Toxic

Toxic: Chapter #19 | Flagging Distant Isolation

Zach's Past

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⚠️Warning: ⚠️

This chapter contains graphic violence, mild blood, sexual abuse, non-consensual sexual acts, collaring, being tied up, being suffocated (no death), being raped, being choked...there's a lot of DARK stuff here. Please heed the tags and warnings. We're getting closer. Just a couple more until Zach's journey changes course. Take care!!

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When I first began telling you about my story, I mentioned how close my siblings and I were. I also mentioned how close my mom and I were. Now, however, I haven't mentioned them at all, and I think it's time to tell you why.

After Alec told me he didn't want to talk to me and didn't want me to come home, I was crushed. I felt heartbroken but I didn't blame him if I'm being honest. I had made him a promise and I didn't keep it. When I first got to college, I talked to my family every single day. Sometimes I called them multiple times a day. Then Jayden came back into my life, and I talked to them less and less. Some part of me knew that no one in my family would approve of me moving in with Jayden. Some part of me knew no one in my family would understand why I was doing so. Therefore, I didn't tell them. Looking back, that was one of my biggest mistakes.

Just like I couldn't seem to find time for my friends, the same was true for my siblings. When Noah had a championship game, I wasn't there. I was sound asleep when I would've needed to leave in order to make it in time. When Noah's team won and he ran over to where we would all usually sit, he saw, mom, dad, ZuZu, E-Z, and Gecko. Do you know who he didn't see? That's right. Me.

Gecko was upset with me, and Boa upset with me. The way I see it, I had made a promise. I broke that promise and it gave them the right to be upset with me. Had I been more open with my family, perhaps all of that could have been avoided. That is also probably the reason why what I'm about to tell you next happened. I wish I had been there that day. If I had, I would have finally gotten away.

Jayden had asked me to run into town and do a few errands. I wasn't about to say no to that. It meant I'd have some freedom however short.

He gave me a list of what to get. "Make sure you don't forget anything. You have two hours to be back here with everything. You know what will happen if you're even a minute late. Now get going."

I took the list and put my coat on before heading to my car. It had been a long time since I had driven myself anywhere. As I started it, I sucked in a breath at the feeling of it vibrating. Then I was off driving towards the city.

Apparently, while I was gone Jayden had a visit from a couple of police officers. They were doing a wellness check on me. I had no idea about it but that didn't prevent me from facing Jayden's wrath when I got back. However, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

According to Jayden-later retold to me by my sister-this is what happened when those two officers showed up. (Their names were Officer Levi and Officer Nelson.)

The police car pulled up alongside the curb and parked then both officers glanced up at the house. It didn't look ominous or like a place a wellness check would be needed. Looks can be deceiving though.

After a few minutes, Officer Levi spoke. "It seems innocent looking enough. What did the former roommate say was the reason for requesting the wellness check?"

Officer Nelson pulled out the information and said, "He said he hasn't seen him more than twice since he moved. According to what he's been told by classmates, Zach is displaying signs of being in an abusive and/or unhealthy relationship. He went from spending most of his time with his friend group to essentially no time with them at all. He has never missed any classes or practices but in the past couple weeks he has missed several."