Okay I've never done this kind of thing before...so please forgive me if it's stupid...or creepy...or both
Prologue
"You're breaking up with me?" January Jones sobbed into her cell phone, "But...why, Josh? Why?"
"You wouldn't understand," Josh Groban's voice said coldly on the other end of the phone; sounding so different from the man she had fallen in love with, "You couldn't possibly understand..."
"Try me," she sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. For the past few months she had noticed Josh behaving rather...strangely. She no longer saw him during daylight hours; he would find endless excuses to break off their dinner dates, claiming that he had no appetite or that he had already eaten or made different plans. He had taken in the habit of constantly wearing sunglasses, even indoors with minimal light. January had originally thought that Josh was still adjusting to being off tour and home with his family... But now she was certain that his new behaviors were at the root of his reasons for breaking up with her.
"Jan..." he sighed, causing fresh tears to stream down her cheeks with his use of her nick-name, "Something came up a few months ago...Something that I don't care to drag you into or talk about..."
"Well why not?" she yelled, angry that he would not at least give his reasons for dumping her.
"Because I don't want you to get hurt..."
"Am I not hurting now, Josh? Aren't you hurting me right now?"
"And for that I am sorry..." he said, sounding on the verge of tears himself, "Look...Jan, I know you probably won't believe me when I say this, but...I'm doing this to protect you."
Her tears stopped instantly.
"Protect me?" she asked, "Protect me from what?"
On the other end of the line, January heard a door open with a haunting creak.
"The less you know, the better," Josh said, hanging up abruptly.
Chapter One
Three months earlier...
Josh waved good bye to the lingering Grobanites as he boarded the tour bus. He loved his crazy fan girls dearly, but it took a lot of energy to interact with them; energy he sometimes didn't have after a concert. Like tonight, the crowd had been very active and he had exhausted himself by end of his second encore, "Never Let Go". He was just glad that the tour was finally over and he could get a decent night's sleep for a change...
As he walked to the back of the bus where his bed was, he passed his friend and guitarist, Tariqh Akoni.
"Hey, great show, man!" Tariqh said, patting Josh on the back with such force that the breath was knocked from his lungs.
"Thanks, Tariqh," Josh said once he was able to breathe again.
"Say, the rest of the Groband and I are getting ready to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you care to join us?"
"Sorry, Tariqh," Josh sighed, "I'd love to, but I'm dead tired...I'm going to call it a night."
"That's alright, you go get some sleep, you worked your butt off during this tour."
"Thanks, Tariqh...good night."
"G'night, Groban!"
With a final wave good night, Josh made his way back to his bunk, crawled into bed, and pulled the curtains shut.
* * *
Despite his fatigue, Josh was unable to fall asleep. The laughter of his friends in the other room and bumps in the road didn't help...
Sighing, Josh reached under his pillow and pulled out a photograph of his girlfriend, January Jones. A smile spread across his lips as he gazed at her image from the InStyle After-Oscar party. He fondly remembered the white dress with black bows she had worn, how she had her hair pulled up into a ponytail...
Josh reached into his jeans' pocket and pulled out a small black box. He flipped the lip of the box up and gazed down at the silver ring inlaid with a heart-shaped diamond with pride.
"January..." he said to himself, "I hope you really do love me, because after I propose to you, you'll never be able to get rid of me..."
The bus came to an abrupt hault, causing Josh's feet to slam hard into the end of his bunk. He swore under his breath, stuffing the box back into his pocket and the photo under his pillow. He slipped on his glasses and pulled back the curtains around his bed, momentarily blinded by the light. He climbed out of bed and made his way to the front of the bus to question the driver.
He glanced out one of the buses windows and was shocked to find that it was still dark outside. The road they had been traveling on went straight through the middle of no where, it was flat dessert land for miles around. The only light to be given off, other than from the bus, came from the stars, dappled across an endless clear sky.
Turning his attention to the front of the bus, Josh discovered that he was not the only one who wanted to know why they had stopped. The rest of the Groband, Tariqh, Lucia Micarelli, Eric Holden, Zach Provost, Tim Curle and Craig Macintyre, had gathered around the driver and were pelting him with question.
"Hey guys," Josh yawned, "Why are we stopped?"
"We're not sure..." Lucia said, "But Max, the driver, says we're out of gas."
"But that's not possible!" Zach argueed, "I know for a fact that we filled up before we left!"
"Well, if we're not out of gas, then what is it?" Lucia demanded.
"We should go and check to see what's wrong!" Tim said, "C'mon, Eric, Craig, you guys know more about this sort of thing than I do..."
"No we don't!" Eric and Craig said in unison, following Tim off of the bus. Josh and the rest of the Groband, wanting to prevent Tim, Eric and Craig from further damaging their only means of transportation, got off the bus as well.
The cold wind whistled throught the night air, beating at Josh's curly brown hair; slapping at him until his eyes watered and he was numb in the face. He folded his arms across his chest in an attempt to keep warm, and started to walk over to where the Groband was examining the bus's engine.
A frail, soft voice carried by the wind to his ear stopped Josh in his tracks.
"...Josh..."
He turned and looked out into the dessert where he saw a short woman with red hair, dressed in a simple black dress and pumps. She looked familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen her before...
The same soft, frail voice called out again on the wind.
"...come to me..."
Josh knew somehow that it was the woman speaking, though he didn't think he should be able to hear her from this distance... His feet began to move towards her of their own accord and he wasn't aware of it until he was standing directly in front of her.
"Who are you?" Josh demanded, feeling more than a little disturbed. She had piercing green eyes that he could not look away from. They were like vortexes, sucking him down, down... He suddenly remembered where he had seen her before. At the meet and greet after the last concert. She had stayed off by herself, but he had just assumed that she was shy....
"My name," she said sweetly, "is Mina...I'm a fan of yours, you know."
"I do," he said, "I saw you at the meet and greet. But what do you want? How did you follow me?"
"How I followed you," she hissed, "is not important. But as for what I want...I have heard many beautiful voices in my lifetime, all which have faded with age and dissappeared with death... But yours!" she cried, stepping uncomfortably closer to Josh, forcing him to step back, "Ah, yours is a voice unlike any other I have heard in all my years of existance! And I refuse to let it fade and vanish as so many others have!"
Josh threw up his hands in a defensive gesture.
"Look, lady," he said, "I don't know who you think you are or what the hell you're talking about, but you better---" He stopped abruptly, eyes wide with horror. Her piercing green eyes began to glow red, like in a photograph. She smiled sinisterly, reveling even white teeth. The canines were long and pointy looking.
Josh turned and fled back towards the bus, crying out for help. She jumped him from behind, causing him to come crashing to the ground, sending his glasses skitting off into the distance. He tried to scream, but the fall had knocked the breath from his lungs. She grabbed a fist full of his curly brown hair and yanked it so that his neck was exposed. She bit down on his pounding pulse and drank of his blood.
Josh let out an earth shattering scream, causing the Groband to come running.
"I'll be seeing you later, Josh..." she hissed in his ear before vanishing on the wind, as if she had never been there.
Josh tried to stand, but found that he did not have the strength to lift himself off the ground. His vision swam with blood loss and he drifted in and out of consciousness, fighting to stay awake.
"Oh my God, Josh!" Lucia cried, reaching him first, "You're bleeding!"
"Thanks for stating the obvious..." Josh said sarcastically before losing consciousness.
Okay that's it for now...Don't worry,there is a method to my madness! If I creeped anybody out, then I'm sorry.
~Theresa
Prologue
"You're breaking up with me?" January Jones sobbed into her cell phone, "But...why, Josh? Why?"
"You wouldn't understand," Josh Groban's voice said coldly on the other end of the phone; sounding so different from the man she had fallen in love with, "You couldn't possibly understand..."
"Try me," she sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. For the past few months she had noticed Josh behaving rather...strangely. She no longer saw him during daylight hours; he would find endless excuses to break off their dinner dates, claiming that he had no appetite or that he had already eaten or made different plans. He had taken in the habit of constantly wearing sunglasses, even indoors with minimal light. January had originally thought that Josh was still adjusting to being off tour and home with his family... But now she was certain that his new behaviors were at the root of his reasons for breaking up with her.
"Jan..." he sighed, causing fresh tears to stream down her cheeks with his use of her nick-name, "Something came up a few months ago...Something that I don't care to drag you into or talk about..."
"Well why not?" she yelled, angry that he would not at least give his reasons for dumping her.
"Because I don't want you to get hurt..."
"Am I not hurting now, Josh? Aren't you hurting me right now?"
"And for that I am sorry..." he said, sounding on the verge of tears himself, "Look...Jan, I know you probably won't believe me when I say this, but...I'm doing this to protect you."
Her tears stopped instantly.
"Protect me?" she asked, "Protect me from what?"
On the other end of the line, January heard a door open with a haunting creak.
"The less you know, the better," Josh said, hanging up abruptly.
Chapter One
Three months earlier...
Josh waved good bye to the lingering Grobanites as he boarded the tour bus. He loved his crazy fan girls dearly, but it took a lot of energy to interact with them; energy he sometimes didn't have after a concert. Like tonight, the crowd had been very active and he had exhausted himself by end of his second encore, "Never Let Go". He was just glad that the tour was finally over and he could get a decent night's sleep for a change...
As he walked to the back of the bus where his bed was, he passed his friend and guitarist, Tariqh Akoni.
"Hey, great show, man!" Tariqh said, patting Josh on the back with such force that the breath was knocked from his lungs.
"Thanks, Tariqh," Josh said once he was able to breathe again.
"Say, the rest of the Groband and I are getting ready to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you care to join us?"
"Sorry, Tariqh," Josh sighed, "I'd love to, but I'm dead tired...I'm going to call it a night."
"That's alright, you go get some sleep, you worked your butt off during this tour."
"Thanks, Tariqh...good night."
"G'night, Groban!"
With a final wave good night, Josh made his way back to his bunk, crawled into bed, and pulled the curtains shut.
* * *
Despite his fatigue, Josh was unable to fall asleep. The laughter of his friends in the other room and bumps in the road didn't help...
Sighing, Josh reached under his pillow and pulled out a photograph of his girlfriend, January Jones. A smile spread across his lips as he gazed at her image from the InStyle After-Oscar party. He fondly remembered the white dress with black bows she had worn, how she had her hair pulled up into a ponytail...
Josh reached into his jeans' pocket and pulled out a small black box. He flipped the lip of the box up and gazed down at the silver ring inlaid with a heart-shaped diamond with pride.
"January..." he said to himself, "I hope you really do love me, because after I propose to you, you'll never be able to get rid of me..."
The bus came to an abrupt hault, causing Josh's feet to slam hard into the end of his bunk. He swore under his breath, stuffing the box back into his pocket and the photo under his pillow. He slipped on his glasses and pulled back the curtains around his bed, momentarily blinded by the light. He climbed out of bed and made his way to the front of the bus to question the driver.
He glanced out one of the buses windows and was shocked to find that it was still dark outside. The road they had been traveling on went straight through the middle of no where, it was flat dessert land for miles around. The only light to be given off, other than from the bus, came from the stars, dappled across an endless clear sky.
Turning his attention to the front of the bus, Josh discovered that he was not the only one who wanted to know why they had stopped. The rest of the Groband, Tariqh, Lucia Micarelli, Eric Holden, Zach Provost, Tim Curle and Craig Macintyre, had gathered around the driver and were pelting him with question.
"Hey guys," Josh yawned, "Why are we stopped?"
"We're not sure..." Lucia said, "But Max, the driver, says we're out of gas."
"But that's not possible!" Zach argueed, "I know for a fact that we filled up before we left!"
"Well, if we're not out of gas, then what is it?" Lucia demanded.
"We should go and check to see what's wrong!" Tim said, "C'mon, Eric, Craig, you guys know more about this sort of thing than I do..."
"No we don't!" Eric and Craig said in unison, following Tim off of the bus. Josh and the rest of the Groband, wanting to prevent Tim, Eric and Craig from further damaging their only means of transportation, got off the bus as well.
The cold wind whistled throught the night air, beating at Josh's curly brown hair; slapping at him until his eyes watered and he was numb in the face. He folded his arms across his chest in an attempt to keep warm, and started to walk over to where the Groband was examining the bus's engine.
A frail, soft voice carried by the wind to his ear stopped Josh in his tracks.
"...Josh..."
He turned and looked out into the dessert where he saw a short woman with red hair, dressed in a simple black dress and pumps. She looked familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen her before...
The same soft, frail voice called out again on the wind.
"...come to me..."
Josh knew somehow that it was the woman speaking, though he didn't think he should be able to hear her from this distance... His feet began to move towards her of their own accord and he wasn't aware of it until he was standing directly in front of her.
"Who are you?" Josh demanded, feeling more than a little disturbed. She had piercing green eyes that he could not look away from. They were like vortexes, sucking him down, down... He suddenly remembered where he had seen her before. At the meet and greet after the last concert. She had stayed off by herself, but he had just assumed that she was shy....
"My name," she said sweetly, "is Mina...I'm a fan of yours, you know."
"I do," he said, "I saw you at the meet and greet. But what do you want? How did you follow me?"
"How I followed you," she hissed, "is not important. But as for what I want...I have heard many beautiful voices in my lifetime, all which have faded with age and dissappeared with death... But yours!" she cried, stepping uncomfortably closer to Josh, forcing him to step back, "Ah, yours is a voice unlike any other I have heard in all my years of existance! And I refuse to let it fade and vanish as so many others have!"
Josh threw up his hands in a defensive gesture.
"Look, lady," he said, "I don't know who you think you are or what the hell you're talking about, but you better---" He stopped abruptly, eyes wide with horror. Her piercing green eyes began to glow red, like in a photograph. She smiled sinisterly, reveling even white teeth. The canines were long and pointy looking.
Josh turned and fled back towards the bus, crying out for help. She jumped him from behind, causing him to come crashing to the ground, sending his glasses skitting off into the distance. He tried to scream, but the fall had knocked the breath from his lungs. She grabbed a fist full of his curly brown hair and yanked it so that his neck was exposed. She bit down on his pounding pulse and drank of his blood.
Josh let out an earth shattering scream, causing the Groband to come running.
"I'll be seeing you later, Josh..." she hissed in his ear before vanishing on the wind, as if she had never been there.
Josh tried to stand, but found that he did not have the strength to lift himself off the ground. His vision swam with blood loss and he drifted in and out of consciousness, fighting to stay awake.
"Oh my God, Josh!" Lucia cried, reaching him first, "You're bleeding!"
"Thanks for stating the obvious..." Josh said sarcastically before losing consciousness.
Okay that's it for now...Don't worry,there is a method to my madness! If I creeped anybody out, then I'm sorry.
~Theresa
*Keeper of Josh's sexy side-burns*
Raleigh NC, RBC Center 2/4/05
Me: You rock my world!
Josh: I've never done that before...You scare me!
Raleigh NC, RBC Center 2/4/05
Me: You rock my world!
Josh: I've never done that before...You scare me!
i'm a major fan of dark stories, so this one got my attention....jeepers! i want more! 
...but I'll work on the 2nd chapter tonight
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