⚘ Synesthesia ⚘

Chapter 9 ⚘

Chapter 9 of 11:
This Is Not What I Had Planned

It had been a whole day since Avery's argument with Ryder. Ryder hadn't made any attempts to contact Avery, and it troubled him a little bit.

Avery knew that Ryder wanted to be alone, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Very wrong.

That's why Avery was going over to Ryder's house today. He need to see if Ryder was okay.

Avery timidly opened the door to Ryder's home. He was terrified of what was awaiting for him on the other side. Avery was suffocating in blackness and it was getting hard to breathe.

When Avery walked in he noticed all the lights were on. Various papers and pillows were thrown about, leading Avery to believe that someone had an outburst. Avery knew it wasn't Ryder's dad because instead of marks or scratches on the wall, it seemed like a softer anger. A less violent one. One that only Ryder was capable of producing.

"Ryder?" Avery called out. There wasn't an answer. Avery walked through the house and peeked in different rooms, trying to find Ryder. After coming up with nothing when he looked through the kitchen and the bedroom, he started to feel a little panicked.

He's okay. He has to be okay.

Avery walked behind the couch and through the hallway. He saw a door that was partially opened, but not enough to see inside. From what he remembered it was the bathroom.

Avery pushed open the door to look inside, and what he saw made him weak.

In the room he saw an opened prescription bottle that was empty. Some pills had fallen on the floor, but for the most part they seem to have just disappeared.

No. He didn't. He wouldn't.

Avery frantically looked around trying to find Ryder. If he found him then it would be okay. He would be alive.

Avery's eyes landed upon a boy who was up laying in the bathtub. His body was limp and he seemed exceptionally pale. His wrists were stained red and there was a razorblade nearby.

"Ryder?" Avery asked. "Ryder it's me." The boy didn't give any sign of acknowledgement. "Please." Avery begged. "Come on, get up." He lightly shook Ryder, but to no avail.

Call the police.

That's it. If he called 9-1-1, then they would get here and they could save him. They could make him get better.

Avery dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed the three numbers to get help. This scenario seemed all to familiar to Avery. Except this time, he wasn't the one that was almost dead in the bathroom.

After two rings there was answer.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" And Avery didn't know why, but those few words sparked a realization in him.

He's not okay.

Ryder wasn't okay. He wasn't moving and he hadn't even acknowledged his best friend. Avery heard the woman on the other end of the line talking, but her voice seemed so distant and far. Swirls of black smoke invaded his peripheral vision and the walls seemed to be closing. Avery couldn't get any air and he was desperately looking around trying to find some sort of escape. He needed to get out.

He had to.

"Help." Avery whispered. "Please help." He begged. The world around him was getting darker and darker and he was starting to feel really dizzy. Avery felt as if he were floating and he didn't seem to be in control. He didn't know how long that lasted, but he remembered hearing a door being opened and people rushing in.

Avery felt himself being moved out of the bathroom, but everything seemed so fuzzy and far. He saw Ryder being put on a stretcher and Avery ran over. He no longer felt so distanced and he was himself again. Unfortunately, that meant that he was beginning to understand the gravity of this situation.

"But he's alive." Avery tried to tell them. "He's okay. You're going to make him be okay." He was just rambling now. Ryder needed to be okay.

He had to.

Avery was promptly pulled out of the way by a man in a blue uniform. "We're going to need you to get out of the way." Avery fought against the man to try to get to Ryder.

"Ryder!" Avery called. "Show them you're okay!" The officer held him back.

"He's not going to answer, kid." Avery shook his head. The officer had to be wrong. He had to be.

"Yes he is." Avery tried to reason. "He has to." Avery protested. The man sighed and led Avery to the couch.

"No," the officer said. "He's not."

Avery bit his lip. He knew what he was trying to say, but he had to be wrong. There was no way. Ryder wouldn't leave him. Ryder wouldn't hurt Avery like that.

"Look," The officer started. "There's no easy way to say this." The man took off his police cap and took a deep breath. "Your friend is dead."Avery shook his head frantically. The officer was wrong. He had to be.

In Avery's freak-out moment he was hit with a sudden realization; he couldn't see or feel any color. His colors were gone, and so was Ryder.

Avery stood up and started to panic.

His colors were gone.

They were gone.

Avery couldn't get any air and he felt dizzy again.

"Where are my colors?" Avery asked. "Where are they?"

"I don't know, kid." The officer said. He seemed confused, but he looked more sympathetic for this pathetic kid in front of him.

"No, no, no." Avery repeated. "They can't be gone." Avery shook his head. "Please they can't be gone." The officer laid a hand on Avery's shoulder and was going to offer words of comfort when Avery interrupted.

"Bring them back!" Avery yelled. "Please bring them back!" Avery was crying now. "Bring him back!" He screamed. "Please bring Ryder back!" The officer grabbed Avery and put his arms around the boy in an attempt to stabilize him.

"You need to calm down." The officer stated. "This is hard I know-"

"No!" Avery was struggling violently, trying to get out of the man's hold. The officer only held Avery tighter.

"Stop moving, or I'll make you stop." The officer warned. Avery gave one more attempt to get away from the man before he quit thrashing around all together. Because quite honestly, what was the point in fighting?

His colors were gone.

And Ryder was too.