Dangerous Minds
 

© Sweet Kisses™

~*~

"Y'all ready to go?" Kevin asked, dream like, his eyes clouding over and sunken in. His clothes hung from him, he hoped that would conceal the fact that he stopped going to the gym and had lost several pounds.

Nick nodded and picked up his bags. "Yeah, I guess so." He winced. His wrist was still a little sore. They began to walk down the corridor to the elevator and out to Kevin's car. "What are you in for?"

Kevin shrugged and looked away. "Coke," he said softly.

Nick frowned and pressed the elevator button. "I'm sorry, say that again? I swear I thought you said cocaine."

Kevin stepped into the elevator, with Nick behind him. "Yeah, that's what I said." The elevator made its way down to the lobby. "What are you in for?"

"Suicidal tendencies."

Kevin raised his eyebrows. "No kidding."

Nick made a face as the elevator stopped and the doors opened with a tiny 'ding'. "Yeah. Apparently I'm dangerous."

Kevin laughed as they walked out of the lobby and over to the car park. "Me, too!"

Nick opened the door to Kevin's car and threw his bags in the back. "Can I ask you something?"

Kevin opened the driver's door. "Sure," he said and jumped in.

Nick raced over to the passenger seat and slid in. Just as he put his seat belt on and Kevin gunned the engine, he asked, "Are you high right now?"

Kevin leaned past Nick and slammed open the glove compartment to reveal a few little bags that contained a white powder. He smirked. "Now what do you think?" he asked before pulling out of the parking lot and speeding in the direction of the house that would be their home for the next seven and a half days.
 

~**~

"Howie, shut the HELL UP!" A.J yelled.

A.J, Howie and Brian had all piled into A.J's car and, after doing some last minute checking's, they were coasting along the picturesque highway, lined by pine trees. Though it was the middle of the day, it was winter and it was cold. They were all rugged up and the heater was cranked in the car.

"Please guys," Brian pleaded in a whispery voice. "Don't fight. I don't like you fighting. God doesn't like it and..."

"Oh, God doesn't like it!" Howie imitated and glared ahead at the road.

"God doesn't exist!" A.J contributed and yawned. He didn't get much sleep the night before. He'd been binge-drinking. Yet again. But he didn't care. He felt all right now, though he had a massive headache. He needed a drink.

"Yes, he does! He does, and when you two sit before the gates of hell, you'll both realise that you made a terrible, terrible, terrible mistake!"

"And hell is just a sauna," Howie murmured.

A.J chuckled, then winced. Laughing hurt his head. "Nice one, D. I liked it."

"What are you in for?" Howie asked A.J

"Turns out I'm a raging alcoholic," A.J scoffed.

Brian frowned. "God's going to punish you severely, you know that don't you?"

"I swear if you don't cut your religious bullshit, I'll make God punish you!" A.J snapped.

Howie laughed for a moment, then his mind went back to the girl from the night before. What wicked, wicked dreams he'd had. He looked down and gasped softly. This couldn't happen to him, not now!

"And you?" Brian asked Howie.

Howie bowed his head. "Uh...well..."

"Just spit it out," A.J said as they went around an s bend and up onto a deserted hill.

"I'm a nymphomaniac," he murmured.

A.J burst out laughing, his head killing him because of it. "A nympho! Ha! Never would've expected that from you, D!"

"I don't believe it," Brian stated firmly.

A.J leaned over and grabbed Howie's hand that was covering his indiscretion. "Oh no?" he asked with a smirk.

"Leave me alone!" Howie cried and turned to look out the window.

"God doesn't like indiscretions, God only likes perfection," Brian chanted.

"Shut up!" A.J yelled. "Guess we don't need to know what ol' priest-man Brian's in for."

"Religious fanatic," A.J and Howie chorused, then laughed, much to Brian's anger.

Where was his bible when he needed it?

~***~

Nick jumped out of the car and slammed the door, his eyes surveying the very large house, or mansion, that was before them. The large and rusty wire gates had been padlocked, which meant that nobody had been here in a long time. It also meant that they had to wait until Dr Sheffield arrived before checking the place out.

"Wow," he breathed. "This place rocks!"

Kevin, thinking Nick had rocks in his head, also jumped out and slammed the door shut before placing the keys in his pocket. "Looks pretty deserted to me. Probably haunted, too," he answered in a daze, slightly rocking back and forth. He couldn't keep his balance.

Nick narrowed his eyes. "Damn, you're one messed up guy!"

Kevin shrugged, not able to find the strength to retort. He didn't care what Nick thought. He didn't care what the other guys thought. He didn't even care what his mother or his family or Dr Sheffield thought. As long as he had what he needed every day, he was fine.

"I wonder where the other's are," Kevin asked, leaning against the car, thinking desperately about locking himself in a room with the company of his little white powder-companion.

"They'll be here," Nick answered and walked up on the gravel to the wire gate. He looked through the gate to the dark brown house. "This place's got to be at least a hundred years old."

"Maybe even two."

Nick turned around. "You think?"

Kevin nodded. "Possibly," he said and Nick turned back to the house.

Suddenly, the sound of a car coasting up the hill caught their attention. Nick turned around from the gate and walked over to Kevin. Kevin managed to push himself away from the car to walk over to the approaching vehicle, with Nick in tow.

Kevin raised his hand. "Hey."

A.J jumped out of the driver's seat, just moments before Howie and Brian got out. "Hey, hey, fellas. How we all feelin' today?"

Nick shrugged. "The usual."

Brian sighed. "The usual? You should be loving every day that God gives you. You should be thankful!"

"Shut up, Brian!" Nick retorted.

A.J laughed, secretly wanting to crack open a few bottles he'd stashed in his bag. "And how are you feeling, Kev my man?"

Kevin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm doin' okay, I'll get through," he replied, silently thanking a certain something that could do this for him.

"Well, we all know how Howie is!" A.J exclaimed. "Horny as ever!"

"A.J, that was below the belt!" Howie replied, his face red with embarrassment.

A.J. roared with laughter. "Literally, too!" When Howie bowed his head, A.J patted him on the shoulder. "Sorry, but it was priceless!"

A black BMW came up the gravel drive, interrupting their conversation. They all stood in a line, waiting for Dr Sheffield to greet them. The car stopped and a thin young blonde woman immaculately dressed in a navy suit, complete with a briefcase and heels, stepped out and walked over to them with a small smile.

"Nice to see you all," she said, looking at them all individually.

"Man, I could so do her right now," Howie whispered. He gasped when A.J turned to him. "I said that out loud, didn't I?"

A.J gave him a nudge and chuckled softly.

"All right, gentlemen, let's not waste any more time. Let's make a move inside."

"I'd love to make a move with her," Howie said.

"Control yourself," A.J warned as he grabbed his bags out from the back of his car. "We're here for a week, so you might as well stop all these little fantasies now or it's gonna kill ya."

Howie slung a bag over his shoulder. "Thanks for the tip."

"Excuse me," Dr Sheffield interrupted with her hands on her hips. "Are we just going to stand out here all day or do I have to drag you inside?"

"Is than an invitation?" Howie murmured as he and A.J began walking to the gate.

"No, a request."

~****~

"Gentlemen, your sleeping quarters," Dr Sheffield announced as they all came to a long and vacant hallway, devoid from furniture or the usual furnishings to make a house a home. "The maid only had time to clean up two of the twenty rooms in this wing, so I suggest you work out amongst yourselves who's sharing with whom."

"There's no fucking way I'm sharing with Brian!" A.J announced.

Dr Sheffield glared at him. "Pardon me, Mr McLean, but please refrain from cussing in my presence. It's undesirable and not needed in this house."

"Yes, ma'am," he murmured with a salute.

"Dinner is at eight, try and be prompt," she continued, giving Kevin a meaningful look as she said this. "After, we'll get straight down to business. There's no sense in wasting your time or mine." She looked at them all for a moment. "Try and get settled in, and I'll see you all at eight."

With that, she turned on her heel and disappeared.

"What a bitch!" A.J yelled, his voice echoing in the hallway.

"A.J! Do you want her to hear?" Nick snapped.

"Sorry."

'All right," Kevin said in a soft voice, his eyes glazed over, "let's work out who's sharing with who. As for me, I think we should have the same set-up as how we got here. A.J, Howie and Brian in one room, and me and Nick in another."

"No way!" Howie objected. "I'm not putting up with his Christian music at three in the morning!"

"Please don't be like that," Brian said softly. "God wants everyone to be happy."

Howie gave Kevin a pleading look. "See what I mean?"

"A.J?" Kevin asked.

He shrugged. "I don't care anymore. I just want to sleep."

Nick breezed past them. "See y'all later," he said and walked down the hall. "Yo, Kevin! This one looks pretty roomy."

Kevin gave them a small wave and walked down the corridor.

A.J sighed. "Come on, bozo's, let's go find a room."

~*****~

"You know," Nick said looking around the room, "this place ain't that bad."

Kevin had his bags on his bed, deciding what to wear. He came across his little stash. His eyes widened, and he buried it with a few shirts. "Yeah, it's not bad."

Nick jumped on his bed. "Double bed's ain't bad, either." He placed his arms behind his head and sighed. "Yep, this place definitely rocks."

Kevin reached for a shirt from his bag and walked over to the closet. "Come on, Nick, hurry up and unpack. We've only got a few hours and I'm guessing you want to have a look around here first."

Nick jumped off the bed and stretched. "Indeed, I do," he said and grabbed his bags from the floor and threw them on the bed. He turned around to see if Kevin was looking, then pocketed his Swiss army knife. He also grabbed a towel. "Umm...I'm going to have a shower. Shouldn't be too long."

"Okay," Kevin answered as Nick made his way into the en suite.

When Nick closed the bathroom door behind him, Kevin tossed the shirts away from what he had been trying to conceal. He pulled out the bag and his compact mirror. Kneeling down on the carpet before the bed, he distributed a line onto the mirror. Leaning closer, he closed one nasal passage an inhaled deeply with the other.

Kevin sniffed and rocked a little, almost falling onto his back from the rush that sped through him at a rapid pace. He got up off his knees and sat down on the bed. His eyes rolled slightly and he laid back against the pillow, allowing himself to fly down the roller coaster that it took him on.

He rubbed his forehead, his eyes still closed. "God damn," he whispered, feeling as high as ever.

Meanwhile, Nick was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, his wrist outstretched. He pulled out his knife with his free hand and flicked open the blade. He stared at it for few moments. It was silver, sparkling clean. He couldn't let his most valuable possession ever get dirty.

He lowered it onto his wrist and pushed down, hard. He smiled when he saw the blood trickle out. He sat the knife down on the sink and placed the toilet seat down to sit on it. He stared at his bleeding wrist, his feet freezing on the artic-cold tiles.

"God damn," he whispered and raised his wrist to his mouth to suck the seeping blood.


*******


"Turn that shit OFF!" A.J yelled at Brian, over the chanting music that was playing.

"A.J, please don't raise your voice," Brian said. "God doesn't like people to raise their voices. It's unholy."

"Unholy my ass," A.J murmured as he turned the music off.

"Just hurry up and unpack please," Howie said and pulled the bags onto his bed. "We haven't got much time."

A.J sorted through his bags and came across the bottles that he'd concealed with his clothing. He turned slightly to see if they were looking, and placed some clothes over the bottles. He couldn't be caught out. He just couldn't.

Howie walked over to the closet and hung up a few shirts. "You know, this place is pretty cool. I bet there's been some weird people who've stayed here."

A.J looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, and I bet they're STILL staying here."

"Don't worry, guys," Brian said and sat down on his bed. "God will protect us from harm."

Howie rolled his eyes. "Sooooo sick of that shit."

"You see why I didn't want to share with him, D?" A.J asked.

"Yeah, I see."

"Why are you all so mean to me? God is good, God is great, God can - "

"Go shove it up your ass!" A.J finished.

Howie chuckled. "Nice one. I liked it," he teased.

A.J smiled and tossed some shirts out onto the bed. "Thank you, thank you."

Howie looked down at his bags and noticed that his magazines had been peeking out the whole time. He gasped and threw some clothes over it. He looked around to see if they had noticed, but they hadn't. He breathed a sigh of relief.

A knock at the door interrupted them and Kevin's voice followed. "Come on, guys, get a move on."

Howie and A.J looked at each other. "Time to make a move," A.J said, using Dr Sheffield's words.

"I guess."

Brian stepped towards the door. "God doesn't like to be kept waiting," and opened it, to reveal Kevin and Nick waiting.

"Take your time," Nick said sarcastically.

"Come on," Kevin said. "Let's go."

"Chow time!" A.J yelled.

~******~