Zak stared blankly at his monitor. He was a mess inside and out, and he had dark bags underneath his eyes. These days, he didn't feel like sleeping. His friend, Darryl, or more known as "BadBoyHalo" had had no activity for the past 3 weeks. On top of that, everyone Zak has asked had not heard from Darryl in that period of time.
"Hey Skep, you still there? You've been kind of quiet," Vincent said into his mic.
The sudden noise made Zak slightly jump with surprise as he was pulled from his dark thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, yeah..sorry about that.." Zak replied blankly.
He found it difficult to find a reason to be happy. Not only has his best friend disappeared, but so many awful things have been happening to him recently. Horrible things like his sister falling sick and the divorce of his parents. Vincent always tried to comfort Zak as best as he could whenever he had the opportunity, but he was never good with topics like these. He was always busy with his detective training. He had picked up the career, and become part of the team.
"Hey, I know you're hurting, but things will get better..! I promise," Vincent said with forced cheerfulness.
The truth was, he didn't think things would get better for anybody, but Vincent knew he couldn't just say that.
Zak laughed sadly. "It's funny how you keep saying that," he murmured while pulling his sleeves over his hands.
Vincent thought desperately for a way he could try to cheer up his friend, when it clicked. I'm so stupid! Why haven't I thought of this before? He scolded himself in his head.
"Hey... do you think I'll be able to come over today?" Vincent asked, hoping with every bone on his body that Zak would say yes.
Zak cocked his head. "What? Why?"
"Well I thought since I'm not doing anything today, and we haven't seen each other in real life in a while then maybe.."
Zak looked around at his messy room. He had stopped caring about tidiness a long time ago.
"Uh..sure but my house is nothing...pretty."
"That's fine! I was thinking we could go some place else," Vincent said, well knowingly that his broken friend hadn't been outside in public ever since the downfall of his life.
"I don't really feel like going anywhere though," Zak replied in the same monotone voice he had held since the beginning of their conversation.
"Come on! It'll be fun! You can get your mind off your struggles for today. Plus, we haven't seen each other since..well..ever..!" Vincent chirped, trying to sound as positive as he could.
Zak let out a sigh. "Ok sure I guess..."
"Nice, I'll pick you up in 15."
"Sounds like a plan."
Zak opened his eyes, and realized the car had stopped.
"Oh you woke up just in time. I didn't want to have to wake you anyway."
Zak rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"Are we here?" he asked sleepily.
"Yup! Your favorite amusement park too. This is gonna be so much fun!" Vincent said as he helped Zak out of the car.
Zak grabbed his backpack out of the trunk and swung it around his shoulders. The shorter boy squinted and looked about his surroundings.
"God, I forgot how bright it is outside," he said half jokingly.
Zak would normally be excited to come to this park. But he didn't feel any sort of joy as he glared about his once favorite place to go.
Vincent let out a laugh. "Okay you vampire," he replied elbowing Zak playfully in the side.
Then, he led him to the entrance to the amusement park, smilingly brightly, hoping that his mirth completion would radiate to Zak.
It had been 3 hours since they had entered the park, Zak had felt the best he had since Darryl's disappearance. Vincent, seeing his friend so happy and hearing him laugh again brought up his own mood drastically. Maybe things will get better, he thought to himself.
"Hey I have to go to the bathroom real quick," Zak said as they were walking past through the exit of a ride they had just be on.
"Oh ok, I'll wait for you here," Vincent replied.
Zak then scurried off to the restroom. Vincent watched him go in the direction of the bathroom, then settled down on a bench and took out his phone.
5 minutes past, but Zak wasn't back yet. Vincent looked at the time on his phone. How long does it take to go to the bathroom? He thought impatiently. Then, he heard terrifying sound. Numerous gunshots, followed by high screams, and then scampering of shoes hitting the concrete. Vincent snapped his head up and looked around, baffled. Everyone else in the park seemed to have heard it too, panic commenced. Vincent quickly stood up and started running towards the direction of the bathrooms. While running, he took out his phone and desperately texted Zak, praying that he was okay. He had sent 14 messages, but to no answer. Vincent started running faster, crowds running in the opposite direction of him, trying to get away from the gunshots. Vincent started panting heavily. His muscles were aching, but he didn't slow down. Tripping to a sudden halt, he finally arrived at the horrific scene.
"Oh my god..." he murmured under his breath as he froze in place.
There was blood on the sidewalk, people desperately trying to run away, and a single body lying on the floor face down. Vincent looked around but saw no sign of the person responsible for the murder. He speed walked about desperately trying to find his friend in the mess of horrified people. Asking others passing by if they had seen Zak, showing pictures of what he looked like. But they either ignored him, or said they haven't see him. Then, he spotted a familiar boy in a blue hoodie, curled up in a ball underneath a nearby tree.
"Zak!" Vincent shouted with relief as he ran over to him.
The terrified boy looked up with watery black eyes. He was shaking violently. As Vincent made it to where he was curled up underneath a tree, he helped Zak to his feet and gave him a tight embrace.
"It's okay, it's over now.." Vincent soothed.
Zak was still shaking, and Vincent could hear him sobbing quietly.
"T-There was.." he tried to speak, but his voice would break and his words came out quiet.
"I know, I know. Just try to calm down, it's going to be ok," Vincent replied, trying to sound calm. But really, he was confused, terrified, and exhausted.
This was supposed to be a fun time, he thought gloomily. Why do bad things always have to happen? Vincent looked at the body lying on the floor. There was something familiar about the individual. He decided to take a closer look, and slowly walked to the body with Zak close behind him. As they got closer, Zak gasped with horror.
"No way...there's no way..!" Vincent uttered horrified.
Zak shook his head and covered his eyes. The body was none other then Darryl Noveschosch. Their friend that had been missing for 3 weeks, and now, they had found him.
"Why..! WHY!" Zak bellowed. Tears streaming from his face.
Vincent was surprised to realize that there was tears coming from his own eyes as well.
"H-He's here?! But..but.. how?!" Vincent stuttered with disbelief.
Numerous police men finally made it to the scene. The officers all recognized Vincent, as they had worked with him to solve a few cases in the past.
"Vincent!" shouted a ginger haired officer, running over to the two.
"Mike," Vincent said exasperated.
"I don't know what happened... This is the guy that went missing 3 weeks ago,"
Zak stayed silent with an unreadable expression on his face, seemingly in deep thought.
"What? You mean that youtuber that went missing?" the police officer addressed as Mike asked with a puzzled expression.
The ginger haired boy took a few steps closer to the body and kneeled down beside it.
"Oh my god... what the hell happened man?"
As more police arrived to the theme park, everybody was escorted out. Vincent and Zak walked back to their car in silence. The sun was starting to set, it would be dark soon. Vincent put his arm around his friend and squeezed him protectively. Zak still had a blank expression with puffy red eyes. He stared at his shoes as they walked. Vincent let out a sigh. He to was feeling terrible, and if he wasn't trying to stay strong for his friend, he would've already broken down.
It was dark outside as Vincent parked his car in front of Zak's house. His friend has already fallen asleep. Vincent was exhausted as he climbed out of his car and took Zak's backpack, searching for his house keys. As he dug through the backpack, he found something unnerving. Inside of Zak's backpack, there sat a pistol. Vincent dropped the backpack onto the road, it's contents spilling out.
What?! He thought wide eyed. Did..Zak kill Darryl? Vincent shot a glance at his friend. He was still dead asleep. There's no way. Why does he have this in his backpack? He stared about the neighborhood. All the lights in the houses were turned off. Vincent breathed a sigh of relief. At least nobody had seen the gun. But the feeling was short lived as his eyes trailed back to his sleeping friend. Vincent shook his head and picked the backpack back off the ground. As he found Zak's house keys, he threw Zak's backpack back into the trunk of his car. Maybe I can find more evidence, he thought. Vincent carried Zak back into his home being careful not to wake him. Then he drove off to his own house. Thoughts were racing through his head the whole way back. Am I friends with a killer?