Date: Thu, 09 Nov 2000 00:52:15 EST From: Dale E Wright Subject: "The Lottery Winner" Chapter 24 Hi everyone... Wow...people are actually reading my stuff. Thanks for the positive responses. -- I'm even a nominee for some slash-fiction awards! Vote for me please!!!! (http://jump.to/nsync_stories or http://www.geocities.com/sasha02.geo/award.html) I'm nominated in the `Best Joey story' and `Best Slash Fiction'. This story has now officially taken on a life of it's own. I didn't expect it to go this long or be this developed. But so many people have written me that I have to see what happens next! As always, Gabriella and Mike and Charlie are my main cheerleaders. I'm a bit nervous--so if people could please e-mail me at bwicub@hotmail.com--I'd really appreciate it. I love e-mail!! DISCLAIMER: The name of the stalker is fictional. This is a fictional story that came right out of my own mind. I have no knowledge if any member of N Sync are gay or whatever. That being said, please enjoy the story and remember-- write me!!! (Especially write me if you're a member of the group! GRIN) --The Lottery Winner Ch 24-- The man woke up slowly. After lying there for about ten minutes, he finally got up and drug himself into the shower. The past two weeks had been a nightmare. He felt like his soul has been ripped out. The things that had used to charge his very being with energy are no longer as important as they used to be. He had become quite good at putting on the face that the world saw. He was smiling and dancing even while he felt like he was dying on the inside. The phone calls from that sonofabitch have been particularly hard. He has to stay on the phone with the nutjob to make sure nothing happens. He made the mistake of hanging up once, and learned the next day that there had been consequences. Another finger had been broken. Joey Fatone felt like he was losing his mind. He got into the shower, and felt the warm water pulsing on his body. It felt nice to just stand under the cascading water and not feel anything. He finally got out, and was getting dressed. He looked at his watch and let out a small groan. It was only seven in the morning. Thank god they were heading back to Orlando today. He went and grabbed the paper and curled up on the couch with a cup of orange juice and the front page. His cell phone started ringing, and Joey felt his stomach clench. He opened it and softly said hello. "Joey? It's Johnny, do you have a second?" Sigh. "Sure Johnny, what's up?" "I was just contacted by an attorney. He's representing a young lady who claims that you coerced her into sex a few weeks ago. She's demanding money." "Johnny. This is the girl from the day that Dale was kidnapped. I have documented evidence that someone drugged me. I can fax you the labwork from up here or bring it into your office when we get back this afternoon." Johnny Wright let out a small chuckle. "Damn. I'm glad you decided to get that test done. I'll call them with our response. Go ahead and swing it by the office when you get back to Orlando. Have a safe flight Joey." "Johnny?" "Nothing yet on Dale. If I hear anything you'll be the first person I call." "Thanks Johnny. Talk to you soon." Joey hung up his phone and sat there for awhile. He felt someone squeeze his shoulder. Chris came and sat next to him. Lance was right behind Chris. "Hi guys." "Are you glad to be heading home today Joey?" "Yeah. It's too bad it's not for more than four days. I just hope to god that something finally happens with the cops. I can't believe that there's been no sign of Dale in two weeks!" "Joey, you know that Johnny has to be really careful. Our names can't come up in the media. Since there's been hardly any media coverage over it it's being treated as low-priority." "I know. Let's just pack and get the hell out of here." ** ELSEWHERE** Dale came awake. He hurt. The past two weeks had been like reliving a nightmare. The only thing was this time was different. Lonnie wasn't this cruel and sadistic when they were together before. He was actually proud of himself. Lonnie had tried getting him to sign paperwork and he wouldn't. It hurt when he got beat up, but he just distanced himself from it. This will all be over soon, and he can start to worry about healing. Lonnie was passed out in the bed. Dale looked at him. It's astonishing really...at one point in his life he honestly thought he loved this man. Now, looking back, all he can think of it was that it must have been fear. Somewhere inside of him, something snapped. "Hey Lonnie. When are you going to give this up? There's nothing you can do that'll change my mind. I'm not the same guy from before." "Dale, I'm getting tired of your shit so I'm going to start playing for keeps. Let's talk about this Joey guy. I have his address and phone. He'll be just as easy to get as you were. Is that what I'm going to have to do Dale? Go after your precious Joey? Maybe hold him down and break the hands that have touched you. Show him that he's not good enough to be touching you. Would you like to see that? I'll make him beg for me to stop hurting him. Maybe I'll use my knife on him. How would your Joey look with his throat slashed Dale? You'd never hear his voice again." Dale listened to the words coming out of Lonnie, and felt something give inside. All he could really see of his surroundings was a mixture of red and black. Suddenly Lonnie's voice was cut off. In the distance, he could hear screaming. He heard a snap, then a repeated thudding sound. Ten minutes later, Dale walked out of the hotel room. He had his cell phone in his hand. It was bright out. He was shocked to see blood on his left hand. His clothes were rumpled, and he needed a shave. He walked a couple of blocks up the street and found a McDonalds with some outside tables. Dale went inside. He was sure that he looked like a mess, so he went into the bathroom first to clean up as well as he could. He then went and got some food. "Thanks for coming to McDonalds." "Gee, thanks. Can you answer me one question. Where am I? Mobile? As in Alabama? Okay." Dale headed out to a table and ate his breakfast. When he was done, he dialed a number on the cell. "Hi you've reached Joey. I can't take your call right now, leave your name and number and as soon as I get the message I'll call you." Beep "Joey, it's me. I'm on my way home. I'll explain when I get there." He hung up the phone and dialed another number. "Johnny Wright please. My name is Dale Wright. Yes, I'll hold." **ORLANDO** Johnny was working on some papers when his intercom buzzed. "Yes Liz." "Johnny, there's a Dale Wright on the phone for you." "WHAT?" Johnny scrambled for the phone. "DALE? Where are you? Are you okay?" "Johnny. Hey there. I'm in Mobile, Alabama. How long?" "You disappeared two weeks ago. We've had the cops out looking for you. Joey's been beside himself. The guys have had to be on the road, it wasn't easy to keep them there though. They're flying home for almost a week before a second mini-leg of dates." Johnny sat up a little straighter. "Now. Have you called Joey yet?" "Yeah I did Johnny, but his phone was off. I left a message. Could you try again for me. I have to catch a plane." "Dale. What about Lonnie?" Silence on the phone. "I'm not sure. The last place I saw him was at the Sunset Arms Motel in Mobile. He was in room 128. Could you please call the cops and let them know? . I'm going to the airport now Johnny. I think I should probably go see a doctor when I get there. Could you have someone meet me? I don't want to go alone." "I'll have someone meet you at the airport and get you to the doctor." Johnny heard Dale start to cry. "Thanks Johnny. Sunjet flight 236 at 1pm. See you then." Dale hung up. Johnny ran out of his office and headed out, bellowing for his assistant to clear his calendar for the day. **ORLANDO AIRPORT** The plane touched down, and the five young men were the first ones off of the plane. Instead of being greeted by security like normal they were greeted by an older smiling black man. "Johnny? What're you doing here?" "I need to talk privately to you guys." Johnny and the security guards ushered the group out into a waiting car. Chris turned to look at the guys, then looked at Johnny. "Okay. We're private. What's up." "Dale's on his way home." Five collective intakes of breath. Finally all of them started talking at once. "WHAT? WHEN? HOW?" "Where has he been?" "Details Johnny!" They all stopped talking like a switch had been thrown, and turned to look at Joey. He was just sitting there. Finally he spoke. "What about Lonnie?" Johnny let out a sigh. "Dale said he didn't know for sure. He gave me a location. What that means I don't know. I contacted the detectives here in Florida I've been talking to and let them know to head to Mobile." Lance interjected at that. "Alabama? He was in Alabama?" "When's his flight get in Johnny?" They all turned to look at Joey. Johnny was just getting ready to answer him when his cell phone rang. "Hang on a second guys. Hello this is Johnny. Oh hello detective." Johnny had a one-sided conversation with the detective. Only really saying `yes', `no', and `really' several times. "Okay detective. Thanks for letting me know. Mister Wright will be returning to Orlando in a few hours. If you would like to meet at my office say at four this afternoon you can take his statement. I was hoping to take him to the hospital when he gets back, should I wait? Okay, I certainly will. Thanks again." He hung up the phone and looked at it thoughtfully. "Well that's interesting." Nothing else was said for a minute. Finally Justin broke the silence. "WHAT???" "Oh, sorry. The police have Lonnie in custody. He was beat to within an inch of his life. They're unsure if he'll wake up or not." The five friends were silent at that. Justin uttered a "wow" and lapsed silent. Joey finally raised his head to look at the others. "Good. I'm glad. It means that Dale defended himself from that psychotic son of a bitch! I hope he dies." Lance sat up slightly. "Johnny, if he dies are they going to come after Dale as the primary suspect?" "Given what you've told me of the conversations with Lonnie the past few weeks I think it's safe to say that it's a self-defense issue. But let's not worry about it right now. The big thing is that he'll be flying in about ninety minutes from now. The detective said we could go ahead and take him to the hospital, but to let them know that photos need to be taken for the police." None of them could be talked into going anywhere. The next ninety minutes were agony. Joey just kept staring at the arrival monitors. Finally he saw the gate that the plane was going to be landing at. He headed to that gate and staked out a spot to wait. "Ladies and Gentlemen Flight 236 from Mobile, Alabama is now arriving. Thank you for flying Sunjet Airlines." Joey and the guys were standing right by the causeway, looking down. They saw a figure come around the corner and start limping up the ramp. Not a word was spoken as they made the realization that it was Dale. "Oh my god." Lance turned away. Tears coming to his eyes. Dale walked up to the group. He had made an effort to clean himself up a bit. But he was still wearing the clothes he'd left the motel in. The guys saw the burns on his face and heck. His right hand looked odd, like it'd been in a clamp. Joey groaned softly. He looked into Dale's eyes, and saw that the spark was still there. But there was something else there now. Dale looked down at his feet for a minute. Finally, he cleared his voice and spoke softly. "Um, hi." The group started trying to hug him, and he flinched at the movement. Joey grabbed Justin's arm. "Stop guys. We have to get Dale to the doctor first. Let's get out of public eye before someone takes a picture." They headed back out to the cars. Dale made a crack about not having any luggage. Joey smiled at that, thinking to himself that Dale would probably be okay. They piled into the Expedition and headed out, one of their security guards driving. Dale and Joey got into the very back seat, Dale fell asleep against Joey almost as soon as they sat down. Joey shushed the guys. He ran his eyes over Dale's body, and felt tears come to his eyes. --// God, what Dale must have gone through! //-- Joey was just starting to nod off on the drive as well when the moans started. Dale was thrashing next to him. "NO. NOGODNO. OH FUCK. LONNIE, STOP! I DON'T WANNA!!" Hot tears were running down Dale's face. The guys had all turned around in concern. Chris bellowed to the driver to hurry up. The driver said it'd be another ten minutes thanks to traffic. There came a blood-curdling scream. Joey started calling Dale's name. He was afraid to touch him because of the thrashing. "You won't hurt Joey you sonofabitch." Another bloodcurdling scream, then Dale's body flew forward like he was sitting up. He overshot and threw his arm out to stop himself from hitting the seatback. He hissed as his broken fingers got hurt all over again. Dale's head snapped around, looking at everyone. "um. What happened?" Joey just smiled sadly. "Nothing baby. It was a nightmare. You feel like talking?" Dale just shook his head. "no." He fell silent for a second. "Loki! Joey, who's been taking care of him?" "He's fine baby. We'll be at the hospital momentarily. We'll get this taken care of then we can go home." Dale reached up and ran a finger along Joey's cheek. "Oh my god. Joey, was it real? Was the last two weeks real?" "Unfortunately, yes. Don't worry about it. We're still here, and none of us are going anywhere." The SUV pulled up in front of the hospital. The doors opened and all of them got out and went inside. Dale went up to the triage nurse. "Hi. I need to see a doctor please." The nurse took one look at him and led him straight back. Joey went with them. The rest of them, wearing glasses and funny hats, sat down in the waiting room. Passing out magazines to everyone, Justin smiled sadly. It was going to be a long day.