fameless → ZACH HERRON ✓

t h i r t y

CHAPTER THIRTY
( FACE IT )

     CARMEN AWAKES FROM a loud noise. Jackson tosses his jacket to the side, glancing at the girl on the floor with a raised eyebrow. Cole follows suit, a disgusted look upon his face as his eyes land on Carmen's new bruises.

The girl didn't dare look at them- she was scared of what she might see.

"I'm surprised you didn't move," Jackson snorts, pulling up the chair he sat on yesterday, his eyes not leaving Carmen.

There were already dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, and her cheek was beginning to turn blue, the bruise taking the shape of a hand from how many times Jackson had traded the bat for his bare hands.

Carmen didn't answer. Instead, she shifted slightly, and found herself almost crying out from the intense pain that ran through her body. But she held in her screams, as she didn't want Jackson to get the pleasure of knowing he was the one that inflicted it.

"Still not talking?" He questions, placing his arms on the back of the chair. "Why not?"

"Just do what you want," Carmen spits, closing her eyes. "I don't care anymore."

"Finally give up on the fact that someone is coming to find you, huh?" He sighs. "That sucks, Cam. But it's for the best."

"Don't you have a baseball bat to find?" Carmen snaps, not interested in the topic or the burning sensation that erupted in her lungs.

"I'm more interested in you right now," Jackson furrows his brows. "Tell me, why did you give up?"

"I'm tired of waiting," Carmen says, not meeting his eyes. "No one is coming anyway."

"You don't believe your boyfriend is on his way right now?"

"He's not my boyfriend," She frowns, looking up at him. "Zach never loved me."

"Does that mean you'll stay in Oregon?" Jackson asks, a glint in his eye.

"I'm done talking to you," Carmen states, taking a deep breath. "How are you going to torture me today?"

"I was thinking something along the line of knives," Jackson clicks his tongue. "But I think it'd be more interesting to leave you here alone. Your thoughts should get the best of you."

"You're sick," Carmen mutters, staring at the ceiling.

Jackson bends down beside of her, before yanking a fistful of her hair to catch her attention. She cries out, before clenching her jaw as she looks to him.

"I'm not sick," He grits, his grip tightening as he yanks her hair again. "You did this to me, and this is payback."

And with that, they leave the girl to herself and her thoughts.

And that was something way worse than any punishment with knives would've gotten her.

---

"Zach, can you stop moving?" Corbyn groans, opening the car door. "Just get out of the car, and stop fidgeting?"

"What if Jessica doesn't know where he took her?" The boy questions, running his fingers through his hair as he closes the car door behind him.

"Chill, hun," Alyssa, Carmen's mother, says from behind him, pulling her purse onto her shoulder. "Jessica knows Jackson like the back of her hand."

"Alyssa?" A woman asks, stepping from the large white house in front of them. "Is that you?"

"It is," Alyssa replies with a sigh. "Jess, we need your help. Are you aware that Jackson came to Beverly Hills?"

"Jax told me he wanted to see Carmen," The brunette responds, looking quite confused. "Why? Is he with you?"

"No, and neither is Caramel," Aurora snaps, glaring at the woman. "Your psychotic son took our Caramel!"

"What?" Jessica questions, looking to Alyssa.

"Carmen went missing two days ago," Alyssa explains. "That was three days after Jackson texted her this."

Alyssa hands Jessica Carmen's phone, just as Zach's phone begins to ring. The others- aside from Alyssa and Jessica- look at Zach expectantly. The boy frowns, staring down at the number.

"It's an unknown number," He tells the others, clicking the 'answer' button. "Hello?"

"I see you're in Oregon," A boy chuckles from the other line. "And you're at my mother's house. Face it, Zach. You won't find her."

"Jackson," Zach mutters, his jaw clenching tightly. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to inform you on her current state," Jackson says casually. "Carmen is actually okay, aside from a few . . . bruises."

"If I find another scar on her, I'll-"

"You'll what? Kill me?" Jackson demands. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but Carmen has already moved on from your little circle of friends."

"What do you mean?" Zach questions.

"Zach, who is it?" Aurora asks, tugging on the boy's sleeve. "C'mon, tell me!"

"I mean that she's already over you. After leaving her alone last night, she got enough time to think about her situation. And surprising enough, she's debating on whether or not she wants to stay in Oregon."

"You're lying." Zach states. "She wouldn't do that, I know Carmen."

"She's been beaten for a full day, Zach. She's been put through so much torture that she can't physically move anymore. Yet no one has come to save her. She's given up on knights in shining armor."

"But I am here!" Zach argues. "She has to know that! I lo-"

"What? You love her?" Jackson smirks from the other end. "She's done with love. You see where it's gotten her? Give up. It's better this way."

"Let her go," Zach pleads, stressing as tears fill his eyes. "If you have any sanity left, you'll let her go. I love her, and I can't live without her."

"You don't know a thing about pain," Jackson says firmly. "Carmen does. And now she's realized that staying here is what's best for her. Face it, she was never good enough for you. You're an infamous guy in a boy band, and she's a broken girl from Oregon. It never would've ended well."

"But-"

"I'm helping you here, Zach," Jackson sighs. "Because love hurts. Especially when it ends faster than it starts."

And then the line went dead.

_____