Memento Mori

Breathing In the dark

Monday, October 7

Nathan

Today is the day.

Nathan takes a deep breath and looks at the gun in his hands. It was a gift from his dad. A bit ironic considering what he was going to do with it. The heaviness of it was meant to calm him down. Today he will take care of that punk-ass bitch Chloe after all. He has done enough of listening to others or letting others use him. But right now, he has other thoughts running through his mind.

Thoughts of Rachel.

Of not knowing what happened to her.

Or worse, the look Mark gave him after he asked where she was.

The gun reaches his chin without his acknowledgment. He doesn't even care that the safety is off or that his hands are shaking. It's like he is in a dream where he has no control over his limbs. Where there are only voices of Rachel in the darkroom over and over until his ears start to bleed. Doctor Jacoby would have scolded him for it, saying he forgot to take his pills. Shit! Did he actually forget to take his pills?

A laugh leaves from his mouth.

It ends today after all.

Who said it had to end with Chloe?
.
.
.

Warren

Warren feels the jittery in his skin more than normal today.

Like today is the day Max is going to call him a loser for pinning after her for months. Or the fact that in his head, they already have a future together. No, Warren, no. You can't think like this! Everyone already thinks you're a weirdo. No need to prove them by having a panic attack in the bathroom where the Blackwell bros could enter any minute.

Just to make sure Max got his previous message, he sends her another with his heart thumping a mile.

W: So...you saw the movies yet?

There's no response and his heart is about to fail him until he sees something even more disturbing. The King of Blackwell, Nathan Prescott with a gun pointing at himself. The guy usually leaves him alone if only he ignores the fact that every day his slate is filled with beta phag alerts. Or that he calls him Gayram instead of the name his dad gave him. But nothing matters now. Not when he's about to see the guy he secretly hated blow up in front of his own eyes.

"Nathan?" His first call to him is a whisper. He doesn't want to spook the guy into pulling the trigger.

Nathan doesn't notice him first but the trembling in his hands slow down a little. So Warren tries again. "Nathan? Can you hear me?"

"Graham?"

Warren's heart skips a little. He has never heard anyone sound so done. So...broken.

His own voice cracks much to his dismay. "Yeah, it's me. Can you-can you please listen to me? Like listen to me when I tell you that it's not worth it? You have friends here, great friends. Remember, Victoria? Imagine what she will feel if you...do this. What I will feel if you-"

"Do what?" Nathan finally looks up, his blue eyes filled with fear and confusion. Warren has his own confusion when Nathan finally realizes where he was pointing the gun at and it drops on the floor with a clink. The sound makes Warren flinch but the sound that comes from Nathan makes him even more scared.

"What-Whatever the fuck! Why was I-You didn't see anything. Did you hear me! Nothing! You say a word about this and I will sue your ass so fast!" His wild eyes meet Warren's and Warren can't help but watch as he picks the gun again with a curse and runs from the bathroom.

It's not until Warren hears a grumble coming from outside that he realizes Nathan Prescott just ran out of the bathroom with a gun. A gun! What if Nathan was still thinking of taking his own life?

No.

Warren can't let him die. Not even if he was the biggest asshole in town.

He runs after Nathan, frantically trying to find where he went. As a caution, he knocks on Nathan's dorm room first but by the looks of it, he didn't come here. In his quest to find Nathan, he asks Hayden, Zachery, and Victoria who gives him a piece of his mind but when even they say they didn't see Nathan after last night, Warren starts to feel the panic in his bone.

Where the hell that guy can go?

"Warren!"

He's momentarily distracted from his search only to be face to face with Brooke. Shit, he was supposed to go meet her to compare notes. How did he forget about that?

"Hey, Warren. You look...in a hurry."

He starts to knot the edge of his hair, not finding any words. "Ah...I was actually."

"Huh?"

"I mean in a hurry! Not because I wanted to ditch our study date or something." He winces hearing his own voice but thankfully, Brooke only laughs.

"Then I will let you have your emergencies." She pauses, looking up at him with a weird look. "It's Max, right?"

"Hmm...? Oh, no, no. I was actually looking for Nathan."

Her eyebrows raise in question. "Nathan? Nathan Prescott?"

"Yeah. Have you seen him?"

"Why are you looking for him suddenly?" She crosses her arms in a hostile urgency. "Is he bothering you like Logan and Zachery?"

Of course, she'll come to that conclusion. No one wanted to go out of their way to search for the King of Blackwell. He shakes his head immediately. "No! I mean we are working on a project and he's not answering his phone. Thought I'd look for him myself."

She doesn't believe him, he can see that but she's smart enough to not voice it. "Well...I haven't seen him. And I'm not looking for him, so I most likely won't but good luck on finding your partner."

A sigh leaves from his lips. "Yeah. I'll talk to you later."

"You better." She leaves him tense, guilty and feeling terrible about lying to her. It's not like he can tell her about what Nathan did. Something tells him she won't be this eager to save a Prescott. Did he even have his number? Warren can't recall and he never felt so hopeless like right now. He's about to tell the principal as a final straw when he sees Nathan going headfirst into the girl's bathroom. Warren is relieved and at the same time concerned that he's going to do this in the girl's bathroom now.

With a sigh, he enters the room while making sure no one notices his fragile form slip through the door. As soon as he's inside, he hears Nathan mumble something about he could blow the school up if he wanted to. A shudder runs through his vein but he's not done. He didn't come here just to leave without making sure Nathan doesn't do anything to risk his life.

"Gayram?" Nathan squints his eyes at Warren. "I told you to fuck off! What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Calm down! I just-I don't want you to do whatever you're thinking of doing. I told you! You matter. Even if you think you don't. Your father-"

Before Warren can even scream, Nathan pulls the gun out to point at his own head. "You don't know shit about my father or me! Nobody here does! So what if I pulled the trigger then? Or now. So fucking what? You think anyone would miss me? Make a shrine to remember me by? You don't know what I have done. You have no idea...I'm not worth saving."

Warren has enough of this. Doesn't he know that Victoria would literally sell her soul for him? Or his Vortex bros would destroy anyone if they talk bad about him behind his back? He's about to prove his points when he hears an unexpected voice screaming.

"Nathan, NO!!"

Max?