All Fall Down

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with WWE, NXT, or Ring of Honor! Just any OCs! Nor do I own the book this was inspired by. That would belong to Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Summary: AU. Two friends disappeared. Only one came back. Colby Lopez knows he's the key to solving not only what happened to him that night, but his still missing friend as well. The only problem is, he has no memory of the event, or of his own life. If he doesn't remember soon, he may lose his best friend. But if he does, he's the one who could wind up dead.

Characters: Tyler Black/Seth Rollins, Jimmy Jacobs, Summer Rae, Zahra Schrieber, AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Kevin Steen/Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Marek Brave, Shane Hollister, others and OCs featured

Pairings: Summer Rae/Seth Rollins/Zahra Schrieber, Jimmy Jacobs/OC, Austin Aries/Lacey, Dean Ambrose/Paige Knight, others featured

Rating: M

Genre: Mystery/Suspense

Warnings: Violence, language, character death

Song: "Another White Lie," Voodoo Johnson

Author's Note: Hey, guys! So, I've had this idea for a little while, and it was one that was bugging me to actually put out there. And, here we are! This story was inspired by the book "Don't Look Back" by Jennifer L. Armentrout, which I've read recently, because it was such an intriguing plot idea. I, of course, took only a couple small elements from it and have twisted it to my own design and added my own spin on things, but credit for the inspiration is still given where it's due. The title is also inspired by the song "Another White Lie" by Voodoo Johnson, which actually inspired quite a bit of the story as a whole. This is a bit of a challenge story I gave to myself for a couple reasons, such as I'm writing with some characters I've never written with before, and it's written in first person, which I primarily don't do (much thanks given to Cinnamon Muffin Punk for jumping on board and helping me out with the plot, too!). But, I thought it worked out better for this story. It's told from Seth Rollins' POV (unless otherwise noted in a chapter), and as he's trying to put the pieces of what happened to them together, see if you have any theories as we continue to go along that match up with his. A thing to keep in mind as he tries to figure out what happened, anyone in his life can be a suspect, so keep a close eye on the characters! With that said, feel free to read and review, just no flames, please. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

What the hell happened?

It was the only thought on my mind as I stumbled over a couple thick tree roots sticking out of the dirt path I found myself on. Well, other than damn, that hurts, as there really wasn't a part of my body that wasn't sore in some way. In the minimal, reddish light of sunset coming through the trees on either side of me, I could see that dried blood covered my hands and forearms, there was dirt under my nails, and my t-shirt and jeans were dirtied and torn in places. My head was pounding mercilessly.

What the hell happened?

I threw a hand out to steady myself against a tree, feeling my palm was skinned, when I stepped on the shoelace of my untied shoe, and I had to stop to catch my breath. I took a moment to take in my surroundings, but there was absolutely nothing familiar about the freshly budding trees or the path that wound through them. Where the hell am I? There were no signs around that I could see. Great. That was a real help.

Making up my mind to just keep going and see where the path took me, I pushed off the tree and limped my way along. My breath was still ragged, my head and every part of me still throbbing. I just wanted to collapse and curl up somewhere until it all stopped. I'd never been in so much pain before. But something told me that wouldn't be a good idea in the middle of nowhere.

As I forced myself onward, I tried to think of how I could have gotten out here, wherever here even was, and what I could have been doing that would bring me here. But the more I tried to remember these things, the more my head seemed to hurt as nothing came to me anyway.

Well, shit.

I cringed when my foot hit a rock I hadn't seen in the growing darkness, falling forward to my hands and knees. The landing in the dirt was soft enough, but the impact was enough to rock my entire body. My arms trembled under my weight, and it took everything I had to keep from faceplanting into the ground. I groaned. What could have possibly happened to cause all this? I felt like I'd been run over by a train, but I also knew that couldn't have happened since the train most likely would have come out the victor in that encounter.

But then, my eyes narrowed when brighter light caught my attention from up ahead, just around the bend. My heart leapt. Where there was light, there was most likely people. Even better, there could be answers.

But there could also be danger. What if I'd gone in a circle, and that's where I'd come from to begin with? What if that was where all... all this, whatever this was, happened?

I shook my head, clenching my jaw as I forced myself back to my feet before I stumbled a little. I had to take a chance. It was the only sign that I wasn't alone wherever I was that I'd seen, and I didn't want to think what would happen if I continued to wander around aimlessly out here when night completely fell. It could only be worse then.

The hard stone floor rushed up at me faster than I anticipated, and I gasped as my arms couldn't support my weight as they collapsed beneath me. My chin was jostled as it bounced off the floor, causing stars to appear in front of my eyes. The pain was almost numbing, but as I looked around, I noticed there was nothing else other than me in the dark room. It was me, and only me.

There was a door behind me. It was cracked open, as if I'd left in a hurry.

And from the other side of it came a cry of agony.

I shivered in the cool breeze and winced when a sharp pain shot through my temples, the darkening trees once again fading into view around me. What in the hell was that? Something I imagined? A memory? But if it was, it made no sense to me.

The pained scream lingered in my ears even still.

Trying my best to shake it off and forget about it for now, though I was shaken to my core by what I'd just seen and heard, I trudged toward that light which hopefully would prove to be my salvation. I was limping even worse than I had been before, having twisted my ankle when I'd tripped on the rock, but I was too close to give up now. This had to be something, it had to.

What I saw when I finally broke out of the trees wasn't what I expected. But then again, I wasn't exactly sure what it was that I'd been expecting. A brightly-lit, three-story brick building loomed ahead of me, stretching further than I could see with other, sometimes taller buildings sprouting up around it. A vastly sloping lawn of manicured, fresh green grass spread out before me, a smooth, concrete path lit by tall lamp posts winding around it out of sight. Young people with bags and backpacks hanging off their shoulders walked along the path, chatting with excitement and laughing, or were camped out on the lawn, poring over books and listening to music.

Where in the world was I?

It was when I stumbled forward when I tried to take a step toward this building I'd found when they started to notice me. The same people who had once been laughing and talking so freely were now stopping and staring at me with wide eyes. People who were sitting in the grass were pulling out their headphones and setting their books aside, their mouths agape.

But the look on all of their faces was unmistakable. They were all staring at me as though they'd seen a ghost. If it was my appearance, I had no idea. Though no matter what it was, it left me feeling very unsettled.

"C-C-Colby?"

It was the first voice I heard on the eerily silent lawn. I leaned forward a bit, resting my hands on my knees as my breath hardened before I chanced a glance around. A short, thin girl with waved black hair that fell past her shoulders was slowly standing up from where she'd previously been sitting at a picnic table, raising a pair of sunglasses to sit on top of her head to look at me better. I could see hints of tattoos on her forearms, hands, and neck underneath the black, lightweight sweater she was wearing. Since she was the only person moving and not staring at me as if I was some freak on public display, I had to assume that she was talking to me.

My stomach started to knot uncomfortably, my already pounding heart starting to speed up slightly more. I couldn't deny she was gorgeous. Man, how lucky was I that she seemed to know who I was?

"Colby?" she tried again, her voice still quiet and uncertain though slightly stronger this time. Not so confused.

But I was. Colby. Was that me? My name? I couldn't say for sure.

Though it must have been, because Tattoo Girl had left her books and shoulder bag behind on the table as she took a few steps toward me. They were slow, deliberate. Almost as if she was afraid she would scare me off if she moved too quickly or got too close. Like I was some kind of wild animal.

"Oh, my God... Colby, are you all right?" she asked.

"Col... Colby?" I repeated. Or at least, I thought I did. It came out more as a rasp, my throat sore and drier than it'd ever been. Man. Way to embarrass myself in front of her.

I tried to straighten up a bit, and Tattoo Girl paused. But that was the last of my resolve, and my weak legs finally gave out from under me, sending me crumpling to the ground. The smell of freshly cut grass filled my nose when my cheek hit, and I fought the urge to sneeze as I closed my eyes. For some reason, I feared the simple action would kill me after everything else my body must have gone through.

A frantic murmur went up around me, and though I could hardly make out any of the words that were being said, I could make out a couple phrases like, "campus security" and "hospital." I heard footsteps getting closer before a small hand landed on my back.

"It'll be okay, Colby... Help's on the way."

It was the voice I recognized to belong to Tattoo Girl. I tried to push myself up on my arms to face her, noticing for the first time that half of the long strands of my hair that fell into my face was black while the other was bleached blond, but I didn't get too far before I had to roll onto my back since I just didn't have the strength. Though, lucky me, my head somehow ended up resting on her lap. I forced my eyes to open as I looked up at her. To say she was shocked would be an understatement, but for whatever reason, she tolerated it. A small smile even lifted the corner of her lips, lighting up her eyes ever so slightly.

"Damn, Colbs, you look terrible," she muttered, hesitantly reaching a hand out before tenderly brushing some hair out of my face. "What happened?"

"I..." My eyes narrowed as I struggled to recall anything that'd happened in the past... well, whenever. But I couldn't. It was like there was an erased spot in the timeline of my life. "I don't... I don't remember..."

Tattoo Girl worried her bottom lip between her teeth as her brow furrowed in concern. "Okay, don't force yourself..." She sighed, appearing as though she didn't want to ask the next question which she felt she still had to ask. "Where... where's Jimmy?"

Jimmy? I closed my eyes, but again, no matter how much I racked my brain, the name didn't ring a bell. But I wasn't surprised. I wasn't even completely sure if my name actually was Colby. I'm not sure how I was supposed to know someone else's.

Finally, I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I... I don't know..."

The sigh of defeat from Tattoo Girl crushed me. I wish I could have told her everything she wanted to know and more, but there was no way I could. There was literally nothing in my head about what had happened, where I'd been, how I'd wound up back here, and who this Jimmy person was. Hell, or even about who I was. All I knew was everything hurt and my head felt like it was going to split open at any minute.

I blindly reached out, found her hand, and squeezed it. She flinched at the contact, almost as though she was about to pull her hand away. I started to loosen my grip, but her hand relaxed in mine before I could. Again, it was like she was tolerating me. But I still wished I could do whatever I could to help her. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do or say.

What sounded like faint sirens steadily started to get louder. Though where they were coming from, I couldn't tell. I slowly opened my eyes, finding Tattoo Girl's. In the minimal sunlight that was left, I could see the tears that were shining in them. Obviously, she must have had some kind of attachment to me and whoever this Jimmy guy was.

What the hell had happened to us?

Author's Note: For those who aren't familiar with who Jimmy Jacobs is (for those who are, feel free to skip this paragraph), he is one of the most notable names in the promotion Ring of Honor, among others, most known for his crazy, villainous roles. He was part of a tag team with Seth Rollins (back then going by Tyler Black) known as The Age of the Fall when Seth first joined Ring of Honor, and they were a tag team in other places, such as Wrestling Society X on MTV and the promotion AAW. He is now working in WWE as a member of the creative team in NXT. For those not familiar with Zahra Schrieber, she was partly trained by Jimmy Jacobs at the school in Detroit run by Ring of Honor manager, Truth Martini, and she is now in NXT as a Diva and manager role.

So, that's it for this chapter! It's more of an intro to set the tone, and there are supposed to be a lot of questions left at this point and no real clues to speak of yet. What happened to Seth? We'll find out as we keep going! Thanks for reading! Your reviews are much appreciated. Thank you!