We're Going to Hell

It had been about three weeks since I got in that horrible car crash and broke my leg, causing me to have to stay at Brian’s house. Last time I was on the phone with Saleigh, she said she was coming home soon from New York City. It was the ‘getaway from hell’ as she described it. She also offered for me to come and stay with her and Zacky once she got back, but to be honest, I was having a lot of fun, staying with him. We had grown really close, and we never left each other’s sides aside from when we went to bed. I had absolutely no intentions of sleeping with him, and surprisingly, he fully stopped with the sexual remarks. Not only at me, but he didn’t throw them around at other girls either. He was actually fun to be around, now. WE had to go and buy him a new fridge, since he accidentally ripped the door off of his last one. I’m not able to make fun of him for that anymore because he claims he hated the piece of shit, anyways, and wanted a new one, even though I still made it my personal business to tell that event to everybody we knew.

“Hey, I’m going to the studio to record some solos, do you want to come?” he asked as I sat on the couch watching Jackass 3.

“No thanks. I’m okay,” I said as I glanced at him, and then back at the screen. I looked back to see him staring at me with hurt and disbelief as he held his hand over where his heart would be. I couldn’t hold in my laughter as it escaped my lips, “what,” I asked, wondering what the act was for.

“You haven’t left my side for the past 21 days or so, and now you’re just leaving me for this…this…Novak?” he asked as, yet again, Novak’s ass was on the TV screen.

“What can I say?” I plastered a big fake and cheesy smile on my face, “I can’t resist those cheeks.”

“Ew,” his face contorted into disgust, “which ones?” our conversation was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass coming from the window behind me. I quickly jumped up, my leg stinging, and then I took my weight off of it and hopped as quickly as I could on one foot over to Brian. He had a blank expression as he stared at the now shattered window, and I looked behind me to find I had no reason to hop away that quickly. I spotted a brick with a note tied to it lying on the floor. It had only missed my head by a few inches, “great,” he stated, “something else to get fixed. This month just keeps getting better, doesn’t it,” he ranted as I sat down on the nearest chair. He went to go pick up the brick, detaching the piece of paper. As he read it, his eyebrows furrowed together.

“What does it say,” I asked, curiosity taking over, and he looked up at me, confusion spread on his face.

“Its…it’s addressed to you,” he stuttered. I was now confused as to what was going on now.

“Let me read it,” I said, extending my hand for the small note. He hesitated before he placed it in my hands.

“I’m going to call the police,” he said before walking off. I watched as he left the room before I redirected my eyes to the small note.

‘Payden. They’re hunting you. You need to leave. RH.’ It was so short, but it scared the absolute hell out of me. Who – or what – was hunting me? And who was RH? Of course the initials reminded me of one of Jimmy’s old nicknames; Rathead, “They’re on their way,” Brian’s sudden entrance scared the shit out of me, causing me to jump.

“Wh – who’s coming?” I asked, stuttering my ass off.

“The police. This is serious,” he pointed at the note in my hand, and I glanced down at it, “did you fuck with somebody you weren’t supposed to?” he sat down next to me, and I slowly shook my head.

“For the past 6 months, I haven’t left my house. I haven’t even left for school, which is why I flunked out,” I said, wondering who could be hunting me. Well, curiosity killed the cat.

“Well then, why would somebody be hunting you down,” he asked, looking at me with an expression that was pure concern, a face I don’t think I’ve ever seen on Brian Haner Jr.’s face.

“I don’t know. What, this might sound crazy, but what if this is related to Jimmy’s death,” I asked, as I tried to make connections.

“If it was, don’t you think that things would have started happening a lot sooner, instead of now?” he asked, and somehow the possibility of this being related to Jimmy’s suicide dissolved a little. Even through all of these strange events, something in my heart kind of told me that maybe – just maybe – he was still alive. I might be crazy for this, but I saw him with my own eyes, he touched me, and I felt it. I heard his voice, talking to me. That day I went home and saw him, it wasn’t a dream. It couldn’t have been. It was so real. I wasn’t going to tell anybody besides Saleigh, because honestly, she was the only one I could trust. The heavy knocks at the door pulled me from my thought process, causing me to jump about five feet in the air, “Coming!” Brian shouted, and touched my shoulder, “You’ll be okay?” He asked, and I nodded. I didn’t understand why he asked me, he was only going to the front door. I focused my eyes on him as he walked down the short hallway to the front door, and I was able to barely see past him, and the blue uniforms of police officers. One was tall and lanky, not skinny, but not fat. The other was short and plump, with a thick moustache.

They immediately noticed me once Brian stepped aside to let them enter, and under the awkward pressure, I focused my gaze back over to the broken window.

“Howdy,” the tall police officer said, a hint of a southern accent, “I’m officer Green, this is officer Harold, you must be Payden Harris?” he asked, and without looking at him, I nodded my head, “We received info on a note, would it be okay if we looked at it,” he asked, and I slowly handed the note to him, as I focused on the shattered glass, “Hmm,” he said, “Do you know anybody with the initial ‘RH’?” he asked, and I shook my head, only Jimmy’s nickname coming to mind, but it couldn’t have been him.

“Well, we’ve got an anonymous on our hands,” The short officer said. He sounded like maybe he was from Wisconsin or somewhere like that.

“The initials could be fake…to throw us off track or something,” Brian suggested. I had forced a bunch of CSI shows on him, so he became highly interested in the crime stuff. The cops and I just looked at him as if he had lost it.

“Anyways. If there’s really somebody hunting you down, we should arrange to put you in-“

“I’d rather just be on watch, and be able to live my nor – almost normal – life,” I interrupted him. The last thing I needed was to be put in hiding or something. I wanted the comfort of my own friends, “and also, could we not tell any of our friends aobut this?” I pleaded at Brian, and he nodded his head.

“It would be good to inform them if you’re in danger,” officer Green said, and I shrugged.

“Why they don’t know won’t hurt them.”

,,,

“So this is great. People want to kill you. Awesome. Just what we needed in our already hectic lives,” Brian paced back and forth as he ranted. There were guys here fixing the window, and a patrol car was parked across the street. There was actually a hidden camera on that car while the cops who were watching the house were parked down the street, watching a bunch of monitors that led to the many cameras placed around the house. I can’t say I actually felt more safe now, though. Not only was I in danger, my friends were in danger. But it was best to act as if we weren’t alert about what was going on, or, at least I hoped that that’s what’s best.

“Would you like me to go back to my apartment, so you’re safe?” I asked, “I get my cast off soon, anyways.”

“No,” he pointed at me, a stern expression on his face, “You’re in danger, and there is no way in hell I’m letting you go through this alone, you hear me?” He asked, and I nodded.

“Thanks…I think,” I said, and he smiled.

“I just…I care,” he said, and the hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

“Thanks again…I think,” I rubbed my arms as they suddenly got cold. Something about what he was saying made me feel really awkward. I doubted he had any feelings for me, but, he acted like he did. It was probably just him genuinely being scared and concerned for me. Yeah, that’s what it was.

“Are you okay,” he suddenly asked me, and while I was still in my daze, I slowly nodded.

“Yeah, just a little freaked out,” I lied. As if on cue, my phone started ringing, just another thing today that scared me shitless. I looked down at the caller ID, seeing Saleigh’s name appear. I answered almost immediately, “hello?” I asked, and Brian slipped out of the room.

“We’re going home tomorrow,” she said, sounding overjoyed by this.

“Well that’s good. This feels weird to say, but…I actually miss you,” I admitted.

“I miss you, too. Just probably a little less,” she said, causing me to laugh, and temporarily forget about the scary situation and the danger I was in right now.

“Well, that makes me feel good about myself,” I said jokingly.

“Don’t play that game. I heard you laughing a few seconds ago,” she said, and I once again laughed.

“You suck,” I Joked further, earning a snort for Saleigh.

“Zacky doesn’t seem to mind,” she said, and I suddenly felt lightheaded.

“Oh god,” I mustered.

“That’s right, I went there,” she taunted, and the smile was very audible in her voice.

“ I’m going to be sick,” I said, my hand over my stomach as the evil imagery wouldn’t leave my head.

“Yes, be sick, and let little Brian take care of you,” she said in a mock baby voice, and I smirked, an idea playing in my head.

“Oh, Brian’s not small,” I seductively retaliated, and her line went silent for a second.

“Wh – what do you mean,” she asked slowly, sounding absolutely terrified.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? Brian and I are dating now, and the first time I got in his bed, we-“

“OH SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW! FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU. OH MY GOD. BYE, FUCK YOU,” she said really quickly, and then the line went dead, telling me she had hung up. I smirked at her reaction, then frowned at the fact that she now thinks I am dating Brian, and that we go at it like fucking rabbits. I mentally groaned before my phone rang again, and I looked down to see Val’s name come up. I groaned as I already knew what the call was about.

“Hel –“

“OH MY GOD YOU AND BRIAN ARE DATING?!” Her voice sounded so excited as she cut me off.

“No.” I said bluntly.

“This is so awesome! Now all we need to do is find somebody for the midg – wait. You’re not?” she asked, now sounding disappointed.

“No, we’re not. It was a counter attack against Saleigh,” I admitted.

“False alarm, Matt,” Val yelled.

“God dammit!” I heard matt yell on the other end of the phone.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing,” she said quietly.

“Which is not Syn, by the way,” I said, clearly stating my point. Thanks Saleigh. Just, thanks a lot you psycho bitch.

“Okay,” she assured me she understood, and we got off the phone after saying our goodbyes.

“Payden,” Brian came in, holding his phone, “any reason Matt just called me, congratulating me because we’re dating,” he asked, holding back a smirk.

“I said it to get Saleigh to shut up,” I admitted, and the smirk left his face.

“Oh, I thought you had secretly started dating me without my knowledge,” the smirk was back on his face.

“You’re so cocky,” I glared, trying not to fight back the smile that wanted to show on my face.

,,,

“Okay, well now I am going to record some solos. Are you two going to be okay,” Brian asked Saleigh and I. Saleigh had been home for a few days now, and I was getting this stupid cast off in a couple more. Everything had died down now involving the note somebody graciously gave us.

“Yeah, we’ll be good. Just…be careful,” I warned him. Even though everything had died down, I was still being very cautious.

“Yeah, don’t pluck a string and have it hit you in the eye…even though that would be pretty funny,” Saleigh grinned. She didn’t know anything about the note, and she didn’t need to. She would go batshit crazy, and move to Japan or something.

“I hope you rot in a hole,” Brian said, a blank expression on his face.

“Rotting? Like your dick?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

“It’s perfectly fine,” he yelled, and stormed out over dramatically.

What a baby,” she teased, then turned to me, “so I’m excited you get that damn thing off in a few days,” she said as she pointed to the neon pink cast taking up my whole bottom right leg. Most of the cuts and bruises I had were almost gone, thankfully.

“I am, too. I get it off Sunday,” I informed her, remembering what the doctor told me at my checkup this morning.

“What’s today? Thursday?” she asked.

“Friday,” I corrected her. I only had to live with this anchor for another day, then it was gone, and I could take an actual shower.

“Well this is awesome,” she grinned, “I’ll just have to find a way to break the other leg.”

“What,” I looked at her while furrowing my eyebrows, thinking maybe she had just lost it. Maybe I would have a reason to send her to the happy farm, and finally get rid of her for good.

“What,” she mimicked me, and I slid the palm of my hand down my face.

,,,

“Brian,” I asked as I knocked on his bedroom door. He hadn’t come home from the studio last night, and I was starting to get really worried.

“Nobody’s heard from him,” Saleigh came over to me, “and Zacky’s on his way. Is he in his room,” she asked, peeking past me.

“No. I’m actually worried about the fucker. What if he was dognapped,” I asked in a dead serious tone, “did you call the studio?”

“Yeah, and nobody picked up. I don’t even think the studio’s open right now. Should we report this to the police,” she asked, glancing back down at the phone she was clutching.

“We have to wait forty-eight fucking hours to be able to report,” I reminded her.

“Hey. Any signs?” Zacky asked as he came in.

“No. Maybe we should go check the studio,” Saleigh suggested, and I looked down at my broken leg, trying not to hobble on the crutches,” and we could call Johnny over here,” she suggested.

“Oh come on. Johnny’s to scared to check for monsters in the closest,” I said, then remembered they didn’t know what was going on, and they only suggested to call him over to keep me company, “I – that would be cool. I haven’t seen Stumpy in a while, anyways,” I covered.

“Alright,” Saleigh said, already calling him up.

“We’ll stay until he gets here and keep you company. You must be lonely never being able to leave with that thing,” Zacky said as we walked to the living room so I could sit down.

“Well, actually, I can leave. I just choose not to,” I corrected him, and he nodded.

“Short shit’s on his way,” Saleigh came in and informed us.

“Hey, that’s very mean,” I pointed at her, laughing at Johnny’s nickname.

“Yet so very true,” she smile evilly, and she cracked more jokes about him for the next few minutes, until Johnny walked through the door.

“Hey,” he grinned, and then went to the kitchen to raid Brian’s food.

“Well, we’re going to go now,” Zacky said, “we’ll call you.” He said before walking out. Johnny came over and joined me.

“So what’s all of this about?” he asked, and I sat back on the couch, retrieving the remote before I did.

“Brian’s gone missing,” I said, “And they’re going to go look for him,” Johnny and I talked a lot until my phone finally started ringing, and I looked down to see Zacky’s name scrawled across caller ID.

“Hello,” I asked into the phone.

“Okay,” she started, horror in her voice, “his car’s here. So we broke into the studio and like, raided it, he is absolutely nowhere in there. I honestly think somebody took him.”

©Shannon.