"The thorn from the bush one has planted, nourished and pruned pricks more deeply and draws more blood." -Maya Angelou

Joe

"Dear God," Frank muttered as we all took off in the direction that Jamie's scream came from.

The corridor the four of us ran through was short and finally we came to a wall. We could either go right or left. To the right was the lap pool and to the left a few offices marked "employee only" and "manager." The one closest to us was open slightly letting a slight amount of light into the dim hallway.

Frank was the first to reach the slighting ajar door. He pushed it open further and gazed inside cautiously. By this time, Nic, Biff, and I were at his side.

There in the middle of the room, on the manager's desk lay a knife. A large kitchen knife I assumed. But the most terrifying thing about it was the crimson that was creeping across the blade and mahogany it laid on.

I stared at the blood, trembling. I couldn't help it. Jamie was one of my best friends. It was his blood. I knew it had to be. I could...feel it.

With shocking abruptness my vision turned to black. For one split second it was as if I didn't exist, as if I had just disappeared. As if everything had disappeared. I couldn't tell if my eyes were closed or not--they must have been. It was just so dark.

I saw a face in front of my eyes. Okay, I must be dreaming...

But it wasn't a dream. It was Jamie's face. Tear streaked, bruised, terrified. The image blurred in and out, like bad television reception. What the hell?

Then as quickly as it came my mind was black again. But slowly another sight came in. A deadly sight.

...

Jamie

I felt like I was struggling for my life.

I was struggling for my life.

This is it, I thought, I've finally met my maker. I am going to die.

The man who had been chasing me had introduced himself first as a friend, then as an associate of Alexander Bernheart and finally simply as Stephan. The information meant little to me, especially since it had been given while his hands were still firmly wrapped around my neck.

Could it be possible, I contemplated, trying to keep my weak mind off the sinister thoughts of death, that I for once am a bigger trouble magnet than Joe?

Joe. He had to be looking for me. Biff, Frank, all of them had to be looking for me. I wasn't going to die, because they would find me. But then any slight ray of hope I had in my heart was shattered as my already battered and slashed body became to feel extremely weak, and I could see a gleaming pool of red next to me. It was coming too quickly.

I was going to die. I am dying...and then I remembered something. The last thing my mind registered was what Stephan had told me only minutes ago.

"At least you will die in the place you feel most at home..."

The pool...I am going to die doing what I live for...

...

Joe

I don't know what the hell had just happened to me. And right now if I tried to explain it to Frank it would have taken way too long. It was inexplainable. Just that simple. I didn't give a damn what was going on in my head. The only thing I knew was that I believed it, my intuition. My vision.

"The pool," I whispered, opening and closing my eyes a few times to regain my composure now that I was back in reality, "The pool, Jamie...we have to get to the lap pool! Now!"

"What? Joe..." Frank started.

"No. No time for that," I said pushing my way past him and out into the hall, "Jay--he's--he's going to die...doing what he lives for."

"The pool," Biff whispered in shock as he joined me in the hallway. Everyone knew that swimming and his life guarding job was Jamie's biggest passion.

"C'mon," I said, the others right behind me, not arguing with my impulsive actions.

It took the four of us all of fifteen seconds to reach the lap pool at the end of the corridor. The glass door was unlocked and I pushed it open, hearing the metal handle hit the wall with enough force that it might leave a dent.

The room was dim with the only source of light being the emergency ones around the pool and exits. The absence of the pool cover unfortunately confirmed my cynical suspicions. I had a hard time catching my breath.

I looked to my brother, Biff, and Nic. Surprisingly they all had collected expressions on their faces. I wish I could have said the same for myself. I was scared straight. I had no idea whatsoever what was going on in my mind, or how I knew where Jamie was. Or even how I thought I knew what was going to happen to him. But I did, just like I did with Hope and Tony and I was sure as hell not going to let anything happen to any of them, especially if I could prevent it myself.

I saw a figure across the large, high ceilinged room and then I saw another in the pool. But the thing that caught my eye was the water. It was tainted by...drops of crimson.

...

Biff

I saw everything happening in a blurred slow motion.

Without hesitation, Joe had ripped his jacket and shoes off and was diving into the pool towards the unmoving form of Jamie.

My little brother. Laying face down in the very pool that he spends half his life in. Floating there, lifelessly. His...blood, slowly staining the once aqua water.

I was frozen in fear. Who could have done this to him? With fury in my eyes I raised my head and caught a glimpse of shadow a few yards from where I stood. The man who did this to Jamie, my brother, was getting away. I took one final look at my brother and with an impulsive evil running through my veins I took after the figure.

In my lifetime I haven't made too many life altering mistakes. But on this particular evening I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life.

As I dashed out the door after the man I stopped short looking to my right and left. He was nowhere to be found. The man had simply disappeared.

That was my mistake...which I soon regretted dearly as an arm wielding a chloroform drenched rag snaked its way over my nose and mouth.

Struggling was pointless, the man was a machine.

It was all a trick. Jamie, everything a set up...bait. He wanted me. God knows why, but that thorn wants me...

...

Frank

It didn't take long for Joe to pull Jamie from the pool. I had dialed 911 the moment I saw his body in the water. They were on their way. Only a few minutes. I just hoped Jay could hold on that long.

A huge purple bruise covered the whole right side of Jamie's face. His left arm had a cut running from his wrist all the way to his elbow about an inch deep. He also had a gash on the side of his neck close to his jaw line. Jamie was pale and loosing blood quickly.

"That's why the pool is so...red," Nic whispered in shock. He was right, the majority of the blood was coming from the two wounds. Joe felt for a pulse. It was there but very weak.

"He's still breathing, he couldn't have been in the water for too long," Joe informed us in a shaky and exhausted voice.

I looked to my right, then to my left over my shoulder. Where was Biff?

"Frank?" Joe asked looking around as well. Nic had a worried look on his face.

"I-I don't know, he was right next to me," I muttered frantically.

Biff was gone. Disappeared into thin air.

I heard the sirens outside the building. Joe looked at me with hardened blue eyes, slightly darker than usual. A very bad omen.

"Nic, stay with Jamie," he said not even making eye contact with the younger Prito, who nodded his understanding.

"He couldn't have just vanished," Joe hissed as we hurried to the corridor outside of the lap pool. There was no sign of anything, no struggle, nothing.

"Where's Biff, Frank?" Joe asked. I could see the strain on his face, even in the shadowy hallway. He was breaking down again. Slowly but surely. And for once, I had absolutely nothing helpful to say to him.

A/N: Thank you Polaris '05 and all my other readers! I appreciate you all! This one's sort of short, sorry I haven't had much writing time lately. This story is looking to be between 4-5 more chapters with a few more twists, I'm not 100 percent sure yet, but keep on reading and reviewing! Thanks!