Chapter
19 starts now
<2 days later 4:00 PM>
‘ “C” please tell Sherry that Bob is coming around.’ some one
says as I start to wake up. ‘If that’s you Lance, you’ve had
it.’ ‘No it’s Usher. Lay still till Sherry gets here or I’ll
have to put you out again old man.’ he says. ‘Watch it youngster,
your still wet behind your ears.’ I say with a smile as my eyes
finally open. ‘Good…you sound like the old you. And just for
your information, I finally got the guys to go eat 15 mins ago.
Man do you have some loyal friends.’ he replies. ‘Yeah I do,
for some unknown reason.’ ‘Well I know why.’ he says. ‘Oh you
do, why?’ ‘Well from what I’ve heard, and what little I’ve seen,
It’s because you care about people. Not Kevin from BSB, or Chris
of N sync. You care about Kevin and Chris…the real people, not
the celebrities. He answers.
There is a knock on the door and Sherry walks in with a smile
on her face. ‘So how do you feel?’ she asks. I do a quick check,
‘Fine. now can I leave? And I thought I told you to leave me
alone.’ ‘You told Ed and Roger to leave you alone, not me.’
she says as she walks over to the bed, ‘Now let me check you
out. If everything is ok, I’ll let you leave.’ she removes the
bandages from my arms and head. ‘Hum…perfectly healed. I’ll
bring you your clothes and you can go home.’ she says as she
heads for the door. While she is gone I do a quick check and
can tell that I’ve been out for 2 days.
When she comes back in, ‘Why was I put under for two days Sherry?’
‘So we could make sure that you healed correctly and because
of how severely you were burned, by the time we got the remnants
of the power limiters out, your muscles were burned almost to
the bone. If it would have been anyone else, they would have
been out for at least a week. But due to how strong your powers
are it only took two days.’ she says as she hands me my clothes.
‘Oh…ok. I’ll forgive you this time.’ ‘Get dressed and go back
to your room before I think you like it here. Please stop by
in a couple of days, just so I can be sure your ok.’ she requests.
‘I’ll try to remember. Now will you two please go away so I
can get dressed. Then I’ll go straight to my room.’ Sherry gives
my shoulder a squeeze and they leave. ‘ “C” are my rooms clear?’
‘Yes Bob.’ ‘When I get there I don’t want to be disturbed.’
‘Confirmed.’ I get dressed and teleport to my room.
<My room>
I grab a cup of coffee and relax in my recliner for awhile.
An hour later I decide to get something to eat.
I ‘pop’ to the kitchen and grab my meal and teleport back to
eat in my room.
After I’m done eating I take a long shower. I lay down and
listen to some music till I fall asleep.
<Dream>
I’m in the Danger room and I see Corbin start to fall. I zoom
down and catch him. ‘You ok? Did you over tax your powers?’
I ask concerned. ‘No. Just trying out something.’ he says as
his hands shoot up to my head. The next thing I know I feel
my mental barriers lowering and he’s shutting down my kinetic
shield.
I feel the ultrasonic attacks and suddenly there is a burning
pain in my back. I freeze in mid-flight and see red for a second.
The pain is gone and I hear 5 thuds. I blink and shake my head.
The first thing I see is Aaron and Corbin laying on the floor.
Their bodies are broken and twisted. I turn around and see Travis,
Pat, and Stacy are the same. I expand my powers and can tell
there is no way to bring them back. ‘Oh Lord…why?’ I say as
I fall to the floor and start to sob. Howie portals Nick and
himself in. Howie gives me a dirty look and goes over to Corbin
and hugs him as tears start to fall. ‘Why did you have to KILL
him? I loved him. I’ll hate you forever.’ he says in a shaky
voice. ‘YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!’ Nick yells while he changes
into bio-metal and punches me in the face. I fly thru the air
and hit the wall and everything goes black.
<End dream>
After I ‘hit’ the wall I wake up, I sit up and realize it’d
been a nightmare, The sheets and I are soaked. I try to move
my arms and find that I can’t. ‘ “C” lights up to 50% please.’
while my eyes adjust I mentally remove the bedspread, I look
down and see that the sheets are covered in blood. I kinetically
strip the bed and float to the bathroom. As I do this I see
that the mattress and pillow cases are covered in blood also.
As I enter the bathroom I look in the mirror, my hair is soaked
with blood from open wounds on my head where the power limiter
head band was. ‘ “C”, turn on the shower, water temp, 100 degrees
please.’ the water starts and I float into the shower.
I float there, slowly turning and let the water soak the sheets.
After a while they fall off. I look at my arms and see gaping
wounds where the limiter arm bands were. I start to wash my
hair to get the blood out. After I rinse my hair for the last
time, I look down and see that the sheets are totally clean.
‘What the…’ I say to myself. I look at my arms and they’re normal.
I turn off the shower and look at the mirror. My head wounds
are gone also. ‘This is getting strange.’ I go back into my
bedroom and look at the mattress and pillows, and they’re totally
clean. ‘Ok…what the heck is going on here?’ I make the bed and
go back to sleep.
<Dream>
I’m in the back of a church. I look down and there’s a piece
of paper in my hand. I look closer and it’s a memorial card
for Corbin. ‘Oh no.’ I whisper to myself. At the cemetery I
try to tell his parents how sorry I am, but they just ignore
me and walk to the car. I turn around to leave and Howie’s standing
there with hate in his eyes, ‘Let me guess,’ he says in a very
angry voice, ‘If you couldn’t have me no one could. Is that
why you killed him? Just to show me that? I’ll hate you till
the day you die. Hopefully it won’t be too long.’ he says before
he portals away. Next it’s Pat’s funeral, then Travis’, then
Stacy’s, and finally it’s Aaron’s. At the cemetery I go over
to Bob and Jane, ‘I’m So sorry…’ Bob just glares at me, and
Jane comes over and slaps me. ‘I thought you were going to protect
him, not KILL him.’ she shouts at me. I look at the ground as
a tear slowly falls down. Nick comes over and starts to hit
me, ‘I HATE YOU!’ he yells as he pounds my chest. N Sync and
the other 4 BSB pull him away from me. ‘Don’t you think you’ve
done enuff damage here? You’d better leave.’ Kevin says while
giving me a dirty look. ‘Just leave us alone.’ Howie says.
<End dream>
I wake up and look around and see that I’m still in my bedroom.
I have tears running down my face. ‘Oh…no…not again.’ I look
at the clock and see that it’s only 4:00 am. I get up and head
to the living room. I get a 7up and a glass of ice and I reach
for the bottle of Windsor. I shake my head. ‘That won’t help.’
I say to myself. I turn on the TV and watch cartoons till I
go to sleep again.
<Dream>
I wake up to an unholy shriek, ‘Your ours, now we get our revenge.’
Travis’ corpse screams. I look behind him and see the other
4 rushing towards me. All of them start to attack me.
<End dream>
I wake up sobbing and shaking like a leaf. ‘Oh God, why?’ I
get it together good enuff to make a pot of coffee, then I go
in and take another shower.
When I get done, I go and start to get dressed. I look in a
mirror and see that I look like shit. I just throw on a pair
of sweats and get my coffee. I go back into the living room
and sit on a couch and try to relax.
After a while I start to get sleepy again. ‘ “C”, if anyone
asks…tell them I’m fine, I just need some rest.’ ‘Will do Bob.’
he answers with a strange sound to his voice. I fall asleep
and start to dream again.
<Noon>
Aaron, BSB, N sync, and Corbin are looking around the dinning
room for me. ‘ “C” where’s Bob?’ Aaron asks. ‘He’s in his room.
He says that he’s fine, he just needs to rest.’ he replies.
They look at each other and shrug their shoulders.
<6:00pm>
The guys look for me again. They talk to “C” and he tells them
the same thing.
<8:00pm>
I’m huddled in a corner, I’m shivering, and my eyes hurt from
crying. Every time I fall asleep I start to dream…but I can’t
stay awake.
<Dream>
I look down at myself in a coffin, I look around and the funeral
home is empty. The priest walks into the room, looks around,
and heads to the office. ‘The room’s empty. Has any one came
at all?’ he asks. ‘No one.’ the mortician says. They talk for
a while then the priest leaves and the mortician locks up.
At the church the same thing happens. The priest and morticians
talk and then the priest does the mass for the 3 of them.
At the cemetery, since no one is there they put me on the stand.
The priest says a few prayers and they leave. As I turn away,
Howie portals in, ‘So no one came to say good bye to you? You
got that you deserve. You prick. I still hate you.’
All of a sudden I’m hot, ‘Now what?’ I ask. ‘I’m going to have
fun with you.’ I hear someone say. I turn around and see Satan
smiling evilly. ‘Do your worst…you’ll probably be kinder to
me than I’ve been to myself.’ ‘Yeah right. Let the fun begin.’
He says with an evil laugh.
<End dream>
‘Here we go again.’ I say as I slowly open my eyes. I slowly
get off the floor and go to my bedroom. My sweets are soaked
. I strip and that a shower. I put on a pair of briefs and crawl
in to my bed. I curl up and go back to sleep.
I dream the 5 dreams all night long.
<8:00>
Corbin stumbles down the stairs and runs into J.C. and Justin.
They all fall down. ‘Sorry guys. I’ve got such a headache I
can hardly see.’ Corbin apologies. ‘I was taking J.C. to see
Lance, to see if he could take care of his headache. So I’ll
help you too.’ Justin says as he guides both J.C and Corbin
to Lance’s room.
<10:00>
Ed looks at Sherry, ‘That’s the 15th person that’s
come in with a headache and blurred vision. I wonder what’s
going on.’ he says. ‘I’ve heard of a lot more but they went
to healers that lived close to them.’ she replies.
<Noon>
Corbin walks into the dinning room, sees N sync and BSB eating
and talking, and joins them. ‘How you doing Josh?’ he asks.
‘Not too bad. And you?’ J.C. asks. ‘Pretty good, Lance did
a good job.’ Corbin answers. Lance looks up with a grin and
says, ‘Thanks Corbin, I try to do my best. Have you seen Bob
today?’ ‘No I haven’t…“C” is Bob still in his room?’ ‘Yes he
is Corbin. He hasn’t left since the afternoon he got back from
the infirmary.’ “C” replies. ‘That’s strange…the only time that
I know of that he’s stayed in his room that long was when he
came out of the coma he was in after rescuing us.’ Howie says.
They finish eating, talk for a while longer then head to Kevin’s
room.
<R&R section>
As they go by my room J.C. and Corbin start to get a headache
again. ‘Lance…’ they moan while holding their heads. ‘Let’s
get you to Kevin’s room. I’ll work on you there. Help them guys.’
Lance says.
After he’s done working on the 2 guys he sits down and starts
to think. He gets an idea and expands his powers till they reach
me, then he shuts them down fast. ‘ “C” I need to talk to Ed
now.’ he requests. ‘What can I do for you Lance?’ Ed asks. ‘I
think I found the cause for the telepaths having a headache
this morning. Please meet me at Bob’s room.’ Lance replies ‘Give
me 15 min.s and I’ll meet you there. Out.’ Ed says. ‘Kevin,
please turn into bio-metal form, we may need you.’ Lance asks.
‘Sure, let me change clothes first.’ Kevin replies.
Lance, Kevin, and Ed meet out side my room. ‘ “C”, please let
us in.’ Lance asks. ‘Sorry but Bob still has the ‘Do not disturb’
sign up.’ he says. ‘ “C” this is Ed. Open the door, authorization
Omega one, medical emergency.’ he says. ‘Confirmed.’ “C” replies
as he opens the door. They look around the rooms till they find
me curled up in bed.
‘This is not good.’ Ed says. ‘What are we going to do?’ Lance
asks. ‘I’ll carry him anywhere you want.’ Kevin offers. ‘First
I’m going to try to telepathically check his mind and see if
I can see what’s going on up there. I may not be anywhere near
as strong as he is…but I have to try.’ Ed answers.
In a few min.s Ed shakes his head, ‘Well that worked as good
as trying to blast thru a 6” sheet of steel with a pea-shooter.
“C” have Dustin come over here. And make sure he’s fully shielded.’
he says. ‘Will do Ed.’ “C” replies. ‘Who’s Dustin?’ Kevin asks.
‘He’s a young empath. I want to know what he’s feeling before
I decide what to do. You stay here, I’ll go let him in.’ Ed
answers as he turns to leave.
When Dustin shows up, ‘Ok Dustin, Bob’s in there basically
comatose, when you go in there slowly lower your shields, just
enuff to see what he’s feeling.’ Ed says. ‘I’ve done this before…you
know.’ Dustin says with a hurt voice. ‘Not to someone as strong
as he is. I don’t want you to be burned out.’ Ed replies. ‘Sorry
Ed. I’m used to people thinking I don’t know what I’m doing
since I’m only 20.’ he says. ‘Not a problem. Let’s get this
done.’ Ed says as he leads the way to my bedroom.
When they enter, ‘Any change?’ Ed asks Lance and Kevin. They
both shake their heads. ‘Ok Dustin…slowly.’ Ed says with a smile.
Dustin lowers his shields a little and starts to do his checking.
‘I feel self loathing, self contempt, sorrow, loneliness, fear,
and…and relief? I’ve never seen anyone feel relief like this
before, it feels like he thinks he’s getting what he deserves
for something he’s done. And thanks for the warning earlier
Ed, I could have ended up just like him.’ Dustin says. ‘Thanks
D, go ahead and take off.’ Ed says. He thinks for a few min.s,
then looks at Kevin. ‘You sure that you want to carry him, it’s
going to be a long ways.’ he says. Lance looks up, ‘Chris could
teleport us.’ ‘Might be a good idea. “C” if you would.’ In a
second Chris ‘pops’ in. Kevin picks me up and Chris teleports
the 4 of us to Ed’s office.
<Medical area>
Ed goes over to his desk and pulls out a couple of key cards
and leads the way to an elevator in a hallway that the guys
had never seen. It opens and they walk in. Ed pushes the bottom
button and they start to go down.
In a few min.s the elevator stops, the doors open, they walk
out, and Ed goes over and cards one of the 4 doors open. “In
here Kev.’ he says. Kevin gently lays me down on the bed. ‘
“C” telepathic shields on max.’ Ed says. ‘Confirmed .’ he replies.
‘Come on guys, I need to recruit some help, and get something
to eat.’ Ed says. ‘You just going to leave him here alone?’
Lance asks. Ed nods, ‘He’ll be perfectly safe. When we get
topside, I’ll send someone down.’ ‘Don’t think so, I’ll stay
with him.’ Kevin says. ‘Me too. Chris would you let the other
guys know what’s going on.’ Lance asks. ‘Now that that’s taken
care of, come with us Lance.’ Ed says as he motions them to
go ahead of him.
At the elevator, Ed cards it open. ‘Here you go Lance, this
is the only way into the room or elevator.’ he says as he hands
Lance the key card. ‘Where are we anyway?’ Chris asks. ‘25 floors
down, 20 of them are solid stone. I want to make sure everyone
is safe…Bob included. I don’t know if someone did this to him,
or if he’s doing it to himself. I hope to find out soon.’ Ed
replies as he lets the doors close.
Lance cards the room door open and walks in. he sits down on
the bed and starts to monitor me. ‘Lance…’ ‘Yeah Kev.’ ‘Would
some music bother you?’ Kevin asks. ‘No. What you wanna listen
to?’ Lance asks. ‘How about “Mannheim Steamroller”?’ ‘Sounds
good to me. “C” if you would please.’ ‘Sure Lance, any CD in
particular?’ ‘Lets just start with “Fresh Aire #1” and go from
there.’ ‘Will do Kevin.’ “C” replies.
In a while Sherry walks in. She listens for a second, ‘Well
someone has good taste.’ she says. ’Thank you.’ Kevin says.
‘Yeah…once in a while Train does get a good idea. Not often,
but once in a while he does surprise us.’ Lance says with a
smirk. ‘HEY…’ Sherry and Lance start to laugh as Kevin starts
to pout. ‘I needed that. Any change Lance?’ ‘Not yet Sherry.’
‘Well that pretty well excludes outside influence.’ she says
with a sigh.
<Ed’s office>
‘That’s right Roger, Bob’s out of it. There’s no way I can
get thru his barriers. It’ll take at least two powerful telepaths
to put a hole in it so I can take a look around and see what‘s
going on in his mind, and I’d bet it’ll take more then that.
I’ll also have a couple to telekinetic there as well.’ ‘Be careful.
That’s a scary place to visit. You going to need my help?’ Roger
asks. ‘I’m sure I can find enuff people here to do it, but I’ll
let you know if I do.’ Ed says. ‘I’m sure you will. And I’m
sure that I don’t need to remind you of this…but be careful
not to get tripped in his mind.’ Roger says. ‘I will…I will.
Talk to you later.’ Ed says. ‘Yeah, keep me posted. Bye Ed.’
‘Later Roger.’ Ed grabs a pad and pencil and heads over to eat.
<Kevin’s room>
Chris teleports in and tells the others what’s going on. ‘Do
you know what Ed is going to do?’ A.J. asks. ‘No idea. But it
was scary, he looked so small and helpless. He wasn’t anything
like when he was in the coma.’ Chris replies. ‘We’ll have to
think good thoughts and hope for the best.’ Nick says. ‘Yeah…’
Brian says. Howie and Corbin hug each other and start to cry,
‘Come back to me.’ ‘And me.’ they say. The other guys gather
them in a hug. ‘It’ll be ok, I’m sure of it.’ Joey says. ‘Yeah,
he’ll come out of this like he does everything else, stronger
than before..’ J.C. says.
<Ed’s office>
When Ed gets back from lunch, he gets a cup of coffee, sits
down, and opens the pad. ‘ “C” please have the following people
meet me in my office, Lance, J.C., Corbin, Nick, Pat R., Gary,
Julie, Sherry, Usher, Justin, Mike, Bill Michaels and Marsha.’
‘Will do, Ed.’
<15 min.s later>
When they get there, Ed explains what’s going on to the people
that don’t know. When he’s done with that, ‘Ok here is what
I have planed. The paths and kinetics will use their powers
to breach his shields, then the kinetics will keep it open so
I can see what’s going on in his mind. The medics will monitor
us and him so no one gets over tired. Nick, Corbin, Bill, you’re
the back ups, if we need help you can copy whatever power is
needed to help out. Any questions?’ he asks. They all shake
their heads. ‘Ok, lets do the restroom thing before we head
down.’ Julie says. ‘Meet back here in 15 min.s.’ Sherry finishes.
<Underground room>
They walk in and Ed asks, ‘Any Change Kev?’ ‘Not really, he
mumbled something and a tear rolled down his cheek. That’s it.’
Kevin replies. ‘Ok lets get to work.’ Ed says.
In 45 min.s they get a hole in my barriers and Ed slips in
as I start to dream again. When I start with the first dream
for the second time Ed leaves and camouflages the hole so I
won’t notice and close it. He backs totally out and brings every
one with him. He sits down and lets out a heavy sigh. ‘That
was hard work, but I hope it was worth it. How long were we
in there Kev?’ ‘Almost 2 hours. I was starting to worry.’ he
says. ‘Lets go up to my office and we can talk there. You too
Kevin.’ ‘But…’ ‘Not this time, I may need you to help with these
guys. “C” have Tony meet us at the elevator please.’ Ed says.
<Top side>
Tony meets them as they get out of the lift. ‘Here you go
Tony, Bob’s on the bottom floor, room #2. Call if you need any
thing, or if there’s any change. I’ll have someone bring you
lunch, and have someone relieve you around midnight.’ Ed says.
‘Any thing special I need to do?’ Tony asks. ‘Just monitor his
vitals, and see if you can get him to relax.’ ‘Ok, later.’ Tony
says as the doors close. ‘Nick, do you know when Aaron is getting
back tonight?’ ‘No idea Ed.’ ‘”C”…please check with his protection
team.’ Ed asks. ‘They say in about an hour and a half to two
Ed.’ ‘Ask him to meet us in the R & R conference room when
he gets back, and have Travis, Pat , and Stacy do the same.’
‘Done Ed.’ ‘Thanks “C”. J.C., have the others join us as well,
since they are already involved. ‘Ok Ed.’ J.C. replies. ‘I’m
going to go relax and get something to eat before Aaron shows
up. I know I just eat, but that took a lot out of me.’ Ed says.
Just then Justin’s stomach growls and he turns red. ‘Looks like
your not the only one. Come on Juju, I’ll make sure you don’t
go to sleep and do a face dive into your food.’ Mike says. Justin
sticks his tongue out and the rest start to laugh.
<R & R conference room, 2 hours later>
When everyone sits down, Ed stands up. ‘Ok I’ll make this short,
sweet, and to the point. I’m bushed, and I’m sure you are too.
This is what I found out…’ there is a loud gasp when he’s through.
‘And this is what I want to do. In the morning, I’ll force him
to wake up and make him realize that what he thinks is real,
are just dreams, and that you 5 are alive and well. I’ll need
the kinetics to put shields up to protest you. I should be ok
on by him, so don’t worry about me.’ Ed says. ‘What time in
the morning?’ Kevin asks. ‘How about 10, that should give everyone
time to unwind and get plenty of sleep.’ Ed says while looking
at Aaron, who blushes and looks at the floor. ‘I’ll make sure
that they are up and well fed.’ Kevin says with an evil grin,
‘Anyone going to argue?’ he says as he looks around the room.
‘Good.’ he finishes with a smirk. ‘Anyone else?…then good evening
and goodnight all.’ Ed says as he gets up and leaves the room.
The guys follow suit and head their separate ways.
<A.J. and Kevin’s room later that night>
‘ “C”, wake up call for 7:30 please.’ Kevin says. ‘Of course
Kevin.’ He replies. ‘7:30...isn’t that a little early?’ A.J.
asks. ‘Well I have to shower and get dressed, then I have to
make sure that everyone else is up by 8:00 so that we can be
at Ed’s office at 10:00. We both know that Nick and Aaron like
to sleep in. Plus I’ve seen that J.C. and Justin aren’t morning
people either.’ Kevin says with an evil grin. ‘Oh Lord…you are
going to enjoy this aren’t you?’ A.J. asks with a smile. ‘Yeah
I am. Do you still have that old video cam?’ Kevin asks. A.J.
thinks for a second then goes over to his closet. He looks thru
the shelves and pulls out an old case. He takes it over to the
table and goes thru it, ‘All ready to go. The batteries are
still charged and we have two blank tapes.’ he replies. ‘Purrrrrrrfect.’
Kevin purrs like Catwoman from the old Batman TV show. Kevin
starts a movie, they lay down in their beds, and about half
way thru the DVD, their asleep.
<Howie’s room>
Corbin gets off the couch and stretches. ‘You going to your
room, or do you want to stay here?’ Howie asks. ‘I don’t think
I want to be alone tonight. You sure you don’t mind?’ Corbin
answers. ‘If I did, do you think I’d ask ? I don’t want to be
alone either. I’m so afraid that something bad is going to happen.’
Howie finishes. They go bed and hold each other thru the night
Email
me or fill out this respond
form with your comments.
.gif){kind=tracking}
