Justin opened his eyes and noticed that he was lying on something soft. Realizing he was on his bed in his bedroom, he sprung into a sitting position. He wasn’t supposed to be here. The last thing he remembered was being in the auto garage of Wal-Mart and an intense feeling of dread before he was grabbed by the demons. Was it a dream? Justin didn’t know because being at Wal-Mart had felt so real, but it could’ve been a dream. What other reason would there be for him being in his bedroom? Surely the demons wouldn’t kidnap him just to bring him back to Lance’s house.

Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, he stood and stretched. There was one way to know for sure if he had been dreaming. He would go find JC and ask him if they’d gone to Wal-Mart. But maybe they had gone to the store and he’d decided to take a nap when they got back. Justin shook his head at that thought because there was no way he would’ve taken a nap so late in the evening. Not to mention it was nearly ten o’clock now and they’d only gotten out of the store around nine, which would mean that they would’ve only returned at nine thirty. That wasn’t long enough for a nap even if he were to take one.

Although, he was in his room, which suggests that he had gone to bed, but he didn’t remember falling asleep. But if he assumed that they really did go to Wal-Mart then maybe he’d had another vision in the garage. That would certainly account for why he didn’t remember going to sleep because his visions always drained him and made him really tired, and it wasn’t unrealistic to think that JC had put him to bed. Justin sighed in frustration, running a hand roughly over his face. It really unnerved him that he had no clear idea as to what was real and what wasn’t.

The only way to know for sure was to ask JC, so Justin walked out of his room and down the hall to JC’s room. He was surprised to find that the door was open and the room was dark. It seemed that JC wasn’t in his room, but maybe he was sleeping. Justin stepped into the room and flicked on the light only to be disappointed when he saw that JC’s bed was vacant. Stepping back into the hall, Justin thought about where he would be. A loud gong from downstairs made him jump, and he chuckled at himself for being so jumpy. It was only the grandfather clock from the dining room. However, it occurred to him that it was rare that he ever heard the clock from all the way upstairs. Normally the TV or stereo was blaring or the guys were making a lot of noise. It was then that he realized the dead silence that settled over the house as the clock finished its gonging.

Slowly he made his way down the stairs feeling that something wasn’t right. Once he reached the bottom he turned right to enter the dining room and wasn’t surprised to discover it was empty. He was about to move into the kitchen when he heard the front door open. Justin sighed in relief and walked into the foyer and saw that Lance and JC had just walked in, so he followed them into the living room.

“JC, can I talk to you for a sec?” Justin asked as his friend sat on the couch with Lance next to him, but there was no reaction from JC.

“What’s the matter?” Joey asked, having just come into the room.

Justin frowned. “JC’s ignoring me.” JC had never ignored him purposely unless he did something to piss him off, but as far as Justin knew he didn’t. Justin realized that Joey wasn’t looking at him and followed his line of sight to where Lance and JC were sitting. He must’ve been talking to Lance. “Oh, you meant him.”

“His breathing’s too slow.” Lance paused. “I think he might be going into shock.”

“What? What happened?” Justin glanced back and forth between Joey and Lance wanting one of them to answer him. “Why’s he going into shock?”

Joey took a seat on JC’s left since Lance was on his right. “So what do we do?”

“We need to snap him out of it somehow,” Lance said.

“Someone tell me what’s going on!” Justin shouted and growled in frustration. He didn’t appreciate them ignoring him, especially when something serious was going on with JC. If he knew what was making JC act like this, maybe he could help.

“What’s the point?”

Justin and Lance’s heads snapped up at Chris’s snide comment. “I deserve to know,” Justin said. “I don’t know why you guys won’t tell me.”

“What’s the point?” Lance repeated as if he hadn’t heard him. “JC could die if we don’t get his breathing under control.”

“And Justin could be dead already,” Chris shot back.

“Very funny, asshole,” Justin snapped.

“So one friend means more to you than the other?” Lance asked, glaring at Chris.

Chris was momentarily stunned, but it didn’t last long. “No, but you’re acting like you don’t care about Justin. Like he just went out for a walk and will be back in an hour.”

“Guys, this isn’t funny,” Justin said, silently pleading with them to stop ignoring him and talk to him. He thought that maybe this was some kind of practical joke, but it hit him that they wouldn’t joke about something as serious as him being dead.

Justin paled and took a step back, the thoughts in his mind racing. Was he really dead? Was this a dream? And if it was a dream, then was Wal-Mart a dream too? He couldn’t be dead, he just couldn’t be. But it would explain why the guys weren’t talking to him, hell, even looking at him. Maybe he hit his head and was unconscious, but he didn’t think that would be enough to make JC go into shock unless he was in a coma. Justin winced at that thought because it wasn’t much better than being dead.

Shakily he ran a hand through his short curls. It barely registered through his mind that Lance and Chris passed him and now could be heard arguing from the kitchen. What if he really was dead? Maybe he was a ghost, forced to haunt Lance’s house for eternity. Justin shook his head at the ridiculous thought. If he was a ghost he had no reason to haunt the guys because it wasn’t like they killed him.

He critically eyed his friends. Other than JC looking deathly pale and his lips tinting blue, they looked all right considering. Maybe he wasn’t dead after all because if he was, surely they would be a lot more upset now than they were acting. Unless they didn’t care. Justin immediately put that thought out of his head because he knew that the guys cared a lot about him as he did them, and it explained why JC was like this in the first place.

Justin mentally ran Chris and Lance’s words back through his head and realized that they weren’t speaking about him in past tense. Chris said he could be dead, not that he was. Relief flooded through his veins, but it didn’t last for long. If he wasn’t dead then why couldn’t they see or hear him?

“What the hell’s going on?” Justin asked himself softly, knowing it was pointless to try to get the guys’ attention because he would just be ignored again.

“They can’t see you.”

Justin spun on the spot and saw two smoky, transparent demons with red eyes in the doorway of the living room. He barely managed to stop the instinct to cry out a warning to JC and Joey who were still on the couch. Instead he glared at the two evil creatures. “No shit. What the hell did you do?”

“Nothing compared to what’s going to happen,” the second demon said.

“Pity about your friend.” Justin followed the demon’s eyes to JC who was still sitting there blankly despite the fact that Joey was talking to him. “You should’ve seen him right after you were taken. Pathetic.”

The second demon tsked and looked at its buddy. “Never saw someone so weak. We should put him out of his misery.”

“You son of a bitch!” Justin yelled and charged at the demons. He knew it was stupid, but he couldn’t help the anger that had filled him when they talked about JC like he was some sick animal because he was one of the strongest people he knew.

Before he reached them Justin disappeared and reappeared in Lance’s basement. He barely moved to try to get away from them when he was slammed up against the wall. The impact hurt his head and even his left arm felt a spark of pain despite it being in a cast. Justin tried to push himself away from the wall, but he couldn’t move. It was like there was an unseen force keeping him there.

“What the hell do you want?” Justin asked, trying to act tougher than he was feeling. He didn’t want to give the demons the satisfaction that he was afraid of them.

The main demon that seemed to be in charge turned around. “We want information.”

“Does this look like a help desk?”

“You’re either very foolish or just plain stupid,” the demon said.

Justin glared. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You falsely believe you can change what happens in your visions.” The demon moved closer to him, its red eyes boring into his own. “Don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Justin said, looking away. It was scary having such red, demonic eyes stare at him.

“You knew we were coming. Yes,” the demon interrupted Justin before he could even ask how they knew, “we know about your…abilities.”

“You can’t know too much if you need me to give you answers,” Justin replied.

“We know more than you think.” The demon moved so it was next to Justin’s ear. He tried to stop the shiver that ran down his spine when it whispered, “Every day you wake up praying the visions are gone and your life can go back to normal. You don’t realize what a gift you have.”

“Gift?” Justin repeated. “If having horrific visions is a gift, then I want to return it.”

“Return them to whom? Who gave them to you?”

“No one,” Justin said.

“Liar!” the demon yelled and stepped away from Justin, much to his relief. “Your friend, JC, may have the ability to acquire gifts because of where he comes from, but you,” the demon sneered, “you are just a too tall, average kid who has more luck than talent and incapable of receiving those visions yourself.”

Justin frowned in confusion. Why the hell was the demon bringing JC into this? “What do you mean ‘where he comes from’?”

“So he didn’t tell you,” the demon mused. “I’m not surprised. You humans reject anything you don’t understand.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Justin shouted. There had to be a reason the demon said what it had about JC, but it didn’t seem to want to answer his question because it changed the subject.

“How did you do it?” the demon asked.

“Do what?”

“Get the visions!” the demon shouted. “Did you make a deal? Participate in some ritual?”

“I didn’t do anything. They just started happening,” Justin said.

“So naïve. These things don’t just happen. Something had to be done to acquire them and you’re going to tell me.”

“Shouldn’t you already know since you gave them to me?” Justin snapped.

“Why would I give them to you? Seeing you suffer is satisfying, but not reason enough to give you a way of alerting you about our plans,” the demon said.

“Well, then you’re shit out of luck because I don’t know anything.”

The demon didn’t say anything, but nodded to its partner that had been standing off to the side. Its partner moved closer so it was right in front of him and just when he was starting to wonder what it was doing he felt a wet patch growing at the bottom of his shirt. Justin looked down and paled at the blood that he saw seeping through his t-shirt, but his attention was diverted when he could hear screaming coming from upstairs. Immediately he knew that Chris was feeling the pain.

“Stop it!” Justin cried.

“How did you get your ability?” the main demon asked, stepping forward.

“I don’t know!”

Justin looked down at his shirt and saw more blood before he had to look away. It was making him sick looking at it, but hearing Chris yelling in agony made his stomach turn even more. “Please, quit it! Please!”

The demon smirked. “What’s the matter? Can’t stand to hear your friend crying out in pain while you stand there feeling nothing?”

“Stop! Please!” Justin pleaded, hating it, but knowing that he had to get it stop for Chris’s sake. He couldn’t even imagine the amount of pain that Chris must be in right now.

“Tell me where your abilities came from.”

“I told you I don’t know!” Justin yelled.

“I’m not leaving here without an answer,” the demon said and gestured for the other one to continue. This time there was a particularly large gash that ran from one end of his stomach to the other, and his shirt, now drenched in blood, dripped onto Lance’s pristine carpet.

“No!” Justin shouted so loud his throat was starting to become raw and he started to choke on the blood that filled his mouth, causing it to run down his chin. He started to breathe heavily and continued to choke as he pleaded for the demons to stop. Chris was upstairs screaming in pain and there was nothing he could do about it.

Chris walked into the kitchen to find Lance at the sink filling a glass with water. When Lance turned around with the full glass in hand Chris shook his head at how he looked. Lance looked so stressed and tired, but that was understandable. There wasn’t a lot of sleep to be had when one of your friends was kidnapped and another had a panic attack before going into shock. Not to mention he had really fought it out with Lance, which he felt bad about now that he’d actually stopped to collect himself.

“Thirsty?” Chris asked, gesturing to the glass.

Lance shook his head. “No. This is for JC.”

“Let me take it to him,” Chris said.

“I don’t think so, Chris.”

Chris sighed. “Look, man, I’m not going to say anything. I know I haven’t been handling this the right way. I’m just worried about Justin.”

“And I’m not?” Lance paused briefly. “I was going to try searching online for some possible solutions. I doubt I’ll find anything, but it’s better than sitting here doing nothing.”

“Well, give the glass to me, and you can get started,” Chris suggested.

“All right,” Lance reluctantly gave in and handed over the glass. “I’ll let you know if I find something.”

“Good luck.”

Chris watched as Lance walked out of the kitchen before he too left. Slowly he stepped into the living room, not wanting to freak JC or Joey out. The last thing they needed was to freak each other out, which wouldn’t be hard to do since they were all on edge. He gently set the glass on the coffee table in front of the couch before he nervously cleared his throat. It was time to try to apologize to JC even though Chris had his doubts that it would be received because while JC did seem to have a little more color, there was still a faraway look in his eyes.

Joey was the one to look up at him. “Yeah?”

“Can I talk to JC?” Chris asked.

Joey looked like he was going to argue, and Chris wouldn’t blame him. Thinking back he really had been an ass with the things that he’d said. But Joey didn’t say anything and nodded as he started to rise from the couch only to have JC grab onto his hand and pull him back down onto the couch. As Chris watched Joey put an arm around JC, he couldn’t help but feel a little hurt that JC didn’t want to be alone with him, but he understood why. That made him feel even worse because he had been convinced that JC was so far gone that he hadn’t heard anything he’d said. Guess he was wrong.

Chris took a seat in the arm chair next to the couch and looked over at JC, who was avoiding his gaze. “I brought you some water,” Chris said and gestured to the glass that was sitting on the table in front of them. He didn’t know how was he going to start this, but knew that it was necessary.

“I…You know I don’t blame you for what happened,” Chris said. “I’m sure you did everything you could, and we’ll get Justin back…somehow. I’m sorry for being such a prick.”

There was no real reaction from JC. Chris wanted him to accept his apology and say that it was OK, but he didn’t say anything. The only sign that Chris had that JC had listened to him was that the hand that had been holding Joey’s in a death grip had loosened. A few minutes passed in silence before Joey looked over at Chris and asked, “Where’s Lance?”

“He’s on his computer trying to figure out something for us to do,” Chris said.

“What’s he going to find online?”

Chris shrugged. “I don’t know, but he might find something. I mean, there are a bunch of crazy people on the Internet.”

A more comfortable silence fell in the room. Chris stood up to go put some coffee on because he had a feeling that they were going to be up for most of the night and it would be a lot easier if they had some caffeine. He’d only just made it out of his chair when a sharp pain stabbed at his stomach and he doubled over in pain with a loud hiss.

“Chris?” Joey walked over and put a hand on his back. Even JC crouched next to him and gripped his hand. “Are you OK?”

Chris tried to answer, but ended up screaming instead as another intense pain sliced through his stomach and sent shudders up his spine. He tightly squeezed JC’s hand, waiting for it to stop. There were footsteps before they stopped abruptly.

Lance ran into the living room to find Chris on his knees with both arms wrapped around his midsection and screaming in pain as it wracked his body. Kneeling down next to him, Lance knew there wasn’t really anything he could do to help. What made it even worse that the demons must be hurting Justin now for Chris to be in pain and from the sounds of it, it was really serious.

“What are we going to do?” Joey asked with a grim face, as he continued to rub Chris’s back to try to ease some of the pain.

“There’s nothing we really can do,” Lance said. It hurt to admit that, but it was true. The only thing was to stop the demons from hurting Justin, but in order to do that they had to find Justin, which wasn’t something they were able to do right now.

Lance sat heavily on the couch. He’d thought about moving Chris to the couch, but figured it would be safer for him to stay on the floor instead of having him fall off and hurting himself even more. Even though he hadn’t been looking on the Internet for long, there wasn’t anything that suggested a way that would help. There were no other options and it was beyond frustrating.

As much as Lance hated to admit it they would probably lose Justin and maybe even Chris because they couldn’t come up with a way to find Justin. It wasn’t something he wanted to think about, but there wasn’t anything he could do. Lance sighed and rested his head in his hands.

“Lance.”

Lance raised his head and his eyes widened in surprise at who he saw in the doorway. “Katrina! What are you doing here?”

“You need help,” Katrina said knowingly, coming closer.

“You know about Justin?” Joey asked from the floor where he was sitting next to Chris, who continued to yell in pain.

“Yes, and I know where he is,” Katrina said.

Lance stood up. “Where?”

“He’s in the house.”

Joey and Lance looked at her shocked. JC’s eyes even widened. “What?”

“Why haven’t we seen or heard him then?” Lance asked.

“Because the demons made him invisible,” Katrina said.

Joey frowned. “So where is he now?”

“In the basement.”

The words had barely left Katrina’s mouth before JC let go of Chris’s hand and sprinted for the basement. “JC!” Lance yelled and ran after him with Joey and Katrina right behind him.

They were right behind JC and hit the floor just as he started yelling. “Leave Justin alone! You want me? Then take me!”

Before their eyes the demons appeared with Justin pressed up against the wall. Lance and Joey immediately ran over to Justin and caught him just as he fell. The demons started to make their way to JC, but before they could reach him Katrina grabbed each one and disappeared with them. Lance assumed that she was going to drag them back to hell like she had last time when Joey had been attacked.

“Justin, are you with us?” Lance asked, noticing the blood soaked t-shirt and carpet, which was now soaking Joey’s clothes as he sat behind Justin to keep him upright. He was worried because it looked like he lost a lot of blood, which wasn’t a good thing.

Justin groaned and blinked at them. “Guys…”

JC gripped his hand and said, “You’ll be all right. You’re safe now.”

There was another groan accompanied by a creak, but it came from behind them. Lance turned around to find Chris stumbling down the stairs. “Chris! What the hell are you doing?”

“You assholes,” Chris said. “You left me up there.”

“And you were supposed to stay up there. You could hurt yourself worse,” Lance replied.

“Justin needs help more than I do.”

Lance wanted to argue, but he couldn’t disagree with that. Justin was the one who needed medical attention, and Chris couldn’t be helped until Justin was treated. Who knew how bad off Justin was because he was so weak and out of it even though he wasn’t feeling any pain. “We need to call 911.”

“I’ll do it,” Joey volunteered and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He hung up a minute later. “An ambulance will be here in five minutes.”

Lance sighed, glad that Justin was going to get help, but was appalled that he’d been hurt bad enough to need it. But regardless he was thankful that Katrina saved Justin and that he was back with them. They weren’t out of the woods yet though because the lashes on Justin’s stomach looked bad. He could only hope that Justin came out of this OK for not only his sake, but for all of theirs.