We're Going to Hell

Payden

,,,

I had been doing my best to avoid everybody’s calls, to the point where I had to turn my phone off. It had been about a week since Zacky stormed in here, kissed me, and stormed back out. It had scared me, I’m not going to lie, and thankfully, I haven’t seen him since. But there was what he told me, could it be true? Could Saleigh really be pregnant with somebody else’s baby? I wasn’t exactly sure on how Zacky knew; I didn’t get a chance to ask him.

I was scared to go back to my apartment. I wanted to see if Jimmy had taken the money or not, but what if he was there? He’d get his money, and kill me anyways. I was a witness, and I couldn’t be trusted.

Brian was getting annoyed with Matt and Johnny calling him every waking fucking minute, so he had silenced his phone and put it in the food cabinet. He had gone over to his dad’s, and offered to bring me with him. Actually, he had begged me to come with him, because he ‘didn’t want to do this alone’. I kept refusing, because I wasn’t feeling up to it. I was jumpy, and paranoid, and it was best that his dad didn’t see me acting like a lunatic. ‘You owe me,’ he had said before kissing me, and leaving.

I sat on the couch after that, watching reality television shows, getting my mind off all of the shit that was happening, when the front door opened. I had a panic attack in my head, and jumped behind the couch in a shitty attempt to hide from the intruder.

“Payden,” I heard Saleigh’s voice call through the house, weakly, “Payden, please tell me you’re here, I have to talk to you,” she begged, and I sighed, and I stood up, and she looked at me, confusion stricken on her face.

“Why were you hiding behind the couch,” she asked me cautiously.

“This hasn’t been a good week for me, so I freaked out, thinking somebody was coming to kill me,” I said, my last few words trailing off as I realized how stupid I was sounding.

“Why has your phone been off,” she asked, coming to sit down on the couch, “I’ve been needing to talk to you. Zacky’s disappeared, and I haven’t seen him for a whole week. Has he stopped by here,” she asked, and I shook my head slowly.

“W-why would he disappear,” I asked, not okay with lying to my best friend, but not knowing just how to confront her about what Zacky had told me.

“That’s the thing,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes, “I have absolutely no idea. He just up and left, without a single word. He won’t answer my calls. I’ve been leaving useless voicemails that I don’t even think he’s been listening to. I just want him back, I love him so much,” she said, finally breaking down in tears, and I walked over to sit on the couch, putting a comforting hand on her back. She was emotionally distraught over this, and I knew I should tell her he was here, but I just couldn’t bring myself to it, “And then I thought I lost you, too. You weren’t answering my calls. I came over here half expecting you dead.”

“I’ve just…this has been a tough week, like I said. I think I needed to stay away from everybody, but if I knew what was going on, I would have been over there in a second,” I told her, and she nodded slightly.

“I just don’t know what to do, anymore. My life is spiraling downward, it’s like there was a light at the end of the tunnel, but it ended up being a fucking train,” she said, leaning back against the couch, “everything’s hopeless.”

“Maybe....maybe he wasn’t ready to face being a father,” I blurted out, instantly wanting to take back what I said.

“He’s been questioning everything I’ve been doing lately. He probably doesn’t even think it’s his,” she said, a sarcastic and singly laugh escaping her chest, “serves me right. I should have told him everything. I kept everything from him though, for you,” she said, and then stood up, “I hope it was worth it,” she said before she walked out. I just sat there, staring in the direction of the front door, my words lost. This…

This was my fault.

Everything bad that’s happened has been all of my fault, and no matter how hard I try to fix it, I’m just not able to. I lay down on the couch, curling up. Jimmy should have killed me when he had the chance.

,,,

Zacky

,,,

“I’ll never stop loving you, even if you stopped loving me,” I repeated once again as I put the battery back in my phone. It had been 6 days now since I left, and I was getting ready for another one of her voicemails. It was honestly like loading a gun that I was going to shoot myself in the head with. I was surprised my phone even turned on seeing as I threw it pretty hard against the wall. I expected it to shatter. I hoped it would shatter. Once my phone was on, a notification popped up.

“You have one new voicemail,” I read the words out loud, a sadistic smile on my face as I put in the phone code so I could go to the voicemail, but I was surprised when it wasn’t Saleigh’s voice. It wasn’t Matt’s, Brian’s, Payden’s, or Johnny’s. It was Dr. Litner.

“Mr. Baker,” the voicemail started out, “I need to speak with you urgently, if you could call me back as soon as you get this,” he said, and I sighed. If it was just that important, I guess I would need to call him, hoping that Saleigh wasn’t in any harm. After all, I did still love her. I would have to go back, soon, too. I couldn’t be gone forever. I found the doctor’s number in my call history, and called him.

“Dr. Litner,” he said as he answered his phone.

“Hey doc, It’s Zackary Baker, you told me to call you,” I said, pacing around the room.

“Ah, yes, I have important news for you,” he said, almost repeating the voicemail.

“I know, you said that, so what is it,” I urged on, wondering what he could possibly have for me.

“It’s about that DNA test, where I said the results didn’t match,” he informed me, and I nodded.

“Please, don’t remind me,” I muttered.

“Well, I ran the wrong Baker. When I found out, I made sure to run yours this time,” he told me, and I nodded, “and these result do match. You are the father of her child,” he told me, and I stopped in my tracks, and my eyes widened.

“I’m the father?” I asked, dazed.

“You are,” he confirmed.

“Thanks, that’s a real help, but now I have to go,” I told him.

“I’m sure you do. Have a safe drive home,” it’s like he knew I had run away. I had so much explaining and apologizing to do, that it wasn’t even funny. I grabbed my wallet and ran down to checkout from the hotel. The process wasn’t quick enough, and neither was the drive home.

I sloppily parked my car in the driveway, having a fight with the key in the ignition. I got out of the car to see Johnny and Matt stepping out of the front door, and I didn’t have time to wonder why they were in there. I had to talk to Saleigh.

“Zack, where the fuck have you been,” Matt asked, looking a little pissed.

“I need to talk to Saleigh,” I said, rushing past him. She wasn’t in the living room so I immediately redirected my path towards the stairs. I jogged up the stairs. I ran to the door, grabbing the knob, about to turn it so I could open the door, but obviously the knob didn’t need to be turned, and I fell to the ground, hitting my head. I lay there for a minute or so before I decided to get up, and looked back to see Matt and Johnny behind me, and then in front of me to see the bed Saleigh and I shared empty, as was the room. I looked back at them, “where is she,” I asked, confused.

“In the shower, she hasn’t taken one for five days,” Johnny said.

“We had to throw her in there,” Matt finished, and I sighed before heading to the bed and sitting on the edge of it, “care to tell us where you’ve been?”

“I’ve been suspicious of Saleigh lately, she’s been hiding things from me and lying, so I got a DNA test on the baby to see if it was mine,” I told them, and they sat down on either side of me.

“Okay?” Johnny asked, “so?”

“The doctor called me and told me that the results didn’t match, and it wasn’t mine. I was so betrayed, and so pissed off, that I left,” I said.

“So why are you back now,” Matt asked, and I looked at him.

“The doctor made a mistake,” I told them, emphasizing the last word, “and so did I by leaving. God I’m such a fucking asshole. I can’t believe I ever doubted her,” I said, my head falling into my hands.

“Doubted who,” I heard Saleigh’s voice as she came through the door, and I shot up, staring at her, looking at her staring back at me with wide eyes, “Z-z-zacky?” she stuttered, tears welling up in her eyes immediately. I couldn’t find my voice, so all I did was nod. She ran into my arms, and I held her. I couldn’t do anything else but just sit there and hold her as she cried in my arms.

“I’m sorry,” I said, and looked up to see Johnny and Matt walking out of the room quietly. She pulled away, looking up at me.

“Why did you leave,” she asked, her voice quivering.

“Because I’m an asshole. You had been lying to me and keeping things from me, so I had doubts about the baby…” I said, the whole thing breaking my heart.

“You thought I was cheating on you,” she said, now looking like the betrayed one. I didn’t blame her, I went behind her back, I couldn’t even tell her about my doubts.

“I’m so sorry, I know I’m an asshole. I shouldn’t have put you through that,” I said, my arms back around her.

“I don’t even care, I’m just so happy to have you back, to know you’re safe. I love you,” she said, tearing my heart in two.

“I love you, too, Saleigh, I won’t ever stop,” this time I pulled away from her, and my hands were on her shoulders, “but you have got to tell me what you’re doing behind my back. You know whatever you tell me is safe, and won’t go anywhere else. I need you to tell me. Whatever this was, you’ve gotten hurt, and it has to do with whatever you’re keeping from me,” I told her, and she nodded, and sat down on the bed, and I went to sit next to her.

“You’re not going to believe me when I tell you,” she said.

“Saleigh, I know that now you’d never lie to me, you can tell me,” I assured her, and she hesitated for a second before starting.

“Jimmy’s alive. He’s really, really evil, and he used Payden this whole time for her money, and she has to get a shit ton of money for him. Her life depends on it. So does ours, the rest of the guys’, and Val’s. She was trying to figure out everything and then tell the rest of you guys,” she said, and I tried my hardest to not stare at her like she was crazy. Even though I know she wouldn’t lie to me, this….this couldn’t possibly be true.

“And…he’s the one who hurt you…?” I asked skeptically, and she nodded slowly.

“I…don’t know what to think of this,” I said slowly, my gaze focusing on the ground.

“You don’t believe me,” she stated. She didn’t sound hurt, or unhappy, she just stated it.

“I don’t know if I can,” I said, standing up, “I’m going to go take a shower,” I told her, and kissed her on the forehead before I retreated in the bathroom across the hall. It was a well-needed shower, as well. I had taken a few at the hotel, but I had to change back into the same dirty clothes, so the feel of fresh cloth would feel amazing. I washed up, and got out, drying myself off with a towel, and headed back to the room I shared with Saleigh. She was in the same spot, so I quickly got dressed and sat down next to her, “Baby, what’s wrong,” I asked, worried.

“You don’t believe me and…and I’m scared. I’m scared he’s going to come back and kill me,” she said, and I sighed.

“Okay, listen, I’m going to go do something. I’ll be a few hours, but I promise I’ll be back before it’s dark, okay?” I asked, and she looked up at me, and nodded, “I love you,” I said before disappearing from the room, and running down to my car. I had to see if he was really alive or not, and there was one way to do it. I sped down the speedway, not caring if I would get a ticket or not. I took the exit that I needed to, and parked in the parking lot of the cemetery Jimmy was supposed to be buried in.

I strolled to the office building, and to the receptionist, “I need to talk to the owner of this cemetery, I need to talk to him, now.”

“Sir,” the receptionist said in a calm voice, “there is no owner.”

“Okay, well whoever is in charge, I need you to pick up that phone and bring them here now,” I demanded, and she hesitated momentarily before picking up the phone, and dialing in a number. She talked to whoever was on the other line a few minutes before she hung up.

“He’s on his way now, sir, if you’ll please have a seat,” she said, motioning towards one of the few chairs in the building. I sat down, moving around impatiently. I shot up once a sharp man in a business suit walked in the building. He had brown hair, with a few grey streaks, and I wasn’t sure if he was the one in charge, but I only hoped.

“You said a man was here to see me,” he talked to the receptionist.

“Yeah, that would be me,” I cut in, and he looked at me and smiled.

“Hello, I’m Harry Gangs,” he said, reaching his hand out for me to shake it.

“Zackary Baker,” I said, disregarding his outstretched hand, “Listen, I need a huge favor. A lot relies on this, like possibly people lives,” I said, and he looked interested.

“Depends on what this favor is,” he asked.

“My friend was buried here about a year ago. My fiancée says he’s still alive, and he’s out to kill. I need his coffin dug up to see if it’s him in there or not. If not, I’ll make a statement, and get a warrant,” I threatened. I didn’t know if I was actually able to do that or not, but I had to figure all of this out.

“No need to bring in the feds. I’ll get some men to dig it up now,” he said, and I followed him to where he got a few men to dig the grave, and I led them to where he was buried. It took about an hour before they reached the coffin, and when they did, they got a machine to bring the coffin up. I quickly opened up the large oak case that held should be holding one of my best friends.

©Shannon.