High Anxiety - Dear Evan Hansen

Execution

I promise it's a different story than the other one. I'm just low on ideas. Again, I'd love requests. 

 I was in a cell with a wall of glass. I sat chained to the ground by the cuff on my wrist; metal links hooked onto the bracelet, making it press into my skin, warm from continual contact. My nails tapped on the floor, ages-old nail polish chipped clean off. I hated it. I would've repainted it, but they didn't give me such luxury, as much as I needed the reminder of the home I'd been stolen from.

I blinked and squinted through the window. There wasn't much to see. Blank walls and floor. White. Just like everything else. Except the chain on my arm, of course. It and the cuff burned dark as captivity.

A door opened on the other side of the glass. A boy was thrown into the room, his sandy hair squashed under his head when he landed. He tried to stand, but was yanked back by his wrist, which had chained to the floor on its own. The boy sat, glaring at the manacle.

"Hey!" I called, unsure if he could hear through our window. He looked up, eyes wide with fear and suspicion. He bit his lip, scrunching his face together. I knew that face. I just couldn't see it clearly from so far away. "Hey," I said again.

"H-Hello. Who is it?" I knew his voice. Where did I know his voice from?

"Can't you see me?"

"No. It's, um... It's a mirror," he said. He shifted forward, approaching the one-way window. I did the same. Neither of us could reach the glass. "Do I, do I know you?"

"Connor."

"Connor?" His eyes went wide again and his shoulders fell. "They got you too?"

"Yeah." I closed my eyes. I knew his voice. He knew me. Oh, fuck no. My eyes opened to a squint. "Evan?"

"Yeah. They've been--been keeping me with Jared." He sighed and looked around. "How come you can see me?"

"I can't, really. Fucking lights. But it's a one-way mirror." We sat in silence for a moment. Strange how even prison can be awkward at times. "So Kleinman's here too. Why were they keeping you two together?"

"We--we wouldn't let them separate us. He, well... It was mostly him. They don't know how to, um, control him yet, I guess." Evan lay down on his back, staring at the ceiling. "He's scared, Connor. I mean, I am too, and I'm sure you are, like, there's nothing about this that isn't scary as Hell and I really wish I could just wake up because this is worse than any nightmare I've ever had, but I... Never mind. It doesn't matter. You wouldn't, you wouldn't care anyway."

"Do you know if any of the others are here?" I watched his chest rise and fall. He was dressed in the same white cotton shirt and bleached jeans that I was. Our own bright orange jumpsuit in the color of utter conformity. Because white was totally my color. Right, just another thing to add to the list of shitty things on my plate.

"A-Alana, I think. She and I were brought in at the same time." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Well what do you think we should do about it, Hansen?"

"Nothing," a new voice said. My eyes snapped open. A young woman stalked towards me. I hadn't heard the door open to my left. Fucking Zoe had to take Mom and Dad's side on this. Not like it was super fucked up. Not like it meant she was hurting just about everyone she knew. "But you deserve to see this." I looked up at her.

"Fuck off, Zoe."

Evan shrieked. I whipped my head to face him, ignoring the hair that fell across my face. A guard was chaining his other wrist to the floor. He forced him to kneel. He looked up. His lips parted in terror. He was looking right at me, though I knew he could only see his reflection.

"Evan!" I cried.

"He can't hear you anymore," my sister said. "But we've made sure you'll be able to hear him."

"What the fuck are you going to do to him?"

"See for yourself," she said, waving to the glass. "Time for that fall, don't you think?"

"What?" My shout came at the same time as Evan's. The guard had a fistful of his hair. He was pulling his head back. He unsheathed a dagger. All the breath had left my lungs. Evan whimpered as he held it up to his neck. He squirmed to shrink away, but he was pulled taught as a bow. I felt the color drain from my face. The guard pressed the gleaming blade into his skin. Red beads formed along the metal and dripped down, giving him a glittering necklace of garnets. I watched diamonds fall down Evan's cheeks.

Silver flashed amongst gemstones. A shrieking sob echoed, followed by a rattling gasp. Evan's eyes were filled with tears as the necklace stained her shirt scarlet. He gazed without seeing.

The guard dropped him. He fell into his own blood. I stared without looking. The pool of red in the whiteness blurred through my hot tears. My mouth was dry and my face was wet. Shallow breaths returned to my lips, burning my throat. Zoe ruffled my hair, leaving with a huff when I didn't spare her a glance. I couldn't move. I couldn't feel. I was left alone in the cell--me and the corpse of a friend, with only a window between.