Toxic

Toxic: Chapter #20 | Surprising Accident

Zach's Past

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⚠️Warning: ⚠️

This chapter contains severe injuries to two characters (not Zach or Jayden) and implied abuse. It's not as dark as the previous two. Take care!!

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Towards the middle of April that year, E-Z and ZuZu each had a break in their classes. They had decided to drive up to see me. I had no idea they were coming. Even if they had texted me to let me know, Jayden would've deleted the text.

I wish I had known then that soon one of the worse things to ever happen in my life would soon occur, perhaps I could've stopped it. I still think there had to have been something I could've done. I'm getting ahead of myself though. Let me backup and explain. What I'm about to tell you is what happened to my siblings, but from their perspective later on.

Zoe and Zeke met up halfway between their schools and drove to Long Beach University. They had missed me and thought it would be a good surprise. They pulled up to campus, got out and locked ZuZu's car. It took them a minute to find the right building but as soon as they did, they hurried inside. The building was the dorm where I originally had stayed.

They made their way inside and knocked on my old dorm room door. "Do you think he'll be surprised?" Zeke asked.

Zoe shrugged one shoulder. "I don't know. Probably but I just need to know he's okay."

Zeke nodded in agreement. Since I hadn't come home in nearly a year, they were seriously worried that something had happened to me. I wish I had been there. Something–several somethings–did happen to me-but I wasn't there.

Adam answered the door tilting his head. "Zach?" he said with surprise and something akin to relief and hope. "Holy shit."

Zeke tilted his head in confusion. "I um...I'm not Zach."

Adam was very confused. "Oh. Uh then who..." he trailed off.

Zoe was quick to offer an explanation. "I'm Zoe and this is my brother Zeke. Zach is our triplet."

I guess Adam had missed that fact when I told him or something back when we first met. His face fell a little. He would later tell me he had been so happy to see me or who he thought was me. "O-Oh. I see. Well, what can I do for you?"

Zoe and Zeke exchanged a look of concern before Zoe spoke again. "We came to surprise Zach. Can we see him?" Zoe never was one to be nervous to have her feathers ruffled but she wrung her hands together as her worry increased.

Adam looked at them quizzically. "You don't know? Zach hasn't lived here since the end of February."

Zoe's eyes widened as did Zeke's. "What?" Zeke said. "Wha-"

"What do you mean? He never said..." Zoe trailed off, tension settling in her shoulders.

Adam gestured for them to come inside and closed the door behind them. "Okay. So, let's have a seat."

When Abby came out of her room, Zeke received the same excitement from her that he had from Adam. "Zach?"

Zeke once again shook his head, a slight frown now marring his features. "N-No. I'm not Zach."

Abby's face also fell. "Oh." However, unlike Adam, she actually teared up and excused herself to go to Adam's room and shut the door.

Adam looked at Zoe and Zeke again encouraging them to take a seat on the couch.

Once they were all seated, Adam began to explain that I had met someone at the Valentine's Day party and had ended up being persuaded by him to leave campus.