TW: Nightmares

Logan is falling apart a bit. I can tell. Just a few days ago, he was at the top of the school, now his best friends are missing and some people are deciding to pick on him. He's become very obsessed with trying to find them, to the point where I had to convince him to stay at school and not go looking for them during school hours. He is like a child, I did not sign up for this.

"Logan, I swear to god, you are going insane," I say, pulling on his arm as he resists.

I wish I could say something comforting to him about this whole situation, but the best I can come up with is 'it could be worse'. Because, honestly, I've had worse. Not Logan, though, so he's naturally freaking out. Doesn't make it any less tolerable though.

"Please, Anx? I feel useless not doing anything about it," He says.

"Look, I am not a kind words kind of person. The nicest thing I can say here is to pull yourself together. They are not dead, and we can find them. Do you really think if they were being held ransom that they would also be severely harmed?" I ask.

"Yes. Roman has a tendency to-" 

"You know what? Nevermind. Focus on the pull yourself together part. I'm not losing you too," I say.

"I highly doubt I will be able to until we get them back," Logan says.

I shush him when the teacher comes our way.

"Mr. Sanders, what is our school policy on talking during class?" She asks.

"Don't do it unless we are given express permission," I mutter.

"That's right. Detention after school today for breaking it," She says.

I bite back a groan. This is just another reason why I hate LA. Our teacher is super strict but loves Logan, as well as the other Lights, so they never get in trouble. It makes my blood boil sometimes. 

---

"Hey, Virgie. What're you in for?" Remus asks as I walk in and sit down.

"Talking. In Mrs. Fairmeadow's class. Funny, she is the opposite of fair. What about you?" I ask.

He chuckles.

"Where to start? Ok, so this kid paid me 5 bucks to go up to the teacher and say-"

"Remus, Virgil, I expected better from you. Especially considering you're both in detention. Separate. Now. And no talking," The detention monitor says.

I roll my eyes and glare as I go to a different seat. 

We both decide to annoy her for the next hour by tapping on our desks ever so faintly. Whenever she looks up from her book we stop. I bet she thinks she's going insane now.

Once we get out Remus drags me to the ditching spot, where J-Dee is there waiting for us.

"So both of you got detention?" He asks.

"Yeah, why didn't you join the fun?" Remus counters.

"Eh, I didn't feel like spending more time at that crap hole," J-Dee says, "Anyway, V, I heard you talking to Logan earlier. Nice one," 

What.

"What?" I ask.

"You're one of the first to actually knock some sense into him. Either he trusts you or you have a death wish," 

"Why can't it be both?" I smirk.

They both laugh a bit.

"Hey, Virge, can we show you something?" Remus asks.

I nod. They lead me deeper into the woods where I see a small ladder-like thing hanging from one of the trees. They turn me away from that, directing my attention to another tree. J-Dee knocks on the trunk three times and a rope falls down. We climb it and end up in a treehouse.

"Cool," I say.

"Now this is the ditching spot. Great place for when you don't want to be found," Remus says.

I nod. It's pretty well hidden.

"We gracefully carved half of the stuff in here," J-Dee says, "And redid most of the stuff in here. If we're gonna ditch we might as well come to a nice place,"

"True," I agree.

Remus opens a small compartment in the wall and pulls out some snacks. I pull out my phone to check the time.

"Sorry guys, I need to get home," I say.

They nod.

"If your folks ask about the detention we'll tell them you weren't there," J-Dee says.

"Thanks, guys," I say.

I walk home, and luckily my parents don't ask why I was out so late. They never ask about anything, so this was expected.

That night, I have a nightmare.

I'm running through the park, right where Roman disappeared. The guy who took him takes me this time. I'm dragged to the treehouse we're they keep hammering spikes into my wrists and forearms. When I beg them to stop, they do. Then Patton materializes next to me and they do it to him. I'm bound, my voice cut off, and there's nothing I can do. Then J-Dee and Remus appear, asking me why I even care. They lead me away and into a sickly sweet world when Patton is still in danger. Roman's screams join his, echoing in the distance. Then the memories of my last schools start to come up.

I wake up in a cold sweat, my arms aching. I look at them and realize I had been digging my fingernails into them. I don't care what my friends say, I need to find Roman and Patton. 

I forget about sleeping that night, instead opting to fill my bulletin board with some sticky notes, thumbtacks, and the few pictures I took on my phone and printed out. And by few, I mean three.

By dawn, my board looks like something out of a police/mystery movie. I try to scribble down every half thought I have that might be a clue. But of course, since this isn't a movie it's kinda hard. That, or my lack of sleep and coffee keeping my up. Yeah, probably that.

I scribble down one last note before going to sleep. It's 4 AM, but tomorrow is Saturday, so it doesn't matter. Some part of me wants to go back to my old dream, but only the part where I'm with J-Dee and Remus, in a candy-esque world. 

When I wake up three hours later, I get a better look at my notes. One of them just says 'Pancake' and I have no idea why. Perks of being sleep deprived. 

Sometimes I have no idea what to write here. Despite the fact it's only 9:30 when I'm posting this I'm still tired. School hasn't worn off yet. Just comment any thoughts or feedback you have if you want and have a great day/night you magnificent peep!