Chapter 1

The minivan trailed through the softly rolling cornfields of northern Texas in silence, each of its occupants beginning to nod off in the dark. Finally a voice came from the back seat, directed at the man driving the car.

“Chris, do you know exactly where we are?” Chris looked down at the map lying in Lance’s hands by his side. Lance had long ago fallen asleep, but he still clutched the map in his hands.

“Yes, I do, Justin. We are just outside of Glen Rose, Texas.” He said it as if that were a sufficient answer to his friend’s question.

“Okay, but where are we?”

“About twenty minutes southwest of Fort Worth and Dallas.” He sighed as he said it, and then was caught off guard by a yawn along with it.

“Well, can we stop somewhere, please?” Chris peered through the empty countryside around him.

“Where exactly would you like to stop, Justin? I wasn’t looking to sleep in a cornfield tonight.” He glanced back at Justin and noticed that everyone else in the car was asleep. JC and Joey were leaning up against each other snoring loudly, and their ‘navigator’ was curled up in a ball holding their map as if it were a baby’s blanket. He sighed as he straightened out the map to look for the next town.

“We can stay in Glen Rose as soon as we get there. I promise, Justin.”

“Thank you,” he replied sarcastically as he leaned back into his sleep and closed his eyes. Chris yawned again, but jumped as the car very suddenly came to a halt. Lance fell out of his seat and groaned when he hit the floor.

“Ow! What the hell was that?” Chris looked down at him and then around the car to the others. Everyone was now awake and staring at Chris.

“I don’t know. It just went dead. It’s okay.” Justin took out his keys and then put them back in trying to start the ignition, but it caught and wouldn’t work anymore. He tried it again, but the second time it didn’t even catch and he leaned back groaning with the others.

“This is just great.” JC’s eyes shot open in alarm.

“Are we stuck here, Chris? Are you saying that we are stuck out in the middle of only God know’s where, USA?!”

“No, we’re stuck out in the middle of this tiny stretch of land between Fort Worth and Glen Rose, Texas,” Justin corrected him.

“Oh well, that’s just so much better…” JC rolled his eyes, and kicked the back of the seat in front of him. Lance groaned again, and turned toward JC.

“Just because you’re mad doesn’t mean that you should take out your frustration on my back!” He growled and leaned back down staring at the illegible map in his hands.

“Well, what are we going to do, then?” Everyone looked to Joey.

“Well, maybe there’s someplace around here where we can stay.” Chris looked at Justin and laughed.

“Like where?”

“Like there.” Chris’s eyes followed Joey’s pointing finger to the distinct shadow of a house in the distance. It looked very large, but Chris decided that it could indeed be the darkness playing tricks on his eyes.

“I’m tired!” It came from Justin’s direction, but it was immediately met by three other voices in unison.

“Okay. We can go check the place out. Maybe call AAA.” He was met by nods and doors opening as he pulled a flashlight from the glove compartment. He then locked all of the doors and the slowly began trudging through the cornfield to the house. When they got to it they all stared up the side of the huge mansion, and all that could be sad was when Chris waved a hand in front of his face.

“Well, I do believe I am getting the vapors,” He said it using his best Scarlet O’Hara impression, and the other guys laughed nervously as they were encountered by an eerie vibe coming off of the house and surrounding fields. They all walked up to the door in their sleepiness anyway, though and Justin gasped at what was posted over the door: Bed and Breakfast!

“Finally a stroke of luck!” They ran inside the well lit room and stopped in front of a desk beside the door. Justin saw a sign in front of a bell on the desk: Ring for Service. He rung it several times in frustration until a young mousy looking woman came out of a nearby door and lightly pushed his hand away from the bell. She was wearing bell-bottom jeans and a baggy blue sweater with her hair in a long braid down her back.

“I’m so sorry about my friend’s behavior. He’s just tired is all,” JC covered for Justin as he spoke to her.

“Do have any vacancies by chance? I know that we don’t have reservations, but our car broke down and we’re all very tired.” She glanced at the five of them before opening her mouth.

“Are you *NSYNC?” Justin groaned, and JC nodded his head.

“Yes, we are.”

“We have vacancies. No one ever stays here.” She whispered it as if someone else might be listening on, and then looked through the crowd to each man.

“How many do ya want?”

“Three?”

“Okay.” She took out a notebook for everyone to sign in on. When JC signed in he noticed that the last name on it was from several months ago and for a second he wandered why, but he soon forgot about it as she handed him five keys.

“The room numbers are on them. Dial nine if you need anything. I’m the only person in the house so if you need help just find me, okay?” They all nodded and she led them down a hallway to three doors where she left them.

“Wow. She’s weird.”

“What do you mean mean weird?” Joey turned to Justin in their room.

“I don’t know. She was just kind of paranoid I guess, like she was afraid of something, ya know?”

“Oh I didn’t notice.”