Last Seen in San Diego.

We all jumped out of our spots, some of them thinking it was all in their heads. Just like I did, but they were wrong. We all looked around the room, noticing one particular brunette missing from the crowd. Before we all were able to run to the bathroom, the door was busted open. Our eyes all gazed over to Mike, who was just radiating with anger. He quickly rushed into the bathroom, screaming profanities at the top of his lungs. We all ran to the bathroom entrance, taking in the sight that laid before our eyes. There was less blood than there was with Jack, but that still didn’t mean that it wasn’t flooding the white tiles. Mike just collapsed to the floor, whispering things to himself. None of us have ever seen Mike this vulnerable before, so it scared us a bit.

“Mike, come on. Let’s get you out of here.” I said to him softly, breaking the silence in the room. I walked over to him, grabbing him gently by the arm. He refused though, shaking himself out of my grip.

“No.” He stated, his voice hoarse.

“Mike, you don’t need to continue looking at this. Let’s go please.” I begged him, trying to get him away from the scene. I know if I was in his position I wouldn’t want to be in the scene of the crime. I tried pulling on him once again, but he refused.

“You don’t understand.” He whispered, more to himself than to me. I looked at everyone, they didn’t know what to do either. They were silent. I mentally asked Vic for help, but it seemed like he didn’t know what to do either. I got to his level, getting down on one knee.

“Mike I do understand-” I tried to tell him, but I was forcefully pushed to the ground. My head hitting the floor harder than it’s ever hit anything. For a lanky kid, he’s got a bunch of strength. I heard Vic yell at him, but it was also muffled. I slowly sat myself back up, my eyes met with an angry Mike hovering over me.

“No you don’t understand okay! You want to know why? Because Vic isn’t the one down there! Tay is!” He yelled at me, causing my eyes to go wide. I looked at Vic, noticing the way his brown eyes mirrored mine.

“Mike.” Vic stated firmly, either trying to contain his anger or just naturally being calm about the situation. All eyes were on me though and for once, I felt uneasy being the center of attention.

“No Vic, don’t ‘Mike’ me. You get to have your boyfriend with you, while my girlfriend is going through god knows what.” He yelled, pushing everyone out of his way. Once he left, Vic helped me up from the floor and then turned to everyone else.

“So how long has this been going on?” Jenna asked, staring at our now intertwined hands. I don’t say anything, I just pick up a towel from the floor, wet it with cold water and place it onto my head. It stays silent until Vic decides to speak up.

“A few days I guess. It’s a long story and I’d rather focus on the situation at hand instead of us.” He tells them, leading us all out of the bathroom and into the living room. My eyes gazed over to Mike, he was sitting alone on the couch, crunched up in a fetal position. I stopped in My tracks, nudging Vic to gather his attention. “What’s up Kells?” He asks in a whisper, the nickname giving me butterflies. I remained silent, nodding my head in the direction that Mike was in. Vic just sighed, whispering an ‘okay’ before walking over to him. I decided it was best for them to talk alone, so I turned around and headed into the messy bathroom once again. I turned on the shower, wetting the bloody floor before throwing a bunch of towels on top of the bloodshot tiles. I turned the water off, dropping to my knees and began scrubbing the floor. I couldn’t help but let my mind drift to the two people who were being held captive right below me. Are they okay? Are they even alive? What is he doing to them? I wonder if they’re screaming for help, only to be ignored by the ones who can’t hear them.

“So you and Vic, huh?” The british accent spoke from behind me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I jumped a little, my heart jumping out of my chest.

“Oli, you scared me you fuck.” I told him, grabbing the place where I assume my heart would be.

“Sorry lad, let me help you with that eh?” He offered, I just nodded watching as he joined me on the floor. He grabbed a towel, scrubbing the blood on the floor. We started off in silence, until he spoke again.

“I guess you’re happy about everything huh?” He asked me, but I didn’t know how to reply to that. How could I be truly happy with all this shit going on. Yes, the whole thing with Vic makes me smile but do I consider myself happy? No.

"There's nothing to truly be happy about Oli." I told him sadly, keeping my eyes on the white towel as I continued to scrub the floors.

"What do you mean? You have Vic now, he's your boyfriend. Isn't that what you wanted?" He asked me, sitting up fully after dropping the towel to the floor.

"Well we technically never made anything official. I don't think we should. Anyways, how can anyone be truly happy with all of this shit we're going through." I sighed, finally meeting his eyes. I was frustrated with everything. "I knew him before, I liked him back then. I forgot about him, but now I'm reminded of him. I could have a chance to be happy with him, but I can't cause of all this bullshit." I cursed a bit too loud. I know the others probably heard what I said, including Vic, which only makes me wish I had lowered my voice a bit.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you." I told him, earning a nod in response. What happened to everyone in this room being civil? Everything is slowly falling apart.

"It's alright lad, you're under a lot of stress. Look let's finish cleaning this up and you can tell me all about you and Vic, huh? Gossip to me like old times." He said to me, his voice very comforting like always. I just nodded, honestly I miss the one on one times I had with my favorite brit. There's always those moments where I miss the annoying accent bugging me for attention. We remained silent as we cleaned the rest of the blood from the floor, throwing the dirty towels into the trashbin..

"Can we go back to our corner?" I ask him, he just smiled, taking my hand and pulling me out of the bathroom. We rushed over to the corner, plopping down on our butts and then the gossiping started.

"So...." He speaks, dragging out his o's. He wiggles his eyebrows, causing me to laugh. I sneak a quick glance at Vic, noticing the way he's talking to Mike, trying to comfort him. He notices me staring, sending me a sad small smile. I return the smile and look at Oli again.

“So yeah, we never made things official but we’ve kissed various times. I’m just scared to mention it.” I told him quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear our conversation.

“Why not?” He asked, his voice just as low as mine.

“Well, what’s the point Oli? You and I both know that there’s no point of pursuing a relationship if that person is only going to be taken away from me or vice versa. I can’t get attached knowing that possibly one of us could be gone the next morning. I don’t think I could handle that.” I sighed.

“But you could do it, Mike and Alex did it. I say just live it up until you can’t live it up anymore.” He says, shrugging his shoulders. Was he seriously not seeing it as a big deal? Or maybe I was the one overreacting?

“I don’t know, I’d rather not think about it. If anything I’ll let him decide, but I don’t want to get hurt in the end.” I spoke, laying my head against the wall.

“Face it Kellin, we will all get hurt in the end.” He spoke, letting those threatening words spill from his lips. Those words hit me like a ton of bricks, because no longer are we -Vic and I- the only ones who think there’s some sort of happy ending that’s going to happen.

The rest of the day went by quickly, we didn't receive any food, and we spent the majority of time in our little circle. No words were shared this time, no actions were performed. Silence filled the room, allowing an uneasy feeling to wash over me. Silence bothered me, I know it bothered them too. But none of us had anything to say. We shared glances with one another, but that’s all. We didn’t have anything to say. Soon enough, we all parted. No goodnights were shared, no small conversations, just silence. With one final glance at Vic, I laid my head on my arm, allowing myself to drift off into sleep.

“Kellin!! You need to get out of here, save yourself.” Vic screamed from behind me. Now that Tay was gone, he was the only one left. Besides me that is. My eyes widened with fear, I don’t want him to die. He can’t be here.

”No Vic, you have to save yourself please. I don’t want you to die.” I called out to him, hoping he heard me. I tried to find him, but that was difficult to do. The darkness filled the room, only the little bit of light that was shining through the hallway. “Vic, please go!” I cried, hoping he would get the hint. It was too late. His bloody screams filled the room, along with my sobs that managed to overthrow the sound. I listened as he screamed for help, I listened as he screamed my name, I listened as the silence filled the room. I wanted to die.

”You fucking took everyone I had! You’ve made your point, just kill me now! Please I can’t do this anymore.” I yelled out to the man, hoping he would put me out of my misery. I felt his footsteps shake the floor, I felt the adrenaline pierce through my veins. This was it. He stepped into the light, a knife in his hand, dripping the blood from Vic’s body. He lifted his hand up to the mask on his face, slowly pulling it off.

My eyes shot open, my heart pounding against the inside of my chest. My breathing was erratic. I felt it getting harder to breathe. Without any thought, I ran into the bathroom slamming the door behind me. I rushed to the sink, splashing water onto my face. After awhile, I was able to breathe normally, but that stopped when I saw a blurry figure standing behind me. I rubbed my eyes, letting out a sigh of relief once I realized it was only Vic.

“Kellin, you know you’re not supposed to be in here alone, especially at night.” He said, his tone very demanding.

“Well thanks for the advice mom, but if you must know. I had a nightmare and I couldn’t breathe. I needed something to snap me out of it.” I stated, rolling my eyes at his caring demeanor.

“I know, but you should’ve woken me up. He could’ve been in here waiting for you. You could’ve walked right into your death.” He exclaimed, his arms flying in the air. I turned away from the mirror, my body facing his. I stare at him dumbfounded, why was he overreacting?

“Vic, calm down.” I spoke calmly. His eyes met mine and suddenly his panic stopped. “I’m fine, he’s not here. No one’s here, just you and I.” I said slowly, making sure he knew that I wasn’t lying. He nodded his head, pulling me into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry, I was just scared that's all." He said sadly. I sighed, knowing that everything I told Oli was correct. I pulled away from him, letting his brown eyes pierce through me.

"It's okay." I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "Look Vic, I was thinking and I-"

"Be my boyfriend Kellin." He blurted out, cutting me off from saying the exact opposite. He smiled widely, a hopeful look on his face that was begging me to say yes. But I knew deep down that I couldn't.

"Vic I would love to but, I don't think it would be a good idea." I told him, my heart dropping at his sudden frown..

"Oh okay, I understand." He said, his voice no longer filled with happiness, the way it did when he talked to me. He mumbled something under his breath as he turned away from me. Fuck my guilty conscience.

"No Vic, you don't understand. I want to be with you, but I'm scared. I'll get attached, only to have you pulled away from me the next day. I don't think I can deal with that. We're all going to die Vic, what's the point." I exclaimed, catching his full attention. He gave me a small smirk, making his way towards me again.

"Well if we're going to die, why not live it the best way we can. I've been happier since I talked to you, I've opened up more, I've become more social. I'm happy. Yes this is a scary situation we're in, and I'm not going to sugarcoat anything. We will die in here, but if I die...I want to die happy. Now what do you say?" He asked, holding my hands in his. I nod my head, I couldn't deny that he had a point. I couldn't stop myself from pushing my lips on his, which in return he did the same. I then realized that throughout this hell, he could be my source of happiness. I don't want to die miserable.

Our make out session was cut short by the sound of a loud bang. Our eyes traveled to the little door in the corner of the room. I immediately hid behind Vic, scared of what would happen. We waited, and waited and waited...but nothing ever happened. Vic and I shared confused glances, but shared no words. I removed myself from Vic, suddenly growing confidence as I made my way towards the door. Vic tried to pull me back, his grip on my arm bruising my skin. I shook out of his grip, crouching about one inch from the floor. Something shiny caught my eye, catching my attention immediately. Silently, I call Vic over, watching as he stopped beside me. His hands grabbed the object, as if he was hoping it would open the door.

"It's a lock, Vic. It's meant to keep us out, not allow us in." I teased, earning a nudge in response.

"I know what it is Kellin. It wasn't here before, right?" He asked me, but I ignored it. I grabbed the lock from his hands, turning it around to see the numbers I've been dreaming about since my arrival.

8210424

I turned the knob slowly, and within minutes a small click echoed the room. My hand grazed over the door, but I was stopped by a wide eyed Vic.

"Are you crazy? We can't face him alone." He growled, stating it as if it was the most obvious fact in the world. Which it was. I stood silent as he locked the door and pulled me out of the bathroom. He pulled me onto the couch, and I quickly cuddled into his side.

"We have to stay awake, to make sure no one gets taken again." I told him, he just sighed. I know we were both tired, but we were the only ones awake. He just nodded and began playing with my hair. In a few minutes, I was left alone. His soft snores confirmed my loneliness, and it took everything in me to not run to the bathroom and save my friends.

But I knew if I was going to do this, I was going to have to do it right.