rainfall | ashton irwin au | completed

twenty four

The warehouse didn't look the same as it had last time. There was no warm fire in the basement, lighting the grey walls with an orange glow as it usually did. It was freezing and damp instead. It felt empty, and it would have been if Josh had not been in the corner, crouched down so that he was on the same level as Ashton.

He stood up as my boots pattering against the floor gave my presence away. I didn't meet Josh's cold gaze, though. Instead, I concentrated on Ashton. Something was wrong with him. His green eyes were hidden by his hooded lids, his body limp and his face pale.

"What have you done to him?!" I questioned through chattering teeth, stumbling towards him and taking his face in my hands.

I rested my hand on his torso as his eyes opened slightly further from my touch, only to retract it a moment later at the feel of something sticky and damp. I looked down, gasping at the sight of blood seeping through a small hole in his t-shirt.

"Lilah," he whispered through chapped lips.,

"You didn't have to hurt him! It's me you want!" I cried, standing up.

I extended my stained hand in an attempt to slap Josh, but he held it firmly above my head, a small smirk painted on his thin lips.

"Actually, he asked for it. He tried to escape."

"Let him go." My voice shook as I spat the words out.

"Don't worry, I will. I just need something from you first."

"Then get on with it," I whispered.

A chuckle echoed through the basement, the sound coming from Calum, who was making his way down the steps. "I'm sure you have a suicide wish."

"Is it any wonder?" I retorted, pulling my arm from Josh's grip with as much force as I could muster. "Where's Matt, anyway? Isn't he joining us today?"

"Matt got what he wanted." Josh's blue eyes glimmered with something that looked an awful lot like anger, but I didn't particularly care what happened between them. I had a better chance if I only had to go up against two of them. "He's gone."

"But you're not. So what do you want?"

"First of all, I want you to tell me how the hell you got your power back." He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his lean chest as if he had all the time in the world.

"I drew it from the forest. I don't know how it worked, it just did."

"You're lying." He tilted his head to the side, taking a few steps towards me.

He reached out for me, but I flung him back with a power that I didn't know I had. I could feel it now, though, in my veins and the tips of my fingers, tingling against my skin. I had only used my power to control the rain since I had gotten it back, but there was something addictive about the way it felt when I used it now.

"You fucking bitch," Josh snarled, rising up from where he had landed across the room.

I had forgotten that Calum was even there until my body crumpled onto the concrete in pain and he laughed. "You don't stand a chance, Lilah, so if I were you, I wouldn't act so rash."

I drew my hands out in front of me as if I was trying to push against something. I could feel the force of Calum's power pushing me backwards, but I was fighting back, something that I had never done before. The tension in my fingers burned through me, but I wouldn't let them hurt me again.

Without warning, Josh clamped me against his torso, his arm crossed over my chest to keep me from moving. His other hand was pressing something cold and sharp against my neck, causing me to try and struggle.