Justin rubbed at his eyes tiredly. It was early morning - so early that the sun was just starting its slow rise over the horizon. He and Joey got back from the club after two, unsuccessful in finding someone who'd spotted JC. To make matters worse, they'd been pestered by paparazzi the rest of the night, making it difficult to even talk to anyone. Justin could only imagine the phone calls Johnny would be getting.

But they had more pressing problems at the moment. Chris wasn't any better and was asleep when they'd returned, and Lance seemed content to just wait it out. Something that made it that much easier for him to suggest they all get some sleep. Justin had wanted to protest, but it'd been quickly pointed out to him that they couldn't do anything else since all the places on the list were now closed.

So they'd all gone to bed, Justin knowing there was no way he was going to win that argument. Once he'd laid down, he was surprised how quickly sleep came over him. He'd known he was tired, but he hadn't known just how much until he'd finally stopped and was allowing his body to rest. His mind had other plans though.

He'd been asleep for about an hour when he'd startled awake from a nightmare, his heart racing. It'd centered around JC, and he'd been in trouble. In the dream, things had started pretty normal. He and JC had been messing around on a catwalk for the stage when JC lost his footing, just managing to grab onto the metal structure. His grip had been weak and he'd looked terrified as he'd begged for Justin's help. Justin had tried to pull JC up, but his hands hadn't been able to get a good hold, like they'd been greased. As a result, JC's hand had slipped from his and he fell. It was just as JC's body hit the seating area below that Justin had jerked awake.

After the nightmare, Justin had lied in bed for over an hour, fearful of waking anyone if he got up. He especially hadn't wanted to wake Lance because he would give him the most grief about not trying to go back to sleep. But after that nightmare, there was no way he could. Not when he could still practically hear JC's pleading voice in his head.

Finally, Justin had grown tired of lying there and had decided to risk it. That was when he'd come downstairs and put on a pot of coffee. He wasn't usually much of a coffee person, but his body was definitely dragging now. He'd need to pump himself full of as much caffeine as possible to keep his body going because he was determined to find JC, not wanting to fail his friend like in his dream.

The coffee tasted terrible, but it'd done its job...at least for a while. As Justin sat in the recliner in the living room, he felt his eyelids growing heavy. He tried to fight it, but he was definitely losing steam. Before he knew it, he'd dozed off.

It felt like a second later that Justin's shoulder was being shaken. He jumped awake, JC's tortured screams ringing in his ears. After several blinks and rubbing at his eyes, he was able to make out Lance standing next to him looking concerned.

"You okay?" Lance asked.

Justin glanced at the small clock on the wall and saw that it was nearly six-thirty. He'd dozed for about forty-five minutes. Still, it was pretty early.

"What are you doing up?"

Lance just gave him a look. "Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Couldn't sleep," Justin mumbled, running a hand tiredly over his face. Lance's frowned deeply, but Justin changed the subject before he could say anything. "How's Chris?"

Lance sighed. "Not good. I think he's gotten worse."

"Worse how?"

"His fever for one. His skin was pretty warm when I felt his forehead just before coming down, and he didn't even flinch as I checking him over."

It was Justin's turn to frown. Chris wasn't a light sleeper by any sense of the word, except for when he was sick. He hated being touched and bothered, usually resulting in him locking himself in his room for a couple days.

"What else?" Justin asked.

"He hasn't puked," Lance said. "Normally, that's a good thing. But it's a huge indicator of food poisoning."

"So you don't think it's that anymore?" None of them had necessarily believed it was food poisoning, but there wasn't much else to explain how sudden Chris had become sick.

Lance nodded. "It doesn't seem likely. But then, I don't know how he came down with it so suddenly. Because even if it was just the flu, there are usually symptoms days before."

"So what now?" Justin asked.

"I want to get him checked out. Just to make sure it's nothing too serious."

Justin raised an eyebrow. "You sure that's a good idea?"

Lance's eyes narrowed. "Nothing opens until at least nine so we have time."

"I meant, do you think it's a good idea considering we're being watched by the paps. Geez," Justin said, feeling a bit offended at Lance's insinuation that he didn't care about Chris. He had a feeling they would need all four of them in order to get JC back, which wasn't really looking like much of a possibility at the moment.

Lance was silent for a moment before he offered to make breakfast - an apology of sorts. Because of the early hour, they weren't able to call a doctor until at least eight since it wasn't an emergency. That gave Lance plenty of time to make some scrambled eggs and bacon and put on a new pot of coffee, claiming that what Justin had made was terrible. He'd just finished cooking when Joey came down and joined them.

Justin ate much less than Joey and Lance and did his best to avoid the looks they kept giving him. He couldn't help that he didn't have much of an appetite. They finished eating and finally at eight o'clock they found a doctor out of the phonebook that would do a house call since Chris didn't seem in good enough shape to make it to a clinic.

The doctor showed up at eight-thirty and thought Justin was the one he'd been called to see. Lance corrected him that it was their other friend they'd called about, but he hadn't objected to the doctor looking Justin over anyway. Justin had protested, but it'd been wasted effort.

After the doctor had finished examining him, he declared that Justin was suffering from exhaustion and a mild case of dehydration. The doctor advised him to get some rest and replenish his fluids, but Justin had no plans of doing any such thing. He could rest once JC was back and safe.

They led the doctor to the bedroom Chris and Lance had been sharing and were able to rouse Chris enough to get him to sit up so the doctor could examine him. Chris looked at them with bleary eyes and tried to ask some questions, but the doctor hushed him each time he spoke. It annoyed Chris, but not nearly as much as it would have normally. He didn't seem to be able to summon enough energy to be as resisting as he usually would.

"You definitely seem to have a bug," the doctor told Chris as he finally pulled away, straightening his back.

"But it came on pretty sudden. You sure it's not anything worse?" Lance asked.

Joey nudged Lance. "Dude, I think he's sure. He's the expert."

The doctor gave a short laugh before turning his gaze on Lance. "It was a bit sudden, but from what I can tell, you all have been neglecting yourselves. That's enough for you to catch something suddenly, even when it's not the start of cold and flu season."

"Well, thanks for coming out and putting our minds at ease," Lance said.

"Not a problem," the doctor said. He then looked at them seriously. "I recommend you all get some rest."

Lance thanked the doctor again and showed him out, all the while Justin was thinking there was no way in hell they'd be resting. They all knew that wasn't an option with JC missing and held by someone that surely didn't want anything good. It wasn't a typical kidnapping though since they hadn't been contacted for ransom. Hell, the only contact they'd had was from JC himself telling them he was leaving town and they should do the same. But if the kidnapper didn't want money, Justin had no idea what they were expecting to get from JC.

"What time is it?" Chris asked from the bed, his voice quivering slightly.

Joey glanced at his large wristwatch. "Just after nine."

"Well, what are we still doing here? We should get going."

"I don't think you should be going anywhere," Lance said, coming back into the room then. "You heard what the doctor said. You should rest."

Chris snorted. "Yeah, okay. He also said all of us should rest, but that's not going to happen, is it?"

"Justin should rest with you."

Justin glared at Lance as he said, "But he's not going to. He's going to find JC."

"And I'm coming," Chris said, already getting out of bed, albeit slowly. He seemed a little shaky on his feet, still looking pretty weak, but he managed to stay on his feet. And if the determined look on his face was any indication, it would stay that way.

Lance stepped forward and put a hand on Chris's chest. "Chris, no. This is a bad idea for so many reasons."

"Name one."

"The paparazzi. Don't you think we've had enough problems with them already?"

Chris shrugged tiredly. "Can it really get any worse?"

"Yes!" Lance said, pretty exasperated.

"Well, so what?" Justin cut in. "Isn't it worth it to get JC back?"

Lance had no argument to that because of course he wanted JC back - they all did. And they would do whatever they had to in order to make that happen. Still, Justin could tell he was trying to keep things from getting worse, especially since Chris was pretty sick. But he didn't want to stay behind and honestly, Justin couldn't blame him. To hell with the paparazzi. The only way they'd get to JC was by figuring out what happened together.

"Just let it go, Lance," Joey advised. "I don't think you're going to win this one."

Lance sighed, but gave in. The four of them slowly made their way to the nearest museum that'd been listed by the woman at JC's hotel. It was still fairly early so there wasn't a ton of people, but Lance's eyes roamed the streets, presumably looking for reporters. Justin, on the other hand, was too busy helping Joey keep Chris upright. The further they walked down the street, the more Justin was beginning to think Lance had been right - that Chris should have stayed back at the house to rest because he clearly wasn't strong enough for this. If anything, he seemed to be growing even weaker.

They'd walked several blocks before Joey stopped, forcing them to stop too. "We're taking a break for a minute."

"I'm fine," Chris protested weakly.

"Well, I'm not," Joey said. "Lugging your ass around is hard work."

Justin had to agree. It hadn't been bad at first, but Chris's energy seemed to be quickly zapped, which left him and Joey to take on a lot of Chris's weight. He leaned back against a brick wall of a small shop, taking advantage of the short break even though he didn't want to stop for anything. It was getting harder to summon the energy he needed to keep going at the same intensity as he had when they'd first arrived.

There was a jingle to Justin's left, and a woman stepped out. "Come inside," she said.

Justin was a little startled at first, not thinking she was talking to them. But then he said, "Thanks, but we're not interested in buying anything."

The woman sighed in annoyance. "Get inside quick. Before those nosy reporters spot you."

Justin was about to ask what she was talking about when Lance hit his arm and pointed down the street. There were at least three reporters a couple blocks away and it looked like they were heading this way. Somehow they'd managed to avoid them since they'd left the house, and he knew Lance wanted to keep it that way, especially considering how bad Chris must look.

Lance led the way into the shop, and Justin let go of Chris, knowing the three of them wouldn't be able to make it through the narrow doorway at the same time. Joey took on most of the Chris's weight and managed to maneuver them inside. As Justin followed, he caught sight of the shop's sign. Madam Silvia's.

The shop had a strange aroma, but it wasn't unpleasant. There were a lot of strange things on the shelves - things Justin couldn't remember ever seeing before. But off to the side in the far corner, there was a small table with a crystal ball sitting on top of it. Justin rolled his eyes, wondering just who actually got their fortune told and believed it.

Behind him, the bell jingled as the woman came inside. She locked the door and flipped the sign to closed before drawing the shades. It should've made him uncomfortable, but for some reason it didn't.

Justin turned to face her and said, "You must be Madam Silvia."

"Yes, but just Silvia will do," she said, smiling kindly at them. She looked to be around fifty, her red hair graying. She was wearing a long sleeved white blouse and a flowing skirt that nearly touched the floor.

"What do you want from us?" Joey asked, looking at her a bit warily.

"Nothing. I want to help." She gestured to Chris, who was heavily leaning against Joey, his eyes mere slits as he fought to keep himself upright and conscious. "I can help your friend."

"How?" Lance asked.

"I can counter the curse that's been put on him."

"Curse?" Chris repeated. "Who the hell are you?"

The question would've been said with much more anger and intimidation, but Chris seemed to be lacking the energy to put any real emotion behind what he said. Still, Silvia didn't seem at all offended by the question.

"I'm an oracle. But more important, I'm someone that can help."

Lance and Joey looked over at Justin, and he was a little taken aback by it. "What?" Justin demanded.

"What do you think?" Lance asked.

What they were really asking was whether or not they should trust her. Justin had been the one leading them all around town and going off hunches he got, so they were obviously hoping he'd have a feeling about what they should do. It was risky, but Justin didn't feel threatened by her. He just hoped he wouldn't regret this.

"I think we should let her try," he said finally. "We'd be much better off with Chris at full strength."

Silvia had moved over to a shelf and was grabbing various things. She glanced at them, though her eyes lingered on Justin. "The same could be said about you."

"What? What does that mean?" Justin frowned.

"It means sit down before you fall down."

Joey laughed from the corner of the room where he lowered Chris into one of the chairs at the table with the crystal ball. "I like her."

Justin wanted to protest, but Lance ushered him to the seat opposite Chris and forced him to sit down. Silvia came over carrying a candle that looked to be black except that the red was visible beneath the black wax. She placed it on the table along with a bottle of oil and a small dagger.

Chris eyed the weapon warily. "What's that for?"

"I just need to prick your finger. The counter won't work unless it has part of you and the curse attached to the candle," Silvia explained. She smiled at him reassuringly. "Don't worry. It'll barely hurt."

"Let's just get it over with," Chris mumbled, looking like he could fall asleep any second.

Silvia picked up the dagger and gently grabbed a hold of Chris's hand before barely pressing the tip of the blade into one his fingers. Once there was blood on the blade, she carved "Chris's enemy" into the candle and then rubbed the oil over the candle.

"The oil is Uncrossing Oil," she explained as she worked. "It's used specifically in reversing curses. It'll also help the candle burn faster because once the candle has burnt out, the curse should be over."

"And how long will that take?" Justin asked.

She lit the candle and looked at them. "About two hours."

Joey blinked. "Wow. And Chris will be back to normal? Healthy I mean because God knows he's not anywhere close to normal."

Chris reached out and weakly pinched Joey, making him jump and rub at the inflicted area. Silvia smiled at them. "He'll be close. This is an easy solution, but it's not a permanent one. It'll rebound most of the curse, but it can't take it all away. Whoever cast it in the first place will have to remove the rest of it."

"You keep saying curse. You mean Chris is sick because of some curse?" Lance asked.

"A voodoo curse, yes." Silvia nodded. "Probably put on him in the last twelve hours or so."

"But we didn't run into anyone. We spent most of yesterday in jail," Justin said. When Chris had first gotten sick Justin had almost thought a spell had been put on him, but he'd dismissed it for the very reason he just vocalized. Plus, it'd sounded so ridiculous. But now it seemed less ridiculous.

Silvia was quiet for a moment. "It was probably goofer dust then. All he'd have to do is walk over it."

"The powder on the front step," Chris said with a spark of recognition. "I thought it'd seemed kind of weird, but I didn't really step over it. I brushed it off the edge with my sneaker."

"That was enough." She glanced at Joey and Justin. "But what you did saved them from suffering the same way you are."

Joey clapped Chris on the shoulder and Justin nodded at him. Chris might not have known what he'd been doing in the moment, but they were lucky he'd kicked it aside. If all three of them had gotten sick, Justin wasn't sure what they'd have done.

"Whoever took your friend was obviously anticipating taking you down."

They all glanced at each other. "How do you know about JC?" Lance asked.

"Because I saw it," she said simply.

"You saw it? But why didn't you report it?"

She shook her head. "You misunderstood me. I didn't see it happen. I've been receiving flashes of him in my dreams. Images of the future. Visions, if you will."

"Do you know who took him?" Justin asked, sitting on the edge of his chair. This was the closest they'd been yet.

"No, but I've had an image that keeps appearing. It must be some kind of clue."

Justin leaned forward. He was almost in danger of falling off his chair. "What is it?"

"A flower. Lilac." She glanced at each of them. "Does that mean anything to you?"

Justin shook his head, disappointed. He'd hoped it was something bigger - something that would lead them to JC.

"Well, it has to be a girl, right?" Lance said.

Chris snorted. "Figures Jace would attract a psycho woman."

Justin looked at his oldest friend, noticing that even though it hadn't been very long, his coloring had already gotten better. He'd been pretty pasty before, but now he had some rosy color to his cheeks. He was also sitting up a little straighter; he still looked tired but not nearly as exhausted as he had before.

"So what do we do now?" Joey asked.

"You could invoke the help of Marie Laveau," Silvia said.

"Who is she?" Lance asked.

"The best voodoo queen New Orleans has ever seen."

Joey leaned against the wall from where he was standing behind Chris's chair. "Why would we go to her? We don't want to make things worse getting more voodoo involved."

"Voodoo has gotten a bad reputation from Hollywood movies, but voodoo is first and foremost a religion. The spell work is typically used for good, like curing ailments. But there are a few people that twist the spells for evil and their own personal gain," she explained.

"And this Marie Laveau was one of the good guys?" Justin asked.

Silvia nodded. "She was a very powerful oracle who was known for helping the less fortunate."

"Was?" Chris repeated. "What happened? Did she die?"

"Yes, some time ago. In the year 1881 I believe."

Justin frowned. "How are we supposed to get help from someone who's dead?"

"You go to her grave and ask her," she said. "But you should take a pound cake for Saint Expedite who's across the street from her. He'll help ensure the favors Marie Laveau bestows on you happen quicker."

Justin glanced at the others. "Well, we should get over there then."

He was about to stand, but Silvia's hand on his shoulder stilled him. She didn't look at him though as she said, "Christopher shouldn't leave. We need to wait for the candle to burn out to make sure there were no side effects and that it did indeed work."

"That's fine. Lance and I will go," Justin said. He moved to stand up again, but Silvia wouldn't remove her hand from his shoulder and let him.

"How about some tea first?" she suggested. Justin was about to protest, but she added, "It has energizing qualities, and you'll need all energy you can get. You're practically dead on your feet as it is."

Justin didn't want to admit how terrible he felt, but he couldn't deny it was true. He didn't want to waste time - it'd pretty much become a mantra in his head since they'd arrived in New Orleans. But at the same time, it might be worth it to take a few minutes to drink some tea if it was going to help him in the long run.

"Okay," Justin finally relented.

Silvia invited them to follow her upstairs to her apartment and told them to take a seat the kitchen table as she went about making the tea. Just five minutes later, they all had steaming mugs in front of them. And it took about the same amount of time for Justin to realize that something wasn't right. His eyes were drooping and everything seemed hazy.

"What the hell?" he murmured.

Silvia came over to him and put a gentle hand on his back. "I'm sorry, hon. You boys can't expect to save your friend with how exhausted you all are, especially you. A few hours of sleep will do you good."

Justin shook his head, but he couldn't fight the pull of the drug induced sleep. The last thought he had was that they had to get to JC before something worse happened to him.

He didn't know how right that was.

**********

JC woke up screaming, coming out of yet another terrifying nightmare. He panted heavily and shifted uncomfortably on the bed. The stabbing pain in his muscles had disappeared earlier that morning only to be replaced with a rash that was quickly spreading over his body. The itching was already driving him crazy, and he was hot again with a fever, but at least it seemed to be a normal one. No doubt brought on by the mysterious rash.

"You need to accept what you're seeing. I'll take the nightmares away when you do."

Marlene wasn't next to him like she'd been the last few times he'd woken from nightmares but on the other side of the room, sitting in a desk chair. She was watching him with those intense hazel eyes, and JC unconsciously shivered. He hated that she came in while he was sleeping, trapped in a continuous loop of nightmares.

"Stop watching me," JC growled. He felt the anger rise up and was unable to control it. He was tired of being scared of her and was more than willing to express his anger.

Marlene's eyes narrowed. "You don't tell me what to do."

"But you get to tell me what to do, right?" JC snorted. "That's bullshit. You can't make me do anything."

"No?" Marlene raised an eyebrow. "I'd rethink that if I were you. I can make you do anything I want."

"But you don't. You're just using that as a threat so I'll agree to what you want, but I have news for you. I'll never accept that we're supposed to be together because it's not true."

Marlene got to her feet and slowly walked towards him. "You think I'm just bluffing? Maybe we should test that out. Are you forgetting my encounter with Joey yesterday?"

"You won't do anything to him. You can't. He's not even in New Orleans anymore," JC said. The fear he felt earlier when she'd threatened to hurt the guys was gone. It almost felt like he was outside of himself because he hadn't felt much beyond fear for the last couple days.

"You think that matters? All I need is something of his, like some of his hair. Just a little something for me to work a spell or create a voodoo doll, and you better believe he'd feel it wherever he is."

"You're not going to do anything," JC said, feeling more confident than he had in a long time. "Because if you did, you know I'd absolutely refuse to be with you."

Marlene stopped next to the dresser where various things she used for her spell work was. "You really want to bank on that? You could be wrong."

JC shook his head, clearing his throat. His voice was hoarse from all the screaming over the last couple days. "I'm not. If anyone's wrong here, it's you. You're not going to have me the way you want."

"I already have you the way I want. Everything else will come in time, your love will come in time," Marlene said.

"That's where you're wrong. You honestly think the second this spell's over and you untie me that I won't just kill myself?"

"No because you wouldn't want to live without your friends and family," Marlene said.

"I'm not going to live with them anyway. I'll be completely isolated from them. The life you keep feeding me in these screwed up dreams isn't one I want. Why wouldn't I kill myself?"

Marlene stared at him with cold eyes. "Because I have the power to make you do whatever I say. Or don't do something. You think I won't take precautions against that?"

JC heard what she said, but the words didn't seem to register. He felt empowered from finally challenging her and now he was on a roll. He continued even though a small voice in his head screamed at him to stop.

"I don't know you'd think I'd ever love you anyway. How could I love someone who had to kidnap and torture a guy to get him to be her boyfriend? That's just pathetic."

As soon as the words left his lips, JC wished he could take them back. He'd gone too far, and the wrathful look on Marlene's face wiped away all his anger and left him feeling extremely nervous. Something bad was about to happen. He could feel it.

"You just made a huge mistake," she said, her voice quiet but there was no denying the anger in it. "You forgot just what my spells and voodoo can do, and you're gonna pay for it."

JC wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he didn't have to wait long. His stomach dropped as he watched Marlene mess with her voodoo tools on the dresser. Panic began to wash over him as she lit another black candle, and he was afraid she would return him to that eternal, unbearable heat he'd suffered through the first day.

"Marlene, wait. Please, I'm sorry," JC said.

But Marlene ignored him. She tipped the candle and let it drip onto another cutout of him. As she did this, she recited:

Wax, wax drops on your lips
Sealing tight, your voice doesn't exist

JC had been in the middle of saying her name again when she'd blown out the candle and an invisible force closed his lips, cutting him off. He tried to open his mouth, feeling his jaw move, but his lips remained closed. Almost like they'd been glued shut.

A scream rose up in his throat, but it had no way out and was just muffled behind his closed lips. His eyes were wide and his heart raced as he stared at her in horror, watching as she came closer. When she was next to him, she reached out and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look her in the eye.

"You made things worse for yourself, but I'm letting you off easy. Don't want to damage my boyfriend." She pressed a kiss against his lips. "But now this is only a hint of what I could do. Not only to you but everyone you care about. You might want to think about that before you try speaking to me like that again."

Marlene pulled away and crossed the room, stopping to look back at him just before the door. "Not that you'll speaking much for a while," she said with a wicked gleam in her eye and laughed.

She left him alone and he deflated, any fight remaining dying out immediately. What he'd done had been stupid, but he hadn't been able to help himself. He'd been hanging onto what he'd been feeling for too long and couldn't take it anymore - he'd just snapped. But with a scary cost.

It wasn't permanent because if it was, he'd never be able to eat again and like she kept saying, she didn't want to kill him. It was just meant to teach him a lesson, but it did more than that. It killed any bit of hope left in him that he'd find a way out of this mess. A tear ran down his cheek as he resigned himself to that fact.

JC was doomed to spend his life with her. Doing whatever she wanted. Forever.