Big Time Rush.

The Demons of the Knight.

Dangerous and fragile.

It didn't take us long to find the destructive path He had taken. The moment we set foot outside the apartment, we hear the crashing and shattering. Someone screamed shrilly and babbled nonsense nearby. The apprehension was thick on my tongue and fear erupted into dagger winged butterflies in my gut. With gritted teeth, I sprinted down the hallway and ignored a young woman who looked close to tears. I wanted to tell her that it wasn't Kendall but I couldn't. I didn't know the right words to explain. Logan and Carlos' footsteps behind me were heavy and comforting in the hunt. We burst out of the elevator and a horrified cry escaped my throat. The lobby was a mess of broken furniture and shattered glass. Chairs were overturned and reduced to splinters, there was a small child hiding behind one whimpering in fear. The reception desk had been ripped from its foundations and tossed across the room, I had no idea how Kendall's human body could have managed it. The lights flickered above us in fractured patterns that cast shadows onto the walls. It was thick in the air, the stench of Him and it was almost impossible not to choke on it. I felt the presence of the demon; it was everywhere I looked, hiding in the corners and breathing down my neck. The hairs on my neck were standing on end and my stomach was rolling.

"H-How do we stop him?" Logan gasped, staring at a broken table.

My hands were pressed over my mouth and tears were gathering behind my eyes. I didn't know. There was no way I could cure this, I couldn't fix the broken wall in Kendall's mind. Carlos kept clutching his helmet against his chest, eyes wide and terrified.

"I don't know." I breathed.

"Can he be stopped?" Logan asked and my heart faltered.

"Of course." I scoffed. "We promised, we have to save Kendall."

Logan nodded slowly and Carlos echoed his determination fiercely.

"We need to find him. Where would he go?" Carlos questioned.

There was the crunching of glass under feet and my gaze jumped up toward the front door. Camille stumbled toward us, pale and shaking. Logan darted forward and took her in his arm, guiding her to our side. The shoulder of her T-shirt was ripped and tattered; a raw bruise was starting to form underneath the cloth.

"Camille?" Logan pressed gently. "What happened?"

She gapped at us and looked like she was trying to find the right words to say. I knew then that the monster wearing Kendall had approached her. She had seen our brother's face but not his golden heart. She would only ever see a monster. Kendall was lost to her.

"Kendall...he...he..." She stammered.

I sighed and scrubbed my hands over my eyes and exhaled a shuddered breath. Carlos bowed his head and seemed to understand everything that flooded through my mind. Logan reached out and touched Camille's undamaged shoulder.

"What did he do?"

"I came in here and he was...he did this..." She motioned aimlessly around the room. "I tried to calm him down but...I've never seen Kendall that angry. I didn't know that rage like that existed." I knew. I knew too well the rage beneath Kendall's skin. "He screamed at me, called me a whore and a slut. Then he...God, I thought he was going to kill me..."

"Keep talking. We need to know." I urged.

She nodded bravely and licked her lips. "He grabbed my arm. Here." She pointed to a hand print I hadn't noticed on her forearm. But then her forehead wrinkled and she frowned. "When I looked up at him, his face was so angry but his eyes were sad. I mean, there was this weird smirk on his lips, almost as if he liked I was scared. But his eyes were full of tears, like he didn't want to hurt me. He said he was sorry. After he let me go, before he ran away." Confused eyes latched onto mine. "What happened to him? Did he have a break down?"

I didn't to spread rumour around the hotel, people shouldn't believe that Kendall was cracking under pressure and had suffered a mental break down. But I couldn't say that he was possessed by a Demon that Gustavo had unleashed in him again. I dug my fingernails into my palms and forced back the sob rising in my throat.

"Kendall's been under a lot of pressure lately. Please, don't hate him. I know he hates himself for hurting you." It was the closet I could get to saying the words.

"...I don't hate him, James. But I...is he...safe to be here?"

No. Kendall wasn't safe. He was a host for a parasite he couldn't control. He was a danger to every person he passed. But he was more dangerous to himself.

"He's safe to be around. We'll make sure of it. Did you see where he went?"

"Uh...toward Rocque Records."

Carlos bolted toward the exit and waited anxiously for us. Logan touched his hand to Camille's head and followed him. I went to stand by a small hand closed around my wrist and pulled me to a stop.

"Tell Kendall I forgive him. I don't think you're telling me the truth but I'll go with it. Bring him back, OK?" She whispered.

"I will. Everything's going to be all right."

She stared at me. "I'd feel more reassured if you believed what you said."

I wanted to reassure her and promise that come morning, Kendall would be back where he belonged. Safe with us and whole again. But lying to her to save heartache felt wrong and twisted. I tried to smile at her but my face refused to comply. She sighed softly and released my hand. I rushed to my friends' sides and dashed out the front door.

Kendall, I will save you. I promise.

Rocque records glittered in the sunlight as it harboured a nightmare. There were groups of bewildered people standing outside, blinking at the front door in some sort of disbelief. I wondered what exactly they saw rush passed them in a swirl of black clothes and blonde hair. Their eyes latched onto our immediately and they rushed toward us with wide eyes filled with questions.

"What's the matter with Kendall?" A young woman demanded. "He wouldn't give me and autograph!"

"He's sick!" Carlos blurted. "Ate too many corndogs."

I nodded so wildly my neck protested to the movement. "You know Kendall. Massive ego."

"I'm sure he didn't mean to upset anyone. He'll be deeply saddened to know that he did once he recovers. Please, don't take it personally." Logan's smooth words saved the downward spiral of our conversation faster than I would have done, yet somehow, slower than our leader could have.

Concern flashed across the woman's face and she scrapped her hair behind her ear.

"Tell him I hope he feels better soon."

"We will. Thank you."

She waggled her fingertips in goodbye and hurried back to a small child. The tiny boy grinned at us and waved back with chocolate coated fingers. He was wearing a Big Time Rush T-shirt that hung to his knees and something tugged in my chest. A glorious shard of light in the darkness the world had become today. I wanted Kendall to see it.

I reached out one hand and touched the cool glass panels of the studio and stared up at the massive building. I understood that I was entering a war I had no promise of winning. There was no guarantee that anyone of us would walk out of here with our minds, lives and souls whole. But Kendall was everything to us. I would keep fighting for him until the stars faded in the sky. That's what family do for each other. Logan's hand squeezed my shoulder in reassurance and I tried to ignore the tremor in it. Carlos bumped his fist against my spine and tapped his knuckles against his helmet.

"For Kendall." Logan whispered.

"For Kendall!" Carlos cheered our war cry.

"We're coming Kendall."

Freight Train was hovering on the balls of his feet outside Gustavo's office. He rubbed his large knuckles together and looked more nervous than I had ever known him too. Kelly looked terrified and had her clipboard in front of her face like a weak shield. She cringed as glass shattered inside the room and someone laughed. Gustavo's face was a shocking shade of red but the anger that burned in his eyes was a weak ember to the rage that thrived inside of Kendall's mind. There was no sense in repeating the day's destruction but that was exactly what He was doing. And this time no one would understand. Gustavo didn't know what he had set loose on us; he didn't know how to turn of the switch. My stomach dropped to the floor and shattered into a thousand shards when a very human wail rippled across the air.

"KENDALL!" I shrieked.

"Get out of here, James!" Kendall ordered with a distorted voice that sounded too much like a growl.

"We're not leaving you. Open the door, Ken!" Logan demanded.

"NO!"

An endless song of wood splintering and glass breaking interrupted me when I tried to reason with him. Kendall needed us by his side to keep him fighting and help him keep his sanity. But He was keeping Kendall separate from us because He knew we would win. The same as we did last time.

Gustavo seized my arm and forcibly span me around to face him. Yesterday I would have cringed away from the red anger on his face but today He had returned. I didn't think I'd ever fear Gustavo's anger again.

"What is going on?" He screamed. "Kendall isn't supposed to be trashing my office anymore!"

"He's just very upset. Gustavo, why don't you and Kelly go and get a coffee? When you come back we'll have Kendall calmed down. You can kill him then." I suggested.

"Uh...no. Explain to me, dogs, why Kendall has gone insane!"

"You just have to trust us, this once." Logan begged.

"Guys, if something's wrong with Kendall, we need to know." Kelly insisted.

There was another loud thump from inside the room and I prayed that He wasn't hurting Kendall somehow. That there wouldn't be any bloodshed tonight. He laughed and it sounded heart heartbreakingly wrong, even Gustavo looked disturbed.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you." I muttered darkly, watching the door.

"Try me." Gustavo snapped.

"Kendall...he is...uhm..."

"DON'T BE A TATTLE TALE, JAMIE BOY! FRIENDS KEEP SECRETS!" He screamed and suddenly threw himself out of the door.

I didn't have time to react to the fists and the feet that came hurtling at me. Kendall's body and the raw power behind his attack knocked me ungracefully to the ground hard. The air erupted from my body and I didn't have time to collect it before Kendall's fists sunk into my stomach. Pain blossomed across my ribs and my cheek where his shoe had caught me. I whimpered loudly and tried to protect my torso from his unrelenting blows. It was too much, too similar to that night and I couldn't cope with it again.

-Flashback-

Predator eyes. Hot and thirsty for blood. Kendall's face, illuminated by the moon and hideously wrong. NO! This isn't Kendall, not my Kendall. It's just a cheap imitation. Something wearing his skin and using it to hurt me. It's not your fault, Kenny. It's mine. I didn't know mum was right. I thought it was just a game.

I was passed feeling his hands hitting my body; his feet didn't hurt me anymore. I had lost track of the time I had spent on the cold ground, just watching Kendall beat me over and over again. Our blood mixed together on my shirt, blood from my nose and his raw knuckles. Tears were falling quickly down my cheeks and merging with snot and blood on my chin.

"Kendall please..."I whimpered.

"'Kendall pleases'." It mocked. "Pathetic. He can't help you anymore than you can help yourself. He's just as weak as you."

"Shut up." I snapped tiredly. "Kenny, you're hurting me."

Kendall laughed above me, his head tilted back toward the sky. "He knows exactly what he's doing and it's tearing him apart."

His fist collided with my sternum and my breaths shattered out of me. I sobbed loudly and tried to breathe through the pain of my body and the betrayal I felt inside me.

"Weak, you humans are all the same. Flesh and blood but like glass inside. Far too easy to break. Such fun. JAMIE, I'M SORRY! Hey, pipe down Knight! We don't need to hear your views."

Confused, I pried open my swollen eyes and watched Kendall scowl and press his fingertips against his head. But I had heard Kendall's words and his pain. I ached for my friend trapped in something he couldn't fight.

"I hear you, Kenny. I'm here."

Pain. Pure white pain. It shot across my ribs. Across my head. My wrist. My legs. I couldn't see straight, couldn't think of anything else but this sudden pain. I thought I was going to die. That Kendall was going to be the one to kill me. His life would be ruined for something he didn't do. The unfairness of the situation rippled through me as the pain faded to a pulse that flowed around my body. Someone was screaming incomprehensible words it agony. For a moment I thought it was me. But my lips were too busy forcing air into my lungs to form words.

"NO, NO, NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? JAMIE, I AM SO, SO SORRY! I...I...OH GOD!"

Kendall. My Kendall was sobbing hysterically and wailing at me. Painfully I turned my head to him, wanting only to comfort him. Somehow, he had managed to scrunch himself up into a tight ball against the wall, trembling and mumbling things I couldn't hear. He looked so tiny and fragile now that the demon had gone. I didn't know how he had managed to fight away something so much greater than himself and at that point I didn't care.

"Kendall. C'mere. I need help." I gasped.

Kendall's head shot up with wide, wild eyes and a quivering lip. "You're alive? I thought you were dead. You weren't moving and you didn't answer me. James, there so much blood. I don't know what to do."

"Kenny."

"Hold on. I'm calling an Ambulance." I faded out to the sound of him talking frantically on the phone. His hand on my hair jolted me back into consciousness and I momentarily tensed. "It's just me, James. It's Kendall. I promise you're safe now. He's gone. The Ambulance is coming. You're going to be OK."

I don't know exactly what Kendall told the adults that rushed to help us. The story he span is one only he knows. When I awoke in hospital, a week had gone passed, life had continued and Kendall was never quite the same again.

-End Flashback-

"JAMES! James, you're OK. Open your eyes, please!" Logan begged.

With a racing heart, my eyes were wrenched open and I threw myself away from the body hanging over mine. Logan screamed and rolled away from me as my hand came to close to his face. Carlos hovered over both of us, his lip a little swollen and his face pale. Kelly, Gustavo and even Freight Train were sitting on the floor by my head. I was stretched out on the couch with something pillowed underneath my head.

"Kendall?" I questioned immediately.

"We locked him in the recording studio." Logan informed me.

I turned my head to look at the glass window just as Kendall prowled passed it. There was a blood trail on his cheek and his lip was split. But he didn't look at any of us.

"Oh." I mumbled. "At least he didn't get away."

"I've never seen anything like that." Kelly breathed. "He didn't look human."

"That's because, right now, he's not." Carlos nodded.

"What?"

I sighed and slowly swung my legs down so I could sit up. "It's a really long story. Something happened when we were kids and Kendall took the brunt of it. He's sort of...possessed...Don't think I'm crazy, I'm not! We were using an Ouija board one night and we conjured up a demon and it attached itself to Kendall. And it broke free today when he had to be a 'bad boy', so I'm blaming this entirely on you. He's already destroyed our apartment, the lobby and your office. He's scared Camille and some random on the street and beaten me up. But it's not Kendall. He didn't mean it. Now, please don't call the police and please don't take me to a shrink. I'm telling the truth!"

Kelly and Gustavo were quiet, a clock ticked loudly in the corner and I could hear Freight Train's breathing. Kelly's hand came down swift and fast on the back of my head.

"OW! KELLY!"

"What were you thinking? Lying to us about demons and stuff. Kendall's clearly suffered a break down of some sorts. I'm calling his mother." She declared.

"NO! Mama Knight cannot know this is happening again." Logan screamed and clutched her wrist. "Please, it took us forever to convince her that Kendall was Kendall again. I won't let you do that to him."

"But he hurt James and apparently Camille. He's dangerous."

"He's not!" Carlos insisted. "Just watch him, please, you'll understand."

Gustavo's face was curious and something was whirling behind his eyes. Slowly he nodded and looked back at Kendall. Kendall stared at us through the glass like a caged animal. He was plotting, his devious mind planning and calculating. His eyes were stone cold and emerald hard. He barely seemed to be breathing.

"One hour." Gustavo allowed.

Kendall just smirked and tapped his fingers against the glass.

Tap. Tap. Tap.