Say Her Name (Part 2)
Justin’s agonized screams pierced the stillness of the bus and echoed wildly off its walls, bringing the other sleeping members of NSYNC to instant wakefulness. They looked at each other in a shared moment of confusion, then jumped from their bunks when they recognized that it was Justin making the horrible noise that had awakened them.
Chris pointed in the direction of the bathroom, indicating that whatever was happening was happening there, and then all four men began to sprint towards it.
Lance reached the bathroom first and he managed to yank open the door and turn on the lights in one simultaneous motion. His eyes fell on Justin immediately and he allowed himself the luxury of one small gasp before running to his side.
Justin was on his knees in front of the sink, his hands completely covering his face. He continued to scream as if he were either in the throes of great fear or great pain. Lance placed his arms around him and half-turned him so that he could try to determine what was the matter.
"Justin! Justin! What’s the matter? What’s wrong?" he yelled in order to make himself heard over the sounds of his friend’s continuing screams.
When Justin didn’t respond, he grabbed the other man’s hands with his own and pulled them away from his face. What he saw caused his heart to begin to beat wildly and his eyes to widen in shock. Justin’s blue eyes were open and glassy with terror. He stared straight ahead, as if fixated on something terrible that only he could see. His face, normally so handsome and smooth, now bore deep gouge marks that began at his right temple and snaked down to his upper chest. The marks were bleeding heavily and Lance could see that the bright red blood had made its way down Justin’s body to color the white tile beneath them.
He looked up in something akin to desperation and saw that Chris was now kneeling on Justin’s other side.
"Help me get him out of here!" he shouted as he grabbed Justin’s arm and began to pull him up. Chris wordlessly did the same with Justin’s other arm and between them they managed to drag the still screaming, unresisting young man out of the bathroom and lay him carefully on his bunk.
Once there, Chris sat down next to him and placed his hand on the left side of Justin’s face. The side that had been spared any trauma. He began to stroke it gently as he spoke comfort words in a soft tone that could barely be heard over Justin’s shrieks.
Joey, Lance and JC stood around the bunk and watched with relief as Chris’ ministrations began to work. Slowly, the screams began to die down and before long Justin was merely breathing heavily. He blinked twice and suddenly his eyes were focusing on Chris in confusion.
"C..Chris?" he asked in a shaking voice.
"Yeah…yeah buddy, it’s me," Chris answered in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.
Justin took a deep shuddering breath and nodded his head slightly.
"Justin, what the hell happened to you, man?" Chris asked.
The fear jumped back into Justin’s eyes at the question and he grabbed onto Chris’ free hand and squeezed tightly. "Oh God…it was her! She did this to me! Oh God, I thought she was going to kill me!" He lifted his shaking hand to the wounds that marked his face as the words came out of his mouth in a panicked rush.
Chris shot a quick glance at his other three band mates before returning his attention to Justin. "Who is she, Justin? Who did this?" he asked as calmly as he could.
The hand that had lightly touched the gouge marks came away bloodied and Justin let it fall as he looked at Chris and answered his question. "Bloody Mary. It was her…she did this…"
Chris watched as Justin broke down into near-hysterical sobs. He turned towards JC who was the closest to him and whispered, "Go get me a warm, damp washcloth. We need to wipe away some of this blood so we can see if he needs to go to a hospital."
JC nodded and ran into the bathroom, pausing only a second to glance at the red wetness on the floor and marvel at the fact that it was his friend’s blood. How could this night have gone so wrong, so quickly? He grabbed a washcloth and had the presence of mind to fill one of the small bowls under the sink with warm water before hurrying back to his friends. He glanced at Justin in concern as he handed the washcloth to Chris. Justin’s eyes were closed tightly as if trying to deny what he had seen and he continued to sob harshly. JC’s heart twisted in sympathy at the sight of his suddenly too fragile friend.
Chris said "thank you" in a low voice and began to wipe the blood from Justin’s face. He moved slowly, gently, trying not to cause his friend any additional pain. Despite his care, Justin winced as the cloth touched the fresh wounds and ignited small agony on his face and chest.
Chris saw this and said, "I’m sorry Justin," although he did not stop his ministrations. He felt Justin’s hand grip his with iron force and he winced also. He continued to wipe away the blood, pausing every so often to dunk the washcloth in the bowl of water to rinse it out. By the time he was done, the water in the bowl had turned red and the extent of the damage to Justin’s face could clearly be seen.
Without letting go of Justin’s hand, Chris turned his head and addressed the others. "I think he’s going to need some stitches guys. We should tell James to stop at the nearest hospital."
Justin, whose sobs had turned into soft whimpers under Chris’ touch, opened his eyes and sat up slightly. "No! No hospital. Please. I don’t want to have to try to explain this."
Hearing the agony in Justin’s voice caused Chris to relent immediately. "Ok, ok. We can just go to a clinic, they don’t ask questions there. You won’t even have to give them your real name. How’s that?"
Justin settled back down on the bunk, exhaustion and pain evident in his eyes. He nodded his agreement.
"I’ll go tell James," said Lance as he turned to walk towards the front of the bus.
Chris watched him go, and then turned his attention back to Justin. Once again, he adopted slow, soothing tones when he spoke. "Justin, I need to ask you some questions, but I need you to try to be calm when you answer. Can you do that for me? If I promise you that you’re safe now and that no one’s going to hurt you anymore, can you do that for me?"
"I’ll try," Justin said shakily.
"Ok, good. Who attacked you?"
"I told you…it was Bloody Mary."
"Justin, there is no such thing as Bloody Mary. It’s just a game. Now tell me who really did this to you."
"I’m telling you the truth Chris! I swear! It was her. I did the chant, just like you said, and she came out of the mirror at me! She tried to kill me!"
Chris saw that Justin was becoming increasingly agitated with every word that came out of his mouth. He began to run his fingers through Justin’s curly mop of hair as he spoke. "Ok, Justin. I believe you. I do. It’s ok."
Justin’s reaction made JC and Joey wonder if Chris’ words weren’t laced with some kind of calming magic. His body, tense as a coiled spring just a moment before, relaxed visibly. His eyes however were still bright with fear. Chris stroked Justin’s hair one final time and then leaned in close to him. "I’ll be right back Justin. I’m just going to talk with JC and Joey for a second, ok?"
Justin grabbed Chris’ hand with the strength of one who still fears for his life. "Don’t leave me Chris," he pleaded.
Chris felt his heart tear at the sound of the Justin’s voice. It wasn’t so much the words themselves, it was the fact that he was begging. That his friend was so scared that he was begging. He squeezed the hand that held his so tightly, then extricated himself from its grasp. "I’m going to be right over there. I promise you won’t leave my sight. Or me yours," he said gently.
Justin gave a slight nod and Chris took that as permission to go. He walked over to the far side of the bus and motioned for JC and Joey to follow. At that moment Lance returned from the front of the bus and, guessing that Justin needed him more than the three men huddled together talking, he walked over to him and sat down next to him.
"Hey," Lance said softly, with just a touch of a smile on his lips.
"Hey," Justin echoed shakily.
"James and I called and found a clinic about 15 miles from here, so we should be there soon."
"Ok," said Justin.
Lance took Justin’s bloodied hand in his own. "How bad does it hurt?"
"Pretty bad. How bad does it look?" Justin asked.
Lance hesitated for a moment before answering. "Well, it doesn’t look too bad."
Justin shot him a look full of skepticism.
"No, really. It doesn’t look too bad at all. I’ve seen much, much worse."
Justin sighed and said, "Lance, you are the worst liar in the world. But thanks anyway."
Lance smiled wanly and gently squeezed his friend’s hand.
Justin looked down at their joined hands and then brought his gaze to find Lance’s eyes. His voice was low and breathy as he asked, "Do you think I’m crazy?"
"What? No, of course not," Lance answered immediately.
"They do," Justin said as he indicated the three other men with his eyes.
"No, they don’t Justin. No one thinks you’re crazy. We just want to know what happened to you and we want to make sure that you’re all right."
Justin opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the approach of his three friends.
Chris leaned down towards him and said, "Listen Just, we’re going to go check out the bathroom. We haven’t seen anyone come out of there since we found you so we’re thinking that whoever did this is still in there."
Justin’s body shot up to a sitting position as if pulled by invisible strings. "What if she’s still there Chris? You can’t go in there, you can’t take the chance."
"Listen, it’s going to be fine. The three of us are going to go together. Safety in numbers. We’ll be fine."
Justin shook his head vehemently. "No, you can’t go in there. She’ll hurt you."
Chris ignored Justin and turned his eyes towards Lance. "Will you stay here with him?"
Lance nodded. "Of course, yeah. Just be careful, ok?"
"We will. We’ll be fine, I promise," he said as he focused his attention back on Justin.
Justin did not speak, he merely turned his face into Lance’s shoulder and began to sob silently.
Lance watched his friends turn and walk in the direction of the bathroom and began to pray. ‘Please God, let them be all right,’ he pleaded in his thoughts as his hands absently stroked Justin’s back.
He mind was so preoccupied with worry for all his friends that he almost didn’t hear Justin’s soft-spoken words. "What did you say Justin?" he asked.
Although Justin’s voice was muffled against his shoulder, he was pretty certain he heard the younger man say, "I know what to do. I know how to end it."
"End what, Justin? What are you talking about?" Lance asked in confusion.
Justin raised his head and stared into Lance’s green eyes. "I know how to end it," he repeated and then, quickly and without warning, he shoved Lance away from him with all his strength.
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Joey peered behind the shower curtain in frustration. He had already checked the shower twice, he knew no one was in there, but he was compelled to check again despite this fact. He turned away from the still empty stall and said, "There’s no one here, you guys."
JC nodded his agreement although confusion shone evident in his eyes. "You’re right, there isn’t, but…how can that be? SOMEONE did that to Justin and SOMEONE didn’t just disappear into thin air."
"I don’t get it, I just don’t get it," Chris said as he ran a hand through his hair. "He couldn’t have gotten past us, could he?"
"I don’t see how. But if he didn’t get past us and he’s not here, then where the hell did he go?" Joey asked.
"You guys don’t think that maybe Justin did that to himself, do you? Like maybe the Bloody Mary story freaked him out really bad and…" JC let the question hang unfinished in the air.
Chris nodded. "Yeah, the thought did cross my mind. I mean Justin’s so sensitive sometimes, and he does sleepwalk every once in a while…"
The three men fell silent as they contemplated the idea of Justin hurting himself. None of them wanted to believe it, but they could see no other explanation for the bizarre attack.
The deafening sound of the bathroom door being slammed open caused all three men to abandon their thoughts and look up sharply in alarm. They half expected to be face to face with Justin’s attacker, but instead they saw only Justin himself, looking as if he had just returned from a sojourn into hell. A few feet behind him was Lance, who was calling Justin’s name wildly.
Justin ignored Lance as he pushed past Chris and Joey to stand in front of the mirror. He stared into the mirror and watched as the mirror stared back, showing him nothing but his own torn and bloodied reflection. Then he balled his hands into fists and surged forward with a small cry, his flesh connecting with the hard glass. The mirror resisted at first, but eventually shattered under the assault of Justin’s fists. It broke apart into a thousand jagged pieces, many of them imbedding themselves in Justin’s hands. As the first of the shards hit the floor, the paralysis that seemed to have overtaken the other four men in the room disappeared and they each rushed forward in fear and concern.
Justin felt his friends’ hands on his body and he turned around slowly to face them. His torn, bloody hands trembled as he held them out. "Now we’re all safe. She can’t come through," he said as a small smile flitted across his face. The smile soon vanished as his face turned an alarming shade of pale and his eyes rolled back into his head. His entire body went limp and he would have crashed to the cold tile below if JC hadn’t stepped forward and caught him in time. He helped his friend gently to the ground, cradling his head in his lap as they both reached the floor.
"Jesus, Justin. Jesus," was all JC could manage to say to the man who lay unconscious in his arms.
Chris kneeled down next to them and took a shaky breath. "What the hell?" he whispered to no one in particular.
No one bothered to answer, they were too far into shock to be able to even attempt to speak. A few seconds later, they felt the bus slow to a stop as they all lurched forward slightly.
"We must be at the clinic," Lance said as he looked up.
"Thank God," said JC as ran his fingers gently over Justin’s hair.
"Can you carry him, JC?" Chris asked as he wiped away stray tears from his eyes.
Joey stepped forward before JC could answer. "No, but I can," he said as he bent down and took Justin from JC’s arms and into his own.
Chris stood and offered his hand to help JC up as well. JC grabbed the outstretched hand but instead of moving up, he pulled Chris down until their eyes met.
"What’s the matter?" Chris asked.
JC turned his head to see that Lance and Joey were already making their way out of the bathroom with Justin. He turned back towards Chris, his face unreadable.
"Did you see his hair?" he asked.
"What about it?"
"We didn’t notice it before. I don’t know why we didn’t see it before. Maybe because we were all looking at the blood…"
"JC, what about his hair?" Chris asked in slight frustration.
"Half of it's white. Half of it turned white…" With those words JC released Chris’ hand and stood. Without waiting for a reply from Chris he turned and quickly walked out the door.
Chris stood there for a moment as JC’s words sunk deep into his brain. He turned towards the shattered remains of the mirror and shivered although he was not cold. As it had done with Justin, the mirror stared back at him, silent and still. Chris took a quick step backwards, and then another and another. Soon he was running out the door, toward safety and away from the eerie face of the looking glass and what it had shown him.
Later he would discount what he had seen. He would chalk it up to fear and stress and the angle at which he had been looking at the mirror. Later his logical mind would explain it all to him and he would accept the explanation blindly and thankfully.
Later.
But at this moment, as he ran through the hallway of the bus, he knew…he knew, that as he had peered into one of the few shards that remained on the mirror frame, that someone had peered back at him.
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