Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 08:38:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: Linda <ngclle@yahoo.com>
Subject: boy-bands/heir to the darkness 18

Disclaimer: I do not know the BSB, nor do I claim to know their
orientation.  The following is entirely a figment of my imagination.
Warning: There are M/M situations.  All under 18 are advised to not
continue reading.

Otherwise, I would like to say a BIG THANKS to all of you who have kept
with me during this entire story.  I hope I don't disappoint!  :)

***********************************************

It felt cold.  I couldn't see.  Total darkness.  My arms searched for
Nick's warm body, only to be disappointed.  Damn those vivid
hallucinations.  My body was strewn in some sort of damp chamber.  It
smelled of death in here, numbing any sort of lewd thoughts that would have
formed in my mind.

Wash away the dirty thoughts!  I closed my eyes, hoping for some relief
from this obsession with Nick's body.  How could the Almans and vampires
conjure up such a dirty chant.  If I felt this desperate, what was Nick
feeling at this time?  Hopefully just as desperate as me, I thought
ashamedly.

My eyes slowly adapted to the darkness, and I could tell that there was
something else in that room with me.  I approached it swiftly, hoping that
speed would be on my side.  To my chagrin, whatever it was was unconscious.
It was ugly and dirty.  I pinched my nose in disdain as I started to move
away.

But it grabbed my ankles mercilessly.  "Please don't leave, gentle one."

I shook my head.  "I'm no gentle one, believe me!" I hollered as I pulled
my leg away.

"No!" the figured cried out desperately.  "Please don't leave.  I need your
help!"

"I have my own problems!" I tried to pluck his fingers off.

"No! We must fight them!  We must escape!" the figure cried one last time,
before I calmed down, realizing that he must be in the same boat as I was.

"Fight?" I asked dumbly.

"Escape first," he replied.

"What are we escaping from?" I asked hesitantly.

The figure shook his head.  "They planned it all . . . this tragedy!  They
knew all about the consequences . . . but they went ahead and planted the
seed!"

I shook my head, deathly confused.  "What seed?  What tragedy?"  I knew
this creature knew some secret.  But he wasn't cognizant enough to talk
clearly.

The creature scuttled around, nervous.  "They knew how to create a body.
They must have known.  Yet they didn't create the body out of love
. . . those selfish bastards.  They created one that they could ensnare his
soul . . . and DAMN if it ain't the exact replica.  How did they know?  How
could they have sculpted it so wonderfully, to give it a set of attitudes.
I mean 'it' has the intelligence and the sex appeal.  But wow!  The
innocence was amazing."

Now I was completely lost.  But one thing was for sure--he was talking
about Nick!  "Excuse me?" I said with an attitude, knowing that this guy
was the key!

He looked at me like I was some lunatic.  His eyes widened with wonder, but
like everyone else seemed to be doing these days, he ignored me and
continued with his soliloquy, pacing back and forth.  "I mean . . . look at
his face . . . and his skin feels so . . . so smooth!"

"Hey hey hey, back off!" I cried in agitation.  "Stop talking like he's
some sort of prize.  Okay?  Leave your disgustingly dirty hands off of
him."

The guy turned to look at me, once again with that bewildered and annoying
look on his face.  Then he snorted and smirked.  "Hmmm, figures."  He
replied.  Once again, he was talking to himself and pretending that I was
invisible.  He placed his thumb to his chin, trying to decide what kind of
idiot I was.

I stared at him defiantly.  "What figures?  You selfish fiend."  I turned
the other way and started to look for a way out.

"The only way out is underneath you," the guy finally addressed me.

I ignored him, yet allowing my feet to feel the floor cautiously.

He laughed.  "You're too easy a prey for them.  You believe everything I
say?  It's a wonder how you could match my intelligence."

I smirked, sensing the kind of game he's playing.  "It doesn't take too
much intelligence for me to beat you in the game of love."

He stared at me, bewildered, but within seconds, that cocky smirk of his
came back.  He knelt down and placed a hand on what appeared to be a
trapdoor, sliding it aside with little effort to reveal a passageway.  He
looked up at me, his cold face only looking more sinister with every heart
beat.  Then he disappeared!

I ran towards the trapdoor and saw his form disappear in the darkness.
Without further thought, I too jumped down the trap door, surprised that my
feet found nothing substantial until a good thirty seconds later when I
fell into a cold cold body of water.  I pushed myself towards the surface,
surprised to find that I was inside a gigantic cave!  How . . . when did
this happen?  Was I that unconscious to not be able to know that people
have thrown my body into some sort of dungeon that was located inside a
huge cave?

I suddenly heard that sinister laugh from that guy I had mindlessly
followed down here.  "No, silly.  Don't you see?  This is an underground
cave in the same palace that your stinkin' vampires live.

"You're no vampire?" I asked, but I knew he wasn't.

He laughed.  So predictable.  "I'd commit suicide before admitting that I
belong to those creeps.  "I'm your arch enemy," he snorted.

An Alman!  My senses became so much sharper as I tried to hide my fear.  I
had never seen one before.  I don't even know their tactics.  How do they
steal people's souls?  And now I'm trapped in the middle of nowhere with
one.  But why?  Why was he captured?  How was he captured?

He stared at me closely, his eyes locking with mine . . . and I could tell
that he would never have been captured if he didn't want to.

"That's right," he answered my thought.  "Those insignificant beasts have
no talent to lure me into any trap.  But they did help bring me closer to
the one person I've been wanting to track down for you don't know how
long."

My blood ran cold.  Tracking down?  I stole a glance at him. His eyes were
slitlike, but his smile was difficult to decipher.

He laughed.  "Follow me if you wanna find Nick," he said to me.

Did I look crazy to him?  Follow him?  He was leading me into a trap.  I'd
be damned if I followed that nutcase.  I turned away from him and started
running in the opposite direction.  I'd find Nick on my own, without his
interference.  That would probably be safest for me.

But to my chagrin, I felt his hand upon my shoulders, pulling me back in
his direction.  He pulled me into him until our noses were touching.  "You
challenged me to a game of love.  I accept."  With that, he shoved me into
the waters and started to turn away and head further into a cave.

At that moment, I understood one thing.  This guy loved Nick!  I could tell
from the fury in his voice, from the lack of hesitation in his actions
. . . from the accusatory nature of his face.  He was angry at the
vampires!

I didn't hesitate any longer.  I followed him, knowing that he would lead
me to Nick.  It appeared that we were running for half a day, dodging
strange, exotic creatures along the way.  I didn't know if we were getting
any closer to Nick.  I couldn't smell his scent whatsoever.

Then I felt a wift of something . . . I could sense a certain fear
radiating from my leader.

"Daniel," he offered his name, quietly.

"What's going on?" I asked worriedly.

"I don't smell his scent either."

We finally stopped in front of cemented door. Daniel barged through
ferociously, tearing the door down without hesitation, but he was
unsuccessful.  He quickly looked to me, beckoning for my help.

We put our heads together and directed our energy towards the door, finally
toppling it over.  I quickly headed after DAniel into the room.  My lips
quivered.  Nick!  His body lay lifelessly on top of a bed of jade, only
clothed at the groins.  One of his arms fell to the side of the jade bed.
But what frightened me the most was the deathly look on his face,
throughout his body.  I grabbed his hand, fear-stricken even more when it
was cold as ice.  I felt for a pulse and could only feel a few rare pulse
beats after a few minutes.

"What did they do to him?" I asked.

He ignored me once again and ran out of the room.  Great!  I wasn't gonna
leave Nick like that.  I grabbed his body, my fear peaked because of the
coldness.  I didn't care anymore what Danny boy was doing.  I wasn't going
to leave Nick's body as fodder for anyone's pleasure.  I pulled him onto my
shoulders, feeling his cold skin plastered against me.  I felt that chill
radiating down my spine.  Before leaving the room, I noticed a white
viscous fluid where Nick had laid.  I didn't know who that belonged to, but
I felt queasy just thinking that Nick was sexually serving anyone in any
way prior to this.

I heard some screams in a room nearby.  My guess was that it was Daniel,
wreaking havoc.

"Imbecile!" I heard another voice . . . a female voice, one which I didn't
recognize.  It sounded neither old nor young.  Then I heard the sound of
fighting.  I looked around where I was trying to memorize location.  Then,
I saw a cupboard.  I placed Nick's body on the ground, and using my powers,
I shrank Nick's body to that of a kid's.  With one firm grasp, I pulled it
up and placed it gently in the cupboards . . . like taking a child to bed.
I formed a blanket out of the layer of dust in the castle and placed it
around Nick's small body, veiling him from anything that could come across
him.  I blew a kiss to him as I closed the cupboard.  "I'll be back!  I
promise."  With a nod of the head, I disappeared into the room where Daniel
had entered.

I had not paused for a moment to think of the stupidity of my actions.  No.
I barged into the the room like a blind man without his cane.  And all that
came before my eyes was a vision so exotic that I had to take a few seconds
to recollect my thoughts.

In a small glass bottle where one single flame was at the opening, there
lay trapped a soul, one that could only have belonged to Nick.  His essence
was that of a pure little boy, formed from a cloud of smoke, being trapped
in a small transparent soda bottle.  And hovering in front of the bottle
. . .

I gasped.  Kevin?

"Kevin?" my lips quivered, unable to believe the strangeness of the scene
before me.

Kevin immediately stared at me as soon as he heard my voice, but the guilt
in his eyes had told me the story.  His breathing started to become
labored.  "Brian," he said huskily, his eyes not quite dark yet oh so
mysterious.

My eyes quickly flitted towards Nick's soul, ensnared in a tiny bottle.
That must have done the trick because Danny suddenly clobbered Kevin from
behind, shoving the bottle onto the ground.  I quickly dove towards the
battle, ready to grab it when I felt ten other bodies flinging themselves
towards the bottle, throwing me aside.  To my relief, the bottle was in my
right hand, burning and searing my flesh.  I could have cared less.  I ran
like the wind, forcing my way out of the room.  I felt Kevin's essence not
too far away.

Yet instinct told me that the farther away I was from Kevin, the more
chances I had of recovering my Nick in one piece.  I fled like a madman
around the corridors, not really knowing where I was headed.  Alas, my lack
of direction finally caught up to me as I saw the Sons and the Queen right
smack in front of my view, along with a woman I did not recognize.  All
looked stern beyond belief.

I stopped in my tracks, clueless as to what to do next.  I held the bottle
with Nick's soul firmly in my hand.  If anything, I would die while
embracing Nick.

"Run," I heard a whisper from behind me.  "Towards the opening on your
right," the voice continued.

What the hell?  Who was giving me these absurd pieces of advice.  There was
nothing but a wall on the right!

"It's camouflage," the voice continued in my mind.  "And this is Nick's
voice!" I turned to look down at the bottle, only to see Nick's soul
staring at me with this intensity that made me believe.  I turned to the
right and ran like the wind.  I was almost there!  I could have sworn I was
just a few feet away from that opening, when I felt a big energy field
crash into my body, making me fall down and dropping the bottle onto the
ground.  I heard the sound of the bottle shattering into a thousand pieces.
I looked up only to see the condensed soul that was Nick disperse into a
cloud of smoke and then disappear.

And when I finally had the chance to look behind me, I saw the approaching
forms of the Queen, her Sons and that woman.

That woman . . . there was something strange about her air.  She was no
vampire, yet she stood proudly among the royal family.  She smiled royally,
too, her white teeth sparkling.  However, her smile looked crooked, and it
didn't take me too long to realize that the smile was her way of showing
her anger.  Before I knew it, she had flung a burst of lightning at me,
making my mind go numb and my skin crawl.

She laughed wickedly.  "Dear Brian," she said with an ominous voice.
"Thank you for returning my Nickolas back to us.  But what you have done
just now is a great disservice to both the Alman and vampire community."

She gazed at me dangerously.  She was going to destroy me.  I could see it
in her eyes.  She raised her hands and I could see her bony knuckles in the
dim light.  I slowly inched my way back, not really sure of what she was
doing.  Her powers were much different from the vampires.  I could not tell
where her source of energy came from.  Hence, I did not know how to block
her impending attack.  And just as I was about to attempt an escape, I
heard a voice.

"Please, don't!"  Kevin!  What kind of confusing role was he trying to
pull?

"It's not Brian's fault," Kevin continued. "He didn't know.  He never knew
a single thing, your highness!  He's a very young vampire!  He doesn't know
about the plans.  Give him a chance.  He's very powerful.  He can one day
grow up to be a supremely powerful leader for the vampires.  Please don't
Princess."

Princess?  That oafish lady?  As if hearing my thoughts, she glared at me.
"Your cousin has been a deterrant in our affairs.  How is it that he will
one day lead the vampires?"  The princess remarked snidely.

Kevin seemed undeterred.  "He's young, but he did help convince Nick to
remain with us.  He has a very strong hold on Nickolas, bordering on love.
Nickolas is bound to Brian.  I have seen the way Nickolas looks at Brian.
He's infatuated.  Brian had succeeded in capturing his heart.  Princess
. . . not many among our kind has this innate ability."

No.  I will not go along with this.  Kevin made all my emotions seem dirty
and horrible.  However, I held my tongue. I had to remain alive . . . in
order to see Nick again.

The Princess stared at Kevin doubtfully before casting her glare at me.  "I
can't see what Nickolas sees in this 'thing'." She nodded at me
condescendingly.

Just then, one of the Sons neared her and placed an arm around her waist.
"I can't see it either, my love."

Then, it dawned on me.  I didn't know how, but I just knew.  These were the
people who had created Nick!!!!!  She . . . she had to be the princess of
the almans . . . and he? The prince of the vampires.  Together, they had
conceived Nick.  My head spun.  I didn't know how I knew it.  I just did.
It was a mutual agreement between the two royal family.  There was no war
between the Almans nor the vampires.  It was a story created . . . but why?
Was it to lure Nickolas from America back to Sangria?  Everything had been
staged.  From Nick's childhood . . . to his life with Backstreet . . . to
his return to Sangria . . . to his capture!  Why hadn't I seen it before.
I look towards Kevin, his eyes revealing a sympathy for my ignorance.
Howie . . . Kevin . . . both of them knew about this.

My thoughts were interrupted by a cackle.  "Yes . . . "  The princess
laughed.  "So you figured it out, my young one.  It is true we have
conceived Nickolas.  Only by blood of both vampire and alman are we able to
create a hybrid like him, a body strong enough to capture the ancient
spirit of the one who created us all.  It had been a struggle, but we had
nurtured him while at the same time finding a way to lure the ancient
spirit into his body.  We had tried so hard to weaken his mind to the point
that it would create a depression in him, enough to suck the ancient spirit
into his body."

"And so you hurt him?  You humiliated him? You raped him?" I cried out in
exasperation.

She twisted her eyebrows in mock confusion.  "Not only that . . . in those
dark hours of the night . . . in the land of the Almans where he was born
and raised, I let the guards pay him a visit every night, making sure that
he could not sleep, making sure that each night would be filled with lewd
pleasures by the guards.  Whatever sadistic measures were necessary to whip
his body into the condition that the ancient soul was, we would do.  We
mimicked every last torture save that which caused the ancient soul to die.
It was a difficult job, but someone had to do it."

I shook my head in disgust.  "But he's your son!"

She cackled. "I don't carry much interest in having a son that's a hybrid
with a vampire.  However, he's just another body with an attractive shell.
Nothing more.  You shouldn't be too pained by his exterior.  He was not
able to feel any emotion . . . at least not until we were able to capture
the spirits from the Mountains into his body.  Prior to that, he was more
like a robot you could say.  We had programmed for his body to respond so
that humans would not find him odd.  His previous interactions with you
were programmed.  It wasn't until the ancient spirit inhabited his body
that he became something more!"

"No!!!!" I refused to believe it.  He had feelings prior to the spirit
entering his body.  He had!!!! It wasn't my imagination.  He had felt every
last humiliation, had tasted every emotion known to man.  I saw the sadness
in his eyes.  He couldn't have been programmed for anything.  He had a
soul, prior to us coming to those volcanoes.  I had felt it!

The Alman princess cackled once again.  "He was amazing, wasn't he? The
guards thought so, too."

I gazed coldly at her, too maddened to speak.  But she too looked at me in
fury and continued, "But you have ruined everything.  And for what?  For
his love?  He is but a wandering soul!  Through him, we could have
channeled so much power, power that we could use to rule this world."

I shook my head in disbelief.  Even for a soul without a body, they would
not let go of.  And for them to use a body as pristine as Nick's to entrap
this ancient soul?  That was plain cruel.

"Cruel?  Or clever, my dear boy," the Alman Princess hissed.

I closed my eyes, willing the rage to go away, but my anger soon reigned.
I felt this massive source of energy from within me, uncontrollable,
unbearable.  All was white.  I then heard a small yelp, and when I opened
my eyes again, I was no longer in the dark cave in front of the Alman
princess.