05/29/04

Hello everyone I am Vic Carmece.  Yes, I know you are probably asking yourself why is Vic talking to me?  This cannot be happening you then question.  Well it is and the reason is quite simple.  It is the easiest way to bring the story line up to the present without having to drone on inconsequential details.  The little things that make life so boring, for example: Vic woke up and managed to drag himself out of bed and stumble to his bathroom.  How many times can you bear to hear that?

So you probably have a few questions and I do have a few answers for you.  Okay so I will start off with the present.  Right now since you are visually impaired, I am sitting here alone in a restroom stall trying to get myself ready for a performance and no my pants aren't around my ankles either.  Yeah the band is still together but there have been some changes, which will be explained in a little bit.  I am just hoping this little rambling will help me settle my nerves.  The odd thing is this isn't the first show we have done but it is the first major one after the changes.  So I am nervous and to top it off I can't wear anything I am comfortable wearing on stage either.  Well that is except for these sneakers.  Since you cannot see this outfit from hell, I guess I should describe what I am talking about.  I am wearing tight leather pants, which I should tell you don't work well with boxers.  The boxers are riding up something fierce.  The shirt is this shiny metallic blue type button up shirt that is one size to small.  My hair was cut short and gelled forward with the front turned up and my goatee that I love so much was shaved down to look like only several days growth.  So now when I look in the mirror and I am afraid of the guy I see staring back at me.  I feel like the older member of one of those boy bands. You know the guy that gets all the ridicule and no girls since he looks ridiculous.

As if all that wasn't bad enough, I was told that my Ranger tattoo needed to be covered up and I was told that I should think about having it removed or changed.  Can you believe that?  I about freaked but I kept my cool and smiled as I thought of ways to make it bigger just to piss them off.  Then they went on about how cool the tribal tattoo was on my other arm and how they wish I had something like that in place of the Ranger tattoo.  Where were my friends when all this was happening?  I will tell you where they were; they were sitting right next to me laughing.   The good thing though was later they told me how stupid they sounded when they were bitching about my tattoos.

Oh yeah you don't know who 'they' are yet.  Sorry, like I said earlier I am rambling a bit here.  I will explain who 'they' are later.  There is stuff that comes before all that which you need to know of first.  So I will try to get to everything in some sort of order for you so bear with me here okay.

Okay, so if I recall correctly when we last were together I was in the kitchen with Christy.  So you remembering this?  I was explaining what Vickie told me and the message she had from Hudson.  At the same time Erica and Jenna were in the living room watching TV.  It was still the coverage of the WTC disaster.  So what you know so far is that Erica got up and went to the kitchen for what ever reason and then she opened the kitchen door dropped her glass and said something like 'Oh Shit or Oh my God' I can't quite remember but it was loud.  So at that moment all kinds of crazy ideas are going through your head.  I can just imagine what you were thinking.  So now you probably want to know what the hell Erica saw in the kitchen.  Well to tell you the truth I have no idea what the hell Erica saw.  Yes I know I was there.  Yet I wasn't there for that moment.  I knew that Vickie told me that Hudson wanted me to give Christy a kiss for her so I nodded my head cause I kissed Christy on the cheek countless times cause she is like my sister.  I figured it was an easy wish to keep for a dying woman.  My head was pretty messed up at the time so you have to take that into account also.  So I was telling Christy that Hudson had a message for her.  I placed my hands on her shoulders and then I held Christy since she started to tear up and I whispered into her ear that Hudson wanted me to give her something. Then bam there is this bright light and the next thing I know is that Erica is screaming.  Well anyway here is another view of what really happened.

Vic's held Christy in his arms trying to comfort her.  Christy felt all the emotions that were still rather raw bubble up to the surface again.  As she clung onto Vic he whispered in her ear that Hudson wanted him to give her something.  Vic moved back slightly as Christy released her tight hold on him. Vic looked down at Christy's face and she looked up to meet his gaze.  Then suddenly Vic's face started glowing and his features started to blur.

            Christy's eyes went wide as she watched the light grow more intense then Vic's features became smoother and feminine.  Then suddenly Christy recognized the eye's she was now seeing.

"How can you be here?" Christy whispered as tears started streaming again.

"It is only for a moment," Hudson replied.  "I just wanted one last kiss," Hudson then said as she moved closer to Christy's lips.  There lips met and Christy was engulfed with the Glow that Hudson was giving off.

As Christy clung onto Hudson's lips she heard "OH MY GOD!"  Christy moved quickly away and she was now looking at Vic who seemed just as stunned as she was.  The crashing noise of the coffee mug caused Christy and Vic look over at the kitchen door to see Erica standing there with her mouth wide open and a shocked expression on her face.  Christy then realized what Erica saw and she moved from Vic as she tried to figure out for herself what had just happened.

Jenna quickly popped her head into the kitchen to see what was wrong and she saw nothing unusual.  "What happened?" asked Jenna.

"They were kissing," Erica managed to spit out as she pointed towards Vic and Christy.

"So they kissed before we kissed Vic many times too," Jenna replied a little annoyed that Erica was over reacting to something so trivial.

"No, no, they were kissing," Erica repeated as she emphasized the word kissing as she continued to point at Vic and Christy as if they were some criminals and they committed some heinous crime.

Jenna looked over at Erica and then over to Christy and Vic with a confused look.  "What is going on here?" Jenna questioned.

"They were kissing, I told you," Erica repeated as she glared over at Jenna.

"Look I know it is weird but I really wasn't kissing Vic," Christy tried to explain as she shifted about where she stood.  Christy looked at Erica then to Jenna as she tried to figure out for herself what had just happened.  She then looked over at Vic who looked almost as confused as Jenna so she knew he was going to be no help trying to explain what had transpired.

"Okay this is what happened, I was in here talking to Vic and apologizing and crying some and he was comforting me and being reassuring" Christy explained.

"Yeah I bet he was," Erica said in her sarcastic wiseass tone.  Vic then shot her a glare and Erica quickly returned the glare by sticking her tongue out at him and giggling.

"Anyway," Christy said as she tried to steer the conversation back to what had just happened, "Vic then said Hudson had wanted him to give me something.  He slightly backed away, then his face was engulfed in light and I could see his face change then the light seemed to encompass his body and that changed and I was looking at Hudson," Christy stopped for a moment as she felt tears well up in her eyes and it was a little hard to continue.  "Then she moved in close and we kissed.  The next thing I know I hear Erica shouting and I am looking at Vic," Christy finished and then she looked over at Erica and Jenna.

"Yeah there was a glow alright but it was probably from the sun reflecting off a window or something," Erica added as she looked at Christy.  "You were playing tongue hockey and there was a lot of checking going on along the boards," Erica continued as she smiled and spoke in a sarcastic accusing voice.

Christy just shook her head as she realized where Erica was going with this.  Vic still looked confused as he began to rub the back of his neck.  Jenna moved into the kitchen and over to the coffeepot.  "Well since I am up I might as well have another cup of coffee," Jenna mumbled mostly to herself.

"It has taking for ever it seems but I finally got something on you," Erica said as she pointed at Christy.  Erica started to dance about and pointing and singing, "Nannah na na na na.  Christy was kissing Vic nahnah na na na na.  I can't wait to tell everyone back in Virginia.  This is going to be the best".  Erica continued her little shuffling about as Christy and Vic both moved out of the kitchen trying to escape the taunting ridicule that Erica was unleashing upon then. 

Well that is how that played out and for the next month or so Erica took every opportunity she had to rub it in on Christy that she had caught her kissing me. For example if we would come into the studio together, Erica would ask if we were making out since we were arriving together.  If we were watching TV together Erica would come in and sit down between us and say you two need a chaperone.  Well luckily we did get through it with out killing Erica for her endless abuse.  I knew I was on the verge at times cause it got old quickly.  I did however ask Jenna why was Erica so happy to finally get something on Christy.  Jenna told me that Erica seemed to do things that were embarrassing every so often and Christy seemed to be around and she would torment Erica with it.  That is when I remembered various incidents of Erica doing things that brought the wraith of Christy down upon her. Then I did ask Jenna why wasn't she trying to get me then?  Jenna then calmly told me I was too easy to get.  That is also when I remembered my way to many shortcomings.   So basically it came down to the fact that I screwed up almost on a daily basis.

Well anyway Christy and I never did talk about the incident.  From my point of view there was nothing to talk about.  I cannot remember kissing her at all.  I remember telling her that Hudson wanted me to give her something and bam there is bright lights then yelling.  I don't know how many times I can say this but that is the truth.  Hey If I was kissing Christy I am sure I would have remembered it.  At least I hope I would have.

Well anyway during Erica's taunting period we were all still trying to recover from the terrorist attack and the lost of Hudson and Vickie, Christy, Erica and Jenna went to work on new music.  Christy in particular worked real hard.  She took a page from my book and immersed herself in work to help forget and get over what was bothering her.  I did the same I dove head first into way to many projects.  I designed several memorial pages as well as several corporate sites.  I also did help that friend of Lucy's with his kids website.  Plus on top off all that we did a lot of recording and playing live in small clubs in the area.  Like I was saying Christy wanted to be busy so she did most of the recent bookings and we played in several places we never played or thought we would ever play or even wanted to play.

One of those places was this small club in the city.  It turns out that playing that gig would change things for us.  You would have never guessed that this would be a big gig by the look of the club though.  It was small and the stage was small and behind the stage was the room that we all crammed into to change and hang in before we went on.  Well it actually was a converted restroom.  Yet they kept one stall and urinal so if you had to go you could.

Anyway the gig went well.  The crowd was a little slow to warm up but when you have Christy and Erica moving about they are bound to get some attention and a lot of reactions. So let me tell you attention they did get and I spent a lot of time keeping guys off them as they tried to cop feels while they played.  I could tell Jenna was quite happy to be behind the drum kit as she watched the show from her vantage point.

So anyway after the last set we took a short break before heading back out to break down the equipment and pack it up for the trip home.  I remember telling the waitress as we went off stage if she could send some beer back for us.  So we were relaxing and joking when the beers showed up with some unexpected company.  Okay instead of me telling you what happened lets flash back to that night as the beer arrived.

"Watching you guys work the crowd was funny tonight.  You two were getting the guys worked up then seeing Vic trying to keep some order. Whoa I was laughing my ass off.  It was all I could do to keep from laughing," Jenna was explaining as the door to the small room opened and the waitress came in with the beers.

"Excellent cold beer," Vic said as he moved to help the waitress with the beer.  Then Vic noticed the owner walking in with two other guys that he did not recognize.  Vic looked over to Christy and got her attention.  Then he made a head jerking motion towards the new guys who were walking in.  Christy looked but she did not recognize them and she shrugged her shoulders.  Erica noticed the two guys walking in and she did not seem to recognize them either. 

"Hey Vic, right," The owner said as he hoped he had gotten the name right.  "These two men are from MCA records they come around here every so often scouting for talent," The owner explained.

"Yeah, I'm Scott Seaward," the first man said as he offered his hand to Vic.  "And this is Sal Messina.  We enjoyed your sets tonight.  You guys are pretty tight and work well together, also you guys have a lot of presence out there on stage.  We happened to catch some previous shows and we felt we needed to talk with you," Scott Seaward explained as Vic shook hands with Sal Messina.  After the introductions the owner moved back and headed back out to the club.

"Yeah well I try to just stay out of the way and let the girls work their magic," Vic explained.  "If you want to talk about the band though you are really talking to the wrong band member.  Erica is the real den mother to this group.  I am the bass player and art designer,"

"Art designer?" asked Sal Messina.

"Yeah, that cd that you have in your hand I designed the entire look," Vic said as he pointed to the cd Sal had in his hand.  Sal looked at the cd and over to Scott and he smirked and nodded his head. 

'That is some nice work," Messina commented. 

"Thanks, I did something cool with several pictures overlaying them adding some text and stuff.  Well anyway let me introduce you to Erica so you can talk to her," Vic said as he moved the six feet over to Erica who was paying attention to Vic as she was talking to Christy and Jenna.

"Hey guys," Vic said as he moved up to his friends.  "This is Erica Burstyn, Jenna Jenkins, and Christy Carlton," Vic said as he introduced his friends.  "Ladies," Vic smirked then continued, "this is Scott Seaward and Sal Messina from MCA records.  Vic moved away as hands were being shaken and general greetings were being exchanged.

As everyone seemed to have been introduced Vic drifted off behind his friends.  "Ladies, I must say you sounded real good out there considering the venues sound system.  We also thought your stage presence was strong.  It is always nice to see a band come in to a place that they are not familiar with and win over the crowd the way you did," Scott Seaward explained as the girls listened intently.  "Well let me get to the point, we are talent agents from MCA records and we are currently scouting new talent.  Normally we track new bands over several months in different venues so we see how they react in different settings," Seaward continued to explain as he looked at the girls who were quietly listening but he could tell there was excitement growing under their calm exterior.  "We feel that your band has a unique look and a great sound.  That we would like to market.  So basically what I would like to do is meet with you all on Monday at," Scott pulled out his PDA and quickly was navigating through his menus and continued to say, "How is 12:30 sound for you?"

Erica looked to Jenna and Christy, both nodded in agreement.  Erica looked behind her and looked at Vic who seemed to be going through his schedule in his head.  Finally Vic looked at Erica and nodded and said, "I'm clear"

"We are excited that you liked our performances and I for one am excited about a chance to sign with a label to get our music out there.  So we will be glad to meet you at 12:30 on Monday," Erica answered Scott Seaward as she reigned in her excitement.

"That is great.  So here is my card so I will see you on Monday at 12:30 then," Scott Seaward said as he looked over to Sal Messina who merely nodded.

So after screaming and drinking a lot of shots we did manage to break our gear down and get home and get through the weekend.  So now if you haven't already guessed it yet, you should now know who 'They' are.  Yep that quick meeting was the turning point for us and it was the beginning of some long nights and hard work.  You see on Monday we met with Scott and Sal or as I like to refer to them as Satan's stepsons, they revealed their plan for the band.  They originally wanted to get a new bass player and have me on exclusively in the art department.  Erica, Christy and Jenna quickly nixed that idea.  So the compromise was to bring Jenna out from behind the drums and put me on drums.  That was something we did agree upon.  I wasn't sure about it but in the end it worked out but it wasn't simple let me tell you.

After the change was made I had to learn to play drums.  That was going to be an adventure. Well Jenna is right handed and I am left handed so right there the set up would be different so to make it easy on us we picked up another kit.  It was a nice looking Ludwig set that I don't have anymore due to one excessive emotional outburst, which we will get to in a moment.  Well anyway after about a week of trying to get basic rhythms down and getting my feet to work together with my hands Jenna was on the verge of killing me.  During one of many yelling fits I smashed the kit in rage.  Yeah I was just so frustrated and the MCA guys wanted to see how things were going and I was trying to finish a few projects of my own I just exploded.  Jenna was laughing as she watched me smash the kit like a crazed animal.

Man I felt good after destroying that kit though.  It was at that moment Jenna asked me why I used my right foot to kick out the bass drum.  I had no real answer for her but it was then that she realized how truly screwed up I was.  Actually she realized what the problem was.  They have some term for it that I can't remember but it comes down to that my hands are playing like I was left-handed and my feet are working like they are right handed.  I hope that makes sense to you cause it seems to fit in with how wacked my life is anyway.

So we went back out and picked up a new kit and set it up correctly for me, and things went a lot smoother.  It wasn't easy but in comparison to the way it was before, it was now a cakewalk.  So in about month just before Christmas I was ready to play some gigs.  I couldn't freestyle or solo but I could play all our songs and many covers that we did and I was able to just run rhythms.  I am no John Bonham but I could hold my own. Jenna picked up the bass and played it like she had been playing for years so all she needed to do really was to learn the songs and that took only a few days.  God I hate people who have way too much talent.  Not really but they can be real annoying and smug.  Especially when I would screw up and Jenna would look back at me and tell me 'Do I have to come back there and play drums too'.  Man if she weren't my friend I would have mopped the floor with her.  Once again I was forgetting your handicap.  So I will explain what happened.  I made a face and used a tone that implied sarcasm.  I can't seem to remember that it doesn't translate well through the written media when talking in first person to the audience.  So I will try to refrain from the sarcasm but I got to stand up my ass if falling asleep sitting here and my boxers are all up my ass.  God I hate these pants.

Well anyway during the learning process we had to go into the city several times and meet with Seaward and Messina.  During those meetings they told us of their plans for the band and how they envisioned that we would look.  They actually had artist renditions of the look for the band and they spoke of how they wanted our sound to progress.  I took a long look at how I was portrayed.  I was scared.  The girls looked rather conservative as compared to how they usually dress for shows. So they had no problem with these changes.

Then as we spoke about our look and I got the lecture about the tattoo they brought up the name of the band.  I winced when they said they wanted us to change the name from Solan to something else.  The lawyers said there would be a huge problem with Universal Studios if we used Solan.  So we had to come up with another name.  I thought that would be the end of the world.  Solan had meant something to us and changing the name didn't feel right I thought.

Well we did get through the meetings and I had to go wardrobe shopping since I had nothing that even closely resembled what they wanted me to wear.  Then during one recording session as I was loosing up it came to me, an idea for the new band name.  So I sprung it on the girls and they actually liked it.  We were now one step closer to the final stages that Satan's stepsons were going for.  So now we had a new look a new name and an album that was starting to come along.  We were recording in our home studio as well as the Hit Factory in the city.  The producer they hired for the album thought it was good for us to be in a comfortable environment but the home studio was limited so that is why we did use the Hit factory studios at times.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention the name didn't I well the name of the band is now 'Solar Angles'.  Yeah you might ask were the hell did he come up with that name.  Well it was a song by Judas Priest off the Point Of Entry album and the lawyers had no problem with it.  The song stuck in my head from when I was a kid.  So you might be saying to yourself that song wasn't even that good.  Well that is a matter of opinion and we couldn't call ourselves Screaming For Vengeance now could we.  So we were all set.

So Just after Christmas we had nearly the whole album done I was practicing my ass off and getting better everyday.  Christy and Erica were still writing new stuff with hope that they could get it on the new album.  Jenna was just going with the flow helping with the music from time to time.  So we all decided that we should play New Years Eve.  We wanted it to be a small gathering of friends.  The record company thought it would be a great idea for us to showcase our sound to some of their management.  Erica told them if they wanted to come to our party they were welcome but we were having a party for our friends and they were the most important aspect to the party.

Well Seaward and Messina were shocked by Erica's blunt reply, they forgot that we were not some starving band that would bow to their every wish and demand.  To tell you the truth we could have started our own label if we wanted to.  I don't think anyone of us wanted to have to deal with artist's egos and attitudes.  Well anyway Messina and Seaward did agree to invite some executives to our little shin ding.

Well our little shin ding turned out to be a rather large party.  The guest list was up to two hundred and fifty people.  I barely knew most of the people that were coming and MCA's part of the guest list was up to twenty-five people.  Erica Jenna and Christy couldn't say no to anyone who asked what we were doing New Years Eve.  So had to get a hall, which was almost impossible to do at such a late point.  Luckily I was owed some favors and we got a place.  Well anyway the really bad part of the party was that we did agree to dress, as Seaward and Messina wanted.  So out of the clothes that we designated for the band they had a wardrobe person pick out what they felt was good for us to wear.  Well the clothes were okay.  I was in jeans and a t-shirt.  The girl's were in jeans and very revealing shirts, nothing like they had worn but revealing nonetheless.

To tell you the truth the performance went much better then I expected it to go.  I expected all kinds of sound problems and me screwing up but there was none of that.  The execs from MCA had a good time even when they had to interact with some of our friends.  Which at times was quite amusing.

Being that it was New Years Eve I was happy I was behind my drum kit.  It helped me forget that I was alone.  The only time I felt bad was at the stroke of midnight when I was sitting there cheering that we had made it to the New Year.  I caught a glimpse of Christy and I could tell she felt it too.  It quickly passed as friends rushed the stage to hug us and celebrate along side us.

Well from New Years we went through several photo sessions and played some small gigs to tune up for some larger ones that they told us were coming up.  We put final touches on the new CD and I got to work with the art department on what the CD covers looked like.  It did come out nicely.  The cover had a picture of the band.  The girls where standing in front of me with mischievous looks and halos, while I stood behind them with my eyes glowing and horns.  Above the picture was the name of the band in a large font that stood out and below to the right was the album name that we felt fit for us.  The album title we chose was 'Changes'.

The inside of the CD had the lyrics to the twelve songs and various pictures of the band.  Then it was capped off with the credits and thanks.  Each of us had a short thank you list.  Mine was the shortest.  I simply had written there 'Thank you Howard'.  Christy thought it was crazy.  I told her me being in a rock band was crazy.

Well anyway with all that done and the CD being released.  We were then scheduled to play a show on April 19^th.   So now that brings you right up to date with everything.  Yep it is Friday April 19^th we are playing a release party.  There are a lot of industry heavy weights out there I am sure half of them could care less about how we sound though.  The only thing I just can't figure out why there were several federal agents patrolling the area when we showed up earlier.  I shouldn't worry about that anyway, at least there are a lot of people out there that I have seen coming to our smaller shows that we have been playing since New Years.  It is nice to see that we have some sort of a following. 

You know I do feel a bit better that I have been rambling on to you.  I guess I should do this more often it is very therapeutic.  I am sure it is cheaper then a shrink.  I just hope no one has heard me talking here, they would definitely think I am gone for sure.

"Hey Vic it's time to go," Erica shouted as she stuck her head into the rest room.

"Okay I will be right there.  Well this is it.  It was nice talking to you though.  Well let's see what happens from here."

Vic took a deep breath checked his look in the mirror and shook his head.  Vic then headed out of the restroom and headed over to his friends who were waiting for him.  As Vic made his way over to his friends they embraced in a group hug and Erica began to speak, "Okay everyone this is a big one for us so lets go out there have fun lets kick some ass".  Everyone squeezed tight then let go.

"I don't think I can kick any ass tonight.  Well not as long as my boxers are jammed up my ass," Vic said, as he was picking and adjusting his underwear through his leather pants.

"Duh, you don't wear boxers with leather pants.  You wear a thong or you go commando," Jenna said smugly.

"Commando, in leather pants.  That sounds painful," Vic, replied as he winced at the thought of going commando and then finished adjusting his boxers as they all headed to the stage as they were being introduced.  The soundman remotely triggered the keyboards program that started the intro to the first song.  It gave them forty five seconds to get set.  Then right on cue everyone kicked in.  Erica started singing Christy started wailing on the guitar and Jenna was working the bass.  Vic was in the rear keeping the beat and tried not to over power the drums like he had a tendency to do from time to time.

Well in the rear of the room a middle aged man in a black trench coat, made his way from the bar and surveyed the room.  He did not seem to belong in the crowd.  He did not look like a record exec or even a fan of the music.  Yet he stood in the rear waiting and watching. 

Erica worked the crowd and was able to get the crowd to respond even though it seemed like she was pulling teeth to get the emotional level to rise from some areas of the room.  Christy an d Jenna did there share of entertaining as the did a little grinding act as they played.  Vic just played and was the brunt of several jokes through the show.

As the last song ended Erica said into the mic, "Thank you for coming out for our release party.  On behalf of the band we greatly appreciate your support and we will be out in a few to sign CD's for you as well as posters.  Once again thank you and the bar is still open so grab something to drink and relax.  We will be right back."  The rest of the band had put down their instruments and were standing next to Erica as she finished addressing the crowd.  They all bowed and waved and headed off the stage.

The strange man made his way towards the stage as the crowd shifted about with the lights coming on in the room.  The man adjusted his trench coat to reveal back stage passes and was let back towards the dressing room.  He walked right to the door where Solar Angles had just moments ago entered.  He looked to his left then to his right and there was no one there.  A slight smiled crept across his lips as he opened the door to the dressing room.

He quickly stepped in and locked the door behind him before anyone in the band could say anything to him.  He quickly reached into his pocket and with a quick motion he pulled out a small black device that looked like a garage door opener.

"Excuse me can I help you?" asked Jenna as she notice the man with the device in his hand.

"No you can't Ms. Jenkins, but thanks for asking," the man replied in a cold tone as he pressed a button on the device.  Suddenly the building shook as a loud thunderous explosion sounded.

"Holy shit what the fuck just happened!" Vic screamed as he tried to steady himself.  Everyone else but the man was trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Well almost everyone out by the stage should be dead," the man casually said as he dropped the black device and reached into his trench coat again and pulled out a gun.  "You all will soon be joining them," The man continued as he pointed the gun at Erica. 

The sight of the gun had Erica frozen in place.  No one else moved as they hoped this was all just a nightmare.  Then with out any hesitation the man calmly squeezed his trigger finger and a shot rang out catching Erica in the chest.  The man pointed the gun again at Erica and fired a second round hitting her in the chest again.  Erica slumped over as her blood rushed from her body.  Jenna and Christy immediately ran to Erica's side only to find themselves as victims.  The man quickly put a shot into each of their legs.  As they lay screaming in pain from the bullet wounds the man looked over at Vic and smiled.

"Well Mr. Carmece Ms. Jenkins looks like she is in pain I guess I should end her suffering don't you think," The man calmly said as he stared at Vic.

"No don't shoot her again!  Haven't you done enough you fucking bastard!"? Vic screamed out as he fought with himself.  He wanted to run to his friends but at the same time he wanted to charge the maniac with the gun.  The rage was swelling up inside him and all he could manage to do was stand there.

"I can feel your pain and indecision Mr. Carmece," the man said as he pointed the gun at Jenna.  "Let me help you make up your mind".  The man put two bullets into Jenna's chest, which instantly ended her life.

Vic's eye seemed to glaze over as he started to charge the man.  Vic was growling like a savage animal but was stopped in his tracks by a bullet ripping through his right shoulder.  Vic dropped to the floor.  A moment after hitting the floor the rage that had surged through his body numbed the pain and he was fighting to stand up.

As Christy held her leg and tried not to scream anymore she saw a light appear near the ceiling.  She was able to make out a face and new it was Hudson telling her something.  Christy then looked over at Vic who was bleeding profusely from the bullet wound in his right should as he struggled to stand up.  She saw the pain in his face the tears streaming from his eyes and the spit dripping from his mouth as he growled in pain.  "No Vic," Christy groaned as she continued to clutch at her leg that was bleeding profusely.   "This is what he wants," Christy then added.

Vic heard nothing that Christy was saying; all he could here was his heart pounding in his ears.  He made it to his feet and growled as he breathed heavy and faced the man again.  Vic then took a step towards the man and the man did not move.  Christy continued to plead for him to stop but Vic kept moving towards the man slowly step by step.

"You are almost ready Mr. Carmece," the man said as he smiled.

"Don't hit him Vic. Hudson said don't hit him", Christy pleaded through her pain Hudson face disappeared as Christy repeated her plea to Vic not to hit the man.  Vic did not turn to her.   He was now only a few feet from the man and all he could see was the man's head and how he wanted to rip it from his body.

"It is time you shut up Ms Carlton," The man said as he put one bullet into the center of Christy's neck.

Vic turned to Christy as he saw the bullet wounds in her neck.  At that point whatever control he had left and what pain he felt where gone.  Vic quickly burst toward the man and unleashed an overhand left that caught the man on the side of the head.  Vic felt bone crumble as his fist made contact with the man's head.  The man went crashing to the floor and blood started flowing from his nose.  The punch brought Vic to one knee as the pain in his shoulder once again was over bearing.  The man smiled as he saw Vic on one knee holding his right shoulder as blood was flowing freely from the wound.  Vic then tried to stand up to move over to the fallen man with the intent to continue his assault.

"Well Mr. Carmece you did it and I thank you.  Now you can join your friends," The man said as he pointed the gun and pulled the trigger, which ended Vic's existence.

 In a federal prison the man responsible for the deaths of forty-seven people and the injuries of close to two hundred others wait for two FBI agents to enter the room.  The door finally does open and the man watches the two agents enter the room.  The tall raven haired agent calmly walks in and stands at the table across from the man as she looks him over trying to size him up.  The shorter blonde walks in trying not to seem upset by the intimidating surroundings.

"Well agents Muir and Ryan you finally arrived," the man said as he looked at each agent.

"How did you know they would be calling us in?" asked Muir as she sat down in a chair across from the man.

"Well I committed a federal offense by destroying federal property when I blew up part of the building and injured several federal officers that were still in the building.  Also since I have a crazy story that can not be readily explained," the man said as he looked directly at agent Muir.  "The name is John Williams James.  I was born August 16^th, 1950 in Parsippany New Jersey," The man added.

"No one asked you for that information," agent Ryan said looking directly at Mr. James.

"You are right but your partner was about to ask me," James said as he looked at agent Muir.  Muir nodded slightly in compliance to let her partner know he was right.  "Now your question on why I did it.  Well to tell you the truth it was the only way I could see myself dying," He told agent Ryan.

Agent Ryan sat there for a moment and looked at him with a questioning look on her face.  He sat there and stared back at her.  "You don't seem to know what I am thinking now, why?" asked Ryan.

"In my visions I am dead now," the man replied seeming a little concerned.

"You envisioned everything that has happened?" Ryan then asked.

"Yes, I have.  I envisioned it all and I am supposed to die now," the man calmly said as Ryan stared at him.

Muir was looking on and asked, "That is a nasty bruise on the side of your face.  It almost looks like a fist".

"It is.  It is the fist mark of my killer.  The man who is relieving me of these visions," The man said with a smile as his hand lightly traced the area on the side of his head.

"I don't understand," Ryan asked.

Through my life I have had visions and each time I had one it would drain me and I would be helpless to do anything for a period of time.  Then over time depending on how long the vision was and how in-depth it was I would actually go into a coma like state for a period of time.  Then I found I was able to control what I would see.  So I used my ability to find a way to end it all," The man explained.

Muir looked horrified as she was realizing what the man was saying.  Ryan looked at the man with a cold stare. Ryan then began to speak  "So you are telling me that your so called visions told you to set a concert hall to explode killing numerous people and injuring others.  Also you made sure it would be a federal offense so that we would be available to be called in.  Am I right so far," Asked Ryan.

"Sounds about right," the man replied quietly. 

"Then you had a band in their dressing room at your mercy and you proceeded to kill them one by one but one did manage to deliver a punch which you claim is going to kill you.  Is that what your vision told you?" asked Ryan.

"Yes and I am supposed to be dead already like I said earlier," the man said as he met Ryan's cold gaze.

"Did you know I knew those people you killed in cold blood?" Ryan grunted and the man looked surprised as he shook his head.

Muir watched Ryan who was getting visible angry with the man.  Muir was getting herself mentally ready to stop Ryan from attacking the man.  Even though it was hard for her not to throttle the man herself for taking away people that she knew and had grown close to over the short time that she knew them.

"Did it ever occur to you that you could have taken that gun you used to shoot those innocent people and just pointed at your own headed and ended it all.  That way no one would be hurt but yourself?" Ryan angrily growled at James as she stared at him with a look that could kill.

James sat there for a moment confused and he shook his head no.  It seemed by his expression that the thought of ending his own life never occurred to him.  Then suddenly his eyes bulged and blood started running from his nose as he convulsed for a second then slumped forward and James head crashed down onto the table.  Blood poured out onto the table Ryan stood up and looked at Muir "I guess he was right the punch did kill him".