Part 3 — Say Something

Xin jumped on Zap, who was still in bed, and pulled out her knife, hanging it over his neck. "You better speak before I accidentally kill you."

"A shame that would be," Zap muttered, leaning back into the mattress as far as he could.

Xin's knife moved with him. "Why can't you say it, huh? Just say it! What's the big deal? We're just trying to help you!"

"You can't help me. I can't tell you, either. I haven't told a single person." Xin, out of options, nicked his arm. "Ow! What the fuck?!"

"I can't not know what's been going on with you, Zap. This is the first time you've acted like this. You're not acting like you normally do." At that moment, Azyra walked into Zap's room. "Zap, just tell us something. Anything, as small as it is, will help us know more about what's been troubling you."

"If I am out if Xin's reach for the next minute, I'll say something."

"Great." Xin pocketed her knife and hopped off the bed. For good measure, Azyra tossed Zap his phone.

Zap caught it and placed it beside him. "It involves a knife. Leave my room." Zap stood up, waiting.

"Fine," Azyra said. "That's all we need for now." She motioned for Xin to follow her out of the room. She closed the door behind her. "We're a bit closer. It has something to do with a knife? A murder, maybe?"

"Probably," Xin said. "What else would cause him to act like he just did?"

"What bothers me is the fact that you said he was acting normally the night before, and that he just broke out like this now."

"Yeah. We'll talk to him again, definitely. Again and again. For now, we should just leave him alone for a bit."

"Definitely. I didn't expect it to go as well as it did, even if we needed to hurt him—only a little bit—to get answers."

"It's how it always works," Xin pointed out. "And we know him. It's not that bad."

"I think it's the opposite, but I guess you're right," Azyra said, walking downstairs. "I'm going to head outside."