CHAPTER FIFTEEN - WHAT'S GOING ON?

Nick’s lungs were on fire.

What was happening? He couldn’t breathe!

He gasped painfully for what little air he could drag in, trying unsuccessfully to escape from the smothering weight that was pressing down on him. He could feel the form of a body leaning over, bearing down with an unbelievable power. His lungs screamed for air as he thrashed about, a wild panic overwhelming him when he felt himself beginning to lose consciousness. Fear gave way to raw determination and with every ounce of his last remaining strength Nick drew up his legs and kicked, landing a solid blow.

The pressure gave way; a rush of cool, sweet air filled his lungs and Nick greedily gulped it in. His chest heaving with exertion, Nick struggled off the bed, determined to see who had been trying to suffocate him. The glow of the TV threw shadows across the room, making crazy zigzags of light, but it was more than enough for him to recognize who was lying on the ground. He gawked in utter disbelief as he watched Brian trying to sit upright.

“Brian? What the hell? Why are you...”

Nick had no time to finish. In a flash, Brian was up and moving, tackling Nick hard. They both fell backwards onto the bed, Brian straddling Nick, his hands wrapping tightly around Nick’s throat.

Brian’s grip was incredible. Gagging, Nick clawed at Brian’s fingers, frantic to break the hold. Brian held on. In desperation, Nick reared up, bucking, twisting his body to try and throw him off. It was no use and once again Nick felt his head swimming from lack of oxygen, his strength beginning to ebb as Brian’s fingers dug tighter into his neck.

Nick gave up.

With a surreal resignation, he relaxed into Brian’s grip, knowing he could not win. His eyesight wavered and with one last effort Nick looked up, trying to catch a glimpse of Brian before his vision faded.

Even with Brian’s fingers clutched in a death grip, Nick managed to let out a distorted scream of terror as he gazed into Brian’s eyes - eyes that reflected red, ugly pinpoints of madness. The shock, the terror of seeing Brian’s face generated a painful surge of adrenaline and Nick exploded with renewed power.

Bunching his hand into a fist, Nick swung with all his might, catching Brian squarely with a roundhouse blow to the side of his face. He was rewarded with the sight of Brian falling to the ground, the agonizing pressure from his throat finally released.

Nick managed to stagger off his bed, his heart beating painfully. Panting, his voice rasping in agony as he tried to draw in air, he could see Brian cradling his jaw, the blood streaming through Brian’s fingers as he moaned in pain. Cautious, Nick skirted around Brian’s crouched form and watched in fearful, stunned silence.

So it was true. It was real. AJ and Brian weren’t joking, weren’t crazy. Nick touched his injured neck lightly and winced, knowing that he had just been made a believer.

Fuck.

Nick could feel himself begin to shake, not sure if it was from the knowledge or from the pain. He only knew that he had to leave, get out of there fast, before Brian came after him again. Nick studied him carefully. Brian was on his knees, his agony evident. It sure didn’t look like Brian was capable of attacking him again, but then, he wasn’t about to wait and find out. Keeping a close eye on him, Nick edged warily to the door, fingers anxiously searching for the handle.

“Nick...Nick...” Nick heard Brian’s garbled call, distorted by a mouthful of blood. He ignored it, taking a split second to turn his head to locate the latch.

There! He lunged for it.

“Nick...please...”

Nick stopped, unsettled by the despair he heard in Brian’s voice. Unsure what to do, he paused for a moment, fighting his desire to flee. He heard Brian retching and reached to turn on the lights.

He flinched.

Oh God, he had really hit Brian hard.

Blood was everywhere. On his hands, on his clothes, on the floor.

Nick fairly danced with agitation, wondering what to do. His hands sweating in fear, he took a step forward.

Are you insane, Carter?

He stepped back. He wished he knew how much damage he’d done to Brian, but that would mean getting closer and he wasn’t about to do something that stupid.

Brian solved the dilemma. He began to crawl toward Nick.

Oh, shit.

Nick did what any terrified person would do. He made a wild dash, ripped open the door and ran down the hallway, screaming for help.

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With the bat securely gripped in his right hand, AJ rushed up and down the hotel corridor, looking, hoping for any sign, any indication of where Brian might have gone. No such luck. The hallway was quiet, doors closed, not a soul in sight.

Where in the world could he be? AJ bit his lip in consternation. Damn. If the un-open handcuffs were any indication, Brian could be anywhere, doing anything. He knew he had very little time, his gut instinct was screaming at him to hurry, to do something. But, what?

He eyed the room numbers that ran down the hall. With his late arrival, he never noted what rooms Kevin and Howie were in. Guess it was time to find out. He headed for the closest door to him, knocking on it hard, yelling out Kevin’s name. No one answered.

He moved on to the next, this time using the end of the bat to help announce his presence.

“Kevin? Howie? Hey, are you in there? Open up, man!” The door remained closed.

Deciding this was taking way too much time, AJ raced along hallway, pounding frantically on all of the doors. He used his feet, his fist, the bat, not caring who he woke.

“AJ! What the hell are you doing?”

AJ turned to see Kevin standing outside his door, a frown plastered on his face. AJ ran the short distance back to him. Howie had also opened his door, along with several other disgruntled guests and AJ waved apologetically to them.

“Sorry, sorry. My mistake. Just looking for these guys. I’m sorry, go back to sleep.”

After a few murderous glares the doors slammed shut, leaving AJ, Howie, and Kevin standing alone in the hallway.

Pissed, Kevin opened his mouth to say something but AJ beat him to it.

“Kevin! Quick! Have you seen Brian?”

“You woke me up to ask me that?” Kevin stared at him incredulously and then down at what AJ was holding. “What’s with the bat?”

“Kevin! We’ve got a problem. A big one. Brian’s gone!”

“AJ. Hold on. Hold on. What’s this about Brian being gone?” Howie grabbed his arm hoping to calm his jittery friend.

“Guys, I don’t have time to explain, but Brian’s not here. He’s vanished. We gotta find him, now.”

“AJ, Brian’s a big boy. If he wants to go somewhere...”

“Kevin!” AJ was fairly screaming in frustration. “Listen, will ya? Brian was handcuffed to a bed. He couldn’t leave! But now, his bed is empty! And the handcuffs are still locked!” AJ yelled the last word, positive that Kevin would now understand.

Kevin didn’t, not being able to get past the first part. “Brian was handcuffed?”

“Oh my God,” AJ moaned. He turned to Howie. “D! Help me out here! If we don’t find Brian soon...”

AJ’s panicked plea was drowned out by a loud scream. Startled, all three turned to see Nick running out of his room, his eyes wide with fear.

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He was going to be okay. He was. Well, maybe not.

He crawled slowly on the floor, staring at the plush white carpeting that he was smearing red with his blood-stained fingers. He wasn’t really concerned about his hands; it was the god-awful burning pain in his mouth and jaw that worried him. He remembered bits and pieces of the last few minutes, enough to know that he somehow had scared the shit out of Nick and Nick had rewarded him with a full-blown punch to the face. He also vaguely remembered Nick shouting at the top of his lungs, yelling something about needing help, and he was trying to, he was trying to reach him, help him, but how could he when Nick had run out the door?

No, wait, wait. There was something wrong here. Something he couldn’t quite figure out. Then it came to him. This wasn’t his room! What was he doing here? How did he get here? God, his face hurt! He wanted to get up, see what was wrong with him, but he couldn’t. It hurt too much. He decided to keep crawling along the ground, maybe he would be able to reach the handle and find AJ. Yeah, he’d find AJ. AJ would know what had happened.

He heard the door open on its own accord.

“Jesus Christ!”

Squinting against the harsh light that flooded the room, Brian looked upward, catching only a brief glimpse of Kevin’s shocked face before a baseball bat totally filled his vision.

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