Part 14 — Zap?

Zap hung his jacket on the coat rack. He turned around and saw the three girls who lived with him, looking at him with concern. "H-hey," Azyra said. "How are you feeling?" Zap shook his head, indicated that he didn't want to speak. Slowly, he walked past them and walked up the stairs. He walked into his room, but Xin's foot prevented him from closing the door. "You need to speak," she said. "What's been going on? Why did you leave? What happened?"

Taking a deep breath, he said, "Answer one: I know as much as you do. Answer two: I know as much as you do. Answer three: A lot of things." The only noise that followed was Momoko's foot tapping on the floor. "Zap...did anything happen...to you?" she reluctantly asked.

"Yes, definitely." He fully opened the door and walked out of his room. "Well, not physically. That was in the past," he said, thinking back to the photo of Ed.

"Um..." Momoko didn't speak. Everyone was at a loss for words. Nothing about Zap's speaking was normal: he was choosing not to speak, his tone was low when he did, and he was giving no direct answers.

The girls watched as Zap walk downstairs and back outside, again with nothing.

"Not this time." Azyra ran down the stairs and out the door and reached Zap. She grabbed his arm and stopped him. "You're being really weird," she said, pulling him back towards the door.

"Let go of me." Zap was speaking in a voice that was smaller than a hair.

"I won't."

Zap pulled out Xin's knife. He readied a stabbing position, but instead, he held it out towards Azyra's other hand, and she took it from him. "Give that back to Xin," he said.

"Sure," Azyra said. "But we have to go back inside the house first."

"Why?"

"Just listen to me." Azyra was trying not to shout. Slowly, her grip still on Zap's arm, she and Zap walked back towards the apartment.