Foul Play
Chapter 2
"Hmm, what shall I wear? Ahhh, this will do nicely."
Nick pulled out black pants and a nice blue (to match his eyes) shirt to
go clubbing in. He wanted to impress the ladies tonight. He slicked back
his hair and checked himself out in the mirror.
"Ssssmoking! Watch out, AJ! There's a new ladies' man in town!"
He grabbed his jacket and met the guys down in the lobby. Kevin and
Brian were already there.
"Looking good, Frack! Yaw'll ready to get down and funky?!"
"Thanks, Frick! And you betcha! But we have to wait for the other two
losers to get here!"
"Who you calling a loser, dumbass!"
AJ walked up behind Nick.
"Umm, no one."
"I thought so. Well, I guess we're gonna have to wait a little while for
D."
"He's always late!"
"Yup."
The guys waited for ten minutes.
"Damn, what the heck's taking him so long?!" exclaimed an anxious AJ.
"I don't know. I haven't heard a peep from him since eight o' clock,
which was when we all had dinner," said Nick.
"Let's just wait a few more minutes. If he doesn't come, we'll drag him
by his hair," suggested AJ.
They waited for an additional ten minutes.
"Ok, that's it. I'm going up there," stated AJ.
"I'll go with you," volunteered Nick.
AJ and Nick took the elevator to the fifth floor and knocked on Howie's
door.
"Yo, dude, in case you didn't know, 4/5 of our group is waiting for you
in the lobby already!"
No response.
"Howie, don't make us go in there!"
Still nothing.
"Ok, you asked for it!"
Silence.
"Arrrrgghhh! Just come out already!"
Suddenly, a key slid out from under the door and hit AJ on the foot.
"You couldn't just open the door instead of giving us the key?"
AJ picked up the key and opened the door. He stuck his head in.
"Howie?"
He stepped inside followed by Nick.
"Dude, where is he?!"
"AJ, something's not right here, I can feel it!" hissed Nick fearing the
worst.
"Nah, it's just gas! He has to be here somewhere! I mean, who else
would've given us the key?"
They looked around. He couldn't have gotten far. It was a spacious
room, but not so big that you can get lost in it!
"AJ, he's not here!"
"He has to be here! Where else could he be?!">
All of a sudden, they heard a dull thud coming from a closed closet.
"A-A-AJ, what was t-t-that?"
"I don't know. Maybe a box fell from the shelf or something."
"But Howie never puts his stuff in the hotel closets! I'm scared!"
"Relax, Nick! It's probably nothing!"
"But what if it's something?!"
"There's only one way to find out."
AJ crept closer to the closet and put his hand on the doorknob. Nick hid
behind him.
"Ok, on three I'll open the door. Ready?"
Nick hesitantly nodded his head.
"Ok…one…two…THREE!"
As soon as AJ swung open the door, a body fell out. It was Howie's. He
was clutching a whiteout bottle in his right hand.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" AJ and Nick both let out a
blood-curdling scream and ran out of the room. They flew down the stairs and
into the lobby hysterical.
"Oh my God!"
"Brian! Kevin!"
"Kevin!"
"Howie's---"
"Lou got him!"
"He got him!"
They were talking all at once in a panic and Brian and Kevin couldn't
understand what they were trying to tell them.
"Nick! AJ! Calm down! What about Howie?! What happened?!" inquired
Kevin starting to get worried.
"Lou got him! We went up to look for him and the door was locked and
someone slipped the keys under the door and we opened it and we looked
around, but he wasn't there, then we heard a noise coming from the closet, so
we opened it, and Howie fell out with whiteout in his hand and he's dead!
He's really dead!"
Nick said it all in one breath.
"What?! Are you kidding?! If you are, it's not at all funny---"
"Kevin, we're telling you the truth! We're not kidding! Come upstairs
and see for yourself!" screamed AJ.
Kevin and Brian followed AJ and Nick to the fifth floor in shock and
disbelief. Nick was trying to keep himself from puking and AJ was trying not
to pass out. Nick was starting to feel guilty.
"I-I-I never got the chance to apologize for throwing him off stage,"
stated Nick sadly.
"I thought you said it was his fault for standing behind you," reminded
AJ.
"Yeah, but now he's dead! That changes everything!"
The whole hotel seemed to have heard their frantic cries and soon a crowd
formed outside of Howie's room. Kevin tried to turn the knob, but it was
locked.
"Nick? AJ? Do you guys have the key?"
"No, I dropped it and just ran! Why?" AJ said breathlessly.
"Cuz the door's locked! I need the key!"
"How can it be locked?! We didn't close the door when we ran out! We
just flew to tell you guys---"
The manager of the hotel arrived because of all the commotion.
"What's going on here?"
"Sir, can we please have the key to this room? It's an emergency!" Brian
told the manager.
"Yeah, our friend's in there and he's dead!" added Nick.
Brian elbowed his side.
"Alright, hold on."
The manager took the elevator down and disappeared. Five minutes later,
he returned with a bunch of keys.
"Ok, here it is, room 508."
He put it in the door, unlocked it, and then opened it. Nothing looked
like it had been disturbed. Howie's stuff was right where he left it.
"Umm, there's nothing unusual here."
"Yes, there is! Where's Howie?!"
AJ pushed his way through the crowd and entered the room. The closet
door was closed and Howie's body was no where to be found.
"B-b-but he was right here!" he screamed pointing to the place where
Howie fell. "He was stuffed into the closet and then he fell right here!"
"AJ, there's no one here," stated Kevin calmly.
"Oh my God, Kevin he WAS right here! Lou must have came back after we
left and disposed of the body somewhere!"
"Then, who gave you the key the first time?!"
"I don't know! Maybe Lou hid somewhere after giving us the key! He
WANTED us to find Howie! He wanted to show us what he would do to us!"
"AJ, how can you NOT notice Lou hiding?! Aw hell, how can he possibly
hide?!"
"I don't know, ok?! I don't know! All I know is that Howie's dead and
Lou killed him!"
Kevin put his hand on his shoulder.
"Ok, AJ, we believe you."
AJ glared at him.
"No, you don't! You're just saying that to shut me up! Fine, I don't
care, don't believe me! I'll get to the bottom of this myself!"
AJ stormed off down the hall.
"Guys, what are we going to do? He could be telling the truth! Howie IS
missing!" said Brian.
"Yeah, but we can't be sure that he's dead and we can't be sure that he's
missing! The police won't do anything until he doesn't show up in
twenty-four hours!" argued Kevin. "So this is what we have to do. We'll
stay here until tomorrow. If he doesn't show up, we'll file a missing
person's report and come up with a list of suspects, Lou being the first one
Then we have to leave."
"What about our tour?"
"We have no choice but to cancel all dates until further notice."
They all agreed and phoned management telling them what happened. They
approved of their decision.
"Guys, we have to stick together. No one is to go anywhere alone. You
have to have at least one other person with you, ok?"
"Well, we might as well pair up now. Me and Kevin, you and AJ," Brian
declared.
"Ok."
The next day had arrived and it was time for them to leave. Howie still
hadn't shown up, not that they really expected him to. They all decided to
crash at AJ's house for the time being. He had more than enough guestrooms
to accommodate over six people. Besides, there was safety in numbers and his
mom was away on business. There was a meeting in the living room.
"Ok, guys, let's brainstorm. Talking about this is the only way we'll
get through it," began Kevin.
"What's there to talk about? Lou is a psycho! He got one of us, he has
four more to go!" exclaimed AJ.
"AJ, we can't be sure Lou was the one who did it! No one saw anyone
fitting his description anywhere near the building! Besides, the police
found no evidence of a struggle or foul play. Maybe it was…" Brian trailed
off.
"Maybe it was what?"
"Maybe it was…suicide," he muttered.
"What did you say?"
"I said, maybe it was SUICIDE!"
Everyone looked at him in shock.
"It's possible! You guys said you found him with a bottle of whiteout in
his right hand! He was in the closet with no ventilation! He could've
easily inhaled that stuff and killed himself!"
"No way! Howie was a happy peppy person! He had no reason to kill
himself!"
"You never know! He could've been happy on the outside, but in turmoil
on the inside!"
"Yeah but, suicidal people usually send out signals, like giving away
their favorite stuff, being depressed all the time, not caring about
anything, and talking about death all the time…"
"Ok, let's just see this from Brian's perspective," interrupted Kevin, "let's
just assume that Howie did commit suicide. I'm not saying he did, it's just
hypothetical. If he did, where the heck did his body go?"
No one had an answer.
"Guys, there's no question that Howie's premature demise was not
self-inflicted. Someone slipped us the key under the door yesterday night.
Someone was in that room. Now all we have to do is figure out who. Who,
besides Lou, would want us dead?" asked AJ.
All of them thought. Nick came up with the first answer.
" 'N Sync?"
"Nick, don't be stupid!" retorted Brian.
"Why would anyone want to kill us? We didn't do anything to anybody!"
"I don't know, jealousy, money…?"
"Good Lord…"
*rrriiiiiing*
Everyone jumped, then relaxed after they realized it was the phone. AJ
answered it.
"Hello?"
Silence.
"Hello?"
Heavy breathing.
"Great! Is this the 'killer' again?"
"I want to talk to Nick."
"Ok. Nick, it's for you."
Nick grabbed the phone, giving AJ a strange look.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Nick, what's your favorite scary movie?!"
"Oh my God! It's the killer! He wants to know what my favorite scary
movie is!"
"Well, tell him!"
"B-b-but I don't like scary movies!"
Brian snatched the phone from him.
"Listen, you bastard, leave us alone! What do you want from us?!"
"I want to cut you up into a million little pieces and spread you on my
pizza! I want to shish kabob Nick! I want to boil AJ and make Backstreet
soup! I want to bread, fry, and eat Kentucky Fried Kevin! And I want to
dice Howie up and stick him in my tacos!"
"Well, too bad! Cuz it ain't gonna happen!"
"Brian, what did he say?"
"Basically he said he wanted to eat us!"
"Eat us?! It's Lou! Lou's the Scream killer! Gimme the phone!"
AJ snatched it back.
"Lou, we know it's you! You can stop disguising your voice now!"
*click* The killer hung up.
"Dammit! He hung up! He knows we're onto him!"
"What are we going to do now?! He wants to consume us for his own
nutritional pleasure!" whined Nick.
"We have proof! We have proof Lou's a psycho! He killed Howie! The
bastard's going to pay!"
"AJ, you're right! But that still doesn't explain Howie's
disappearance!" proclaimed Kevin.
"Yes it does! He probably has his body stashed somewhere in his house,
waiting for the right night to cook him for dinner! We have to go to his
house and---"
"There will be no such doing!"
"But Kevin---"
"No, AJ! Promise me you won't do anything stupid!"
"But---"
"Promise me!" he commanded.
"Ok, fine! I promise I won't do anything stupid!"
"Thank you."
"I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight," said Brian.
"None of us probably will, but we can try. Everyone lock the windows and
keep the doors to your rooms opened, ok? In case we have to barge in there
for any reason."
"Yeah, Commando Kev, will do!" replied Nick saluting him.
"I'm serious, Nick. This isn't a game."
"I know. I'm just trying to bring in a little humor into this horrible
situation we find ourselves in. But I guess it ain't working. Good night,
guys."
He got up and walked into his room. The others soon followed.
In the middle of the night…
AJ got out of bed and put some clothes on. He peeked out the door to see
if the coast was clear. No one was in sight, so he quietly made his way down
the hall and down the stairs. He was about to go out the door when suddenly,
someone grabbed him from behind.
"AJ, what are you doing?!" hissed Nick.
"Dude, be quiet! I'm gonna go to Lou's house to see if I could find
Howie or something!"
"But you promised Kevin you wouldn't do anything stupid!"
"This isn't stupid! I'm going to bust him and make him pay for killing
our bud! Besides, do I ever listen to Kevin?!"
"Well, were you planning on going alone?!"
"Umm, yeah."
"Uh uh, we can't afford to lose another member of our group! I'm coming
with you! Wait outside, I have to get changed!"
"Hurry up and don't get caught!"
Nick cautiously made his way up the stairs and disappeared in the
hallway. Five minutes later, he returned, fully dressed, and went out the
door. AJ locked it. They walked down the streets alert and ready to kick
ass if the need came. Lou's house was not far away, unfortunately. When
they arrived, they saw that the kitchen light was on.
"He's probably gonna have his midnight snack," snickered Nick.
"Midnight snack?! He's probably gonna eat his 754th helping of dinner!"
They both chuckled and hid in some bushes under a kitchen window. They
raised their heads and peeked inside. Lou was fussing around the kitchen,
preheating the enormous oven and sharpening a huge knife.
"Good God, what's he doing?!"
Then Lou went down the stairs of his basement. He didn't appear for
quite a while. Nick and AJ heard grunting noises and thuds. Then they heard
the sound of something heavy being dragged up the stairs. They could see
Lou's back emerge from the cellar. His shirt had sweat stains and his neck
was bright red and the veins popped out like he was straining. He was
straining so hard, as a matter of fact, that he let out a humongous fart. AJ
scrunched up his face as a sign of disgust.
"AJ, can you see what he's bringing up?" Nick whispered.
"No, not yet!"
Lou then hauled a huge black sack over his shoulder and slammed it on the
table. Something big was in it. Something with legs, arms, and a head.
AJ's jaw dropped to the ground.
"N-N-Nick?"
"What?"
Nick followed his gaze and his eyes widened in fear. He began to
hyperventilate.
"AJ! You don't think that's---"
AJ looked at him with a horrified expression on his face. They didn't
want to look, but they had to. Lou grabbed the knife, turned to the
tremendous lump on his table, and raised the knife above it.
"Now you're gonna get it, you bastard!"
Nick gasped then covered his eyes with his hands and curled up into a
ball.
"Oh my God! I can't look!"
AJ couldn't take his eyes off of the terrible scene that was about to take
place.
"Don't look, Nick!"
With a mighty roar, Lou plunged the knife into the inanimate mass. He
did it again and again and again into several different spots.
"There! Now you're definitely dead!"
AJ wanted to hurl. His heart was fiercely pounding in his chest. Nick
was terrified beyond belief and felt like he was about to wet his pants.
Lou slid it off the table, dropped it on the floor, then dragged it next
to the oven. It left a trail of blood behind it. He opened up the sack,
threw carrots, salt, potatoes, and other spices in it, closed it again, then
stuck it in the oven. Satisfied, Lou rubbed his hands together and stared
hungrily at the cooking meat.
"Ha ha! I'll finally get to do what I wanted to do for so long! No
one's ever done something like this! I'll have to clean up the evidence, but
no one will never suspect a thing!" he sneered.
AJ turned white and felt like he was going to pass out.
"That son of a bitch! He's really going to do it! He's really going to
eat him!!!"
Back at AJ's house…
*rrriiiiiiiing*
Kevin stirred a little. He was a very heavy sleeper.
*rrriiiiiiiiing*
"Hmmm…"
*RRRIIIIIIIING*
"Dammit!"
Kevin sleepily picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Kevin?"
"Yeah." Kevin rubbed his eyes. "Who's this?""It's John."
"John? John who?"
"John Dorough."
"John!" Kevin was wide awake now. "What is it?! Any news?!"
"No, I was wondering if you had any news."
"Oh, sorry, nothing yet."
"Sorry to have awaken you. I just had a feeling, that's all."
"No problem, John. Anything to help your family through this. The
police are doing everything they can."
"Yeah, I'm sure they are."
There was a long pause.
"Kevin?"
"Yeah, John?"
"Have you guys thought about what would happen if they never find him or
if he really turns out to be dead?"
"We can't think like that. They'll find him, alive."
"But have you thought about it?"
"Well…"
"What about the group?"
" *sigh* I honestly don't know what we would do. It wouldn't be the
same without Howie."
"Umm, do you think that…"
"What?"
"That…I don't know how to say this…"
"Say what?"
"You don't think it would be too awkward if maybe…"
"If maybe what?"
"If maybe I…joined…the group?"
Kevin was shocked. He couldn't say anything.
"I wouldn't be replacing him! I would just be, you know, taking his
place! Kevin?"
Kevin felt anger build up inside him. He was absolutely appalled by his
idea.
"John! How could you suggest such a thing?! He's your brother!"
"What?! What's wrong with me being in the group?! I'm not THAT old!"
"Oh my God! If you don't--- how could you---John, he's your own brother!"
"WAS! He WAS my brother!"
"WAS?! I---" *click*
Kevin hung up before he said anything he would regret later. He couldn't
believe what John just did! It was disrespectful, morbid, unethical, and
immoral! What the hell had gotten into John?! Kevin tried to forget it and
go back to sleep. But the conversation replayed in his mind over and over.
It bothered him too damn much. He decided to check on the rest of his band
mates. He got out of bed, quietly stepped into the hallway, and peeked into
Brian's room. He was sleeping like a baby. He then proceeded to Nick's
room. Of course, he wasn't there. He thought nothing of it. Maybe he went
to the bathroom. But when he saw that AJ wasn't in his room either, he knew
something was up. He searched all over the house. Nothing. He realized
they probably did what he told them specifically not to do.
"Oh my God, if they're doing what I think they're doing, I'm gonna kill
them if they're not already dead!"
He ran up the stairs to alert Brian.
"Brian! Brian, get up!"
Brian also was a heavy sleeper, runs in the family. He started shaking
him. Brian kicked him where the sun don't shine and mumbled something. It
made Kevin make a high pitched sound which got him even angrier.
"Brian! Wake the f*ck up!"
Brian opened one eye and looked at Kevin's outline in the dark room.
Brian was also very grumpy.
"What crawled up your butt and died?!"
"Nick and AJ are missing!"
"What?!"