𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 | 𝐙𝐢𝐜𝐤 [𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐙𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐲] ✔️

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕

October 1983

I open the door and walk around with the gun pointed at any possible threat.

Someone at the Shadyside mall had called and then hadn't answered.

It could just be a prank but it could also be an emergency.

I took a deep breath and tried to push away all the bad memories of that night.

I hadn't been back to that place since I gave the directions on how to build it, I hadn't been able to and at no time did I need to, until now....

I hear screams and it takes me a second to realize that they were not part of my memories.

I run in the direction where they come from and I visualize a boy attacking a girl, I don't hesitate to shoot the gun, but when I get closer I realize I was too late, she was already dead.

They were just a couple of teenagers....

I look up and my gaze meets the tree.

The dead image of Ziggy flashes through my head.

"Don't die on me, don't die on me."

I close my eyes, pushing that thought away and turn around to report the incident.

...

"It's easy in times like this to drown in questiones of why, why this happened? But I know too well there are no answers that will provide relief. There's no peace found in the past..."

My mind travels back to '78 again as I speak at the candlelight vigil that had been organized in honor of the eight Shadyside victims.

I couldn't understand how this kept happening, it kept repeating over and over again.

Were they never going to understand?

...

Less than an hour ago we were at the candlelight vigil and now we were here, at some kind of car accident that could have ended in another tragedy.

Shadyside versus Sunnyvale, it had always been that way, it always would be that way.

"It was just an accident", Deena replies.

But something didn't match the story, they were lying.

"Alright. Well, if you do think of anything," I say, as I write in my notebook, "give me a call." I tear off the sheet and hand it to her, "I'm on your side."

"Yeah, totally", she replies sarcastically.

I understood why they wouldn't tell me what had really happened, the Shadyside people didn't trust the Sunnyvale people and vice versa.

...

"Yeah, the mall killer, Ryan Torres", she says.

I frown.

"That's Ryan Torres", I say pointing to a photo.

"Yes! That's him. I know but you guys must have made some mistake or something... Look, I know what I saw".

Nothing she's saying makes any sense.

"Okay. Let me get the right paperwork", I say reaching for the form, "Would you say it was more like, uh, Dawn of the Dead or Night of the Living Dead?", I ask with a smile.

I'm not falling for that joke.

"Wait... You don't believe us?" Sam asks.

"This was a waste of time."