Chapter 3: Where's Zane?

Riley awoke to the sounds of his hospital monitor. He looked around confused. His mother came in the room and smiled.

"You're awake. Oh my god." She came over and hugged her son. Riley just stared at her. He then rubbed his hands through his hair.

"What happened?" he asked. His mother had a mask of sadness on her face.

"Um, you were attacked last night. That zesty boy called the ambulance for you. For that I am grateful, but I still don't like him." Mrs. Stavros said. Riley shook his head in confusion.

"I was attacked, how?"

"Well apparently those vicious murderers who attacked those other kids, tried to attack you. You were severely injured." She said. Riley rubbed his stomach and felt his stitches. They hurt.

"Oh man. My back hurts too." Riley said.

"That wasn't as bad as your stomach though. You were stabbed an awful lot. Your father says that you could've died." Mrs. Stavros said with tears in her eyes. Anya then came in the room holding flowers.

"Hey, future QB; I brought you some get well flowers." Fiona came in behind her and smiled. Mrs. Stavros left the room to give them privacy,

"And I helped pick them out." She said happily. Riley smiled at his friends. He was glad to see some smiling faces, but there was one in particular that he didn't see.

"Where's Zane?" he asked.

Zane was on his way to Rosewood, Pennsylvania, to see his cousin. It was a long 7 hours and 42 minutes but he could do it. He had already called Emily to let her know he was on his way. Zane felt really bad that he just up and left like that, but he felt that it was the only way to keep everyone he loved out of harm's way. This was his and Emily's problem and only they could fix it.

"Okay guys, come on; where's Zane? I would've thought that he would've come to see me." Riley said looking down. Anya went over to his bed and sat down beside him.

"He'll show, I mean, you're his boyfriend. Why wouldn't he come?" she asked. Riley thought about it for a moment and a thought occurred to him.

"Can one of you go and get my parents. I believe I know why Zane isn't here." Riley said adjusting himself in his bed. Fiona then came back into the room with Riley's parents.

"Is something wrong son?" Mr. Stavros asked.

"Um, yeah, something is very wrong. Why isn't my boyfriend here?" Riley asked angrily. His parents were in awe. "Well?"

"We don't think you should be around that boy. He is kind of weird and by hanging around him it makes you weird." Mr. Stavros said. Riley noticed that they didn't even pay attention to the word 'boyfriend'.

"Weird as in…" Riley asked. His mother signed and sat where Anya was originally sitting.

"He is a homosexual. We don't want you around him because you could turn into one too." She said.

"But ma, I'm already one. I told you guys this already. I'm not saying it again!" Riley shouted. Fiona stood in the background with Anya.

"Wow, my mom was extremely caring to my coming out." She whispered. Anya just smiled at her. Mr. Stavros stood by his wife.

"Son, this is just a phase. There are plenty of women out there just waiting for you." Riley started to get angry.

"I don't like women, I like Zane. Now if you can't accept that, then leave!" Riley said pointing at the door. His parents got up and walked towards the door. His mother looked like she wanted to cry.

"We'll be back soon. Until then, that boy is not allowed in your room." Mr. Stavros said walking out. Riley laid his head back against his pillow.

"I can't believe them! Poor Zane's probably worried sick. Anya can you call him for me, please?" Riley asked. Anya nodded her head and walked outside.

"Fiona, I need you to go to my house and pick up some things for me." Fiona had a look of nervousness on her face.

"Um, I don't think that's such a good idea." She said. Riley was confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Fiona thought of a way to tell him that his house was being treated as a crime scene. So she just said it as sweetly as possible.

"Okay, well, your house is sort of being treated as a crime scene. You know, because you were almost attacked. You want a smoothie? I'll go get us some smoothies." She said while batting her eye lashes heading towards the door. Riley looked distant.

"No, no, Fiona. No smoothies. Oh man, this is horrible. When will I be able to get out?" he asked. Fiona shrugged her shoulders.

"They said you were injured pretty badly, so maybe a few weeks tops. Its summer time, so at least you won't have to worry about school." Fiona said while smiling. Riley couldn't help but return the smile.

"You always know how to make bad situations seem good, huh?" Fiona blushed.

"Flattery will get you everywhere." Fiona laughed and so did Riley. Anya came back into the room.

"He's not answering his phone." She said. Riley was lost at this point.

"He was here earlier, but then he left." Fiona said.

"Well that was because of my parents." Riley said. All three teens were confused as to where Zane could've gone.

Zane had reached Emily's house and knocked on the door. She opened it with a huge smile.

"Hey cousin! I'm so glad you're here." Emily said welcoming Zane inside. She took his bag and took it up to the guest room. When they entered it, she sat the bag down.

"Okay so what's the plan?" Zane asked. Emily thought for a moment.

"Well, we sure as hell can't let him kill our friends and family. So we're gonna have to find a way to lure him out. We both know hiding won't work." Zane looked at the ground.

"It's two of them this time, Em." Zane said. Emily was shocked.

"Oh no. This just gets worse and worse." She said. Zane sat down on the bed.

"So how's the boyfriend?" She asked putting her hands in her pockets. Zane looked at her with sad eyes.

"He's fine, last time I checked. But um, I had to get out of there. It could've been 10 times worse…!" Emily grabbed Zane's trembling hands.

"Hey, we'll figure this out together. We did it before, we can do it again." Emily said hopeful. Zane smiled and hugged her. They were in for a long summer.

A few weeks had passed and Riley was finally able to go home. After all that physical therapy and eating only liquids, he was finally able to do some normal things. When he got into his bedroom, he just looked around. It seemed so different now. His furniture was brand new, he had a new bed, and his walls were repainted. It was as if nothing had ever happened. But it did, he would never forget that horrible night. He sat on his bed thinking, but decided to get up. There were too many memories of what happened on his bed. Granted it was a new one, but he still felt weird about it. His mother came into the room with a laundry basket.

"So, do you like your new room, or does it bring back memories?" she asked. Riley shook his head. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry this happened to you. I really hope they catch this maniac before he hurts someone else."

"So do I." Riley said emotionless and sat at his desk. Mrs. Stavros gave him a sad look and then exited his room. Riley grabbed his phone and looked at it. He had a message from Zane. After he read it, he felt his heart drop.

He left because of me? He thought to himself. He quickly called Zane, but got no reply. Where could he have gone? Riley began to think about past conversations he had with Zane.

So your cousin's a lesbian huh, how'd her parents take it? Riley asked.

Not well, she had to live with us for a while. But eventually they came around and we drove all the way back to Rosewood. Zane said.

Rosewood? Riley asked.

It's a town in Pennsylvania. Since I let her live with me, she owes me a favor. We used to do this when we were little. Any time we were scared we'd find each other. We felt safer together then apart. She's like a big sister. Zane said. That's when it hit Riley. Zane went to be with his cousin! The only question is… why? Since Riley didn't know the answer, he was gonna take a little road trip to find out.

Ooh, road trip. The next chapter will disclose Zane's past. Review and i'll post more. This story will get better. Trust me. Non-members can review too. xoxo ShadowBeauty.