Illuminati, Chapter 6

"Well this is it," he tells me, "Whose those people outside of your apartment."

We just left the bar I was at with Quest. My heart is racing. Quest is looking at me weird. News about Mrs. Appleton's death isn't really sitting well with me. It is just way too much of a coincidence that Mrs. Appleton died the very same night that Princess was talking about getting married to Mr. Appleton.

As he drops me off at my apartment building I realize that there are some strange looking people in the lobby. They are random. People that don't look like they belong together. People that don't look like they would even speak. The most random people in the world are just standing in my lobby and it seems weird. Not just to me but to him as well.

They turn when we pull up. They look at me. They want something.

I'm not sure what.

I hear my phone ring. The call is unknown. I pick up the call.

"We need your help. We need you to help clean something up."


My heart is racing.


I panic.

I just end the call.

Quest gives me a curious stare, "Who was that?"

"Can you drive?" I ask.

"What's wrong?" Quest asks me.

"Just drive. PLEASE!"

Quest doesn't respond. He just takes off at that moment. He keeps looking at me weird the entire drive to his apartment.

Quest grabs my arm before I leave the car, "Why are you shaking? Man you look so nervous?"


"Can I just sleep over. Just for tonight."


"Of course."

We get out of the car. Quest doesn't say anything to me but he follows me close behind. When we open the door I walk in and just go to the fridge and get a glass of water. When I close the fridge Quest is still downstairs. He's still looking at me. He still has this face on that seems more than concerned. Within a matter of seconds, I hear footsteps. Quest isn't alone.


I jump when I see someone descending the stairs.

"Quest is that you?" the person says.

I jump so much that I damn near spill the water in my hands. My nerves are so fucking bad.

"Fuck, didn't expect you to be here," I state.

I could have sworn Quest said he was done with Ashley. The fact that she is in his apartment right now shocks me.

"Didn't mean to scare you," Ashley states.

Quest immediately puts his hand on my shoulder, "He's had a long night."


"Is there anything I can do..."


"Just some privacy please?" Quest asks.

I'm surprised when he tells her that but Ashley being the nice girl she was goes back upstairs without saying a word. In the next few minutes, Quest turns to me. He puts his hand on my shoulder a little bit. He massages it. I can feel him seeming somewhat concerned. Quest seems like he is definitely a little bothered.

"Why didn't you want to go to your place?"


"You won't get it."


"It has something to do with Mrs. Appleton doesn't it?"


"No."


I'm lying out of my ass. Truth is it has everything to do with Mrs. Appleton. It is really late but right now this is the only place that I know. My own car is at my building. My building is surrounded with people who I felt sure were part of the Illuminati and they said they needed help with something. I could only imagine it was something bad. Something I wasn't sure I wanted to be involved in.

"You got all up in arms when I told you something happened to Mrs. Appleton."


"No I didn't."


I try to go upstairs to the guest room but he pulls me back. He holds onto my arm this time. He doesn't let me go. He just keeps grabbing onto my arm and then looks me square in my eyes. He has that Quest look on his face and it's really fucking scaring me.

"Somethings going on. There's a reason you're here. I know you. You don't have to lie to me. What's going on man? What do you know about Mrs. Appleton's death?"


"You know more about it than me," I state, "Was it an accident?"


Quest shrugs, "I don't know..."


I look around. My phone is ringing. Quest attempts to reach for it to yank it out my hand to see whose calling but I silence it and quickly shove it in my pocket. It rings again. And again. And again. I shut off my phone at that moment. My heart is racing.

Quest is looking at me for answers. I can see it when he corners me in the area near the fridge. I can't go anywhere. I press up against his chest a little bit knowing that I'm cornered. I lean close to him.

"Listen. I'm not sure Mrs. Appleton's death was an accident."

"You think she was...murdered?" Quest asks.

I nod, "Yeah."

My heart is racing. I'm scared to death. I've never come across a murder before and the thought is sending shivers through my body. The look on Quest's face makes me think that he is thinking the same thing that I am thinking. He stares at me for a minute like he is in deep thought.

"You weren't even there. How do you know?"


"I just assume there might be some foul play behind the scenes."


"Behind what scenes? Was she involved in something?"


"No. Not Mrs. Appleton. I think there are people who have something to gain from Mrs. Appleton dying. I think they just gained it."

Quest crosses his arms.

"How do you know this?"


"I can't tell you."


"What's been going on with you. You've been keeping secrets man. We used to be better than this. We used to be...best friends."


"We're still best friends. Listen. I just have some things I'm going through. I just need to spend the night with you. Please."


"Of course you can," he tells me.

I can tell he wants to keep talking. I can tell he wants to keep having a discussion with me but I'm not going to let him.

"Listen. Go upstairs. Ashley is waiting for you."


He looks upstairs. He turns back to me quickly though, "Listen if you are ever in real trouble I want you to come to me."


He doesn't understand the Illuminati. Hell. I didn't understand the Illuminati. The last thing I wanted to do was get Quest involved in this.

"Have a good night Quest..."


"Memphis."


"Goodnight."


He sighs looking at me as though he wasn't sure he wanted to leave me, "Goodnight Memphis."



I go to the bedroom. They can't find me here. Hopefully. They wouldn't know I came here. I didn't know what the Illuminati wanted help with. Maybe it was just my paranoia. Maybe it was just nothing. Maybe Mrs. Appleton's death really was just an accident.

I close my eyes.

I'm in a field in my dreams. It's a beautiful day. I look across the field and I see Quest there. He's in the grass. The breeze is blowing slow all around him whipping up the grass slowly. Quest just looks back at me. He's smiling almost like he's waiting for me. I smile back and wave. He doesn't wave back. His smile gets wider though. It's inviting.

So I step closer in my dream but something is etched out in the field. There are signs in the crop circles. Strange signs in the crop circles but somehow even though I am in the field I can tell what the signs are as if I'm looking at them from overhead. All I see are these symbols. The triangle. The eye. An owl. The flashing neon lights above it.

Then I see something else.

I turn and I see death.

Quest. He's dead. He's dead there in the middle of the crops.

I wake up screaming. The bed is drenched with sweat.

"Yo! Yo it's OK!" I see Quest coming in the room.

He's not alone. Ashley is with him as well. The two of them look like I've completely lost my mind. Maybe for the minute I have completely lost my mind because I run straight over to Quest and hug him. I wrap my arms around him as hard as I can and just squeeze. I don't want to let go.

"They got you...they killed you in my dream."

I don't release him. I don't care if Ashley is there. I don't care if anyone is there. Right now I'm just so happy that my dream wasn't real. It felt so real. Grabbing onto him I just know that I'm happy that he's OK. I am just happy that I have him in my life.


"Who?"


"Them," I state, "Quest you have to promise me something."


"Anything."


"Stay safe," I tell him, "No matter what. OK?"


He nods.

"Of course. Did you want me to stay in here for a while?" Quest asks.

"I'll be fine," I state.

"Memphis it's not a problem..."


"He'll be OK," Ashley interrupts.

It's weird that his girlfriend or ex-girlfriend or whatever she was now had something to say. Ashley being here just seemed out of place but at the same time I knew that she should feel some type of way about how close me and Quest were. Quest looks at me. His dark brown eyes glare at me as though worried completely.

I nod at Quest, "I'm fine. I'll be fine. It was just a dream. Just be careful. I hate dreams. OK. Goodnight Quest."

He leaves the room with Ashley. I go lay back down.

I'm not surprised however when the door opens a few minutes later and its Quest. He is back in the room. I just had a feeling he would come back by the way he was looking at me. When he comes back in the room he immediately cuts the light off and climbs into the bed with me.

"Quest. I didn't need you to come back ."


"I never said you needed me to come back," he responds.

"I'm OK."


"I never said you weren't," Quest responds, "Can't I just want to sleep here? Like old times? Is that so bad, Memphis?"


"No... it's not bad."

Quest gets quiet. He gets close to me. I turn and we are looking at each other. We are so close that we are sharing a pillow. He doesn't say anything. I think he is going to press me about my weird behavior but he doesn't. He just stares at me in the darkness. His eyes are staring directly at me. I can smell his breath up against my nose. I can feel the warmth from his body up against mine.


My fingers are the only thing that separate us. I leave them on the pillow.


He must notice them too because in the next few seconds he reaches over and touches my fingers on the pillow case. He does it lightly. Our fingers slide into one another. He lightly brushes my fingers. The feeling is the best I've ever felt.

That's when he moves my fingers. Nothing are separating us now. We've done this a million times but usually we'd just stare at each other in the darkness until we'd go to sleep. I knew tonight was different.

I knew when he leans in and kisses me.

His tongue enters my mouth. He begins to slowly tongue me down. The wet passionate kisses are slow. After each kiss he presses his puckered lips against mine and pushes. Downwards as though he's trying to separate a wall between us. I allow him. I let him open my lips each time he kisses me again and again.

Between kisses he stops to breathe and I whisper to him, "Your girlfriend is in the next room."


"Do you want me to tell her to leave?" he asks me, "Would that make this easier?"


"This? What exactly is this?"


"This thing that we should have done a million years ago, for a million times," he tells me, "Would it make it easier if I tell her to leave?"


"I don't care about Ashley."


"Then what's the problem?"


"You know what the problem is..."


"Joaquin."


I nod at that moment.

"I can't lie. I have feelings for him."


"I never said you didn't. But look me in my eyes. Can you deny me?"


"I don't know."


"I'm going to try to kiss you right now. Then I'm going to try to make love to you. But I don't want to make you uncomfortable. If you can deny me, then deny me. If any part of you wants to stop me, then stop me. If you can push me away even a little bit, then do it. Otherwise I'm going to do this. Right now."


He leans into me. He kisses me. I don't stop him.

His kisses get lower and lower. They start on my neck. They slowly move down to my collar bones. My shirt comes off without any resistance from me. He throws it away without any resistance. Then he kisses my chest. Then he my nipples. He's slow when he does it. He kisses every part of me when he does it. I allow him to do it.

Soon he removes my pants and I allow him to do that. Then he lifts my legs, over my head. I pant. I can't believe this is happening with QUEST! I can't believe I'm about to make love to my best friend. By the time his tongue is in my ass I'm gasping.

His tongue is cold, wet, slippery and slightly ticklish. I swipe his hand slightly while moaning, "Oh shit..."


"Did that mean I should stop? I meant what I said earlier. If you want me to stop..."


I think about it.

I want to tell him not to stop. I want to beg him not to stop but for some reason I feel like I would be even further betraying Joaquin if I did. I can't believe I was doing this right now. I was cheating on Joaquin with my best friend. It felt so bad and it felt so good at the same time.

He keeps going without me having to tell him. He knows me too well. He knows I'm struggling with this.

His eyes look up at me.

In the darkness Quest gets naked. He pulls off his shirt. He pulls of his pants. His dick is hard. The silhouette of him in the moonlight is something that I can't really get my mind off of. I just keep looking at him and I know that this is some sort of beautiful tale.

"I'm going to enter you right now and I strongly doubt you want to stop me," he tells me with his dark silhouette in the moonlight.

~

Tempted to feel your body up against my body.

Last forever, something immortal and godly

The feeling of your hands when we make love

This is what dreams are made of

Tempted to dream a dream that comes alive.

Ready to gain and determined to strive

The wetness of your mouth as we make love

This is what dreams are made of

Sleep with me night after night, lets escape

I can't stop thinking about all the love we make

The final question of when we make love

This is what dreams are made of

Quest gets off stage after his solo. The cheers from the crowd are loud. They are going completely wild for him. It's almost immediate. I watch as I hear people really loving it.

A few days have passed. Quest is back on the tour and luckily it's a New York performance so we don't have to go out of state.

"How'd you get Quest to come back?" Alexi asks.

"I just told him how important it is. You know. For his fans?"


"He wouldn't listen to me. He was out of it. It's like his mood is completely different. For the past few days he's almost been his usual self. Ashley, you must be putting it down in bed."



I turn at that moment to look at Ashley who is near Alexi and I. It's not my idea to have her around but we were so used to having her around that she sort of just showed up at the performance. I wondered why he kept dragging her along the way he was. Why didn't he just cut her off? What did he see in Ashley that he kept her around for this long?

"Actually no... I haven't. He's been sleeping in the guest bedroom ever since you left that night," Ashley tells me, "Weird huh?"


I take a long hard sip of the Coca Cola I have in our hand. The first half of the show is done. There is a whole different section they were about to put on. It was going to be a long time that I was around Ashley. I felt sort of fake in a way. I could only imagine why Quest was still sleeping in the room that we had sex in. I can't believe we had sex still. It is still shocking. At the end of the day though I still feel bad. I still feel like I owe Joaquin an explanation.

I have to tell him.

"He's good," Alexi tells me, "People loved the performance.

We are walking backstage to meet the boys. The performance definitely was live.


"He definitely shined in that song. You think Joaquin will feel some type of way?" I ask.

"No. I think they work well together. Quest can sing lead on the ballads and Joaquin can do all the pop songs," Alexi suggests.

It's not a bad idea. I just knew this was the first time Joaquin hadn't sung lead. I expected him to be upset about it. The guy was a star. He was always meant to be the star. This was the first time he had been on a stage and the light wasn't completely on him. This was the first time he had been on a stage and other people actually looked at someone else. That other person was Quest. And the best thing about it? We got Quest to take his shirt off when he sung the ballad.

The ladies were going nuts.

Backstage I can see Quest talking to his vocal coach who is giving him a few lessons. We only had a few more minutes before they had to go back on stage.

I notice Joaquin. Joaquin is getting into another costume. He's actually completely naked. I look over at Quest and Joaquin and wonder who I should go to first. Both seem to be staring at me wanting me to come over.

I choose to go over to Prairie.

"How's the performance going?" I ask Prairie.

"It's going alright. No complaints," he explains, "Have you been screening your calls?"


"Excuse me?"


Prairie gives me a hard look, "When we call. We need you to pick up. You understand that don't you? When you get a call from us. You pick up. We won't say it again."

Prairie's face all of a sudden isn't the usual Prairie from stage who is full of this pretty boy exterior. He's something else completely. This prairie seems to be angry and almost threatening. All of a sudden I look around wondering if anyone notices how he's talking to me. Alexi is talking to the stage manager. Someone is oiling Joaquin's abs up and Quest is drinking water to make sure that his vocals are ready.

"Prairie. You're being a little demanding don't you think."


"This is coming from US. Not me," he corrects me.

Just at that moment we are interrupted by Quest. He walks over and immediately gives me a hug. I watch how Prairie looks when he sees the hug that Quest gives me. Prairie seems completely bothered by it.

"You been watching?" Quest asks.

"Yeah. You're doing great man," I tell Quest.

Quest licks his lips. He doesn't even hide it. Not even a little bit. I notice Ashley not too far away from us. She doesn't ever stop looking at Quest so she catches it. Her eyes are staring dead at us and Quest could care less. Quest does something even weirder in the next moment. He leans over and gives me a hug. It's a tight hug and he continues talking while locked in the embrace.

"Man I would have never got the confidence to sing a solo if it wasn't for you. I know you convinced the group to let me do it."


He's still holding me. His hands are dropping as he talks. Lower. Lower.

Yes. His hands are on my ass at that moment. And for some reason I don't mind. For some reason Quest putting his hands where he puts his hands makes me feel so comfortable. I find myself smiling. For that moment it seems as though the world just stops.

And it's only Quest and I left in the room.

Ashley looks livid.

"You deserve it," I tell him.

He bites his lips at that moment. We are interrupted by the stage manager calling us out to go. Quest leaves luckily but I can see Prairie's face. He is annoyed.

"We prefer you with Joaquin," Prairie states.

He says it so boldly.

"Excuse me?" I ask.

"You need to be with Joaquin," Prairie states.

"Who do you think you are?" I ask.

I want to get loud. I want to curse Prairie out. The fact that this boy is being that nosy right now is shocking to say the least. The fact that he is in my face trying to tell me who to date is absurd. Who the fuck did he think he was?



"You'll do what we say," Prairie states, "That's a rule. Remember?"


"Quest is on the same level as Joaquin as far as fame now..."

I don't get why I'm defending whatever is going on between Quest and I. I don't get why this is any of Prairie or anyone else's business honestly.

"That is what the One-Eye sees for you. The One-Eye sees you with Joaquin. That is part of the plan."


"I was going to tell Joaquin I had sex with Quest..."


"He'll leave you."


"So be it. I have to be honest with Joaquin because I care about his feelings."


"Don't."


"You don't. Stop telling me what to do. That goes for you AND we AND us AND whoever. Stop telling me what to do with my life."


Prairie doesn't respond. He isn't expecting that. I'm not expecting that either. I'm just annoyed to say the least. I'm pissed. I was going to tell Joaquin exactly what I wanted to and I was going to tell him quickly.

I find Joaquin standing up, about to go on stage. He's looking sexy as hell. This would have to be the hardest thing I had to do. Joaquin was the sexiest dude I ever met in my life. He was still such a dream. Yet after having sex with Quest I knew I was a lot more confused then I thought I was. I wasn't ready to marry Joaquin knowing that I still definitely had feelings for Quest. I had to tell him what I had done with Quest no matter what the consequences were.

"Joaquin," I start off.

"Hey babe...you liking the show so far?" he asks me.

"I'm loving it...listen. We have to talk though."


"20 seconds!" The stage manager screams out.

Fuck.

Joaquin smiles at me, "I wanted to invite you out anyway to dinner tonight. We can just talk then."


That actually wasn't a bad idea.

"Ok. We'll talk then," I state.

Just then the phone rings. I look down at the phone. It was an Unknown caller. I don't pick it up. It literally reads on the phone Unknown caller. The person wants to remain anonymous. I knew what that meant.

The Illuminati was trying to contact me clearly.

It rings again. I turn my phone off and shove it in my pocket.

Fuck them.

I feel sort of free at that moment. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. These people were really getting annoying to say the least.

That's when I see Prairie walk past me onto stage. He hands me something. It's a phone. He just hands me his phone and walks off. The phone that Prairie hands me starts ringing. I couldn't get away from them.

I pick up the phone.

"Hello?"


"Meet the informer. The informer will give you information on a task that you MUST complete."


I hear the emphasis on the words MUST.

My heart is racing.

"Who's this informer? What is this task?"



"You'll know when the time is right."

~

It's 10 pm that night when I arrive at the so-called dinner thinking that it is going to be just Joaquin and I. I'm completely wrong. It's Joaquin and his parents!

His mother and father are sitting at the table. The last time I heard about Joaquin's father was when he was pressing charges against me for this whole thing with his son. The look on his face says it all too. He definitely doesn't seem happy to see me when I'm standing there looking back at him. He just seems completely upset. His mother however does seem to at least smile at me and shake my hand when I walk up to the table.

"I'm Maria," she states.

She is a pretty older woman with straight hair and a nice smile. She looks a lot like Joaquin.

Joaquin's father doesn't get up from the table. He doesn't shake my hand. I look over at Joaquin and I swear I want to strangle him for not letting me know that he was taking me to dinner with his fucking parents of all people.

"Babe...I wanted you to meet my family. I feel like we are kind of doing things backwards so I wanted to fix it somehow," Joaquin stated.

I try not to act like I'm pissed but it's really hard.

"This is quite...um...the surprise," I state.

Joaquin looks over at his dad, "It's OK, Memphis. Mom and I talked to my dad. He's trying to just be understanding of things."


"You plan on pulling my son out of the closet?" Joaquin's dad asks me.

His mother Maria elbows the father at the moment. The father looks at me with hard eyes though. I can tell he's digging into me and he's nowhere near excited about this situation.

"I'm doing whatever your son is comfortable with," I explain.

"You want to fuck my son...or does my son wants to fuck you...that's one thing..." Joaquin's dad states.

"POPS!" Joaquin says.

He's embarrassed. I don't feel bad for him. He should have known better than to invite his family here especially when we didn't have the time to properly tell them about our engagement. I still hadn't been able to sit down with my own family and talk to them about what happened in Miami.

"As I was saying. However, you guys get down is your business," Joaquin's dad states, "I just want to make sure that you keep this in private."


"How I feel about Memphis is nothing I want to keep private," Joaquin states, "I want to marry this man."

"It's too soon son. You need to think about your career," his dad argues.

"I totally agree," I interrupt.

All eyes look over at me. I don't think anyone at the table expects me to say what I'm saying.

"You do?" Joaquin asks.

"We are moving fast."


"We've dated for a year."



"In private," I tell Joaquin, "Listen. Singing is your dream Joaquin. I don't mind helping you build your dream and putting relationships on the back burner. Matter of fact maybe putting a pause on the relationship forever."

"Are you breaking up with me?" Joaquin asks.

I needed time. Joaquin was perfect but I felt something with Quest that I couldn't take back. I needed time to understand exactly what that was.


Joaquin's dad seems a little bothered, "Now I wasn't saying all that."


Joaquin slams his head on the table, "YES YOU WERE! We talked beforehand. You said this wasn't going to happen. I explained to you how I felt about him."


"I didn't want you guys to break up," his dad argues.

Joaquin is snapping to the point that I swear he is going to flip the entire table over in a furious rage, "You RUIN everything. I fucking loved this guy and you ruined it. Just like that. Man FUCK this!"


Joaquin gets up from the table. I'm shocked at that moment. I knew Joaquin was going to take our breakup bad but I had no idea he would take it this bad. Joaquin's dad immediately gets up from the table and starts to chase him down.

Joaquin's mother Maria gives me a weak smile from the table.

"I'm so sorry," she states.

"It's OK. Honestly."


"No. My son really cares about you. You two are good together. We really do want you with him. We don't want you to break up," Maria states.

"I understand the conflict of interest," I tell her, "I really do..."


"There's no conflict of interest," she tells me, "I've sacrificed a lot for my son. More than you can know. I've sacrificed everything for my son's greatness..."


"That's exactly why a breakup is needed."


"That won't be happening. We prefer you together, actually. This is what we want...."


"Your husband doesn't seem to agree," I let her know.

"By we, I'm not referring to me and my husband. You know who we are," his mother states.

My heart drops.

"Ex—excuse me."


Joaquin's mother hands me an envelope, "Earlier, I introduced myself as Maria. Now I'd like to introduce myself as the Informer. Here is your task."


She slides me the envelope.

I open it.

The words are simple: Marry Joaquin.

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com