Kidnapped by Pierce the Veil

Coda

A/N: This is extremely random, but listen to the song I'm stating here if you want the experience I had and feel what I felt while writing this chapter. It just...adds something that words can't. I can't seem to attach it, so copy and paste this URL into a browser and listen. Or search, exactly as it is, The Walking Dead Soundtrack: 5x08 "Coda" Beth Death- Reunited

http://youtu.be/v9YcbYMumOk

This is by no means necessary, but it definitely is more impactful this way. Thank you.

Joey sat in the hospital waiting room, his face pale and expressionless. He still hung on to the irrational hope that his baby sister was going to pull through and walk through the door at any minute. He knew deep down that it was impossible, but refused to let himself believe otherwise.

"Bethany Smith?" A doctor called out. Joey rushed to the doctor's side, hungry for answers. The doctor pulled out his clipboard. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Smith. It seems that Bethany has died of respiratory failure caused by smoke inhalation." He tried his best to lay down the words gently, but nothing could've prepared Joey's heart for them.

Joey collapsed to his knees, and began pounding the floor with his fists, his tears pooling on the cold tile. His screams sounded like they could've been heard a mile away. He began yanking at his hair and tore a bloody clump from his head. He didn't even flinch.

At that moment, Vic, Mike, Tony and Jaime rushed through the automatic doors of Linda Vista hospital, puffy eyed and out of breath. They gazed upon Joey, and they knew. No one had to say it for it to be known.

Joey curled up into fetal position on the ground and began to sob even more violently, rocking back and forth. Blood slowly ran from his head and rolled onto his face. Without even noticing, he continued to scream. At first, it just sounded like wails. Then, Vic began to make out words; "Bring her back."

The doctor helped pull Joey off the floor and moved him into another room with other grieving families. Joey was given some tissues to hold against his bleeding head. A priest stood in the corner of the room, holding a bible. The priest noticed Joey, and walked over to him.

"Why do you weep, my son?" He said in a gentle voice. "Do you not know that your loved one is in the presence of The Lord?"

Joey shook his head quickly. "Why would God do this to me?" He yelled at the priest, who looked unfazed. The other mourning families began to take notice.

"Have your beloved die this way?" He asked.

Joey shook his head once again. "Have me live this way. Without Bethany." He stared into the priest's eyes. "God doesn't love all creatures."

"It was still a privilege, wasn't it? To love her, to know her. You still know her, and she'll never leave you. She's always with you." And with that, the priest turned and left as Vic walked in.

"Joey?" Vic asked, tears streaming down his face.

Joey looked up. "She was never with a friend, was she? She was with you guys the whole time."

Vic was taken aback, but he nodded his head. He crossed over to Joey and sat next to him on the floor, breathing slowly.

"How did you know?" Vic asked after a long while.

"You brought her home. I saw the marks on her wrists and ankles. I saw the scratches, bruises and burns. She smelled like smoke and ash when I hugged her. You all smelled the same way when you brought her back to me. And I know that you wouldn't let two random fans hang out with you. Not to mention, I don't think Bethany's ever ever had anyone she could call a friend."

Joey closed his eyes, trying to slow down his wrenching sobs. He remembered Bethany holding his hands whenever he cried when they were kids. Thinking about it only made him realize that he would never again see her smile, or hear her tell stupid jokes. Bethany would never have her first date. Never have her first kiss. Never fall in love. Never go to prom. Never get married. Never have children. She was gone...just like that.

"I'm so sorry, Joey. Mike accidentally shot his best friend and she saw. He panicked and took her. But I promise you, we never hurt her. That was someone else that we never should've gone to." Vic's voice shook as he spoke, while Joey's face remained emotionless with the exception of a steady flow of tears.

"The doctor said she died of smoke inhalation." Joey said softly, as if trying not wake a sleeping child. "How?"

"The same man who gave her the scratches and bruises gave her the burns. He locked her in the spare room and set the house of fire. She got out, but she breathed in a lot of smoke." Vic held his head in his hands, now his turn to cry. "If we'd just taken her home when we got the chance..." His sentence trailed off as he disappeared into heaving sobs.

"I won't tell anyone." Joey reassured him. "You loved her as much as I did."

Soon, both of them were crying hysterically as Tony, Jaime and Mike walked in through the swinging glass doors. The five of them huddled together in a circle on their knees.

They all just held each other and wailed.

The five of them were united in their pain. The same ache that manifested in Joey, made it's presence known in the others as well.

Jaime remembered Bethany's deep dimples. He always caught himself staring at them in the rare times she smiled.

Tony thought of how little she was. How skinny her legs were. How frail she looked. She couldn't have weighed more than 90 pounds, couldn't have been taller than 4'11". He remembered how she trembled when he held her, fearing, yet trusting him with every ounce of who she was.

Mike thought of how he'd ruined her. He kept thinking that it was his fault that Bethany never got to experience life. He remembered everything he'd robbed her of.

Vic just thought of her. The way she looked at him, how her whole hand barely covered his palm. The scars on her thighs and the ligature marks on her wrists. The one time he heard her laugh, quite possibly the sweetest moment of his life.

But never again would they hear her voice, or feel her hand in theirs, or get the chance to wrap their arms around her thin shoulders or kiss her forehead when she was afraid.

Never again would they see Bethany Smith.

Second to last chapter! Eek!