Nightmare

I don't know why I was torturing myself. Maybe it's because I feel bad that I just suddenly died. Well it wasn't very sudden. It was prolonged for a bit. Painful. My last minutes felt like hours from the amount of pain I had been in. Sitting here with the man in front of me, so upset that he was drinking himself into oblivion, was like reliving my last moments. Zacky had been a good friend of mine. No, he had been my brother and confidant. My go-to-guy. My best friend.

"'Zacky, you need to stop! Drinking doesn't solve anything.' That's what you would say if you were here... Right Kat?" He spoke bitterly. I laughed humorlessly.

"That's right Zack. It doesn't solve anything. Just gives you horrible hangovers." I said. I had never been big on drinking. The only times that I had was when Brian and Zacky had dragged me to some bar in whatever town we had been in at the time. I had fun, but I had never admitted that to them. They would have never let me live it down.

"You're a real bitch for leaving us. How could you do that to us! To me?" If I didn't feel bad before I sure as hell did now. I moved closer to Zacky. I just watched him. I didn't want to be murdered. That's what I was. Shot to death. How he could think that I did it on purpose was beyond my comprehension. Everyone deals with death in a different way. Matt was the strong one. Or so he led us all to believe. I knew better now. Zacky was the angry drunk.

He began laughing bitterly. He had been staring at a picture of him and I since he got back here. He muttered something under his breath.

"You were my little sister. For all intents in purposes. I knew you the longest out of the guys. It was you, me, and Brian. Always. It was us against the world. Now... now it's just me. Brian stays up in his room. So now I'm all alone." He chunked his bottle of Jack across the room. I watched as it smashed against the wall. The liquid covering the tiled floor below it. I sighed as Zacky got up and went back over to his liquor cabinet. He pulled out more JD.

"Don't waste it this time Zack." I said as he reseated himself in the same place he was moments before.

The guys had gotten back to Huntington a day ago. Zacky was on Brian duty as MB had said. I snorted. What a great babysitter. From my point of view, it was Zack that needed to be babysat. My face fell once I noticed that Zacky was forcing back tears.

"I'm not gonna cry over you, if that's what you wanted." Zacky muttered and began wiping his eyes. His phone went off. He glanced down at the screen and scowled. Gena's happy face shown brightly on the screen. He quickly hit ignore. "Why can't she just leave me alone?"

"Because she loves you. She's worried." I don't know why I insisted on answering them. They couldn't hear. I guess it just made me feel better. A hint of nostalgia hit me as I looked around the room. This room I had stood in 5 hours before my untimely death. I don't know if Brian is going to keep living here. Val doesn't think it's healthy. I agree. This house held to many memories.

I glanced back at Zacky only to see that he was calling someone. He put it on speaker as soon as it started ringing.

"Hello? Zacky?" Matt's voice rang throughout the empty house.

"Gena is getting on my nerves." Zacky stated. I guess he needs to rant. I heard Matt sigh.

"Have you talked to her?" He said sceptically.

"No."

"Then maybe you should."

"Maybe she should fucking understand that I need some goddamn space. I just lost my best friend. Another best friend. Who's next!" I blinked back tears that would never fall. He was hurting and that killed me... Again. I chuckled bitterly at the reference to their song.

"You aren't gonna lose anyone else. Not for a long time Zacky. Gena loves you and is worried."

"How can you know that. Kat promised I wouldn't lose her. She fucking broke her promise. Dude she broke her promise! Gena could leave me as well!"

"She didn't purposely die Zacky. She was murdered. They still haven't caught those men either. She won't leave you either. Unless you keep ignoring her, then she might."

I didn't listen to the rest of their conversation. I was to caught up on what Matt had said. They hadn't caught the killers yet. Is it possible that I had unfinished business. Is that the reason I'm still here. I felt that familiar tug and pull. I blinked. Maybe that was it. I had unfinished business. I had to somehow help them find who killed me. The thing was I don't remember which one shot me that cold sunday afternoon. I refocused on Zacky and Matt's conversation.

"... tommorow. Are you gonna be sober enough to attend?" Matt said.

"Yeah, I'll do it as soon as I'm hang up. I don't know, maybe." Zacky stated apprehensively.

"You aren't going to her funeral hungover or drunk Zachary. I'll make sure of that myself." I could imagine Matt rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Look dude, Val needs me. I'll see you tommorow. Sober. Ok?"

"Yeah. Tell Val I said hi. Bye dude." He closed his phone. He glanced back at my picture.

"It feels like you still with me." He stood up and I recognized a car pulling into the driveway. "I guess I'll go home now." He glanced around the house. He only lived two doors down. Gena didn't live with him if that's what you were wondering. "I guess I'll go home." I watched as he walked out the door. Stopping to talk to whoever stood out there with him.

"It's cause I am still here Zacky." I whispered.

I knew why I was still here. How am I gonna fix it though?