It was a silent ride home since Lance had decided to wait until they got back to the studio to explain himself. The tension in the van was so thick that Lance found it hard to breathe. JC drove, his face stern and fixed on the road in front of him. He doesn't trust me now. By not telling them, I've lost their trust. Lance was miserable. Not only had Nicolette came after him but Emeral probably knew whether they were staying and now his friends looked at him as if he was the enemy. Calista did not try to hide her disgust as she constantly threw disappointed glances his way. Justin and Chris sat quietly, preferring to give their friend the benefit of the doubt and wait until they heard his explanation to make any judgments. No one spoke - until Joey broke the silence, "Hey man, what's gotten into you!? She's a Saurian!"
Lance sighed, the words echoing through his head, and turned to look out his window. So, this is what my life has brought me to? Alone in spirit, fighting creatures that aren't even supposed to exist. His thoughts took him back to his life just a year before. I had been so happy. Everything had been perfect. Is this the price I pay for having had perfection? Lance didn't know what to think anymore. All he knew was that the little purpose his life he still had seemed to be slowly seeping from him and he almost wished he had taken Nicolette up on her offer.
As they walked back into the studio, they wasted no time getting situated in the living room. JC, now past impatient, initiated the conversation. "OK, Lance, fess up. Please explain to me why I just walked in on you conversing with a Saurian ally that, not only did you have no intention of killing, but that you seemed to be on quite friendly terms with. I hate to be paranoid but I can't afford to have someone I can't trust as my leader. We all can't."
Lance could see that what happened had affected JC more deeply than he was letting on. The distrust showed through his eyes and Lance knew that it would take quite a bit to earn that trust back. He has trusted me with everything and he rarely trusts anyone. I can't believe I betrayed that.
Joey glared at Lance. "A Saurian ally, Lance! A filthy, stinky, scaly creature crony - and you were acting like lovers!! And then you dared to stop me from going after her!"
Lance looked down at his shoes. He knew that Joey would never understand. Not after what had happened to his family.
He took a deep breath but did not look up. He could feel the five pairs of eyes boring holes in the top of his head, waiting for an answer.
"Her name is Nicolette and I know her. She's my fiancée." He paused as the gasps filled the silence.
Chris punched Justin in the shoulder, "I told you there was a secret!" He was almost giddy that he had finally gotten the answer to the question he had been hunting around for weeks. JC glared at Chris in an effort to shut him up. Chris gulped nervously and sulked back into his chair.
"Fiancée? Lance, how can she be your fiancée?" JC's facial features eased a little but not enough for comfort.
"I guess it would be more accurate to say that she WAS my fiancée. Several months ago...."
***
"Lance, what do you think of this outfit?" Nicolette turned, holding up a pair of black flare pants and a red tee shirt.
"Same as the others, they're fine. All of your clothes are fine." He walked up, took the clothes and placed them on the bed and then wrapped his arms around her. "And you will do just fine."
Nicolette buried her head into his chest. "I just want to make a good impression, Lance. I mean, your family means so much to you. This is going to be the first time they meet the girl that you plan to spend the rest of your life with." She sighed. "I just want them to like me."
"Like you?" he smiled widely. "They're going to love you. You have nothing to worry about. Besides, I adore you and that's all that really counts right?"
"You always did have a way of making me feel better." She looked up into Lance's sparkling, green eyes and felt at peace. He leaned into her and kissed her, lingering just long enough to make her want more.
"I love you so much, Lance." She leaned back into his chest, wrapping her arms around him tighter and wishing she never had to let go.
"I love you more."
She looked up at him in astonishment and he smiled his crooked smirk at her. "You do not! I love you more."
"Oh, protest all you want, Nik, but you know it's true. No one loves anyone more than I love you."
She knew she would never win this argument so she huffed and then spun back around to where she had been packing for the weekend trip to Mississippi. It's not as though she had a ton of stuff to pack since they had been on the road the last three months finding a decent recording deal. At least the bed and breakfast they were staying in was much more cozy than the hotels and empty too since even the owners lived elsewhere. They had the whole place to themselves.
"Hey Nik? Did you hear that?"
She looked over at her fiancé and shook her head. "Nope. Why? What did you hear?"
He crinkled his eyebrows in concern. "I think someone's in the house. You wait here. I'll be right back."
Nicolette sat on the bed, worried that what he said was true. Lance had excellent instincts and he was very talented with a blade so she knew better than to not take him seriously.
Lance quietly exited the bedroom and crept down the hallway towards the staircase, saber in hand. He thought about grabbing something else but realized it would probably just get in the way if he ended up having to fight. He descended the staircase slowing, taking one step at a time and making no sound. This creep picked the wrong house to break into, he thought to himself as he reached the bottom.
"On the contrary, this is the exact house I wanted." Lance spun around to face the voice that seemed to have read his very thoughts.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"
"Well, they call me Emeral and I've come to pay you a visit."
"You could've tried knocking. Besides, I don't know you and it's a little late to be making house calls."
"Ah, yes, I suppose you're right." Emeral walked forward, surveying the young man in front of him.
"Let's just say I've got a proposition for you."
The sound of shattered glass echoed down the stairs and Lance yelled, "Nicolette!" He took a last glance at his visitor and then turned towards the staircase. He was grabbed from behind by four strong arms and his saber was taken from his hands then broken on the floor. Lance attempted to shift his attackers' weight forward but found that they were too heavy and struggling to get out of their grip just caused him pain as they had twisted his arms unnaturally behind him.
When he realized that all struggling was doing was twisting his arms even more, he stopped. When he looked up, two of Emeral's goons where carrying a kicking Nicolette downstairs.
"Let her go, you creeps!!" Lance found himself writhing in agony as he continued to try to pry himself out of his captors' grasps.
Emeral ignored the movement and screaming Lance was producing and focused solely on the young woman you had stop thrashing about and was staring at him defiantly.
There was a moment of fear that crossed her face when Emeral bared his Saurian fangs, revealing his true nature, but it quickly vanished as she attempted to control her emotions.
"I have been watching you, my dear. Your boyfriend there has taught you well. You are an excellent fighter."
Nicolette did not respond to the creature. She was busy trying to think of ways to save herself and Lance.
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!!" He held back a scream as the alien to his right snapped his arm in two. He dropped to his knees and found that the pain had blinded him. He couldn't see what was going on.
Nicolette lost her composure and tried to rush to him but was stopped by Emeral. He snatched her to him but she was still facing Lance. Tears came to her eyes as she realized that they weren't going to make it out of this one. She could feel Emeral's presence just behind her as Emeral took her shoulders and pulled her away, taking out his ray gun and pressing a few buttons on the side. He said, barely above a whisper, "I respect you and that is why I'm giving you a choice, Nicolette. I want you as my assistant, but I will gladly take your lover's life instead. So, chose now, become my partner or watch as I kill your boyfriend. I promise to let you live if that is your choice, but you will have his death on your conscious. Choose wisely."
"How do I know you will keep your word and not kill him?" She found herself practically whimpered despite all her attempts to remain stoic.
"No, Nik, don't you dare!" Lance's vision had cleared enough for him to see Emeral leaning over his girl.
"Nicolette, it's not worth it! Please! I beg you. Kill me but spare her!" One of the Saurians held Lance down as the other kicked him in the stomach. He felt the wind being sucked right out of him and he rolled up into a ball in pain.
"I promise you that I will spare his life in return for you giving me yours. It is a fair exchange and not a choice I give to most humans. Like I said, I respect you Nicolette. So what will it be?"
Tears flowed down her face freely as she said, "I'll agree to your deal as long as you spare him."
"Done."
Lance screamed as he watched Emeral shot her with the ray gun and changed her before his eyes. Tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry," she mouthed to Lance. A great weight then slammed into the back of his skull and he saw nothing else.
***
He finally looked up at the guys and gal who were watching him with a mixture of sorrow, anger, and astonishment on their faces. "When I came to she was gone. I was hospitalized for my injuries and as soon as I was released I started researching the little information I could find on Saurians. I was trying to find her when I found you instead," he looked over at JC. "Since we had similar causes I decided to join up with you instead of trying to sneak into Emeral's ship to find her. It seemed better odds anyway. I'm sorry that I didn't say anything but I...I couldn't. Talking about her makes the reality all that more real. Tonight was the first time I've seen her since he took her from me."
Joey's face changed from anger to remorse. "You do know that she's not your girl anymore, right? Nicolette's his and that creature just wears her face."
Tears came to the corner of Lance's eyes. "I want to believe that. I do. But I can't, especially after tonight. She hunted me down guys. She wants me to be her partner. I believe there's still a bit of Nicolette there and if that's the case I have to free her. I owe it to her." He looked back down at the floor so the group would not see how upset he was.
Joey nodded, understanding. "You just let me know if you need any help, Lance. I've got your back."
"Me too," Justin said, almost crying himself.
"And me." Chris' face took on a seriousness that it hadn't had before.
Calista remained silent and glanced out the window next to her.
JC got up and walked out of the room.