JC rinsed his mouth before he spit out the toothpaste. He ran his toothbrush under the water one more time, turned the faucet off, and put his toothbrush back in the medicine cabinet. Turning the light off was the last thing he did before he walked into his bedroom and pulled the covers back on his bed to slide beneath them. A few minutes passed of him lying in bed before he sighed in frustration. He couldn’t sleep.

JC knew that it was important for him to get a good night’s sleep in order to keep an eye on Justin, but too many thoughts kept him from drifting off. JC still couldn’t shake the feeling that Justin was having his nightmares for a reason, especially now that it had changed so dramatically. And if his concerns for Justin weren’t stressful enough, Lance was starting to worry him as well.

Lately whenever JC spoke to Lance telepathically, a cold, icy feeling washed over him. He wondered if Lance being sick had something to do with it, but that didn’t make much sense to JC. He doubted that Lance was even aware. He sighed again and was about to roll over when Chris walked into his room.

“C’mon,” Chris whispered.

“Where are we going?” JC asked as he got out of bed.

“Downstairs. Group meeting,” Chris answered. JC followed Chris downstairs into the living room where he found Lance and Joey already sitting on the couch. Chris took the remaining seat on the couch, so JC sat on the loveseat.

“I’m guess this group meeting is about Justin since he’s not here,” JC said once he noticed that Justin wasn’t among them. He wasn’t really surprised. He could tell that Chris had wanted to talk more yesterday, but Lance had left the room causing the conversation to end.

“We need to figure out what we’re going to do about him and his nightmares,” Lance replied.

“What can we do about them?” Joey asked. “It’s not like we can make them stop or anything.”

“We can make him see someone,” Chris said.

“You mean like a psychologist?” Joey asked.

“Yeah. It’s obvious talking to JC didn’t help,” Chris said. “A professional will be able to get to the root of the problem.”

“I didn’t see you try to do anything,” JC muttered.

“We didn’t get the chance because you didn’t tell us,” Chris shot back.

“You should’ve noticed without me having to tell you. Because this isn’t the first time this has happened, is it?” JC fired back at him. Joey saw Chris open his mouth to reply, but he jumped in.

“Guys, cool it.” He looked at Chris and then Lance. “You think sending him to therapy will help?”

“It’s worth a try,” Lance said.

JC shook his head. “No, it’s not. Therapy isn’t going to help him.”

“Then do you think we should do?” Chris asked.

JC paused as he tried to come up with some other option that he could lay out there, but he came up with nothing. “I don’t know.”

“Then this is what we’re going to do,” Chris replied. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing to resolve this.”

“I know, but this isn’t going to work,” JC repeated.

“What other options do we have?” Joey asked.

“I don’t know,” JC admitted softly as he lowered his eyes to the carpet and shook his head.

“I’ll set up an appointment with a guy I went to college with,” Chris said.

“He won’t go,” JC said knowingly. He knew that now wasn’t the time to tell them about the feeling he’s been having that something is going on because he didn’t have an explanation that he knew they would be expecting. It seemed that they were willing to send Justin to see a psychologist. JC felt he owed it to Justin to do everything he could to get him out of it because he knew that Justin didn’t need it and he had promised Justin he would try to figure out why he was having his nightmares. “He won’t go willing.”

“Maybe he will if someone goes with him.” JC heard Lance’s thought coming in his head and looked at him in surprise. He sent a thought back to him. “What do you mean by that?” 

“I didn’t mean for you to hear that,” Lance said. 

“What do you mean you didn’t mean for me to hear that?” JC asked. “You looked at me as you said it.” 

Lance sighed. “I just meant that he might go if someone else went with him.” 

“No.” JC shook his head. “You meant that I need therapy.” 

“It couldn’t hurt,” Lance said after hesitating for a few seconds. 

“Why? I’m over it,” JC said. 

“I don’t think so.” Lance shook his head. “You’re up late at night. You’re tense…”

“I’m not!” JC denied. He shivered as he felt the cold seep into his bones. It felt like he was out in a snowstorm in danger of frostbite.

“Yes you are! You’re obviously still bothered by your nightmares. It would do you good to see someone,” Lance said.

JC shivered again. “Shut up!” he yelled as he stood up. He glanced around the room briefly before he swiftly left the room and went out into the hall.

He sighed as he leaned against the wall. He knew he shouldn’t have snapped like that, but he couldn’t handle that chilling feeling anymore. It was unpleasant and creepy the way it affected him so much.

“Are you all right, Jace?”

JC turned around to see Joey standing behind him. “I can’t handle him being in my head anymore.”

“You were talking to Lance back there?” Joey asked as he came to the realization.

“Sometimes I wish we didn’t have this stupid connection,” JC said.

“Why?” Joey asked.

“I’m never alone with my thoughts because he’s always there. Even if he doesn’t say anything to me I know he could easily get to whatever it is that I’m thinking and I hate that,” JC ranted.

“Does he know you feel this way?”

“No.” JC shook his head. “What could he do about it? It’s not like he could just turn it off.”

Silence filled the hall for a minute before Joey asked, “So what did you and Lance talk about?”

JC hesitated before he said, “He wants me to see someone with Justin.”

“And you don’t want to,” Joey said matter-of-factly.

“I don’t need to and neither does Justin. It wouldn’t help him,” JC replied.

“Why are you so adamant to keep him from seeing a psychologist?” Joey asked.

“It’s not something that can be solved through therapy. It’s bigger than that.”

“What do you mean, C?”

JC paused. He knew that Joey probably wouldn’t believe him. “It’s this feeling I have.”

“What kind of a feeling?”

“That this has to do with what we dealt with before,” JC said. Joey gave him a baffled look, expectantly waiting for more explanation. JC continued, “I…this might have something to do with the demons.”

“What?” Joey looked at JC in surprise and then shook his head. “That’s crazy, JC. It’s been two months and nothing’s happened.”

“That’s what we thought before. A year passed, but that didn’t stop that night from happening. It’s going to happen again, Joe. I can feel it,” JC said.

An awkward silence passed between them, until Joey replied, shaking his head, “Lance is right, man. You do need therapy.”

JC’s body tensed and his face turned a shade of red before he punched the wall. He glared at Joey before he went upstairs to his bedroom.

Joey walked out the front door with his duffle bag. He had taken a shower and changed an hour before. He had called Kelly last night after dinner and told her that he would be home sometime after he woke up. After unlocking the trunk, he threw his duffle bag in, and looked up to find Justin standing there.

“You’re sick of us already?” Justin asked.

“Yeah. You guys are a handful.” Joey laughed.

“Who? Me?” Justin put on his best innocent face before he burst out laughing a second later. “Seriously, this was a short visit.”

“I know.” Joey sighed. “I promised Kelly I would be home ASAP. Besides, there’s not much I can do….”

“I’m sorry they called you. It wasn’t a big deal,” Justin said.

“They had every right to. Chris told me how you reacted to your nightmare. I would have freaked if I had seen it too,” Joey replied.

“It’s not a big deal,” Justin repeated.

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” Joey asked. He thought back to what JC had said about Justin’s nightmares being related to the demons and wondered how much of his insane theory he had shared with Justin. Either way, Joey had to admit that he would be scared too if he was in Justin’s shoes.

There was silence for a minute before Justin asked, “Can I go with you?”

“Why?” Joey asked looking surprised at the sudden question.

“I’m going crazy being in the house. I need to get out,” Justin complained.

“Why don’t you ask one of the other guys to take you out?”

“Because Lance is sick, Chris is on the phone, and JC is…JC. Please, Joey.” Justin looked at Joey hopefully.

“I don’t know, J. I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Joey said, shaking his head.

“Why not?” Justin asked. “Dude, I’m fine. I can go out and…”

Joey quickly cut in and replied, “I need to get home to Kelly. She’s not too happy with me right now.”

“Why? What happened?”

“She’s been riding me about my drinking. If I even look at a beer, she gets all pissy,” Joey explained. He chose not to mention the disagreement they’d had about him taking off to stay at Lance’s in the first place. He didn’t want Justin to feel any worse than he already did, and telling him that he’d basically triggered an argument between them would have been a horrible idea. However, his frequent absences were provoked. He was beyond frustrated with how he was being treated by her. He’d been doing so well, and as far as he was concerned, he’d earned her trust back. He hated that she wasn’t giving him a second chance.

“She’s just looking out for you. She cares about you,” Justin said.

“I know.” Joey nodded as he turned his back to Justin. “I just wish she’d trust me a little more. I’m not going to do what I did before, you know?”

“J?” Joey asked when there was no reply. He turned around to look at Justin. Justin was just standing there blinking rapidly and squinting, but other than that he looked fine physically. Just as he was about to ask if he was all right, Justin’s eyes rolled into his head as he fell forward. Joey managed to catch him before he could hit the hard, concrete driveway.

“Guys!” he yelled.

Joey gently lowered Justin to the ground beside his car. He had no idea what to do. It wasn’t every day one his friends passed out in front of him in mid-conversation. He decided that if it was something serious then he would stay longer to make sure he was all right and help out.

Less than a minute later JC and Chris came running. “What happened?” JC asked as he kneeled down next to Justin’s body. He quickly scanned Justin’s body for any injuries and as far as he could tell there were none and his breathing seemed steady and even. Letting out a sigh of relief he sat back on his heels.

“I don’t know. We were talking and next thing I know he passed out,” Joey said. “Do you think we should take him to the hospital?”

As soon as the words left Joey’s mouth Justin began to stir. His eyelids fluttered before they opened only to squint from the sunlight. Once his eyes adjusted they moved from each of the worried faces of his friends hovering over him.

“I’m OK,” Justin said as he sat up, pushing away hands that offered to help.

“Are you sure?” JC asked as he stood up.

Justin nodded. “I’m fine.”

“I think we should take you to the doctor’s to get checked out,” Chris said.

“Why? I swear I’m fine. Really,” Justin insisted.

“We’ll see.” Chris looked over at Joey. “Go call the doctor.”

“Why? He’s fine,” JC said.

“It wouldn’t hurt to get him checked out,” Joey replied. It did seem like Justin had no effects from passing out, but he did think seeing a doctor would be a good idea. He was surprised that JC was insisting that Justin was fine. Normally he would be so worried that he would demand Justin get checked out. It made him wonder why JC was so calm and collected right now. He decided he would bring it up later.

“Well, if you’re taking Justin to the doctor, you might as well take Lance too,” JC said sarcastically.

“Lance doesn’t need to see the doctor. He’s just got a cold. Justin passed out,” Chris said.

“But he doesn’t need a doctor.” JC gestured to Justin. “He’s not dizzy, bleeding, or disoriented.”

“Yeah, but he passed out after having a nightmare. Sound familiar to you?” Chris gave JC a knowing look. JC averted his eyes. “Joey, go call the doctor now.”

Joey walked back into the house to make the phone call. He found the number to Doctor Marks’ office in Lance’s study. Doctor Marks was the doctor they used when they were home. They had known him from the beginning when they were first starting out. He was one of the best in Orlando.

A few minutes later he hung up the phone with an appointment. It hadn’t been hard to get one because of who they were, and it didn’t hurt that Doctor Marks didn’t have many appointments today. He headed towards the front door to tell the others that they had an appointment in an hour. As soon as he opened the door, he could hear them arguing with each other. Joey sighed and reached them just as Justin asked, “Who says we have to tell each other everything?”

“I know my memory is supposed to be failing me in my old age, but I seem to recall you being against keeping secrets from each other last month. What happened to that?” Chris raised an eyebrow.

“I changed my mind. I don’t have to tell you everything,” Justin answered.

“When it starts affecting your health, we need to know,” Chris said.

“It’s not affecting his health,” JC replied.

Chris glared at him. “Do I really have to remind you that he just passed out in the middle of the driveway? It’s affecting his health.”

Joey had tried to figure out exactly what they were talking about while they were fighting. He had an idea, but he didn’t know for sure. “What’s going on?”

“Justin was about to tell us what he and JC were going to run off to talk about,” Chris said.

“You don’t have to do this,” JC told Justin.

Justin sighed. “It’s fine. I uh…saw things.”

“If you say you saw dead people, I’ll punch you,” Chris said.

“What kind of things?” Joey asked as he ignored Chris and looked over at Justin. He was kind of afraid of what Justin’s answer would be. It was so weird that Justin had just passed out with no warning whatsoever. Joey was beginning to think that maybe there was more going on than he originally thought. That didn’t mean that he believed JC though.

“I saw myself writing in a notebook,” Justin said.

“That’s it?” Chris asked after a minute expecting Justin to say more. Justin shrugged and gave a short nod.

“How can you dream while you’re unconscious?” Joey asked more to himself than to Justin. He was trying to understand what Justin was trying to tell them. If he paid attention he might be able to better explain what happened to the doctor.

“It wasn’t a dream…not really. I don’t know how to explain it. I just…” Justin looked up at JC helplessly. Joey had never seen him this frightened.

Chris looked at Joey with a questioning look. “Are you sure he didn’t his head?”

“You wanted him to tell you, but now that he has you don’t believe him. Why the hell did you even bother?” JC asked.

“What’s your problem?” Chris yelled.

“All right. That’s enough. We need to go. Doctor Marks is expecting us,” Joey said.

“I’m not going,” JC said.

“Why not?” Justin asked as he quickly stood up. Joey could hear the fear in his voice. It was so weird to see him act like this because even when Justin was younger he tried to never let his fear show. This just emphasized the thought Joey had about what’s going on being bigger then he originally imagined.

JC hesitated for a moment. “Someone needs to stay with Lance. He’s going to want to know what happened when he wakes up from his nap.”

“Then have Chris or Joey stay. Please, JC,” Justin pleaded.

JC squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “You’ll be fine.” He paused. “We’ll talk later, OK?”

Chris rolled his eyes and pulled on Justin’s wrist. “Yeah, yeah. You’ll get your private talk where you keep more secrets from us.” He yanked hard. “Let’s go, Justin.”

“No.” Justin shook his head. “I don’t need to go. I’m fine.”

“You’re going. Now get in the damn car,” Chris said. He pushed Justin into the passenger seat.

Joey sighed as he got into the backseat as Chris got behind the wheel. He hoped that Chris and JC being separated for a while would give both of them time to cool down. He didn’t know why they were getting on each other’s nerves so much, but they weren’t going to stay mad forever. They were both worried about Justin and that’s why they were snapping at each other.

He could only hope that the doctor would say that Justin was fine. They didn’t need to deal with another member being in the hospital. It was bad enough that Lance collapsed back when they first started, but then JC last month. Joey didn’t want to go through that again and he knew that the others felt the same way. In the back of his mind he could still hear JC saying that the reason all of these things had been happening had been because of the demons. Joey didn’t know what to do with that information, but for now he was going to keep it to himself.