AJ had fallen asleep by the door, and was awakened rudely the next morning by a guard who slammed the door in his face. Charn held him back as lurched forward.
"Don't do it AJ, it's not worth it!" Charn whispered his ear. She felt his body go slack in her arms. His heavy breathing slowed, and he settled with staring the guard down.
" Wake up!" he yelled peering down at all the sleeping bodies. " You have a lot of work to do today, so come on, let's go!"
Brian rose to his feet unsteadily. The arm that had received the needle throbbed painfully. He was afraid to look at it, especially when he felt something warm creep down it, so he just held it. The room spun in front of his eyes and the people in it swirled together. Brian had only gotten drunk once, but this feeling hit him harder than his hangover had done. He hardly even remembered getting the needle, it felt so long ago, in that white room where they tortured Jansin. Brian felt himself drop to his knees, and then felt nothing at all.
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When Brian woke up, he was surrounded by men in white, all peering down at him. He felt like a trapped animal, and the caution the men took around him scared him even more. Brian felt a dry cough coming on, and when he uttered a tiny peep, the men ran out the door. That was when Brian realized something. If the men had the same reaction to his cough than they did with Jansin's blood, he must have been injected with the same virus.
The more Brian thought about dying like this, the more he wanted to live. He struggled and pulled on the straps he was tied down with, but they just wouldn't budge. Then he got an idea. When he was a little boy, his mom took him to see a magic show. He loved the show so much, that his mom took him backstage to see the magician. The magician offered to show him one trick, and one trick only, because he had heard about Brian's heart. Brian knew about the magician's oath, that they were never allowed to give away their secrets. So naturally, the young Brian was very flattered, and thought hard about what trick he wanted to learn.
"Tell me how you got out of those ropes!" he had asked.
The magician smiled. "That's easy. The real trick is to make your body as wide as possible when the ropes are being put on you. Wait a few minutes, then make your body as thin as possible. The ropes will go slack then you can just slip out. I hope I've helped young man! It takes a lot of practice, believe me, but I think you can do it."
Brian did practice, especially after that, but the last time that he had done the trick was when he was eleven. His brother had tied him to a tree for a joke and forgotten about him. Brian got free in less than two minutes, but wasn't so sure if he could do it now.
He squeezed his eyes shut and strained to widen his muscles. Even though he wanted to get free, he was afraid to run away. If he was caught, who knew what could happen to him. He considered himself lucky that he got sick, or he'd be doing who knows what with the drill sergeants. Brian wondered what possessed the good men of the country to be so cruel. But he knew the answer. The one thing he and the other Backstreet Boys avoided. Greed that came with money. It just made him sick, and it reminded him of the hate he still felt towards Lou Pearlman. The man he used to call his Big Daddy, and now the name rose his blood pressure.
After holding the strenuous position for so long, Brian let the ropes slack. He just hoped that he wasn't too late, the men could come back any time. Feeling rushed, struggled with the ropes and found himself again with no place to go.
Desperate, he searched the room for something to aid him. He put his hands together in a praying position, "God, give me a sign!" Brian swerved to the left and spotted a lab coat hanging from the door knob. He clasped his hands together again, "Ahh, thank you!"
The coat was a bit big, but Brian wasn't being picky. A gas mask and an oxygen tank stood near by, and after putting them on, Brian hoped that he was unnoticeable. Calmly, he strode out of the room and into a busy hallway. With everyone dressed alike, no one took any notice of him, this easy get away was starting to unnerve Brian. As he walked down the endless hallway he thought through the situation. He remembered what Howie did with the cell phone, and almost grinned despite himself. If the police traced the call they would be...
Brian stopped dead in his tracks. 'Aren't the police employed by the government?' he asked himself. 'Oh, shi...' He didn't realize that he was breathing so hard that he fogged up the mask. Brian moved to take it off, but remembered his position in the nick of time.
"Are you lost?" someone behind him asked cautiously. Brian gasped and nearly wet his pants.
Trying to hide his accent, he mumbled, "Yes, it's my first day here, and I really don't know much about this place."
"I know! I remember my first day here, they just expected me to know where everything is. This place is so huge, they should have guided tours or something." She reminded him a lot on Leighanne, blonde hair, friendly. He smiled thankfully under his mask.
"If feel like I've been walking for hours! Could you please tell me where the staircase that leads to the exit. I...uh...heard that there was an accident there earlier, and I was told to take samples."
" Which staircase with an accident? The one the main exit hallway or the echo corridor staircase?"
"Oh man..."
"I'm just kidding! I know which one you're talking about! By the way, I'm Leelah." Brian felt everything just get weirder. How close was that to Leighanne?
'The irony! he thought. 'I'd better think of something gay or she'll like me for sure!'
" Uh, I'm Julian." no offense there! I decided to use it b/c it comes from a girl's name He held out his hand. She shook it, but he could feel that she was less interested now.
"Hi...Julian." She looked down at her watch. "Oh gee, I'd better get to work or the boss will fire my sorry ass! But, of course I'll show you where it is."
She led him straight to it, and when she left he started to climb the long, winding staircase.
"Works every time," he grinned. Brian thought twice about leaving the guys in that place, but he assured himself that he would be able to come back for them.
When he reached the top, he came across another problem. The door was bolted, and he didn't have anything to pry it open with. Using all his rage, he kicked at it, sending clouds of dust and clumps of dirt flying. Finally, he felt the boards loosen, and he pried the board away with his fingers. The overpowering smell of the outhouse filled his nostrils, making him gag. But he didn't care, he was free. Or so he thought.
He was greeted by guns and evil looks as he exited the outhouse. But there was still a chance.
"Relax, I'm one of you." 'Oh, great, he thought, now I made them sound like aliens.' He was so close to escaping that he wouldn't give up.
" We were given strict orders to stay inside the building." One of the men in white replied robotically.
"And I was given strict orders to leave the building, go figure."
"Oh? By whom?" another man questioned.
"The boss."
"Well let's go see if that's true."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. She's pretty pissed, and doesn't want to be disturbed." This caused a stir among the men in white, they weren't too sure of what to do.
Brian felt a pair of arms slip around his waist and hold him tight.
"You're right," Ash whispered in her ear, "we all are pretty pissed off at you."
"Let me go! How did you find me?" Brian kicked and struggled as she squeezed him tighter.
"We have cameras in every room. Can you believe that?" She threw her head back and laughed as she rocked him in her arms.
"Stop that!" he whined, as the men in white laughed at him. He had felt superior to them just a minute ago. Brian felt his eyes cross and dilate, sending him back to a world of darkness.
Chapter 13
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