Hold Fast

Friday came faster than any of us could have hoped for. Justin had been texting me all week, giving us detailed descriptions of Kellin’s dad’s schedule. We wanted to get him out before being caught. It was going to take us at least a day to get to Oregon, and that was with us constantly driving. So we had decided that Sunday would be the day to go to his house and get him. His dad would be at work and wouldn’t be home until that night.
The four of us got to Kyle’s house a little before the arranged time, packing our stuff into his Jeep. Four of Kellin’s friends from home had pitched in a few hundred bucks for gas, so with that and the money between us five, we were set for the trip. Our parents were a little nervous about us driving so far away, but I could only imagine what they would think about our potential kidnapping attempt. I was banking on Kellin being reported as a runaway, which would lead to a CPS conference and you get the idea.
We left right at six and I was really anxious. I was staring out of the window, bouncing my leg up and down and biting on the nail of my thumb mercilessly. I could feel Kyle watching me from the driver’s side, everyone else had passed back out. Can’t really blame them, six was pretty damn early to be awake. I felt Kyle put his hand on my knee, stopping me from bouncing it. I turned to look at him.
“Vic, you have to calm down. You can’t panic for the next eighteen hours, it’s not healthy.” He had a concerned look in his eyes as he turned his attention back to the road in front of him.
“I know…” I breathed. “I’m just really anxious.”
“I know, but you have to breathe.” He gave me a small smile which I returned before looking back out of the window.
We settled back into a comfortable silence and listened to the Blink 182 CD that he was playing. I was a little thrown off by his choice, but it was not unwelcomed. I watched Kyle from the corner of my eye. He really was different. When I talked to him earlier this week about everything, he sent me a text every day to make sure that I was okay. Never in all my life would I have thought that Kyle Winters and I would become friends.
I found comfort in knowing that if he and I could beat the odds, then pretty much anything was possible. And that thought alone was enough to calm me down. He was right, worrying would get me nothing. I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes, letting myself drift into the first deep sleep in days.

When I woke up, we were out of Colorado and in Utah. This place had a weird vibe, and I was glad we were just passing through. Kyle stopped in Ogden to refill the gas tank and switch places with Tony. Nothing personal, but there was no way I was going to sleep with Tony behind the wheel. He was probably the best driver out of all of us, but he was also the fastest.
We got back on the road and the guys and I passed the time by going over some of the details for the show we had in Denver next month. I wasn’t as excited as I had been, but I knew that they were trying to keep me occupied. So I did what I could to add to the conversation.
After a while, I pulled out my notebook and began jotting down random lyrics that came to my mind. I had been writing a lot since Kellin had left. Mostly the lyrics were depressing because well that’s how I felt. Depressed. I was sure that between everything that I had written this last week, I could make four or five full length songs. Least something came from my moping.
We finally crossed into Nevada after nightfall. Tony had switched with Mike and Jaime was napping before his shift. They all had agreed that it wouldn’t be beneficial for me to drive, no matter how much I protested saying that it would be fine. At one point Mike even told me know.
“No offense Bro, but you’ve been pretty spacey lately.” He didn’t even meet my eyes. I knew that he felt bad treating me like a little kid, but he was trying to help. Sure I was a little upset, but they had a point. I’d feel terrible if something were to happen because I zoned out even a little bit.
I finally gave in and just went back to sleep.

“VIC!” a voice screamed in the darkness. “VIC! Help!”
I ran as fast as I could towards the voice. I couldn’t see anything in the vast darkness that surrounded me. I tried calling out to the voice, but I couldn’t speak. A loud scream came from behind me and I spun around. All I could see in the distance was a small light with a tiny black mass on what I assumed to be the ground. I ran towards it, using whatever strength I had to try to make it to the light.
As I got closer, I realized the mass on the floor was some lying on the ground. Fear coursed through me as I stopped running and slowly walked towards it. I was terrified of what I might see. As I got closer, maniacal laughter filled the air. I looked around for the source but all I saw was the darkness and the mass in front of me.
I got down on my knees and moved towards the person. Gulping down my fear, I reached out and touched the body. It was cold and lifeless. I was shaking, but I had to know who it was. I gently rolled the body over and I froze. It was Kellin, beaten and bruised. His eyes were wide open and they were full of the fear he would have been feeling. I felt tears sting my eyes as the laughter filled the air again.
“You’re too late!” it mocked. “You can’t save him now…”I cried out, begging, pleading for Kellin to wake up.
“Vic…”I looked up, hoping that Kellin was waking. He was still lifeless. “Vic.” I looked around again.

“VIC!”
I was shaken from my nightmare by a pair of strong hands. My eyes flew open and I jumped against the door of the car, which was thankfully not currently moving. My breathing was quick as I looked around. There were four concerned faces staring at me. I could feel the tears that had been falling from my face.
“Vic, are you okay?” Mike reached up and wiped my eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. I nodded slowly, trying to slow down my heart rate. He pulled back, a scared look in his eyes.
“You gave us quite the scare there.” Jaime handed me a bottle of water.
“Thank you.” I whispered. Jaime started up the car again and started driving again. “Where are we?”
“We just got into Oregon. We’re about six hours from Salem.” Tony answered after checking the GPS on his phone.
“Good.” I took another dink of water.
“Vic, are you sure you’re okay?” Kyle asked. I nodded again. It was a total lie, but what were they going to do about it. It was a nightmare, nothing more. I just needed to stay awake. My phone vibrated and I went to grab it. It continued vibrating. That was weird, who would be calling? I looked at the caller ID and didn’t recognize the number. I picked it up anyway.
“Hello?”
“Vic…” a small voice replied.
“Kellin?”