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HER by Amanda (c) 2001
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With timing blessed by an efficient crew, AJ and Brian were quickly assisted off stage and rushed back to their dressing room. Nick burst in moments later, his breathing ragged, his eyes wild with alarm when he saw Brian and AJ both slumped onto a couch, looking stunned. Kneeling before them, Nick anxiously scanned their faces then spun around to shout at the growing crowd of onlookers. "Someone call the paramedics!"
"No!" AJ gave a determined shake of his head. "Nick, no, don't. Please." AJ glanced at Brian, his face solemn. "We're okay… right?" Brian returned his look with a faint nod of agreement.
"But. . . but. . . I saw. . . " Nick protested, his voice faltering as AJ and Brian instantly broke eye contact, turning sharply to look at him.
"Saw? Saw what?"
"You. Uh. . . I saw you. And Brian. You both were screaming, like you were in pain or something!"
AJ leaned forward in his seat. "Nick. . . listen carefully. . . you only saw us?"
"Yes." Nick frowned, uncomfortable. "Hey, what's going on?"
"Are you sure you didn't see anything else?"
"Yeah, I'm sure! Just you two. Why? What's up?"
Nick didn't like the looks exchanged between Brian and AJ. "Okay, what the hell happened out there?"
AJ buried his head in his hands and sighed heavily. "Nick… hold on, give me a second, will ya?"
AJ looked exhausted, his voice shaky, and Nick knew better than to press him. Tired of crouching, Nick sat cross-legged on the floor, taking a few quick swipes at his sweat-soaked forehead as he waited. He studied AJ carefully. He had never seen AJ look this distressed. Never. He glanced at Brian. As a matter of fact, Brian wasn't looking all that great either. His concentration broke when he heard Kevin and Howie enter the room. Turning, Nick noticed the growing number of gawkers crowding by their door. Irritated, he jumped up, issued a curt announcement for everyone to "get lost" and abruptly slammed the dressing room door closed.
Seeing the confused looks Kevin and Howie were giving AJ and Brian, Nick hurried over and gave them a warning shake of his head, mouthing the word "wait". Kevin took Nick's advice and walked over to a small cooler, yanking out a few bottled waters and tossing one to Howie. Twisting the cap off, Kevin downed the water in a few quick gulps then raised a dark eyebrow questioningly at Nick.
Howie's curiosity got the better of him. Not able to keep quiet, he ignored Nick's silent caution. "Guys? Hey, is everything all right? Are you okay? What's going on here?"
Taking no notice of his questions, AJ rose from the couch and walked over to his duffel bag. Bending over, AJ rummaged through it until he found what he was searching for. With a shaky hand, AJ flipped his lighter open and lit a cigarette. He took a deep drag, exhaling slowly, and watched a small thread of smoke spiral upwards before he turned to face Brian.
"I'm sorry, man. I had no idea."
Brian picked nervously at his fingernails. "So you believe me?"
"Shit, yeah."
Ill at ease, Howie, Nick, and Kevin glanced at each other.
"Will someone please tell us what is going on?"
AJ took another long drag before grinding the butt and tossing it. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Okay. All right. Guys. . . I. . . I saw her."
"Her," Nick repeated dully. Confusion, then disbelief, crossed over his face. "You mean. . . Brian's her? His fantasy girl?"
"She ain't no fantasy, Nick. I fucking saw her. She's real, man."
Nick looked back and forth between the two, his mouth open in surprise "What? You saw her? How? Where?"
Brian spoke up, his voice low. "On stage, Nick. AJ saw her on stage."
Kevin walked over to Brian, shaking his head. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. On stage? But I was right next to you! How come I didn't see her?" Kevin turned to Howie and Nick "I remember seeing Brian fall down, don’t you? I thought he slipped, you know, on one of those damn stuffed animals everyone throws!"
"Yeah, that's what I thought," agreed Howie. "And then, all of a sudden, Brian is next to AJ and they're both on the ground yelling their heads off!"
"That's because she was touching me, D. . . " Brian said softly, his voice trailing off. He shifted uncomfortably, aware that they were waiting for him to continue. "She. . . she was coming over to AJ, she wanted to touch him." Brian tried to control the trembling in his voice and realized he was failing miserably. "But I wouldn't let her. I grabbed a hold of her, trying to force her back. But the pain. . . the pain was incredible. . . " He looked at AJ who was nodding silently in agreement. "I'm not sure when AJ saw her. . . "
"You were screaming "no" over and over again. I reached out and as soon as I touched your shoulder, I saw." AJ gave a small shudder, remembering. "I saw her. And you're right about the pain. I couldn't believe how much it hurt. But then she faded, vanished, and the pain stopped."
"What? She disappeared?" Everyone could hear the amazement in Nick's voice. "Right in front of you? How?"
"I don't know how, Nick! She just did!"
"Okay, hold on, let me see if I get this straight. You're saying that somehow this girl got on stage, Brian managed to stop her, but not before she zaps the shit outta both of you. Then she evaporates into thin air. Is that right?"
AJ nodded.
"Jeez! What is this? The goddamn Twi-light Zone?"
AJ stiffened. "You don't believe me?"
Nick threw his hands up, irritated. "AJ! Do you have any idea how crazy this all sounds? Brian thinks he sees her. Now you do! But I didn't, Kevin and Howie didn't, and oh yeah, neither did the other 20,000 people out there." Nick walked over to AJ, the contempt evident in his voice. "So you tell me, who should I believe?"
"You should believe I'm telling you the truth! We're not fucking idiots, Nick! I don't know why you didn't see her, but I did. So did Brian. And nobody, not you, not Kevin, not Howie, are gonna make us change our minds. You got that?" AJ heatedly shoved Nick back a few steps.
Brian was faster than Kevin, quickly stepping in between the two. "Okay, cool it! We're not going to get anywhere with you two fighting. . . " Brian swayed, dizzy from his sudden leap off the couch.
"Brian? Brian?" Nick caught his friend before he fell and with AJ's help carefully lowered him to the ground.
"I knew we should have called the paramedics," Nick hissed at AJ. Brian heard him and waved a feeble hand, trying to rise.
"Nick. . . "
Nick gently pushed him back down. "Brian, don't move."
Curling up on his side, Brian nodded, trying not to grimace. "I'll be okay in a minute. I'm just feeling kinda shaky."
"No shit, you got nailed hard by that bitch," AJ rasped, reaching for the bottled water that Howie offered. "Here. Take a sip."
Kevin crouched down, eying his cousin anxiously. "Brian. I think you should go to the hospital."
Two blue eyes looked up, filled with fear and resentment.
"No, no," Kevin rushed. "Just to get checked out, make sure you're okay."
"No. No way. I'm not going through that again." Brian struggled to sit upright, swatting at Nick's restraining hands. "Nick, leave me alone, will ya? I'm fine." Brian gave AJ a pleading look for help and AJ nodded, hoisting him up to a standing position.
Giving an exasperated sigh, Nick watched as AJ protectively supported Brian. They stood there, holding on to each other, exhausted but defiant, daring the others to interfere.
"Whatever, I give up!" Nick snapped. "I don't know what's going on. I don't think I want to know what's going on. Just leave me out of it, okay?" Grabbing his duffel bag, Nick stuffed a few things into it, zipped it up, and headed for the door. He paused to look at Brian and AJ, opened his mouth to say something, thought the better of it, and shook his head in disgust. With a hard yank he flung open the door and left.
"Jeez. . . I wonder how he really feels?" AJ said sarcastically.
Kevin sighed. "Bone, don't start."
"Well, it's pretty obvious Nick doesn't believe us." AJ turned to stare at his bandmate. "How about you? Ready to call those nice young men in the white coats?"
"Come on, AJ. . . "
"Cause if you are, I can tell you right now. . ."
"AJ. . . "
"No way am I gonna. . . "
"AJ. . . "
"If you had seen. . . "
"AJ! That's the point! If I had seen! But I didn't! Neither did Nick or Howie! But that doesn't mean I don't believe you. Calm down!"
Brian's mouth twisted into a cynical smile as he looked at his cousin. "So, nice to know you're finally on my side, Kevin."
His mocking tone was not lost on Kevin. "I'm not sure I'm on your side either!" he spat out. "In fact, I'm not sure about anything right now. All I know is that I'm not about to let this girl screw us over. Tomorrow I'm going to see if any video was filmed during the show. Maybe I can discover whoever or whatever she is."
"Whatever is right," muttered AJ, watching Kevin imitate Nick's angry departure. He turned to Howie, who had been leaning patiently against the wall, taking it all in.
"Well?"
Howie pushed himself from the wall and began to search for his gear. "Well, what?"
AJ snorted. "Don't give me that crap, D. You know what I mean. So where do you stand on all this?"
Howie gave a noncommittal shrug and hefted the strap of his bag over his shoulder.
"What the hell kind of answer is that?"
"AJ. . . " warned Brian, but AJ ignored him and grabbed Howie by the arm.
"Answer me!"
Howie dropped his bag, his face grim as he peeled AJ's hand away. "What exactly do you want me to say? Huh? You guys are able to see something that I can't! And it's scaring you! And that scares me. So I don't say anything, cause I don't understand what is going on!" Howie shook his head in frustration. "I don't know what to believe! There! Does that help you?" Not waiting for a reply, Howie bent down to snatch his bag and hurried out the door.
Brian caught AJ from running after Howie. "Don't. . . forget it, AJ."
"But. . . "
"Let it go." Beyond weary, Brian slumped into the nearest chair. "Right now, Howie and the others are the least of our worries."
AJ stood there for a moment, not saying a word, and then walked over to sit next to Brian. "I'm afraid to ask why," he said softly and Brian heaved a troubled sigh, seeing the true fear in AJ's eyes.
"AJ. . . you saw what I saw. You felt what I felt." Brian waited until his friend nodded before continuing. "And you know now what she looks like." His voice shook a little as AJ somberly nodded again. "Then you also know she's. . . not human. That she's. . . " Brian struggled to explain.
"What? An alien? A ghost? What?"
"You're gonna think I'm crazy."
AJ smiled faintly. "Rok, everyone does already, remember? And now I've just joined your club. Come on, spit it out."
"Okay, okay." Brian stared his hands for a moment, chewing on his lower lip. He finally looked up, staring AJ straight in the eye. "I think. . . I think she's an angel."
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