Freeze Frame

Chapter 94

Super sorry for the lack of updates! I am literally in the middle of moving from Texas to West Virginia. We drove about thirteen or so hours yesterday, and even more than that today. I'm at a motel now, but tomorrow we'll finish up and I'll be at ze new residence. There'll be loads of unpacking, but it's like, summer, so I'll be back on track soon!

Third person pov

Neito failed his practical exam, but only because he had a panic attack. Or maybe it was more of a flashback. He really wasn't too sure anymore, not that it mattered. He's screwed the pooch on this one.

It's not like he'd meant to or anything. In fact, he'd been doing quite alright in terms of trauma. Some hiding it, bottling it up— it didn't take much. Acting like his old self was as relaxing as it was taxing. He loved who he used to be. The old him was confident and fairly sure. He joked around, having no issues telling people what was on his mind. Nowadays, even he wasn't sure what he was thinking at times. If his emotions were a mess before, he wasn't sure just what to make of them now.

He'd shut down pretty much right off the bat. He'd made a plan with his partner before they split. Neito had entered a darkened building. It was the kind that looked vaguely like a warehouse, but it was smaller. More of a personal storage unit if nothing else. His hero costume was dark, making it less likely for him to be spotted in dim lighting. Crossing it and popping out in the alley on the other side so he could slide into the next building undetected should have been easy. It had been something that would have came easy, before.

The blonde had no time to process what was happening. He couldn't even begin to try and backpedal before he was gasping for air and crashing hard to his knees. They cracked almost deafeningly against the concrete as a suppressed memory of what had gone on hit him like a tidal wave. It washed over his entire being, suffocating him. Even though there was no water, Neito was sure this was what drowning felt like.

The shadows of the not-warehouse seemed to almost sneak up on him. They struck like snakes, biting into him and twisting around him in the most suffocating sort of way. They tightened around his neck like a noose. Though Neito didn't really need to breath, the urgency slammed into him and made him realize that he couldn't. His throat constricted and he just... he suddenly couldn't anymore.

Neito didn't remember much from the night he was taken and... Well, killed. He'd told Tsukauchi what he knew, but he couldn't recall any faces. Just warbled voices and Jay's dull eyes as his head rolled. Having him try to relive it proved to be ineffective. Tsukauchi had shut down the interview almost as soon as it started. The investigation was still going on, though they weren't making much progress. Not without Neito's account of things, and not without Jay's husband, who'd been missing since.

The feeling swarmed him. Neito thought, distantly, that he heard someone calling his name. There was no telling. All he could do was gasp for air and claw at his neck. He felt like he was being strangled. Neito could swear, without a doubt in his mind, that something was slicing through his neck. It wasn't brisk and fast like it had been back then. This was slower, more meticulous. It was meant to hurt, and even though he wasn't alive anymore, he felt it. He felt it all.

Y̶o̵u̸ ̴d̷o̶n̵'̷t̶ ̶w̸a̴n̴t̷ ̵t̷o̵ ̸r̷e̷m̵e̴m̸b̵e̴r̴

No, no he didn't. He didn't want to remember. He didn't want to.

Ỳ̷̪̱͉̅͝ö̶̬̞́̾u̸̡͂ ̶̨̲̱̣̃̋d̸̼̟͆̚o̷̝̳͖̓̋̒̚n̴̳̉̈́͌'̶͍̑̏t̴̙̩̟̒̾͒̿ ̸̧͕͖̏͐̔̃w̸̘̮͠ḁ̵̗̋́ͅn̴̮̠͇͑̔ͅẗ̷̮̫͖̌̆ ̷̩̺͂̆͛ẗ̵̺͈́̈́͝ǫ̵͉͚̤͌̆ ̴̢̙̲̱͘r̴̨̈́̓̕ę̶̪̤̋͝ͅm̷̡̡͉̆̕͜ę̸̦̜͒̐m̵̺͛͋͋b̵̧͓͓̬̔ȩ̵̞̈͗ͅŗ̷͚͍̀͛̊̇!̸̝̓