Justin had refused to be the one to hang up, waiting for the inevitable click even as he hoped it didn't come. Because even though it'd been a pretty normal conversation with JC, he wasn't fooled for one second. He didn't believe JC was in any less danger now than he did before his phone went off.

When JC had said "bye" and there was that click that signaled they'd been disconnected, Justin slowly removed the phone from his ear. He hadn't expected to talk to JC until they found him, but it was good to hear from him even if it'd been forced on him. It just sucked he hadn't been able to even hint at what was going on. Still, Justin had been able to tell a lot from not only what JC said but what he didn't say.

"Well?" Chris demanded when Justin hadn't spoken. "What'd he say?"

Justin looked at them, the three of them standing close like they'd been hoping to overhear whatever had been said on the phone. "He said he was at the airport and was on his way to LA to record some stuff."

Instantly, there seemed to be an almost palpable relief. Chris reached out and shoved his shoulder. "See? I told you he was at the airport."

Justin shook his head. "That might be what he said, but it's not true."

"Of course not." Chris sighed. "Well, let's hear the reason this time."

Justin glared at him, and Lance stepped forward, purposely drawing his attention away from Chris. "What's make you think he was lying?" Lance asked.

"He's my best friend. I think I know when he's lying."

It was Lance's turn to sigh. "What I meant was what specifically tipped you off?"

"Everything. What he said, how he said it..." Justin paused. "He said all the right things and was trying to joke with me, trying to laugh. But it all sounded wrong. It sounded so fake."

"What all did he say?" Joey asked.

Lance glanced at him before looking back at Justin. "What'd he say when you asked about the message?"

"He said he'd thought someone followed him from a club and was trying to break into his room."

"Well, there you go," Chris said, gesturing with his hand. "I told you he probably just got spooked."

Justin stared at him, feeling anger rise in him, but he didn't force it away this time. "What the hell's wrong with you?" He gave all of them a hard look. "You're all willing to just take his word for it. Even when I said he was missing, none of you seemed overly concerned. And I want to know why. Why the hell won't you believe there's something really wrong here?"

"Because he's done this before."

Justin crossed his arms, his eyes flashing dangerously as they narrowed. "Done what? Got himself kidnapped?"

"Taken off without telling anyone," Chris said, unaffected by Justin's glare as he met it with one of his own.

Automatically, Justin's initial reaction was to point out that JC had told Joey, but then what Chris said actually registered. "What? When?" he demanded, unable to recall any time JC had just up and left, much less without telling anyone where he was going.

"Right after we found out about Lou. Before we got heavy into the lawsuit," Chris said.

Justin knew at once the time he was referring to. It'd been just a couple days after they'd found out Lou had been taking more than his fair share, and they'd just met with their lawyer, getting all the legal stuff in order. JC had left right after the meeting and he didn't come back for a couple days.

"You're lying," he snapped. "He was at his parents' place."

Lance put a hand on his shoulder. "That's what we told you, but we didn't know where he was for most of that weekend."

"And you didn't think that was something I should've known?" Justin seethed, completely livid. He couldn't believe JC had done something like that, let alone the four of them keeping it a secret from him.

"There was already enough to worry about. We didn't want to freak you out even more than you already were." Lance paused. "All we'd known was that he was going for a drive and had checked in with his parents briefly after he realized his phone had died. Then he was back the next day."

Chris nodded. "You see why I didn't think he was missing?"

"No." Justin then added with a bit of sarcasm, "Obviously I don't get the connection."

Chris sighed, seeming annoyed that he had to explain himself. "I figured he got some kind of news and took off to deal. And the message on your machine was just him reaching out, needing to talk to someone."

Justin shook his head. It kind of explained why the three of them had seemed so reluctant to believe JC was really in trouble, but he was pissed they'd let it affect their ability to see what was going on. Maybe JC had taken off once before, but Justin was sure he'd gotten chewed out when he'd returned and it was hard to believe he'd do it again. The guys should've realized that and paid more attention to the signs that something was wrong.

"This time is different." Before any of them could object, Justin continued. "His excuse about the message? Total lie. Because he called late afternoon and-"

"No club is open that early," Joey cut in, with sudden realization.

"Maybe he really meant bar," Lance offered. "You know how some have a restaurant side. Like it'd happened when he was out for lunch."

But Justin ignored him, spurred on by Joey's belief. "And he said he was at Preservation Hall last night, but we didn't see him."

Chris frowned. "So? Maybe he was and you guys just missed him."

"No, Justin's right," Joey said. "We were there all night and talked to practically everyone in there. Even if we'd missed him, the staff knew we were looking for him."

Justin would've been almost giddy that someone finally believed him if the situation wasn't so serious. "We still don't know where he is, but at least we know he's relatively okay. And we have an idea what's going on."

"You really think he was kidnapped?" Lance asked.

"Makes sense, doesn't it?" Justin said. "Someone checked him out of the hotel and took all his stuff. And the phone call...none of the stuff JC said adds up."

"Maybe lied to you because he didn't want to you to know where he'd really been," Chris said, his facial expression still hard, but Justin could see the doubt behind it. He was finally starting to get through to them.

"JC has no reason to lie about that. He was trying to make it seem like everything was okay so we'd leave."

Lines appeared on Joey's face. "He told you that? That we should leave?"

"He didn't have to. He wanted us to think he was heading to California so we would head back to Orlando. Something the kidnapper probably told him to do, so we must be getting close," Justin reasoned.

Lance and Chris exchanged looks before Lance said, "Okay, something doesn't seem right about all this, but kidnapping? Justin, c'mon."

"No, you guys c'mon," Joey said. "Everything Justin is saying makes sense. I mean, how else do you explain it if not kidnapping?"

Lance sighed, glancing down at his watch. "Let's go see what the police found out with that number and then we'll go from there. All right?"

Justin certainly had no objection to that, thinking it was about time they were getting back to the police station. They'd had plenty of time to look into the phone number JC had originally called from and surely knew who it belonged to. From there, they could get the police to bust the person who took JC, and this whole mess would be over.

When they got to the police station, it was busier than it'd been when they'd stopped in the night before, but not much. Justin recognized of the cops they'd talked to last night and walked over to his desk, the others right behind him. The cop looked up as they stopped in front of him.

"Ah, you're back," the man, Officer Mullen, said. His expression was a cross between amusement and annoyance.

"What'd you find out?" Justin asked.

Mullen went back to skimming the report in front of him and he said distractedly, "About what?"

"The phone number," Justin nearly cried in exasperation. He had absolutely no patience for this. "You said you were going to look into tracing it or something."

"You can only trace a location from a phone as a call is happening," Mullen said, giving them his attention with a reluctant sigh. "I did, however, punch it into our system to see who it's registered to."

Justin sighed in aggravation. "And?"

"And the number doesn't exist," Mullen said in an almost bored tone.

"What?"

Suddenly there was a hand on his back, and Justin knew without looking that it was Joey. He glanced back at the others and saw they looked as shocked as he felt.

"But how is that possible? It showed up on Justin's answering machine," Lance said.

"Maybe you wrote it down wrong."

Justin's fists clenched at the accusation. "We did not. The person that number belongs to has my friend."

Mullen gave him a no nonsense look. "And I'm telling you that number doesn't exist. You had to have gotten the digits wrong."

"Fine." Justin set his jaw. "I want to file a missing persons report."

Mullen sighed again, sounding a little aggravated himself. "We've already been through this. You can't file the report until your friend's been missing for at least twenty-four hours." He glanced at the clock on the wall to their right. "And it's only been fifteen since you guys were in here."

"I don't care. I want to file the report."

A tense moment passed as the two of them stared each other down, but Justin's gaze was unwavering. He wasn't going to let some cop bullying him into waiting to file an official report when he knew JC was missing and they were wasting time as it was. Finally, the eye contact was broken and Justin thought he'd won. But Mullen just leaned back in his chair, looking so casual.

"When did you last hear from him?"

Justin was silent. He knew if he said JC had just called him, the cop wouldn't take him seriously. So what he said was, "I already told you. The message on my machine was the last time."

"But he just called like a half hour ago," Joey said.

Justin immediately turned and smacked Joey. "Damn it, Joey," he hissed.

"I thought maybe if he knew the circumstances of everything..."

Mullen cleared his throat, bringing Justin's attention back to him. He was now sitting straighter in his chair. "If you just talked to him, then he's obviously fine."

"No, he's not!" Justin objected loudly. "You didn't hear him. He's scared and someone is keeping him against his will."

"And just how do you know that?" Mullen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I do!" Justin exclaimed. "Because someone checked him out of his hotel room and took all his stuff."

"Maybe he checked himself out."

Justin's face turned red in anger. He'd already been through this once before with Chris; he wasn't going to go through it again with the police. He had no patience left to deal with this and he didn't understand why they didn't get it. Why they weren't even taking anything he said seriously.

"He didn't," Justin said, his entire body tense.

"You have any proof to back up what you're claiming? Because kidnapping is a serious charge...not that you even have anyone to charge," Mullen said.

"Maybe I would if you got off your lazy ass and looked into what I'm telling you," Justin retorted.

The others exchanged uneasy glances. "Justin..." Lance began, but Justin continued as if he hadn't heard him.

"You're just so willing to write this off as me overreacting or making up some wild story. But I'm not. My friend is out there, afraid and probably hurt, and you're sitting here telling me that I'm wasting your time? What the hell kind of cop are you?"

Mullen jumped to his feet, glaring angrily at Justin. "Get out. I'll not have you disrespecting me or the other officers here."

"I give respect where it's earned," Justin shot back. "It's your job to protect the innocent and save them from crazy ass people. And considering how you won't even listen to a damn thing I tell you, you seem to be doing a pretty shitty job of it."

"That's it," Mullen said, his expression dark. "If you thought you could come in here and harass an officer of the law, you were sorely mistaken."

Before any of them could even react, Mullen latched onto Justin's forearm and yanked him forward. One cuff was slid onto Justin's right wrist with a resounding click.

"What are you doing?" Joey asked, his eyes wide.

"I'm showing him what happens when he harasses a police officer," Mullen said, his voice gruff.

The next several seconds were a flurry of chaotic activity. Justin jerked, trying to pull out of Mullen's hold and keep himself from being completely handcuffed - arrested. At the same time, Chris shoved past Joey and Lance and threw a punch at Mullen, hitting him square in the jaw and making him stumble backwards. Instantly, two other cops appeared. One grabbed onto Chris, while the other halted Justin's struggles.

Mullen took advantage of the help to twist Justin's arms behind his back and snap the second cuff on his other wrist. And the officer that was holding onto Chris pulled out his own set of handcuffs, snapping them over Chris's wrists.

"Interfering with arrest and assaulting a police officer," Mullen said, glaring at Chris. "That could get you some serious jail time."

"You're not really pressing charges are you?" Lance implored. "He's too impulsive for his own good."

Mullen looked at each of them, and none of them knew what he was thinking. Finally, he said, "No. I suppose won't. Clearly your young friend is suffering from delusions, and your other friend acted out because of the stress. But I'm going to hold them for a while. They need time to realize the seriousness of what they did."

Justin glared at him and opened his mouth to tell him off, but Lance seemed to realize this and quickly cut him off. "Thank you, sir," he said, offering Mullen a grateful look while throwing a warning one at Justin.

"Come back around eight and I'll release them," Mullen said.

"Eight?" Justin cried. Screw that. He couldn't afford to waste nine or ten hours in a cell because of some asshole cop. JC needed him.

Mullen looked down at him. "I could always arrest you for real. I think I'm being pretty lenient."

"Yes, that's fine. Thank you," Lance said.

Justin sighed, but he didn't argue. Being arrested would definitely make things a lot worse, and at least Lance and Joey hadn't gotten caught in the middle of this nightmare. "Don't waste time. You know what you have to do."

Lance looked like he was going to object, but Joey stepped in. "Don't worry. We'll work on it, all right?"

Justin and Chris were then led away from their friends into the back of the station where the holding cells were. They were thrown into one together, the door sliding closed with a loud bang that reverberated off the walls. He glanced at Chris, noticing the pissed expression on his face.

Great. It'd be a miracle if they didn't kill each other.

**********

The next time JC opened his eyes, he had no idea how much time had passed. A glance out the window showed the sun was still up, and from the shadows, seemed to be high in the sky meaning it had to be late afternoon. Over the last couple days, he'd gotten good at guessing what time it is based on the shadows outside from the sun.

JC let out a short humorless laugh, but it was choked as tears threatened to spill over again. Nothing about this was funny. He was losing his mind and the heat was only making it worse. But then he realized, the heat was gone. At least the intense body heat that'd been radiating off him for the last day. The weather was still hot and muggy, but that was much more tolerable now that the feverish heat had disappeared.

He felt much better than he had in what seemed like forever even though in reality he knew it'd only been about twenty-four hours. The only thing he really had to complain about, other than being held by some crazy chick against his will, was his left arm was completely numb. It was elevated behind his head, which allowed all the blood to drain from his arm hours ago.

JC tugged on the metal restraint, trying to move his arm so it wasn't as elevated even though he knew it was futile. So it was much to his surprise when the cuff popped open. He lowered his arm, groaning at the weight of it and began to rub it to try to get some feeling back.

Turning his head, he stared at the cuffs that were dangling from the rusted metal bed frame. He had no idea how or why they'd come off now. The first thing he'd tried to do when he woke up in that bed was get out of them, but to no avail. Perhaps Marlene had needed to move him for some reason and had forgotten to check that the cuff had latched. Whatever the reason, JC knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth.

At once, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. He immediately grew dizzy and his legs gave out on him, unable to hold his weight after being confined to the bed where he suffered from bizarre fever that'd significantly weakened him.

After giving himself a minute, JC shakily got to his feet. He paused to make sure he could walk and nearly sighed in relief when he didn't crumble to the floor as he took a tentative step. By the time he made it to the doorway, walking was already a bit easier.

He paused, straining his ears for any noise to indicate that Marlene was around, but there was nothing. Still, he quietly made his way out of the guest bedroom, sending a thanks heavenward that it was on the first floor. As quickly as he could, JC moved through the rest of his house, trying to keep his footsteps light and soft.

Finally, he made it through the front door and he nearly cried as he was met with the residential street Marlene lived on. Now he was outside, he threw all caution to the wind and took off running as fast as he could for Bourbon Street. He stumbled every couple feet and wasn't able to run very fast considering how weak and exhausted he was, but he didn't ever stop. The need to get to other people and away from that house was overwhelming.

After several minutes, he finally made it to the main street in the heart of the French Quarter. He leaned tiredly against an old brick building to catch his breath, unable to believe he'd gotten out. It was so good to be out of that house and around other people.

Suddenly, he spotted a group of people and his heart leapt to his throat. He'd know those forms anywhere, and without another thought, he took off running again. "Guys!" he called. "Justin!"

The four people in front of him turned, and their eyes widened in surprise. "JC! What are you doing here?"

JC skidded to a stop and shook his head, panting. "I got away."

"You should go back," Justin said.

"What?" JC stared at his best friend in confusion. "It doesn't matter if she finds out I'm gone. Not as long as we get the hell out of here."

"Stay with Marlene, JC."

JC's head whipped over to Chris, his eyes wide and disbelieving. "How...how did you know her name?" He knew for a fact he hadn't said it.

"You think we didn't know what was going on?" Chris said.

"We don't need you," Lance added. "And you obviously don't need us."

"That's not true!" JC objected. Where the hell was all this coming from? It made no sense.

Justin raised an eyebrow and there was something about his expression JC didn't like. "No? You keep taking off without telling anyone. You clearly don't trust us, so why should we trust you?"

"I told Joey!" JC cried.

Joey shook his head. "You mentioned it, but you didn't say you were definitely leaving. You just left like you did just before the lawsuit. Were you even planning on coming back this time?"

"Guys, please-"

"Goodbye, JC," Justin said, turning his back on JC. The others did the same and the four of them started to walk away from him - leaving him there.

JC tried to run after them, but he found his feet wouldn't move, like they were filled with lead. It seemed like something that would happen in a dream. "Guys!"

Suddenly, there was a voice in his ear. "See, JC. They don't care about you. You're better off without them."

JC spun on his heel to glare at Marlene. "You're wrong. They do care. They would never leave me if they thought something was wrong."

"And yet..." She motioned to the four guys who were walking away from JC.

"You did something to them," JC accused, but really he knew it was true. In his heart, he knew the guys would never behave so coldly and just turn their backs on him.

Marlene smiled wickedly. "Oh, JC. It could be so much worse."

She then began to say something in Latin as she focused on the four retreating forms. JC looked back at the guys, tense because he was sure she was about to prove just how bad it could get, but he had no idea what she was saying.

Justin was the first to drop to his knees and JC dashed forward, whatever invisible force that'd held him in place as they'd walked away now gone. When he finally reached Justin, Joey and Lance were on their knees too coughing along with Justin. He crouched down in front of him, reaching out for Justin.

"J, what's wrong? Talk to me."

JC tried to force Justin to sit up, thinking that would help squelch some of the coughing. But he froze when he saw a puddle of red in front of Justin. Blood. Justin was coughing up blood, and a quick glance at the other three showed they were doing the same.

"Shit," JC panted, his heart racing again. He glanced around wildly, seeing all the people around, eating in restaurants and walking along the sidewalks. But no one was moving to help them. "Help! Somebody, please help!"

Still nothing. JC's breathing became even more erratic and he tugged at his long hair, on the verge of full blown panic. He looked back at the guys and saw that all of them were lying on the ground, barely moving.

"Justin," JC called, trying to shake his friend to consciousness. Justin didn't stir and JC tried the others, but he got the same result. Whatever was happening to them, it was doing the job quick. It was like they were dying.

"No," JC whispered. He scrambled back over to Justin and felt for a pulse, but there was nothing there. One glance at the others showed they looked the same as Justin, and he knew instinctively they were dead too. "No!"

JC's body jerked violently, shouting as his eyes flew open. He was panting like he'd just run a marathon, and it took a minute for the image of the guys lying dead in the middle of Bourbon Street to vanish. When it did, he realized he was still in the bedroom, handcuffed to that damn bed.

Everything felt like it had when he'd woken up that first time, but it was significantly darker in the room as the sun was obviously on its way to fading behind the horizon. It'd all just been a dream - even his escape. But then, the feverish heat was gone.

"It's okay, JC."

JC jumped at the voice and touch on his thigh that accompanied it. Without thinking, he scrambled backwards, falling off the bed and landing at a weird angle. There was a sudden pop in his left shoulder and JC cried out in pain, tears still falling steadily down his face. In his confused panicked state, he'd forgotten about his left arm and its inability to move far, his tumble off the bed resulting in a dislocated shoulder.

"Don't touch me," he told Marlene, his voice quivering.

She ignored him, coming over to grab onto his right arm. JC didn't have the energy to fight her and let her help maneuver him back onto the bed. Once he was propped up against the wall, the metal frame pressed against his back, she then reached out for his left arm.

"No," JC moaned, protesting.

But once again, she didn't listen as she position her hand on his left shoulder. JC closed his eyes, knowing what was coming. That didn't make it hurt any less though because a second later, there was searing pain in his shoulder and a loud crack.

"That dream felt real, didn't it?" she asked. He opened his eyes to see her looking at him with a knowing expression.

JC said nothing, still trying to catch his breath from the nightmare and the intense amount of pain he'd just dealt with in less than a couple minutes. Marlene didn't seemed bothered by his lack of answer as she continued.

"I can do it, you know. I wasn't bluffing about that, and what you saw?" She leaned in closer, so close he could smell her jasmine perfume. "I can make that happen. That can be exactly how they die."

JC stared at her with baffled eyes. "How-"

"I gave you the nightmare," she said, seeming to know exactly what he was going to ask. "I just mix a potion, say a little spell, and you dream whatever I tell you to."

JC shivered at the thought that she controlled his dreams - or nightmares because that was certainly no dream. It explained a lot though. Like how she'd suddenly appeared and why no one on the street had tried to help when the guys were dying.

"Will I ever see them again?" he asked quietly. He was confident she wouldn't kill them because he'd done what she'd asked - he'd told Justin he'd left New Orleans and they surely were all gone by now. After all, that phone call had been hours ago.

"That's up to you," Marlene said. "I'm not trying to keep you from your family or your career. You just have to realize you belong to me and be committed to coming back. And with the help of the dreams, I think you'll agree to it when the spell has run its course."

JC's forehead wrinkled. "I'm not hot anymore."

"That's because it's moved onto a different torture. You wouldn't be able to last three nights with body heat that intense, and the purpose of this isn't to kill you."

JC almost wanted to ask what the next night would entail, but he was afraid of what the answer would be. Marlene smiled a twisted smile like she knew what he was thinking.

"Oh I believe, the next phase will start in a few minutes," she said. She got up from the bed and walked to the door. "Pleasant dreams, JC."

She winked at him before leaving him alone again. JC was terrified to sleep now, not wanting to have another nightmare like the one he'd just had. It had seemed way too real and the fact that she could make it reality...JC shivered again.

Just then, the muscles in his legs contracted tightly and it almost felt like needles were being stabbed into them. JC automatically reached to try to massage the muscles, only to stop when his left shoulder flared in pain. Finally, the pain in his legs subsided a bit, but how long would it stay that way?