Innocence

4-Come Back

    Isaac held my hair back as I threw up whatever was left in my stomach into the bathroom bucket.

    Mrs. Ryan had told us what we needed to do. Why we were here. I cried in the 'office' after she'd told us. I couldn't take it. They were going to make us murders. I now understood why she told the man she killed that they needed someone younger. Little kids were easier to manipulate. They cooperated better. They didn't really understand death and how final it was. But I did. And now I was dry heaving into a bucket at the thought of it.

   As I was sobbing into Isaac's shirt, and he was also, shedding tears, she told us that we'd each have a different person to kill and when, how and who we were to murder.

    His name was Johnny Miller. He was sixteen. And he was who I needed to murder. She said that he bikes into an ally behind Delta Cafe after school everyday. I was to somehow stop him, fight him, and in the end, murder him with whatever weapon they give me. 

    The worst part was, they didn't tell me why. Why did this kid need to die? He was a teenager. He probably had a life. A family. Maybe a girlfriend. How could he have done something so bad, to warrant his death? In my mind, this kid was innocent. And I would have to be the one to end his life short.

    After a while, I stopped dry heaving and took my head out of the bucket, shaking with tears running down my face. It seemed all I was doing so far was crying. No wonder everyone thinks I'm a girl.

"You okay?" Isaac asked, with a look of pure concern.

"Physically? Yes. But mentally..." I shook my head no, as more tears fell. 'God, stop crying Taylor!' I yelled at myself.

"We're gonna be okay." He said, pulling me in for a hug.

"But Johnny isn't. Johnny isn't going to be okay and it's going to be my fault!" I cried.

"It's not your fault, Taylor. You're not doing this because you want to. You're doing this because you have no choice! You're doing this to stay alive!" He said, pulling away and holding me by my shoulders and looking me in the eyes.

"But Johnny is innocent! He didn't do anything! And out of the blue, he's gonna get killed!"

"Better him then you, Taylor!" Isaac yelled, attempting to yell some sense into me.

"But Johnny didn't beg his brother to go to a stupid party! Johnny didn't bring this onto himself! It's not Johnny's fault, it's mine!" I sobbed. Isaac went silent as I cried into my hands

He stayed quiet for a few minutes while I cried, but then he spoke, "Taybear..." he said, pulling my tear stained face out of my palms, "Tay...this isn't your fault." He quietly spoke, "you couldn't have known. You were just a kid being a kid. It could've been anyone. We were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time." He assured me. He wiped the tears from my flushed cheeks and I calmed down, "It's not your fault, Tay. I promise." He whispered.

    I nodded. In the moment, I believed him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
POV: Zac
Location: Hanson house
----------------------------------

     I woke up on my trundle bed and looked up at Isaac's bed. He wasn't there. Just like he wasn't there yesterday night. I sighed. I thought maybe it could've been a dream. But then again, I hoped for the same, yesterday morning.

    Mom had called the police yesterday afternoon when I finally caved and told her that they had been gone the night before. They searched the house for any clues and they interviewed all of us to see if that could lead to where my brothers might be.

    I told them everything. About how they acted that day, which was normal, and how they wouldn't tell me where they were going, which was also normal. But this situation, was not normal. No matter where they went without me, they always came back. But this time, they hadn't. Not yet. But they're my brothers, and I held onto that hope I had, that someday they would come back.

    My mom came into my room through the already opened door. I couldn't sleep with the door open, alone. Not when my brothers were missing. Not when police had searched my house and room.

    "Zac, honey?" She said.

    "Yeah, mom?" I asked, looking up at her. Her eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks were flushed and when she spoke, you could hear the congestion.

    "I have to go down to the police station to drop some stuff off, so you'll be here watching the littler ones, okay?"

    I'd never been left in charge before. Usually it was Isaac looking after us. Sometimes it was Taylor. And I was considered a 'littler one' but today, I was the oldest. Two days ago I was considered little, and today, I was grew older. Strange how fast things change, isn't it?

    "Okay." I said, as she nodded, sniffed as she looked around the nearly empty room, and walked away.

I sighed, and stood up off my bed. I pulled on some jeans and one of Taylor's too-small-for-him tee shirts. It smelled like him.

    I walked down the stairs to find my little sisters, Jessica and Avery sitting in front of the TV with a bag of chips.

    "Hey, do you know where Mackie is?" I asked, them.

    "I think mom took him with her." Jessica said, looking up at me. Her blonde hair shone bright in the Tulsa sun. I always thought it was funny how my dad, Walker, has brown hair yet all of his children have bright blonde hair. Anyways, I nodded my head and went back upstairs to Taylor, Isaac and my room. I sat on Isaac's bed and sighed.

     'I really hope they come back'