. Katrina had just gotten back from hell. However, they had been so caught up in what was going on that they didn’t notice.

“Don’t do that,” Chris huffed. “What are you trying to do give me a heart attack?”

“Sorry, Christopher,” Katrina apologized though she didn’t look very sorry at all. She was just happy that her son and his friends were still alive.

Mandy went over to Lance and hugged him. She had been afraid that he had died. She wanted nothing more than to be with her older brother, but she knew now was not the time.

Lance was still engulfed with her warm feeling as she pulled away from them. “How can you do that?” he asked.

“Do what?”

“Hug me without falling through me. Not to mention it’s warm when you hug me, not cold,” Lance said.

“Oh, that. It’s something that we ghosts learn. We can touch solid objects, but it takes lots of concentration. And the warmth you feel is from the bond that you and I have. I transfer any heat energy I have to you,” Mandy explained.

Lance nodded his head in understanding. It made sense and explained why Joey and Chris had fallen through Katrina a year ago when she tried suffocating JC with a pillow. She didn’t want them to touch her, so they just fell right through her. She would’ve had to want to touch them for them not to fall through her.

“Katrina, can I ask you something?” Joey asked.

Katrina turned toward him. “Ask away. I’m sure you all have questions that you would like answered.”

“Where did those ghosts come from? They couldn’t have come from heaven.”

“You’re right, Joseph. They didn’t come from heaven. They came from hell. They work for the devil and were to recruit souls for damnation in hell,” Katrina answered.

“Are you saying that if you were set to go to heaven, but those things got to you first, you’d be doomed to an eternity in hell?” Chris questioned. It was such a foreign concept to all of them and there were so many questions that needed to be answered.

“Yes, that is exactly right. That is why the devil sent out those two in particular. They were able to suck the soul of any person and carry it down to hell. You see the devil can’t live without souls in hell and so he sends out what he likes to call minions to help him. There is no need to worry though because they are back to where they belong and they won’t be able to make it back to earth ever again,” Katrina explained.

“So we’re safe?” Joey asked.

“Yes, you’re safe. Nothing like this will ever happen again. I assure you.”

“What took you so long to help us though?” Chris voiced the question that had been floating around in his head since the conversation started.

“We didn’t know you were in trouble. Normally I watch over Lance as his guardian angel, but I had another person who was in need of some guidance. As for Mandy, she was with a friend of mine who was teaching her all the ins and outs of being a guardian angel. She’s wanted to learn ever since she saw me do it. Anyway, as soon as she saw what was going on, she alerted me immediately and here we are,” Katrina explained.

The guys nodded slowly letting what she said become comprehendible. It did make sense though. They had always believed in guardian angels and now they knew for certain that guardian angels do exist. 

Katrina smiled at them and then looked at the sky. The sun was starting to rise in the east. “You boys better go. You probably have a whole bunch of people worried about you.”

“You’re right. Thank you for everything. You’ve been a big help,” Justin said to Katrina and Mandy.

“It was our pleasure. Now you boys get a move on. You’re all dead on your feet,” Katrina commanded. They all agreed, said their goodbyes, and walked down the trail with JC helping Lance and Justin helping both Joey and Chris. They made it to the car and piled in with Justin driving, JC in the passenger seat, and the rest in the backseat.

The ride to the hotel was very quiet and Justin was sticking to the speed limit. He didn’t want to lose control of the car now that he got all of his friends back. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw Joey, Chris, and Lance fast asleep. However, he looked to his right and saw that JC was still awake. This fact amazed him since JC got about as much sleep as Lance probably did.

“Why don’t you go to sleep?” Justin suggested. “We still have a few more hours until we reach the hotel.”

JC shook his head. “I’m not tired. I can take over driving if you want.”

“No I’m good. You just relax.” The car again went silent after that. It was obvious that the recent events were still bogging down JC’s mind, but Justin knew that all would be discussed tomorrow or tonight since it was 6:00 a.m. and everyone would probably be sleeping all day.

True to Justin’s word, the car pulled into the hotel parking lot at 9:00 a.m. JC hadn’t slept the whole ride, so he woke up Lance, Joey, and Chris when Justin reached the hotel. The three of them sleepily got out of the car. Justin and JC led them up to their rooms. Once they were tucked into their beds, Justin and JC found Johnny out in the hall with a relieved look on his face.

“Thank God you guys are alright. That was very irresponsible of you to just up and leave without a word to anyone,” Johnny rambled until Justin stopped him.

“Do you think we can get lectured after we get some sleep? We’re all pretty wiped,” Justin said.

Johnny nodded his consent. “Good night, guys, but we will talk about this later.”

Justin and JC nodded knowing that they would get chewed out later. They said their good night’s and left for their rooms.

Justin fell asleep after a little difficulty, but it was a whole other story for JC. He got into pajama bottoms and lay in bed, but he couldn’t bring himself to sleep. There were a bunch of different scenarios scattered throughout his brain about what could’ve happened. Eventually he tired himself out and fell into an exhausted sleep.

It wasn’t a peaceful sleep though because he woke up an hour later drenched in sweat. He tried to clear his head of the unpleasant thoughts, but the more he shook his head, the more they seemed to linger. JC didn’t know if he’d be able to go back to sleep after watching Lance die in his dream, so he went out onto his balcony.

“What are you thinking about?”

JC whirled around at the voice to find Lance leaning in the doorway behind him. “What are you doing up? I thought you were sleeping?”

“That’s what I was going to ask you,” Lance replied.

“I couldn’t sleep,” JC admitted.

“I know. You were having a nightmare.”

JC turned to Lance. “How did you know?”

Lance lightly smacked JC on the forehead. “Our connection, duh!”

 JC blushed slightly because he had forgotten. “So what was it about?” Lance asked ignoring JC’s discomfort.

“Nothing,” JC dismissed.

“If it was nothing, you’d still be sleeping,” Lance replied.

It took JC a few minutes to organize his thoughts before he said, “You died.”

Lance nodded not at all surprised that was what JC had dreamt. “I didn’t though. I’m right here and you know that.”

“Yes, I do, but you scared the shit out of me tonight, Lance. I thought you were dead for sure. You weren’t breathing at all.” The memories of just hours ago began to play in his mind over and over again like someone was constantly rewinding his memories to that part.

“Now you know how I felt last year when I had to perform CPR on you. It’s a scary thing, but we both came out of it fine. Take your own advice from before and live in the present,” Lance suggested.

“I will. I’m just going to have to get over it first,” JC replied.

“We’ll help each other. I’m sure I’ll have nightmares for a while, but there’s no doubt in my mind that everything will turn out alright in the end.”

JC looked up and met Lance’s eyes. “You’re right. Thank you.”

“C’mon, let’s get some sleep. Is it alright if I crash in your bed?” Lance asked.

“Yeah, good night, Lance.”

“Night, JC.”

“JC!”

JC moaned as he was woken from his slumber. He wished whoever was pounding at his door would go away. He was still exhausted and wanted to sleep some more. This proved difficult though because the pounding wouldn’t stop.

“JC! Get your lazy ass up right now!” a voice that JC recognized as Chris’ floated through the door.

JC growled as he got up. He stalked over to the door and opened it to see Chris’ smiling face.

“What?” JC barked.

“Morning to you too, Sunshine,” Chris said unfazed by his bandmate’s behavior because it was normal for JC to act this way.

JC sighed and rubbed his eyes. “What are you here for, Chris?”

“Johnny called and wants us all to meet in Lance’s room for breakfast.”

“Lance’s room?” JC asked.

“Yeah, you know, that blonde haired, albino kid that we sometimes hang out with,” Chris replied laughing.

“But I…oh nevermind. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Chris nodded and left as JC closed the door to his hotel room.

It was during JC’s conversation with Chris that he realized that Lance wasn’t in his room anymore. He must have left before I woke up, JC thought to himself. It wasn’t unlike Lance to wake up before everyone else even though he had barely gotten sleep the night before.

JC pulled on a t-shirt, changed into jeans, and looked into the mirror. His face was all scruffy from not shaving all week, but he would deal with that later. He pocketed his room key and left for Lance’s room.

By the time he got there, all of the other guys and Johnny were there.

“Hey JC. Nice of you to join us,” Joey joked causing everyone to laugh while JC stuck up his middle finger.

“OK boys, that’ll do. I want to welcome you all back and let you know that you have two weeks off to recuperate. Your food is on its way up, but while we’re waiting I would like to have a word with JC and Justin.”

Johnny went out into the hall and JC and Justin had no choice but to follow him.

While JC and Justin were getting lectured in the hall, the other three were in the living area of Lance’s room talking.

“You know what I just realized?” Lance asked as he looked at his watch.

“That you can’t tell time?” Chris joked seeing what Lance was looking at.

Lance rolled his eyes at Chris’ response. “No, dweeb. I realized that we’re eating breakfast at six o’clock in the evening.”

“So?” Joey replied.

“So?” Lance echoed. “Isn’t it a bit odd to be eating breakfast when you’re normally supposed to be eating dinner?”

Chris and Joey looked at each other and then replied simultaneously:  “No.”

“Ya’ll are only saying that because you only get in at five in the morning from clubbing and then sleep till two or three in the afternoon.”

“Well, you know Scoop we can’t all be like you and get up at six in the morning even when we don’t have to,” Chris said.

“It’s not my fault that my body runs on a schedule and that you two have nothing better to do than go clubbing and sleeping the day away,” Lance answered.

Joey was about to object to that when JC and Justin came walking back in with room service right behind them, but no Johnny.

“Hey, where’s Johnny?” Joey asked.

“He left because he had a few phone calls to make,” Justin replied as he tipped the room service attendant. The attendant bowed out and closed the door behind him.

Everyone got up and grabbed a plate full of food. They all settled themselves on the couch, bed, or floor. They sat there eating their breakfast and watching TV until Lance brought up the question he, Joey, and Chris had been wondering since JC and Justin came back into the room.

“What did Johnny say to ya’ll?”

“Well first he started off by congratulating us on finding you guys and getting everyone back to the hotel virtually unharmed,” JC said.

“But then he ripped into us about how we were so irresponsible for taking off like we did and how we could’ve gotten ourselves killed. Blah blah blah. He said that we should’ve left it to the professionals or at least brought someone with us,” Justin added.

“But if you guys hadn’t come when you did Lance could’ve been dead. Hell me and Joe could’ve died too,” Chris objected.

“We told him that, but he still gave us this whole speech about how it would’ve been better left to the professionals. Like they knew where the hell you guys were or where to find you,” JC mumbled.

“Oh but that’s not even the best part. You want to tell them, Jayce?” Justin asked.

“Sure. Johnny thinks we should be punished for us running off like we did, so we’re pretty much put under house arrest. He told us that we’re only allowed to go out for group functions like recording, touring, etc,” JC explained.

“What? You can’t be serious,” Joey said. He, Lance, and Chris were totally surprised by this. They knew their manager cared for them, but they never thought he would put any of them under house arrest no matter what they did.

“You’re right, Joe, we’re not,” Justin agreed as he and JC cracked up laughing. Joey, Lance, and Chris just looked at each other at first not believing they fell for this joke before they dissolved into laughter.

“You assholes,” Joey said after the laughing died down, “you really had us believing Johnny put you under house arrest.”

“You dorks. You actually planned that out?” Chris retorted.

“No,” Justin denied though Chris knew they were lying.

“You should know by now that I’m the master at jokes so there’s no point in trying,” Chris replied.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!” Chris managed to say before being wrestled to the ground by Justin. They started wrestling each other on the floor.

“So Johnny’s not even punishing you guys?” Lance asked JC completely ignoring his two bandmates on the floor.

“He couldn’t even if he wanted to because he was so happy that we found you guys. All we got was that lecture and a scolding never to run off like that again,” JC answered.

They all fell back into a comfortable silence after Chris had Justin pinned and made him say “uncle”. They went back to watching TV and enjoying being together again. Lance started picking up all the discarded plates and cups and JC helped knowing that the other three wouldn’t touch them again. Lance and JC disposed of the plates and cups in the kitchen.

“We need to talk,” Lance said before JC had a chance to go back out into the living room where the rest of the guys were.

“OK. What about?” JC asked.

“Our…you know,” Lance said as he moved his finger back and forth between his head and JC’s, “and what we’re going to do about it.”

“What do you mean? I don’t think we can get rid of it,” JC said not following Lance.

“What I mean is the privacy aspect of it. We need to come up with a way so we’re not invading each other’s thoughts,” Lance explained.

“Oh I get it now.” JC thought for a minute. “How about we have some kind of a signal or something?”

“A signal?” questioned Lance.

“Yeah like a raised eyebrow. We do that if we want to talk without the others knowing unless say I give you the signal and you shake you’re head no. I’ll know that you don’t want to talk to me right then,” JC told him.

Lance thought about it for a minute. “Yeah I guess that could work and the guys wouldn’t be the wiser as to what we’re doing.”

“Right I mean none of the guys know,” JC said smiling.

“Is that a good thing?” Lance asked.

“Yes.”

“Why? Why not tell the guys, JC?”

“Because it’s just a special thing between me and you. I mean, how many people have this thing?”

“Not many,” Lance affirmed JC’s thought.

“Exactly. If the guys find out, fine, but I don’t want to tell them about it.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Lance agreed.

Unbeknownst to them Justin was in the living room watching them talk. He could clearly see them from where he was sitting. He could tell by their facial expressions that what they were talking about was serious stuff and was curious as to what they could be talking about.

Justin must have been staring longer than he thought because a few minutes later he heard Joey call his name. Justin turned to him.

“Yeah?”

“Dude, you were totally spacing. You didn’t blink for like five minutes,” Joey explained.

“Are you taking lessons off of JC?” Chris teased. Not another word was said as Chris and Joey turned back to the TV. Justin looked back at Lance and JC before turning his attention toward the TV.

Their TV watching was interrupted though when they heard Lance yell “You’re so dead, Chasez!”

The next thing they know they see a blur of JC running past them with Lance hot on his heels.