Last Seen in San Diego.

“Kellin.” Vic sighed. “Do you remember me at all?” He asked me. A gleam of hope twinkling in his eyes. What does he mean do I remember him? I haven’t lost my memory or anything so I couldn’t forget him. That was a weird question.

“Uhh, I’m sorry?” I question, honestly confused. My eyes were looking straight through his brown ones. I’m not sure if I was delusional but I could’ve sworn I saw his eyes droop along with his hidden smile. I felt bad, but I didn’t know what for.

“Nothing, forget it. It’s stupid. Anyways, I’m tired so I’m going to go to sleep. Night.” He said. Dismissing me from his presence and from the conversation. Before I could object, he turned away from me. His actions telling me that my input wasn’t welcomed. I sighed heavily, walking away from Vic and into the world of Oli. I didn’t care if he was sleeping or not, I was bored and needed someone to talk to.

“Oli, are you awake?” I asked, nudging him slightly. I earned a grumble in response, giving me my answer. “Oli I can’t sleep, talk with me please.” I begged like a needy child. He turned over on his side, rubbing his eyes as they slowly fluttered open.

“Kellin, what’s wrong.” He asked me, his voice all groggy and nasty.

“Ew.” I laughed quietly. “Um can I talk to you about something?” I asked him, waiting to see if he would brush me off or pay attention to me. He sat up in his spot, sighing heavily much like I did.

“Sure, what’s up?” He asked, clearing his throat. “Okay so I’m kind of confused. Vic had asked me if I remembered him. I never forgot him, so I don’t know.” I told him quietly, just in case Vic was still awake and able to hear our conversation. Oli’s eyes widened and a small smirk grew on his face. What just happened?

“So you do remember him!! Great now you guys can go back to being friends.” He said happily. His smile soon fell when he realized I had no clue what the hell he was talking about. “You have no clue what I’m talking about either, do you?” He asked, I shook my head no. Is there like this inside secret everyone knows but me?

“Care to explain?” I asked him, but he shook his head no. I groaned. “Why not?” I whined.

“Look, I thought we were on the same page so I let something slip that wasn’t supposed to. I’d rather you have this conversation with Vic and let him explain it to you. It’s not really my place.” He told me, shrugging his shoulders. Okay I’ll just ask Mike since he won't tell me. “Don’t ask Mike either, he wont know anything about it.” He smirked.. how did he? “I know you a bit too well Kellin, a bit too well. Oh and you spoke your thoughts out loud.” He chuckled before laying back down on the floor. I went to respond but his soft snores cut me off. Instead of being a dick, I let him sleep. I knew he was tired, hell even I felt myself growing tired. I took my spot in the old corner Oli and I used to stay at and laid down. With one big yawn, I was closing my eyes and seeing nothing but the dark.

I heard the screams. The loud screams for help. I was used to this, hearing the screams, ignoring their pleas for help. How could I help someone when I can’t even help myself. It’s hopeless. I’ve allowed myself to come accustom to this life. I can’t escape, so why try. People are dying beside me everyday, so now I just await for the knock on my door, signalling it’s time for me to escape. Honestly, I won’t even scream, that will only give him more satisfaction.

Day by day, the clues have been evident to me. More and more clues approach me but I’ve given up on trying to find out what 8210424 means. I have a hint, but so did Mike before he was killed brutally. Before my eyes I saw one of my friends be skinned alive by the man with no name. The man whose face was not recognizable. The man with no heart.

”Kellin.” Someone called out to me. “Kellin!” The voice called a bit louder. I just remained silent, not even bothering to answer. My eyes remained fixated on the wall, as if it was the most interesting thing to do. “There you are Kellin, I’ve been looking forever for you. Where have you been?” Tay asked. I could identify it just by the voice. Tay, Vic and I were the only ones left alive. Everyone else was killed. Apparently the man had standards that they just didn’t meet.

”Tay, I suggest if you move away from me if you’d like to keep your life.” I told her, my eyes meeting her bloody composure. I bet that’s how I looked, all bloody and fucked up. At least I’ll go down in style right? Before she had the chance to respond, she was dropped to the floor, her screams echoing the room. I couldn’t help, like I said I was helpless. She screamed for me to help her, but I couldn’t. The man had her by the legs, dragging her out of the room. I pulled my knees to my chest, loudly sobbing into them. “Just kill me already! please.” I begged the man, hoping he could hear me from the other room. He won’t though, he’s going to leave me to suffer.

I was awoken by a loud scream in the room. My eyes shot open, not even trying to look back on my dream. Lately they’ve been getting more brutal, bloody and terrifying. But I just don’t acknowledge them anymore, or I try not to. Once my eyes were open, I searched around the room, noticing I was the only one awake. How is no one awake? That scream couldn’t have been in my dream, I would’ve known. Plus it was Tay that was killed, the scream I heard was more...manly. My eyes scanned every single body on the floor to make they were okay. Once I got to Alex, I noticed there was something missing. Well, more like someone. I walked to the bathroom, knocking on the door quietly. No response.

“Jack, are you in there?” I said loud enough so he could hear me. Nothing. I put my ear to the door but got silence. The water wasn’t even running. Slowly, I turned the knob, pushing the door open to reveal the horror inside. “Oh my god.” The floors were painted with little splotches of red, along with an area of the wall. “Oh my god.” I screamed, tears rimming my eyes. The man took him, he’s going to go through what I went through. The thing that scared me was, with the evidence before me... I’m pretty sure he’s getting it worse. I ran to the main room, screaming for everyone to wake up. I got various responses.

“What the fuck Kellin?”. “What happened Kellin?”, “Kellin, are you okay?” I was breathing heavily, trying to force the words out of my mouth.

“Jack..gone...bathroom...blood.” I managed to push out those four words, causing Alex to be the first one to rush to the bathroom.

“Where is he?” Alex called out. “Jack nooo!” He cried, collapsing onto the ground. “You fucking bastard.” He yelled to the ceiling. I ran to him, wrapping my arms around him, cradling him back and forth like I used to do to my sister all the time.

“I’m so sorry Alex.” I told him, he just sobbed into my chest.

“Why? Why not me!” He asked softly. I had no respond to that.

“Shh, he’ll come back in a few. It’s probably like the same thing that happened to me. He will bring Jack back.” I told him, trying to console him with the best of my abilities.

The boys worked with cleaning up the blood with water and towels, while the girls stood on the couches, eyes widened with fear. Once everyone was in the main room again, we all sat in our circle. Alex’s head on my shoulder, Vic on my left, Oli next to Vic, Tay next to Oli, Mike next to Tay and Jenna closing the circle. We all sat in silence before it was broken by Jenna.

“Which one of us do you think is next?” She asked quietly, her voice already breaking.

“No one.” I stated bluntly. They all looked at me confused.

“What do you mean ‘no one’. We have no control over who he takes. Don’t you think if we did, he wouldn’t have taken Jack. Fuck Kellin, don’t you think you would've been able to stop him from taking you.” Vic screamed at me. His eyes widened when he mentioned the one thing I didn’t want him to. “Look Kellin, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-” But I stopped him, raising my hand to let him know I didn’t want to hear it. Yeah it hurt, but I know it was in the heat of the moment. Well, I hope it was.

“That’s not what I meant.” I snarled at him. “What I’m saying is, he seems to know when we fall asleep. There’s no cameras in here, so maybe he comes in once in awhile to check on us. I guess he can hear from the door whether there are voices or not. Or maybe he has a little window, I don’t know. My point is, I was taken when everyone was sleeping, so was Jack.” I told them, hoping they would catch on. But they didn’t.

“So what’s your point?” Mike asked, his voice cracking with worry.

“We can’t sleep anymore.” I told them, earning looks of disbelief. “Look I know it’s stupid but-”

“Kellin, sooner or later we’re going to crack and fall asleep.” Oli interrupted me.

“Yeah I know, I didn’t think of that. So then we just have to go back to the sleeping schedules that were made in the beginning. Some of us are going to have to stay up at night, while the others sleep and it will change everyday.” I told them, earning some groans from the others.

“I’m with it.” Vic said, I sent him a small ‘thank you’ before turning my head to everyone else.

“I am too. Look it’s what’s for the best, we can’t let another one of us be tortured. When Jack comes back and recovers...it will start.” Alex told everyone. They all seemed to agreed, falling back into an uncomfortable silence. I hate to say it, but I don’t think Jack will recover as well as I did.

“I do have a question though.” Vic spoke up. All of our eyes were on him. “How’d he manage to walk in without us knowing, and leave without us knowing." He asked, staring at me as if he knew I had something to say. Which of course I did, but before I was able to speak, Tay interrupted me.

"I'm confused on that too. I didn't hear any screams." She told us, the others murmured their agreements to one another.

"So you're telling me I was the only one who heard the scream?" I came out and asked, seriously shocked that no one else heard him scream.

"Wait, you heard the scream?" Alex asked me. I nodded my head. Didn't I just say that? Alex turned red, his head was no longer on my shoulder. He turned so he can be closer to my face. "So you're telling me you heard my boyfriend scream for his fucking life, and you did nothing to fucking help." He yelled in my face, tackling me so I was now on my back. His fist made contact with my cheek, and mine did the same. A few other punches were thrown before we were pulled off of each other. Mike was gripping Alex tightly. I turned around to see Vic holding me, and although it was a bad moment, I couldn't help but like the feeling of his arms wrapped around me. I was quickly snapped back into reality by the pain in my face.

"What the fuck was that for!" I yelled at him, allowing the blood that was falling from my nose to fall onto my tongue. Vic tightened his grip on me as I struggled to be free.

"You being a selfish cunt! Jack would be here right now if it weren't for you! Fuck you." He yelled at me. Everyone stared between us, not knowing what to say.

"Kellin, is that true. You just let that happen to Jack?" Oli asked me. Is everyone fucking serious right now! They didn't even let me explain.

"Of course it's true. Jack's not here is he? It should've been you." Alex growled at me. Now that comment broke down all my anger.

"Alex, fucking calm down." Vic yelled at him. "Kellin he didn't mean it." Vic whispered in my ear, but it was too late. The tears started to fall, and I was ready to make everyone feel like shit.

"Fuck you Alex, fuck all of you. His scream is what woke me up, I thought it was in my dream but when I noticed Jack wasn't in the main room, I ran to the bathroom figuring he was on there. I went to check if he was okay and found the bloody mess. I didn't just sit there while he screamed, I'm not fucking cruel. I tried to get to him in time but apparently I didn't. I don't know how he got Jack out of here before I got to the bathroom but he did! I couldn't have stopped him if I tried. But whatever, you all want to see me as the heartless bastard that would let one of their friends die, go ahead. Oh and Alex, you're right. It should've been me. I would rather take the beatings for all of you and feel pain instead of feeling betrayed by all of you. That pain soon fades, this never will. Fuck all of you." I said, anger rising in me once again. I wiped the tears, allowing my vision to become clear. Their mouths were hung slightly open, their faces showing nothing but regret. I shook myself out of Vic's grip, looking at all of them one last time before making my way towards the bathroom.

"Kellin, wait." Alex spoke. I turned around seeing him almost near me. He stopped once we met each others gazes. They were different. His eyes showed regret, mine showed anger.

"No, fuck you." I said calmly before turning away and walking into the bathroom. Once I was in there I washed the blood and tears from my face. A bruise was evident for sure, and considering the pain I was feeling I know it wasn't a small one either. How could they think that? Oli too, I couldn't believe he would think I would do something like that. He should know me better than anyone else, he should know that I'm not capable of letting someone suffer. He should know that I would've taken the torture just so Jack or anyone else didn't have to. "It should've been you." Alex's words continued to play over in my head. I just can't believe they all turned on me like that. I was knocked out of my thoughts by a knock at the door.

"Fuck off." I told whoever it was, I honestly didn't care either.

"Kellin, please open up." It was Vic. I wasn't really sure whether or not I should open the door. My head was telling me not to, but my heart told me that I should.

"Why should I? So you and the others can make me feel like shit for something I didn't do. Yeah, no thanks." I sniffled. I sighed quietly, making my way towards the clean towel rack.

"Kellin, I just want to talk to you. Just you and I." He told me. Ugh fuck my heart. Grabbing a small clean towel, I wet it and applied it to my face. I walked to the door and opened it, pulling Vic inside before anyone else could try to come in. With the slam of the door, I locked it and moved away from Vic.

"Talk." I said bluntly, wanting this to end before it gets a chance to start another fire. He looked at me sadly, reaching his hand up to touch my cheek but I moved away. "Talk." I repeated again. He sighed but nodded.

"You know they feel-"

"I don't care how they feel Vic. You guys obviously didn't care how I felt when I was being accused of something I didn't do, so why should I care?" I snapped at him.

"That's where you're wrong, Kellin. I wasn't accusing you. I was on your side. You just never let us have a say in it." He told me, I just laughed.

"Yeah, okay. I bet you all are on my side now after you found out the truth. Am I right?” I asked, I didn’t even bother giving him a chance to reply before speaking again. “You may go now, thanks for stopping by.” I know I was being an asshole, but can anyone really blame me?

“No.” He replied, a smug smirk on his face. I was shocked, I wasn’t expecting him to stand up and walk closer to me, making my heart go down to my ass. That’s a very unusual spot for it. “Kellin, you need to let me speak okay?” He said, he was very intimidating for someone who’s one inch shorter than me. I nodded, allowing him to speak..but he didn’t move away from me.

“I know why they got mad, I understand that but I didn’t agree with them accusing you. I know you wouldn’t do that, trust me.” He told me. I kept my eyes on the floor, refusing to look at him.

“You don’t know me at all.” I told him. My voice was calm, I wasn’t coming off as rude. Just stating a fact.

“I know you more than you think I do Kells.” He told me. Kells...that nickname sounded familiar. Who’s called me that before? I shake the thought out of my mind when I feel Vic place his hand on my cheek. I winced in pain, hoping he would move away. He didn’t. “Here let’s put more cold water on this.” He said awkwardly, wetting the towel with freezing cold water. Once it was applied to my cheek, I shivered.

“What the fuck!” I screeched, causing him to laugh. I haven't heard him laugh ever since we've been here.

“Cold water helps the bruise heal better, it also numbs it for awhile. Now come here.” He told me, pulling me towards him. We were closer than before and that honestly scared me. I was pretty sure he could feel my heart thumping against his chest. I let him slowly dab the towel on my bruise, our eyes never removing contact from each other. I loved the way his eyes sparkled. Before I knew it, his hand stopped moving the towel and was now holding it in place. I thought he was going to leave but I was wrong. He started leaning in and that’s when I panicked. What is he doing? My heart pace sped up but I couldn’t help but lean forward as well, capturing his plum lips in a warm soft kiss. It was over before it started when I removed my lips from his. Our eyes were wide and we were speechless. As cliche as it sounds, there were sparks there. None of us could deny it either.

“Umm.” He said quietly. I just looked at him.

“I’m sorry.” I said quickly before running out of the bathroom, I ignored all the stares I was getting and made my way to my corner.

What the fuck just happened?