Steven woke up to the sound of his alarm. Five always came by quicker than he wished. He's been going to church for the past few months, not for the usual reason of Christ as everyone thought. Steven went for Sebb, he's always loved her more than a friend. She's been there for him, until two others decided to join us, Carlos, and Ben, Ben's not too far from Steven's age, he's twenty five, while Ben's twenty three, then Carlos is closer to Sebb, who has just become seventeen, Carlos being two years older.
The two boys he felt have stolen Sebb from him, he acted like he didn't care, when really, he cared more than he cared about himself, he loved her more than he loved himself. Dangerous for himself, he's been recovering from his depression, he had gotten out of a hospital recently, after faking two weeks of their therapy, it only made him feel more upset and slightly triggered his madness.
He got up from his bed making it quickly, making last minute decisions to be there early,he threw on a collared shirt over a black long sleeved shirt under, he chose blue jeans due to him lacking black from procrastinating to do laundry for two weeks. Steven grabbed his brush and brushed his mane, as Sebbcalled it. Suddenly he felt something furry brushing against his leg, he looked down, seeing his cat Sam, he smiled giving him a scratch on the head before grabbing his keys before heading to his truck. Little did he know, today was simply beginning.
"Hey Phil!" Ben called out from the table in the corner of the room.
She turned her attention from Carlos to Ben, flipping her hair out of her eyes. Her hair was a style that trended over a decade ago, a fringe, a style typical for emos. "Yeah man what's up?"
"When's Steven gonna get here?" He asked, unable to text lacking minutes on his phone.
Ben crossed his legs impatiently waiting for his friend to arrive, Ben always leaned more towards Steven and Sebb, never was he a fan of Carlos.
Carlos had his head turned towards Sebb's lap and phone, watching her type. He himself was growing impatient, but not of Steven, he was impatient at Ben, always calling her attention away from him.
She took her phone out and texted him 'Hey bro' where you at?' "Got 'em." she answered resting her head on Carlos's shoulder again.
Ben grinned, thanking her, but had his grin frown at Carlos's behavior, he couldn't stand him, he was always in the way of him and Sebb's relationship.
They saw Steven pull up, his blue ford rusted from the rain the day before. They waited for him to walk up before they all went inside.
They sat in the very back row against the wall, Sebb sat in between Carlos and Ben while Steven sat left of Carlos. Sebb and Carlos got out there 3DS out and connected for the day, then put them up, Ben put his arm around Sebb as she held his other hand. Steven glared at them feeling himself boil up.
"Hey Steph, you alright?" Ben asked, allowing Sebb's curiosity to wonder and look towards him.
His facial expression immediately changed when she looked, from angered, to a more docile and calmer look, "Yeah man, i'm chill." He said, growing jealous of his friend.
Ben nodded and his attention went back to the preacher, and Sebb's went back as well. He stared at them from the corner of his eyes, his peripheral vision clearer than usual, he feared he would hurt her, he knows she's fragile, she's been hurt so many times, he doesn't want him to hurt her again, that is a pain she does not deserve. Ben's way to old for her he believed, six years difference is too much, Ben must have something horrible planned.
His mind raced, and raced, never letting his thoughts escape his grasps. He knew what he had to do. How he would do it could take a while of processing, but isn't impossible. Steven had majored in Improv when he was in university, which could mean he could treat it as another exam, go with the flow.
His hands clenched, 'I have to save her, i cannot lose her.' he thought planning out how he could take Sebb away from the torture of life. He believes Ben would only hurt her worse than she already is, the child has dealt with so much, so much with only seventeen years past. She's been through so much, he hates seeing the suffering in her eyes.
Everyone bowed their head in prayer as the church was beginning to be dismissed. When the prayer let up, he saw Ben take her hand and lead her outside to the lot. He followed them, hiding in the crowd of tall people, heights near his, helping him blend in, going unnoticed.
Sebb gave Ben a hug, he saw him hug back, he felt himself growl slightly, and he walked around the side of the building, waiting for Ben to leave, he knew he would leave soon, Sebb's parents didn't quite like him, and would yell at her for seeing him. Steven himself didn't like her parents, they yell at her, she's to emotionally unstable for that, he needs to save her. Not to mention the times she came over to his house covered in bruises from them, sick as a dog walking out in the cold, she always made it harder on herself when that happened, always drinking late his place.
Ben gave her another hug when more people dispersed, and he himself began to leave, a chance has appeared for Steven. He walked out and pretended to be on his phone and looked up, "Hey, Sebb, you have a ride?" He asked, wondering if she would buy it.
"No, I'm walking home in a few minutes, I'm just looking for some peace and quiet." She said, petting the church cat, CC, as she walked up to her and crawled up into her lap.
"If your parents don't mind, my house is pretty quiet, you can come hang out there with me for a while." He offered.
She thought nothing of it, "Not even gonna bother asking, they'd say no. So sure, why not?" she hugged CC before taking her off her lap and standing up, patting her on the head before following Steven to his truck.
Sebb sat in the passenger side as Steven turned on the truck and pulled out from the church. "What's all been going on in your life Philly?" he asked, attempting to make some small talk.
"Alot actually," she sighed, "My boyfriend is worried, and quite mad about Carlos still, he gave me a huge anxiety attack the other night. He was talking about how he wanted to kill himself because i was with Ben. He keeps saying how he loves me, when he treats all girls the same, he says he loves them-"
"When he really doesn't, he acts like they'll all love him back." Steven finished her sentence.
"Yeah." she sighed, stressed from all of it.
During most of their talk, Steven was wondering how he was going to get her to stay, was he going to have to force her? Or would she stay willingly? Both are quite strongly able to happen, he's unsure how he would get her to stay if she rejected him, would he have to hold her captive? The basement or attic would be a safe place, he thought, he may have to force her to go but she will stay, he fears her life for her, she's been through so much in her life. He didn't want her suffering anymore, but he didn't know how he could save her from herself, somehow, he will save her.
He pulled into his driveway, and looked over at Sebb, she was looking at him, she seemed worried, he believed she thought something was up. Even worse, she asked him if he was alright.
He responded with him saying he was feeling a little out of it, "I don't know, hey, I have some champagne, want some?" he asked.
"Why would I say no? That's my stuff!" She said, acting all pumped up.
She hopped out of the car, and he followed, walking up to his door, unlocking it, then holding it open for her, "Might be a little messy, haven't gotten to clean lately, I've been working."
She walked in and immediately laid down on the couch, like she owned the place, "It's chill, you should see my room, makes your house look cleaner than a freshly polished mirror."
He laughed, knowing most of it, was most likely true. Steven left to the kitchen and came back with a few open bottles of champagne. Lights in her eyes lit up seeing the beverage. A bottle was handed to her, and she immediately began drinking.
She stopped taking a breath of air, "It's been so long since my last drink." she said as the alcohol sank in.
"Looks like it, stressed out much?" Steven asked, wanting to know more about everything Carlos and Ben have been doing.
Sebb could see his curiosity, "Well, I spent last night drugged up talking Carlos out of suicide, who was talking another friend out of suicide, which just lead to some crazy things, like blood and things."
"Not making since Sebb," he took a small sip, "Gotta be more clear."
"I was stringing up my legs with a razor, Carlos was wanting to blow his brains out with his dad's 22, my friend Stacey was there barely talking me out of it myself," she took another huge drink, and grabbed another bottle, "Heck I'm surprised I'm still here."
"Hey, if you wanna stay away from all that, I don't mind you staying here." He brought up that subject.
"Dude, I have school and stuff, gotta keep people alive, heck, even if that means me dead." She said, making him angered, she wasn't going to leave, especially not drunk.
"Look, they aren't going to worry, hey, I'll be back, I'm gonna grab some more, hey, you a fan of whiskey?" Steven asked, grabbing the empty champagne bottle.
"What kind of question is that?" She asked, making him laugh.
Steven went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of whiskey, emptying it slightly, pouring a few capsules of xanax into the bottle. Obvious the combination could be deadly, he limited the capsules to just two in each bottle of whiskey. He brought the bottles of whiskey to the couch and handed it to her.
She immediately opened it and took a few sips, "Yo' Steph? Is this out of date or something? It's got a strange flavour to it."
He slightly panicked, "Yeah, it's probably been there for a while."
She shrugged and drank it, not caring that it seemed strange. He grinned internally, knowing it would take effect soon. His studies in the past kept him acknowledged of strange knowledge, like the effect of medicine and alcohol, it strengthens them both, due to the ability of the mind not being in it's correct path of thought.
Sebb is usually quite tired anyways, it wouldn't surprise him if she passed out immediately.
Instead of that, she actually came over to him, and caressed his cheek. He knew it was the alcohol. "That's enough Sebb." he said taking the bottle from her hand.
"No it's not." She whined, giving him a pouty face.
She always got like this when she was drunk, but usually, she'd be a slight bit more emotional. Steven stood up and walked her to the couch, sitting her down, "You drink too much for your age." he said rolling his eyes.
"You're too old for your age." She responded falling to the couch, obviously wasted.
"Philly, that doesn't even make a slight bit of sense." He rolled his eyes as she snatched the bottle from his hands.
"Everything doesn't make sense, you should see the school! None of them are gay enough!" She took another chug of the whiskey, letting a bit of a yawn ending in a burp once it was empty.
"Steph," she cried a whimper of pain to him, "Ugh, call Ben, I need him to get me, I'm dying." worried sarcasm was in her voice.
"Can't do that Lil Phil." He said walking back to her, he'd have to make her stay, she wasn't going to on her own.
She looked up at him, confused, her pupils began to dilate as the xanax began to take effect. "You'll be asleep soon Sebb. Don't worry." He tried calming her, but his voice only alarmed her.
"Steven, what are you up to, what did you put in my drink?" She could feel dizziness begin to overcome her, and her vision blurred slightly.
"Spiked it, but that's not the point Philly." He said, "Now, go to sleep."
She couldn't quite hold her eyes open, she trusted Steven, but feared for her life at the thought of what he did. She feared what was in store for her, but she didn't know what she could do about it.
She felt herself begin to go limp, she couldn't hold herself up and collapsed onto the couch. The last feeling she felt, was his hands taking her into his arms.
Ben woke up, looking concerned seeing he still had no response to Sebb. He spent most of the night texting her, but to no avail, finally fell asleep. He couldn't stand the thought of something happening to her, so he reached and grabbed his phone, then rang Carlos.
"Hey man, I was just about to call you, what's up?" Carlos answered.
"Not much, hey, have you heard anything from Sebb? Since church? It's not like her not to respond." His voice was concerned.
"Ben, I was about to ask you the same thing, she hasn't responded to any of my texts, I'm thinking I should head over to her place to see if her parents will let her hang out, I'm a little worried bro, that girl's crazy."
Ben rolled his eyes, but quite agreed, she is quite crazy, "Yeah, can you do that? I'm kind of worried about her."
"Me too dude."
They soon hung up leaving Ben to get up and get ready for the day. He took a quick shower before coming back to his room to check his phone. Of course, it said the same thing as before, no new messages.
He was getting anxious, he hasn't heard from her in almost twenty-four hours, when it's unusual for her to not respond in five minutes, this is outrageous. Quickly, Ben made a decision to stop by Steven's house to share the news of their friend, and his girl friend.
Ben threw on some blue jeans, a belt, and a jacket, grabbing his phone and walked out the door.
She awoke in a dark room, she was hungover and in pain from the intoxication, along with the drugs she was given. Sebb tried to move, but was to weak from the medication, and the feeling of restraint from what felt like ropes. She began to freak out, has she been kidnapped? "Steven." she remembered, "He did this."
"Right you are." He said from a corner, "You should be thanking me Sebb."
"What the heck is wrong with you?" She growled, trying to move.'
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, why the long face child? I'm helping you. I'm saving you from the world." he said with a grin.
"Steven! You can't! Someone! Help!" She screamed.
He raised his hand and slapped her across the face, leaving her surprised and near tears. "Why? I'm trying to help you Phil!" He yelled which triggered the her tears to fall.
"I'm sorry Philly," he gave her a hug, "Don't anger me babe." He kissed her forehead.
She couldn't back away, her fear took her quickly, she's never known this side of him. It left her fearful of his capabilities, this is why he offered the alcohol, he wanted her weak, to be able to take her here, she couldn't even tell where she was. Her parents wouldn't look for her, the only one who could seem to want to look for her, was Ben, maybe Carlos, the question was how long would it take for them to notice she's missing? That she's disappeared, how would they find out? How could they tell where she is?
Her fear made her lose track of Stevens words. Suddenly, she was brought back to reality with him shaking her, "Sebb!" He kept yelling.
"What?" She said realizing her existence again.
"Snap out of it, you'll only stress yourself out, and we aren't doing that are we?" He grinned.
She hated being tied up like this, she felt weak, useless. "You shouldn't be doing this." Sebb growled.
He again slapped her, but when he raised his hand to slap her again, his doorbell rang, "Sebb, if you make any noise at all, you will regret it." he threatened, leaving her by herself.
She listened closely, hoping, it was someone who she knew could help.
Ben rang the doorbell, and was slightly surprised how long he took to reach the door, but he soon opened it, "Hey Steven, how you doing?" he started.
"I'm doing alright, you don't usually come over here Ben, what do you need?"
Ben could see he knew something, he decided to keep quiet for now about Sebb, and simply create small talk until he could bring something up.
Steven invited him into his house and sat on the couch, Ben could smell the familiar smell of Sebb, she's been here, he knew it, but refused to bring it up. It smelt strongly of her perfume, and alcohol. He's feared the worst, he knows how unstable Steven can be, and tried to make himself feel welcome, while fearing something terrible may happen to her, but he tried to put it off as paranoia.
"So what brings you here?" He asks looking slightly as if he may have done something, que his quickened movements and tapping foot.
Ben quickly makes up an excuse, "I'm feeling pretty down, honestly, I think Philly doesn't really like me anymore, she hasn't talked to me since yesterday, I'm worried about her, she may have done something to herself, or maybe she hates me, heck, it's Monday, and she texts me at school all the time, she has computers in her third class, which usually means she checks her stuff, but she hasn't. Man, I'm real depressed about all of this. I don't know what to do Steve." he rested his elbows on his knees, letting his hands hold and hide his face.
Steven's expression changed from guilty, to guilty with a side of fear, sadness, and regret, but he knew it was too late for him to back off his plan now, it was already in motion. "Wow, I'm terribly sorry Ben," he sat by his friend, patting him on the back, "When did you last see her?"
When Ben looked up to answer him, Sebb's hat in the corner caught his eye, but he didn't let his knowledge be blown. "At church dude, was she there when you left?" He asked, trying his best to fool Steven into believing he's unknowing of Sebb's chances of being somewhere in his house.
"Yeah, she was sitting on the pavement, I offered her a ride home, but she said no." His unacknowledgement of Ben's slyness kept him from knowing his friend knew something.
"That child." He sighed, "You should have made her come home, you know she would have walked. Heck she probably did walk, and with her luck some psycho probably picked her up. Oh my god, what do I do." He freaked out, trying to get his friend to believe he genuinely didn't know of Sebb's whereabouts.
She could hear him, his voice, Ben was here. She tried to slither out of the rope, but only managed to give herself rope burn. "I have to get to him." She whispered to herself.
She looked around for anything that could possibly help her in this situation. Nothing was visibly helpful that was within an arm's reach. The rope cut into her skin letting her wrists bleed, at the movement she kept creating. Convincing her to settle down before she hurt herself worse.
Sebb looked over to her left, to see Sam sitting near the door, she quickly tried to think of possible ways Sam could help her, then immediately tried calling him over. Not to her surprise, the cat didn't budge.
"I don't know what I need to do about her disappearing, she travels fast, she could be on the other end of the Earth in less than a day! She could be anywhere." Ben allowed his thoughts of what she could be going through into his mind, creating tears on his face as Steven pulled him in for a hug.
He felt himself crying more, which gave him an excuse for him leaving, "I need a moment Steph." Ben got up, walking down the corridor towards the restroom, but stopped when he heard Sam scratching on the basement door.
She had her head hung down, stains of tears were streaked down her face, her blood trickled down her wrists from the rope digging into her skin. Her head perked up as she heard footsteps, she thought it was Steven coming to bring her news of some sort, but Sam scratched on the door and she opened it catching a glimpse of blonde hair. "Hey!" she whisper yelled, and grinned widely when she saw Ben appear in the door.
He looked into the basement, then immediately ran over to her embracing her into a hug. "Sebb!" He cried, "I was so worried." He reached for her wrists and quickly began untying them.
"Ben hurry, you don't need him to know you're down here." She whispered as they both worked on getting her ankles away from one another.
"Oh it's too late for that dear."
They stopped what they were doing and immediately looked at the door to see Steven staring at them, wielding a knife, glaring at them.
Sebb quickly began to stand up grabbing Ben's arm to help her up from falling again, he held her behind his arm, protecting her from Steven's stare. "Why? What did she do to you Steven?" He yelled at him, not caring that he held a knife at attack.
"You took her from me. You took the one person, I actually care about!" He cried, clenching his fists.
"What are you saying?" He growled standing in front of Sebb blocking him from his sight as she looked for a weapon to protect herself with.
"You know what if means! You took Sebb from me! You know I loved her! So I'm just repaying you for the crap you caused me!" He had tears running through his eyes and down his face.
"You took her for yourself, you know how selfish that is right?"
"Don't mind us, we're just spilling our guts, if this is love I don't wanna be loved." He glared running at Ben, jumping at him.
His actions were interrupted by Sebb ramming into him from the side having him hit his head on the wall creating his vision to blur. Steven's actions were immediate, but dangerous. The knife was pierced into her side, to quick to register to her. The only thing she could do was follow her tears to the floor.
Steven's eyes were in shock at his sudden actions, "Sebb!" He screamed finally noticing she wasn't going to stop bleeding on her own, running to her side trying to put pressure on the stab wound.
She tried to move away from him, but he held her still, "B-Ben help!" She stuttered weakly.
He was already on it shoving him away from her, trying to tend to her. This angered him, and he took the knife repeatedly stabbing at his friend's side repeatedly. "You shouldn't have done that!" He yelled.
Ben's defense went to Sebb, which left him bleeding on the floor, in a puddle of his own blood. "Ben!" Sebb cried out, seeing the horror in front of her.
"Steven! Please stop!" She screamed seeing her boyfriend's blood spilling everywhere.
He stopped immediately knowing what he was doing, he stopped, running out of the room leaving the two to themselves.
Sebb crawled over to him, hugging him tightly, leaving tears scattered.
She felt a hand on her head petting her hair, "Shush." He whispered sweetly, "Everything will be okay, no one can hurt me anymore. No one can hurt you anymore." His voice was beginning to fade.
"But babe," she cried, "I'm scared."
"No, no, it's okay, don't worry, we'll both be okay soon."
She cried, "What if-"
He shushed her putting a finger on her lips, "It'll all be okay. Life happens this way." He began to feel his vision disperse from him.
He didn't like the thought of leaving her alone in the darkness, he forced himself to sit up, and lean on the wall, holding her head in his lap.
"Everything, will be okay, I promise." He said petting her hair loosely.
She nodded, letting a few more tears fall, "You're trying too much babe," she frowned at him, "I'll be there soon, we can be together forever."
He smiled, "Your love is my fame Sebb," he gave her a kiss on the forehead.
She reached for the knife, "It's okay babe, we can go together." she said putting the knife at her side where she was stabbed earlier, and began cutting deeper.
He wanted to stop her, but he was to weak, and he knew she was in deep pain as well. He's lost most of his feelings at this point. "Baby, I love you." he said closing his eyes.
"I love you too boo." She said as she watched him disappear from his body.
"Goodbye Ben." She cried, taking the knife to her wrist, letting them bleed out as a token to quicken her death, not wanting him alone.
Her death wouldn't come quick enough, she didn't want him alone, she feared he would be afraid, the knife rose to her throat, the last thing to happen before her trip to the afterlife, was her seeing Carlos running yelling, "Sebb! No!"
She opened her eyes and looked into the darkness, things were once full of color, now the only color, was none at all. "Ben?" She yelled, crying out, dying for a response.
Tears whelped in her eyes, as she opened them, something was different, the walls were white, the sheets were pale, things attached to her arms. Moments passed until she realized, she was in a hospital. Her thoughts raced.
"Sebb, it's me, Seth. You've been in a coma for a few weeks, how are you feeling?"
She blinked, a dream, this was her husband Seth. Her mind created a world for her sleep, Carlos isn't real, Ben isn't real, Steven though, was her first son, who was becoming two this coming June, was asleep in the corner. She cried, she knew what her mind did, it saved her a picture of the future, she closed her eyes.
"Babe, I love you." She sighed.
That moment, the doctor walked in, "Good morning Sebb, you've been asleep for a while, how are you feeling?" he had a smile on his face.
"Good." She looked up, glancing at his name tag before her eyes looked at his face, the name on his tag, was Ben, his face was the same blonde hair and blueish eyes.
Her eyes showed the confusion and fear of the blow she took to the head. That wasn't a dream, it was a warning for what is soon to come.