Disclaimer: I am just a fan... a crazy, obsessed fan... but I do not own The Suite Life on Deck or The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

Chapter 5: Tape 2-Horror in the Alley

"Now go find Emma, Woody, and Marcus. It's time for you to see the second video."

Bailey exchanged looks with Maya. The brown-haired girl had a look of shock on her face, but also one of anticipation. It was clear that Maya really wanted to know what had happened to Cody.

Bailey wanted that too, but, unlike Maya, she was also very apprehensive. After Maya had shared her hypothesis that something terrible had happened to Zack's brother, she had unconsciously started imagining scenarios that would involve Cody being unable to attend Seven Seas High. Her mind was filled with visions of Cody being kidnapped, tortured, raped, or abused. She swallowed nervously. She swallowed nervously. She didn't want to see something like that. She silently thanked her parents for raising her in a small town like Kettlecorn, not a big, dangerous city like Boston.

Trying to rid her mind of those thoughts, Bailey followed Mr. Moseby down the hall to his cabin; Maya having left to get their friends and teacher.

Once she was seated in the same comfy armchair that she had used last time, the thoughts once again descended down on her, like an inevitable plague. This time, though, they strayed away from Cody, and towards his brother.

Zack. Bailey was aware from their pre-video talk the last time that whatever had happened with Cody had changed him. But, she had never fully grasped the concept, instead pushing it to the back of her mind. She wasn't sure why, but she now realized that this knowledge of Cody was giving her an entirely different perspective on Zack. For four years, Bailey had known Zack Martin as the prankster, the class clown, and the one who never paid attention.

But, now that she knew that Zack had gone through a presumed tragedy, she was seeing his actions in a completely different light. Did Zack play pranks to distract himself from his missing brother? Did he slack off in class because he was reminded of Cody every time he did well? Was the reason he tried to get others to laugh because it eased the pain about losing his brother, twin, and by the looks of it, best friend?

Bailey sniffed, trying to dam the sudden stream of tears. She didn't know the true reasons of his behavior, but she did know that carefree Zack Martin was more burdened then Bailey ever could have imagined.

The door suddenly opened. Bailey welcomed the distraction, watching as Maya led Miss Tutweiller, Marcus, and Woody into Mr. Moseby's cabin. Maya looked at Bailey, and she hurriedly looked to Mr. Moseby, who was standing in front of the TV, so that the brunette wouldn't see her tears.

The four of them quickly sat down in the seats they had used last time and looked at Mr. Moseby, waiting expectantly for him to start the new video. Bailey squirmed uncomfortably. She remembered how, last time, they all had been joking about Zack's prank on Mr. Moseby, the mood light and happy. Now, everyone was solemn, aware that what they were about to see most likely wouldn't be good. But, despite all that, Bailey didn't wish to go back in time. She felt privileged to learn more about her friend, even though it was so tragic and Zack didn't even know what they were doing.

Mr. Moseby suddenly stood up and cleared his throat. All eyes immediately flew to him and, even though no one had been talking, the room seemed to become even quieter, almost as if the universe was paying its respects to Cody Martin.

The almost supernatural effect was ruined when Mr. Moseby hesitantly said, "This next video shows what happened. There are a few more afterwards showing the effects. I have to warn you, though, it's not pleasant."

Bailey exchanged a nervous look with Maya, and Mr. Moseby retrieved the same The Tipton box and grabbed a different DVD, placing it in the player. He sat down and pressed the 'play' button on the remote, and the six of them turned to watch the video, Bailey trying hard to ignore her bad gut feeling.

The screen lit up, and, unlike the previous tape, Bailey immediately heard multiple laughs, although whoever had the camera was pointing it at the concrete.

Questionably, Bailey looked at Mr. Moseby. His face was completely pale, and his eyes were squinted closed. She turned back to the TV, not reassured at all.

On the screen, the camera raised up until it showed the face of an African-American boy. Bailey recognized him as the boy with the last name Thomas, who had flirted with her and Maya on deck. She had forgotten about him until this point, too preoccupied with thinking about Zack and Cody.

The boy sent the camera a cocky smirk, then said "What's up, everybody? The name's Drew, Drew Thomas."

Bailey raised her eyebrows. So his name was Drew? That was certainly helpful information, but why was he in a video about Cody? Shaking her head, Bailey returned her expression to the screen. Drew had turned the camera, so now it was facing away from him. About twenty feet from the camera was the entrance to the alley that the group was in, where it met the street. Bailey could see cars whizzing by, and the camera zoomed in on a short blonde boy walking in front of the entrance. He was walking rather quickly, looking rapidly to the sides, like he expected to be attacked. Bailey knew Boston was full of weirdoes, but she was pretty sure most people who lived there didn't expect to be attacked. Her eyes widened as she realized that this boy must be used to it.

The camera abruptly turned back to Drew. Bailey narrowed her eyes at his unwelcome appearance.

Drew smirked at the camera. "See that kid? His name in Cody Martin. He has the same biology class as me, and today we had a test. I told Cody to sit in front of me, so I could copy off him, but he sat behind me!" Drew paused to send the camera a wicked smile. "So now, he's gonna get what he deserves."

"Marion," Bailey suddenly heard Miss Tutweiller ask. "What is he going to do to him?"

Mr. Moseby paused the tape and turned to their teacher. Bailey noticed that his face was still pale, and his eyes had a troubled look in them. Bailey followed his gaze to Miss Tutweiller, whose face had a similar look.

Miss Tutweiller started relentlessly questioning Mr. Moseby, but Bailey wasn't listening. She was thinking back to what Drew had said. "He's gonna get what he deserves…" Bailey's eyes widened. She didn't know a Cody Martin in her time, and she knew that this video was meant to tell her why. She didn't really think a twelve-year-old boy, even one like Drew, could hurt someone so severely. But… she flashed back to the argument Zack had had with Drew earlier on deck. At the time, what Drew had used to torment Zack made no sense to her, but now Bailey was starting to understand. She was pretty sure Drew had been talking about Cody. That would mean he knew what had happened. And since Bailey was didn't think that Zack would let him know, it would mean… Bailey gasped aloud in pure horror.

All eyes turned to her. Miss Tutweiller and Mr. Moseby stopped feverishly arguing, and Maya, Marcus, and Woody stopped watching the pair, moving their heads back and forth like it was a tennis match. It looked stupid, but Bailey suspected that they were only doing it to delay the acknowledgement that something terrible had happened. For once, Bailey wished she wasn't so good at inferring.

"Yes, Bailey?" Mr. Moseby asked.

She gulped, then voiced her conclusion. "Drew," she started. "He hurt Cody really badly, didn't he?"

Slowly, she her head to Mr. Moseby, hoping with everything she had that he would scoff, shake his head, and say that that was ridiculous.

Instead, he pursed his lips and said tightly, "You'll see." Bailey reluctantly turned back to the TV, every fiber of her being screaming that that was a yes.

Mr. Moseby pressed 'play', and Bailey watched as Drew handed the camera to one of his followers, while he and three large, muscular boys slowly crept down the alley, approaching an unsuspecting Cody.

Bailey was about to scream at him to run, not caring that it was a video and he wouldn't be able to hear her. Before she could make a complete fool of herself, however, Drew and his friends pounced.

It was almost painful for her to see. Surprised, Cody was easily launched to the ground by one of Drew's servants, hitting his head against the pavement. Bailey winced. That couldn't be good for him.

Next, Drew and the heavy boys started punching and kicking Cody. Bailey wanted to rip her eyes out so that she wouldn't have to see him hurt, but unfortunately, the person holding the camera had other ideas. The picture twisted and jostled as the person filming got closer, in order to capture their version of a good time. Bailey felt sick to her stomach as she heard the boys laughing and cheering on their leader. How could someone actually enjoy this? How could they not see how completely backwards and terrible it was? Shuddering, she turned to see how the others were taking this shocking news.

Mr. Moseby was still pale, looking at the camera with almost a wistful expression. Bailey raised an eyebrow. It looked like she had proof that the manager liked the Martins, even though Zack- and, judging by the first video, Cody as well- constantly got on his nerves.

Miss Tutweiller was staring at the camera with a disgusted and repulsed look, as if she couldn't believe that humans could act that unevolved, an expression Bailey agreed with one hundred percent.

Marcus and Woody just looked faintly disgusted, Marcus more than Woody of course, but it was Maya's reaction that Bailey noticed the most.

She had her knees drawn up to her chest on her chair, and her eyes looked horrified, like she was thinking Oh my gosh, I cannot believe this is actually happening! While Drew and the others' treatment of Cody was completely barbaric, Bailey suspected that the main reason for her extreme reaction was that she saw Zack in Cody's place, being tormented by the bullies.

Bailey didn't think that that was an accurate conclusion, though. She wouldn't deny that the twins bore an uncanny resemblance, being confused by even their own mother, but, as far as she could tell, the similarities stopped there.

She knew Zack had changed since the time of these tapes, but from what she had seen in the first video, at twelve, Zack had been a flirt, ladies' man, a troublemaker, and fairly teasing of his brother. Cody, however, was obviously kind, sweet, generous, and incredibly smart. She smiled softly. While Zack would always be her goofy, happy-go-lucky friend, she preferred Cody. He seemed to have all the traits she felt that a man should have, and as a bonus, he was incredibly attractive. At the time she was seeing, he wasn't even a teenager, but she knew that if they were currently friends, it would be hard for her to keep herself from going out with him.

A loud crack! jerked Bailey from her thoughts. She fearfully gazed back at the tape, and had to fight hard to keep from vomiting.

Onscreen, Cody was still lying on the ground. She examined him, and saw that he was passed out, the back part of his head bleeding rapidly. Her eyes bulged, but as if that wasn't enough, her gaze unwillingly traveled to Drew.

He was standing triumphantly over Cody, smirking. As she heard his friends' laughter, she looked to his hands.

He was clutching a belt, and the brown leather was stained red at the ends. Her mind numb, Bailey looked from Drew's belt to Cody's wound, trying fruitlessly to deny the fact that what she witnessed had not happened. Her attempt was ruined when a voice next to her shrieked: "He did what?!"

Startled, Bailey jumped in her chair and snapped to look at the others. Maya had jumped out of her chair, hair in her face, her brown eyes flashing dangerously.

She turned her rage to Mr. Moseby. "Mr. Moseby?" she asked in a dangerously quiet voice. "Did Drew just whip him?! On the head?!"

Mr. Moseby gulped. "Yes," he quietly responded.

Maya didn't appear satisfied. "Why?!" she demanded.

The manager looked away. "Drew Thomas is a terrible person. Everyone at the hotel, especially Zack and Cody, disliked him from the day they met him."

Maya looked like she wanted to know what that meant, but by his body language, it was clear that Mr. Moseby wouldn't reveal any more information.

Still fuming, the brunette sat down in her chair. She exchanged an angry look with Bailey, then looked away.

Bailey turned her attention back to the screen. Mr. Moseby had paused it when Maya started yelling, and it was still in that state. She studied the frozen figures.

Cody was still lying on the ground. His eyes were closed, and since there was no movement, she couldn't tell if he was still breathing. Her eyes traveled to his wound.

The hairs on the back of his head were clumped together by the blood, which painted then red. Right now, she couldn't tell how quickly the blood was flowing. She wished that the screen would stay in this image of perpetual termination, where it didn't look so much like the young boy was about to bleed to death.

Not wanting to look at Drew, Bailey locked eyes with Mr. Moseby. His face was pale and troubled. He quickly broke their glance, pressing the 'play' button.

On the screen, Bailey suddenly heard a siren. Drew and his friends looked around quickly, as if they expected it to be the police coming to arrest them. Bailey seriously doubted that that was the case, but Drew Thomas obviously was not very intelligent, so he and his followers fled the alley, leaving behind the camera, and poor, helpless Cody Martin.

"Oh my god," came a voice. Bailey jumped as Mr. Moseby paused the tape. Miss Tutweiller had spoken up. She had previously been so quiet that Bailey had forgotten that she was there.

Their blonde-haired teacher looked pleadingly at Mr. Moseby. "Marion? Is this how Cody dies? He bled to death, in an alley?"

At these words, Bailey's mouth dropped open in horror. She couldn't even imagine that. She pictured herself as dying as an old woman, surrounded by her friends and family. That's how it should be; your last moments should be happy. No one should ever die like this; alone, injured, and unconscious.

But, although Bailey was upset for Cody, she was more upset for Zack. Had he seen this video? She assumed he had, either by finding it online or someone at the hotel showing it to him. If he had, how had he felt when he saw that sadist of a boy beating up his brother? When they had fled, how had he felt knowing that his twin died alone? Bailey didn't know how he could handle it, judging by how close the pair seemed to have been. But, she reminded herself. It doesn't look like he did handle it.

"No." Mr. Moseby's voice provided a welcome distraction for Bailey, clearing her from her gloomy thoughts. "It isn't."

Confused, Bailey asked, "It isn't what?"

The manager turned to her. "Cody," he said. "This isn't how he dies."

Upon hearing this, Bailey perked up. "It's not? So he's okay?"

Mr. Moseby winced. "Not exactly." Bailey opened her mouth, but he, anticipating her question, said "You'll see."

Slightly fearful, Bailey turned back to the video.

The alley was now empty except for Cody, who was lying on the ground, although Bailey was pleased to see that he was steadily breathing. For a couple of minutes, that was all the camera showed, and Bailey realized that Drew and his followers weren't coming back, afraid that cops would be waiting to arrest them.

Idiots, Bailey thought.

Eventually, another voice could be heard coming into range of the camera. Like Drew, this voice was also familiar, but it was much more welcome.

"Cody!" came the voice of Zack. He sounded irritated. "Cody, where are you?! If you don't get home right now, I'm gonna kick your butt so hard…" Zack trailed off.

Bailey wasn't sure what stopped him, but a second later, Zack quickly rounded the corner, entering the alley, and gasped. Bailey looked where he was looking, and saw a thin stream of blood flowing away from Cody's head, towards the street. Her eyes bulged out of her head. How had she not noticed that?

"Oh my god," Zack's panicked voice snapped Bailey back to reality. His blue-gray eyes were trained on his brother's broken body, his face deathly pale. He stood frozen for a minute, then leapt towards Cody, pulling him practically onto his lap. "Cody?" he asked desperately. "Oh god, Codes, what happened?" He took a look at Cody's wounded head, and quickly jumped up, away from Cody, like he was afraid that he was poisonous. Shakily, Zack pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed 911.

"Hello?" he wailed desperately. "I need an ambulance on Maple Street by the Tipton! It's my brother, Cody. He's really hurt, and he's bleeding and he's unconscious! A-and…" Zack trailed off as the person on the other line talked to him. Bailey could see the tears welling up in his eyes, and he was taking deep, shuddering breaths, trying to keep himself calm.

Eventually, he said "Thank you," and quickly hung up the phone, then proceeded to sit protectively by Cody's side.

Once he looked at him, Zack seemed to lose his battle with the tears, and they started streaming down his face as he sat next to his brother, stroking his hair.

"Who did this to you, Cody?" he asked, his voice determined. "I swear, when I get my hands on them, they'll wish they'd never been born."

Zack then looked up, straight at the camera, his expression puzzled. He jumped up and ran over, taking it down from where Drew's follower had placed it. He turned it around, so all Bailey could see were the dumpy side entrances of buildings. Suddenly, she heard Zack gasp, and the camera was turned back around.

Zack was looking at it with a furious look, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Drew," he spat. "I know you did this. And you heard me. You'd better watch your back." Zack sent the camera one final glare, then the screen flashed black.

As everyone had done at the end of the first video, Bailey turned to look at Mr. Moseby. His face was pale, almost sickly. Bailey remembered that he had looked like that last time, but she couldn't figure out why watching the videos was so traumatic for him. Now she knew, but ignorance is bliss. She knew she'd never be able to forget the tapes.

The manager suddenly stood up and faced the crowd, like he was about to give a lecture to a group of students. "Well," he said in a hoarse voice. "So now you know what happened to Cody. Are you sure you want to see the rest of the videos? They're even worse."

This threw Bailey off guard. How could something be worse than that? She knew she had to see them, though. If Zack could live through it, she knew she could live watching it. She nodded her head.

Everyone else followed her lead, and Mr. Moseby said, "All right. I'll show you soon."

They nodded again, and everybody got up to leave, breaking off into groups to go return to their normal lives, although Bailey knew that was impossible.

Hello, everyone! Happy Two-Days-'Till-Halloween! I'm super sorry that I haven't updated sooner. But, I had good reasons! (See prevous authors notes.) Also, in my defense, I'm working on a new Suite Life story called The Alternate Divorce Solution. I'm not going to tell you much about it here, but check for it coming soon!

Shout-out to Guest, owlhero, and BsBLady for guessing who Thomas was, and another one to owlhero because I loved your reviews. They were very elegant and helpful.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapter 4!

allie1207

WoNdY Alice

Ash003

hearlandLoVeR987

Guest

Countrygirl19

koryandrs

gohanssj55

sharinganrockz1

owlhero (all chapters)

SweetTooth4Romance (You saw your name? That's cool. I see my name in tons of stories. It's really common, apparently)

Guest

Charmedgirl4ever

Sweet sacrifice (Guest)

sakura240

BsBLady

Guest

mooseman220

Gomez Lili

Annanguyen1912 (Guest)

MissAdventurer

Scottish-Dragon

Brenda q (Guest)

Penguinluver2232 (Guest) (Sorry, there isn't going to be Zack/London. I don't like it because I think it's unrealistic, but this isn't a romance story; it's more brotherly love)