Why is it that during the day there is nothing good on TV? I don't watch soap operas and I liked talk shows even less. They were all the same. Either the woman’s husband was cheating on her with her sister and then it ends up being a double cross because he was cheating on her with that sister’s husband or something gross like that. There was a knock on the door and I welcomed the distraction. “Come in!” I called out.
“I bet you thought you were rid of us didn’t ya?”
My blood ran cold as I looked towards the door. Dale was standing in the doorway and he had Nick in front of him, his arms pinned.
“No!” I gasped.
“Or how about your best friend here?” Suddenly Marcus appeared, carrying Kyung’s limp body in his arms.
“Kyung?” I whimpered.
“She isn’t dead, but she’s gonna be!” Marcus barked.
“Where’s Brian?” My eyes darted back and forth between them.
Marcus laughed. “We already took care of him.”
“No.” I whispered.
“See, we’re giving you a choice.” Dale began, releasing Nick’s arms. Surprisingly, he didn’t try to escape or anything. But then I saw why. Dale was holding a gun. At the end of the gun was a silencer.
“You get to choose which one we kill next.” Marcus continued, grinning sadistically.
“No! No! I can’t...You can’t make me...” I cried.
“Fine! Then they both die. Say goodbye Lizz!” Dale yelled.
“NOOOOOO!!!!” I screamed as the muted sound of a shot rang out. It as immediately followed by another and I started to struggle in my bed. Dale grabbed me by the arms and I knew I was next. I thrashed in attempt to tear free of his grasp, ignoring the pain I was causing myself.
“Lizz! Lizz, calm down!” Sheila tried to hold Lizz down. She was thrashing all around and was going to bust her stitches if she kept it up.
“LET ME GO!” I hollered frantically.
“Lizz you need to stop thrashing! It’s Sheila! Lizz!!” Sheila persisted.
Finally I opened my eyes and sure enough, Sheila was standing over me. Dale and Marcus weren’t anywhere to be seen. I sagged against the pillows behind me and let out a choked sob. “They...they were here...he shot...he killed them...my fault...all my fault!” I gasped between my sobs. The pain from moving around so much was starting to catch up with me.
“Shhhhh. There’s no one here okay? You’re fine now. I’m going to give you some Demerol for the pain, alright? I want you to concentrate on taking slow deep breaths. Can you do that for me?” Sheila soothed.
“Where are they? Where are my friends?” I choked out.
“Sweetie, you need to worry about yourself right now.” Sheila started as she pushed the pain medication through my IV.
“No! Don’t you understand? All of this is my fault. I need to know what’s happened to them! Is Kyung in the hospital too? And where’s Brian? They didn’t give him his meds and he got hurt in the plane crash. And what happened to Nick? Something’s wrong! I know it is. I can feel it.” My voice got more and more frantic.
“Shhhh. You need to try to stay calm sweetie.” Sheila rested her hand on my forehead. “You are really warm.”
I started to feel sleepy from the Demerol, but I didn’t want to sleep anymore. I wanted answers. I didn’t care how much pain I was in. I needed to know where my friends were. Sheila stuck that temperature thing in my ear and waited for the beep. I tried my hardest to fight the drowsiness, but it didn’t matter. The drug was winning and I barely heard her tell me I had a temperature before I fell asleep.
“So you’re saying that Nick was taken to jail?” AJ demanded.
Laura sighed. “Yes. I tried to convince the state troopers that he needed to stay longer, but they wouldn’t listen.”
“He went through a window?” Brian whispered, still shocked at what he was hearing.
Laura immediately noticed the look on his face. “I don’t think he was seriously injured though. Just some cuts and scrapes from the glass.” She added quickly to allay his fears.
“Does he even know why he was taken to jail? He had amnesia.” Brian could feel tears stinging the back of his eyes.
Laura looked away from him. “I don’t think he did.”
“He’s gotta be totally freaked out.” AJ muttered darkly. “I wish I was in here when they tried to take him away.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you really would have helped matters.” Brian raised an eyebrow at AJ, knowing how he was around authoritative figures.
“I could’ve done something.” He insisted.
“What about Kyung? Is she okay?” Brian asked suddenly
.
Laura flinched. She didn’t want to have to be the bearer of bad news once again. It occurred to her that he might have assumed that Kyung had been with Lizz this entire time. He didn’t know that she was still being held by the kidnappers.
“Excuse me?!” Kyung narrowed her eyes at Marcus.
“I said, get me out of here, bitch“ He repeated, putting emphasis on the last word.
“I don’t think you are in any position to be talking to me like that.” Kyung glared at him.
“I don’t care what position I’m in. Get your ass over here and get me out of this. What do you think you are gonna do, wander off and get help all on your own? We’re out in the middle of fuckin nowhere. You’ll die.” Marcus sneered.
“Oh is that right? Looks to me that I will have a better chance at surviving than you will, pinned under that suburban.” She retorted.
“If you don’t get me out of here...” He threatened.
“You’ll what? Shout more insults at me?” Kyung laughed bitterly. “My friends are probably dead because of you! Our plane fucking crashed and instead of giving up your vendetta against us, you continued on. You sick shit, I should leave you here to die. You deserve it!”
Marcus looked shocked at the amount of hatred that resonated from this girl’s voice. She wouldn’t really leave him here to die would she?
“You didn’t give a shit about Lizz when she was freezing to death in the snow. You didn’t care when Terri almost beat her to death. You only pretended to care about Brian being pinned against that seat, only to carry on that stupid charade. You freaked out when you shot Nick only because you didn’t want to go to jail. But then you proved that you didn’t give a shit when you had a chance to escape and you left him there to bleed to death. MY FRIENDS
ARE PROBABLY DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!!!” She screamed as she turned on her heel and started walking away.
A sense of panic started to creep over Marcus. “Kyung. Don’t leave me here. Don’t let me die.” His voice cracked.
Kyung halted midstep. As much as she wanted to leave him there, she couldn’t. She wasn’t like them. She couldn’t kill. She sighed loudly and turned back around.
“I don’t know what the hell you expect me to do. Especially with a broken arm.” Kyung huffed as she stared at Marcus.
“I can feel my legs. They’re just trapped.” He replied.
“Too bad they aren’t broken.” Kyung muttered.
Marcus started to respond, but thought better of it. He didn’t want to run the risk that she would leave him.
Kyung leaned down and tried to lift the part of the suburban that was covering his legs. Of course with only one arm, she couldn’t budge it.
“What if you put that bar under here and then put your weight on it and maybe I can slide out.” Marcus gestured to a piece of the suburban that was broken off. It was as long as the bumper and had a similar shape. Kyung wondered what part of the car it came from. She could shove one end under the car and put something there to see-saw it. Then she could put all her weight on the other end and see if it was enough for him to get himself out.
After many failed efforts and frustrated words, Kyung finally managed to use that method to budge the suburban. It just barely slid a little, but it was enough. Marcus slid out and shakily stood up. Amazingly he didn’t have any broken bones. Only some scrapes and bruises.
“Nice job bitch, now lets go before we get caught.” Marcus smirked at her as he grabbed her good arm.
Kyung balked. “What the hell are you doing?! I just saved your life you asshole!” She yelled as she tried to twist out of his grasp.
“Yeah and thanks, but that doens’t change anything. So shut up before I get mad.” Marcus shrugged.
Kyung boiled with rage. “Fuck you!” She twisted around and kicked him, as hard as she could, between the legs. Marcus let out a high-pitched scream and dropped to the ground, curling into a ball and moaning. Kyung took that oppurtunity to escape. She started running as fast as she could. To her dismay, his angry voice begane to follow.
“YOU BITCH! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY!” He screamed as he ran to catch up with her.
The lack of food, sleep, and level of emotional stress was taking its toll on Kyung. He was gaining on her and she couldn’t do anything about it.
Agnes walked brusquely towards Lizz’s room. She had been advised to stay away from her, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted to make sure that she was suffering as much as her Terri. Agnes smiled at the thought of Nick in jail. He was going to get it in there alright! She wanted to pay a visit to Brian as well, but security around him was too tight. She had to settle on Lizz.
I was just starting to wake back up when I heard a knock at my door. Before I could answer, the door opened. Terri’s mother walked in and smiled at me. I felt my heart move to my throat.
“What are you doing here?!” I whispered. I didn’t want her to see that I was afraid.
“Oh I just wanted to see how you were.” She smiled sweetly at me.
“Bitch, liar.” I glared at her.
Her demeanor changed. Her eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a viscious smile. “Oh but I did. I just wanted to see if you were suffering as much as you should. I’ve heard you are having a rough time of it. Poor baby.” She sneered. “It could be worse. You could be missing still. Or you could be in jail.”
Oh god, what did she mean? What was she talking about?! I started to shake.
Her grin turned even more sinister. “Oh! You mean you didn’t know?!”
“What’s wrong? Is she...is she?” Brian didn’t want to finish the thought.
“No! Well, I don’t know.” Laura said finally. “The kidnappers still have her.”
Brian felt sick. “No.” He whispered.
“We haven’t heard much.” Laura said, somewhat apologetically.
“And Lizz...” Brian trailed off. “Who’s with her?”
Laura shook her head.
“Oh god. I have to see if she is okay.” Brian shifted his eyes back and forth between AJ and his nurse.
“No way. Not yet anyway. Not until you are in better condition.” Laura stated firmly.
“AJ will you go check on her?” Brian asked anxiously.
AJ nodded. “Just stay calm okay?”
“Nick, god, what do you think is happening with him?” Brian felt even more sick at the idea of his best friend sitting in jail for something he didn’t do.
AJ froze when he heard Brian remark about Nick’s predicament. He didn’t
have the heart to tell him what had happen earlier in the afternoon in court.
“I’ll be back in a minute after I check on Lizz for ya,” AJ managed to call out
as he left the room.
As he walked down the hall, AJ’s mind filled with the scenes of the court
hearing earlier in the day. Nick never made eye contact with them, he just
stood in front of the judge, his head hanging down. They had chains wrapped
around his waist, connected to his wrists and they made a noise that AJ
decided he would never forget for the rest of his life. He shuddered when
the memory of the noise crept into his mind.
”Your honor, I wish to declare my client emotionally uncapable of
defending himself. He was insane at the time the alleged events took
place.”
”Nickolas Carter is remanded to Fulton State Emotional Rehabilitation
Institution for observation and testing and if need be, treatment. Court is
postphoned for a period of no less than thirty days and will reconvene at
that time on 20 June, 2001.”
AJ squeezed his eyes shut as the door to the elevator closed. The last image
he had was of Nick being led away to some state nuthouse and there wasn’t a
damn thing any of them could do to prevent it. How could he tell that to
Brian? That would kill him.
“Yes, your little perfect friend, or should I say your six foot tall friend has
been arrested. I can’t believe you don’t know about that, it’s been on the
news,” Agnes taunted as she turned on Lizz’s television set. “Oh, and don’t
worry, he did put up a fight as they were taking him away from the hospital.
You see though, Nick isn’t very bright, he jumped through a plate glass
window on his way out instead of taking the door.”
Lizz narrowed her eyes at Agnes. “What are you talking about?”
“You again? What are you doing in her room?” AJ’s voice boomed from the
doorway.
“She’s the one AJ, she did this to us!” Lizz cried out.
Agnes tried to laugh Lizz off. “Oh, the stuff they put these people on,
makes their minds a bit crazy,” she made a circle with her finger next to her
temple.
“AJ! Her name is Agnes and she kidnapped us! Her and her daughter and the
rest of her freaked out family!”
AJ hadn’t moved from when he entered the room, his mouth hanging open.
Anges laughed.
“See Lizz, see how farfetched your story is? I mean, who would think a
fragile old woman like me would kidnap young and vibrant people like
yourself? Even this boy has difficulty comprehending your story.”
Almost as if on que, CNN showed a video of Nick, in bright yellow prison
grab, running in the hosptial lobby and then jumping through a window. Lizz
gasped when she watched it.
“I think you need to come with me and talk to the police,” AJ finally spoke.
“You seem to be forgetting our deal here,” Agnes whispered harshly to him.
“Huh?”
“No one, no family or friends are supposed to be here at the hospital! You
broke that and so now watch Brian or Lizz get their just rewards,” Agnes
spat.
“Lady, you just admitted you are one of the kidnappers!” AJ glared.
“Tsk... tsk.... tsk,” Agnes reprimanded. “Now, be a good little Backstreet Boy
and mind your own business or Brian could end up with a big ole injection of
air in his IV line, that could foul things up really bad. You know that would
travel to his heart and kill him in seconds.”
With that being stated, Agnes stormed past AJ, leaving him standing in the
doorway, stunned.
I barely noticed Agnes march past AJ. My whole focus was the television. They showed Nick running through the plate glass again and I flinched.
“That’s what I felt.” I said softly.
“What?”
I turned my eyes to AJ. He still looked stunned by Agnes’ confession. His gaze flickered from me to the television.
“A thousand needles stabbing my body all at once. It scared the hell outta me. Until now, I didn’t know what happened. It was him jumping through the window though.” I murmured. Her last words sunk in. “Where’s Brian? Oh god, AJ, you can’t let her hurt him.”
“I’m not letting her near him. Lizz who was that woman? She was involved in the kidnapping?” AJ pressed.
I nodded. “That was Terri’s mother. Remember, Terri is the one who sent the Enquiror pictures of Nick and I in here. She, her mom, dad, brother and boyfriend kidnapped us. They...they...” I stopped, my voice choking up. I shut my eyes, but that made it worse. Images of that basement, the cages, Kyung’s trance, Marcus carrying an unconscious Brian after he collapsed in the heat, Nick having a seizure, them whipping him when I tried to escape. Then the plane crash and when I first realized Nick had amnesia. How my heart sank when he thought I was the kidnapper. How he blamed me. And he was right. It was my fault. And now all this...I didn’t even realize I was crying until AJ put a hand on my shoulder.
“Hey, shhhhh, don’t cry. It’s going to be okay.” He soothed.
“What happened AJ? Why is Nick in jail? Where’s Kyung? Where’s Brian?” I whispered.
He looked pained. I know he was afraid of my reaction and hell, I was afraid of what I was going to hear. I rested my hand on his arm. “Please, AJ, I need to know.”
There was a knock at the door and both Nick and Mandy looked to see who it was. One of the employees opened the door partway.
“Carter, you have a visitor.”
Mandy looked at Nick and he shrugged. “Well I am going to go make a few phone calls and I will be back alright?”
Nick nodded, wondering who his visitor was when he wasn’t supposed to have contact with anyone.
His question was answered when a scruffy man walked in and sat down. He didn’t speak, but waited for the orderly and Mandy to leave. The door was shut behind them and it was only Nick and the scruffy guy in the small room. He was wearing dirty jeans and a blue shirt that indicated that he worked at a car repair shop. There was dirt and grease underneath his fingernails. Nick stared at him, trying to figure out who he was. The man didn’t make him feel very comfortable. The stranger seemed to take notice of that and was amused by it.
“Trying to figure out who I am?” The man smirked. “Trying to trying to work through all those holes in your head to place me? Well, don’t worry, you won’t. You have never seen me and you are going to forget my face as soon as I leave here. I am only delivering a message for my sister. I guess it sucks to be sitting in this nuthouse and being on trial when you have no idea what you did.”
Nick couldn’t believe what he was hearing. What the hell was going on?! He wanted to jump up and shout at this person to leave, but he felt frozen to the chair. The man continued.
“You’re on trial for the assault of two women, huh? You don’t believe you did this right?” When Nick didn’t respond, the man barked, “I asked you a question!”
Nick’s eyes widened and he shook his head slowly.
“Well I don’t give a shit about this Lizz person, but you messed up my niece. Don’t think you are getting away with it.” The man snapped.
Nick’s mind reeled. His memory was trying to come back and he vaguely remembered the scene that had transpired in the snow before they were rescued. He remembered Terri dragging Lizz over in front of him and yelling like a crazed lunatic at the top of her lungs.
“ Here's your truth, Carter. Seven months ago you tried to kill yourself. Lizz here tried to stop you by saying she was going to drink some medicine that would kill her. Well she was too late. She didn't quite do the job because you still took the pills. You both ended up in the hospital. You both almost died. I would have made a shitload of money off of both of you selling information to the National Enquiror, but you and your stupid friends had to ruin that. See?! It is her fault. If she would have stopped you, none of this would have happened." Terri screamed.
Then she started beating the crap outta Lizz. Nick’s jaw dropped. He didn’t assault Lizz! It was Terri. He didn’t really remember Lizz, but he knew he wouldn’t attack her.
The man narrowed his eyes. “I just have a little advice for you, Carter. It would be in your friends’ better interest to not fight these charges. See, my sis is pretty upset about her daughter and you still need to pay. Both Brian and Lizz are in the hospital and from what I have heard, they are having a pretty rough time. Brian has pneumonia and as you know, he was shot. Not to mention the complications of missing whatever the hell meds he takes. And Lizz hasn’t been able to even get off the morphine yet. You should see her. Ha! Oh, I heard her body might be rejecting her kidneys now too. The best part is that has to be sedated every time she wakes up. I guess she is having a hard time dealing with this.”
“How the hell do you know all that?!” Nick demanded hoarsely. He hadn’t expected to hear any of this.
“Don’t ask questions Carter. Just know that if you are declared innocent, then you will make things a lot more complicated for your friends. Weigh your options carefully boy. And if I hear that you have told anyone of this conversation, either Lizz or Brian won’t be leaving the hospital.” The man smiled sadistically at Nick and let himself out.
Nick’s heart was pounding and the tiny room seemed to get smaller. He knew that Mandy would be back so he tried to get a handle on his emotions, but he couldn’t get past that man’s words. He felt like he was about to unravel.
“Shut up.” He said sourly.
“Seriously, do you have any idea where we are going?” Kyung pressed. They had been walking for the past half hour into the middle of nowhere. It was very woodsy and Kyung was afraid they were lost.
“Shut up.” Marcus repeated.
“What happens when it gets dark and we are out here in BFE?! You don’t know where we are do you?!” Kyung continued stubbornly. God she was turning into Lizz.
“Shut up.”
“You ever think about expanding your vocabulary?” Kyung glared at the back of his head as she tried to keep up.
“Alright. Shut the fuck up.”
Kyung shook her head as they continued deeper into the forest. She knew it was pointless to try to escape, as she had gotten caught twice already. She was no match for Marcus and she knew it. She didn’t want to, but she let her mind drift towards her friends. Her eyes filled with tears and she wondered if they were alive and if they were would she would ever see them again?
I waited as AJ shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t blame him. I was willing to bet he was familiar with my state of being as of late. He probably didn’t want to be the one to set off another panic attack. I was pretty upset with all this and I also had that familiar tense feeling. That, I knew, was Nick. I was used to that and it didn’t bother me so much. Ever since it started last spring he always apologized all over the place whenever it happened. I couldn’t say it enough. It wasn’t his fault and this happens for a reason. The only thing I hated about it is that everytime it happens, I know something is wrong. Nick is upset about something and there isn’t a damn thing I can do to make it better. I’d take it all away if I could, but at the same time, I’m sure he wouldn’t give it to me. “AJ, I need to know. Not knowing is worse than anything.” I urged.
“Okay, let’s start with Brian. He’s on a different floor, but it still treated like ICU. On top of missing his meds, and the injuries from the crash, he has pneumonia in both lungs.” AJ watched me carefully for a reaction.
I nodded. Pneumonia is bad. I’ve had to battle that on more than one occasion. “But he’ll be okay right?” I didn’t even want to think otherwise and I was relieved when he nodded.
“He’s going to be fine okay.” Even though he tried to sound reassuring, the worry in his voice was evident. “Nick...he’s in a state institution right now.”
I gasped.
AJ’s eyes widened. “Hold on, let me continue. His attorney wanted to stall for time so he could build up a good defense. Besides with Nick still having amnesia there is no way that he could stand trial and try to defend himself.”
I shook my head as the news settled in. “He can’t be there. Not a mental institute. You know what that’s gonna do to him on the inside? How that’s gonna affect him!”
“I know, but there isn’t much choice Lizz.” AJ shrugged helplessly. “I don’t like the idea any more than you do, but what other choice is there?”
I shook my head again, more vigorously. “AJ you don’t understand! You know what it’s like to not feel ‘normal’? It’s one of the worst feelings in the world. Being in that place, for whatever reason, is going to make it so hard. Whatever the reason.” My voice was reaching the point of desperation. What was going to happen when his amnesia started to wear off? It was something that I didn’t even want to fathom.
“Hey, you gotta stay calm okay? You won’t do yourself any good by getting worked up.” AJ tried to reason.
I took a couple deep breaths and winced at the pain it brought. I guess those saintly pain meds were wearing off. I didn’t want to freak out. If I did, they would sedate me and I wouldn’t hear the rest. “Where’s Kyung?” My voice was very small.
AJ sighed. “They still have her. We don’t know anymore than that. And your parents...none of you are allowed outside contact or harm could come to one fo you guys in here or Kyung. That was reported back from who has Kyung.”
Tears sprung to my eyes. “Dale and Marcus. They’re the only ones that are left. Oh god, what if she...if they...” I couldn’t finish the words. I never felt so alone. I pointlessly tried to fight the tears that were streaming down my cheeks. Agnes’ threat sprung to mind. “AJ you have to go make sure Brian is okay. You can’t let her hurt him again.”
He looked torn, but finally relented. “I’m going to get your nurse. I’ll keep you updated okay?”
I nodded, anxious for him to get back to Brian. Besides, I didn’t want him to see me cry. I hated when people saw me cry. I felt like my mind was in a whirlwind. It was torn between Brian, Nick and Kyung. They were all in trouble and I couldn’t help them. I pounded my fist down on the bedrail and then cried out when a sharp pain knifed through the lower side of my back. It was a pain I felt more than seven months ago. Same place. I bit my lip and reached my good arm back to feel the area. Every part of my body was sore from Terri’s beating and I was already tender to the touch. I pushed on the spot where my kidney was and tried not to gasp. This was bad. Very bad...