Chapter 8

"Oh…ohhh…" she croaked, her fingers tightening around her coffee cup.

"And uh…I turned you in…"

"WHAT?" she asked, standing up abruptly causing the chair to fall to the floor with a loud thud.

"I had to, Mad. Please believe me. We can’t keep you here, it would be wrong. But I would love to keep you here. That’s all I want…but I can’t. I’m so sorry…" Zac’s voice wavered and his body shook with silent sobs.

"I…I trusted you…I can’t believe this…I can’t believe you! How could you, Zac? How could you?" Madison’s voice shook with fury and she took a step toward Zac. "At least look at me, damn it!" Zac slowly lifted his face from his hands and stared Madison in the eyes. Her green eyes were filled with tears and her cheeks were flushed from anger.

"I’m so sorry…" he whispered again.

"I don’t care how sorry you are! I trusted you! How…oh…I can’t believe this…" she was interrupted when two police officers entered the kitchen and slowly walked toward her. "What…what are you doing? Please don’t!" she screamed, backing away from them.

"I’m sorry ma’am. But her father is looking for you. We need to take you in. Your father will be meeting you at the station in a few hours. If you could be kind enough to follow us to the car…" one spoke up, eyeing everyone in the room. He was dressed in uniform and a cap covered half of his face.

"No…NO! You can’t make me go! You can’t make me go back to him!" she kept backing up, only to run into the counter. Her face was the color of paste and her eyes were wide with disbelief. "Please…Zac…help…please…" her body shook and she grabbed the counter to steady her shaking frame.

"Please Ma’am. Don’t make this harder than it already is." The officer pleaded, taking a step forward.

"NO! You can’t make me! No…no…no…no…no…no…" Madison’s voice faded and she closed her eyes.

Zac backed up against the far wall of the kitchen and stifled a sob. Madison’s voice still floated into his brain but it was just an echo coming from faraway place. He didn’t comprehend anything he heard and he didn’t see anything except for the palms of his hands. All he could think about was how his room was a mess and how he needed to clean it. Clean his room? He would have laughed for his absurd thoughts had it not been for the fact that if he opened his mouth all that would escape from his lips were sobs.

Madison didn’t know what to think. She had trusted him and he had betrayed her. That was all she could think about as both policemen grabbed her by the arms and began pushing her towards the door. She dragged her feet on the tiled floor to delay them from reaching the exit. Big, salty tears ran down her cheeks and her hands were clenched by her sides. She knew that she was screaming something but her foggy brain wouldn’t connect to exactly what she was saying. As she walked past Zac she noticed that his hands still covered his face and she could see that he was shaking. She felt a hint of satisfaction as she realized he couldn’t even look at her…it served him right.

Taylor shook his head, his blond locks falling over his eyes. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion and he wondered how long he had been sitting there trying to ignore Madison’s hysterics. She had every right to be hysterical but he couldn’t help thinking that this could have all been avoided if Ike and him had not watched the News the night before.

Isaac looked up as Madison made one last plea for help...for someone to save her.

Won’t you save me?
Saving’s what I need…

Isaac groaned inwardly. It was always like him to remember one of their songs at times like these. God, his head hurt. His heart went out to Madison but he knew Zac did the right thing…at least he hoped so.

Zac slid to the floor and hugged his knees to his chest. A cry escaped from his lips and he felt his stomach tighten as nausea threatened to overtake him. He had never felt so horrible, like such a failure as a person as he did then. What had he done? Would Madison ever forgive him?

Chapter Nine
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