*Disclaimer - I don't own Nsync...I personally would not care to own them, that would be far to frightening! I do own some of the characters in here along with my partner in crime, Hell Bent. Plagiarism is against the law.. and there's two of us to fight for this story.. so..please don't do it.. thank you and have fun trying to figure everything out.
What happened to fun?
"Mike C'mon, where are you?" JC called as he made his way up the ladder towards the attic. "This isn't funny anymore Mike! Ha ha, I'm laughing ok? You've gotten me back now, you can come out." He said loudly enough so it echoed through the large and far from empty attic. "Mike just jump out and scare me already! Get it over with." JC's voice a twinge of fear and anger.
"JC, getting mad will get you no where, you know Mike and her antics. Pay back is hell!" A voice ridiculed as the person it belonged to made her way over by where JC was standing.
"Yeah Devon, you know me." JC sarcastically shot back.
"Well you know what? We should get back to the living room and wait with the others. Just let Mike play her game." Devon laughed,
"You're just as cracked as Mike!" JC cried out as he made his way back down the ladder with Devon close behind. "What are you doing?" He laughed as he watched Devon push the stairs to the attic back up into the ceiling.
"This way she can't get out to scare the hell out of us, and she can just sit up there and think about how stupid her idea was!" Devon stated loudly, hoping Mike would hear her.
"Oh you are bad!" JC laughed as she flashed a sadistic grin on the way back down into the living room to tell the others of their triumph.
"That's my little satanist!" Chris cried with joy and pride as he found out what his girlfriend had done.
"Why thank you Chris." Devon laughed as she returned the hug given to her.
"Has anyone seen Leigh?" JC suddenly asked.
"She said she went to go get firewood remember?" Katie reminded him from atop Justin's lap.
"Getting firewood doesn't take half an hour." JC sighed as he glanced at his watch Mike had given him for his birthday.
As if on cue Leigh came in through the french doors that led out onto the grand back porch.
"What happened to you?" Joey exclaimed as his eyes fell on their host.
"Huh?" She questioned with an annoyed glare.
"Your clothes, you changed...dramatically." Joey continued as his eyes skimmed over her white T-shirt tucked into a pair of jeans, a fancy belt around her waist, and some Doc Martens boots. He also noticed that she had very little make up on and her hair wasn't streaked anymore.
"Oh, that." Leigh laughed. "Just wanted you to get a taste of my many different sides." She stated with a mysterious smile.
"What about the firewood?" JC inquired
"We're out." Leigh replied with a small shrug.
The people in the room exchanged wary glances. This was definitely not the Leigh they had met before. Even if all of them had only known her for a few hours, they all sensed a kind of change in her.
"What about dinner?" Leigh asked while looking around.
"Oh, we couldn't find anything." Justin shrugged.
"Couldn't find anything?" Leigh admonished loudly. "We always have something to eat, you just have to know where to look." She laughed.
"We? Why do you keep saying we?" Chris asked with a suspicious glare.
"We, you know...the family. It's not just my house. I have a sister. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find something for all of us to eat." Leigh announced as she turned on her heel and walked off.
"Something is weird around here." Lance stated after Leigh had disappeared around a corner.
"No really?" Joey smart assed as he got up and stretched.
"Joe..." Ashley warned.
"No I'm serious you guys! First of all, this place is just creepy in general, then Mike takes one of her jokes to the extreme. We still don't know where she is. If all that isn't enough, our freaky host gets even scarier with a complete personality twist!" How can you not be suspicious? " Joe's voice rising with each sentence.
"Joe, calm down, there's nothing to worry about. We don't even know Leigh, give her a chance." Ashley reassured.
"Well what about Mike?" Joey defended, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Joe, you know how Mike gets, especially when payback is involved. Just go with it and have a good time." JC fondly gave Joe a pat on the back.
"Ok, Who's hungry?" Leigh called as she burst into the room.
The words 'me' and 'I am' filled the room as everyone followed Leigh into the dining room where a huge table was already set with china plates, fancy silver ware, and wine glasses filled with water. To the right of the table a make shift bar had been set up with a bowl full of a light brown lumpy substance and some green beans.
"For tonight's dinner we have Mac and Beanies." Leigh laughed. "It's a combination of macaroni noodles and beanie weenies. It's a lot better than it sounds, I assure you. We also only have water to drink right now. When I leave tomorrow I'll bring back some sodas and stuff from the mainland." Leigh stated with a slight accent showing through her voice.
"Why do you have to leave anyway?" Katie asked as she shoveled some mac and beanies onto her plate.
"Oh just to get some things for here. You know, food, drinks, sanity. That sort of thing." Leigh winked. "Speaking of Mike, where is she?"
"Everyone laughed and exchanged a knowing glance before anyone spoke.
"Well, JC and I kinda locked her in the attic after she hid from us in there. She tried to trick us by screaming." Devon timidly spoke up.
"Locked in there? Bad idea!" Leigh shouted as she took off in a dead sprint around the corner to the stairs.
"What?" The others exchanged worried glances before putting everything down and quickly following Leigh up to the attic.
"Why is that so bad?" Rachel asked with fear edging on her voice as she watched Leigh reached for the stairs.
"The ghost." Leigh simply replied.
"A ghost? You have got to be kidding me!" JC laughed.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Leigh curtly asked as she spun around to face JC>
"No, but a ghost?" JC asked with astonishment.
"Yes a ghost! He's quite the territorialist too!" Leigh exclaimed as she pulled down the stairs and climbed up them.
"Mike?" JC called as he followed Leigh up the stairs motioning for the others to stay behind.
"C'mon out Mike, I made mac and beanies!" Leigh coaxed.
"Please Mike?" JC pleaded.
"JC look!" Leigh pointed over in front of the fireplace.
"It's Mike's jacket!"
"Well then." Leigh started before having to cover her mouth.
"Well then what?" JC asked as he couched down to look at the jacket to confirm it was Mike's.
"I guess it's safe to say it was the ghost." Leigh said quietly.
"The ghost? The ghost? Are you out of your mind? Ghosts don't exist and they certainly do not kidnap my girlfriend!" JC shouted.
"You don't know that." Leigh replied.
"Oh my-What is your problem?" JC shouted even louder.
"You can yell all you want, and you can sulk and be sad like the others, but if you disbelieve you will be next." Leigh turned and went back down the stairs. As she reached the bottom she received questioning stares from the others. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go clean up since obviously no one will be eating dinner tonight." Leigh excused herself and stalked off back downstairs.
After everyone had the chance to calm down, the table was cleared, and JC could be talked to without him going into a raging fit, JC called everyone down into the sitting room where he had arranged ten chairs into a circle, all facing inward.
"Ok JC< What's going on?" Lance asked after everyone had taken their seat in the circle.
"As you all know Mike is missing. We all searched the attic and found no trace of her except her jacket. She couldn't have gotten out of the attic because Devon shut the door. I checked and the door can only be opened from the outside. There is no way Mike could have gotten out of that attic without help. Leigh blames the ghost. I personally don't believe that BS, but if in fact a ghost does have my girlfriend I would like to know how to get her back. So Leigh will you please tell us all about your ghost?" JC motioned to Leigh as he took his seat in the circle.
Leigh looked around the room and nodded before starting her story. "Well, it all started when this house was built by my great grandfather, Gage Thornstone the first. He had two sons, one was my grandfather, Gage Thornstone the second, and the other was my great uncle, Richard Thornstone. My Great grandfather was never a really healthy man, he was born two months early. They say it was a miracle he even survived. His curse lived with him his whole life though. He was always sick. When he died he was only forty-two. He died of tuberculosis. He left his money to his wife, the money in itself was millions, even back then. This house was another story, he left it to his two sons. Little did he know what a fight it would cause. My grandfather and Richard fought for years over this house. Grandpa swearing it was his by right, he was the oldest and named after his father. Richard vowed that he was promised this house though. The quarreling tore the family in two. Grandpa's side of the family never talked to Richard's and likewise for Richard's family to Grandpa's. Finally, after years of debate, it was decided that this house would belong to Grandpa. Richard was so furious he swore that when he died he would haunt whom ever lived in this house. That night, Richard killed himself. Ever since then, this house has been haunted by this ghost. This isn't something to play around with people. This is real." Leigh glanced around the room again. All eyes were fixed on her. Her eyes fell on Devon, she sat there, eyes wide. Chris who was beside had the same look on his face as well. Her eyes fell on every person in the room, everyone had the same look on his face, except one. JC.
"Well then." JC calmly got up and started to pace around the room. "What do you suggest we do Leigh?"
"I think we should all just try and relax for tonight, and when the boat comes tomorrow we can all get off this island." Leigh glanced at everyone.
"Oh no, I am not leaving this island without my girlfriend!" JC yelled.
"JC, calm down. It's ok." Leigh tried to assure the livid man.
"No, it's not ok! My girlfriend is missing!" JC shouted so that it echoed through the house.
"JC, why don't you go and try to relax. There's a hot tub out by the back porch near the pool. You can rest there and the rest of us will figure out what to do." Leigh suggested, receiving a nod of agreement from the others in the room.
"Fine." JC stalked out of the room, realizing his defeat.
"Do you really think it'll be ok?" Katie asked in a meek voice.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not so sure." Leigh sighed.
"Telling me everything is ok when Mike's missing!" JC mumbled to himself as he walked down the hall to his room to change.
I can't believe all of this is happening! JC's mind screamed. We just came here to get some rest and relaxation from that damned tour. Who would have thought Mike would turn up missing? Or maybe even dead! No, she can't be dead. Mike's a fighter, she can't be dead. How could she be? This is an island, the only way on or off is by a boat. She couldn't have gone to far, but then again this is a ghost we're dealing with. Wait, what am I saying? Ghosts aren't real, and they certainly don't kidnap people! Leigh did say it was her Great Uncle. Maybe it's a vengeance thing or something. No! Ghosts aren't real! JC;s mind continued to reel as he made his way back downstairs and out to the hot tub.
Maybe Leigh was right, this is really relaxing. JC thought as he slid down into the steaming water and closed his eyes.
Wow this is nice. JC slid down further into the water so that only his nose and still closed eyes were above the surface. He sat there in silence for a little over an hour, just simply relaxing until he felt something on his shoulder.
"What the?" JC tried to look up, but found himself under the water. He tried kicking to get himself up to the surface again, but felt himself being pushed down.
"So what exactly do you suggest we do?" Devon asked, still sitting in her seat in the circle.
"I'm not sure, we can all leave tomorrow on the boat, but I think JC is dead set on staying. If you decide to stay, I'll have to go back to the mainland anyway to get food and drinks." Leigh sighed a leaned back in her chair.
"I personally want to stay." Joe spoke up.
"Me too." Justin agreed.
"If they stay I'm staying." Lance replied.
"Same here." Chris nodded his head.
"So I take it all the girls will be staying as well?" Leigh received nods from around the room. "Ok then, I'll have to go to the mainland tomorrow, but I'll be back late tomorrow night, so I probably won't see you all until the next day." Leigh glanced shakily around the room.
"Sounds ok." Devon stated.
"What should we do until then?" Katie timidly asked.
"I think we should all just stay together and keep an eye out." Leigh shrugged. "That's all we can do."
"What about JC? He's alone!" Rachel eyes widened.
"Let's go!" Chris motioned for everyone to follow him. The group of people made their way out past the porch and towards the pool.
"JC's been gone for over an hour." Lance observed.
"Oh my god!" Katie shrieked as the others stared in horror. JC's body was afloat in the over sized hot tub, face down in the water.
"Oh god, oh god." Rachel started to murmer.
"Chris, check for a pulse, everyone else I want out of here." Leigh barked noticing everyone;s discomfort.
"He's gone." Chris whispered, barely audible.
"Oh no." Leigh groaned. "Let's get back with the others."
"What about him?" Chris motioned towards JC.
"Leave him there." Leigh sighed as she turned to go back to the house with Chris staring after her.
"You just want to leave him there?" Chris asked while running to catch up with Leigh.
"Where else are we going to put him?" Leigh pointed out.
"OH MY GOOOOOOOOOD!!!" A shrill scream came from the house as the two walked in. Leigh and Chris glanced at each other before taking off in a run towards the scream, upstairs.
"What's going on?" Chris asked, out of breath, while approaching the group huddled around a small area.
"We found Mike." Justin whispered and pointed to the floor.
"Oh shit." Leigh whispered as she knelt down next to her friend.
"She's gone, we already checked." Lance quietly replied.
"What happened to her hair?" Chris gasped as his eyes fell upon Mike's now white hair.
"We don't know! It was like that when we found her!" Katie was on the verge of tears.
"How did you find her?" Leigh looked around the hallway, only seeing the closet.
"I opened this door, thinking it was our room and she just...fell out." Rachel sobbed.
"How do you think it happened?" Lance asked, while trying to comfort Rachel at the same time.
"Well, ever heard of being scared to death?" Laigh solomly replied.
"Oh god." Devon slid down the wall and brought her knees up to her chest.
"Devon it'll be ok." Chris tried to comfort her, wrapping his arms around her in a hug.
"Do you think it was the ghost?" Katie asked. She only recieved a nod in reply.
"What do you think we should do?" Joe asked turning away from Mike to look at everyone.
"I think we should all just grab some blankets and pillows from our room and all sleep in the living room for tonight." Leigh suggested with a quick glance at her watch.
"Sounds good to me. Leigh will you grab some for me and Devon?" Chris asked as he helped Devon up and prepared to go back downstairs.
"Sure." She replied with a small smile and watched as everyone left to go get the requested items before leaving to go to her own room.
"Ok, everyone's here right?" Leigh checked one last time to make sure everyone was in the room. She glanced at the pairs huddled up together, none to far apart. Within an arms reach. "Ok, when you wake up tomorrow I may already be gone, but I'll be back tomorrow night." She stated one last time before turning off the light.
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