Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 00:05:51 EDT From: Shaman il-de SaintGermain Subject: The Price and the Prize Ch 3 Here is chapter 3 part 1. I guess this is how all the chapters are going to turn out. With multiple parts that is. Well, as always I must say that this is fiction. I do not know the men of *Nsync, nor do I think that the characters I've built around their images and names have anything to do with them as they truly are. Thanx again Kat for all your aid. Now on with the story. Hi there! It's me again. Everything I've said in any of the Prefaces, er, prefacii, no, no, it's prefaces. Anyway, what I said before is still true. I still don't know *Nsync. I still give my thanx to Kat and I still welcome you all to contact me at; elderknight@hotmail.com or ICQ# 15048366. Now I think I'm supposed to say something about Roger Rabbit being a registered trade mark or something like that. Well I said something like that so I'm done. On with the story... Tobias' Journal entry: Well I'm meeting the guys from *Nsync in an hour. Talk about serendipity. I guess I'm supposed to be deal with this. I love it when things just work out like that. I have to say though, I'm apprehensive about this. What if NightFire is wrong? I hope they're ready to deal with this. I certainly won't be able to without their cooperation. I've prepared a few things just in case. Gods I hope I'm ready to do this. I didn't sleep well last night. My dreams were crazy. All I can really remember from them is seeing the Lovers card over and over. What the hell is that about. I know the Lovers popped up in the reading I did yesterday, but...I don't know. Anyway, I'll meet with the guys and we'll see what goes on. Wish me luck Jeremiah, wherever you are. I need it. The Price and the Prize Chapter 3; part 1: Damn! This has been a weird day. I mean *WEIRD*. I knew Lance was havin' problems, but I had *no* idea. I knew about him havin' these dreams sometimes. He told me 'bout 'em when he was havin' so much trouble last year. Jeez, I was afraid he was goin' through somethin' like that again. If only. Okay, so, Justin is possessed by a demon. Lance is havin' dreams an' gettin' sick just bein' around Justin. J.C.'s freakin' over all of it. I *really* think there's somethin' he's not tellin' us there. I know him 'n Justin are close, but the way he acted this morninin' when Justin said that stuff about J.C. not bein' his daddy an' all. I mean J.C. doesn't loose his temper an' boy did he go off after that. I've only seen him do that twice, this mornin' an' that time Lanceton made Justin break down cryin'. Both times it was 'bout Justin. Hmm, somethin' there? I think so! Anyway, then we got Chris. Who knew he knew what he knows? I mean, he's always done some strange stuff. Ya know, for good luck 'n stuff, but that thing with the match...*That* was cool. Scary, but cool. God man, I've always wanted to believe in magic an' stuff. I mean magic an' psychic stuff an' superheroes. It's just, well, ya don't get a lotta proof 'bout that stuff. 'Till somethin' like this happens anyway. Now. I mean, It's cool an' all, but I wish I didn't have to find out like this. Okay, so, we're sittin in Lance's room waitin' for this guy who's s'possed to come help us out here. I'm thinkin' Giles from "Buffy" ya know? Cool. He'll probably be like all "Why yes, I am Lancelot. Very pleased to meet you all. Now I do hope you don't become offended if I refer to the daemonic creature as a bastard at some point. I do tend to get a bit excited in the course of these events." Somebody’s knockin' at the door. That must be him. Lance jumps up to answer the door which makes the rest of us jump. He takes a look around the room. Man, talk 'bout tension. We got yer tension right here. So then he opens the door an' just stands there. After a few seconds this voice says,"Mr. Bass, I'm Lancelot." Good voice. Nice tone. Bet it carries well. "Oh, oh, of course. Please, come in." He zoned. It's a Lance thing. As he steps away from the door to let the guy in I can see he looks relieved somehow. Now I get to see this Lancelot character. Wow! Not Giles! Definitely *not* Giles. This guy looks cool. I mean look at that hair. It's as red as mine an' it looks natural. Piercings, a leather duster. Is that a tattoo on his neck? Nice pants too. Suede. How cool is that? Oh man, I love the combat boots with fire painted on the toes. He can't be any older than us. An' the way he's walkin' into the room. Oh yah, this guy's cool. An' not bad lookin' either. He's got those broad shoulders, strong chin, *nice* lips. Oh god Joey! Way to be a bud! Justin's possessed, Lance could be dyin' an' you wanna' jump the guy that can save 'em! Keep it in your pants! "Oh." he says as he sees the rest of us. "I-It's okay," Lance says,"They know. They're gonna help to. If that's okay." "Well," he says with a grin,"I guess it'll have to be. You won't exactly take no for an answer will ya'?" "Nope." Chris answers for all of us. "Oh, um...Should we call you Lancelot or Tobias." Lance asks. "Well...Lance, Lancelot. That'll probably cause confusion. You can call me Toby. Yah, that'll be fine." "Okay Toby. These are the guys; Chris, Joey, J.C., and I'm Lance." "I'd say nice to meet you, but under the circumstances I guess that would be in poor taste." Toby replies,"You know this is going to be dangerous don't you. You, one or more of you, could die, or worse." He says, lookin' us each in the eye. He stops at J.C.,"You aren't sure you believe this are you?" "I...No." J.C. says lookin' down. Toby's face goes cold. "Well it goes like this; Everything has a price. Everything. All the things we prize in life do. The price of living is dying. The price of pleasure is pain. It's the prize that makes it all worth while. Right now, in this shity situation, the prize is your friend Justin, body and soul. The price is opening your eyes, giving up all your illusions of a safe, normal little world. If you want to help, if you think the prize is worth it, you'll have to face things most people never see, never want to see, outside of a nightmare. Your faith? Hold on tight. Everything your parents ever told you about the monster under the bed not being real? Chuck it. They are real, and they eat people like you for breakfast." He pauses an' looks at us like he's sizin' us up. I don't think he's impressed. His eyes, it's like there's a glow. Like, like light through a church window. An' I *know* he's tellin' the truth. God help us(if there is one), I can't not believe what he's sayin'. "Are you willing to give up everything you think you know and step into my world? If you do there's no going back. My world will know you've been there and it will never let you free. Is it worth it? Is the prize worth the price?" "Yes." says J.C., no hesitation. The rest of us aren't far b'hind. "Alright then," says Toby,"I need you to tell me everything. When did you first notice the change in Justin? And I want to hear your dreams Lance, in as much detail as you can handle." We fill him in on the last day or so. Mostly Lance, but the rest of us help with little details. Mostly Toby just sits an' plays with his goatee while he listens. Once in a while he asks a question then just sits back an' lets us talk. After 'bout an hour he's up to speed. Shit man, I was kinda pissed at Lance 'bout him lyin’ to me. Now that I've heard those dreams he had. I don't blame him one bit. Damn! I wouldn't wanna talk 'bout 'em either. Hell, I wouldn't wanna think 'bout 'em! "Well," Toby says,"I agree with you about the girl. The thing was most likely in her at the time." "But why Justin?" J.C. asks. "I don't know J.C.. Maybe...you say he's a nice guy, maybe that's what caught the things attention. They do that, look for the best so they can fuck it up. And Chris, I like the match thing. Pretty cool. You say your Grandmother taught you that?" "Yah," says Chris, lookin all proud,"and other stuff to." "How long do we have, before he kills Justin?" Lance asks. "I wish I could say for sure," says Toby,"it all depends on what the thing does. You should take into account that he could already be dead." "No." J.C. says firmly,"He can't be dead." "I know..." "NO!" J.C. shouts. Toby holds up a hand an' looks a little annoyed, "*I know* how we can find out. I'll need something of Justin's." "sorry" J.C. says, embarrassed. "You mean like hair or something." Chris says. "Yah," says Toby,"hair would perfect." "We can get some from his room." I say. "We don't have a key. I'll have to call the front desk." Lance says. "*You* don't have a key." Chris says as he jumps up from his seat with a smile an' heads outta the room. Lance follows him to the door an'stands in the doorway for a minute lookin' down the hall. "Where did you get that?" he says to the hall. "I figured with all this shit it would be a good idea to have a key to all the rooms." Comes Chris' muffled voice from somewhere down the hall. Lance looks back into the room an' shrugs. "HA!," Chris shouts,"Gotcha!" A few seconds later he strides into the room lookin' all triumphant with a pass key in one hand an' somethin' between the finger an' thumb of his other. He walks over to Toby an' holds the, hair?, out to him. "Is that enough?" he asks. Toby smiles. *wow* "It should be." he answers. Then he takes the hair an' walks over an' puts it on the coffee table. "Could you hand me my satchel Lance?" Lance nods an' grabs the satchel Toby brought in bringin' it over to him. Toby reaches inside an' pulls out a white box with some kinda black inlay work. He opens it an' tips some big cards into his hand. Tarot cards? "Are those Tarot cards?" I ask him. "Yep," he says as he puts the box down an' starts to shuffle the cards. We all get around the table to watch. He stops shufflin' an' looks at the four of us. "Cut the cards." he’s says as he hold them out to J.C. who just looks at him for a second. "Go on." J.C. reaches up an' takes 'bout half the deck an' puts it under the other half. Toby starts shufflin' again. When he stops he takes the hair an' lays it in the center of the table. He closes his eyes an' takes a card off the top of the deck. He flips it over layin' it on the hair. He keeps flippin' cards, layin' 'em around the first one. I have no idea what they all mean, but they're cool. Beautiful actually. They're black an' white drawin's full of dragons an' people in all sorts of costumes. All the tension's back in the room. I mean, we're waitin' to hear if our friend is dead or alive or what. It's really gettin' bad an' Toby isn't even makin' a sound, just flippin' cards. Jeez, talk 'bout suspense. "Well, he's alive," Oh Jeez! Talk about relief! We all exhale at the same time,"and I think, he's gonna stay that way. For awhile at least. I don't know why, but I don't think the thing wants to kill him. Not yet" "Then we have to find him soon and fix him. We can fix him right?" J.C. says, desperation creepin' into his voice. There it is again, Somethin'... "If we can get him while he's alive, I think we can." Toby says noddin'. "You *Think* we can!" J.C. says raisin' his voice. "I *cannot* guarantee anything, but I will try my damnedest. And you have to do that to, now keep it together J.C.." J.C. visibly calms an' nods. "So how do we find him?" Asks Chris. "We can't call the police or anything," says Lance,"not unless it's absolutely necessary. It'd be all over the papers in hours that Justin was missing." "Well we don't know that he's missing," says J.C.,"He may just come back." "I doubt it," Toby says,"Since you guys know what he is you pose a threat to the thing. He'll probably move on. Hey, did you guys say the thing said it had plans today?" "Yah," I say,"What, ya think it's got some evil plot goin' or somethin'" Toby just thinks for a second. "The demonists called it up for a reason. Whatever that was we stopped it from happening." "We?" Lance asks. For a second Toby looks at Lance an' his face just falls. I can tell pain when I see it an' it's definitely there, but just for a second. Then he clears his voice. "A friend of mine," he says,"He died five days ago, when we first fought the cult trying to raise the daemon." "Shit." Chris whispers. "I'm, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." Lance says. "It's alright," Toby says,"That's what I was trying to tell you earlier. This stuff is dangerous. Jeremiah new what he was doing. He knew what he was walking into." Toby blinks a couple times an' takes a deep breath. "Alright, enough of that. The thing may be trying to finish whatever it was it was called to do. If that's the case...Let's find Justin." Toby picks up his cards an' puts 'em back in the box. He pulls a little white candle out of his satchel an' a box of matches. I'm thinkin' we got a spell comin' our way here. Now he's pulled out this book. Looks like a spell book to me. It's all old an' bound in leather, papers stickin' outta it an' stuff. I'm surprised it fits in that satchel, what with everythin' else he's got in there. I wonder what all he does have in there. It's like Mary Poppins' carpet bag or somethin'. He sets the book gently on the table an' opens it. There's a smell, kinda like dried flowers...Hey, there's dried flowers in there. Whadda ya know. We all watch as he leafs through the pages. They're all covered in pictures an' diagrams. Everythin' looks hand drawn. Cool! Now this is what I expected. "Here." says Toby, I guess to himself, as he runs his hand down a page. He reaches into his satchel an' brings out a pen an' a notebook. He opens the notebook an' starts writin'. I can't read what the book says at all. I know it's in English, it just looks funny an' doesn't make any sense. I see Chris smilin'. Looks like he's readin' it. Lance is lookin' at me. He point's to the book an' mouths 'What's it say?' I just shrug. "Oh Cool!," Chris chuckles,"This really works?" Toby looks at him real funny for a second then kinda grins. "You can read this?" he says, pointin' to the book. "Of course I can," Chris says,"It is in English. I may look stupid, but it's just an act." Toby's just lookin' at him,"Oh! Wait! Am I not supposed to be able to?" Toby just shakes his head an' looks around at the rest of us. We're all clueless. It's obvious. "Alright," he says,"let's get this started." Toby pulls a small plate from his satchel an' a match from the matchbox. He rips the page he's written on out of his notebook an' folds it a few times. Then he strikes the match an' lights the paper. As it burns it gets sorta a blue tint to the flame. Cool. He sets it on the plate to finish burnin'. It's done. He crushes it gently an' picks up the plate. He spits in the plate an' says,"Spit." holdin' the plate out to Lance who's to his left. He does the same to me, J.C., then Chris. He uses his finger to mix it all up into a paste. Kinda gross, but I guess that's majik. I always see people in the movies doin' stuff like that. It's cool. S'not like he killed a chicken or somethin'. He puts the plate down picks up the candle an' starts rubbin' the paste all over it. He's got it pretty well coated. He sets it down an' stands up lookin' at his hands. "Gods that makes a mess." he says as he goes into the bathroom. Gods? As in Plural? Hmmm. He steps outta the bathroom dryin' his hands an' says,"Alright, that should do it. You guys ready to go?" "Go?" Lance, J.C. an' I all say together. "To find Justin," says Chris. The candle'll show us where he is." "How's it going to do that?" J.C. says, not soundin' convinced. "Like this." says Toby, pickin' up the candle. He holds it between his hands like he's prayin' an' closes his eyes mumblin' somethin'. He holds the candle in one palm an' looks at Chris. "Care to do the honors?" he says. "Yah!" Chris almost shouts. He grabs the match box an' pulls out a match. "I just say his name right?" "As much of it as you know." Toby says. Okay, more stuff with fire. This should be interestin'. "Justin Randall Timberlake." Chris says as he strikes the match an' lights the candle. It catches an' he shakes the match out. The flame gets goin' good an' then it le-ans to the side. The candle flame is burnin' sideways instead of up! I notice that everybody’s head but Toby's is cocked to the side like the candle flame an' gotta chuckle. "Very cool." I say. "Absafuckinlutely." says Chris grinnin' like an idiot. Toby just has this half grin goin'. Lance just looks amazed, an' J.C. just looks, what? ready? "So, Justin is that way." J.C. says pointin' the way the flame is leanin' "Right," says Toby,"Now are we ready?" Everybody says yah an' Toby shoves his stuff back into his satchel. "I don't suppose one of you has a vehicle of some kind. My car's gonna be tight if we all have to ride in it." "I could see about getting something from the hotel." Lance says. "Please." says Toby. "Okay, I'll meet you guys in the lobby." Lance Grabs a coat an' things an' heads out. "Be right back," Chris says,"gonna get a hat." "Yah," says J.C.,"good idea. I'll meet you guys at the elevators." An' they both take off. I watch Toby finish gettin' his coat an' stuff on. He really is somethin'. God man! If I don't watch it I'm gonna start fallin for him. I don't realize I'm starin 'til he turns around an' our eyes meet. He just smiles softly *wow* "Are you gay?" he says. "W-What?!" "I said, Are you okay? You look kinda spaced there." "Uh-uh, Y-Yah. I was just, uh, We should prob'ly go" I say already on my way out the door. Whew! We meet up in the lobby. Lance has a mini-van rented. Toby says to meet him out in the parkin' lot where we put a couple of things from his car into the van. There's this cool walkin' stick with stones an' carvins an' stuff. An' he's got a sword to. He puts that on under his coat an' ya can't hardly see it. "Isn't that illegal?" Lance asks. "Yep." Toby says an' locks up his car an' gets in the van without another word. Lance looks at me a little nervous. I just shrug. What's ta say? It's 3:00 in the afternoon an' we're makin' our way through traffic with Toby drivin' an' Chris holdin' the candle. We've been doin' this for about an hour an' the candle's still burnin' strong. Nobody's said much. We're all just sorta watchin' the candle burn, an tellin' Toby which way to turn. It's weird seein' it burnin' sideways like that. The longer I have to watch it the freakier it's gettin'. We're not exactly in a good section of town here. The buildings are all kinda old an' the few people that we see outside the car look kinda...Felonious. Big word. The candle flame is turnin' to the right. "Turn right." We all tell Toby in unison. I look right an' see an alley. An' Justin! He's just standin' there leanin' against a wall. He sees us an' quick ducks into the alley. "THERE HE IS!" Lance an' I shout together,"STOP THE CAR!" "WHERE!?!" the others yell. "In the alley! Over there!" Again in unison. "Hang on!" says Toby. We're thrown forward as the car slams into reverse. We're thrown backward as it stops. We're parked at the curb. Not well, but tough shit! Toby's already out of the van an' headin, for the alley. The rest of us jump out an' tear after him. It's a tight alley. It doesn't go all the way through to the next street, an' Justin is nowhere to be seen. There's a turn in the alley an' Toby slides to a stop as he takes it. The rest of us come up behind him bumpin' into each other like the Marx brothers. That's when I see the three men, an' Justin standin' behind 'em. The men have guns. ShiT! "Well, well," says Justin in a relaxed voice." You found me." He claps his hands an' says "Hurray for you. You didn't honestly think I wouldn't expect you? Or that I wouldn't take precautions?" He shakes his head grinnin'. "I don't have time for your futile attempts at heroics, and I won't have you jeopardizing my plans." "Justin!" J.C. shouts,"Fight him! You can fight him!" Justin stops for a second. He shakes his head an' puts his hands to his ears, swayin' a little. He holds out his hand toward us. Toby draws his sword. "J.C." Justin says in a small voice with a look of desperation, which, changes, slowly, to a feral grin. "Kill them." The bad guys level their guns. "Uh, Toby? Sword, Gun fight!" Lance says. "DOWN!" Toby shouts an' whips his hand out throwin' a green powder into the air. It billows out, coverin' the bad guys as I dive to the ground. *ClickClickClick*ClickClickClickClick*ClickClick* The guns aren't firin'! I look up to see Toby start movin'. The bad guys look pretty surprised. Toby swings an' the guy on his right drops his gun. An' his hand with it. Man! Look at all the Blood! "Ouch!" says Toby as he swings his sword around an' drives it in at the guy in the center. It's goin' for his gut. The guy jumps back an' yelps. I don't think it hurt him though...OH MY GOD!! Don't be sick! Don't be si...To late. bLAauAgH!!!...Pull it together Joey, Pull it together! I'm on my knees wipin' puke from my mouth. "Let go *Fucker*!" It's Toby. I look up an' see the last guy's got Toby's sword arm with one hand an' Toby's hair with the other. Now that ain't fair. Toby stomps on the bad guy's foot an' the guy lets go of his hair, but they're still fightin' for the sword. I see an old liquor bottle out of the corner of my eye an' grab it. I cock my hand back to throw. I can't get a clear shot. "DUCK TOBY!" Lance yells. Toby doesn't even look. He goes down to his knees like he knows what's happenin'. I throw. *CrAsH*! Glass sparkles as it showers off the bad guy's head. Toby stands, jerkin' his sword around an' slices the guy's neck an' chest. He goes down fast. "Ha! Ha! Good Show!" Justin says clappin'. How'd he get up on the roof? "I guess I'll see you later." He steps back from the edge of the buildin' disappearin'. The smell of blood an' the shit from the second guys guts almost make me puke again. I'm a little dizzy. Toby's kneelin' by one of the bad guys goin' through his pockets. I manage to stand. I still feel a little queasy, an' see'n the bodies...God, Toby did all that. "You killed them." Chris says. Toby looks over from where he's kneelin'. Still lookin' at us, he wipes his sword on the dead guy. Lance an' Chris both look pretty green. Their expression is 'bout what I guess mine is, shock, disgust. J.C. just has a cold look in his eyes. I don't think that's good. "Yes," says Toby,"Would you rather I'd let them kill us and left Justin to the daemon?" "No," says chris,"It's just..." Toby stands an' sheaths his sword. He's got somethin' in his hand. Looks like a matchbook. "C'mon, we better go." he says. "The candle again?" Lance asks as Toby walks past us toward the car. "No,"Toby says,"The Pit." "The Pit?" I say. "It's a bar...Satanists." Somehow that doesn't make me feel any less shaky. Damn, two days ago I was just an international singin' star. Now look at me. I catch up with Lance as we walk. "Ya okay guy?" I say puttin' my arm over his shoulder. "I guess. As okay as I can be. What about you?" "I don't know Lanceton. I don't know." We go the rest of the way to the car in silence. J.C. gives me a weak smile as I get in. I pat his shoulder an' sit down. Toby gets in the driver's seat again. He buckles his seat belt an' starts the van. As we pull out into the light traffic, Chris leans up. "I guess we should be glad he's on *our* side." He whispers with a glance at Toby. An' you know, that kinda makes me feel better. I don't know why exactly, except maybe because I know he *is* on our side. He saved our lives back there. I know he only did what he had to do. I hope to God I can do the same when the time comes. We stop on a back street in an even worse part of town then we...the we were b'fore. Toby shuts off the engine an' turns in the seat to look at us. "Guys, I know what you just saw was bad." he says," I just want you to know, that if any of you decide you can't go any further I'll understand. I haven't always done this you know. I had a first time to. I remember how bad it is, how you get sick, how you feel afterwards." Jeez! How could anyone forget somethin' like this. I never will, Never. What was Toby's first time like? I can't ask that though. "I'm saying this because it's only going to get worse. If you can't do this then it would be best for all of us, and for Justin, if you go now. We can't afford to have anyone breaking down in the middle of a confrontation. Now just sit for a second, close your eyes and try to relax." I do what he says. Well, the relaxin' part isn't happennin. "Now ask yourself this. 'Can I handle this? Can I do whatever it takes until this is finished?'" Can I handle this? Can I do whatever it takes...The scene from a few minutes ago flashes through my mind. The alley, the bad guys, the blood. Can I handle that again? I barely handeled it then. I did though, but can I do it again. Can I watch more people die...like that? I don't know. I open my eyes an' look around the van. In the passenger seat Lance still has his eyes closed. He's thinkin' really hard, I can tell by the way his mouth is set in that grimace. I look at chris in the seat beside me. He's just lookin' at his hands. As I look to the back seat where J.C. is he starts to talk.... The Price and the Prize Chapter 3; part 2: ...Can I handle this? Can I do whatever it takes...The scene from a few minutes ago flashes through my mind. The alley, the bad guys, the blood. Can I handle that again? I barely handled it then. I did though, but can I do it again. Can I watch more people die...like that? I don't know. I open my eyes an' look around the van. In the passenger seat Lance still has his eyes closed. He's thinkin' really hard, I can tell by the way his mouth is set in that grimace. I look at Chris in the seat beside me. He's just lookin' at his hands. As I look to the back seat where J.C. is he starts to talk. "Whatever it takes," J.C. says calmly,"I'll do whatever it takes until Justin is back." There's no doubt there, just truth. "My Grandma used to say," says Chris, still lookin' down at his hands, "My Grandma used to say,'If a man doesn't fight for what he believes I'll call him a dog. If a dog fight's for what he believes in, him I'll call a man." She also used to say,'It's not enough to see path and accept it. You have to *choose* your path, and that means walking it.'" I don't know if I completely understand what he's sayin' there, but I get the idea. "You know, I always believed in doing what was right. Being good and all that. At least trying to anyway. Part of that is if I see something wrong I should try to fix. Well there's something wrong here, Really wrong. I can't just sit back and do nothing." Damn Chris, that's like poetic an' shit. I mean I know Chris can do that, be poetic an' give speeches. He has a way with words when he wants to. He just doesn't usually want to. I look up an' Lance is lookin' at me. I know what he's gonna say b'fore he opens his mouth. He's got that look in his eyes. Once that's there there's no changin' his mind, no matter what. "Your right Chris." he says,"And, and I know you guys don't all believe in God the way I do. And maybe this is just some sort of rationalization, but I can't help thinking that these dreams I have, the things I see, that they're sent so I can know what's happening and do something to make a difference. It's like you said Chris, I can't just sit back and do nothing. Especially with Justin..." Okay, so I didn't know exactly what he was gonna say. Everybody's lookin' at me now. My turn to decide. I have to make my choice, choose my path an' walk it. Can I do this? Lookin' around at the faces of my friends an' seein' Justin's face missin' there's only one answer. I look at Toby. Our eyes meet. God, his eyes are so deep. It's like I can see his soul. There's sadness there, like he doesn't want us to do this. Like he'd rather die than drag us into this. He's strong though. An' so am I. Path chosen. I just nod my head. It's like I can feel the world changin'. I guess it really is like Toby said, there's no goin' back. "Alrighty then," Toby sighs," J.C., there's a brown leather bag in the back there. Could you pass it up here please?" "Is this it?" J.C. asks as he passes a bag forward. "That's it," Toby says as he sets it on his lap an' opens it up."Since you bone heads are dead set on joining me in this insanity, you'll need a little protection." He rummages in the bag an' starts handin' us little crystal necklaces. Their nice, not exactly my style but hey."Damn," he says,"One short." He looks at Lance, who didn't get a necklace, nods to himself an' pulls off one of his rings."Here, you can wear this." *Not* fair! Lance gets to wear his ring. Jeez Joey c'mon. It's not like Lance is *wearin’ his ring*. ugh! "It won't fit." Lance says."Too big." "It won't fit at all." Toby says. "Nope." Lance demonstrates by slidin' the ring easily on an' off his thumb. "O-kay then," Toby says, takin' the ring back,"Who wears a size 12?" "I Do!" That was *way* to excited Joey. I start blushin' slightly an' I see Lance an' Chris grinnin', but Toby doesn't seem to notice anythin'. "Necklace." Toby says holdin' out the ring. I take off the necklace an' hand it to him, takin' the ring an' puttin' it on the middle finger of my right hand. It's a perfect fit, an' a cool ring to. It's a thick silver dragon wrapin' around my finger with bright green stones for it's eyes. "Alright then," says Toby,"I'm going to go in there and see what I can find out. You guys wait for me out here and..." "Bull Shit!" says J.C.,"I am *not* sitting out here in this van while you go in there alone and try to save Justin." "Yah, what if you get in trouble again?" says Chris. "Like in the alley." I throw in. "If your alone," says Lance,"Who's gonna throw the bottle?" "Fine," Toby says chucklin',"But you do exactly what I say to in there. There may not be anyone there at four in the afternoon, but there may just be. And remember, this is a bar for Satanists, and these are the low end of that particular spectrum. Just try and be ready for anything, and don't do anything rash. Understand?" "Yes." we all say together. "Jeez," I say,"Try to be ready for anythin'. You sound like a boy scout Toby." "Six years," he says. "You were a boy scout?" says Chris. "No way!" says J.C.. "If you find that hard to believe," Toby says as he slips out of the van,"I probably shouldn't bother mentioning my time as a choir boy." "Choir Boy!" But he's already shut the door. The door to The Pit is in a another alley. This one is a through alley though so I can see the other street. The name is painted above the door in red paint so that the letters look like they're drawn in blood. How nice. Toby walks up an' knocks on the door with his walkin' stick. When it opens this huge guy with a shaved head an' red eyes steps out...Red Eyes?! Contacts, they gotta be contacts. I hope. "We're closed." he says. "Not for us." Toby says meetin' the door guys red glare with a steady gaze,"Tell Lucio Lancelot's here to speak with." "I don't care who you is. You ain't gettin' in." door guy says. Toby half turns toward us restin' his hands on the top of his walkin' stick. "Well guys," he says,"I guess he's gonna make us do this the hard way." That quick Toby's hands move. The end of his walkin' stick slams up into door guys balls. I think he actually left the ground."Ouch." Toby says. "OooHhhh!" we all gasp in sympathy. As the door guy doubles over Toby swings his stick up an' clocks him on the back of the head. Door guy goes down fast an' hard. "So much for the hard way." Toby says. Sarcastic bastard. I love it! he steps through the now open door. Lance moves somethin' red with the toe of his shoe. One of door guys contacts fell out. That's a relief. We follow Toby through the door. It's dark, but not too bad. We're in a short hall with another door at the end. As Toby opens it I can hear voices stop talkin'. "Shit!" one of them says. AS we step into the bar behind Toby I can see five people. There's a woman an' three men sittin' at the bar an' another guy b'hind it. They look kinda scary. "You're not welcome here." says the guy b'hind the bar. "I know that Lucio. How's your hand by the way?" Toby says, almost managin' to sound like he cares. Lucio clenches his right hand, which is missin' a couple of fingers an' looks damn pissed. "Fuck you! Get out of my bar!" The four sittin' at the bar get up an' spread out in front of us. One of 'ems 'bout bigger than door guy. "Doesn't have to be this way Lucio," Toby says quickly, an' I see his grip on his stick tighten,"I just want some information then we're gone." "That's it?" Toby nods,"Follow me then." Lucio says, as he walks to a door in the back wall. They go in an' shut the door. So we're standin' out here with these horror movie cast offs wonderin' what to do. I know, I'll give 'em my 'I'm gonna kick your ass' look. It's been awhile since I've used it on anyone but the guys an' the road crew, an' none of them take me seriously, but what the hell. Here goes...Somehow I don't think they're very impressed. Oh sure, I look tough next to Chris Lance an' J.C., but compared to these guys I prob'ly look like Roger Rabbit. I guess it worked a little though 'cause two of the guys are kinda steppin' up. Yes! Ego boost! The big guys standin' in front of Chris though I can't help but think David an' Goliath. The girl's stepped She leans in an' runs a hand down his chest. J.C. doesn't even flinch. Damn, the boys be hard. She's at his belt now an' she isn't stoppin'. He takes a step back an' she gets this wicked smile. "Whad ya do wit Russel?" says the big guy to Chris. "He's sleeping outside," says Chris right back to him. "Shit," says one of the guys in front of me. He brushes past me on the way to the door. I brace for it, but he still moves me. *BoOoMm!* A gunshot from the back room! "TOBY!" J.C. an' I shout together. "It's Ti-ime." The girl sing-songs. An' I'm grabbed from b'hind! Damn I shoulda seen that comin' a mile away. *CaUgOof!* Punch to the gut from the guy still in front of me. Suck it up Joey! Suck it up! I take a deep breath even though it hurts like hell. The girl's got a knife! She swings at J.C., an' he jumps back, but I think I see blood. The big guy grabs Chris an' swings smashes him into the bar hard. I can't see Lance. Gotta Act! I stomp down hard on the foot of the guy who's holdin' me. He lets go with one arm. I jab at the guy in front of me. Right To The Nose! Blood sprays an' he goes down. One Shot! Way To Go Joe! I reach up with my right hand an' grab the hair of the guy b'hind me an' pull hard so that his face is over my shoulder. *WaCk!wAcK!WaCk!* Three strikes you're out! Especially when they're straight to the face. He goes limp an' I let him fall. J.C's backed up against a wall an' that bitch is still goin' at him. *CrAsH!* Chris is still against the bar but the big guy's backed off a step. Chris reaches back an' grabs another bottle of somethin' an' smashes it over the big guys head as he lunges again. *cRaSh!* Glass shatters an' liquor goes everywhere. Chris spins out away from the guy an' when he stops he's facin' the guy with a lit match in his hand. Where did Chris get matches? He doesn't smoke. Oh! The matches from this mornin'! Chris an' the big guy lock eyes for a second, the big guy's drenched in alcohol an' Chris's got the match. He wouldn't. The guys lunges at Chris again. HE'S INSANE! Chris throws the match an' dives to the side. It looks like he's tryin' to avoid the match but it's too late! *FuWoOoMf!* He goes up like a, like a...like a guy who's been doused with liquor an' had a match dropped on him. He stumbles backward into the bar an' the liquor that spilled there goes up to. *CrAcK!* Aaaaaghh! J.C.! I spin around an' see him still against the wall, but the girl' on the ground at his feet craddlin' her *badly* broken arm. The knife's on the floor an' Lance, who's standin' there with a broken pool-que, kicks it away. "Go Lanceton!" I shout. *WaWoOmF!* There's a brilliant flash of light from the door that Lucio an' Toby went in. The door, slowly, falls, into, the room. *Thump* Smoke pours outta the room. Okay, so smoke's pretty much everywhere what with half the bar on fire now. There's a figure in the door. Toby! He steps out into the room with his walkin' stick in one hand an' a shotgun in the other. "Yah!" I shout. He looks around an' shakes his head. "I told you not to do anything rash." he says. He walks over to us ignorin' the flames an' the heat like they aren't even there. God he's cool! "We should go." he says. DUH! We're on fire here! An' he walks out. The rest of us start out an' I almost trip over the two guys I knocked out. Shit, We can't leave 'em here. I look for the girl, but she's nowhere to be seen, an' it was too late for the big guy as soon as he hit that match. So I grab one of the guys in a firemen's carry, I see Lance grab the other an' we head for the door coughin' from the smoke. We make it outside with Chris an' J.C. right in front of us. Toby's leanin' on the wall a little ways down the alley. He grins as we drop the guys to the pavement an' cough out the last of the smoke. Then he looks upset. "Fuck J.C., you're bleeding!" Chris says. An' boy is he! He's holdin' his right arm up to his chest an' it's covered in blood from the elbow down. "Yah," he says, in a shaky voice,"She kinda cut me." "C'mon," says Toby, comin' over to help support J.C.,"Let's get you to the car." We get to the van an' Toby pulls the keys an' pops the hatch. We sit J.C. on the bumper. Toby grabs one of his bags an' he starts pullin' out gauze, tape, rags an' some funny lookin' bottles. He pulls a knife from somewhere an' cuts J.C.'s sleeve away. He grabs some of the rags an starts cleanin' away the blood which is still comin' out steady. Why do I get the idea he's done this b'fore "Okay," he says,"It's not as bad as it looks, but you do need stitches. Now we can take you to a hospital and spend the rest of the day filling out papers and trying to explain how this happened or we can go to a friend of mine and not have to say a thing." "Hospital." Lance says. "Does your friend know what he's doing?" J.C. asks through his teeth. "Yes," Toby says, as he pours some sweet smellin' power over the cut which pretty much stops the bleedin' right away, an' make J.C. suck in his breath an wobble a little. Lance reaches out to steady him. "Then we go there. Fast." J.C. hisses. "No way!" Lance says,"You can't just..." "SHUT UP LANCE!" J.C. shouts. An' he does. Toby finishes wrappin' J.C.'s arm an' starts shovin' things back inn the bag. Chris helps J.C. into the back seat of the van. We all jump in an we're off. It's not a very long ride, an' nobody says a word. I know Lance isn't happy that we're not goin' to the hospital, but he keeps it to himself. Chris is just lookin' out the window. We're all lookin' back checkin' on J.C. who's holdin' up real well considerin'. "We're here." Toby says as we pull up in front of what I think is a free clinic. We get J.C. inside as quick as we can an' Toby passes two nurses to get to a third who seems to know him. They whisper to each other an' she hands him a set of keys an' takes J.C. into the back. Toby motions for us to follow him an' we do. We end up in what looks like a small conference room an' Toby shuts the door. "Nobody'll bother us back here." He takes off his coat an' sword an' I take that as a cue to get comfortable."Now," he says," what exactly happened in the bar?" Lance, Chris an' I look at each other like a bunch of who think they're in trouble an' then we explain. "I had to throw the match," Chris says as we finish,"He gave me no choice." "There's always a choice,"Toby says,"But I think you did the right thing. It's not like those guys were just trying to give you some luvin'" "No," says Cris,"That they weren't." "That's good,"says Lance,"They weren't my type anyway." Lance made a Funny! I can't help but chuckle. Toby, Chris, an' Lance chuckle to. "Most excellent," says Toby slappin' Lance on the back,"Humer is just what we need right now." He stands an' stretches his body like a cat. *mmmm* Oh! Get your mind outta the gutter Joey! "I need some fresh air," he says,"There's a bakery not far from here. You guys want some doughnuts or something?" "After what I've seen today," Lance says,"I can't believe I'm saying this, but food sounds really darn good right now!" "Really darn good," Toby chuckles. "Yah!" Chris says, rubbin' his stomach,"I can't believe it either, but it does" "Joey? You wanna come with?" Toby says. He asked me to come with him. Of course I wanna come with him. Ooh, word play! "Uh, yah. Sure." We grab our coats an' we start out the door. "Toby," Lance says,"Question." "Yah?" "Those guys back there, that we pulled from the fire." "Yah?" "You would have left them in there to burn wouldn't you?" I can't tell if Lance is just curious about this or if he's upset. "*I*," Toby says,"Wouldn't have knocked them out." Lance looks at him for a second an' says. "Fair enough." An' we're out the door. We stop by the nurses' desk to see if they want any, but the say no so we head on out. Out on the street the sun is just settin' an' it's makin' the asphalt shimmer an' the windows shine. Part of me want's to say this day never happened, wants to shut it down deep in my mind an' forget 'bout. I'd love to just wake up an' have it all be a dr... "So..." Toby says. So much for that train of thought. That's okay. Out of all the things I've seen today, Toby's the only thing I wouldn't wanna wake up from. They kinda go together though don't they. So is the prize worth the price? What am I sayin', there is no prize, I mean... "How are you holding up? "Oh, uh, fine. I guess. I mean..." "Yeah, I understand." "Listen Toby, Thanx." "Thanks? For what?" "Well, for everythin' you've done for us, for what you're doin'" "Oh. no problem. Besides, we're not done yet." "I know, but, well...Thanx" We get to the bakery an' pick up some stuff, an start back." "Toby, can I ask you a question? It's kinda personal." "Uh, sure." "Do you have any family?" "I have a brother." "What about your parents?" "They're dead." "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean bring up bad stuff." "You didn't know." "Did, did it happen', 'cause of this stuff, the majik an' stuff?" "Yes. No more questions please, not, not about that. You can ask other things, just, no more about that." "Sorry." We walk a little in silence. "So Joey, is it true what they say about boy bands?" He says with mischievous grin. *wow* "Uh, whadda ya mean?" Am I blushin' yet? "You know. The sexual stuff." "Uh, well," "I'm just playin' with you." he says chucklin'. "Would it matter? If it were true?" We've stopped just outside the clinic. "Nah!" he says openin' the door,"It wouldn't bother me at all, not being gay myself." BINGO! "Waitwaitwaitwait. You're...?" "Yah, that's not a problem is it?" "No!" I look around to make sure nobody's lookin' an' shut the door before I say,"I'm bi." "Really? I, kind of wondered." "Yah, I was actin' kinda goofy huh?" "A little, not too bad." "Well, uh, I, um, I'm, really attracted to you." Now I'm blushin'. Hey, Toby is too! "Wow, thank you. Actually," he leans in real close an' whispers," I'm attracted to you to." *WOW* He swings the door open,"We better get inside, J.C.'s probably all set." "Yah," I say, smilin' like an idiot. Hmmm, the price an' the prize. They might just be evenin' out. End Chapter 3