XXXVI. not dying but I still bleed

      The group of friends waited at the construction sight for the police to come. Dylan's head was against Pope's chest and she stared off into space, still rattled from what occurred not too long ago. The outburst caused a tension between her and Kie. She felt embarrassed by how she acted but she was also hurt.  Everything she was doing was to avenge her friends and now, it all might be ruined. Pope's arms were wrapped around her shoulders and he rocked them side to side.

When they heard the sounds of the police sirens,  Dylan flinched and she lifted her head. She looked up at Pope and her eyes went wide. "Hey, it's okay," he whispered and squeezed her shoulders. "It's okay."

Shoupe stood with the teenagers on the construction sight. "Look, it was right here and this is where that manic claimed his next victim." Kiara insisted.

"Uh-huh. His next victim," the man muttered,  obviously not believing them. He looked around the empty construction sight. "How long ago did you say this happened?"

"Forty five minutes ago, Shoupe." JJ stepped in.

"Okay. So, Ward Cameron just popped one off and shot him execution style?" Shoupe again in disbelief.

"After everything that's happened, is that so hard to believe?" Dylan questioned with a scoff.

Shoupe looked at her with a stern expression.

"We filmed the whole thing—" Kiara spoke again,  which gave the man some kind of hope. "But we can't show it to you because I was worried about falling off the latter so I stepped on JJ's hand, and then he kicked Pope, and then he and Pope fell ontop of Dylan, making Pope drop the camera, and it broke." She went into heavy detail.

Pope let go off Dylan and stepped forward with the broken video camera in his hand. "This is a telephoto and we needed to get a long-distance image, and. . ." He began to explain but took a pause. "And and I fell, and it broke, so the video is basically unusable." He said sheepishly.

Shoupe hummed, interrupting him. "So the dog ate your homework?" He spoke in a matter of fact tone.

Dylan sent him a glare. "If you would let us talk!" She snapped.

"Shoupe, I know how it sounds—" Kiara started but he interrupted again.

"Look, I don't know what you kids expect me to do with this," he said with a shrug. "You drag me out here in the middle of the night for a whole lot of nothing. Except for some crazy stories about how Ward Cameron's out on a random killing spree." He lectured loudly.

"We're not making this up!" JJ yelled at him.

"This is not a random killing spree!" Pope added in. "Gavin was his pilot. Okay, he was paying him hush money because he was on the tarmac that day."

"He was blackmailing him, Shoupe. Because he had the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin and he knew exactly how to get Ward to talk." The girl said slowly and her more calm.

Shoupe turned to her. "How do I know this isn't apart of your criminal fascination, Dylan? That you're making it up?" He accused her.

Her jaw dropped and Pope stepped in. "Hey, she wouldn't lie about this. This is serious!" He defended her and glared at the man.

The police officer looked between the couple. Dylan crossed her arms cautiously as Pope stood in front of her, the glare on his face remaining. He let out a sigh. "How do you know about Gavin?" He asked the teenagers.

"Pope did this thing with his phone. He, like, put it in his car and. . ." Kiara rambled.

"I heard the entire conversation!" Pope yelled.

"You wiretapped him?" Shoupe asked in disbelief.

Dylan threw her hands up. "It works in the movies?" She exclaimed.

"Is that bad?"

The officer raised his hand. "Stop, i've had enough." He confirmed and began to walk off.

The group of friends looked at each other with wide eyes. "What are you talking about, Shoupe? Are you just gonna look the other way?" JJ shouted at him.

"You ever heard about the boy who cried wolf?" the man called back.

The followed him out of the construction sight and Dylan stormed after him. "So that's it? After everything we told you, you're just gonna walk away? You're hoping to continue to protect him?" She threw rapid questions at him in anger.

Shoupe stopped where he was standing and he turned around to face her. "What would your dad say if I were to call him and tell him where you're at?" He basically threatened her.

"He would tell you to fuck off."

"Whoa, hey, DJ!" JJ shouted and he grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

Shoupe pointed his finger at her. "I'd watch your mouth, young lady." He warned.

She broke out of JJ's hold but Pope quickly grabbed her arm and she looked at him, the boy shaking his head at her to stop.

"Why can't you just believe us for once? I know it sounds crazy. I know that!" Kiara shouted.

Shoupe ignored them and looked at the other officers. "All right, there's nothing up there. False alarm. Let's all go home!" He announced to all of them.

She shook her head hysterically. "No, no, please don't go home. No!" She pleaded. "Why would we make this up? Can you just do your job for like twenty minutes!"

"This is exactly why I said we shouldn't trust you!" Dylan shouted as well and the anger she felt inside began to burn her skin.

Shoupe turned to them again and his face darkened. "Hey. I know–I know you're upset and I know you think your friend was innocent—"

"He is!" Kiara defended.

"But you weren't there—"

"Yeah, neither were you!" Dylan stepped in and she glared at him with tears in her eyes. "You have no idea what happened so how can you stand there and tell us what we're feeling? You're not doing shit to help us!" She shouted at him.

"D," JJ warned but she ignored him.

"The only actual witnesses—that are above ground—say the exact opposite." Shoupe pointed out. "And both of them have a hell of a lot more credibility then any of you right now." He looked at Kiara. "I saw your little art project on Ward's wall. Do not do that again," he forwarded. Then, he looked Dylan. "And you–I don't know who you think you are or what you think you can accomplish, but this isn't a TV show, Dylan. This is real life. Your little detective crap doesn't apply right now."

If looks could kill, he would be six feet under. Dylan was red in the face and her brown eyes glazed fire. She gritted her teeth inside her mouth and was surprised they didn't break.

"Go home!" He said firmly and walked away to his police car.

She stared at the back of his head like she was trying to burn a hole through it. There was so much bottled inside of her that she wanted to say. She was told to keep her emotions in and to move on with her life. But she couldn't move on. She thought her best friend was dead the man who was at fault was still roaming free. She couldn't accept it. "How do you sleep at night knowing you sent two teenagers to their death?" She called out.

The others looked at her with wide eyes. "Dylan, stop," Pope said in a hush tone.

Shoupe got to his police car and he turned around again. "I'm giving you one last warning, Dylan." He said back to the girl.

But she wasn't giving up. "You know how my dad is. You know whose side he's on." She continued and anger dripped from her tongue like poison.

Kiara hit her arm and gave her a look. "Hey, what's gotten into you?" She questioned with a slacked jaw.

Shoupe took the opportunity to get in his car and drive off. The group of friends were left standing at the construction sight. Dylan walked off and she stressfully ran her hands through her hair.

"I told you this would happen," JJ expressed and threw his hands up. "Like, you're the one that had to drop the camera." He said to Kiara.

She glared at him. "It was your fault!" She shouted.

Dylan faced her and scoffed. "Don't blame him. If you hadn't blown our cover, the camera wouldn't be broken and we would have our evidence!" She exclaimed.

"Hey, hey," Pope said and grabbed her forearm. "Calm down, DJ—"

She pushed his hand away. "Don't tell me to calm down."

Kiara titled her head aggressively. "Why are you suddenly putting on the blame on me?" She questioned and walked closer to her. "Huh? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Because you can't get off your patriarchal high horse long enough to admit it's your fault. You blame everyone else!" Dylan shouted at her. They stood face to face and glared at each other.

JJ got in between them and pushed them away from each other. "Hey, both of you knock it off," he snapped. He turned his head to Dylan. "Hey, what's going on with you? You never act like this."

She dropped her jaw. "Seriously?" She asked in disbelief.

Pope walked up behind her. "Babe, just tell us what's wrong." He said calmly.

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "What's wrong is we thought our best friend was fucking dead and we had a chance to get him back. Now there's nothing we can do!" She yelled and walked away from them. She let out a quiet cry. She touched the gold heart shaped locket around her neck and she squeezed it in her fist.

Dylan didn't say anything to her family when she arrived home. She went straight to her room and took a shower. It didn't matter how long she stayed in there for, the tension in her muscles wouldn't ease. The stress in her bones wouldn't stop aching and the front of her forehead wouldn't stop pounding. She was drained, physically and mentally. She laid on her bed with her wet hair covering the pillow. Her eyes were closed and she tried to sleep but she couldn't. Guilt ate at her for how she talked to her friends, especially Kiara. That wasn't her.

Her bedroom door opened and Pope peeked his head inside her room. He saw her on the bed. "Hey," he said softly.

She turned her head to the side and was shocked to see him. "Hey." 

He walked into the room and shut the door behind him. "Your mom let me in," he told her and out his hands into the pockets of his shorts.

It got quiet and the guilt in her grew stronger. It was never awkward with Pope. He was the easiest person to talk to. But he didn't know what to say in the moment. She stared at him with remorse. "I'm sorry for how I acted. . ." She muttered in a breathy tone.

Pope shook his head and sat on the edge of the bed.  "You don't have to be sorry. Ever." He spoke firmly but his voice was calm. 

"But I am," she responded. "The way I've been acting,  the things I said to Kie, that's not me," she said with a shake of her head. "I'm acting insane—"

"No, you're not," he denied and grabbed one of her hands in his. "You're hurt. You're upset. You have every reason to act the way you are. John B's your best friend. You're closer to him than any of us. I don't blame you for lashing out."

Dylan looked at him and her eyes started to water. He was so gentle with her. So sweet. That who Pope was.  He was like the sun, always warm and comforting. His heart was so beautiful. As she stared him in the face,  she grew emotional, because she loved him so much.  "I just keep thinking. . ." She began to say and her voice cracked. "If I'm going this crazy because of something that happened to John B, I can't imagine how I'll be if something were to ever happen you."

Pope's face softened. "Oh, DJ, don't say—"

"No, no, you don't get it," she interrupted him and sat up, turning to the side and she leaned on her elbow. "I look at you and I see every good thing in the world. You keep me from going insane. You are the good thing in my life and I'm so scared to think about losing you," she told him and a tear slipped from her eye.

"It won't ever happen. You'll never have to worry about it."

She let out a small cry and Pope moved forward. She leaned back on her bed and he moved on top of her and her arms circled around his neck. "I love you so much." she cried into his shoulder. 

Pope closed his eyes and put his face in the crook of her neck. "I love you." He said back and his arms circled around her waist and he squeezed her tightly.