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WARNING! This chapter contains possible triggers please read with caution.
Ch. 27 A Night Cut Down by Tragedy
(CLARE)
"What the hell did you do to Zig?" Fitz snarls taking a step toward Vince and getting out his switch blade.
Vince never loses his smile but he grabs Fitz by the shirt and shoves him into the cement wall. At the same time Vince pulls a gun from his waistband, he cocks it and holds it under Fitz's chin. My heart is pounding and I'm terrified that I'm about to watch Vince shoot Fitz.
"MARK!" I scream fearing for his life and it feels like time freezes in this horrifying moment. Fitz moves his hand to stab Vince but one of his boys sees and hits Fitz's wrist into the wall until Fitz drops the knife. "STOP IT! What are you doing let go of him," I plead grabbing Vince's arm and trying somewhat fruitlessly to pull Vince away from Fitz. I'm sure they're going to kill him and I'm almost shaking with fear. "Vince stop let him go. I'll do whatever you want just leave him alone," I beg in desperation and now Vince turns his attention from Fitz to me.
"Clare what are you doing you can't give yourself to this c…"
"Shut up Fitzy," Vince hisses hitting Fitz across the face with the gun. I gasp and it gets caught in my throat, my eyes closing briefly in fear as much from the sound the gun hitting Fitz's face makes as the thought that the gun could have gone off just now. "Quiet Fitzy boy or I'll shoot your tongue off. If Clare wants to trade her body for your life I don't see any problem with it," Vince grins at me and looks at the boys with him. "Hold him here while I see how much Clare can handle," Vince tells them and they start laughing.
Vince let's go of Fitz and turns to me, he starts reaching out his hand for me while his boys begin stepping toward Fitz. In the split second that Vince has let go of Fitz and is reaching for me Fitz grabs him by the hood of his hoodie. He yanks Vince back and grabs the gun from him. Vince's boys all start reaching for their own weapons but Fitz now has Vince's gun and he uses it to shoot Vince in the foot! The sound especially under the bridge is incredibly loud and my ears are ringing. Vince screams in pain, his boys are startled that Fitz actually shot and they freeze for a second but it's enough. Fitz keeps the gun, takes my hand and we take off running. We run out from under the bridge and then Fitz turns so we're not running in the open. It's not enough however as we hear gunfire behind us. Under the bridge it was a horribly deafening sound but now it sounds like pops. My heart is pounding and I'm holding to Fitz tight, he turns and fires the gun again not really aiming just firing back or maybe trying to scare them. We keep running, zigzagging through the trees and running as fast as we can. Suddenly I feel a searing in my right leg, at first it doesn't hurt it's just hot but then I feel pain.
"Agghh," I scream and stumble to the ground. Fitz turns to me as I fall and let go of his hand.
"Fuck," Fitz says firing a couple more times and then sticking the gun in his back waistband picks me up.
He runs again, exiting the ravine as soon as he can and now that we're in the open Vince's boys seem to have backed off. Fitz keeps running a short distance but we know this neighborhood, this is our neighborhood and we're near Sean and Jay's garage which is exactly where Fitz goes.
"SEAN!" Fitz yells running into the garage portion and not the office.
"What the fuck happened?" Sean asks pulling Fitz into the locker room with me. Before Fitz can answer Jay comes back, he looks at me, grabs the first aid kit and starts wrapping a roll of gauze around my calf.
"I'll call for an ambulance," Jay says.
"Better get the cops too we ran into Vince Bell and some of his gang. I took his gun when he tried to take Clare, I shot him in the foot and we ran. His guys shot at us, I still have the gun," Fitz tells them.
"You two are lucky you're not dead," Jay comments grabbing his cell from his locker.
"Vince also commented that he was the reason Zig is missing," Fitz enlightens them and they both go a little white. Jay calls 911 and Fitz puts more gauze on my leg.
"I don't feel so good," I complain as things start to spin a little and I begin to feel woozy.
"Yeah you've been shot in the leg and you're losing blood," Fitz says putting an arm around me and I lean against him.
"Cops and an ambulance are on the way," Jay tells me.
"I'd better call Spinner, Fitz keep her conscious until the ambulance gets here we don't want her going into shock," Sean instructs. Just as Tony comes back to the locker room, he sees all the blood and tells Sean and Jay that he'll cover their load and call in another mechanic.
Sean calls Spinner and I hear Spinner yell loudly when Sean tells him I've been shot in the leg. Fitz forces me to talk to him until an ambulance comes. The EMTs put me on a gurney but I'm still holding Fitz.
"No I don't want to go alone, I hate hospitals," I shake my head.
"Fitz and Sean have to go with the cops. I'll come with you," Jay says and I let go of Fitz.
"Jay we need to find Zig, I think Vince did something with him," I assert as the ambulance begins rushing to the hospital.
"We will don't worry about it, now be quiet and let the EMTs do their job. Just don't flirt with them," Jay comments.
"I like flirting," I giggle.
"Yeah I know," Jay replies with a sardonic tone.
"She's lost a lot of blood for a single wound in the calf how long was she bleeding?" The EMT asks Jay.
"I don't know our friend just came running in with her, they were getting shot at he was more worried about getting her to safety than wrapping her leg," Jay responds.
"We were under an old railway bridge," I tell them.
"She's probably been bleeding for fifteen or twenty minutes then," Jay sighs.
"Tell them to have blood ready," the EMT calls to his partner.
We reach the hospital and the EMTs take me out running me inside with Jay following. It's bright in the hospital and a doctor comes running over with a couple of nurses.
"Fifteen year old female with a GSW to the right calf, no exit. She had been bleeding for about fifteen twenty minutes her BP is 80/50 she' going to need blood," the EMTs tell the doctors as they hand me over.
The next few minutes are mostly a blur; I'm rushed into a room and hooked to an IV for blood and fluids. They bring in a mobile X-ray and take a shot of my leg, then they elevate it and that's when Spinner bursts into the room. His eyes are wide; he looks frantic and worried and rushes over to me kissing my forehead.
"Are you okay?" Spinner questions just as the door opens and the doctor comes in.
"She's alright; she's extremely lucky the bullet went into her calf and lodged in the muscle. Minimal damage to the muscle, it didn't hit the bone, just some tissue and muscle damage. We're getting her stabilized because she lost a significant amount of blood. We need to give her blood and bring up her blood pressure before we operate to remove the bullet. You can see it here, as I said she was extremely lucky if it had hit the bone are gone in higher at her knee it could have done significant damage. Have her parents been notified? We need paperwork signed."
"Our parents are deceased I'm her oldest brother and I have guardianship. I'll sign the papers," Spinner tells him. The doctor nods and leaves the room. "Drew and Adam are coming," Spinner says when the doctor is gone.
"No why would they come here everyone needs to look for Zig! Vince did something to him he's probably more hurt than me you all need to go find Zig," I assert in a desperate voice.
"I'll get a hold of everyone and tell them about Vince, make sure everyone else is looking for Zig but I don't think we can stop your brothers from coming to the hospital for you," Jay comments.
"You have to find him, Vince did something bad please find Zig," I beg.
"We will Clare just relax okay we'll find Zig," Jay assures me and I nod.
"Jay what about Fitz? He's not going to be arrested is he? Vince had a gun to Fitz and he only shot Vince in the foot so we could get away."
"I'm sure Fitz is fine, he'll give a statement and they'll see it was self-defense and release him. Besides he shot Vince in the foot, he wanted to wound not kill. I'll text Sean and call the others so we can go find Zig and we'll check in with you later," Jay remarks. He kisses my forehead too and hugs Spin before leaving my hospital room.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again," Spinner says.
"I was only shot in the leg and it's not like we went looking for Vince we were looking for Zig."
Spinner opens his mouth to talk again but the door opens and my brothers come in with their girlfriends and Paige. Drew hugs me, Adam hugs me and holds my hand, everyone looks a little white, you'd think I was clinging to life the way their all acting. Maya, Bianca and Paige hug me when Drew and Adam let go. I tell them all I'm fine and they ask what happened but I don't have time to tell them because the doctor comes in. He says I'll be taken to surgery in half an hour; I should be stable by then. I'll be awake for the surgery they'll just numb my leg.
"I want to go home after the surgery, I want to find Zig," I insist.
"One of our friends is missing will she be able to go home after the surgery?" Spinner asks.
"It's an outpatient surgery since the bullet didn't do too much damage. As long as there are no complications during the surgery it should be fine but she'll need to stay here for an hour or so for observation after surgery. If she's stable after that she can go home," the doctor replies.
"I'll call Jay and have everyone meet at our house to regroup and eat, hopefully by the time you're ready to go home Zig will have been found," Spinner says.
He leaves my room to call and I lay back closing my eyes and praying that Zig is okay.
(ADAM)
"Okay Clare you're stable and the surgery was a success you can go home. Stay off the leg completely for a few days, we'll send you home with crutches and some pain medication along with standard anti-biotics. Schedule a follow up appointment in about five days so we can see how the leg is healing."
"Thanks Doc, I'll get her signed out and get everything you need, can one of you get her home?" Spinner requests.
"Yeah I'll get her home," Drew nods.
"I'll stay with you," Paige says.
The girls help Clare get dressed again while Drew gets his car and pulls up to the emergency entrance. When Clare is dressed Spin carries her out to Drew's car and sets her in the back. Maya and I get in Bianca's car and we follow Drew and Clare home.
"I hope they've found Zig," Maya says from the backseat of Bianca's car.
"We'll find him," I assure her reaching back to take her hand but I'm worried too.
When we pull up to my house it looks like the only ones not here are Spin, Paige and Zig. I even see Sean's car so he and Fitz must be done at the police station. Drew picks Clare up and carries her in because she can't put weight on her leg for a few days. I walk ahead and open the door letting Clare and Drew in first.
"Are you okay?" Fitz asks her.
"I'm fine, it was in the muscle just can't walk for a few days. What happened at the police station? You're not in trouble are you?"
"No I told them what happened and turned over the gun. They'll want a statement from you too, said they wanted to talk to me again but I'm not under arrest. Vince went to the hospital for his foot, he'll live he just won't be out of the hospital for a few days and has to have surgeries. The police will talk to him when they can and they're trying to round up his gang," Fitz says taking Clare from Drew and they set her on the sofa. Drew brings over a chair and puts a pillow on it so Clare can put her leg on it.
"Where's Zig?" Clare asks when she's settled.
"Has anyone found him? Has anyone heard from him?" Maya questions in a tone strained by fear.
"No we've looked everywhere he's not at home and we drove around, his mom hasn't heard anything, we even called hospitals," Lucas says.
"Spinner and Paige will be here soon we should eat and we'll go back out," Jay comments.
"Except Clare you need to rest," Drew commands.
Emma orders some pizza for all of us but I don't know that anyone is very hungry. Spinner and Paige arrive before the pizza; they bring in crutches for Clare and a bag of meds. We tell them that no one has heard from Zig yet and they sit down with everyone else. When the pizza comes most people put in some cash for it and Spin starts to get out plates. When my phone rings everyone looks at me probably hoping it's Zig.
"It's Dave," I tell them and walk down the hall to talk. I figure he probably heard from his dad about Clare getting shot and Fitz and Sean at the police station. "Hey Dave."
"My dad just got home and told me Zig was found shot earlier."
"What? But we called the hospitals a…"
"Adam," Dave cuts me off, "he's dead. He was shot in the face."
I sink back against the wall and feel the breath leaving my body, "N…no he can't be."
"He was a John Doe they couldn't identify him, not until Fitz brought in the gun and told them about Vince. His mom just went down there and identified him. Dad knew I went to school with him so he told me, he's talking to Simpson now but I didn't know if you guys had heard."
"No we were going to go back out and look for him. I'd better go tell everyone else thanks for calling Dave."
"Yeah see you tomorrow," Dave says and hangs up.
"What is it?" Clare asks when I walk back into the living room.
"Zig is dead, Vince shot him," I tell everyone.
Immediately everyone stops eating, if they were hungry no one is hungry now. Jenna starts to cry and K.C. puts his arm around her. Most everyone else goes white or some shade of green, everyone except Clare and Maya that is. Clare loses all the color in her face, she doesn't go white she loses all color and looks like she's just going to pass out.
"I don't feel so good I'm going to my room," Clare announces quietly and begins to get up apparently forgetting that she can't put weight on her leg. Thankfully Fitz is next to her, he scoops her up before she can put her foot on the floor. She puts her arms around his neck and Fitz takes Clare back to her room. I know Fitz will take very good care of my sister which is important because right now Maya needs me more. For a moment Maya just stands there completely still like she's been turned off. And then she breaks down, she starts shaking and tears begin rolling down her cheeks.
"No! No he's not dead he can't be dead!" Maya shrieks and runs out to our backyard so I follow her. "He's not dead, he's not it's some kind of Halloween trick! Someone is playing a cruel joke on us Zig is not dead Adam," she says with a tormented and desperate voice before collapsing to the ground. I sit down next to her shrouding her in my arms as she sobs on my chest.
"It's him Maya, Zig is gone. His mom identified him, he was shot with Vince's gun which Fitz took and turned over to the cops. I know it hurts but Zig is gone."
"No he can't be gone, he's my friend! We talked about music; he was nice how can he be gone? Why would Vince shoot him? Just who the hell is Vince?"
"A gang leader, he's Tiny's brother."
"No Tiny is our friend, he's Tristan's friend."
"Tiny didn't shoot him Vince did and I don't know why but Vince won't get away with it."
"He can't be dead Adam, I don't believe you, he can't be I want to see him," Maya says and rips herself from my arms. She gets up and runs from the yard through the fence. I get up and follow her out to the street.
"MAYA," I scream as she nearly runs out into the street in front of a car. With a burst of adrenaline I catch her and yank her back just before she gets hit. We both fall to the sidewalk and I hold her tight. From the corner of my eye I see some people coming out of my house. "You could have gotten yourself killed. You can't see Zig, not now he was shot in the face Maya. I know it hurts, Zig was my friend too and it hurts that he's dead and especially because we don't know why but killing yourself isn't going to help."
"Sean, Em, Paige and I are going to Zig's to see if we can do anything for his family. Everyone else is staying here, pretty sure everyone's sleeping over," Spinner tells us. He looks at Maya with compassionate pity but doesn't ask if we're okay because he knows we're not.
"Come one Maya let's go inside and be with everyone, Zig was important to all of us and I've lost enough people to know it helps to be together," I insist.
Maya nods a little and I help her to stand so we can go inside. Lucas gets off the sofa and we sit down, Maya sits in my lap and I hold her tight.
"Halloween will never be the same," Bianca remarks.
"Yeah it will always be the day Zig died," Tristan comments and Maya starts crying a little harder.
Maya continues sobbing violently and I hold her tighter, she cries so hard she cries herself to sleep. I pick her up and take her into my room putting her on the bed. She's out, exhausted from crying and the day's emotions, first Zig is missing then we hear that Clare had been shot and Fitz was at the police station. Now our friend is dead, a friend we saw just two days ago at Jay's party and now he's gone and no one knows why or how he ever got involved with Vince Bell. After getting Maya in the bed I decide to go check on Clare since neither she nor Fitz have come out of her room and we haven't heard anything from them in over an hour. I don't knock I already know they aren't doing anything I don't want to walk in on. Fitz is holding her and looks over when I come in; he kisses her temple softly and motions to me.
"How you feelin'?"
"I can't believe he's gone, I didn't know Zig that well but he was always around. I don't want to lose anyone else," Clare says quietly.
"Yeah I know me either. Do you need anything?"
"Water would be good, I'd get it but she hasn't let me go," Fitz comments.
"That's okay I got it. I think everyone is sleeping here I don't think anyone else will sleep in your room because you'd have to get around them on crutches or someone carrying you but the house will pretty full," I tell them and go out to the kitchen to get some water for the two of them.
I bring a couple water bottles to Clare's room and let my sister quietly grieve with Fitz. Everyone in the living room is either crying or somber and silent; Tris is being comforted by his boyfriends who are maybe the least affected because they didn't really know Zig. Jenna is sobbing silently and clutching K.C. while gently caressing her stomach as if to remember she holds a life inside of her. Bianca leans against Drew, neither is crying but they have tear streaks on their cheeks and they both have shocked, blank stares of devastation on their faces. Owen, Lucas, Jay and Johnny are silent and stoic, you can see the pain in their eyes though, and the guilt. I ask if anyone needs anything and they all shake their heads. I go into the kitchen to start cleaning, I start washing dishes just to be doing something, I need to be doing something or it's going to hit me that Zig is dead.
I need to be doing something so I can cope; I was okay when I was focused on Maya and then Clare. I've always sort of been in that caregiver role, Dad did his best and he took good care of us, so does Spinner but they've never understood how to handle Clare. And Drew's just not a caregiver; he takes care of us, protects us and loves us more than anything but he doesn't have a very nurturing side. And Clare well she can be very nurturing but she's usually the one causing trouble or finding trouble and is usually dealing with her demons. So at a young age I just started taking on that role in the house, the caregiver and nurturer. In part I think it was a way to try and suppress what I was dealing with. Now it's just habit, I take care of everyone else and as long as I'm doing that or doing something I can suppress my own feelings.
It doesn't matter it hits me anyway; I get an image of Zig at Jay's Halloween party. He's smiling in his costume and watching Jenna with a longing because he knows he can never have her. He's happy, he's alive and he was right there. If something was wrong, if he was afraid of Vince why didn't he tell one of us? We were all there that night; he could have told any of us that Vince was after him. We would have protected him he was one of us. He was part of our gang, we hung out, he slept here, we'd play music together. Me, Maya, Jenna and Zig we'd jam together and we were even talking about starting a band. Now Zig is dead, shot over what? Drugs? Money? Revenge? Whatever it was it wasn't worth my friend's life! I'm overcome with anger and grief, I start growling unintentionally and smash the plate I'm holding on the edge of the sink. I slump down to the kitchen floor bringing my knees to my chest and begin crying. Drew and Bianca surround me; they put their arms around me and hold me while I cry. We stay like that until we hear the front door open and Spin, Paige, Sean and Emma come in.
"Zig's family is devastated they have no idea why he had a run in with Vince. The funeral will be next Saturday, I told them to call if they need anything," Spinner tells us.
"Dad was there, he doesn't expect any of you at school tomorrow," Emma says.
"We should get to bed it's been a long day," Spin comments.
"Maya's already asleep in my room. A couple people can sleep on my floor but Clare's room should probably stay just her and Fitz in case she needs to get up," I remark and Spin nods.
After a short discussion it's decided that Sean and Emma will sleep on the air mattress on the floor of Spin and Paige's room, Tris and his boyfriends will sleep on the floor of my room, K.C. and Jenna will sleep on the floor of Drew and Bianca's room. Owen, Lucas, Jay and Johnny will sleep in the living room. I go into my room and find Maya still asleep in my bed. I change for bed, and get in with Maya while Tris, Riley and Zane make a bed on my floor. It's a good thing we've stockpiled blankets and pillows over the years. Everyone is emotionally drained and we all go right to bed, whether anyone actually falls asleep is another matter. I start to fall asleep but then Maya wakes up screaming and thrashing, I sit up and try to hold her but she's still thrashing. Tris turns on the light and Riley and Zane sit on the bed helping me hold Maya.
"Maya wake up it's okay you're safe," I tell her in a soothing voice.
Her eyes open, she looks at me and then bursts into tears again, curling into a ball she begins rocking back and forth. Zane and I hold her tight, doing our best to soothe her, Tris and Riley sit on the bed, all of us surround Maya and try to comfort her but our friend is dead what comfort is there? Nothing will bring him back and he died for no reason, what comfort is there after something like that?
I hold Maya and stroke her back softly, I worry that Zig's death has broken her, the final straw after a lot of pain and stress in the last few months. I wonder if she'll be able to deal with this or if she's going to take a dive off the deep end? And if she does will I be able to pull her back?
The update next Saturday may begin with the following morning or skip a day or two. It will likely include the funeral and what will become of Vince. It might also include Jenna and K.C. finding out the gender of their baby.