The scent of this place was quite typical for a club as the smell of brimstone created by the fog machines mixed up with sweat of thousands of bodies dancing the night away. Overlaying all that was the scent of perfume, probably coming from the air-ducts to cover the more unpleasant odors. As Nick entered those halls, that was the first thing he noticed, even before he became aware of the strobe lighting or the techno music. It all seemed so familiar, reminding him of days long gone by, when he had spent every night in one club or the other. Times were different now, because his reason for being here was not to celebrate, but to find his friend. Even before he stepped into the room with the huge dance-floor he had known that would not be an easy task.
This place despite or maybe just cause of it's reputation was really popular. Everybody, who loved the kind of music that played here or who just enjoyed partying, wanted to come to Santa Monica just to see it. If you came here and didn't see Unity, you missed something. However despite that popularity Nick was here for the first time. Still it was not so complicated to get an overview of the club. There was only one floor open to the public. Of course that floor was quite large and there were bars on both ends of the hall. Somewhat behind said bars on both sides were small doors. On the right side yellowish light signaled the way to the toilets, while on the left side a black door was closing off what lay behind it. Judging by the architecture of the place, Nick assumed that was the doorway leading towards the upper floors. Right now it was closed though and that made his endeavor to find Brian a little bit easier. Now he only had to examine one floor and that was still hard enough.
While the structure of the room was pretty simple the fact, that it was filled to bursting-point with people did not make it easy to spot anyone in particular. Bodies of sweaty dancers were combined into one pulsating mass. Additionally the strobe lighting and the artificial fog overlaying everything made it hard to make out any faces. Nick had to sigh as he realized that finding Brian would prove to be harder than expected. Still, there was no way he would simply give up. So as the pulsating bass of the music started to flow into the melodic refrain Nick pushed his way into the crowd. At least nobody would notice him for who he was here, hidden in-between all those dancers. Now he just needed to make out Brian.
---
Today they had given him Special K or Kate how Brian preferred to call it. Recently he had been happier with that anyway. Coke had always made him hyper, but with how much weight he had lost, dancing all night had become rather taxing. Ketamine felt much easier to handle, even though that probably was just an illusion. After all that stuff was an anesthetic albeit one that wasn't used as much anymore. The reason doctors avoided using it if they could were the hallucinations, which in turn for Brian were an integral part of what made the drug attractive. Giving himself to that he had a way to escape the horrors of reality. The K-Hole as they called it was a much nicer place than Unity and yet like with any hallucinogenic drug there was always the danger of getting stuck on psychosis. It probably was not a great idea to take that risk, particularly since he already was in a bad mental state, but the chance of Kate helping him to escape his suffering was so high, that he couldn't let it pass.
That was what had lead him to the facilities of this place. It was where everybody else took their drugs, too. The men's toilet was a room that housed four stalls and four pissoirs. On the far end of the room were two washing basins and a small mirror. Once there had been a second mirror as well, but that one had been broken a week ago, when two of his junkie colleagues had gotten into a fight. Brian usually tried to stay away from fighting, but that meant he had to be extremely careful and guarded. Luckily for him the room seemed to be rather empty today. Only Jimmy was there, wearing his usual yellow shirt. Not that Brian had talked to him much, but when you spent so much time laying on the ground next to someone you got to know them. Last time when Bri had been enjoying Valium he had been able to listen to that guys telephone conversation with his girlfriend. Not that he remembered the details, but he knew they had shouted at each other. That is where he had heard his name for the first time. It was kind of odd, they never talked and yet he felt close to that man in the yellow shirt, with the dark messy hair and the pale complexion. They shared the fate of being addicts, nobody who was not like them could understand their world. At the same time he knew, that junkies were no material for friends, since they always fought over drugs. Right now however Jimmy was on a trip. Bri did not know what he took, judging by his state it probably was some kind of narcotic, perhaps he was dancing with Kate as well. That or heroine, the worst of the bunch and the only drug Brian had been too afraid to use yet.
Curiously Brian checked the man out looking for an answer to his question. No, it probably wasn't 'H', there was no syringe to be seen anywhere. Of course you could still snort 'H', but who did that? Carefully he stepped closer and moved his right hand to wave it in front of Jimmy's eyes. Just another way to make sure, he was out and Brian was save to consume his own package of Kate. When there was no reaction a sigh of relieve escaped his throat and Brian pulled the little plastic bag out from his pocket as he made his way to the washing basin. This was most certainly not the cleanest spot to take drugs, but he did not care about that much. What he cared for is that the porcelain was dry, so he used one sleeve of his over-sized sweater to wipe the basin. Feeling the wetness gathering on the cloth was kind of disgusting, but it was much less disgusting, than snorting that water up together with the powder. Snorting was after all what was going to happen next. One trained rip later the plastic bag was open and Brian proceeded to put it onto the white sink. Trained hands got out his credit card to make a nice line, then the card was changed for a dollar note, that he had rolled up before. Finally he leaned over his escape ticket using the note, snorting it up. It was done. The drug was in his body now. Snorting it like that he knew that he had about two minutes to make himself comfy before the drug would kick in. He had done it before and he knew the restrooms. Next to Jimmy was kind of his usual spot. Not that he had an exact spot, but here somewhere under the sink was where he usually had his trips. There was no reason to be picky now. So he just let himself sink down on the wall putting his back up against it. The dizziness was already coming over his mind when his bottom hit the ground. K-Hole was approaching.
Now this was good stuff, he noticed immediately as the drug started to work. He felt his eyes getting heavy, but the dosage was low enough that he wasn't falling asleep right away. Of course higher dosages had their niceties too, the out of body experiences were quite something, but they could be scary, so he preferred his Kate gentle. It was caressing him as the walls around him felt like they were moving away from him. The bass of the techno music, that was echoing past the stalls into his ears was warping as well. While it had been numb before now it became even more distant and somehow it seemed like it was becoming slower as well. Kate was such a curious lady to be able to warp time like that and what an artist she was. After the music got slower Brian saw colors spreading right in front of his nose. Like millions of tiny flowers that started to bloom first yellow, then pink, then red and yellow again. It was so beautiful and he felt so calm, he just loved the K-Hole. If he could have, he would have stayed here forever with those flowers, but Kate sang him a lullaby and as his eyes fell close the flowers were gone and left was only the music.
Badum! Badum! Badum! Was that his heart or the beat of the music? It was vibrating so strongly, he felt it in his whole body. Badum! Badum! And it grew louder, while he felt so small. Perhaps Kate had been stronger than he thought? Was she taking him to different places?
Suddenly there was a silhouette. It was strange, that he could see it with the darkness all around him and yet there it was moving closer and then it had him by the wrist. What a strange dream and yet, was it? In A Flash there was light again as that silhouette pulled him up to a stand with one hand, while putting the other hand on his waist. So this was real? Brian's eyes were open again and yet he didn't know if they really were or if he was still dreaming. It must have been a dream, because there he was again his Frack. He was so close, right in front of his face, and even though it was just a dream, Brian reached out his hand to touch that face. Odd, he felt something with his hand. The illusion was not vanishing. It had never stayed before.
---
Nick was in shock. He finally had found B-Rok, but it was so bad, worse than what he had imagined. When he had seen the picture he already had been aware, that Brian was not doing well. He had looked so frail, but now he had found him sleeping on the floor of a dirty bathroom. Hopefully he was just sleeping. Nicks stomach had been aching with fear as he had reached for Bris wrist. Then he had felt even more devastated, because it felt like he was touching a skeleton. Lifting him up from the ground had been so easy, he was as light as a feather. Of course his friend had always been small, but he had been quite the athlete with a sturdy frame in the recent years. Now he was so light, lighter even than he had been shortly before his surgery in '98.
Finally he opened his eyes, but what Nick saw was not good. Those eyes, oh he knew those blue eyes so well, but he also knew the look they had. The way the pupils were all wide, big like dimes. Brian was taking drugs. His Frick was taking drugs. When the smaller man touched his face Nick nearly started to cry seeing how confused he was. But he couldn't do that now, he had to be strong, he had to take care of this. This was so much worse, than the voice problems. Before he did anything though all he did was to pull Brian into a hug, a long and warm hug. "I'm here now Bri. I'm here.", he spoke and nuzzled his head against his friends neck just for a second. "Let's get you out of here.", and before the other man could respond or even grasp the situation he put his arm under his shoulder and started to lead him along, out of the club.
---
When the realization hit Brian, that this wasn't a dream, they had already made it way past the entrance. The music was still audible, but the club was two street corners away. Nick was still holding him up, which was really needed, since Kate made it hard for him to stand on his own. It was still hard for him to understand, that all he was experiencing right now was real. He would have never imagined to see any of the Boys again. How had Nick found him and why did he come? The more he grasped of reality, the less comfy he felt. While his friend was just holding him upright to stand, he still felt dirty. After all that had been done to him, he did not like to be touched anymore. Not by anybody, not even the person he still loved. Too many memories of unwanted hands touching his body came to his mind. As all of that hit him, he finally came enough to his senses to pull himself away from Nick, leaving him staring at Bri surprised: "No!", was all he managed to say before his memories mixed with Special K made him bend over. The lion mask flashed quite vividly up in his mind and he felt what that man did to him all over again. He felt so disgusted about it and about himself, that he could not hold back on vomiting.
Nick had expected Brian to vomit, but he was surprised how it happened. The way he pulled back from him, it felt as if he had been hurting him. Confusion lay on his face as he looked at the smaller man who just had emptied the contents of his stomach onto the ground. He was about to step closer when Brian turned around and looked at him as straight as he could in his current condition: "You have to go.", Nick shook his head, "No, I won't. Not without you.", he was determined to get Brian to a better place. Never would he allow him to leave again, not after he had failed him the last time. "Please Nick, you have to understand. It's better that way. Please!", Brian was pleading with him. What was he talking about? "Nonsense!", Nick shook his head and made a step towards Brian. He wanted to take him by the wrist again, but as he came closer his friend stepped back. Why did he see fear in those eyes? What had happened to him?
"Hey! It's me... look stupid old Nicky! I won't hurt you.", he kept standing where he was, even though he would have preferred to take Brian by the wrist and drag him along, but it was obvious, that his friend was scared of something. As he stayed silent Nick spoke on: "Whatever you do, I won't allow you to go back there. So if you don't want me to call an ambulance and make drama, you better come along." Those words seemed to have an effect as Brian seemed to be confused now: "Ambulance?", Nick nodded, "Yes, my friend looks like a skeleton and is on drugs, so yes an ambulance."
Of course Nick had seen, what was up with him. He had always known everything about him and the drugs, they were obvious even for people who did not know Brian. It was so very obvious to see, that he was a junkie, he had all the tell-tale signs. Still he was surprised, when Nick used that argument to get him to come along. It left him in quite the predicament. If he did not go along Nick would call the ambulance, possibly causing a scene and doing bad PR for the Backstreet Boys. If he came along, Peter might release information to the press and the same thing would happen. So whatever he did it probably would end badly. For a second he tried to think about another way, but finally after realizing he was not even able to think clearly he sighed: "Alright, I will come with you.", he looked up to Nick but didn't move any closer, he was still too afraid to be touched. Even though he agreed to come along, he did not know if it had been the right choice. He hoped it was. Those eyes, they had been sad for so long, but they had always been filled with something. What Nick saw now was a huge and blue ocean, but it was empty, so empty. What he saw in Brian's eyes it hurt him, scared him and made him feel worried. Unity had a bad reputation, but he had not believed in those rumors until he had found his friend in this state. Now he was worried about all the things that might have happened to him. He shook his head as if to push all those worries away. That simply could not have been the truth. And yet, when he looked at Brian and those eyes, the worries came back. Whatever had happened, Brian was traumatized, he could see that, so he had to be very careful with him. At least he had agreed to come along, so he gestured him to follow, before starting to walk: "Come then Bri, let's get to a nicer place, okay?", he spoke as gently as he could, but he knew the sadness in his voice was audible. The smaller man responded with a simple nod and started to walk along. As much as he would have loved to hug Brian again, he felt at the moment it was better not to. Now the main goal was to get him to a safer place.