Have We Gone Too Far?

Cole’s Point Of View- Earlier That Night

It felt odd being in the house without Zack. Over the past few days I've gotten really used to it being Zacky, John and I. Even though he’s only gone for the night it feels different without him here. It’s like he should be with me right now, then again he’s bound to be safer somewhere else; especially now that those texts are getting worse.

People have been sending pictures and videos of him at school and when he’s walking around on his own. Each time I get a text like that it scares me because I know that if they were just jokes they’d have given up by now. The hardest part is that I know I can’t keep him with me all of the time. I know I’ll feel calmer if I can keep my eyes on him, but what if he doesn’t like being with me twenty-four-seven; he has a life too after all.

The strange thing about whoever’s sending these texts is how they always seem to know where he is. How do they do that? It’s not like you can follow someone everywhere without getting spotted. Then again, Zack doesn’t know he has people to be looking out for. As far as he knows the texts have calmed down a little; if only I had the guts to tell him the truth.

Just as I was thinking that another text came through. It was a picture of him in some kind of club. What the hell is he doing there? He’s meant to be at Beth’s for God’s sake. I can’t believe he’d lie to me!

I grabbed my bag and headed for the front door, knowing that there’s only one club around here that he’s likely to go to. I best get there before anything happens.

“John move!” I shouted as he blocked the door.

“I'm not moving Cole,” he smiled at me. “Where do you think you’re going anyway?”

“I've got to see Zack.”

He shook his head at me and frowned.

“Can you hear yourself Cole? Why won’t you just give the kid some space?” he shouted at me.

“Because he lied to me and if I don’t go he might get hurt,” I hissed trying to push my way past. Man I hate how often John works out; if I was a bit tougher I might have had a chance at getting past him.

“You sound more like a parent than a boyfriend right now,” he laughed at me.

“WELL I'M WORRIED!” I yelled. “He’s at some club and he’s not old enough and-”

“Cole,” John sighed, interrupting me and grabbing onto my shoulders. Why’s he touching me? Doesn’t he understand that I need to get out of here? “Listen, it sounds like he’s a normal teenager just trying to have some fun. If you don’t want him to go all stroppy on you, then you should probably let him enjoy himself for a bit.”

“You don’t understand,” I muttered.

“Then tell me.”

I shook my head at him. It’s far too complicated to explain Zack to him. I’d have to say what he can be like, the things that have happened to him, the reason I'm worried now. The list goes on and on, so I’d rather keep it to myself for now.

“Cole-” John’s voice was interrupted by Zack’s message tone from the pocket in my jeans. It’s a sound I've become very use to now. “What’s that?”

“Zack’s phone,” I whispered as I pulled it out to see what it said. That wasn't a good idea; boy I can thick when I'm worried.

“Why the heck do you have his phone?” he yelled snatching it off me.

“Give it back,” I hissed, dreading what’ll happen if he reads it. “I. Need. The. Phone,” I told him, saying each word strongly and clearly.

“Is this meant to be a joke?” he asked me as he read the message.

“Let me see,” I sighed, snatching it back of him.

You won’t be able to walk home tonight it said.

John looked at me, seeming like he now understood my concern.

“They’re going to hurt him,” I sniffed.

“No they’re not,” he said softly. “It’s probably just a joke that one of the kids at the school are playing on him.”

“But they’ve been doing this for ages now and-” My emotions got the better of me and I burst out crying, unable to finish my sentence. “I think this is serious,” I sniffed.

“Look, he’s a kid. He doesn’t have enemies so there’s nothing to worry about.”

I shook my head at him, Zack does have enemies, there’re people out there who want to hurt him. His parents; Mr. Baker; possibly more, they’re just the ones that I know about.

“Why would he have enemies?” he asked me softly.

I let out a deep sigh and decided to tell him everything. I started off with by telling him about his dad getting Mr. Baker to rape him. John looked at me as if he already knew which confused me a little.

“Zack briefly mentioned his dad to me,” John sighed. “When did he tell you about it?” he asked me.

“A while ago,” he muttered.

“Well, have you done anything about it? Called the police?”

I shook my head at him.

“He didn’t want me to.”

John laughed at me like he wasn't believing what I was saying, I'm not sure why though; it isn't that rare that a kid would want to keep that sort of thing quiet.

“Cole, isn't it your job to do something when a kid tells you something like that,” he hissed, shaking his head and giving me an appalled look. “You’re meant to do what’s best for him!”

He’s right. Why the hell didn’t I do something? I suppose at the start I kept quiet about it because I didn’t know what to do. He told me that his dad got Mr. Baker to rape him. Why didn’t I do something? Oh that’s right, it’s because I'm bloody petrified of Mr. Baker.

“Cole,” he whispered. “Why didn’t you say anything? His dad hurts him; he shouldn’t have to deal with that.”

“I know,” I sighed. “But, if I said anything to the police then... Mr. Baker would tell them about me and Zack,” I cried.

“HOW THE HELL DOES HE KNOW ABOUT ALL THIS?” John shouted, sounding really mad at me.

“He walked in on us,” I cried.

John stared at me, wide eyed and mouthed now. He obviously wasn't impressed by how safe we’d been playing this.

“What were you doing?” he asked shyly.

“Just kissing,” I sniffed. “I-I forgot to lock the door and... he j-just walked in.” Tears dripped down my face as I remembered what happened.

“You’re an idiot Cole,” he frowned. “I thought you were smarter than that; you work at a bloody school; how thick can you get?”

I just shook my head at him, not wanting to say anymore.

“So, how did you get him to keep his gob shut for so long?” he asked my with a sly look on his face. “I'm guessing you bribed him.

“Yeah,” I nodded at him.

“What did you do?”

My mouth stayed shut and he just stared at me, making me feel even more uncomfortable than I did before. A look of disgust spread across his face; he’s worked it out.

“I can’t believe you’d stoop so bloody low,” he whispered. “You did what I think you did, didn’t you?”

Weakly I nodded at him.

“And he-he’s got a ph-photo of me,” I cried.

“COLE!” he shouted. “YOU LET HIM DO THAT?”

“I did it for Zack,” I sniffed. “We had to keep it secret.”

“Do you realize why he did that to you Cole? He did it to make you scared. To make sure that you don’t tell anyone about the things he’s done. And you just fell for it. I can’t believe you!”

“Look,” I muttered. “Will you let me go now? I need to go and see Zack.”

“Sure,” he whispered sounding defeated. “But we will get back to this. Don’t you worry about that,” he hissed at me.

“I won’t,” I muttered as I pushed past him and ran out to my car.

So now John knows and he thinks I'm an idiot. I suppose I am though. If anything happens to Zack it’ll be my fault for not doing anything; for not speaking up when I should’ve done. All of this is because of me.

Due to the speed I was going it didn’t take me long to arrive at the club, now all I had to do was find him, if he’s even here still.

I jumped out of my car and locked the door before walking towards the entrance of the club. It was dark already and freezing cold, plus there were random drunks scattered everywhere, but outside a club like this one, that’s kind of a permanent feature.

“Cole,” I heard someone shout.

At first I just ignored it, thinking that it would just be some teens playing with their friends because Cole isn't a rare name really. But then they shouted again, so I stopped and looked around in the direction the voice came from.

On the floor I could see two bodies, so slowly and cautiously I made my way up to them. Wait a second, crap! That’s Zack!

“Zack, what the hell’s happened to you?” I asked, wide eyed and trying to fight back my tears when I saw the blood on his face. The texts are defiantly more than a sick joke. Someone wanted to get rid of him. “Beth?” I whispered, seeing the girl lying next to him.

“I'm fine,” he insisted, sounding really weak though. “You’ve got to help her,” he told me. “She was screaming and...” he forced out. I could tell he was trying not to cry. “She... but she stopped talking and-”

“It’s alright Zack,” I told him, knowing that he needed comforting and wrapped my arm around him. “I’ll get you both into hospital okay? You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

I pulled my phone out from my pocket and dialed 999, asking for an ambulance. As I spoke I started feeling nervous. The police are going to get involve. They’re going to find something out. What if they find out about me and Zack?

Maybe it’ll be for the best...

“How did you know I was here?” Zack asked me quietly.

“Instinct,” I lied. There’s no point worrying him about the texts.

For a moment I just looked at him and started crying all over. His face was covered in blood; this is so bad.

“Who did this to you?” I asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders at me.

“Will we have to tell the police?” he whispered.

“Look, Zack. When you get to the hospital they probably will need to get them. I mean, you could’ve been killed,” I sniffed, dreading the thought of that. Imagine a world without him in it anymore; a world that wouldn't be worth living in.

“What do I tell them?” he asked me.

“Just tell them the truth.”

“What if they ask about you being here or something like that?”

“I was just walking by and I saw you two.”

“But, what if they ask why we were here? I’ve been drinking and... Will I be in trouble?”

“I don’t know Zack,” I whispered. “You could say that you were just walking around here and you never went in.”

“What about the cameras?” he cried.

I shook my head at him, not really knowing what to say.

“Just do what you think is best,” I told him, hoping that that’d help in some way, even though I knew that either way in this situation, we were screwed.

“I don’t want to go hospital,” he cried. “I don’t want to go!”

“Just stay calm and don’t get all worked up about it.”

He gave me a look as if to say how am I meant to do that? but I had no choice other than to ignore it; what am I suppose to tell him. Man I wish I knew what I was doing.