Zachary was seventeen when he ran away from home-- frantic and sudden.
All his life, he didn't think that he would be running away from home-- from his family. But hanging with the wrong crowd and making bad decisions made him do it. He should have been more cautious-- more careful. Surely, he knew that what he was doing was wrong all along-- that hacking and stealing and pretending to be someone he's not were wrong-- and all of those are crimes that are punishable by law. But that's not what he was worried about because he's been doing it for years already and he hasn't been caught-- not by his father, not by anyone at all. What he's worried about was his friends-- or can he even call them that? Maybe not. He should've listened to the warnings that other people told him-- that you're getting yourself into trouble, don't hang out with them. He regrets not listening to them before and now this is the consequence that he has to face. And he has to hide from them.
He knew that those people won't ever involve the police about what Zach did-- what they did because they, too, would get in trouble. And even if they do tell the police about it, they know that Zach will pull something up his sleeve. Because that's what Zach is good in.
But Zach doesn't want to ruin his father's reputation-- a reputation that his father created himself. A reputation that his father worked hard for. He can't bring himself to ruin something that has great importance to his father. So the only option that he has now is to run away. Run far away from the place where he calls home. Run far away from his family and friends that he has known all his life.
It's never easy to do something so sudden for Zach. He's one of those people who would rather plan and organize something first instead of doing something sudden and head-on. But this-- this needs to be sudden. He can't tell anyone what he's done--no, never-- because it's just not something a son of a police officer would do. He knows that by doing this, he would be hurting his parents and his brother but he just can't do anything other than this--
He would've told that to them face-to-face but he doesn't have time for it now. Doesn't have time to say goodbye to them-- to see them one last time.
He really does. He can't stay here for long. He can't stay to say goodbye, he just can't.
With slightly shaky hands, he grabs the necessary things that he needs for his journey-- his laptop, clothes, money and important documents. He can't bring something without importance because he knew that it would hold them back. He also knows that his parents would conduct a search to find him-- to bring him back. But it's not always that easy. He can't just go back to his home when he already did a lot of bad things and made bad decisions. But sometimes, he wishes that it was just that easy. That he can go back to them anytime. That he can watch his parents grow old. That he can grow up with his friends. But alas-- that wouldn't happen to him anymore.
He hears the front door creak open and loud whispers surrounds the first floor of his house.
They're here. He knows that it's them and not his father nor his mother because he knows their schedules. He knows that his father would be at work all day and that his mother is in the supermarket, buying their groceries for the whole week.
He really can't stay now.
With now shaky hands, he grabs one of the many notebooks and pens on his desk, opening one page of his notebook and hastily scribbles a messy 'Goodbye' on the paper, tears threatening to fall down his cheeks. He's not one to cry but with the event that's happening right now, he can't just bring himself not to cry because, after all, he's still a kid. He's still not as experienced as his brother who's six years older than him and who's training to be a police officer-- to be independent.
He brings one hand up to rub as his eyes before slinging his backpack on his shoulders. He has to go now but he can't go down because they're inside his house already and there's only a matter of time before they go up the stairs to search for him.
He looks around his room as he thinks, eyes stopping at the closed window before he silently walks closer to it. He opens the window slowly to not alert the people inside his house, eyes looking outside the window to check whether or not there are people searching for him outside as well but he found none. He was rather thankful for it.
He steps out of the window and carefully walks on the roof until he's on the edge (like those times when he would go out late in the evening just to hang out with them), he jumps off the roof and on the bushes as quietly as he can, looking around again to see if anyone had seen or heard him before quickly sprinting off. He hopes that they won't mess up his home because his parents, especially his mother, would be frantic that their house is a mess and that their younger son is missing.
He doesn't know what he'll do now, maybe he would stay in a hotel or ride the bus that takes him away from his neighborhood. But he does know that by doing this, he's keeping his self safe and also his family.
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