Marlene bent her head, lowering herself so she was practically lying on top of JC. She moved to kiss him, but he quickly turned his head so she ended up kissing his cheek instead of his lips. His chin was suddenly grabbed, forcing him to look back at her.

"You'll enjoy it if you let yourself," she said.

She leaned in again, but this time JC wasn't able to avoid her kissing him full on the lips because her hand had moved from his chin to the back of his head, holding it still. He kept his lips clamped shut, refusing to allow her access to the inside of his mouth. But when she bit his bottom lip hard, he gasped in pain and she used that opening to put her tongue inside.

JC nearly gagged and felt a bit of panic rise in himself. He lashed out, bringing his leg up despite the stabbing pain and used his knee to shove her away from him. She was knocked off balance and fell backwards, over the edge of the bed. Her eyes were practically slits as she glared at him.

He watched her warily, still a little breathless from the kissing and the sudden surge of adrenaline. She went to step away from the bed and JC instantly knew whatever she had planned wasn't going to be pleasant. Desperately he kicked out again, though he knew it'd be much harder to hit her since she was nearly out of reach. But his leg didn't rise more than a few inches from the bed when the stabbing feeling doubled in both legs.

JC howled in pain. He'd almost thought he was coming to tolerate the random stabbing pain in his muscles, but the doubled intensity made it unbearable. All it took was one look at her holding that damned voodoo doll to know what had caused it. And since the pain was so crippling, all he could do was watch helplessly as she tied his ankles tightly to the posts at the bottom of the bed with two long silky scarves.

"You need to stop fighting this," she said. Her eyes were hard, but her voice was neutral. She took the two black pins out of the legs of the voodoo doll and JC practically slumped with relief.

JC wanted to glare at her, but he couldn't seem to summon the energy to do so. So he settled for saying in a harsh tone, "Don't you mean stop fighting you?"

"It's not just me you're fighting." She stepped closer and all he could do was watch since he was practically immobile now that all his limbs were tied down. "You're struggling with your attraction for me."

"I'm not attracted to you," JC said, trying to be firm. But it sounded weak even to his own ears.

Marlene reached out and ran a finger down his chest, the sensation causing a chill to run down his spine. "Oh I don't think that's true. You are and it's what brought you to me."

"You came up to me," JC objected.

"But you didn't turn me away. You even trusted me enough to follow me home." She smiled at him. "Listen to the instincts that brought you here."

JC frowned, realizing now how odd that was. He almost never went home with a girl that he'd just met. Even when he had one night stands, which wasn't that often, he always brought the girl back to his hotel room or house. And while he'd always had bodyguards to look out for him, he wasn't stupid. The fact that he'd trusted her so much when he barely knew her was almost a red flag.

"Did you put a spell on me? Or slip something in my drink that night?"

Marlene laughed. "Oh, JC. I did nothing. All I did was sit down and talk to you. It's not my fault you were attracted to me."

"But why me? You could've sat down with any guy and taken him home," JC said.

Marlene gave him a seductive look. "I didn't want just anyone. I wanted you."

"So you purposely sought me out?"

"Not at first. I didn't know you were there when I got there, but once I did, of course I wanted you. You've always been my favorite," she said with a wink.

JC glared. "And this is how you treat me? Tie me up and torture me?"

"It's necessary," Marlene said, almost flippantly. Like she didn't really grasp the severity of what she was doing to him. "And anyway, you're making this harder on yourself than it has to be."

"Why? Because I refuse to love you?"

"Because you insist on denying what I know you feel. This would all go so much easier if you would just admit you like me, that you want to be with me," she said.

"Why don't you just force me to drink a love potion? Wouldn't that get you what you want without all this hassle?"

JC felt kind of stupid asking, like he was giving her the idea. But he knew she was capable of it and probably would've come up with it herself. The question was, why hadn't she? It seemed like that would make things much simpler for her because she wouldn't have to worry about trying to bend his will.

"Love potions are messy business," Marlene said. "There are usually some nasty consequences, and after what happened to a friend...well, let's say I would never put someone I loved through that."

And yet you're willing to do this to me, JC thought immediately even though he had no idea how bad the consequences of the love potion had been. "What happened?" he asked.

"It was too strong. The guy was obsessed with my friend. She thought it was cute at first, but quickly became annoyed since he was at her side all hours of the day. When she rejected him, he didn't know how to live without her and killed himself."

"Why didn't she just reverse it?"

"Reversing spells or hexes is much harder than placing them. You have to remember what was said or put into the potion exactly and counter it with the right stuff," Marlene explained.

And it went without saying that her friend hadn't remembered how she'd done it. Obviously something had gone wrong with the way she'd done it anyway because JC was sure she hadn't meant to make the guy so obsessed with loving her that that was all he thought about. The thought of not having control of your own feelings and thoughts made JC shudder.

"I didn't want that to happen to you. I want you to love me in your own way." She gave him a meaningful look. "And you will."

JC felt a bit of anger rise up at that. He hated that she was so confident that he would do exactly what she wanted. "What makes you think you won't be caught before then?" he demanded.

"'Cause I have a spell in place that protects me from the police," she said simply. She then stared into his eyes. "They'll never find us."

"Maybe not here, but what happens when we leave?" JC asked, remembering the dream she'd given him where they lived in his LA house.

"You think they'll get me then?" Marlene laughed. "No one's reported you missing. As far as everyone knows, you're on vacation."

"My friends..." JC started, thinking that surely they would realize something was wrong eventually even if they'd believed that he was headed to LA.

Marlene cut him off and spoke almost like she knew what he was thinking. "Know nothing, and they never will. Will they, JC?"

The last part was said with that twisted smile because she knew how much his nightmares had been affecting him. She was counting on his need to protect them from her. And as much as JC may want to fight her forever, he knew he'd ultimately go along with what she wanted.

So he turned his head away from her and towards the window, refusing to admit anything out loud. Marlene laughed again and then suddenly she was right next to him, caressing his cheek.

"I'll be back to check on you in a bit. I need to go out for a bit."

JC said nothing as he continued to stare at the window. He couldn't see much from his bed. All he could really tell was that it was nearly dark.

Marlene kissed his cheek and walked out, leaving him alone yet again. He was stuck in a room where time seemed to stand still as the world outside the window moved forward. Suddenly, he gasped as the stabbing needle sharp pain returned to several of his muscles. It was going to be another long night.

**********

"Aren't you going to eat?"

Justin didn't even look up from the phonebook he was thumbing through as he answered Lance's question, "No."

Room service had arrived about ten minutes ago, just minutes after he and Chris had returned with Joey. The others had immediately dug in, but Justin wasn't interested. He'd grabbed the phonebook off one of the side tables next to the couch and began to go through the list of businesses hoping maybe something would jump out at him. But things seemed pretty bleak.

"Justin..."

There was that damn tone again. The same one he'd gotten at breakfast that morning when he'd said he wasn't hungry. Justin snapped, jerking his head up and glaring at the three of them sitting at the round table just off the living room.

"What?" he demanded. "What the hell gives you the right to get on my case? You're not my mother."

"You haven't eaten anything in a day and a half. I think that's a little alarming, don't you?" Lance said.

Justin shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

"Well, you should be."

"I feel like I'm getting an ulcer," Justin mumbled. It was a joke, but part of Justin wondered if it was possible. His stomach had been in knots ever since he'd played JC's message on the answering machine.

Lance narrowed his eyes. "That's not funny."

Justin opened his mouth to tell him to lay off, but Joey jumped in before he could. "Lance is right. You haven't eaten anything all day. You didn't even eat dinner last night." Joey sighed. "I know this is stressing you out, but it's bad enough JC's missing. We don't need you passing out on top of it."

"I'm not gonna pass out. I'm fine," Justin said.

"Curly, get your ass over here and eat your damn burger."

There was an unspoken "or else" with Chris's words, and his stern expression showed he meant business. With a heavy sigh, Justin slammed the phonebook shut and walked over to join the others at the kitchen table.

The four of them finished eating in silence, Justin managing to eat over half of his burger and a handful of fries before he pushed the plate away. He could tell they weren't happy he hadn't eaten everything, but it was better than nothing. And as soon as they were done, Justin lead them back to JC's hotel. He wanted to see if there was anyone new manning the desk that might've talked to JC.

They were about the enter the hotel and Chris said, "Let's hope that delightful guy isn't working tonight."

Joey and Lance chuckled lightly, but Justin completely agreed with Chris. He prayed that jerk wasn't there because they definitely wouldn't get anywhere and Justin may actually have to punch him. But as he opened the door, he nearly sighed in relief when he saw an older woman at the front desk. She wasn't the same as the first time they'd asked for JC's room number; she was much older than the one from before by probably twenty years. If anything, Justin would guess she was the owner.

"Can I help you, hon?" the woman asked, giving them a friendly smile as they approached. She reminded Justin of his grandma a bit.

"A friend of mine was staying here, and I think you might've given him some suggestions of places to go," Justin said.

"I could have. People are always asking what places are best around here." She paused. "What does your friend look like?"

Justin described JC and told her the day he'd probably checked in. Her brow was furrowed for a moment as she tried to remember, but then the lines in her face relaxed as she lit up.

"Oh yes. He was such a sweetheart."

"And did he ask for suggestions of places to see?" Justin asked.

She nodded. "I gave him a list of probably ten or so places, including the hottest nightclub in The Quarter." They all looked at her in surprise and her smile widened. "What? Just because I'm old doesn't mean I'm not with it."

Joey, Lance, and Chris laughed, and Justin felt a bit of the tension in his shoulders ease. His grandma was a lot like her.

"Can you give me the same list please?" Justin asked, his smile not feeling quite as forced as it had since they'd arrived.

She was already reaching for a pen and paper when she said, "Sure thing, sweetie."

After jotting down the places she'd mentioned to JC, she handed the piece of paper to him. Justin thanked her and was ready to walk out when she stopped him, asking if they would sign a picture for her granddaughter. They agreed and she placed the picture and a sharpie on the smooth granite desk.

Justin was the first to sign and he noticed immediately that JC's signature was already on there. He must've signed it for her that first night after she'd given him the list. In that moment, Justin wished he had the ability to get visions when he touched stuff like those psychics on TV. It would make this whole process much faster. But unfortunately, they had to make do with what they had.

After the others had autographed the picture, they walked outside and Justin paused in the middle of the sidewalk to go over the list.

"So where to?" Joey asked. He stepped up on Justin's left to look over his shoulder, while Chris and Lance were to his right.

"Well, me and you already hit this one," Justin said, pointing to the first thing on the list. Preservation Hall.

Lance jabbed at the fifth one from the top. A restaurant. "Joey and I were there earlier."

"What about the other place?" Justin looked at Joey. "I thought you said you went to a couple places."

Joey nodded. "The other one's not on this list."

"Great," Justin groused. It wasn't their fault, but it'd been wasted effort. They were running out of time so whatever they picked, they had to make it count.

Chris yanked the list out of his grasp and skimmed it. "There's a couple museums, but we can't check those out until morning." He suddenly sighed and wiped at his brow with his forearm.

Lance frowned at him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just kinda hot. It's a lot muggier here than home."

Lance didn't look that convinced, but Chris spoke again before he could. "Here, you and Joey go here," he said, pointing at the second thing on the list. "Me and J will take the next one down."

"We're gonna split up?" Joey asked, looking a bit concerned himself. "You think that's a good idea considering we're pretty sure Jace was kidnapped?"

"None of us are going to be alone. And we have a less chance of being recognized by the paparazzi if we split up. Four fifths of Nsync is way easier to spot than two," Chris said.

"Where are we meeting then? And when?" Lance asked.

"The next club on the list. We can't afford to waste anymore time," Justin said.

"There aren't any more clubs." Chris turned the piece of paper around so he could see. "Everything else on the list are restaurants and museums."

"We'll meet back at the house then," Lance said. "At two or earlier if we have no luck. But call if something happens."

Chris nodded once, his expression series. "You too."

Without any further discussion, they walked out to Bourbon Street before they split up. Justin had a decent idea of where he was going because he'd studied a map of The French Quarter while he ate, but they still managed to get turned around. He cursed letting Joey and Lance take the map.

Finally, they arrived at the club. Normally they would bypass the line and go in the VIP entrance, but that would automatically draw attention to them, which they were trying to avoid at all costs. So they wasted a half hour in line to get in the club, which annoyed Justin and made him that much more determined to make it worth their while.

Once inside the club, he and Chris grabbed a table so they'd have a place to meet after making the rounds. Because they'd be able to talk to more people and cover more ground faster if they split up.

The next two hours pass incredibly slow. It'd been hard to corner any of the staff long enough to ask about JC and then several girls refused to talk to him until he danced to a couple songs with them. He thought he'd seen a spark of recognition in their eyes, but no one had come right out and asked him who he was. Not yet anyway.

At the moment, Justin was talking to a young blonde girl. She was chattering away and Justin nodded distractedly as he fingered the bracelet the bouncer made him wear since he was underage. He could barely hear anything the girl was saying, but he was certain she wasn't saying anything he was interested in hearing.

Suddenly, there was a crash over by the bar and people crowded around. Justin pushed past the girl, barely muttering an "excuse me" as he went to see what was going on. As he got closer, he recognized the blue sneakers Chris had been wearing and cursed.

Justin hurried the rest of the way, pushing past the people crowded around. He'd just gotten to Chris's side and blinked in surprise when he saw Joey and Lance. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"We went to that place by the docks, but it was closed for a private party," Joey said.

"Shit." Justin ran a hand over his shaved head, wishing he had his curls to tug on. Today just kept getting better and better. "Did you see what happened to him?"

Joey shook his head. "We just got in here. That line was ridiculous."

Justin sighed, watching as Lance reached out to shake Chris and bring him back to consciousness. There was still a crowd of people around them, and a redhead girl who looked to be in her early thirties cleared her throat nervously.

Joey and Justin looked up at her and she said, "We were talking and he put a hand to his head like he was kind of dizzy. Then someone was trying to get by to get to the bar and he stepped back, only he stumbled and fell backwards. I tried to catch him, but it happened so fast..."

"It's okay," Joey assured, giving her a small smile. "Thanks."

There was a moan below them, and their eyes immediately went to their oldest friend. It seemed that he was coming around, thanks to Lance's prodding. Chris blinked a few times before he squinted up at them.

"What happened?" he asked, looking more out of it than Justin thought he would. It made his stomach clench with worry and a bit of fear.

"You okay?" Lance asked, ignoring Chris's question. They all wanted to know what happened, but this wasn't the place. Not when they were entertainment for a club full of people. "You think you can get up?"

Justin and Joey shifted so they could grab hold of Chris's arms and together, they slowly hauled him to his feet. As soon as he was standing, he swayed and leaned against Joey. Lance walked in front of them to clear a path and they all but dragged Chris out of the club, struggling with him being practically dead weight.

Getting out of the club was only half the battle though because as soon as they stepped outside, reporters were all over them. Justin groaned, not sure how they'd known where they were, but he suspected someone inside the club must've called someone. They made their way back to the house, reporters following them the whole way as they snapped a million pictures and shouted out questions. It made Justin's blood boil, but he bit his tongue.

Finally, after an agonizing fifteen minute walk, they reached the front door of their rented house. Lance held the door open for him and Joey to maneuver Chris through before he let it close loudly, turning the lock.

"Let's get him upstairs," Lance said.

Justin almost wanted to protest because his muscles were aching from practically carrying Chris through Bourbon Street, even with Joey's help. But he knew it would be better for Chris to be up there, so he and Joey carefully ascended the stairs with Chris between them.

It was several minutes before they finally had Chris settled in his bed, but lying on top of the covers since he was sweating. Lance put a hand to Chris's forehead and Chris didn't protest the action, which was pretty alarming. Chris hated when people pulled the mother hen act when he was sick and JC, being the one most prone to it, had often been subjected to Chris's anger before he learned leaving Chris be was for the best.

"He's got a fever," Lance confirmed, pulling his hand back.

"Chris, man, what happened?" Joey asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Chris groaned and shifted on the bed. "Dunno. Felt fine earlier. But then I got really hot and everything started to spin..."

That was basically all they got out of him before his eyes slid closed. Joey looked over at Lance. "You think he has food poisoning?"

"I don't know," Lance shook his head. "It would explain how he got sick so quickly, but we all basically had the same stuff for dinner."

Justin frowned. It was very strange. Chris had seemed fine earlier and then to be so bad so quickly...If this were a sci-fi movie, Justin would probably say he'd had a spell put on him or something. But that was just ridiculous. Stuff like that didn't exist, and even if it did, Chris hadn't been out of his sight all day. There was no way someone could've put one on him without Justin knowing about it.

"Someone should stay with him while the others go back to that club," Justin said. What happened to Chris was bad timing, but they couldn't waste this opportunity. There was a chance that someone in that club had a clue as to where JC was.

Lance nodded. "Good idea. You stay and me and Joey will-"

"No way," Justin interrupted. "I'm going."

"Justin," Lance sighed. "You should rest. If you keep pushing yourself like this, you could end up like Chris."

"You can't make me." Justin realized he sounded like a five year old, but he couldn't help it. He was tired of fighting with them about how he was handling this situation and how he took care of himself. The most important thing was finding JC and Justin wasn't going to rest until they did.

Lance looked at Joey for help, but Joey just held up his hands, wanting no parts of it. He didn't like getting in the middle, and Justin was thankful for it right then. Chris might've been able to force him, much like he had at dinner, but Chris wasn't awake to do so.

"C'mon, Joey," Justin said, grabbing onto Joey's arm and pulling him up from the bed. "We need to get back to that club before it gets much later."

"Be careful," Lance told them, giving them both a very serious look. He seemed to accept he wasn't going to win this.

They promised they would and would still be back by two at the latest. When they got back on the street it was less crowded, especially right around their building. But then, they were kind of on the outskirts of all the action of Bourbon Street.

As they walked down the sidewalk towards the club, Justin got a weird feeling. Like someone was watching them. He looked out of the corner of his eye, but saw no one. At least no one suspicious. He couldn't seem to shake the feeling though.

It persisted for a few more blocks. Justin had been continuing to glance at the side of buildings through his peripheral when he sensed more than saw it. Movement in the shadows. Just between two buildings.

Justin slowed his pace a bit, but continued heading towards the club. When they just passed the start of a gap between two small buildings, he suddenly spun around and reached out, latching onto something solid. He shoved the figure into the dark alley and up against the hard brick wall.

"Justin!" Joey exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"Who the hell are you?"

A car with a loud muffler drove by and sliver of light from the headlights filtered into the alley. The person Justin was holding against the wall was a man who looked around thirty with a camera hanging around his neck. Justin instantly cursed and released the man. He'd thought the person following them was the one who had taken JC, spying on them.

"You'll have to excuse him," Joey said, stepping forward like he was able to sense Justin had no idea what to do now. "He's been a little jumpy lately. Nightmares. You know how it goes."

"Are you kidding? He attacked me!" the man cried.

Justin rolled his eyes. "Please. I just pushed you."

"Yeah? Wanna see if the public believes that?"

"Well, you don't really have anything on tape, do you?" Joey said. "Besides that, stalking is illegal, isn't it?"

The man was silent for a minute, seeming to catch onto the thinly veiled threat. If the guy wanted to tell a story about Justin attacking him, they'd only be happy to return the favor by saying it wouldn't have happened if the guy hadn't been stalking them.

Finally, the guy said, "You celebrity types are all the same."

When he was gone, Joey rounded on Justin. "What the hell's wrong with you? You can't just go around jumping people like that."

"I know. It's not like I knew he was a reporter. I thought it was someone having to do with JC," Justin defended.

"What made you think that?" Joey asked, frowning.

Justin shrugged. "Just a feeling. It was creepy. Like we were being watched."

"We were. By a reporter." Joey sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, just be more careful next time, okay?"

Justin agreed and Joey led the way back out to the street, shaking his head and mumbling to himself, "Johnny's gonna have an anxiety attack."

Justin almost laughed at that. The press would definitely be a bitch to deal with when it was all over. But it wasn't, not yet.

As they walked away from the alley and into the crowds, Justin forced himself to shake off the feeling he was being watched. Joey was right; there were tons of reporters around watching them. That's all it had to be.

But Justin should've hung onto that suspicion because in the shadows just around the corner, someone smiled a twisted smile.