2017↠l.h

iii

i opened my eyes, but everything was a blur. the pain remained there in my stomach. i wanted to touch my wound but realised that i couldn't move my hands. i was tied up. as i regained my vision i saw two men wearing silly tiger masks and towering over me. we were in a small dimly lit room. one of the men was holding an immense piece of wood. "are you ready to die hemmings?" they both chuckled a sick revengeful chuckle and i closed my eyes hoping i wouldn't die.

+

"alicia, um, how do you know where this memorial takes place?" we were still standing on the edge of that pavement in the heart of sydney.

"are you kidding? everyone knows it. there's a dedication on tv every 15th of may, you know, the day you went missing. man, your fans have yet to lose their hope, even after the band had broken up"

"the band has broken up?" i asked with furrowed eyebrows. i thought everyone had just continued their lives, i never imagined my disappearance would cause so many changes.

the girl, alicia, stepped closer to me and rubbed my arm in sympathy. "i'm sorry for being the one telling you all that." i pulled back from her touch almost instantly and caught her wrist in my hand twisting it. she screeched and i came back to reality; she was just a harmless girl, luke, not everyone is a threat.

"i'm sorry, quick reflexes." i apologised and offered her an awkward smile. "when did the band break up?" i brought back the subject.

"about two months after you were gone. they left this big ass message on youtube and nobody has actually seen them since then, except the day of your memorial every year. there are always photos posted on the social media." i stumbled backwards, it was like i was shot in the stomach over again.

our dreams went straight to the trash since that goddamn day. even though we had all agreed to move on and do what we always wanted -sing- if anything happened to one of us, they just couldn't keep going without me. well, i wouldn't want to continue my career without one of them.

"what about my family?" i didn't know if i was prepared to hear about them, so i clenched my teeth and expected the worst.

"um, as far as i know, liz stopped working and i've only seen her in pictures of the past memorials. the rest of your family has stayed out of the spotlight."

i sighed and put my hands in the pockets of my worn out blue jeans. "at least they're okay." i whispered to myself. "so can you still take me to...my memorial?" i pronounced the words with difficulty; this was absolutely wrong, everything was wrong.

"sure, we can take a bus there." she started walking and i followed right behind. "hurry up if you want to be on time" she smiled and took my hand in hers to pull me forward.