Chris reached into the cabinet to grab a glass, turned on the faucet, and filled the glass with cold tap water. He had excused himself from the room for a minute because he wanted to take some aspirin for his headache. It had started around the time Joey had arrived, and he knew that it was caused by the stress. Chris wanted to try to alleviate the pain in his head so he could be alert for whatever may happen when JC entered Lance’s mind. He had just swallowed the two aspirin that he had grabbed from the bathroom when Joey walked in.

“JC’s getting antsy,” Joey said.

Chris nodded. He knew that JC was probably feeling a mix of anxiousness and nervousness. “I’ll be right there.”

Chris watched as Joey turned around and walked a couple of steps before he turned around. Joey looked at him as he rubbed the back of his neck and asked, “Should I get Justin?”

“No. We’ll just fill him in later,” Chris said.

“Is he all right?” Joey asked.

“Yeah. I just think he’s still in shock,” Chris replied.

Joey nodded and his eyes wandered to the living room. Chris followed his gaze and saw that Joey was staring at the liquor cabinet that Lance kept next to the fireplace in the living room. He sighed softly; he should’ve seen this coming. Last time Joey’s drinking problem had stemmed from wanting to forget about the horrible things that had happened to them.

“I know what you’re thinking and it’s not a good idea,” Chris said.

Joey sighed in frustration. “Why not? I’ve been doing so well I think I deserve it.”

“You want to do it for the wrong reason though,” Chris replied.

“And what’s the right reason?” Joey crossed his arms as he waited for Chris’ answer.

Chris paused for a minute as he thought, but couldn’t come up with anything. Instead he asked, “Why do you want to drink anyway?”

Joey sighed as he dropped his arms to his sides. “Everything’s falling apart.”

“That’s no reason to drink,” Chris said, leaning back against the counter. He felt weird telling a grown man that he wasn’t allowed to drink, but knew that he couldn’t let Joey revert back to how he had been before.

“What? You guys are allowed to drink and I'm not?” Joey asked. “Seems kind of hypocritical of you.”

“We drink to be social. Not to drown our sorrows.” Chris narrowed his eyes slightly. A thing he normally did when he wanted to show that he meant business. “That isn't healthy.”

“I know, but it’s so hard. Everything that’s been happening with you guys. And then everything that’s been happening at home,” Joey replied.

“What do you mean?” Chris asked.

“Kelly and I have been fighting,” Joey admitted reluctantly.

Chris looked surprised. It wasn't often that Joey fought with anyone, so that had to mean it was about something big. “Why?”

“She hasn’t been too happy with me coming here the last few days, which I understand. We’ve been on tour for months, and it probably looks like I’m avoiding her.” Joey paused. “Kelly told me if I was leaving again that I wasn’t allowed back until I was ready to commit myself to her and Brianna.”

“Maybe she’d understand if you told her the truth,” Chris said.

“I've thought about it, but I don't want to get her involved with this demon stuff,” Joey replied.

“Guys!” They could hear JC yell before he showed up in the doorway of the kitchen. He looked at both of them questioningly. “Are you guys coming or do I have to do this without you?”

“We’re right behind you,” Chris said. He and Joey followed JC upstairs and into Lance's bedroom. The conversation between him and Joey would have to wait until later, but Chris wasn't worried. There would be enough to distract Joey from drinking. For now anyway.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Joey asked as JC sat down on the foot of Lance's bed.

JC took a deep breath before he nodded. “I'm sure.”

“How long do you think this is going to take?” Chris asked.

Joey raised an eyebrow at Chris and joked, “Why? You got a hot date?”

“Maybe.” Chris smiled coyly. He knew that Joey was stalling and couldn't help but play along because he wasn't exactly thrilled about what JC was going to do. If they stalled long enough, it might give JC cold feet and forget about getting into Lance's head.

“I'm not backing out of this, so you guys can quit it,” JC said, twisting his body around to look at them.

The smile fell from Chris' face. He nodded. “Fine. Whenever you're ready then.”

JC once again nodded and took a deep breath. He knew that he had to do this, but it didn't ease the apprehension he felt in the pit of his stomach. His eyes closed briefly as he gathered himself before they opened to focus on Lance. However, his concentration was broken when he heard Chris whisper to Joey.

“Do you think he's in yet?” he said.

JC rolled his eyes before he turned to shoot them a dirty look. “It's hard to concentrate when you're whispering.”

“How was I supposed to know whispering would break your concentration?” Chris paused before he added, “Besides, how are we supposed to know if it worked or not?”

“Yeah, it's not like we've really witnessed your connection before. You two keep that private,” Joey said.

“Just…” JC paused. “Keep quiet, all right? It'll be OK.”

“It better be,” Chris mumbled to himself. JC ignored him as he turned his attention back on Lance who was lying still on his back. He stared at him as he tried to picture himself in Lance's head. A few minutes passed and JC almost dropped his gaze to refocus and try again when a weird, tingling feeling washed over him.

JC looked around the room, not sure if the weird feeling he had meant that it had worked. He was still in Lance's bedroom, which led him to believe that it hadn't. That was until he turned around and didn't see Joey and Chris sitting behind him on the loveseat Lance had in his room.

Just then an alarm buzzed before Lance slowly rolled over and pressed a button that cut off the annoying sound, leaving JC's ears ringing. He watched as Lance rose from his bed before walking into the bathroom and the sound of running water pounding against the porcelain rolled into the bedroom. A few minutes later Lance exited the bathroom clad in only a towel before he went into his walk-in closet before emerging fully clothed. He barely paused as he picked up his keys from the dresser and walked out of the room. Immediately JC jumped up knowing that he had to follow Lance if he wanted to figure out what was going on.

He walked out of the bedroom and instead of finding himself on the landing at the top of the stairs, he found himself in the studio. The five of them were currently behind the thick glass with the big headphones over their ears as they sang into the microphones in front of them. The song they were singing was one that they had recorded over six months ago. JC sighed. While that had been a good day, he was a little confused as to why he was seeing this. Not that he knew what to expect, but this certainly hadn't been it. What the hell was going on?

JC continued to watch the scene play out in front of him exactly as it had happened that day. They had finished the song and began to roughhouse in the booth, gently shoving each other when Lance caught his foot in the stool and fell backwards. With no hesitation JC sprinted a few feet forward to try to catch him only to stumble when suddenly the surroundings had changed. He was no longer in the studio, but in the forest outside of the cabin where Katrina had tried to kill him.

He groaned and closed his eyes. This was the absolute last place JC wanted to be. It was bad enough having lived through it, but being forced to watch it was almost worse. However, he forced his eyes open. It was important to keep an eye on Lance because JC felt that while he seemed to be going through Lance's memories that somehow he would lead him to whatever it was that had caused him to try to commit suicide.

Thankfully he didn't have to watch much because he had come into the memory just as Lance had pushed him out of the way of the falling tree with it landing on his leg. It hurt JC just as much as it had originally to see Lance in pain. Pain that he had felt responsible for. He watched as Lance, who was grimacing in pain, and Katrina exchanged words about her wanting to heal him before Lance finally succumbed to it and lowered himself to the ground.

Katrina approached Lance and reached out a hand to heal him. JC closed his eyes, knowing what was coming. It was bad enough that he was going to hear Lance's bones popping back into place, but he didn't want to see it. There was a pop and JC opened his eyes, reminding himself that he needed to keep an eye on Lance. Only he got a surprise when he opened his eyes to find Lance standing in his bathroom instead of lying on the cold, wet, forest floor.

There was a rattling sound and JC's eyes were drawn to the bottle of aspirin in Lance's hand. He watched as Lance poured two into his palm before he threw them into his mouth and swallowed them dry. Once the pills were down, the cap was placed back on the aspirin bottle before it was set on the marble countertop of the sink. Lance paused as if considering something before he picked the medicine back up and popped the lid off.

As JC watched him down two more aspirin and place the bottle back on the sink, he couldn't help but feel confused. He had no idea what was going on and why Lance had taken more medicine when he had just taken some. It was almost as if he hadn't realized that he had taken the recommended dosage a minute before. This thought was confirmed when once again Lance grab the bottle off the sink and took two more pills. JC frowned as he watched in confused fascination as Lance mechanically went through the motions over and over again.

It was after the fifth time that Lance stumbled. JC reached out a hand as if he could steady his friend when Lance swayed on his feet before his head fell forward and crashed into the mirror. He tried to catch him, but his hands just passed right through him. Realization quickly hit him as remembered that he was witnessing memories of Lance's meaning that there was no way he could interfere. In a way it was almost like he was a ghost.

Lance didn't seem to be hurt though as he caught himself before he could fall. JC frowned as he watched him walk out of the bathroom. It didn't make sense to him that he could just walk out because that was not how the memory had happened. He had realized as he watched Lance consume all those pills that had to have been the way he'd tried to commit suicide. But that would mean that he would've fallen on the floor because that was how JC and Chris had found him after they heard the crash.

Confused JC shook his head, but refused to let Lance get out of his sight for long and hustled to catch up to him. He followed him out into the backyard and next to the pool. Just as JC arrived at the pool he felt a hand on his back before he was hit with icy water. As he struggled to swim to the surface, he tried to make sense of what happened. It was obvious that Lance had pushed him in because there had been no one else around, but then why couldn't he touch him before? His head spun thinking about how complex this was.

“Is he shivering?” Joey asked, his voice nudging Chris into full awareness.

“What?” Chris leaned forward and sure enough JC was shivering. “What the hell?”

“Why's he so cold? It's like eighty degrees outside,” Joey said. He got up and retrieved the blanket that was thrown over the loveseat they had been sitting on before he draped the object over JC's shoulders. But the quaking in his body didn't stop. Joey frowned and looked down. “He has goose bumps.”

Chris quickly rose from where he had been sitting and shook his head. “I don't like this. Something's got to be wrong. We need to snap him out of it.”

Chris snapped his fingers in front of JC's face, but to no avail. He moved onto shaking his shoulders, but ended up with the same reaction. Joey just watched as Chris tried to snap their friend back into reality. It seemed as if nothing was working, which unsettled him.

“I don't know if we can,” Joey said grimly, watching JC's body continue to shiver.

Finally JC reached the surface only to find that his surroundings had once again changed. He had expected to be in Lance's backyard that was surrounded by grass with patio furniture only ten feet away. Instead he was in the lake that he had nearly drowned in at the cabin. JC looked up and found that Lance was standing on the edge with his hand held out and a small smile offering to help him up. JC accepted the help and found himself dripping next to Lance on the grass.

He looked around to take in the woods that seemed like they were closing in on him. JC figured that must be because it was dark out, but he didn't even try to admit that it didn't freak him out. Figuring that he could ask Lance what was going on he turned his head to the left only to find that he had disappeared. JC frowned as he looked around only to jump when he heard deep, sinister laughter.

Frantically his eyes tried to scan the dark woods for a figure or movement, but he couldn't and sighed in frustration. The voice continued to laugh and it grated on his nerves because he couldn't tell which direction it was coming from as it seemed to constantly change locations.

“What the hell's so funny?” JC yelled. He was getting tired of this game and was more than a little freaked out now. “Where's Lance?”

“Around,” the voice said coolly.

“What did you do to him?” JC asked, his eyes still searching the woods for any sign of life. It was very unnerving having a voice talk to him without seeing the body it belonged to.

“I didn't do anything to him, but you did,” the voice replied. JC shivered. He didn't like the sound of that.

“What…what are you talking about? I didn't do anything!” JC shouted as he clenched his fists at his sides. How dare this person, thing, whatever, accuse him of hurting one of his best friends?

“Yes, you did. You got Lance to try to commit suicide,” the voice said.

“No!” JC yelled. “That was you!”

The voice let out its haunting laugh that bounced off the hundred year old trees. “I knew you were smarter than I gave you credit for.”

“Why?” JC asked. “What did he ever do to you?”

“Nothing. Wish I could say the same for you though.”

JC furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What?”

“Not so smart after all,” the voice said with amusement. “I used him to get to you.”

“Get to me?” JC repeated.

“I know how much your friends mean to you. I know how you look after all of them and feel responsible for their safety.” JC could almost feel the voice smirk. “I know how guilty you feel about all the bad things that have been happening to them, and you should. It is your fault.”

“Wh…what?” JC choked out. He whipped his head around in all directions wishing desperately that he could see this thing. It stung him because what the demon had said was true. Guilt was a common feeling for him lately.

“I never would've messed with Lance's head if it weren't for you. He was quite easy to manipulate once I weakened his defenses.”

“But why?”

“To hurt you. We figured it would affect you a lot more if we hurt your friends.”

“We?” JC said weakly. He wanted to sit down. This was becoming too much for him to handle.

“You didn't think I was the only one, did you?”

“Every…everything that's happened…”

“All because of you,” the demon finished. JC leaned over as he put his head in his hands. “I must tell you…I knew you were weak, but this is pathetic.”

“Why don't you just take me?” JC asked miserably as he lifted his head. He hated the fact that he was the cause behind all the bad things that they tried so hard to avoid and that still left lingering affects on all of them.

“Where would be the fun in that?” the demon replied. “Not that I could take you even if I wanted to. It's not my job.”

“You're not powerful enough.” JC crossed his arms trying to look tougher than he felt. “That's why you can't take me.”

“I'm plenty powerful,” the demon growled. A lightning bolt flashed in the distance before the sky opened up and a heavy rain began to fall. “You want me to have Lance finish the job this time? I can make him do it.”

“Don't you dare,” JC said as his voice cracked. He listened to the demon laugh.

“Maybe I should do it after all and put him out of his misery.”

JC stepped forward and threw his arms apart. “Take me! I'm what you want.” JC paused and took a breath to steel himself before he said, “Unless you're not strong enough to do it.”

The demon rose to the taunt and lightning struck a nearby tree down followed by a loud rumble of thunder. Just then the dark clouds that had been above JC came swooping down and suddenly everything shifted again so that he found himself back in Lance's bedroom. He barely had time to comprehend what had happened though because the dark clouds rolled out of Lance's right ear and headed right towards him.

JC wasted no time in jumping off the bed causing the blanket that had been around his shoulders to fall to the carpet floor. He continued to back up as the dark clouds continued to advance on him. As his back hit the wall, he tried to recoil into himself as the clouds formed itself into a thin, skeleton-like hand that was reaching out for him. The creepy hand swiped at him and connected with his shoulder causing the demon to vanish instantly.

JC sighed in relief as he slowly slid down the wall before his butt hit the firm but plush carpet. He could see Joey and Chris looking at him in shock out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't make eye contact with them. His heart was still racing and he wasn't in the mood to answer any questions about what had happened. Just as Chris opened his mouth to ask the first dreaded question that JC knew was coming, a moan came from the bed.

“Lance!” Joey exclaimed.

Immediately Joey and Chris rushed over to Lance's bedside. JC listened as Joey brushed the hair that had fallen limply on his forehead and coaxed Lance to come back to them. He knew that he should be over there too, but he couldn't bring himself to get off the floor just yet. His mind and body were still in shock and he needed to gather himself.

A minute later JC slowly pushed himself to his feet. It looked like Chris and Joey had everything under control and had their full attention on Lance, which allowed JC to get out of the room without either of them really noticing. He wanted to get to his room to be alone with his thoughts to reflect on everything that the demon had said. However, as he came out of Lance's bedroom he ran into Justin.

“How's he doing?” Justin asked as he nodded to the bedroom behind JC.

“Good. He's coming around I think,” JC said, looking down at the beige carpet as he rubbed the back of his neck to ease the building tension.

Justin squinted at him. “Are you OK?”

“Yeah, J, I'm fine.” A few seconds of awkward silence passed before JC move forward to step around Justin to get to his room only to be stopped when Justin put a hand on his arm.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Justin asked.

JC barely managed to suppress a sigh. He had no idea what Justin wanted to talk to him about and he didn’t really want to anyway, but Justin wouldn’t have come looking for him to talk if there wasn’t anything bothering him.

“My room?” JC asked.

Justin nodded and JC led the way to his bedroom. He sat on his bed and Justin sat next to him. The two of them sat in silence for a minute as JC gave Justin time to collect himself. After another minute passed JC grew tired of Justin not talking when he had been the one who had something to say.

“Are you going to talk or not?” JC snapped.

Justin shot him a surprised, hurt look before he admitted quietly, “I have something I need to tell you.”

“What?” JC asked softer this time. He felt bad for snapping at Justin, but he couldn’t help it when his thoughts were going a mile a minute. But the sooner this conversation was over the sooner he could give the whirlwind thoughts the attention they demanded.

Justin took a deep breath. “I uh…you remember when you and Chris went clubbing?” JC nodded and Justin continued, “Well, I sort of…passed out again.”

JC's eyes widened. “What!”

“There's more,” Justin said quietly.

“What else?” JC asked matching Justin's tone. He had a bad feeling that what Justin was about to say couldn’t be good. The demons words echoed in his head.

“I saw things again.” Justin looked down at the floor. “I saw…Lance commit suicide.”

JC swallowed so hard his Adam’s apple hurt. Now the demons words were screaming in his head. “Everything that’s happened is your fault.” He hadn’t wanted to believe it, but he knew that it was true. Even more with what Justin said.

“JC?” Justin’s voice brought him out of his thoughts and he realized he hadn’t said anything.

“This was before it happened?” JC asked already knowing the answer.

Justin nodded before he looked over at JC. “I heard a crash before I ran upstairs and saw Chris in the hall. Then I walked into the bathroom to find Lance on the floor with pills and glass around him.”

JC sighed heavily, the guilt weighing him down even more. He should’ve recognized something was wrong when he came back and discovered Justin had a headache. “Why didn't you tell me sooner?”

“I didn't know it was going to come true. I thought it was a nightmare.” Justin paused before adding, “I didn't want to worry you.”

JC sat in silence letting what Justin said sink in. His mind screamed that it was too late for that. The pit that had settled in his stomach after the demon vanished grew and threatened to engulf him as Justin’s confession cemented the idea JC had that the demons weren’t finished yet. Finally he shook his head and put a hand on Justin's shoulder. Despite his racing mind and feeling the pressure of everything he knew that Justin needed comforted.

“Next time tell me when something like this happens.”

Justin nodded and said, “There's got to be a reason I saw that before it happened, right?”

“I'll look into it, Justin,” JC promised. Briefly he rubbed his aching head before letting his arm fall back onto his lap.

“Thanks,” Justin said. He titled his head to the side as he looked at JC again. “Are you sure you're all right?”

“I'm fine. Just a little tired. It's been a long day,” JC assured. Justin didn’t need to know what he had learned. None of them did. It was easier to keep it to himself and convince them that there was nothing wrong.

Justin stood up from the bed. “Good night then.” He looked at JC once more before he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.