Huntington Avenue | ✓ [PV REWRITE]

Part II: Chapter 13

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Chapter 13 | ❝ You sly dog! ❞

Monday, November 26th, 2018 - 3:43 a.m.

FAMILY WAS ZACH'S safe space...

...or was it?

He found himself in a familiar setting. It was too familiar for his searching eyes, but he could not pinpoint where exactly he was. The rain was pelting down on the other side of the window separating him from the outdoors. Zach soon came to discover he was in a moving vehicle. The realization was sickening and caused instantaneous nausea.

Zach looked down and was dismayed to see not his seventeen-year-old body below him, but the one of when he was six years old. He shuddered at the flashbacks tormenting him, but the worst part was that he could not control what was going on.

"Why won't anyone pay attention to me?" the small version of Zach whined.

His mother retorted, "I'm talking to your father. Wait patiently, please."

"But Mom-!"

"No buts," she insisted coldly.

The little boy was very upset about his parents not paying him any mind. He loved attention more than anything, and when it was not given to him, he did his best to receive it anyway. So, he attempted once again.

"Mom! Dad! Can I tell you a funny joke I heard today?"

"Not now," his father burnt his question down like an old bridge. Carelessly.

"Please?"

"I told you for the last time, no!"

"Why does everyone ignore me?!" the child screamed in anguish.

His father whirled around in the driver's seat. His eyes were blazed with fury and annoyance at his son. "I'm looking at you. I'm giving you attention. Are you happy now?!"

"No...," Zach gulped in genuine fear.

He fought the urge to cover his ears as his mother screamed about an oncoming car heading straight towards them. Zach had experienced this moment way too often in dreams, flashbacks, but most of all, the first time—reality. He could not do it again. He felt himself harshly shaking and bracing himself for the impact that was about to come.

In a panic, Zach yanked at the door handle to bail out, but it was to no avail. The door was locked. He attempted to bang his fist against the window. Nothing happened. It was too late...

He let out a cry at the top of his lungs as the two vehicles collided and he lurched forward. The sound of cracking, blistering glass, headlights, and the vehicle itself was nearly enough for him to hurl from fright itself. Zach felt his body become nearly crushed by the seat in front of him. The pain was too much for him to bear, so he succumbed to the only thing he had left: