Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 09:27:21 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time)
From: David Grimstone <grimstone@btinternet.com>
Subject: After Dark 6

After Dark 6 by DCG

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DISCLAIMER
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The usual disclaimer applies as per usual. I don't mean to imply anything
about NSync or anything they do or think. But *my* character Chris, who is
based around a real person is, yes you've guessed it, completely and
utterly gay and THAT I DO want to imply!!

Also, I am mentioning music that people have had the inspiration to write
and compose and perform and I want to impart that the piece used here is
the artists alone...(and Sony Music (c)  as-well!!)

Also, kids bugger off cause your too young, and the same goes for those who
don't like this stuff...All that being said...

Authors Notes: Chapter 5 out of the way, chapter 6 coming your way!! But
the questions just keep on coming... Is Chris' fate sealed so early on? How
will Justin and JC survive the weather?  lol Well, I hope you enjoy how it
unfolds...

Suggested Reads: I am writing arc 2 without internet access and it's
driving me insane. Therefore, any suggested reads will have to wait until I
can actually read something!! lol The good thing tho, is that I will have 6
weeks worth of catching up to do!! YAY

Important Note: Nobodies reading this I'm sure, but ha-ho... I have come to
realization that music is a pivotal part of my writing. It influences me
immensely and guides my storylines without effort. I listen to a fast paced
piece of rock music and the pace of the story increases, and the sentences
shorten, and the action becomes slicker. I listen to a piece of background
music, or classical music, or soundtrack music for that matter, and it goes
the opposite way...and everything slows down and I put more thought into
the scene in general, and the thoughts of the characters take a more
prominent role...With this in mind, I have decided to attach a piece of
music to each chapter, as sort of a theme for it. It will be the piece of
music that influenced me the most in my writing, and was more than likely
the piece of music I was listening when i wrote it...Some pieces may
surprise you, or they may not!! Oh, and if someone else has already done
this in their work and feels I have stolen their idea without asking, then
please let me know and I'll stop...

Enough of me and on with the show...

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Last Time in After Dark...

"Fuck!" He sighed...Then, suddenly, a slight movement, he slipped an
inch... Another inch. Another. In his panic he looked back and tried to
grab whatever he could to stop...But as he scratched the surface for a hold
his body slipped more. The bush began to buckle under his slight weight,
and he heard a crack as the small branches which held him began to snap and
release from the ground... "Fuck!!" Screamed Chris as he realised this may
be the end... His hand kept clambering across the ground for something, and
he kept slipping. He felt his legs hit the edge as they hung in mid air,
and small rocks and debris scattered into the wind... "HELP!" Chris
screamed as he was seconds away from death. Suddenly a large branch snapped
under the pressure, and so was Chris' grip. The bush he held onto came away
from the rocks that bound it and Chris felt his body slip down the smooth
surface to the edge. This was it, he was seconds from death as his torso
hit the edge, and all that remained was for his eyes to see his fate...

And now the continuation...

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After Dark by DCG

Chapter 6 - Warm Hands

Music: Mexico - Incubus

He was at the point of no return, and he saw what awaited him as he looked
down. Only his arms, held aloft, were on safe ground as he slipped further,
until, suddenly, as he felt the weight of his body drag him over the edge,
he felt the warmest pair of hands he had every felt, grab at his wrists,
and stop him in his tracks...He jerked to a stop and his head snapped
forward. He looked up, through the blanket of snow, and saw a pair of
striking eyes looking back at him...It was Justin. Justin reached down with
his other hand and grabbed Chris' wrist again. He then pulled, and Chris
grasped with his other free hand, and through the driving snow, and high
winds, Chris slowly slid up the sheer cliff face and to the safety of the
top.

The grip was strong, and so was Chris' heartbeat. He had been seconds from
death, and he had this man to thank for saving his life. They struggled for
a few minutes before Chris was on solid ground, on all fours, staring at
the ground, thanking the very salt of the earth for his safety. The snow
continued to fall but he didn't take any notice as he took in a few deep
breaths before looking up, and squinting through the blanket of snow, to
see Justin approach.

"Do you know where we are?" Shouted Justin as he shielded his face to speak

"In the middle of nowhere..." Said Chris. "I'm as lost as you seem to be."

"What are you doing out in this weather?" Asked Chris as he pulled himself
up and looked at Justin, his voice raised to get over the sound of the
howling wind.

"It wasn't like this when I came out...It just turned nasty, and I ended up
stuck out here." Said Justin as he looked up into the darkened sky and
shivered.

"I think we better get somewhere warmer." Said Chris as he noticed Justin
shiver. "We can't stay out here all day, we'll not make it through...It's
too cold." He continued, his voice still stretching to get over the high
pitched winds. "We need to get out of this...until it clears!" He
shouted...

Justin just blinked and nodded. Right now, they needed shelter from the
weather, even if it ended up being under a tree, or behind a rock... Chris
just pointed into the woods, and Justin followed.

Back in the depths of the woods, JC had continued his descent through the
thickening tree-line, towards comfort and warmth. He occasionally glanced
over his shoulder, hoping that he hadn't turned his back on his best
friend. He was sure Justin was already back at the chalet, worrying about
him and not the other way around.

The wind continued to harass him as he bypassed one tree, and rounded
another. His ears began to hurt through the piercing whistles it
emanated. Then suddenly almost out of earshot, JC heard a sound, a small
noise, echoing through the trees. He stopped, and turned on his heels. He
squinted to see through the snow, and steadied himself against the bark of
a tree, but he couldn't see anything. He could only just see a few feet
in-front, never mind 100 yards distant. He was sure it was a voice. `It
could have been Justin' ran through his head. But he couldn't just turn
around and look, he would never find him in this weather.

He paused for a second as he strained ever more to hear something, hoping
upon hope that it was indeed Justin shouting through the wind and snow. But
the longer he waited, the more unlikely it seemed. So he turned back
around, got his bearings and set off again...He had his head down and a
determination in his eyes as he passed tree after tree hoping he would
reach a clearing. He looked up again, and it all seemed as if he hadn't
moved at all. All the trees looked the same, and still there was no way
out. No visible route to safety. So again, he lowered his face from the
driving snow and walked on, against the ever strengthening wind. A black
shadow seemingly passed in-front of JC as he walked and he looked up
immediately. He stopped in his tracks. A shiver went up his spine. The
immediate surroundings became eerily silent as he looked around. It was as
if some had stepped across his grave. The shadow had passed so close. As he
looked around he saw what he thought was the silhouette, through the snow,
very faintly...

"JUSTIN!" JC Shouted, but to no avail. He then did the only thing he could
think of, and that was to follow. He quickly clambered over a grounded root
and started to give chase. JC shouted again, and again, but the wind
continued to whistle through the tree-line and JC struggled to even hear
himself. He rounded another tree, and still, the figure didn't stop or slow
down. JC started to shiver slightly as he leant against a tree as he
rounded it. He walked onwards, shouting Justin's name again and again, but
still nothing.

Across the divide, in the static warmth of the chalet, the tension could be
cut with a knife. The air hung low and heavy as silence filled the room. It
was only midday, and yet the day seemed to be drawing to a close
prematurely. The light outside had faded to almost nothingness when the
clouds appeared, and the snow started, and now all anyone could see out of
the window, was white. Complete white.

The four sat scattered across the room. The fire raged on in the fireplace
giving a modicum of warmth to the proceedings. Britney sat in the largest
of the chairs, near the fire, cell-phone in hand.

"I didn't come here to end up like this!" She said, almost to herself.

"I don't think this was in the brochure. I think it would have mentioned
driving snow and cold weather don't you!" Said Joey, looking up from a map
he had on his lap, sarcasm dripping from every word. Chris and Lance just
looked on, sighed, and returned to worrying about JC and Lance in their own
way.

"It would have been a good idea to look at some brochures. Instead I let
you lot organise it. Fat lot of good that did us!" She snarled. Her anger
had returned at the point where it became obvious the day would be spent
indoors. She allowed her shallow nature to take over...

"Justin organised it..." Said Chris as he looked away from the window for a
second, and contemplated where he could be right now... His thoughts were
drawn to the worst case scenario, as everyone's would be. He could see him
huddled under a small tree somewhere, waiting for the snow to abate. But
Chris knew, as much as the rest of them there, that that wasn't going to
happen. The short garbled weather forecast had dispelled that hope as soon
as it arrived. The bad weather would be a predominant feature for
foreseeable future. `Bitch' thought Chris as he looked back through the
window.

"Don't look like that Chris. He's probably found a bar somewhere and drunk
himself under the table." Said Britney as she stood up and walked into the
kitchen, defiantly. The shoulders of the other three, visibly lightened as
she exited the room.

"We need to do something!" Feared Joey. "We can't just sit here and do
nothing."

Lance walked from the closed front door and sat next to Joey, he didn't
once meet his gaze. "She could be right you know. He could be somewhere,
inside at-least." He thought aloud "We'll just have to wait. That's all!"
Chris nodded. But Joey wasn't having any of it. He wasn't the sit down and
do nothing type of person. He was the action man of the group so to
speak. But he had ulterior motives. He had started to worry as soon as
Justin had left the house. Justin was never very good at handling
confrontation. He would just cower away and hope it would just all blow
over. This, most certainly wouldn't blow over. He stood up.

"I'm not gonna sit here and wait for them to come back. I'm gonna go and
find them. I don't know how I sat here this long! You saw how upset Justin
was when he left, he could be anywhere, and the state he was in as
well. Anything could have happened! and JC too...He`s still out there."
Joey ranted. He suddenly made a beeline for the door, taking both Chris and
Lance by surprise. He yanked the door open and the snow forced it way into
the warmth, sending a shiver up everyone's spine. He paused for a minute
before trying in vain to venture out through the door, but the extreme wind
and snow pushed him inside...preventing him from venturing out into the
endless reams of snow that capped the hills. It gave Lance and Chris enough
time to get to Joey's side, and put their supporting hands on his
shoulders. Once they did, Joey stopped trying and slumped his head as he
closed the door. "This is not how it was supposed to happen. No-one
mentioned weather like this." Said Joey, almost pleading within whomever
would listen to him.

"I'll try calling again, we've got to keep trying, but we can't go out
there...not when it's like this." Reasoned Lance as he grabbed the phone
again and tried to dial some sort of assistance. But as with every other
attempt, it was doomed before it even started.

BANG!!

Joey, Lance and Chris suddenly looked up, shocked by the loud echo that
reverberated through the house. None of them had any idea what could have
caused such a calamitous noise. It seemed to come from within the very
fabric of the house... Britney suddenly appeared at the edge of the
kitchen, a shocked expression on her face, and for once she didn't
criticise or complain. She was as in the dark as the rest. Lance and Joey
looked at each other knowingly for a second, as they silent deliberated
between themselves as to who would venture upstairs and survey the
scene... A moment later, Lance nodded...and started to walk for the stairs

"Just shout down if you need anything..." Reassured Britney, and for the
first time in an age, Lance was able to give her a smile

Out in the snow, and across the tree-lined, snow capped range Justin and
Chris shuffled side by side through the forest. Their journey had been a
short one so far, and an equally unproductive one. Everywhere they looked,
all they saw were trees, and no avenue of escape from the weather... The
snow continued it's barrage as they walked. They could noticed the warmth
and feeling in their faces start to disappear as they bypassed yet another
bunch of indistinguishable trees. They needed to find cover, and
quickly. Chris looked up yet again, into the sky to see no apparent end in
sight. He slung his arm around the shoulder of a quiet Justin. Justin just
followed, head hung low and silent, and it worried Chris a little. He
squinted his eyes and surveyed the scene as they reached an opening. He had
no idea where they were, but across the open patch, he saw an opening. It's
wasn't too clear to his eyes what the opening was, but he knew for now, it
would do... He nudged Justin, who duly looked up and saw the avenue of
protection. It took them a few minutes, but they entered the small cave and
leant against the wall, regaining their composure, and their breath. For
now, they were out of the snow...

By now, Lance had reached the first floor, and he suddenly felt a chill run
across his face as he rounded the corner at the top of the stairs. His body
visibly shivered at the sudden sensation. He stopped and looked
around. Everything seemed normal, but the temperature had visibly
decreased. He decided to test the air. He let a small breath escape between
his lips as he saw as the air from within his lungs condense in mid air as
if he were walking down the street on a cold winters morning. He started
walking again and at the end of the hallway, he saw the culprit. He saw a
fully opened window, the red curtain that hung from it, blowing hard in the
wind as trickles of snow crept onto the ledge. Another chill ran up his
spine as he approached, and eventually reached the window. He looked out
into the harsh outside world for a second before reaching up and grabbing
the window, and pulling it down. He almost reached the bottom, when
suddenly he saw something out of place. The latch had been forced off it's
hinge, the window had been forcibly opened. Lance stood, shocked for a
second, his mind contemplating millions of possible answers and
explanations... That was until he glanced down even further a saw another
clue. He saw a soaking carpet, a trail of water leading away from the
window. He looked up, and followed the trail. It rounded a corner and
suddenly, Lance knew where it came from. He walked to the door, and looked
inside the room, and what he saw he didn't like, or understand. The trail
of water led Lance straight to the bathroom, the very bathroom they had
stored the body...

"Where is it?"

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That's chapter 6 out of the way and chapter 7 is right alongside!! That's
what makes this bit feel good, cause I know the next chapter is already
done and dusted!! phew lol Hope you enjoyed it, and now I am back from my
sabbatical, things should get updated much quicker than usual!! Drop me a
line by email or chat on MSN Messenger, and I will be more than glad to say
hi and answer and questions, or just chat!!

Love and Hugs to everyone, and I want to congratulate the people of the
Eastern Seaboard for making my trip to the US a memorable one, as it always
is, and I look forward to coming back at Xmas!! YAY (A big shout out to
that club in Philly that I went to on my way through - I never thought I'd
find a club that they `didn't' have in Atlanta, but I was wrong - pity I
can't remember the name!! lol)

DCG