After Dark 7 by DCG
############### DISCLAIMER ###############
The usual disclaimer applies as per usual. I don't mean to imply anything about NSync or anything they do or think. But my character Chris, who is based around a real person is, yes you've guessed it, completely and utterly gay and THAT I DO want to imply!!
Also, I am mentioning music that people have had the inspiration to write and compose and perform and I want to impart that the piece used here is the artists alone...(and Sony Music (c) as-well!!)
Also, kids bugger off cause your too young, and the same goes for those who don't like this stuff...All that being said...............
Authors Notes: Chapter 6 out of the way, chapter 7 coming your way!! But the questions just keep on coming... Where has the body gone? How will the cute threesome survive the weather, and who is JC following?
Suggested Reads: Just go and read the lot. I happen to be reading Josh & Just again, and it is a great read by an equally great author. I only hope any of my stories can reach such a length and depth of J&J and still maintain people's attention, concentration, and empathy.
Important Note: Nobodies reading this I'm sure, but ha-ho... I have come to realization that music is a pivotal part of my writing. It influences me immensely and guides my storylines without effort. I listen to a fast paced piece of rock music and the pace of the story increases, and the sentences shorten, and the action becomes slicker. I listen to a piece of background music, or classical music, or soundtrack music for that matter, and it goes the opposite way...and everything slows down and I put more thought into the scene in general, and the thoughts of the characters take a more prominent role...With this in mind, I have decided to attach a piece of music to each chapter, as sort of a theme for it. It will be the piece of music that influenced me the most in my writing, and was more than likely the piece of music I was listening when i wrote it...Some pieces may surprise you, or they may not!! Oh, and if someone else has already done this in their work and feels I have stolen their idea without asking, then please let me know and I'll stop...
Enough of me and on with the show...
Last Time in After Dark...
By now, Lance had reached the first floor, and he suddenly felt a chill run across his face as he rounded the corner at the top of the stairs. His body visibly shivered at the sudden sensation. He stopped and looked around. Everything seemed normal, but the temperature had visibly decreased. He decided to test the air. He let a small breath escape between his lips as he saw as the air from within his lungs condense in mid air as if he were walking down the street on a cold winters morning. He started walking again and at the end of the hallway, he saw the culprit. He saw a fully opened window, the red curtain that hung from it, blowing hard in the wind as trickles of snow crept onto the ledge. Another chill ran up his spine as he approached, and eventually reached the window. He looked out into the harsh outside world for a second before reaching up and grabbing the window, and pulling it down. He almost reached the bottom, when suddenly he saw something out of place. The latch had been forced off it's hinge, the window had been forcibly opened. Lance stood, shocked for a second, his mind contemplating millions of possible answers and explanations... That was until he glanced down even further a saw another clue. He saw a soaking carpet, a trail of water leading away from the window. He looked up, and followed the trail. It rounded a corner and suddenly, Lance knew where it came from. He walked to the door, and looked inside the room, and what he saw he didn't like, or understand. The trail of water led Lance straight to the bathroom, the very bathroom they had stored the body...
"Where is it?"
And now the continuation...
After Dark by DCG
Chapter 7 - Touch Wood
Music: Thinking about forever - P.O.D
In the Bathroom
Pieces of ice were strewn over the floor, and a slight chill reverberated through the stagnant air. The bath was empty. A simple fact, but one Lance couldn't quite comprehend. Moments later, he shook himself from his slumber and turned and walked back to the window, and looked out. The snow still fell outside, but it seemed to have abated slightly. He wasn't being forced inside by the howling wind and freak temperatures. Now all he saw when he looked out of the window, was a shell of a burnt out car in the distance, and picture perfect winter scene as snow fell to the floor, and the capped trees bordered the horizon. A door hinge creaked, and Lance spun around, heart beating to find nothing. The bathroom door began to close of it's own accord. Lance froze on the spot...
"Hello..." He said, as everyone in that situation would (yeah right!) But nothing happened, not a sound, and the door continued to close, creaking loudly as it did, until eventually, it clicked shut. Lance hadn't moved an inch, and still stood against the forced open window. He felt a chill rush up his spine as he pushed all thoughts of horror movie scenarios out of his mind. He shook his head before walking past the now closed door.
A clatter, and Lance stopped instantly. Another noise, and he looked towards the door. Smashing glass! Lance gulped, and then did the only thing he thought of, and ran. He rounded the stairs, and ran down them to an expectant group...He was out of breath...
"Shit Lance, what's going on?" Asked Chris, as Lance stopped in front of the burning embers within the fire. He composed himself...
"He's not dead!" Stated Lance. Joey just laughed...
"I'm not fucking joking Joe... He's not dead, he's not in the bath, the window has been forced open, from the inside, and there's someone in our bathroom...!" He said, verging on the point of shouting, but maintaining enough composure to keep it calm. As soon as he had finished his verbal tirade, silence covered the room.
"Well, what do we do?" Asked a small voice in the group as Britney made her voice heard for the first time. The other three just looked straight at her, faces blank, neither of them knowing what do, or what to say...
At the Cave, in the Woods
The abating snow had reached the small cave across the wooded expanse, as Chris and Justin sat, across from each other, silently.
"I take it your here on holiday?" Asked Chris. He needed to start conversation somehow
"Yeah." Nodded Justin "A week."
"This may sound stupid, but seen as you came here deliberately, you know whereabouts we are then?" Asked Chris. Justin looked up at Chris for the first time, and smiled
"You mean your not here `deliberately' either?" Laughed Justin.
"Not exactly..." Smiled Chris "I kinda ran into a bit of trouble..."
"You either did or you didn't...It would a bit difficult to `kinda' run into trouble!" Continued Justin, his smile still evident on his face. Chris reacted by lowering his head, half in shame, the other in sadness...Justin caught onto his apparent dejection
"I'm sorry...I hope I didn't hit a nerve..." Said Justin, his face devoid of the previous smile. He then realised that they were still complete strangers to each other, in every way. "I'm Justin by the way." He said, holding out his hand, crossing the divide between them. Chris noticed this and met his hand with his own and shook it gently.
"Chris..." He responded. "I'm sorry I tuned out there. It's been one of those days..." He said before bursting into laughter.
"What?" Asked Justin
"Well...I wouldn't call nearly falling off a cliff to my death and crashing my car into a tree and watching it explode as being `one of those days'...That's the sort of thing you say when you stub your toes on the door to the kitchen or something!" He said, continuing to laugh...and Justin quickly joined him... But moments later, Justin stopped.
"What did you say?" He asked
"What?" Chris asked, still half laughing to himself, and not paying much attention to Justin
"Your car, what did you say about your car?" Asked Justin
"I crashed it this morning. Right into a tree of all things!" He smirked. "I thought I'd be more pissed about it that this..." He mused
Justin didn't hear it as he was busy thinking about what Chris had just said... He was the driver of the car. He was ok. He wasn't dead. He wasn't the dead body in the chalet! And with that a shocked expression appeared on Justin's face as he realised the truth
"What's that matter?" Asked Chris, clambering off the rock he was sat on and walked across to be alongside Justin. "It wasn't a particularly good car anyway. I have you to thank for taking my mind off it. I'm usually a manic worrier, so without you, I would have probably had a breakdown or something!" He laughed, placing his hand on Justin's shoulder. But Justin didn't laugh along with him.
"It wasn't you!" He whispered
"What wasn't me?" Asked Chris, confused as to what had suddenly changed Justin's outlook.
"The body...It wasn't you!" Said Justin, looking over at Chris, their eyes piercing each other's. "You're alive, and he's...dead, and in our bath..." Said Justin (corny, I know!) Chris stopped his smile immediately.
"What body?" He asked. He had heard what Justin had said and didn't want what he was thinking to be the truth. "What body did you find?"
"This morning...We found your car, and...a...body...A dead body near your car." Justin took a breath "We thought it was the driver. We thought it was you." He finished. Their faces stood mere inches from each other as Chris listened intently to Justin's words. Suddenly, they started to draw closer, thinking of nothing but savouring each others lips for the briefest of moments. For a second, the wind narrowed and silence ensued. They drew closer, but just as Justin closed his eyes, and Chris prepared to close his, a sound reverberated around the cave, and Chris pulled away. Justin sat waiting for a second, waiting for the kiss, but he eventually opened his eyes to see Chris looking past him and out into the wilderness.
"What?" Justin asked, wanting to know what had pulled Chris from their soon to be kiss.
"Did you hear that?" Asked Chris. "I heard a voice." He finished
"It was nothing. It was probably the wind!" He surmised, and Chris seconds later nodded...
Just a mere fifty meters away, JC had shouted Justin's name for the millionth time it seemed. He stopped for a second to catch his breath, and get his bearings. He felt a constant chill run up his spine as his skin started to cool to the point of numbness. The snow and wind had subsided, but the damage it was doing to JC's health was still evident. His eyes felt droopy and tired. He decided to continue...
"JUSTIN!" He screamed yet again, hoping that he would get an answer, but he didn't get one. He sidestepped another tree and started to feel the tree-line subside and an opening appear, but with it came a stronger wind. He looked up and around. Suddenly, as he surveyed the land before him, his gaze stopped. He squinted to see, and he was right. In the distance, just a mere forty or fifty meters away he was sure he could see Justin. He could see him as clear as day. He could see him laughing, with another person. He looked ok. A wide smile appeared on JC's face as he started to make his way to them...
Suddenly a figure appeared in his path. He looked up to see the man. He looked injured as he kept a tight hold on his ribs, and maintained a painful grimace on his face...
"About Time!" Said the man. "I knew I'd catch up with you eventually!" He finished. JC stood shocked for second before glimpsing the man start to clench his right hand into a tight fist. JC gulped.
"What do you want?" He asked, a quiver in his voice.
"I don't want anything you can't give!" He said...an evil smile appearing on his face as he followed JC's glare to his clenched fist and chuckled slightly. JC took this as a sign...
"JUSTIN!" He screamed, hoping to get his attention. But Justin didn't register his plea, so he decided to try and run, towards them. He tried to bypass the man, but as he tried to dart past his injured side, the man reached out, grabbed JC's shirt and rammed him against the bark of a nearby tree bloodying his lips and scratching the side of his face. JC stumbled, as he tried to regain his composure. He looked up after a second to see Justin as clear as the day in front of him...
"Maybe this'll teach you!" He heard, and no sooner than that, he felt an almighty pain in his face before he suddenly felt nothing at all...
That's chapter 7 out of the way and chapter 8 is right alongside!! That's what makes this bit feel good, cause I know the next chapter is already done and dusted!! phew lol Hope you enjoyed it, and now I am back from my sabbatical, things should get updated much quicker than usual!! Drop me a line by email or chat on MSN Messenger, and I will be more than glad to say hi and answer and questions, or just chat!!
Love and Hugs to everyone, and I want to say hi to my best mate Christopher (no, not you Mr Barrett!! - my other best bud) Chris Harrison in good ol' Washington DC. Him and his other half Samuel are moving to Toronto and I want to wish them the best of luck and I'll see you guys at Xmas when I come to visit...YAY (Seems a long time ago since we were in college together!! lol)
DCG