Temporary

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^*Matt’s POV*^
I didn’t answer the phone when it rang, I didn’t leave the house, I just rather lay on the couch, or stay curled up under my bed for months. I didn’t have a reason to live, even as I answered my phone one day and got frantic news from Brian that Jimmy was coming home, I just hung up. Sure I was glad that he was coming home, and that he was going to be okay, but I didn’t feel like talking to anyone. My world was in a down spiral, and it seemed that nothing could stop me from falling into my grave. I hardly ate, I barely felt like breathing. It took just about all of my energy every day to walk down the stairs, and pass out on the couch. Without Harper all I felt like was a walking corpse.

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^*Harper’s POV*^
I was nearly asleep in Zacky’s arms, thinking about my missing sister, and her child. Zacky and I had been near tears from worrying ever since we got a call from Johnny this afternoon. I decided to close my eyes, and finally get some sleep, worrying wouldn’t help the situation. There was a crash from downstairs, and I immediately sat up as more glass broke. I was frozen for a second, hearing shuffling and frantic shushes from people downstairs.

“Zacky!” I whispered, frantically, shaking his shoulder. “Zacky, someone’s breaking in!” I whispered, shaking his shoulder furiously, and another loud crash finally got him to fully open his eyes. He sat there with me for a second in complete silence until there was the sound of multiple pairs of footsteps rushing around. Zacky got up and walked over to the closet, digging around until he finally found the bat that I used to kill insects and bugs.

“Lock the door when I go out, don’t open it for anyone.” Zacky said, and I nodded, and stood up. He walked out the door quietly, and I locked it behind him. I stayed at the door, until there was screaming much to frantic for me to make out, then a gunshot, and I stopped breathing for a second to listen for anything, but when my ears were met with silence I got scared.

“Go get her!” I heard someone yell. I knew the voice, but I couldn’t place it.

“NO!” I heard Zacky scream weakly, followed by someone furiously pounding on the door. “DON’T LET HIM IN!” I heard Zacky’s voice echo throughout the house.

“Shut him up!” There was that voice again and then there was another gunshot, and I felt tears rush down my face. Zacky… The fist beating on the door got more urgent, and I backed up.

“Let me in!” Another voice yelled, but I couldn’t back up anymore because I was against the wall. Someone kicked the door, and it swung open, the doorknob punching a hole in the sheet rock and keeping it from bouncing back and closing again. The man stepped towards me, I couldn’t see who it was because his face was obscured by a bandana, and sunglasses covered his eyes. I pressed myself back against the wall as I slid down it, and he kneeled in front of me. My mind was still reeling about Zacky, and I couldn’t do much to fight him off as he pressed a cloth to my mouth. I tried to push him away, and not breathe, but the struggle was making me need to breathe, or I would pass out. I began to get light headed, and soon my vision went dark, and my brain temporarily shut off.

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^*Zacky’s POV*^
I tried to ignore the stinging surging pain from the bullet in my leg, but I couldn’t stand up, and I couldn’t do anything but struggle as I watched a man carry my life out of the front door.

“Harper!” I screamed, my voice weak from nearly being choked to death by the masked man that now followed the other man to the door, a gun still pointed at me.

“You never fucking saw us.” The man said, and closed the door, leaving me in pain on the couch. I heard tires screech, and I slowly got up, and gripped onto the back of the couch to keep from falling as I tried not to walk on my left leg. I made my way to the kitchen, holding onto as many things as possible along the way to keep from falling. I leaned on the counter and snatched the phone up, already feeling dizzy from blood loss. I dialed nine one one, but all I got was ‘This number cannot be reach at this time.’ I dialed it again and got the same thing. Brian will be over at Jimmy and Parker’s place taking care of Kellin, so I dialed Johnny’s number. He didn’t pick up. Fucking lazy ass. I dialed another number, hoping to reach Brian as I sat down in the floor, not being able to stand anymore. He didn’t answer. He’s probably asleep. I called the last place I wanted to, but I didn’t really have a choice.

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^*Matt’s POV*^
The phone had been ringing for ten minutes straight, and I was trying to sleep. I crawled out from under my bed and picked up the phone, sitting back against the wall.

“Fucking what do you want at twelve o’ clock in the fucking midnight?” I asked, annoyed that this stupid fucker would not stop calling for the past ten fucking minutes.

“M-Matt, you need to dial nine one one, right now.” I was met by Zacky’s shaky voice.

“Dial it yourself.” I answered in a bitter tone.

“No, Matt, some guys, they broke in, and they took Harper, and shot me, and I can’t dial nine one one on my fucking phone for some reason, and I have a fucking bullet lodged in my god damn leg, so do not fucking argue with me right now.” I didn’t know how to respond to his frantic words, most of them jumbled together in his frenzy of speech.

“Good one, Zack.” I didn’t feel like putting up with jokes right now.

“Goddamnit! Matt, just dial nine one one, please, I’m not kidding you asshole! They took Harper, and you’re the only person that actually picked up the phone! Please.” His voice was weak and serious now, and I realized he really wasn’t kidding.

“They…they took Harper?” There it was, I felt it, right then I felt those claws rip my heart apart. The claws that have had a grip on my heart for so long.

“Yes, now hurry…I can’t…” His voice trailed off through his heavy breathing, sounding as if he fell asleep.

“Zack?!” I asked, concerned. “Zack?! Zacky?! Hey, are you okay?” I was actually concerned for the jackass. I hung up, and got up from the floor, quickly running over to my closet and grabbing a shirt, putting it on and searching through the pockets of my jeans until I found my cell. I dialed nine one one, and talked to the operator as I ran downstairs, and through the living room, jumping over my couch as I flew into the door, taking a second to calm down and get my composure back from slamming face first into the slab of wood before I ran out and across the street, giving the operator the address. I ran into Zacky’s house just as the lady was telling me to stay on the line. A large blood stain on the couch caught my attention, and I ran up the stairs, thinking maybe he was upstairs. I had to stop and catch my breath halfway up the stairs, because I was out of shape for not doing anything but lying around for months. I ran the rest of the way, and opened up all of the doors, but I didn’t find Zack anywhere. I nearly fell down the stairs, as I rushed back into the living room, then the kitchen, where I found Zacky unconscious in the floor, blood pooling around his left leg. I immediately grabbed a dish cloth from a drawer, and tied it tight around his leg, hoping to stop the bleeding as sirens went off in the distance. Now I was left to think about Harper as I sat next to Zacky in the floor. She was gone. They took her. But who were ‘they’, exactly? Did we know them? Were they just deranged people out for money? Will she be safe? Are they going to hurt her? Will they…will they kill her? I wanted to cry about it. I wanted to cry and never stop, but I couldn’t because crying wouldn’t bring her back to me. Besides, she doesn’t want to see me, anyways, but I have to try and find her, Zacky and I do. Paramedics kicked in the front door, and the noise echoed as they all rushed into the small kitchen, and I just sat there, watching as they quickly took Zacky’s vitals, ripping his shirt and hooking him up to a heart monitor and IV before they loaded him on a stretcher, and carried him out. I followed, and was ushered into the ambulance with him. I answered questions in a daze, not really being able to concentrate. I didn’t think it was possible, but my life actually did just get worse.

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^*Harper’s POV*^
I woke up, and I heard screaming form somewhere. I couldn’t really get my senses right for a second, but once I did I sat up, noticing that I was on a couch, and my head was in someone’s lap as they twisted a strand of my hair gently around their finger.

“Hey, beautiful.” I heard a voice say, and I looked up as a guy came into view, a smirk on his lips. I wanted to run, I wanted to get up and run, but I was panicking, my breathing quick and shallow, and light headedness setting in again. It was my worst nightmare. Terrance. “Don’t breathe like that, you’ll pass out.” Terrance said, and I came alive, then, I scrambled up and away from him, nearly falling off of the couch. There was crying from somewhere below us.

“W-who are you?” I questioned shakily, literally shaking in fear as the person sighed.

“Hey, Z, she’s awake!” Terrance called. Z? Z?! Fuck no, this can’t…they didn’t survive. They couldn’t have. This is just a nightmare. That’s all this is, is a fucking sick and twisted nightmare.

“Fuck! Give me a second!” There was more screaming from another person below us, to which I presumed was the basement. I looked over towards the door where the screams were emanating from. “Parker, stop, now! I fucking swear I’ll kill you if you don’t stop!” The man in the basement yelled, and I fell into a light state of shock before I got up, and ran towards the door.

“P-Parker?!” I yelled, in a way hoping that it was my sister. But in another way hoping it wasn’t, because the last thing I want to do is see my sister get hurt.

“HARPER!”

“Parks!” I cried, feeling someone pull at my shoulders.

“RUN! IT’S THEM, RUN!” She yelled, and I started to back up, my eyes still locked on the door, as I stepped backwards into Terrance, and he locked his hands on my shoulders. There were footsteps echoing up the stairs, and then the door opened, and Terrance’s partner in crime smiled at me.

“Nice to see you again, Harper.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Terrance and pushed me towards the basement stairs. “Oh, but before I toss you down these steps, I just want to say thanks for ditching us at Target, bitch.” He glared, and tossed me down the staircase, and I landed with a hard thud as my head hit the floor first, and I could barely register Parker kneeling beside me and taking my head in her hands as I slipped into a deep sleep.

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^*Johnny’s POV*^
I was just in shock as Matt, Brian, and Jimmy all talked back and forth quickly, ignoring each time the doctor would come by and ask them to quiet down because this was the ICU, not a party venue. Harper had been taken by someone, Parker was missing and Kellin was taken away. We had all come to the conclusion that they were all connected, that this wasn’t just a coincidence. Whoever took Harper and Kellin most probably have Parker too. Zacky was still unconscious from blood loss, but the doctors said that as soon as he came around they were going to take him back to surgery. They weren’t going to put him under for surgery, in fear that he might go to sleep and fall into a coma.

“So, what are we going to do?” Jimmy asked, his voice thick from crying.

“The police can’t do anything about Harper until she’s been missing for a complete twenty four hours, but you heard them say they’ve sent out teams to look for Parker and Kellin.” Brian said, and Matt took a deep breath, he was on the verge of falling apart. He had already cried twice in just the past hour, and it’s been two hours since we all gathered here in the ICU. To be truthful, even after the horrible shit he’s put Harper through, I couldn’t help but be worried about him, and I know that Jimmy and Brian were the same. It just wasn’t like him to act the way he was. He acted like there was no hope left, like Harper was gone, and that was it. No one would see her again, no big deal. But on the inside I just knew it had to be tearing him apart. Brian sat down beside him and put his head in his hands, and Jimmy rolled over with his back to us. I just leaned back, and glanced over at Zacky, then back to Matt, Brian, and then Jimmy. It wasn’t normal not having Harper’s snappy commentary slicing through the air, or Parker’s sweet and loving nature, or Kellin’s giggles that could light up a room. We weren’t whole without them here. We were just five guys that looked like we had all given up on life right now. We were all slowly getting lost in our own minds, our sanity shrinking and leaving us alone without any strings of hope to cling onto to pull ourselves out of whatever we were sinking into. We were losing it.

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^*Matt’s POV*^
“Harper?” I heard Zacky’s groggy voice, and it slowly made me wake up. I looked over at him, and he tried to sit up, but stopped as he saw me. “Matt, what’s…what’s going on?” He asked, and I stood up and walked around Brian and Johnny’s chairs, careful not to wake them up. It was nearly five AM. We had all spent the night in the ICU. I was actually surprised the doctor let us all stay here. I moved the curtain that was obscuring a part of his bed, and sighed. “Matt, please tell me you found Harper.” Zack begged, and I shook my head.

“Not yet. The cops aren’t going to do anything about it either until she’s been missing for twenty four hours.” I said, and he let his head fall back against the pillow.

“They have to find her. They have to.” Zacky muttered.

“They will.” I said, and picked up my chair and brought it over beside his bed, and sat down, rubbing my eyes.

“How long have I been here?”

“Just a few hours.” I answered, trying not to yawn.

“You…you called the police.” Zacky stated and I nodded.

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re a friend, and I wasn’t just going to let you bleed to death.” I said, and he sighed. “You’re still pretty pissed, huh?”

“Don’t start.”