Everybody's Back

Chapter 4

Once out in the hallways the boys all slid down on the floor. The revelation of what they had just done finally hit them.

"Woa! We killed something! We killed something big!"AJ was saying.

"It was awesome,"Kevin was agreeing.

"You guys were great! You were all like super heroes! And you saved my life, thanks.."Nick was saying in awe of the three around him.

"Now Nick, I have to ask- Just how did that happen?"Brian was dusting snow out of Nick's hair.

Nick blinked and shook his head causing a small snow storm,"I...I was pushing on the door and it just flew open and closed, and I couldn't get back out. I figured you guys couldn't get in, so I tried to find my own way out. I found the squid, and well, you can guess what happened next,"Nick's words shook and chattered along with his teeth. Kevin gave up his jacket and put it around Nick too.

"Come on..."Kevin said,"We gotta find someplace in here to get you dry and warmed up. And we gotta find Howie."

"Man, are we still on that Howie thing?"AJ demanded looking dismayed,"I thought we had forgotten about that crazy idea!"

"But AJ, after what happened with Nick and all. What if it's happening to Howie now?"Brian said," We gotta find him."

A.J. was quiet,"Ok. Lets find Howie."

"Cold, cold, cold,"Nick was chanting as the Boys walked up and down endless monotonous hallways.

"Nick!"Brian snapped,"We know you're cold! We'll get you warmed up in a little while!"He slung his arm around Nick's shoulder,"That better?"

Nick nodded. "Cold, cold, cold."

Brian sighed.

"Man! We need to give this up! It's pointless! We are not going to find Howie! We should be trying to find a way out, so we can go to the police! They will find Howie! They can do more than we can!"AJ said turning on Kevin.

"By the time we get to the police it could be too late! Besides, we can do a lot! I mean, after killing that squid, I feel like we can do anything!"Kevin said, he looked lost in reverie,"I didn't know I could stab something like that!"

"I didn't either,"Nick was saying in adoration,"Maybe you should have been the one with the butcher knife."

AJ let his shoulders slump after awhile," Look, I'm sorry for acting like this guys, but I'm scared, I'm tired, and I'm hungry... that is not a good combination for me."

"Yeah..."Brian said,"I could really go for a burger right about now.."

"Quarter pounder,"A.J. drooled,"Hey , maybe after we get out of here we can... guys? Guys? Oh no DON'T GO PULLIN' NO HOWIE'S ON ME!! COME ON!!"A.J grunted. Damn! AJ took a deep breath and checked out his surroundings again. He didn't remember seeing that ugly painting, he was in a different section of the house! "How did I get here?" He wondered. "And where did the others go? How dare they go off and leave me!" Oh well, he had his flashlight. AJ set his bag down on the carpet and began to dig around in it. He didn't need those stupid, disappearing...

"Hello A.J..."

"Howie?"A.J. slowly turned around, to see his friend standing behind him,"Oh man D! You don't know how scared we've been. How did you just disappear like that? I thought... Hey Howie, what's wrong man?"

Howie stood in the same spot and didn't return A.J.'s embrace. A.J., slowly pulled away from Howie and stepped back, his skin felt cool. Not icy like Nick's skin had felt, but cool. A.J. stared at Howie, he looked pale to AJ,"Howie, are you ok? You're not sick are you?"

Howie simply continued to stare at A.J.

AJ noticed two mysterious looking marks on Howie's neck. They almost looked like... Bites?

"Um, Howie... You know it's been nice seeing you and all... but uh... I gotta go find the guys, they're...UH... probably worried... Being that I've just disappeared and all. I'd just better... Go. Yeah.."

Then Howie smiled revealing long milky white fangs,"AJ, you're not going anywhere.."

A.J. started shaking his head,"Oh Howie...." then he tore off down the halls at warp speed.

A.J. found a room at the end of the hall and threw open the door. He closed it quickly behind him and began to barricade himself in with furniture. He leaned on his barricade and kissed the cross around his neck,"I can't believe Howie's gonna play me like this! I'm supposed to be his boy, not his dinner. We are going to have a long talk when we get home."

A.J. got bored waiting for Howie, he stood and started to examine the room. Long, red, or used to be red curtains hung from what were probably windows. It was similar to the dining hall downstairs except their was.. Food!! AJ rushed to the set table. Gross food... ew. Busted melons, rats, eaten chicken, and cob webs! Yuck! He got deja vu being in this room. He recalled something familiar. He got an odd tingly feeling. Almost like downstairs in the ballroom, like he was under a spell. He knew where he was now. He felt for the mask on his face, at first it wasn't there. Then he felt the familiar metal over the scared tissue of the left side of his face. He looked around his table to see his faithful lady followers seated around him, at the thrown of the table, where he belonged.

A.J. McLean ceased to exist.