This story belongs to BespectacledGuineaPig (formerly LittleMissIntroverted). This is an original story which I do not want to see copied.

THIS STORY HAS BEEN TAKEN DOWN FOR EDITING.

I read over it and died. Seriously. Sooo badly written.

Chapter 1- Something's missing

Adam woke up in pain.

The kind of pain you'd expect to experience after being beaten to a pulp by someone or after being trampled by a stampede of wild animals. Everything hurt; starting from his head down to the tips of his toes. His body felt bruised and battered, his muscles burned as if from extreme physical exertion and his head pounded like he had consumed a lethal quantity of alcohol and was now suffering from a particularly nasty hangover.

He was also painfully aware of a bright white light burning down upon his eyelids, forcing him to, albeit unwillingly, join the land of living, or in this case the land of the people in a conscious state. Because Adam was convinced that he was not dead... no, he was in far too much pain for that.

For him, right now, death would be a welcome release from the pain that consumed him body and soul. Trying in vain to ignore the brilliant white light shining above and all around him, Adam sought for sleeps kind embrace, to save him from facing that incessant beeping noise and the sound of his mother fluttering anxiously over him. He did not know where he was, nor did he care. All he longed for was the relief that would come with being numb.

"Adam? Are you awake Adam?" his mum asked anxiously as she straightened his bed sheets.

Adam ignored her. 'Go away,' he silently pleaded.

"Adam." This was his father now. "We know you're awake. How are you, my boy?"

Adam heaved a sigh and slowly cracked open an eyelid. Ugh. The light was too much for his pupil to handle and he quickly shut it again. He lay there for a few seconds before slowly cracking his eyes open to tiny slits. Peering out at the room around him, Adam realized that he was in a hospital although for what reason he couldn't be sure, except that whatever it was, it was connected directly to his state of physical and mental suffering. Obviously.

"Oh, Adam, honey," his mum shrieked, as she grasped his hand tightly between her own. "How are you?"

Adam ignored the question and looked around at the small white hospital room crammed full of cards and flowers. He made a face. Why on earth would he want flowers? And more importantly, what the hell was he doing here?

"Adam?" his mum chirped worriedly.

"What... what happened," he managed to croak, looking back over to her.

His mum frowned, biting at her lip. "You were in an accident, honey." She whispered.

Adam frowned. "What kind of accident?"

His dad leant forward and patted him on the shoulder. Adam winced.

"Sorry mate." He cleared his throat nervously.

"Well?" Adam asked frustrated, his voice coming out gravelly. He motioned for some water and his mum jumped up and got him some. "Thanks."

"Do you remember Lacey's 17th?"

"Her party?" Adam asked confused. "Yeah, me and Tyler are planning on going, why?"

His mum and dad exchanged a look. "Mate, you've already been to that party. You and Tyler were so drunk afterwards that you-"

Adam cut him off. "What do you mean we've already been?" he asked incredulously. "That party's not until the weekend! Tyler and I have looking forward to it for a while now!" Adam protested, wracking his brain for answers.

"Mate, calm down," his dad said, "I'm just going to say this straight out ok?"

Adam nodded his head.

His dad took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, the truth of it is that while you walking home you decided that it would be funny to jump out onto the road in front of unsuspecting drivers. Unfortunately, seeing as you were on the highway, your unsuspecting victim was unable to slow down and she hit you while at the same time swerving headlong into a trunk coming from the opposite direction."

Adam exhaled sharply. No. This couldn't be true. "Is the lady... you know?" Adam gestured, unable to say that one word.

"Yeah, she is." Adam nodded shakily.

"And Tyler?" Adam asked, holding his breath, "What about him?"

His mum and dad exchanged yet another sympathetic look. "Mate, Tyler disappeared that night."

Adam lay in bed thinking. He had no recollections of this party or of the 'drunken' walk home, and he was pretty sure that that was something he should remember.

After all, he had been cleared for amnesia.

So why then? Why could he not remember? He kneaded his forehead in frustration, wincing as the action pulled at his split eyebrow and the various other scrapes and cuts scarring his face.

"Think Adam, think," he muttered.

Wait. There was something there. Right at the edges of his consciousness, floating there just out of his grasp but so tantalizingly close, was an idea. What could have happened. The answer. Now if he could just put his finger on it.

"Hey bro," his mate Seth called as he walked in. He walked up to Adam and bumped knuckles with him. "How's it going?"

"Yeah, you were messed up real bad. That's gotta hurt right?" his other friend Matt said as he slumped into the only available armchair.

"Well, seeing as I'm in considerable pain, yeah, I guess," Adam said jokingly, then he sobered up. "Does anyone know what happened to Tyler?"

All traces of mirth quickly evaporated from his friends faces as they looked at him seriously.

"We don't know man. No one does... He just disappeared."

Adam exhaled slowly, squeezing his eyes shut. "Where could he have gone? Are people looking for him?"

"Yeah, the police have got this whole search party thing going on, but mate, they think he'd dead."

"But he's not," Adam said fiercely, "They're not going to give up on him are they?"

"Nah mate, at least not for a while. But you've gotta look at this seriously Adam. Tyler's been missing for five days now. You'd think he would've turned up by now." Matt said as he leaned forward, his blue eyes burning intensely.

Adam shook his head, refusing to see reason. "He'll turn up," he said confidently, "They'll find him." Then he paused, frowning. "Five days? So we did go to the party... How was it?"

"Man, it was so great! Pretty ladies everywhere! You and Tyler were so pissed, it was funny as!"

"Yeah, until we left and tried to kill ourselves," Adam said bitterly.

"Yeah... and it was so strange how you just disappeared," Seth said, frowning. He sat quietly for a moment, thinking of a way to redirect the flow of their conversation. "So... you heard about that new exchange chick?"

"Hmm?" Adam asked distractedly.

"The new bird around school?"

"Yeah. She's hot as! I reckon I might have a crack at her," Matt exclaimed, slipping back into his usual state of relaxed happiness.

Adam nodded, not really interested in what they were saying.

"Adam," Seth said sharply, "Stop being gay and at least pretend to be interested in the hot English chick that just moved here."

Matt chuckled and gave Seth a high five and Adam glared at them.

"Lighten up man," Matt said, punching his arm. Adam winced. "Oh yeah... sorry mate. Anyway we've gotta go. Places to be. Pretty girls to pick up." He gave Adam a wink before flouncing out like a catwalk model.

Seth shook his head at him and turned back to Adam with a grin on his face. "When are you getting out?"

"Next Thursday, I think."

"Excellent," Seth said, his grin stretching wider, "That means you can swing by Shane's end of summer party?"

Adam rolled his eyes. "Right... because Shane likes us enough to let us in."

"Relax man. He said to invite you, because of; you know, the whole Tyler thing... I think it's a guilt thing," Seth joked, "Anyway, me and Matt are extending that invitation to cover us as well so you better come!"

Adam groaned. "You are horrible people," he began, but seeing the look on Seth's face he hurriedly continued, "but yeah, sure... why not?"

"That's my man," Seth said, grinning broadly now. "Catch ya later then."

Adam sunk back into his pillows. Matt and Seth could be so callous sometimes, using his best friends' popularity to get in with cool crowd. He sighed wondering why Shane would bother inviting him to his party. He'd never liked him before; never understood how Tyler could be friends with a loser like him. Something must be up for him to invite him.

"How are you?" A plump nurse with shiny black hair asked as she wheeled in a tray with his dinner on it.

"Better," Adam said with a smile.

"That's good. You're lucky you weren't seriously injured Mister. So sad about your friend."

Adam nodded gravely and thanked her for his tea. She smiled politely and withdrew from the room telling him to call her if her needed anything.

He absently picked at it before pushing it aside and falling asleep.

When Adam woke up it was still dark outside. Tired he stretched as much as he could before he tried to get back to sleep. As he rolled over something caught his eye, making him pause.

A man. There was a man standing outside his window wearing a long leather jacket and a hat pushed low over his eyes. He was standing in the shadows so motionlessly that Adam wasn't sure if he was imagining him however, after catching the man's eye, he quietly slipped away into the night.

Adam frowned. There was something about the man that had been familiar. He felt like he'd seen him recently. On the night of the party? He gasped as little bits of memory started to come back.

He remembered white walls, similar to the hospital walls but different in a way he couldn't put his finger on. He remembered people gathering around him, observing him. He remembered excruciating pain in his head, worse even than the agony he'd endured after waking up in hospital. He remembered that man standing beside his bed and asking him to move the pencil from his hand but growling at him when he tried to physically move it. And, worse of all, he remembered Tyler screaming, screaming for help. And just recently hadn't Seth said that he'd thought it was strange how they'd just disappeared?

All of these things made Adam quite dubious about that night at the party. About the last night that anyone had seen Tyler. Something was missing... and Adam was determined to find out what.