Chapter 8

Kendall didn't even realize he had cried himself to sleep until he blinked his eyes open and saw the sun shining bright overhead.

He shielded his eyes with his hands, brushing leaves that had fallen off of the tree he had been sleeping under and onto his pants. He stood up and stretched.

He loved the first few seconds when he woke up. He was oblivious to the horrible things that had happened. For a few blissful seconds, he was happy.

But then, of course, things had to catch up with him. They always did. He remembered yesterday, his fist reaching out and hitting Carlos's face-

Kendall's breath caught in his throat. He had punched Carlos. He had never punched any of his friends, not that he remembered. He hated himself for doing something so cruel, especially to Carlos.

He'd only been trying to help, and not only did Kendall push him away, he'd yelled at him and hurt him. He'd hurt his little brother. He was a monster.

Maybe he did something to his little sister, too, that hurt her so much that she would put him as number 13 and-

At the thought, Kendall dropped to his knees and grabbed a fistful of his hair in frustration and hatred for himself. He screamed up at the sky, not caring who was around to hear it.

Why, Katie? What did I ever do to you?

He screamed and screamed at the world for making his life so horrible.

line line line

James knew something was wrong when he found Carlos crying in the bathroom, his nose bleeding and his eye black.

He hadn't been sleeping lately. He kept thinking about Katie, about Kendall, about what Katie had told him in her tapes. James didn't know what to do. He could have saved Katie, he could have. But he didn't.

They were all broken, all breaking. Kendall, the once strong leader, was now reduced to a depressed boy void of any emotion, or so it seemed. Logan, Mr. Smart Logan who spurted out facts randomly, hadn't picked up a book in months. Carlos, who was always happy and energetic, now barely talked and cried all the time.

And James, James knew he had changed a lot. Maybe he changed the most out of all of them. He no longer cared about how he looked, how other people thought of him, being famous. He now focused on protecting his three best friends and making sure that he never let them get hurt.

But looking at Carlos, he didn't know how good of a job he was doing.

"Carlos, buddy, what happened?" James asked gently, sitting down beside the crying boy. Carlos lifted his head and wiped the tears off of his face.

"N-nothing. I just… got in a fight." He said softly, not looking into James's eyes.

"With who?"

Carlos hesitated for a moment. "With… I-I don't know. Just some guy I saw…" He finally said quietly.

James clenched his fists together. "I swear, I'll kill him if I ever see him. If you ever see him, Carlos, tell me, and I swear I'll-"

Carlos stared him straight in his eyes. "No, James, don't. Really, I'm fine."

James watched Carlos for a second. His little friend had matured so much since Katie died. They all had, but childish Carlos had matured the most.

"Alright, Carlos. But if you ever need anything, I'm always here."

line line line

Number 6. It was time for number 6.

When he entered 2J, he was relieved to see that no one was around to see him enter his room. Logan wasn't in his room, either, so Kendall locked the door and sat down. This felt too familiar.

He took out the tape and pressed play. He didn't know if he wanted to do this, but it was too late to turn back now.

Alrighty, number 6. Mr. Number 6. Yep, it's a man. Finally. Kyle was a boy… but this one's a man. But I don't know if I'd consider him a man. He's too cruel to be considered a human being.

But that's just my opinion.

Number 6: Jett Stetson.

Jett… you've always been a jerk. A super hot jerk. The day you arrived at the Palm Woods, I was completely in love with you. Remember? I threw myself into your arms while my brother Kendall watched with disgust.

He was right to look at you like that.

Jett Stetson, sir, you are one evil man.

It happened that day I was home by myself. My mom was out shopping for groceries, my brothers were in the studio rehearsing. I remember receiving a call from you. You wanted me to come hang out with you, Mercedes, Camille, and Jo.

I said yes, only because I wanted to have a little girl time. Not time with you.

But when I got there, I knew something was wrong. None of the girls were there. I was by myself with you.

And then you reached over and locked the door. The click of that door will never be erased from my memory.

You grinned at me, rubbing your hands together greedily. I stared back, not knowing what to do. I knew what was happening. I knew too well.

I was only 12, Jett. I don't know what kind of pleasure you get from taking advantage of 12 year olds.

I tried to run. I really did. I screamed, I cried, I kicked you where it hurt. But you were strong, Jett, you pushed me back down onto the sofa. I thought I heard someone knocking on the door. But maybe it was just my imagination.

The person at the door left, if they were even there at all. And the rest is all history, Mr. Stetson. You know what happened. I did too.

You're one of the worst, Jett, my man. You broke me on the inside and on the outside. Emotionally and physically. You broke me in the worst way possible.

Rape.

The day I got home, I made sure to make it look like nothing bad had happened, but I had nightmares for weeks on end. No one was there for me when I woke up, though. I was all alone.

Does that make you happy, Jett?

No one comforted me. No one cared. I didn't tell anyone about it, and no one asked me about it. No one knew anything was wrong.

You made me feel so dirty, Jett… you probably didn't know what my father had done when I was little, but you were just like him. It was like living through a nightmare all over again…

Even after all the horrible things people had done to her, Katie had never cried once talking in these tapes. But now, Kendall heard the muffled sobs coming from Katie's mouth. It broke his heart.

It just hurt so much, hearing Katie cry but not being able to do anything. He couldn't do anything. Katie had died already, and when she'd been crying, Kendall wasn't there for her.

She needed him, and he had pushed her aside, forgotten about her. He was horrible, he was a monster, he… he was the worst big brother ever.

He had been pushing her away and pushing his friends away. He was a horrible person, wasn't he? He was just as bad, even worse than those people on the tapes.

At that thought, Katie finished her sobbing and returned to the tape.

Alright, sorry about that. When a 18 year old adult man rapes you, you're not the same anymore. Really. You can try it yourself, if you want to. I'm thinking you wouldn't.

So thank you for everything, Jett. You officially ruined my life and my childhood innocence. I don't understand why you would do something like that. But people are cruel; I've learned that the hard way. No one is nice in this world.

At least, that's what it seems like. Or maybe it's just me. Maybe I've just gotten the luck to know all the mean ones.

But there have been a few good people in my life. Some of them are even on this tape. It's just the bad things they do that push me to the edge. Literally.

Oh. Sorry. That was a cruel suicide joke.

Anyways, I hope you guys are still with me. I need to let everything out, just let all of you guys know the dark sides of some of these people. In Jett, I don't know, I don't think he has a good side.

Jett Stetson: The Black Rapist

Kendall pushed stop and stood up. He was done being mean. He'd already pushed Katie too far. He wasn't about to push his friends that far, either.

He closed his eyes, trying to remember what had happened today that he had to fix. He had run to the park, sobbed his eyes out in an empty place where no one was looking, but Carlos had found him-

Carlos. That was what he had to fix first. He had punched Carlos, his best friend, his little buddy. He had snapped at Logan, too. Not as bad as what he'd done to Carlos, but he still had to apologize.

They had only been trying to help. Carlos had just wanted to make sure Kendall was alright, and Logan… Logan had just stated the truth, hadn't he? What he said was true, yet Kendall still snapped at him, made him feel stupid. And Carlos had been so caring and so kind, making sure Kendall was alright, yet Kendall had still yelled at him and… and punched him.

Kendall had never, ever, hurt Carlos before. James, sure. Logan, sometimes. But Carlos? Never would he have ever even thought about it before.

But this wasn't before. It was now. And now, Kendall had been transformed into someone different, a darker version of himself. He didn't know what to do about it.

He had to apologize. That was the first step. Then, he'd try and make amends and try to get everything back to normal.

But nothing would be normal without Katie. Kendall had been there the moment she was born, and had watched her grow up. Katie was his little sister. He loved her more than life itself.

And now she was gone. Gone, ripped out of the world cruelly.

And it was partly his fault.

But maybe, just maybe, him and his three best friends could make things okay again. Not normal, but okay.

First, he had to make sure they didn't hate him.

Kendall placed the tapes back into the box. He stood up, pushing his chair back.

Maybe Katie was gone, but his three friends were still here.

A/N- Helllloooo, everyone! BTInvasion was awesome! Loved it, how bout you guys? And OMG, have you guys seen James's cover of "Clarity" by Zedd? AMAZING. His voice is absolutely beautiful. If you haven't checked it out yet, I reallllly suggest you do. It's on his Youtube channel.

Don't really have much to say… if you have any suggestions, review and tell me about them. I'll consider them into the story. ;)

Peace, Love, and Giraffes,

Anonymous Skrtle (insert smiley face here)