Part Two Ebay Town 1999 The park was crowded, filled with shrieks and laughter of the innocence running about and voices of mothers gathering in the mid afternoon, deep in conversations scattered everywhere. He caught excerpts of it without even realising that he was doing it. A woman who looked about in her late twenties was talking about a new muffin recipe she had found on the Internet two days ago and how it turned out disastrous under her bakery skills; the woman who was listening to her commented on how she had just recently learnt about the Internet and had referred to it as her saviour. Another group of mothers sitting nearby had more interesting topics to talk about, he personally thought. A woman was sharing her dilemma with her fellow friends of whether a yellow or blue dress fits her personality best. Another was laughing with a fellow wife, reminiscing her son’s first day in nursery school that morning. Turned out the son had the potential to grow up being a romeo. He was harassing all the girls and making them cry. Why would this made a mother found amusing was beyond him. He felt like an intruder to a perfect picture. There he was, sitting at one of the most secluded benches that was obviously forsaken by cleaners at the park. He had to brush the heap of dried leaves that were resting there when he arrived some twenty minutes ago. The old, oak tree that was standing next to him exuded agility in time. It’s strong, thick and long roots running puzzles on the newly trimmed bed of grass; intertwining with each other’s path and firmly holding it’s entire body to the ground . It’s thick and strong branches like the crooked, bony fingers of witches spawned from folklore spread out above, it’s sparse leaves a roof that sheltered him from the unforgivable glare of the afternoon sun. Every now and then, he found himself irritatingly wiping the pearls of sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. He recalled reading the morning papers that day and the weather forecast had predicted a heavy downpour with thunder and lighting; the whole works. He wondered if the groups of mothers scattered at the park right then had even bothered to bring along their trusted umbrellas. Sometimes, weathers are just so unpredictable. His eyes sauntered across the mini field and onto the main road that stretched beyond the protected barrier of iron gates that surrounded the park. His eyes expecting to see the figure of the man that had been the purpose why he was in the park that day. Kevin had never been late before. He was always true to his words, his promises had never been broken and whatever plan that he laid out and shared with him was always detailed and consistent. Because of that, he had never failed any tasks shouldered upon him. The difficult challenge however, was to face Jane Carter and lied his way through. A mother’s love. He wished he knew how that would personally feel like. He doesn’t even know why his parents decided to get married and have a son together. Growing up, he had never seen the both of them in the same room for long. In fact, he learnt that mom had her own room and dad had his. They rarely talk to each other. He was pretty much taken care of by Junita, their maid. He instead, had called Junita mom. But all these never drive them to file for divorce. In fact, they attended grand parties together, often when he was still young, they would dress him in the finest clothing and tagged him along. For that few hours, they were a picture perfect family. Mom would kiss dad affectionately and dad would gaze into her emerald eyes as if they were deeply in love. They boasted about his achievements to guests and retold every single baby story like any proud parents would. If there was one thing he was certain about his parents was, they both fight for his love. Perhaps, somewhere in their heavily scheduled head, parental instincts had taken over. But there were times when he wondered was if the love was genuine or if they were both trying to choose sides. In his daze, he failed to see the approaching figure of Kevin until the man had practically dropped his weight next to him. In the spur of the moment, he made a mental note to be more alert next time. You may never know when you were being watched and gazing off like he did could prove fatal for the entire operation. They couldn’t afford that, they had gone too far to suffer a setback. “I know I’m late.” Kevin said, his words came out in short gasps. “You were never late. Wassup?” “Urgent briefing.” Kevin replied. “Turned out some big hot shot are having a ‘get together’ and I’ll be in charged of the Home while they’re gone.” He mused; in awe that this man had managed to gain top secret information under the very people who trusted him so much as to put him in charge of the entire home. If Kevin were a robber, he would be a professional. “That’s a huge responsibility you got there Kev.” Kevin nodded, shifting his weight a little to get a better position. “Yeah. There’s a lot that we can do then.” He smirked, expecting Kevin to say exactly that. “Max Caultron Charity Dinner. He’s the chairman of the Darla Home, my bet is he’s the mastermind of all these. I’m surprised they left that information out considering the fact that they trusted you the Home.” “Not trustworthy enough, I guess.” Kevin replied. “Besides, some of the doctors really hate me for being too friendly to some of the boys. They have their suspicions.” “You know, this responsibility thingy might be a test.” He replied, suddenly realizing the possibility. “It might, I’m not ruling that out.” Kevin replied, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “How did you know about this Max Caultron anyway?” “I saw the invitation on Jack Mc Guire’s desk yesterday.” He replied. Kevin nodded in understanding. “I have a feeling you’ve got something important for me?” He smiled, almost forgetting his purpose of arranging this urgent meeting with Kevin. It was difficult to get in touch with him, every little move that they made must be discreet and swift. It was made even harder when he could hardly trust anyone these days. Strangers were his enemies as far as he was concerned. “I am one of the waiters hired for the Max caultron’s dinner.” He beamed, proud of himself. It had taken him a lot of snooping around to get the job, in fact, it had caused him five hundred to pay off a guy for his place. “I’m not even gonna ask you how you did that but I’m glad. This will help a lot!” Kevin smiled, unable to contain his excitement too. “Anybody who is somebody are gonna be there, we’re gonna know who are supporting this thing. If I get lucky, I can even get into his personal system.” He replied, all the mental plans he had thought about laying in bed last night now replaying itself in his head. Yes, this would be the turning point. “How are you gonna do that?” Kevin frowned. He worried about this young man, he was bold, no doubt, but he feared that he’s outgoing nature would get him caught one of these days. “I have my ways…and I have money, that really works wonders.” He smirked. “Just be careful, I can’t afford to get you caught.” Kevin warned, his overprotective mode turned to full blast. “I won’t.” He replied, boasting of confidence. Kevin sighed, he knew nothing could change this determined young man. Feeling that the conversation had gone to an end, he passed the small envelope carefully to the young man while his eyes scanned the surrounding with trained eyes. “Dispose this once you’ve read it.” “Yeah, yeah, can’t be too careful now right?” He said, teasing the man. “Yeah.” Kevin sighed. “Take care AJ.” He watched as Kevin casually got up from his seat and walked off, disappearing to a corner. He slid the folded paper out of the envelope and read it’s content. Tonight, Lakers vs Bulls, we want details! Kaos & Brok He smirked at the handwriting. Obviously Nicky’s. He slipped them in his pockets, reminding himself to burn them once he reached home. Soon, they will be reunited. Soon. - Eric had seen a picture of Nick Carter along with his best friends Brian Littrell and AJ Mc Lean when they were still in High School. Kevin had given him a sneak when he came to the Home a few months ago. He had only praises for the young man, whom had only been with them for five months then. If he had calculated correctly, it would be Nick’s one year ‘anniversary’ at the Southern Home the following day. And he couldn’t deny the fact that he did look like Nick Carter himself. Kevin had commented on it, Josh had too. That was the reason why Kevin had showed him the picture in the first place. But these days, while Eric still was spotted with a rather long haircut and had retained his boyish looks, Nick had his hair cut short like a soldier. From what Kevin had told him, he lost all his boyish charm, his weight had deteriorated immensely and those swollen eyes seemed to stay with him. He was now spotted with a slight limp and his walk was hunched, head hanging low. And despite all that, Nick was still the same spirited young man who was determined to put a stop to their nightmare. Eric knew that he wouldn’t live long either. No one with Darla was known to survive the disease for more than five years. Eric was already in his fourth year and he could only pray that he still had the strength to see his fifth. “Is my cooking that bad?” Yanking himself out of his reverie, he turned to look at the beauty seating in front of him, a slightly hurt expression readable on her face. “I’m sorry…no, your cooking is delicious as always.” Eric had replied and forced another small piece of steak in his mouth to prove his point. The truth was his appetite had been small lately, but how do you say ‘no’ to the face of the one true love who didn’t run away even after knowing that he was dying? Lea frowned, she knew something was wrong with Eric. “What’s wrong? You know you can count on me.” “I trust you.” Eric had replied as he swallowed down the juicy steak. “But right now, it’s safer that you don’t know.” “Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here.” Lea smiled, reaching out her hand and intertwined them with his. He wished he could tell her, he wanted to, but to have her in the secret would mean endangering her life out there. Unlike him, she has a future. How hard he had tried to push her away, to let her free and have a life of her own. To not wake up in the morning knowing that her boyfriend is dying in a Home. But Lea had been stubborn, another quality of hers that had attracted him in the first place. “I have to meet someone for a sec, do you mind?” Eric asked, glancing at his wristwatch. “We have three hours left before visiting hours are over.” Lea reminded him. “I’ll be here when you get back.” Eric got up and reached over to kiss her forehead. “You’re too cool.” “I know.” - Not wanting to arise suspicions, his walk had been purposely made laboured and slow. He saw Robbie already waiting for him at the corner, as if looking interested in some of the newspaper articles put up on the display board. “You’re late.” Robbie said, not even turning to look at him. Eric tried to look interested at one of the news and shrugged. “How the hell did you get away so fast?” Eric asked. “You should listen to my mom today,” Robbie said. “God…she goes on and on and on…I told her I need to go to the restroom.” “Good one.” Eric replied. “Did Josh came today?” “As promised.” Robbie replied. “Kevin is in charged of the Home next week for the Max Coultron’s dinner. And good news is, Joseph is charge of this Home next week.” Eric closed his eyes and smiled. Yes, this was the break they needed. “So, what’s the plan?” “Dude, it’s too huge and this place has ears everywhere.” Robbie whispered. “Ask for this book when the librarian makes his rounds tonight. It’s all in there.” “Wow…I feel like I’m in Shawshank Redemption or something.” Eric joked as he took the pamphlet from Robbie. It was one of those ‘All You Need To Know About The Home’ brochures they gave out to family members whose child was admitted there. “You bet. If we make this into a movie, it’s gonna be box office.” Eric smirked as he watched Robbie left, body hunched as he made his way back to his family. He opened the pamphlet and written on scribbles at the middle of the page was the words ‘Tell No One- Harlan Coben’. “Sounds like I’ll be in for some reading tonight.” - “Is there anything else that you need D?” Nick asked as he tugged the worn out blanket under his chin. “I’m cold…could you get my blanket?” Howie mumbled, with his eyes closed. Nick looked at the blanket that was already covering his entire body. The body underneath it was still visibly shivering. “Okay, just wait a second alright?” Not waiting for a respond, he walked back to his bed, acknowledging the sharp pain that kept shooting up his spine with every step that he made. It was laborious even to stand for long these days but he knew he needed to work out the muscles and bones. Reaching out his blanket, he held it close to his chest, welcoming the warmth that came with it. It felt so good to be cuddled up on a night where storms were raging and cold wind surging through small openings of the windows. How he missed his bed. His room. He spread the blanket over the one that Howie had, hoping that it would somehow help. “Better D?” “Mmhmm..” Nick flinched as another thunder boomed from outside. The eerie whispers of ghastly wind as if warning him of the unavoidable fate waiting for the three of them out there. Death is everywhere Nickolas, can you feel it? “Nick, please, go to bed.” “I will once I empty your bowl.” Nick whispered as he bent over to retrieve the bowl on the ground. The stench of vomit filled his nostril but he never turned away. It scared him sometimes, to think that he would see the day when he would actually look at vomit and not feel the urge to purge himself. Brian grabbed his hand, motioning him to stop. “What? You wanna throw up?” “No.” Brian replied, relief showing on his pale face. He had been doing nothing but puking his guts out the entire night and the sudden calmness in his stomach was a long awaited blessing for him. “You need to take it easy, you’re not better off yourself.” “No one’s really better in this place Rok, you told me that once, remember?” Nick replied. “Yeah…but it’s two in the freaking morning Nick and we’re all tired. You should be in bed. And giving D your blanket is very thoughtful but you’re gonna freeze yourself.” Brian pointed out. Nick slumped on the chair next to Brian’s bed. The pain on his back ease a bit although he knew one false move would conjure the pain back again. Tired, he was tired. “I can’t sleep. I keep thinking about tomorrow night.” Nick smiled, his swollen eyes glowed with anticipation. Brian couldn’t help but smile along. It had taken them this long to get where they were then, he could feel the plan about to bear it’s fruits and he wished for it to come soon for he also knew that the end is coming for him. It had amused him much, how he could feel that Death was getting him sooner than later and it was even more surprising that he couldn’t feel afraid of it anymore. “Me neither. Finally, we get to play detective.” Brian joked. “But I’m worried that it might fail.” Nick frowned. “It won’t so please don’t jinx it.” Brian frowned. Nick smirked. Brian and his superstitions again. “You don’t look so good Bri and I’m worried about Howie, the session today must be hard on him.” “They made him went through a different test so his body needs some time to get use to it. He’s gonna be fine, he’s a strong guy.” Brian explained. Nick shifted in his seat, the pain on his back was throbbing now. He wondered how much longer it would take before his legs would fail him and confine him to the wheelchair. “And you should try and eat something. You’re throwing up more than you eat.” Nick pointed out. “Can we not talk about food?” Brian groaned as he felt his calmed stomach started to churn softly. Nick smirked and pulled himself up, the pain only made it turned out to be a grimaced. “Damn this backache.” “Where are you going?” Brian asked. “Empty your bowl,” Nick replied. “God, someone’s forgetful.” “Shut up.” Brian groaned as he felt himself already being pulled towards dreamland. Nick went over to the small toilet in their room and emptied the content of the bowl in the toilet bowl and flushed the evidence out. The empowering smell of bile filled the entire small room and he felt nauseous at once. Swallowing hard, he forced to hold it in, knowing that even the sound of gagging would arouse Brian’s concern. He held his breath and tried counting to ten, at the third count, he knew he couldn’t hinder the inevitable and quickly placing the empty bowl on a rack, he rushed to the sink and purged. The action only burned his sore throat and the pain on his spine shot a notch up, as if in rhythm with his purging. Closing his eyes tight, he tried to ignore the pain and the sudden throbbing in his head. Dizziness always came with purging, he had expected it, but early that morning, he felt too tired and weak to handle it. Grabbing the sink as if his life depended on it, he willed for the world to stop spinning. The throbbing in his head now going for his eyes, making him feel like as if it would pop out any moment. “No…don’t you fail on me now!” He whispered, realising that his legs could give way at any moment. If felt like as if he was losing the battle but he refused to let that happen. If he fell no one would be there to help him, and knowing how weak he was, he would just lose consciousness right there only to be stumbled upon when the sun was already up. He couldn’t let that happen. He hated hearing Brian and Howie fussed over him. Opening his eyes for the first time, he stood face to face with the content of his vomit in the sink. Blood. “What else could go wrong with you tonight Nickolas?”