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Where have all my reviewers gone? lol...only have 1 of them still reviewing since after Chapter 6 *sniffles* THANKS ANITA!!! And thanks to AJsSweetie and Stephanie also for reviewing 6! *smiles* Anyways, hope ya'll come back and read & review 6, 7 & 8!

Chapter Eight

Kevin sat in the darkness of his jail cell, staring off into space. There were no windows, so he had no perception of whether it were daytime or night. He had no knowing of what time it was. All he knew was that the minutes were dragging by at an impossibly slow rate. He now knew what Nick had gone through, and felt bad for ever even blaming him for anything. Nick hadn’t known that helping look for certain clues or evidence would land him in the place, just as Kevin hadn’t known that doing something as simple as checking for a pulse would. Kevin thought that it had been necessary, but obviously turned out to be yet another thing to be left alone for the police to handle.

Kevin stifled a silent sob of fear. He was used to always being so together and with things. It was completely unlike him to land himself in a prison, and would definitely look bad on his permanent record, which had been clean and clear up until that point in his life. Kevin hated to admit it, but he was afraid. He’d heard a fight ealier between two men in a cell a few down from his own, giving him the sense of feeling unsafe, making him wonder if some of the rumors were true. Even though he was alone, he still wondered if anybody besides the prison guards could reach him. A few more tears fell down his cheeks, so he hung his head low to make sure that nobody that may be passing by was seeing. They would get a real riot out of that.

The semen test that Kevin had endured was the single most humiliating experience of his life. It had made him feel filthy and guilty of something he’d never had any part of in the first place. Kevin, for a second, wanted to turn back and refuse to give them the test, but decided quickly against it. He wanted to be out of the place as quickly as he could, and if temporary embarrassment was what it cost, then he was, by all means, willing to do anything to shorten his stay.

Kevin wondered how Amber was, and if she was out of the hospital yet. He picked his head up, about to whip his cell phone out and dial Brian’s cell number, but quickly discovered and remembered that the small phone had been confiscated from him while he was staying there. Kevin rolled his eyes, hoping that they would return it once he was released, knowing that he would be.

Bored, with absolutely nothing to do, Kevin thought of how he was going to react when he was told that the semen test didn’t match what was left on Amber. He had half a notion to try and get the officers fired from the station. They were obviously trained in the little hick town, and they were the best the station could do. He decided against it though. Revenge was no way to solve problems, as tempting as it was. Kevin figured he would just give them a piece of his mind and be done with it, hoping that his words didn’t land him right back into the cell. A small smile escaped his lips as he laughed bitterly at what he planned on saying. It wasn’t exactly flattering, but Kevin didn’t really care. He had enough anger riled up inside of him to take out an entire army. It wasn’t like him to be spiteful like this, but after all of the embarrassment and accusations that they’d put him and Nick though, affecting the rest of the band as well with it all, he figured that there was a first time for everything.

With a sigh, Kevin stood up and walked over to the excuse that they called a bed, laying down on the uncomfortable mattress. It was so worn and used, it was sagging drastically in the middle. Kevin knew that he’d have back problems in the morning from it…or later that day. He sure wished that he knew what time it was, but was tired, so decided to sleep anyways. It would take up a few hours, making time go by a little quicker, and he would be that much closer to getting out and getting on with his life, picking up from where he’d left off.

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“Are you ready to go?” Brian asked as Amber timidly got out of her bed, wearing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt that the Boys had bought her to wear out of the hospital. She had nothing else, considering the clothes she had been wearing were tattered rags now, being used to try and track down her real attacker, and her parents hadn’t even had the decency to drop off any of her belongings.

It was the day after Kevin had been imprisoned, and Amber was finally able to leave the hospital after five whole days. Dr. Jones had stated that she had to leave, for she was taking up room that ill patients could be using when it was unnecessary for her to be held any longer. His cruel comments had angered the Boys, but they let it go, figuring that he was right. Most rape victims, Dr. Jones had told them, were only held for a day, two at the most, unless injured as to where they needed to stay longer. Amber had been one of those, due to the gunshot wounds, but was doing fine now…for the most part.

In response to Brian’s question, Amber just nodded her head, too afraid to speak. She’d known the guys for five days how, and had been fine with them, slowly becoming more and more withdrawn, but suddenly, that morning, she felt a strange sense of being completely unsafe around them. She had, however, agreed to take their offer up, because she had nowhere else to go, and would feel even more vulnerable and unsafe living on the streets with nobody. Either way, it seemed to her to be a lose-lose situation for her. Amber wanted to be back home in her own bed, with her family close by. That wouldn’t happen though, and the thought brought fresh tears to her eyes.

“Come on then,” Howie smiled lightly, “The bus is waiting.”

He gently walked up to her, putting an arm around her shoulder to guide her gently, but she immediately tensed, beginning to shake. Jerking away violently, Howie knew that he’d made a bad move, which had made her feel violated.

Walking ahead with the other guys, Amber slowly followed them, lagging behind ten feet or so…a distance she considered to be safe. She walked with her arms stiffly at her sides, watching everyone around her wearily. Amber did not trust anybody, and half expected to be attacked by any random person passing. She had to keep her guard up, for her own safety.

Looking behind them to make sure that Amber was still there and keeping up, Brian smiled warmly at her. Amber stiffened even more, walking mechanically, as if she were a robot. She wondered what the smile meant, automatically thinking that Brian wanted to harm her.

Leading her to their bus, the doors opened, and Malcolm greeted them all as the four Boys hustled onto it, into the warmth of it. Amber froze though, not advancing onto it, backing up a few steps. Images from the rape swarmed back to her head, in the dark, hidden alley. The bus was a small, confined place, perfect for anybody getting away with injuring her, and nobody ever finding out. She choked on a sob as panic overcame her. Like a deer caught in the headlights, she looked for a place to run, but was paralyzed by fear, not able to move.

“No,” she whispered, her body now trembling. Amber squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to disappear.

Suddenly, A.J. appeared in the doorway.

“Come on,” he urged, “It’s warm up here.”

Amber hesitated. She was cold, shivering against her will to prove to A.J. that she really was. Even if she wanted to deny it, she couldn’t, which, to her, was going against her odds.

Slowly, Amber went up the first step of the bus, pausing before taking the last four. If worst came to worst, she figured she could always kick and scream for help, or something. Amber wasn’t sure what, but she definitely felt anxiety with every step she took. The warmth of the bus felt good to her though, and from the inside, it looked like a cozy, extremely small apartment, with beds along one side, a couch off on another with a TV in front of it, and a mini kitchen.

“You don’t have to be afraid of us,” Brian offered, “We’re not going to hurt you.”

Amber stood, uncomfortable, unsure of what to do. The bus lurched forward though, causing he to lose her balance, tumbling to the ground. She quickly picked herself up though, afraid that if she were already down, one of the Boys would try to take advantage of her. Her breathing was heavy, and they could all tell that the girl wasn’t at all comfortable being around them. She hadn’t spoken any words to them since the night before. That was the last time she’d said anything at all…the last time she tried to ignore the truth.

“You can sit,” A.J. said, and Amber chose a seat as far away as she could from the others.

“Kevin is still not around,” Howie mentioned, “Won’t be for another couple of days, we’re guessing. We’re probably going to get a hotel to stay at until then. Would you like your own room or share with somebody.”

He wasn’t sure, beings she might not feel safe being alone, but then again, she wasn’t exactly trusting them either.

“My own,” Amber softly replied.

The guys smiled at her softly. They’d all wanted to go and see how Kevin was doing, but didn’t want to bring Amber into the whole prison scene. That would make questions arise. Amber didn’t need to know why Kevin was being held, or that he was there at all. It would make her feel all the more insecure around them. They knew that Kevin would be upset, but also understand why they had not come. He would call when he needed to be picked up.

Amber was tired, but as too overcome by fear to try to sleep. She wanted a shower, and couldn’t wait to be in her hotel room, where she could wash for hours. She still felt dirty, like she’d rolled over in a mud puddle. She tried to keep from yawning the yawn that was threatening to come, but it won out.

“Why don’t you get some rest,” Nick suggested, catching the yawn and how exhausted she actually looked.

“I can’t,” Amber whispered, “Bad things can happen when I’m asleep.”

The guys all looked at one another, startled. That was the most she’d spoken at once since the night before. Maybe they were actually getting somewhere with her.

“Bad things, like what?” A.J. asked, curious by what she meant.

“People can hurt me,” she choked out, “Please don’t hurt me.”

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Brain said with a light laugh.

He hadn’t thought that any of them appeared intimidating…well, Kevin maybe did sometimes, but he wasn’t there right then. Then again, to a girl who’d just been raped, he figured that anybody would look intimidating to her.

“You can’t trust us,” Howie put in, “We’re here to help.”

They couldn’t stress enough to her how well their intentions actually were. Amber still looked skeptical though, but she lay down anyways, her eyes slowly closing. She rolled herself up into a protective ball, and within minutes, the Boys knew that she was asleep.

“This may be harder than we thought,” Brian whispered, making sure that he did not awaken her, “And it’s only day one.”

The others nodded in agreement. Amber was definitely terrified that they were out to hurt her more than she already was.

“Should we get her a counselor or something to talk to?” A.J. asked, “I mean, suggest it to her at least.”

“I don’t know,” Howie responded after a long pause, “She might feel too overwhelmed, having six new, unfamiliar people around…she’s already stuck with five.”

“Well, she does have all of us,” Nick stated, “I mean, we’re not like, professionally Psychoiatrists, but it is better than nothing.”

“Psychologist, Nick…or Psychiatrist…not Psychoiatrist.”

“I knew that,” Nick said sheepishly.

“Blondie does make a good point though,” Brian stated, “We definitely aren’t trained, professional Psychiatrists, but maybe that’s best anyways. I mean, they can get kind of pushy and demanding. Amber doesn’t need that.”

“No shit, they’re demanding,” A.J. muttered, more to himself than to the others, “Insensitive assholes.”

The four Boys looked over at the sleeping girl. She was already distancing herself from everything and everybody. For some reason though, they all knew that it would get worse yet. They hated to admit it, but they needed Kevin there. He would help out a lot in this situation, for he always had answered and knew what to do, especially when it came to the more serious of things. As Amber stirred restlessly in her sleep, letting out a frightened moan, they could only hope that the setback with Kevin being in prison would not take much longer, because they were running out of plans to keep Amber feeling safe and content, and obviously didn’t have the right things to say.