"Lifeless. I had no thoughts, no visions, I didn't move. Just, dead."// In which boyband member Zach Herron must face torments, find himself, and also fight for his young requited love.
completed: december 25th, 2018
thank you again to @happyforherr...
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"I'd like to speak to the chief," I say to a desk where a lady is sat. Her eyes glaze over me in what appears to be a sensual way, disgusting me.
"One second," she speaks in a whispery way. If she's trying to be sexy, it isn't working. She's just making me cringe so vividly, I didn't think it was possible.
I roll my eyes and nod, sitting down next to Corbyn.
Sexy, I think.
April comes to mind and I remember seeing her in that dress. I recall how happy I got, yet so many ambicious ideas flowed throughout my mind. I bite my lip, then shake it away, but that night crawls back to my head.
I find myself in Aprils old dressing room. I look around and it's vacant, scaring me furthermore. Where could she have gone? Just then, my phone begins buzzing in my pants pocket.
I feel Corbyn shaking my shoulder. "Hm?" I ask, snapping out of it.
"Chief Brookes is going to see us now, are you feeling okay? 'Cause I know I'm not," he responds.
"Uhh, yeah, yeah," I manage to answer with a lie. That's when I notice the sweat on my face. Wiping it off, I follow Corbyn into the office.
Upon taking a seat, I study Chief Brookes like I do everytime, just to make sure something isn't off about him. His black hair has streaks of gray so I've always guessed he's around fifty. His piercing blue eyes remind me of Daniels. He is also bigger, but I guess you have to be if you want to work for the police.
"Alright," Chief Brookes begins, folding his hands together on his desk, "care to explain what you young boys are doing here at three in the morning?!" he starts calmly, but shouts the last part at us. Corbyn and I flinch, but regain a strong composure.
"We found evidence on the April Robinson case," I say confidently, shocking the chief. It even shocks me.
"Listen, I don't have time for imbecilic jokes," he warns in an intimidating tone. But I can't remember a time where he wasn't intimidating.
"This is not a joke, sir," Corbyn pipes up quickly. We have caught his attention. Both of us look at each other and nod before placing everything we had found on the desk in front of us.
Brookes eyes them carefully. "Where did you find this?" He finally asks.
"The alleyway next to the building. The opposite way your men went," I state. I could feel they were wrong the entire time and I'm satisfied that I was indeed correct.
Chief Brookes looks lost in thought for some seconds. Then, he picks up the note and reads it. He looks up at us after seeing it. "Boys, thank you. We'll handle it from here."
My jaw drops. He's telling us to just leave like that? We did better investigating than him and his shitty department. Corbyn simply nods, his head down.
"What the fuck? No," I finally spit out, standing up in a flash to protest. The chief furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "We are going to help. We did more than you and your men," I demand.
Brookes shakes his head. "It's too dangerous, kid. We'll handle it," he says calmly and presses a button on his office phone.
"I said no," I insist viciously, slamming my hands on his desk.
"Zach-" Corbyn starts, but gets cut off by two guards coming in.
"Please, leave," Chief Brookes motions towards the door.
My anxiety begins to kick in and I have another breakdown once one of the guards touches me. "Don't fucking touch me!" I scream at him.
"Sir, please g-" The guard gets interrupted by my hand slapping his face. I back away as the guard holds his cheek.
"I'm not leaving! I'm going to help!" I yell as my hands shake uncontrollably.
Brookes looks over at Corbyn in alarm and stands up. "Zach... we could put you in juvie for that... but, if you leave... I won't press charges," Brookes says slowly.
I run out, so confused. I keep blinking and all I can hear are my uneven breaths. Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I jump and see Corbyn. He pulls me into his chest, calming me down with his soothing warmth. I begin sobbing into him for all kinds of reasons. Sadness, frustration, anger, guilt, embarrassment. These feelings are all too familiar.
"Let's get home," Corbyn whispers against my head. I nod and sniffle, trying to access some air.
The next thing I am actually conscious of is Corbyn driving us home and my head against the cold car window. The L.A. stars are still twinkling and will be for the next hour and a half.
Once we arrive to the big house, I trudge all the way to my room, my heart aching and my eyes swollen. As I sit on my bed, I really think about what had gone down at the police station.
Am I actually going insane? I ask myself.
I pull on my hair, trying to rid the pain. Voices begin speaking and, at first, I think they're in my head, but soon listen closely and hear them from downstairs. Walking nearer, I tune into the conversation happening.
"He's actually crazy, Corbyn!"
"No. He's sleep deprived and going through tough shit. Zach is not crazy," he responds to Daniel.
I hear Daniel sigh before taking a long pause. "What can we do about it?" he asks patiently.
I feel a sneeze coming too late to hold it in and the sound comed out quite loud. There's silence between them for a moment.
"Zach?" Corbyn asks. I don't even bother replying, I just walk back into my room like a zombie. The emptiness is overwhelming. I lay on my bed and stare at the ceiling, wishing this wasn't my life. "You thirsty?" Looking towards the door, I spot Corbyn. I look back up at the ceiling. "I know you can't sleep, so I made you a frappe. At least you'll have energy," he continues.
I contemplate it. It sounds better than feeling absolutely tired and not being able to rest. "Fine," I answer, holding my hand out for the drink. It's cold against my hands, waking my eyes up further more. I begin drinking it and Corbyn stares at me.
"I'm sorry, Zach, but this needed to be done," he says solemnly with the same sadness that's always etched on his face. After finishing it, I give him my confused attention.
"What?" I ask, but then feel my eyelids grow heavy. My body is becoming numb and my mind is drowsy. "Cor-" But before I even know a thing, my mouth falls open and my eyes flicker, then shut completely.
