Through the Light of the Bottle

It's Better When We're Not Broken.

Three months have passed since the “incident,” as Holly has decided to call it. I calmly remind her that my life is basically one incident after another, so she should be more specific.

To which her reply is always, “How many times have you been kidnapped, tortured and found unconscious in a bathtub filled with vodka?”

She has a point.

No new developments in my case. No punches had been thrown since the press conference, from either side. I was becoming weary, until all hell broke loss in Iowa.

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I sat on the top of Holly’s car in the middle of the venue’s parking lot. It was the middle of the afternoon, the hot Midwest sun beat down on my skin, tinting it a light shade of pink. I squinted my eyes towards the dark figure coming towards me: Jamia.

“What did you tell him?” she is anything but serious, the smile pouring off her features as she slides up on to the roof next to me.

“To what do I owe this pleasure, Jamia, dear?” I smile back at her, eyes nearly closed as I try to make out her dark face in the bright light of the sunny day.

“It's Labor Day weekend; I’m on vacation,” she leans back on the hood, laying her head on the windshield. “But seriously, you told him something, and he’s being annoying about it, making little comments left and right.”

“Frank?” she nods in response. “I can’t really say-“ I start.

“Oh, bull shit, if you can tell him, you can tell the whole state of New Jersey.”

“Harsh,” I laugh.

“Honest” she corrects me, sticking a hand up to silence me. “Fine, if your not going to spill, then I’m just going to have to find out the hard way,” she says, sliding off the car and heading back towards the tour buses.

“I don’t even want to know what that means,” I stare at her form as she walks away. She turns around to wiggle her eyebrows in my direction before opening the door and getting on the bus.

“Sick,” I laugh, turning my head to stare at the nearly empty parking lot. The occasional car would enter the lot, releasing two or three overly excited girls from the backseat before driving off, leaving my line of vision.

A squad car pulls in at around two and I chalk is up to extra security being called in. Then another one enters the lot, followed by yet another cop car. They pull around to the back door, two getting out from each car. I slide off the hood and make my way towards the backstage door where the cops had just entered.

I pulled the door open and am met with the sound of screaming.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” a girl’s voice screamed and I hear the scuffle of shoes. Uproar ensues as I hear more voices enter the room.

“- you are under arrest for the abduction and attempted murder of Kathryn Monahan, you have the right to remain silent-“ The words hit my ear hard, as I lunge from my stationary point, down the hall to the room with the chaos.

I’m suddenly pushed out of the way as the two police officers march down the hallway, clearing a path for those to follow. The first two officers escort Genie down the hall, followed quickly by two more grabbing a hold of Bob’s arms tightly. The quickly walk down the hall, slamming the door behind them in their wake.

The building falls silent. I stand dumbfounded against the back wall, staring at the now closed door. Jay stands opposite of me in the doorway, jaw open, the pressure building into her body, waiting to come out. She takes in a small intake of air before breaking the silence.

“What?” she has a smile on her face, however it’s far from being amused. Her eyes are wild and wide with disbelief. She see me out of the corner of her left eye and her head whips around to face me.

“Did they-“

I shake my head, “No, I-I’m, wait-“I stumble over my words, head flying between the door and her face. She raises an eyebrow at me. I take a deep breath, closing my eye and thinking hard about the night. “I don’t know,” I mumble in a soft voice, refusing to look at her.

“Well think!” Mikey comes into my line of vision, hand gripping the neck of his base tightly.

“I-I was blinded folded,” my mind is racing, replaying the seen of Bob and Genie walking out of the bar not five minutes before I left. I see his face, leaning down, grabbing her drink and whispering something into her ear, before taking a sip and leaving.

And then I see white walls. I hear his voice and I hear a woman. I see black and I feel pain.

“Kate!” Frank is shaking my arm, pulling me from my thoughts, “Did you tell the police it was them?” his eyes are large and round as he searches for the answer in my eyes. I open and close my mouth, shaking my head.

“I didn’t say I think it was them,” I speak softly, fearing that if Frank were not in between me and Jay and Mikey, there would be no more me to speak of.

Frank nods his head in approval after staring into my eye for a few seconds. He gives a look to Mikey, who sighs heavily and walks away quickly, pushing his way through the crowd that had accumulated. Brian Schelchter whips out his cell phone, franticly calling numbers, speaking in a rushed voice, pacing up and down the hallway. Frank walks a few more steps, before stopping abruptly and spinning on his heel.

“What did you tell the police regarding them?” his voice is even, yet carries a dangerous undertone. I take a sharp gasp of breath, realizing what I had done.

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath, loud enough for Jay to catch. Her head flies to my direction and back to Franks, eyes resuming their widened position.

“Kate-“ he takes a menacing step towards me. Brian is speechless, awaiting my answer.

“I may have mentioned what they did in the bar,” I quietly reply.

“Which would be…?” Jay asks in a rush, stepping in front of Frank.

“That they were whispering together and then left a few minutes before I did,” I replied. “I was suspicious and-“

“Now they’re in a fucking jail in Iowa,” Brian all but yelled, throwing an arm in the air as he turned sharply around, heading down the hall.

Jay stares at me for a moment and lets out a laugh, shaking her head in disgust. “Of course they were,” she says in a mocking tone, “did the secret conspiring occur before or after I became the Queen of fucking England?”

“You don’t have to believe me but-“ I stared, but was quickly cut off

“Good,” his voice was hard and cold, “because we don’t.” Frank stared at me for a good second after he spoke before walking away, mutter for the rest of the band to follow. Gerard and Ray, who had be quietly standing against the wall, walked away silently, neither of them bothering to even look in my direction.

A/N: Okay, I have no idea if this is bad...I tried to edit it myself, but I mean. That was sort of destined to fail.
Sorry if it's horrible. Feel free to message me and bitch me out for my aweful editing skills. I can take it.