BURIED IN THE BLOODLINE

Chapter 4

**Zayn’s POV**

I lay motionless on the hospital bed and closed my eyes, but sleep brought no relief. The nightmares never spared me. I clenched my fists and let the memory drag me back to better days.

“Louis! Hey, Louis!” I yelled, running to catch up with him as he hurried down the crowded school hallway. “Won’t you wait for your best friend?” I panted, throwing an arm over his shoulder.

He paused, rolling his eyes with a smirk. “You know, you could’ve just called my phone.”

“With ears as big as yours? You’d probably need a hearing aid to notice it ringing.”

“Is that an insult or a terrible compliment?” He scoffed, already taking off into a sprint.

“It’s a fact! Anyone with your IQ needs to be studied by scientists!”

“That’s it! Watch me destroy you, you crazy buffalo!” he shouted, chasing me all the way to the classroom door.

We burst into the room, laughing so hard our ribs ached. Nobody even bothered to stare—we were always getting called out for our stupidity. Even when the teacher cleared his throat to restore order, we just turned him into the butt of our jokes, bringing the whole class down with us. Naturally, we were the ones who ended up in detention.

Then the memory twisted.

The bright hallway faded into cold shadow, and I saw myself standing at the top of the stairs, blindfolded. On the night everything went wrong, my past self had been so trusting, so blind. I tried to shout, tried to reach out and grab my own shoulder, but my ghostly fingers passed right through. I watched in helpless horror as Louis’s panicked expression hardened—and he shoved me down the steps.

I snapped awake, my chest heaving, soaked in cold sweat.

Ever since the accident, it was the exact same nightmare every night: Louis’s hand pushing me, the dizzying drop, and then lying at the bottom in a expanding pool of my own blood. I couldn't stop asking myself—if I hadn't gone over that night, would I still be able to stand?

I stared numbly at the sterile white walls of the hospital. Everything about this place felt suffocating. Everyone treated me like porcelain, wrapping their pity in sweet, careful words. I’d stopped caring. I stopped eating. I just wanted to fade into the mattress, but my family refused to let me rot in peace.

My parents had eventually been forced to ban Louis’s family from visiting. Just hearing his name sounded like a curse. I regretted the day I ever met him. His older brother, Bryan, was the only one who still checked in, keeping me updated on the investigation—Louis hadn't been seen or heard from since that night.

Louis’s mother had come by early on, weeping at my bedside, begging me to forgive her son. She kept insisted I must have been mistaken, that the trauma was making me hallucinate. *He’s your best friend,* she’d sobbed. *He could never do this.*

I shifted my weight, staring bitterly at the wheelchair parked in the corner. I cursed it under my breath.

I remembered the first time I tried to get out of bed on my own. My legs gave out instantly, crashing me onto the hard linoleum floor. I had never cried like that in my life—a raw, broken sound as reality finally smashed through my denial. When the nurse walked in and found me lying there, laughing hysterically with tears streaming down my face, she screamed for help. I had fought them off, thrashing and trying to hurt myself until they slammed a sedative into my IV.

I stared at the ceiling, my heart heavy with a dark, unanswered question. I wished I had seen Louis's face the moment he pushed me. I just wanted to know if there was a flicker of regret... or if he had enjoyed it.

**Bryan’s POV**

“You cannot be on this case, Bryan. It involves your family,” my supervisor said, stepping out from behind his mahogany desk and ushering me toward the door.

“What do you mean I can’t be on it? It’s my brother!” I slammed my palm against his desk, the sharp crack echoing through the office. “Louis has been missing for an entire month, and you’re telling me to sit on my hands?!”

A few officers in the bullpen glanced over in surprise. In the six years I’d spent on the force, I had never once lost my cool. I was known for being detached, stoic, and working strictly by the book. Seeing me snap was unprecedented.

“You know the protocol better than anyone,” my supervisor said softly, offering a weary sigh as he tried to de-escalate me. “We know he’s missing, Bryan. The squad is doing everything they can.”

I let out a harsh scoff. “You call this *everything*? My mother cries herself to sleep every night!” I dragged a hand through my hair, the image of my younger brother Jake begging her to eat a single bite of dinner flashing through my mind. She just sat there, staring at the front door, whispering, *Where is my boy? Where is my son?*

“And you tell me to calm down?” I stepped closer, lowering my voice into a fierce growl. “He scares easily. He’s fragile. I don’t even know if he’s alive! I’m giving your team two days. If you don’t have a real lead by then, I’m taking over this investigation myself.”

My supervisor looked at me for a long moment, defeated. “Fine. But if you dig into this, Bryan, you have to be prepared for whatever you find. There were only two people in that house that night. One ended up paralyzed, and the other ran. What if Zayn isn't lying? What if your brother actually did it?”

The question hung in the air like a heavy fog. I swallowed hard, remembering the conviction in Zayn’s eyes when he laid out the accusation from his hospital bed. I hadn't wanted to believe him. I wanted to think the trauma of the fall was making him confused.

But what if my naive, soft-spoken little brother wasn't who I thought he was? Was I actually ready to face the truth?

I closed my eyes, pressing two fingers against the bridge of my nose, praying with everything I had that Louis was innocent.