The rain was silent as flames danced hypnotically in the fire place of the secluded two-story cabin. No one spoke, each lost in his own thoughts. The air was thick and warm, almost tasty compared to the cold rain.

Despite the harsh weather outside, the thunder was welcomed. It had a relaxing affect on each of the men as they existed in a state of meditation. Finally the eldest rose to his feet to speak.

"I know we’re all thinking along the same lines tonight." He said calmly.

"Do we really want to discuss this, Kevin?" another interrupted.

"Yes Howie. I believe it’s about time we reflected on our past." Kevin said. No one argued. "Our lives have changed dramatically." He continued.

"For the better." Brian, the rustic curly haired one added.

"We would be terrorizing people on a night like this." The blond one said.

"Yeah Nick, but that was almost two-hundred years ago." AJ, the rebel stated.

"Twenty years, two-hundred years, what’s the difference?" Kevin replied, "Deep down we haven’t changed.

Each of the men pondered their elder’s statement in depth.

"I know what you mean Kev," Nick chirped, "it’s not that I don’t love every minute of being a Backstreet Boy, I love my life now, but I can’t help but have these dull cravings for the old way of life."

"We’ve all felt that from time to time." AJ added.

"Of course AJ, but being here in these mountains where it all began, makes the urges almost overwhelming." Nick said roughly. Kevin put his hand on Nick’s shoulder.

"It’s only overwhelming because you’ve been forced to bury it." He explained. He turned Nick’s chair to face the fire.

"Look into the flames, all of you." He ordered. Slowly, the others arranged themselves in front of the fire next to them. "Look closely and you can almost see it." Kevin said softly.

"See what?" Brian asked curiously.

"Us." Kevin stated flatly.

The flames now danced in the eyes of all five men. The wood crackled and popped, pounding out a rhythm that beat within each of their chests.

"We were young, each fallen victim to fate, destined to walk the earth as immortal creatures of the night." Kevin recalled. "Alone we were…vulnerable, but when we found each other our weaknesses became our dominant strengths."

"We’ve helped each other learn to master our gifts." Howie added.

"But we didn’t think of them as gifts to begin with." AJ said. "They were more like curses."
"Amen." Brian said. "Like my unbelievable senses."

"Yeah, and my telepathic inside." Howie said.

"And I was the mutant." AJ sighed.

"We were both ‘mutants’ Boner." Kevin corrected him. "I just had a…split personality I guess you could call it."

They all laughed at Kevin’s horrible attempt at a joke.

"And me, I’ve always been the sexy one." Nick teased.

"Oomph." Was the only reply he received from his band mates.

"Hey, it’s not my fault girls fall for mummies."

"You mean that spandex looking stuff?" AJ mocked.

"That was authentic!" Nick defended himself.

It grew quiet again and each of them focused their attention back to the fire. Brian gazed thoughtfully and after a moment saw his own reflection form and gaze back at him through the flames. It had been centuries since he had seen himself with sideburns and facial hair, baring his piercing white fangs, signaling a challenge.

It was almost comforting to see that familiar site and he felt like baring his fangs at that moment. He knew he could do it and then retract them before anyone noticed but decided against it. His days of being the Wolfman were past…or were they?

AJ reached up with the fingers of his one hand and softly caressed the skin on his left cheek. In his mind he could still feel the scarred skin that was a result of being burned. He could also feel the pain that had come along with waiting for the scar to form. ‘No one would ever guess that I’m the Phantom’ he thought, ‘it’s amazing what technology can create, even if it means artificial skin.

They must think that I love opera for the same reasons that humans do.’ He almost laughed to himself at the thought of this preconceived idea. Would people really believe him?

Howie fiddled with his thumbs as he felt the rising heat warm his cold face. No one would believe that a vampire such as himself could overcome the need for blood as a protein source. Howie himself at one time had thought it impossible. It was a slow transition that had taken place ages before but he had accomplished this goal. He survived off of McDonalds and other fast food like any of the other guys. They had succeeded in helping him to learn how to change his diet from the life giving blood he had consumed for so long to food that humans devoured to survive.

His maker had long since died and he didn’t feel any remorse in the fact at all. In fact, to be honest he was glad that everyone who had known about his previous life was dead, other than the four men sitting with him, who happened to be a big part of it. No, he surely wouldn’t want anyone to know his dark secret, would he?

Kevin thought of people’s reactions if he were to look at them and say ‘I’m the real Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hide.’ They surely would laugh in his face if he even tried. But it didn’t matter at all. He didn’t plan on letting his secret be known to any human. He was sure they believed him to be some sort of fantasy that a lunatic professor had made up to gain his fame.

Besides, proving it would mean removing the false skin that he and AJ had acquired through medical advances. It wasn’t even worth considering twice. He was what he was and didn’t need to prove anything to anyone. Besides, their minds weren’t capable of grasping such an idea, were they?

Nick was relishing the thought of still being held captive as a mummy in the small town he had lived in as a human. His being a mummy didn’t involve anything horrific like a pyramid or even Egypt but a small group of religious fanatics had convinced the people of the town that mummification was a way to preserve the soul as well as the body.

Nick had been one of the few people who the town had actually mummified before the belief blew over and was forgotten about. No one would believe that story now, except for his friends, his partners in crime as he called them, and rightfully so.

It was too true that the ‘old way of life’ they spoke of was one of hide and seek: seeking for vulnerable victims and then having to hide after they had accomplished and were satisfied with a course of action. These days had consisted of rampaging and pillaging. Whenever the urge was strong enough to persuade the men to leave their leir, they carefully disguised themselves as humans and entered the nearest town or home. The only thrill they received was by scaring helpless people who could barely believe their eyes. If Howie’s stomach demanded, he would take the lives of the victims afterward or if they were lucky he would only take his fill of their blood and allow them to live. The people in towns for miles were on the watch for the so called Mauvais Dangerous, a name an educated person had assigned to the group of them. It meant Bad Danger. The men had always thought it was a stupid name, and oxy-moron if you will but evil doesn’t often get to pick it’s own label so they accepted it.

"This old cabin definately brings back a lot of old memories. A lot of thrills, these whole mountains do."Brian sighed wearily.

"Don't you see guys? It’s not too late." Nick said out of the blue.

"For what?" Brian asked abruptly, sensing his friends ambition.

"To be ourselves." Nick replied excitedly.

"What are you talking about Nick? We can’t do that! We have fans and the media and…"

"We could use a video." Nick interrupted AJ. "A music video. We even have a song that would work that we were planning on releasing anyway!"

"I don’t follow." Brian said.

"Picture this." Nick ordered. "We use a spooky place for the set, like a…haunted mansion or something. And then instead of putting on costumes to sing the song, we take our costumes off!"

"I think I get the idea." Kevin said. "We could make everyone think that we are using makeup to make the Backstreet Boys look scary when in reality we’d be showing our true image."

"Is that gonna fly?" Howie hesitated.

"It has too. Besides, who’s going to suspect that something real is happening? Nobody!" Nick said. "And we were talking last week of releasing ‘Everybody Backstreet’s Back’. The lyrics of the song could be a type of pun. The title would suggest to everyone that we are back because it’s a new album when in reality, we know that Backstreet’s Back means that the old way of life is alive once again!"

"What if I don’t want to go back to that? What if I like being AJ in the Backstreet Boys?"

"You still will be Boner! This isn’t us going back in time and reliving out our past. It’s just a way for us to be ourselves one last time. A way to satisfy our need and cravings for a taste of what brought us all together."

"So we’d only do it for the video, nothing else?" Howie asked.

"Nothing else." Nick said reassuringly. "What do you think?"

He extended his hand in a fist out toward the others. Kevin put his hand in as well and slowly but surely Brian, Howie and finally AJ returned the gesture. Lightning flashed and lit up the dark room, causing their hearts to race.

"Good. Then it’s a deal." Nick said with an evil grin. "Backstreet’s really back Boys!"