𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 .

          it  wasn’t  exactly  a  secret  that  spencer  had  pushed  for  them  to  come  down  here .  travel  to  the  place  that  undoubtedly  held  the  memories  of  one  of  the  worst  moments  of  their  young  lives .  before ,  he’d  seen  this  place  with  nothing  but  positivity .  enjoyed  the  moments  with  his  friends ,  full  of  heartwarming  laughter  while  building  the  sort  of  memories  you  carried  with  you  all  your  life .  now ,  in  the  after ,  as  he  stood  at  the  doorway  of  the  room  he  usually  claimed  as  his  own ,  his  perspective  had  shifted  far  too  much .  he  was  taller  now ,  larger  in  the  space  he  took  up .  older ,  jaded .  with  an  ever  present  burning  guilt  eating  up  his  insides ,  a  fire  smoldering  within  him .  he  couldn’t  bring  himself  to  regret  the  split  second  decision  he’d  made  to  come  down  here ,  prominently  focused  on  finding  the  friend  he’d  failed .  yet  his  stomach  was  still  tied  up  in  knots  &  a  lump  the  size  of  his  fist  sat  resolutely  in  his  throat .  &  it  would  only  get  worse .

          settled   in ,   room  in  order ,   he’d  been  one  of  the  first  few .   typical ,  expected .  he  did ,  however ,  impatiently  await  the  person  he   was  most  anxious  to  see .   he  could  sense  more  impatience  rolling  off  of  bruce  than  himself .   to  settle  them  both ,  he  decided  another  pointless  supply  run  wouldn’t  be  such  a  bad  idea .     ❛   don’t  worry  buddy ,  she’s  gonna  be  there  when  we  get  back .   ❜      fingers  idly  scratching  behind  his  soft  ears ,   but  even  he  couldn’t  help  but  look  at  his  watch  every  few  minutes  on  the  drive  back  to  the  cabin .  he’d  insisted  on  picking  her  up  from  the  airport ,  &  she’d  insisted  she  didn’t  need  that .  besides ,  they  both  knew  him  well  enough  to  know  he  was  itching  to  be  at  deep  creek .  now ,  however ,  as  the  dark  settled  in  early  in  the  evening  &  an  ominous  cold  mist  pressed  into  the  ground ,  he  was  far  more  restless  to  see  his  best  friend .  from  living  next  to  her  his  entire  life  to  only  seeing  her  a  few  times  a  year ,  it  hadn’t  been  the  easiest  adjustment .  being  away  from  home  helped.  he  couldn’t  imagine  home  without  her  in  it ,  not  even  for  a  moment.         

❛ look ,  how many times are we gonna do the same thing ?  shouldn’t you be out there right now looking for her instead of wasting ❜ ― he took a deep breath ,  settling the anger surging at the pit of his stomach .  this wasn’t helping .  ❛ spencer hughes .  vic was .. she is family .  i always looked out for her .  especially cause the guys in school ,  you know how they can be .   she was like my little sister . ❜

“ now, how old were you when victoria went missing in early 2012 ? ”

❛ fourteen . ❜

“ when was the last time you saw or were in contact with miss winters ? ”

❛ the night she went missing . not that you don’t already have this on record .❜  he scoffed for good measure ,  eyes rolling at the detective before him .  fingers tapped against the wooden table incessantly ,  no sign of stopping .  or was it plastic ?  ❛ i couldn’t sleep so ,  i had some things on my mind .  we talked about things .  i left my room to go find her and she .. wasn’t there .  i should’ve run right out after her . god ,  i should’ve - ❜  white knuckles pressed into his palms ,  reliving the regret he’d pushed down after too many years of missing her .  ❛ we’re wasting time here .  don’t any of you get that ?  she’s out there and you’re here talking to me instead .  you’re letting an innocent girl run around ,  scared & alone . you’re supposed to be helping .  what happened to serve & protect ?  this doesn’t feel like protection . ❜  if he could storm out of there ,  he would have .  instead ,  his fingers pressed further into the table ,  looking up at the woman ,  expecting an answer .  he’d only get more questions .

“ it’s rumored that miss winters was involved with an older boy from a neighboring high school before her disappearance. do you know anything about this ? ”

temper flared .  he pushed it down .  ❛ she didn’t talk about it a lot .  i knew she had someone ,  nothing else .  happy ? ❜

“ do you know of anyone who was on bad terms with victoria, who may have wanted to hurt her ? ”

❛ i wouldn’t let anyone hurt her .  but no ,  not that i knew of .  she was sweet .  she got herself in trouble sometimes ,  but who didn’t ?  she was just a kid .  we all were . ❜

“ walk me through the night victoria disappeared and what you were doing that night. everything you can remember. ”

❛ man ,  if you think i remember what the fuck went down eight .. fine . ❜  the faster he got done with this ,  the sooner he’d be on his way to deep creek . ❛ we all ate together ,  like we always did .  played some board games .. maybe card games ,  i dunno . can’t remember . it was still kinda light out when lydia & vic went to the lake . we did that a lot so ,  didn’t think about it much .  i went to my room ,  and the next time i got out ,  she was gone .  i went & woke tess up ,  i remember that .  charlie ,  too .  we got everyone out of bed .  all of us were .. pretty much freaking out .  well ,  not everyone .  some people thought she’d turn up soon .  i stayed up all night .  on the couch by the front door .  i really thought she’d .. walk in any second .  i should have fucking .. i should’ve done something . ❜  his tone was less urgent now ,  more melancholic .  the guilt well settled into his bones .  if he could berate himself less for that day ,  he would .  but he’d never stopped blaming himself for not protecting her when she’d needed him .

“ does anything strike you as peculiar in the gas station video that has recently surfaced, allegedly starring miss winters ? ”

❛ she looks fucking scared to me .  like she’s been in a bad fucking situation these last eight years .  breaks my heart .  guess it did nothing to you , huh ? ❜

“ thank you for your cooperation. now, is there any other details you believe we should know regarding the reopened investigation ? ”