Chapter 14: Any Way Out
Justin seemed depressed for days after that, not that anyone blamed him. Lexi had eventually explained to them what she had done but there were still no way to know if it worked. If it did work then Jade would just do it all over again, if it didn’t then there was nothing to stop Jade from milking them and selling it to the highest bidder, which at this point it seemed inevitable.
It was times like these that Lexi wanted to tell them about her plan with Isadora but there never seemed like a good time and it was risky to talk about it. If someone found out, it would ruin everything. When this was over Lexi would introduce them to her long lost friend and hop that it gave them some peace of mind to know that she had Lexi’ endorsement.
No one ever expected Justin to do what he eventually did. He decided to take matter into his own hands. Lexi was prepping stuff for the nights events when the alarm on the hand held device that Jade had given her to monitor the guys, went off which is something that had never happened before, it clearly indicated trouble. She took off for the guys’ room. When she got there everything seemed fine.
“Where is Justin?” She asked after a quick head count.
“He is in the shower, why?” Joey asked. Lexi just ignored his question and knocked loudly on the bathroom door.
“Justin? Is everything alright in there?” Lexi asked, pressing her ear to the door to see if she could hear anything.
“He has been in there awhile.” JC said.
“How long is ‘awhile’?” Lexi asked. JC just shrugged, he wasn’t like he had been timing him, but the whole room suddenly felt a little uneasy. She could hear the shower running but no movement, which is when the alarm went off again. She knocked on the door once more but there was still no response. All eyes were on her, the walls weren’t that thick so it wasn’t like Justin couldn’t hear her.
She waited a few more seconds before she kicked the bathroom door as hard as she could. The cheap wood cracked and fell off its hinges. She rushed in to check on him. Justin was lying on the floor of the shower with the barely warm water running over him. He was still in his boxers. Lexi gasped at the sight of blood swirling down the drain. She picked up the piece of broken glass and tossed it in the sink, out of his reach. He had slit his wrists with it; this was defiantly Jade’s fault. If she had just left him alone instead of freaking him out about becoming an unwilling father, he would have never even considered this.
Lexi thought quickly and got some towels to apply pressure to the wounds, which luckily weren’t that deep. He whimpered when he realized what she was doing. Lexi wasn’t going to let him do this, this wasn’t the answer.
“Let go.” Justin begged as he tried to pull his hands away from her. He squirmed and fought her, but she didn’t let go. He thought that he was protecting his future children by insuring that he never had any, the only way he knew how to. No one could stop Jade.
“Justin, I am not going to let you do this.” Lexi replied, releasing him for a minute. She had told herself that she would never use it on them but Justin was stronger than she was, so she used the remote to weaken him but not completely paralyze him, though it would have been easier to just knock him out at this point, he had the right to know what was happening to him. “Justin this isn’t the answer.”
The others were watching her; completely aware at this point of what was going on. They didn’t think Justin would ever do something like this; this clearly wasn’t the same Justin Timberlake any more. This was a sad desperate man just looking for a way out. They understood his pain but death was not the answer, knowing Jade, she would find away to use his death as a way to make money. They weren’t sure who to help so they just watched.
No one wanted Justin to die, but they respected his right to make that choice himself. Lexi was still applying pressure when Miss Gaillard came in, wondering why the guys weren’t ready yet. Justin became quiet, knowing that his pleas wouldn’t work on his angry master. If nothing else it would just make things worse.
Jade unloaded on both of them. Lexi remained calm for once, afraid to move again and allow Justin to lose more blood. She told her boss that she could stop the bleeding; it would just take time for the blood to clot and suggested that he not leave this room tonight.
“It’s not exactly good publicity when your stars try to off themselves.” Lexi snapped. After all she was sick of getting blamed for this stuff. It wasn’t like she had given Justin the tools or the reason to kill himself. Jade just groaned but eventually agreed and informed the customers that Justin would not be performing tonight because he was sick, which was a first. Jade also issued Lexi a warning to never talk to her like that again.
As for Justin, his punishment this time was forcing him to live with that pain that he had caused himself. She paralyzed him completely but did nothing to numb his pain, ensuring that he would heal but feel everything.
“I know you don’t want to die, Justin. So why did you do it?” Lexi asked, mostly to herself at this point. He let a few tears slip out but said nothing, he couldn’t move but he refused to look at her or make eye contact. “I get that you are scared, to be honest I am sacred too, but Jade hasn’t brought up the stud stuff again so maybe she has moved on, maybe something else has peaked her interest.” Lexi added, knowing that Justin couldn’t answer her even if he wanted to.
Isadora was coming this weekend, using her birthday party as a cover story but making it known that she was rich. Maybe that was why Jade wasn’t doing anything with her stud plan any more, just maybe their plan was working. Jade loves rich people, especially ones that are prone to buy stupid things. Isadora may have made herself a target after all. Lexi just had to keep all of them alive until then but Justin’s attempt to take his own life had Lexi wondering if she had lied to Isadora. What, at that time may have been true, didn’t appear to be true anymore, maybe the guys didn’t want to be saved after all. Truth be told they were still looking for a way out – any way out. Escape attempt had been when they first arrived; they had each tried at least once to break out of this prison at some point, now they seemed to realize that it was nearly impossible and very painful.
She was just about to leave for the night when she heard someone call to her from a distant and the sound of running in the hall way. Her mind was so clouded and her thoughts defiantly somewhere else that the sudden noise made her jump. She looked up to see JC sprinting toward her, in all the excitement Lexi had forgotten about their promise.
“You came? I thought with all that happened tonight you would be with Justin.” Lexi said turning to greet him. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him, but she understood that his friend needed him.
“I made a promise.” He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. “Besides there isn’t much that I can do for Justin right now. I understand his pain but not his actions.”
“Same here. But you know that I am going to try to do everything in my power to see to it that Jade doesn’t get her hands on any more of your… ‘stuff’.” Lexi said.
“I know you will and I know that there is only so much you can do for us. We don’t blame you for what happens to us. I also won’t give up without a fight either.” JC explained. He hugged her and tried to comfort her, there was no point in beating herself up. What happened to Justin wasn’t her fault, there was no way she could have predicted it. Lexi hugged him back but felt a little guilty after all what was going to happen this weekend and probably in weeks to come would be her fault, completely her fault.
The next day they made Justin wear thick bracelets on his wrists to hide his suicide attempt while he preformed. Their bathroom door was replaced with a sheet and all sharp objects were to be kept away from them.
Lexi was getting worried; she knew that Miss Gaillard was getting complaints and people asking for refunds when the guys just couldn’t function in parties or on the stage. They weren’t even singing live anymore because what came out was less than appealing, the guys sounded like they had been swallowing sand paper. And it wasn’t their fault, they just had nothing left and death wasn’t just knocking at the door any more, it was a welcomed visitor for some.
The stage had been set, and now it was out of Lexi’s hands. It was Isadora’s turn to work her magic. Lexi was asking herself if lying and just not telling someone something were the same thing. She couldn’t tell Isadora about Justin’s suicide attempt, she needed Isadora to think that the guys were survivors. In time Lexi was sure that Justin would regret it, and want to live.
