Back to the Dream Page
"Drew!" Jeff called out as he exited his room.
"Yeah Jeff?"
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm going out to hit the streets for a little bit. I have my cell phone on in case you guys need me, all right?"
"Sure thing Jeff. Take care and don't get mobbed!" Drew joked as he left Jeff to brave the world on his own.
Whistling a merry, little tune, Jeff walked out of the hotel and onto the streets. When he was separated from the rest of the guys, it was easier to go around unnoticed in the foreign city of London, where they were staying for a couple of weeks. He walked up and down the streets, letting his eyes go window-shopping. For some reason though, he stopped in front of one sorry-looking store. "Unbelievable Creatures" the sign above the door read. On the window, a smaller sign read "Exotic pets inside. Take a look!"
The next thing Jeff knew, he was inside the small shop. "Whoa. How'd I find myself in here?" Jeff muttered to himself. He looked around. "This place is freaky!" He let his eyes wander among the images and replicas of insects and snakes. He turned to go out the door and almost screamed. A life-like, but thankfully fake, python bordered the doorway and its head angled towards him.
He almost screamed again when a voice called out to him. "May I help you, sir?" Jeff turned around and was relieved to find that it was only a woman.
Jeff stared at her a moment. She was stunningly beautiful. Her Asian features were reinforced by the silky, Oriental dress she wore. Her straight, long, black hair hung loose, framing her face. Her face… Jeff stared, entranced at those lips, the cheeks… the eyes. They captured him and he was at a loss for words. "I, uh… Just… Well what I mean is, uh…"
The woman smiled kindly at him. "It's all right. No pressure. You keep looking and let me know if you find something you want. I'll be in the back." She gracefully left the front of the shop and he was left standing there alone.
"What are you doing Jeff? This is crazy! You walk into a shop full of things you're scared of and you stay longer than necessary just because a beautiful lady walks in on you. Oh my God, get a grip on yourself!" Jeff shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts and stepped towards the door. His hand rested on the doorknob and he tried to turn it. His mind had been caught between leaving and staying until he realized that he was locked in. "Strange," he muttered to himself before turning back around. "Umm. Excuse me!" He called out. "I think the door is stuck!" Empty silence followed and realizing that he wasn't getting anywhere, he made his way to the back.
For a brief moment, Jeff paused. An ill feeling ran through his body and he pulled back a little. Then he chided himself. "Come on Jeff. Just turn the door knob so you can get out of here," he muttered to himself. He grasped the handle and opened it wide, stepping in.
Surrounding the walls were display cases, and inside each case was a different type of snake or lizard or insect. Jeff immediately got a sick feeling in his stomach and wanted out of there fast. His eyes quickly gazed the room as he called out to her again. "Excuse me, miss, but the front door is locked!" Still, no answer came back.
He left the door open and walked inside, trying to see where she could have gone. As soon as he had gone three steps in though, the door shut behind him. Jeff whirled around and immediately tried the doorknob. It was locked too. Jeff gave a nervous laugh. "Okay, very funny." He slowly went around, trying to find another way out. "What do you want? An autograph? A picture? I'd gladly take one of those if you'll just let me out… Please!?" He called out.
Then he heard it. A soft hiss began and was soon being echoed by the other snakes along one side of the room. He stared at one display case in particular, whose python seemed to be growing larger than its cage could support it. "Okay, this can't be happening," Jeff muttered under his breath and rubbing his eyes. But he wasn't imagining things. The snake grew larger and soon, he could see the glass beginning to crack. Soon, it exploded and out plopped the python, which lazily made its way towards him. Jeff panicked and slowly backed away toward the other wall till he heard something crack open behind him as well. Turning, he saw a gigantic spider, slowly making its way toward him. All around the room, the display cases were cracking under the pressure and letting its select insects or lizards free as they grew in size. Jeff was at a loss and he could only cry out when they surrounded him and began climbing all over him. Swatting them away didn't help. There were too many going after him.
And then he saw her. She seemed to appear out of thin air and then hover right in front of him. Her eyes had a cold touch to them and her smile was turned up to an evil grin. She cackled and seemed to enjoy watching him squirm in discomfort. "What Jeff? Afraid of creepy, crawly things?"
"How do you know my name?" Jeff asked as he continued to struggle and fight.
"Oh, there's a lot about you I know."
"What are you? Some kind of psycho fan or something?"
"Oh for heaven's sake no!" She laughed. Shaking her head, she smiled at him. "I just want some information."
One of the pythons had started wrapping itself around his neck and he struggled to breathe. "Yes? What?" he gasped.
"Oh, I just want to know some more about the rest of your group, 98 Degrees. Can you tell me anything about them?"
"Like what? I don't know. We're all normal guys-"
The python wrapped itself more tightly around his neck. "That's not what I want to hear. I want to know anything unusual about the others. Characteristics. Flaws. Anything in particular that stands out."
"Huh? Like what? Uhh…" Jeff's mind raced, trying to find something to say. "Well there's Drew and his fetish for his baseball caps although he's not wearing them as much these days. There's Nick and Carrie always acting lovey-dovey with each other. And then there's Justin with his constant being sick."
By now, Jeff was having a lot of trouble breathing. Upon hearing those words though, she gave a wave of her hands and the python loosened its grip on him. "What do you mean sick? As in deathly ill or what?"
"I don't know. He doesn't let any of us come near him when he feels out of it. In fact, we never see him when he's supposedly sick. He locks himself in his room so we can't catch anything."
She had a thoughtful look on her face as she digested this piece of news. She smiled kindly at him then, noticing how afraid he looked. "Thank you, Jeff. You've been very helpful."
He tried to ask her, "What'd I do? I didn't say anything." But even before he could finish his sentence, he found himself standing outside the shop, looking in at the signs on the door again. "How'd I get out here?" He asked himself. Shaking off the sick feeling, he quickly walked back to the hotel.
He brushed past the guys who were crashing in his suite and walked to his room. There, he went to his bed and was about to lie down when a knock came on the door and Nick came in. Jeff turned around and froze. There, surrounding the doorframe was the same plastic snake that had framed the door at the shop.
Nick walked in after Jeff didn't answer the door for him. He saw Jeff's pale face and looked behind him. "What?"
"Don't you see it?" Jeff asked, pointing to the doorway.
"See what?" Nick tried to figure out what he was looking it. The closest thing he could see was a little chip in the paint. "This?"
"No, the…" A voice entered his head. It was her voice warning him not to say anything about his experience at the shop. Jeff violently shook his head, trying to get the voice to leave.
"Hey, Jeff? Are you all right, man? You look a little pale…"
Jeff forced a little smile on his face. "Nah. It's nothing. I just feel tired."
Nick nodded. "All right. As long as you're okay. I'll talk to you later then. I don't need to bother you right now."
As Nick walked out, Justin walked in to Jeff's room. "Hey Jeff! I need to talk to you about something."
"Oh yeah? What about?" Jeff was now sitting on his bed, removing his shoes.
Justin paused a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. "Damn, I can't think of it right now. It just left me."
Jeff gave a weak smile. "It's all right. I'm sure you'll think about it later. Right now though, I want to rest a bit."
"Oh, sure thing. No problem. I'll talk to you later then." Justin turned to leave and paused. "Hey Jeff?"
"Yeah?" Jeff lazily opened his eyes to look at him and found Justin staring at the doorway.
"What's up with the snake? I thought you were scared to death of them."
Justin gave Jeff a weird look and left. Jeff immediately sat up in bed after he'd left. He could have sworn he heard female laughter right then.