Silenced

Chapter 12

Mike was sprawled out on his weathered couch when he suddenly heard a faint knock on the door. He rose to his feet, huffing an impatient sigh. He was actually quite comfortable on the couch, so whatever or whoever was at the door better be worth his time.

The light switch beside the front door allowed Mike to flip on the porch lights. He could faintly see past the windows on either side of the door, and it didn't take him long to realize that someone was indeed at his door at ten o'clock at night.

Mike lazily unlocked the door and swung it open with a creak. He froze, the sight of the person in front of him making him feel nauseous. They were covered in blood and had bruises all along their face. They clutched their side painfully, and looked up at Mike with pleading green eyes. That person was Billie.

"Oh my god," Mike whispered.

"Mike-"

Billie Joe was cut off as he fell forwards into Mike's arms, feeling weak from the forced walk that he had to make in order to get to Mike.

"Whoa whoa, Bill," Mike said as he caught his falling friend.

Billie mumbled something back. Mike couldn't understand him, but he could faintly hear him say help. Mike was freaking out on the inside, scared of what happened to his friend. Was he jumped? Did Steve do this?

Mike soothed Billie Joe as he basically dragged him into the bathroom, trying to avoid getting Billie's blood on himself. Billie didn't respond or even react to Mike's soothing voice. He only let his feet drag behind him, feeling so scared that his body became weak. He couldn't breathe. What was happening?

"Here, hold on. Sit on the toilet, buddy," Mike told Billie Joe as he brought him into the bathroom.

Mike let go of Billie, thinking he could at least crawl up on the toilet. He was proven very wrong and Billie Joe flat out fell on the cold tile floor. His body fell with a hard hit that Mike must've thought had hurt him, but that pain was nothing compared to the pains Steve caused.

Mike sighed and went over to pick up his friend.

"Come on, Bill. Stand up," Mike pleaded as he tried to lift Billie Joe.

Billie's body was limp. Mike knew there as no way that he would be able to sit upright on the toilet, so he pushed Billie Joe up against the wall. He noticed that Billie was shaking and his breathing was filled with multiple gasps, but he tried to ignore it as he wet a rag to clean come blood off of Billie's hands and face.

Billie Joe only watched with droopy eyes as he saw Mike come towards him with the wet cloth. It was getting harder to breathe. His stomach felt strange. He was so unbelievably scared, even though he was as safe as possible at Mike's house.

Billie flinched when Mike rubbed the cloth over a particularly sensitive spot on his face. His body continued to shake as his stomach flipped and turned. His breathing only got worse as he suddenly remembered the cut on his side. Billie Joe reached towards it, clutching it tightly while thinking of what he was going to tell Mike.

"Don't touch it, Billie," Mike said quietly as he stood up to wash the blood off the cloth.

Billie Joe's eyes widened at the amount of blood that came off the rag and turned the once clear water red. His breathing sped up as he wondered how much blood he had lost. Was he going to die?

Mike looked down at Billie with worried eyes. Billie's behavior was definitely strange. Mike had never seen him so scared before.

Mike abandoned the rag in the sink and bent back down to crouch in front of his friend, never breaking eye contact. Billie Joe, for some reason, began to shake harder as Mike reached for the cut on his side.