Isaac came into the kitchen about fifteen minutes later; Zac was still lying on the floor. He rushed over to him, and knelt on one knee beside him.

�Zac?� He said gently, and then helped him up. He saw his brother�s face, and was shocked. There was a large bruise forming on his cheek, it was swollen, and there was a cut that was still bleeding. �Come here.� He pulled Zac over to the sink and wet a paper towel. He made him sit in a chair and carefully wiped some of the dried blood from his face. He dabbed the cut very gently; it seemed fairly deep.

�What happened?�

�Taylor hit me,� Zac answered. Ike was frozen.

�What?� Zac was quiet for a few moments before he answered.

�Taylor hit me,� he said again, quietly. Isaac could hardly believe that. He didn�t know what to say, so he didn�t say anything at all, and went to find their first aid kit instead.

�Where is he?� Isaac asked aloud, to no one really, as he gently put ice on his brother�s cheek.

�I don�t know,� Zac answered. He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth as Ike pressed a little too hard o the already purplish bruise, even though he was barely touching him.

�Sorry,� he said. He let Zac hold the ice on his own face, and walked over to the window.

�I was only trying to help him, Ike.� Zac said quietly. �He just� exploded.� He looked up at his brother while holding the ice very gently to his cheek. �I�ve never been hit so hard in my life.�

�Lemme see.� He said, making Zac move the ice away. Zac�s was squinted a little, and the area around his eye � especially around his cheekbone � was swollen; the cut was right where his cheekbone was. �It�s pretty nasty.� Ike said quietly, letting Zac put the ice back on his face.

�I don�t know what he�s on Ike� but if he keeps it up� he�s gonna end up dead.� Zac said quietly and sadly. The last thing he wanted was to lose his brother. He�d helped cover up the fact he was using drugs in the first place; even if he didn�t know it was cocaine and whatever else he was using now, it still made him feel guilty.

�Let�s just hope we find him before he has a chance to really hurt himself.�

�He said something about Jazz.� Zac said suddenly.

�What?�

�He must have a friend named Jazz. I heard him say something about getting stuff from Jazz.�

�Did he write an address, or say anything about where he was going?�

�He wrote an address on that pad over � � he didn�t finish his sentence; as soon as he�d pointed to the pad of paper that Taylor had written on Isaac ran over to it. He looked around briefly before he found a pencil. He took the pencil and pad of paper, and tilted the pencil on its side, scribbling gently on the paper to reveal the indentations of whatever Taylor had written.

�Got it!� He shouted. He turned to Zac, �come on, we�ve gotta find him.� Zac ran after Isaac, who held the paper tightly in his hand.

�This is it,� he said. �Come on.�

The door was unlocked, but no one appeared to be home.

�Hello?� Isaac called. No answer. �Taylor?�

�Let�s split up and check the whole house,� Zac suggested. Isaac nodded. �I�ll start downstairs, you take upstairs.� Isaac nodded again, and they started looking for their brother. It was a relatively big house.

�Taylor?� Zac called, but he got no reply. He searched four different rooms before he found anything. When he entered the fifth room, there were empty beer cans, plenty of other alcohol bottles much stronger than beer; there was white powder in plenty of places, and used syringes lying around. And in the middle of the floor lay Taylor. He was lying on his stomach, his head turned to the side facing away from Zac. He had one arm bent just above his head, and his other hand rested by his cheek. One leg was extended further than the other, his right leg bent slightly at the knee. Zac jumped over things and ran to him.

�Tay?� Zac said softly, kneeling down beside him. No response. �Taylor?� Still no response. Zac gently turned him over. He looked over him; he didn�t look hurt but something wasn�t right� He then noticed that Taylor�s chest wasn�t rising and falling; he leaned down to listen for the sounds of Taylor�s breaths.

�Ike!� He screamed. He heard Isaac come running down the stairs, and he found the room rather quickly.

�He�s not breathing,� Zac said, frightened. Isaac rushed over; he got down next to Taylor and listened for his breathing; he heard nothing, and felt no air coming from his mouth or nose.

�Check for a pulse,� Isaac said. Zac picked up Taylor�s wrist, feeling for a pulse.

�I can�t feel anything, Ike.� Zac replied, a hint of panic in his voice.

�I�ll call an ambulance. You start giving him CPR, and I�ll go find a phone.� Isaac said, turning and running out of the room.

Zac immediately tipped Taylor�s head back carefully, and plugged his nose; he breathed for him a few times, and then started chest compressions. After a few minutes of switching back and forth between breathing for him and pumping his chest, Isaac came back into the room.

�Please don�t die�� he heard Zac whisper; he knelt down by Taylor�s head. �I�ll do this,� he said to Zac, meaning he�d breathe for their brother. Zac moved over Taylor�s waist and started pumping his chest again.

�Come on, Taylor�� He said quietly. Isaac looked at him, and he could see the tears in his eyes. �Please� Please, don�t die� Don�t die on me, Taylor�� Zac didn�t even realize that he was speaking out loud. Isaac was going to say He won�t die, but the situation hit him. And it scared the hell out of him. Tears filled his own eyes, as he knew the truth: Taylor really could die. Sirens could be heard in the distance.