As soon as the words left his lips, an all too familiar laugh split the air. Gunfire erupted and three bullets pierced the roof of the car, one just barely grazing Faith's arm.
The Surgeon slid down to the hood and began trying to kick the windshield in. Ashton threw the door open and pulled his sister out of the car. They sprinted to the other side where Luke now stood, and ventured into the small forest towering above them. Their perpetrator screamed in rage and continued after them.
The forest was thick with deciduous trees and brush. Their feet occasionally caught on numerous twigs littering the ground, but still they carried on, the Surgeon hungering for death.
After nearly 15 minutes of running, Luke tripped over some roots poking out of the forest floor. He quickly stumbled to his feet, hearing snapping branches behind him, though Ashton and Faith were nowhere to be seen when he rose. Descending into panic, Luke pressed deeper into the forest, the rising sun swallowed by the canopy of trees overhead.
~~~
Faith ran blindly, just wanting to escape. She let out a scream after colliding with something large and warm, which proceeded to envelope her.
"Ashton!" She yelled, catching a glimpse of a grinning, sunnie clad face above.
"Ash-" A giant calloused hand clamped itself over Faith's mouth as her brother appeared in the darkness.
Ashton's eyes widened as he fumbled in his pockets for the knife that they had taken from the Surgeon. His hands came up empty, and he groaned, realising that he left it in the carb
"Looking for this?" The man laughed, wielding the knife in his hand. He brought it to Faith's throat as she writhed in his arms. Ashton's feet seemed to be frozen to the barren ground, unable to leap forward and save his sister.
"Hold on, Gene. I want to kill her. Just let me get rid of this one first," a shrill voice behind him said. He was almost positive that he was about to die. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting to be met by a knife to the heart, or even better, a bullet to the head.
After hearing a muffled cry, he spun round to see Luke pushed to his knees by the Surgeon. She held a gun to his head. Ashton felt dizzy. Useless. He could only just stand there, in between the two most important people in his life, as they died. Though he knew he was soon to follow.
Attacking either of the two demons was definitely not an option. Both wielded weapons and were more than likely going to use them. All Ashton could do was plead.
"Please. No," he said quietly, almost certain no one had heard as a commotion broke out behind him.
Faith sank her teeth into the man's muscly hand and he burst into a long string of profanity, pulling the thing from her mouth and clutching it in pain. The knife clattered to the earth. Faith retrieved it and charged toward Ashton, who stood, still in a trance a few yards from her.
The Surgeon let out a low, throaty growl and raised the gun, firing it at the girl. Instead, the fatal bullet lodged itself just below Ashton's rib cage, sending him to the ground. The woman aimed the gun once more at Faith, who was now kneeling on the ground, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Cursing, the Surgeon disappeared into the depths of the forest, presumably to obtain more weapons, with the man following after her.
Ashton was sprawled out on the ground with blood pooling around him. Faith ran her hands through her light blonde hair, tears spilling down her cheeks. Her brother looked at his wound and grimaced. The pain blinded him, but he wiped his expression clean of any discomfort for his sister's sake.
"Faith," he began, his voice weak, "listen to me. You need to get out of here. Get back to Mum and Harry. And get to the police."
Faith nodded through unrhythmic sobs. "You're coming with me."
Ashton bit his lip, shaking his head. His gaze never left her grey eyes.
"You and I both know I'm not going to make it. Don't lie to yourself. But you're going to make it for me, got it? You're a smart girl, I know you can outthink her. Promise me that you will."
Faith bobbed her head rapidly, wiping her tears with a sleeve.
"I promise."
"Good."
Ashton fell into a terrible coughing fit, streams of blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth.
"Ashton!" Faith shrieked, gripping his shoulder with the strength of a cobra. He took a few shaky breaths.
"I'm still here."
It was then that he noticed Luke had appeared beside him, his cheeks stained with tear trails.
"Keep her safe," he said, addressing the blonde boy, "don't you dare give up. You're going to get out of here. You're going to get out."
Luke nodded silently, his chest aching, wondering why it couldn't have been him who got shot, him taking his last breaths instead of Ashton.
Ashton noticed the struggle to get air to his lungs beginning to worsen. He thought of how wonderfully weird that here was on the cold hard ground, miles away from the rest of his friends and family, or from the rest of civilisation for that matter. Here he was, grazing death, at the hands of a crazed woman who once saved his life. He realised that it was his fault that any of them were there in the first place.
Had Faith never owed the woman anything, she would've never had a reason to hunt them. Come to think of it, why did Faith, out of all people, owe her anything? It should've been him.
The thought was getting him worked up, but he let it go, seeing as the grieving faces of his best friend and little sister were beginning to grow hazy. He weakly reached out and pulled Faith closer. She approached without hesitation.
"I love you, sis," Ashton whispered, playfully, gifting her with a gentle kiss on the top of her head.
She gave it her greatest effort to put on a smile.
"L-love you, too."
Ashton nodded and closed his eyes, the pain in his chest threatening to consume his entire mind and body. Focusing on the heavenly sounds around him, he vowed to end his life in peace. And that he did, clinging to these noises as everything else slipped away. Just like that, he was gone.
xxxxx
tis be
