Pointing the Blame (Detective a6d AU)

Broken Glass

Zak sat dumbfounded in his chair.

"Do you.." he tried, but stumbled with his words.

"Do you hear yourself?" Zak said. His voice cracking.

"I hear myself just fine. Now answer me," Vincent hissed quietly.

"I don't... know what to say. Don't tell me you actually think that," The black haired boy scoffed.

Vincent rolled his hands into tight fists.

Zak couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Do you what to know something funny?" Vincent asked flatly.

Zak hesitated but answered, "Uh...sure..?"

"When I went back to investigate the crime scene, I found something where you were curled up."

He waited for a few moments to see if Zak would say anything, but the boy on the other side of his mic kept his mouth shut.

"There was a tape of Darryl, seemingly trapped in a room of some sort. That's one coincidence. One of many actually," Vincent said with an aggressive tone in his voice.

"Another coincidence," he began again, "Was the fact that the murderer was described by witnesses as having black eyes."

Zak stayed silent.

"And of course, you know this third funniest coincidence. The gun in your bag that tied it all together."

The pale boy clenched his teeth. He felt the tension releasing from him as he let out his thoughts that he bottled up for weeks. But nonetheless, he was still disgusted and aggravated at his 'friend.'

"So you really think I of all people killed Darryl?! Why would I even do that? Who the hell do you think I am?!" Zak was shouting at this point.

But it wasn't like all the other times where he shouted at somebody for simply killing him in bedwars. This time, his voice actually shook with rage.

"THE EVIDENCE IS ALL THERE! STOP TRYING TO PLAY VICTIM!" Vincent yelled at the top of his lungs.

The fact that Zak was denying his claims made his intolerance of him grow even more.

Zak winced and put his hands to the sides of his headphones.

"JEEZ you're loud!"

"I DONT CARE!"

"Have you ever thought about the fact that Darryl is my best friend?!" Zak shot back.

"Friends don't murder friends, Zak," Vincent hissed in a hushed vicious tone.

"EXACTLY MY POINT! I. DIDN'T. KILL. HIM. You're being such an idiot right now do you know that?!" Zak bellowed shaking the arm rests of his chair.

Tears of anger, betrayal, and sadness were welling up in his eyes.

"OK! Listen! Shouting is going to get this nowhere! So why d-"

"Admit I didn't do it!" Zak interrupted.

"SHUT UP!" Vincent snapped in a deafening tone.

"Tell me what happened at the time of shooting."

"It's as simple as me going to the bathroom, hearing gunshots, screams, me seeing the shooter and then running away," Zak said in an angry dismissive tone.

Vincent rolled his eyes.

"Could you explain any worse?"

Silence.

"Hello?"

....

"I just don't feel like talking to you right now."

"WHAT?!"

"Don't talk to me again unless it's to apologize."

Apologize? Apologize for me finding out you're a murderer? Vincent thought with disbelief.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! DON'T LEAVE THI-"

Buddy has disconnected from your channel

Vincent stared wide eyed at his screen.

Are you kidding me? Why does he have to be so stubborn? Vincent buried his face in his hands. He felt like he had just lost two of his friends. No, he did lose two of his friends. His closest friends to be specific. One forever, and the other for who knows how long. Letting out a sigh and leaning back in his chair, he stared at the ceiling. Was I too hard on him? Vincent had acted on the heat of the moment, and now that it had concluded, he found himself overthinking every little word that had been said.

No.

What kind of a silly thought is that? Of course I wasn't too hard on him. We're talking about a murderer here. Vincent thought with slitted eyes.

After a few moments he stood up from the seat abruptly, causing his chair to fall to the floor.

I have more important things to do than worry about that hard headed fool.

It was time to investigate the world behind the theme park. The one Abby has spoken about in her interrogation.

Zak carelessly threw off his headphones, causing one of the ear cups to fall from the object. He blinked back his frustrated tears and wiped his eye with the sleeve of his hoodie. The 20 year old brought his hands to both sides of his head and tightly squeezed his eyes shut. He was trying desperately to silence the voices in his head.

Your fault.

"Why, why, why..." he mumbled to himself over and over again.

I thought I'd moved on, he thought sadly.

The argument that had just taken place made him realize how wrong he actually was. With it came terrible flashbacks to the horrifying day at the theme park.

I remember the whole thing. I won't forget, I couldn't forget. It was just an accident, it wasn't my fault.

The voices said otherwise.

Vincent was his closest friend, and now it just feels like they'd been torn apart. Which was most likely a reality.

I thought things were finally starting to get better. I guess I thought wrong.

The sound of shattering glass broke Zak from his trance. He flinched and looked up. The sharp noise sounded like it came from the living room. Immediately he jumped from his chair to find the source of the sound.

Walking into the living room, he saw what had happened.

"Rocco!" Zak shouted with annoyance as he walked over to the mess.

A picture frame had fallen from the table, and now sat face down as a pile of broken glass. His dog was most likely the one that knocked it over.

Just my luck.

He crouched next to the heap. Careful not to pierce himself with the glass, Zak grabbed the frame from the ground.

I hope this is just some cringey middle school photo or something.

Tilting it up towards his face so he could see the picture, he saw that it was a photo of himself, Vincent, and Darryl. He remembered this photo. It was when they first met each other in real life. Zak let out a sad giggle as he recalled how difficult it was to get Darryl to even come to Vidcon. Then he allowed several drops of water to drip from his eyes onto the picture.

.