The Super NKOTB
by Kittie

Episode Four - From the Shadows

Jonathan's eyes widened. "Joe... I think I see the thread....."

Joe's head snapped around and he stared at Jonathan. "Where?" he breathed, hardly daring to believe it.

"It's...." Jonathan reached out and touched Joe's chest near the heart. "It's here. It goes from your heart to...." His eyes followed the invisible thread to Joe's spirit, and he smiled slightly. "To your heart. It's tiny, it is like a spider web. I only saw it because the sun was on it... It's beautiful, really."

Joe looked down at himself (the spirit version of himself) trying to locate the thread.

"Wrong side," Jonathan told him, "Your heart's on the other side."

"I knew that," Joe snapped, his ghostly cheeks going red. He placed a hand over his heart and felt for it.

"You've almost got it," Jonathan told him, as Jordan came into the room with an aspirin and a glass of water. "A little to the left...."

"What's he doing?" Jordan asked.

"Jon found the thread," Donnie answered, his voice hushed. "Now he's helping Joe find it."

"Oh." Jordan handed his brother the medicine and wandered back out of the room.

"I felt something!" Joe's eyes lit up with joy as something tiny tickled his fingers. Very carefully, almost reverently, he felt around, trying to get a feel for exactly where the thread was. Finally, his fingers closed around it, and he looked back to Jonathan, grinning. "Now what?"

Jonathan shrugged. "I don't know."

Joe's face fell.

"What don't you know Jon?" Donnie asked.

"What does he do now that he's found the thread?"

"He found it?"

"Yeah, he's holding it now."

"Can he follow it back in?" Danny asked. "You know, pull himself back in with it?"

Joe shrugged. "Here goes nothing...." He put one hand over the other... pulling himself closer and closer to his body, using the tiny thread as if it were a life preserver. But he went right through himself.

Jonathan sighed. "Didn't work."

Joe looked up, his eyes sad. Jonathan was sure that if he'd been in his body, he'd have tears spilling down his cheeks. "Aww, don't be upset Joe.... We'll figure this out...."

"Try pulling on it," Donnie suggested.

Danny looked strangely at him. "Pulling on it?"

"Yeah, you know, like a seatbelt? When you pull on it, it gets tighter."

"What if I pull it out of myself?" Joe asked worriedly. "I'll die!"

"He's worried he'd pull it out," Jonathan told them.

Danny shook his head. "I doubt that Joe. Only a physical injury or illness could sever it.... Most likely. It's worth a try."

"Well... okay.... but if I die I'm blaming you." Joe took a deep breath and said a quick prayer... and yanked.

Jonathan sucked in a quick breath.

"What happened, did it work, is he okay, it didn't break did it...?" Tons of questions poured from Donnie and Danny's mouths as they crowded even closer around the bed.

"No, it... it didn't break...." Jonathan's mouth widened into a smile. "It worked."

"It... worked?" Danny sounded almost surprised. "Really?"

Joe slowly sat up, patting his arms and legs as if to make sure he was really there. "Hey!" He said, looking up with glee. "Hey it worked! I have a body again! Whoopee!" He grabbed Jonathan in a bear hug as Donnie and Danny gave each other a high-five.

"Good," Jonathan said with a yawn. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to sleep off this headache...."

Joe leapt off the bed. "Go ahead, you deserve it. Thanks so much for helping me!"

"No problem." Jonathan lay back down and closed his eyes, curling up into a ball. "G'night."

Joe turned his attention to Donnie. "Donnie, did you eat all of the food? And where's Jordan? And what about those pictures? You'd better not show those to anybody...."

~*~

"Hey Jordan look, I'm back!" Joe took a running leap into the living room and landed right in front of Jordan, who was lounging on the couch. Jordan didn't even look at him, he just spoke coldly.

"I heard you. And you're blocking the TV."

Joe blinked, stunned. Then his eyes narrowed in a glare and he stomped away. "Jerk."

Danny sat down next to Jordan and spoke casually. "What was that all about?"

Jordan shrugged. "Where's Jon?"

"Still has a headache, he's sleeping."

Jordan nodded. "Soon as he wakes up we'll get out of here. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow night."

Danny grimaced and slapped his forehead in frustration. "That's right, the recording!" Then he looked around and spied Joe, who was in the kitchen rummaging through the cabinets. "But I'm not sure that'll work out."

"We don't need him," Jordan snorted, knowing immediately what Danny was talking about. "I'll do his part, it's my album anyway."

Danny didn't say anything.

~*~

Joe heard Jordan's statement and his face heated up with rage. Fine, who needs you? He grabbed a box of crackers and stormed out of the house, intending to take a walk around the block to calm down. He stopped in mid-stomp on the front walk. "Wait a minute, it's my house! I'll just throw him out."

The idea of throwing Jordan out of his house thrilled him and he turned to go back, only to bump into someone on his way. "Oh!"

He looked up... and up... into the grim face of a very tall, very sinister looking man. "Umm... hi," he said nervously, backing up slightly.

"Hello," said the man, smiling thinly at him.

"Hi... umm...." Joe found himself stepping backward. Something about this guy was creeping him out.

"I see you've recovered," said the man, making no move to step any closer.

"Yes, I... How did you know I was—?"

"I saw you," answered the man. "All of you."

Joe gulped. "Really?"

The man smiled again, but his eyes remained dark and empty.

"Umm, well... that's uhh.... That is.... I should be getting... back inside...." Joe stuttered, his heart beating a mile a minute.

"Of course, Joseph," said the man smoothly. "I shan't trouble you anymore."

"Okay, well.... G'night...." Joe scuttled forward and around the spooky-guy, practically running back into the house.

The man watched the door close behind Joe and shoved his hands into his pockets. "What is your secret, Joseph?" he wondered, his voice low. "Surely you were not spared from the incident that turned me... and your friends... into what we are."

He stepped backward, into the shadow of an elm tree, and vanished. "I'll find out," he promised, his voice no more than the whisper of wind in the trees. "I will find out."

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12