885 Days [A Vikklan/Sidemen/Pack Story]

Six Days Home

29 August 2017

There was panic for an hour or so while I messaged many of the others back and forth, everyone discussing what we should do. Tobi brought the doctor into as well, no one sure what we should say, where, and how much information we should or were even allowed to give out, given the ongoing information.

"Don't give out specifics." The doctor said. "They know where he is currently, but don't say anything that could hint at the investigation. Not his condition, that man, where he was held, how long his recovery is expected to be. Keep it vague and say there'll be no further statement or answers from anyone until everything has calmed down. As in, until the trial is over and Lachlan is home."

I nodded slowly, glancing at Tobi, then Mitch, then Jerome. Everyone was ignoring the number of people allowed in the room and the doctor didn't seem to mind anymore because he never said anything or asked anyone to leave. Tobi squeezed his arm around my waist. We discussed what we should say for a little while, checked it with the other boys in the groupchat, and then finally posted it to my Twitter-

Vikkstar123: There have been many rumours lately, and this is to settle them. Yes, Lachlan has been found and he is alive. He is currently in a stable condition in the ICU. Neither I or anyone else will be making a further statement. We ask for privacy at this time as it has been a shock to everyone and we need time to process everything. Thank you.

It was straight to the point, giving away no details. No hint of what he had been through in the last two and a half years, no details on the case. The other boys later retweeted it and I retweeted it from Lachlan's account, the only activity since his birthday the year before. We then shut everything down. I didn't want to see the reactions, neither did anyone else.

Jerome took an hour outside to calm down after that, leaving Tobi, Mitch and I together with Lachlan. Mitch got increasingly more worried the longer Jerome spent away and practically threw himself into his friends arms the second he arrived. I managed to give an amused smile but my heart was still racing. God, I wished we had managed to hold on to the fact that he had been home for less than six days.

"How you feeling?" Tobi whispered, playing with my hair.

"Alright." I managed to breathe. "Scared. Worried."

He only hugged me tighter.

---------------------------------------------------

Lachlan blinked up at me quietly, eyes following my thumb as I traced his wrist. He had been awake for quite a while now, almost an hour but most of that time had been taken up by the doctors checking him over and making sure everything was alright. He had requested some water with weak gestures, managing to swallow a few sips after the head of the bed was moved into a more upright position. I had to hold the cup though.

More of the IV's had come out now, leaving only two, and a couple of monitors on his chest. This meant that Lachlan was more and more upset that I wouldn't lie on the bed beside him, visibly frustrated that he couldn't express it verbally because his voice was still weak. Finally, when his heart monitor started spiking, the doctor gave in and allowed me to lie beside him. He calmed down, burying himself right into my chest, seemingly not caring about the four others in the room. To him, I was the only one there.

I ran a hand over the stubble that was now growing on the top of his head, giving a gentle massage and managing to smile as he basically deflated. He was so relaxed that it was strange. With me he just seemed to be able to... forget about it. Sure, he wasn't the Lachlan I had known but he wasn't freaking out, he wasn't panicking.

Lachlan was about two minutes from falling asleep when the doctor came back in, a pinched look on his face.

"The police want to talk." He said, and I interrupted him before he could continue.

"No. Not happening."

"I know, but let me finish. They need to get him to trial as soon as possible and there's only so much they can do with photographs. It'll be another month or two before the process begins but the police need to talk to Lachlan, identification and all that. And they're insisting on doing it now."

Lachlan had frozen in my arms, breathing suddenly stuttering, now wide awake. I answered for him.

"It's not going to happen any time soon, and you can tell them that." I said sternly and although the doctor looked conflicted, he nodded.

"I figured, but I needed to hear it from you before I told them."

I managed to pull Lachlan's head into my chest after the doctor left, allowing him to bury himself in the dark. I could tell he was slipping between worlds, and once the others started talking he was listening almost like he was watching a movie. Like he wasn't watching from his own eyes. I gently traced my finger across his arm, hoping to keep him grounded in reality.

"Vikk." He whispered, eyes flickering up to me. His voice was less hoarse now that he had had a drink of water but was still weak, strained. "Vikk."

"Lachy." I said back. My name was still the only thing he had said, my name, over and over, almost like he was begging.

"Vikk." He repeated.

He didn't sleep this time, he just lay beside me, watching my hand as I traced his arm. As he did, I couldn't help but think. He was just so light, so tiny lying next to me. He really wasn't the person he had been and it was so painful- what would he have been doing had he not gone missing? Had that awful man not targeted him? Had I looked out for him like I said I would... would he still being doing YouTube? Maybe, maybe not. I still was, as were the Sidemen and the Pack.

Lachlan buried his head deep into my chest, curling up into a ball under the blankets. He had insisted on more blankets too, panicking whenever there wasn't a weight over him. He hadn't been given anything to keep warm in that dingy basement. It was a comfort thing.

Horrific details had begun to slip through the police net already. Ever since we had confirmed that Lachlan was alive the media had been storming every possible site that might have been connected to him and they had found the house he had been kept him. There were photos. There were photos of the dark and disgusting room, the mattress, the chains, the bucket and the blood. There were only two photos, but they were far too much. I was sick in the bathroom after seeing them while Lachlan slept, Tobi rubbing my shoulders. How had he suffered through that?! What had that man done to him! I had been angry before, seeing his physical state, but now I and many others were fuming. We wanted to see him locked up and never released.

I had some idea of the sexual abuse he had been through, the details of the internal trauma he had suffered, his fearful reaction to any unfamiliar face and relentless nightmares- he had had two more the night before- but until I saw those photos I had no idea of the scale. How much he had been through. What that man had done to him, day after day for more than two years. It made me feel physically sick, knowing how much he had suffered.

Lachlan had barely acknowledged the existence of anyone outside of me. He had kind of blinked over at Preston the second time he had woken up but other than that he had noticed anyone else. Except the doctor. It was kind of hard to ignore someone who was trying to examine you when you didn't want anyone to touch you. He had freaked out a bit.

"It's okay Lachy." I whispered, my lips barely brushing his forehead. "You're safe now. You're home."