The Boy Who Couldn't Save Me

Chapter 1: Run Rabbit, Run

when the fox hears the rabbit screaming, he comes running... but not to help. ~ unknown

i made a deal with the devil the day i was born... in the conditions of said deal, it was promised that i would curse the lives of which i entered because a dark omen was attached to the soul i was trapped in...

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
I'd been listening to that same noise for the past forty minutes in this tiny room I was forced to wait in.
All that was in the room with me was a table with a chair on either side and a big mirror that every time I looked at, it was showing me my sins.
My leg was bouncing up and down against the floor and my insides were still shaking as I rested my arms across my stomach.
BANG!
I kept hearing the sound of that final gunshot that ended up with me in this room. The look on Zack's face as he held the gun in his hand, the fire in his eyes and the hatred in his skin completely took over him and caused him to make decisions that he's sober mind never would have.
The vision of Hunter's leg bleeding out onto the floor wouldn't leave my mind and to be honest, I wished he'd never been saved. The fact that he would even shoot himself was unsurprising to me, especially after the encounter I had with him in my dad's bedroom, who I'm sure was by his side right now. If I had never found that gun, Hunter would never have had it and we wouldn't be here now.
I stood up and walked around the room. My legs were going numb from sitting too long and I was going out of my mind. Frankie got taken into a different room to be questioned and I just had to wait my turn. The person I was really concerned about was Zack and what they might be saying to him right now. What was happening in there and what was going to happen to him? Was he getting medical treatment for his hand and for his head?
Just then, Sheriff Banks walked into the room, holding a file in his hand and a pen between his fingers.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Bailie," he said as he looked up at me.
"Where is Zack?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips. "I need to see him."
"Why don't we sit down and talk first?"
I sighed and sat on the same chair again and stared at the table as he sat opposite me. Sheriff Cody Banks was a very handsome man with brown hair and brown eyes. He was in his late thirties and was divorced about five years now. He began flicking through pages, re-reading the lines that were freshly written; the ink slightly smudged.
"Alright, so why don't we talk about what happened?" he asked, looking up at me.
"I already told you. Hunter shot himself."
"Why would he do that?"
"I don't know, 'cause he's fucking crazy!" I said.
He looked back down at the pages and then leaned forward as he looked back at me.
"Why were you there at Hunter's house to begin with?"
Now what was I meant to say?
"We were just talking to him," I mumbled.
"There must be a reason why Zack went over there in the first place. Have they been fighting lately?"
I stayed silent. There was nothing else to do.
"Bailie, I'm not gonna be able to help you until you start telling me the truth."
"What do you want me to tell you? That's what happened."
"Zack said that he went over there to confront him about something and you and Frankie followed him. Do you wanna tell me what that something was?"
"No," I quickly said.
His blue eyes reached the file again and they stayed there for several seconds. He flipped a page and I tried to read the upside down and squiggled writing but then he looked back up at me and our eyes met.
"Bailie, is this to do with your father?" he quietly asked.
Alright, who talked?
"Why would it have anything to do with my father?"
"Well, it's been brought to our attention that a few months ago, your father sexually assaulted you and Hunter witnessed it."
It felt like every organ inside my body just dropped to the pit of my stomach.
"Bailie, it's okay," he whispered. "You can talk to me."
"Zack told you about that?"
"Bailie, if this is true, we can arrest your dad and bring him in for questioning. We can even talk to Hunter too, since he was named a witness.
"No," I told him. "It was months ago and I'm sure that the evidence has washed off me now. Not to mention, you know how much of a powerful man my dad is. He's got Hunter wrapped around his little finger."
"When did it happen?" he asked.
"You were never supposed to find out about this."
He looked at me and his blue eyes became sad.
"Alright, I'm sorry. But, I know now and I can help you."
"It was November 11th," I told him. "Two days after Frankie's birthday. I was brought home by the cops because I was spiked..."
"Wait, wait," he stopped me and his face changed. "November 9th? I brought you home that night."
"You?"
"Yeah, you were sitting against a street lamp and you were talking all kinds of nonsense. I just thought you were drunk."
I stared at him for many seconds, not knowing what to say to him as he quickly wrote down everything we had to say.
"Sheriff?" I said and he looked up at me. "Can I see him, please?"
"My colleagues are still talking to him," he told me. "They won't be done with him for a few hours."
"But, he's innocent. He didn't shoot Hunter."
"Well, that may be case, Bailie but there is gun residue on him and his fingerprints are on the weapon. Hunter is currently in surgery as we speak and need to speak to him before we can progress the case any further."
"But, he didn't shoot him," I persisted. "I was there. I saw him shoot himself."
"Then why are Zack's fingerprints on the weapon?"
"Hunter pointed the gun at him first and shot at him. Zack just took it from him and the gun went off. When he dropped it, that's when Hunter picked it up and shot himself."
"Alright," he quietly said then spent a few seconds writing everything down.
"Bailie, are you sure you don't wanna tell me what happened with your dad?"
"No," I quietly answered.
"Alright, do you have someone that can pick you up?"
"What?"
"Well, you're not under arrest. We just needed your statement."
"Where's Frankie?"
"He's also free to go," he told me. "He's outside waiting for you."
I sighed and stood up and so did he.
"I'm really sorry about all of this, Bailie. I understand this can't be easy for you."
"I just want Zack to come home," I told him. "He's hasn't done anything wrong."
"Bailie," he said again as I turned towards the door. "I've been told that you're pregnant. Is it true it's possible it could be your dad's?"
I just stared at him and that was enough of an answer. Zack literally told him everything and now there was no backing away from anything.
He stared at me and I turned to walk out the door again. Frankie was sitting on a chair in the hallway with his elbows resting on his legs. He looked as exhausted as I felt. He looked up at me and then stood up and threw his arms around me.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I just can't believe all this," I told him. "I just don't want anything to happen to him."
"I know, me neither," he stood back and looked at me.
"I just called my dad, he's gonna come and pick us up."
"Okay," I nodded, realising I've never met Frankie's parents before.