devil town ━ the black phone

three. the loss of a friend is the hardest of all

THREE━━━━
THE LOSS OF A FRIEND IS THE HARDEST OF ALL

the black phone

ZIGGY WAS WALKING AROUND town, making his way to the Grab N' Go that his mother had strictly forbidden him from going to. But it's alright, because he didn't listen to whatever bullshit she had to say anymore, and he thinks she's starting to realize that.

It was the only place he was sure he could find Vance, and the two had agreed to meet up there around lunchtime for a couple of rounds of pinball. In his left pocket, Ziggy had a ten-dollar bill that he was going to convert into quarters just for the game, something he had told Vance not to worry about.

He knew Vance wasn't as financially stable as he was, so he offered to pay for the whole thing.

In his right pocket, he had a chocolate bar, something he had grown the love quite a lot over the past month or so. Almost every Saturday and Sunday, Vance and Ziggy hung out at the Grab N' Go. They would eat snacks and — of course — play some pinball.

He hummed softly and messed around with the necklace he had around his neck, smiling when the large Grab N' Go sign came into view. He wrapped his hand around the handle before pulling the glass door open, immediately being smacked in the face with the A.C.

He walked into the snack aisle and picked out a bag of chips, one that he had noticed Vance getting a lot, before he walked over to the counter, setting an additional five-dollar bill on the counter as well. "Thank you, miss." He said when she handed him the chips and his change.

With that, he walked back out of the Grab N' Go and sat on the edge of the window, waiting for Vance like he always does. It usually only took Vance ten minutes at most to get there. Ziggy assumed it was because he lived farther away but he couldn't know for sure as he had never been to his house before.

Then again, it could also be because his father was quite a nuisance. He questioned everything Vance did and disciplined him to an extreme. It was safe to say they both had parental issues. But he could've sworn that Vance said he was going to be there before him. He tried his hardest to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.

However, this time, Vance wasn't there within the next ten minutes. In fact, fifteen passed and he still wasn't there. Twenty passed and he wasn't there. Thirty passed and he wasn't there. At that point, Ziggy had started to grow worried.

Of course, he hadn't known Vance for long so he wasn't quite sure if being late was his usual, but that still didn't change the fact that he was worried.

"Don't worry so much." He jumped and turned to the side, looking at a young woman who stood near him. "Vance has been here already. He got arrested." He awkwardly laughed and nodded, looking at her suspiciously before getting up off of the ledge, stuffing his hands in his front pockets. How did she even know that he was looking for Vance? And also, why did he get arrested?

He knew that wasn't the case. Something about this felt off, something was wrong. He tried his hardest to push back those thoughts as he began to walk back home, despite his hesitation. Where was he? The feeling in his stomach was so bad that he started to feel nauseous, so much so that he had to stop walking and sit for a moment. He needed to breathe. It got so bad to the point that his heart was starting to ache. He coughed and leaned against the fence near him.