flaws [lashton///book two]

one ♥︎ ashton

I reread the note Luke left me before he went off to find Hermes. It seemed to be the only thing on my mind. I liked holding it. It was almost as if I was holding Luke. His hands had touched it. My hands were touching it.
 
Calum entered the hotel room. I didn't look up, didn't acknowledge him. I kept my eyes trained on the three words that were scribbled out. The possibilities of what they could be ran through my head. It could've been anything. 'I love you' or 'I hate you' or simply a start to a sentence he knew he couldn't complete. It made me ache more. I wanted to know what he said.
 
"I found us a case," Calum said, but I didn't look up. He sighed before careful plucking the note out of my hands and setting it on the hotel desk, before replacing it with a newspaper. There was an article circled in yellow highlighter, so I read it. I got a few sentences in, before I threw it to the floor.
 
"No."
 
"No?! What do you mean 'no'?! Someone just fucking died, Ashton!" he shouted and I flinched, staring at my hands. He sighed and apologized, before hugging me tightly. "I know you're not ready to meet another trickster, but I think that's what this is."
 
"I-I can't."
 
"Why?"
 
"They won't be like Luke."
 
"No one is gonna be like Luke, you're just gonna have to accept that. It's been a few weeks, Ash, I'm done calling up other hunters to do our jobs for us. Let's do this one and if you decide you need another break, we'll take one, alright?" Calum asked and I sniffled, before nodding. I didn't look at him, but I could tell he was smiling. "It's a nights drive to Washington, so we should hit the road, Jack," he joked and I could only manage out a weak smile. We packed up our things and checked out, before I climbed into the passengers side of my car. Calum threw me a glance, and I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking that I must be majorly heartbroken if I was letting him drive my car.
 
And I was.

---

I slept the entire ride to Washington, but when Calum woke me up to check into the hotel, I realized it was raining harshly and the sun had just begun to rise. As he went to the trunk to get or bags, I dozed off again.
 
A few moments later, I felt myself being carried somewhere. I blinked my eyes open to see us stopped in front of a motel room labeled 289. All I could remember in the morning was Calum whispering to me, "sleep, you need to rest," before he began humming Let It Be by The Beatles.

---

I woke up to Calum shaking me awake. When I looked at the alarm clock, I realized it was exactly eight o'clock in the morning.
 
"Hey, so I figured out where the trickster probably is. Only kids from a specific school in the area are being killed and I think the trickster is probably there. I talked to the principal and told him you and I were FBI agents and asked if we could go undercover and he said yes, so get up! Today's our first day of senior year!"
 
I groaned and pulled myself out of bed, before picking out something I thought a high schooler would wear, which was a white nirvana shirt, a leather jacket and black skinny jeans. I then put a bandana over my hair before brushing my teeth and waiting on Calum. Just in case, we put our fake FBI badges in a secret pocket in both of our jackets, and tucked a gun underneath the back of the hem of our jeans, pulling our jackets over it so that no one would see it.
 
We clambered into my car, before beginning the drive to the high school, Calum directing me where to go. When we got there, I realized it was bustling with life.
 
"It's easily the biggest high school in the state."
 
"Great," I murmured, before shaking my head. "Let's get this over with."
 
We walked into the school building, meeting up with the principal and showing him our badges, before he nodded and welcomed us to the school, handing us a schedule.
 
"You understand that in doing this, you have to turn in homework and schoolwork, right?"
 
"Of course. And could you please not tell anyone about this - not even the teachers?" Calum asked.
 
"Certainly. Come to me if you need anything."
 
"Thank you," I said, before walking off with Calum behind me. We had the same schedule, so I was incredibly relieved. We waited until the bell rung, before we made our way to our first period. We both walked in and I knew Calum was examining who was in the classroom. My eyes scanned the room, not noticing anything strange other than a few people with their heads down and a few with their hoods up. Probably shy, or don't care about school.
 
"The two new students, uh, Calum and Ashton?"
 
I heard a gasp, but it was covered by a cough. We nodded and he pointed us to seats in the middle of the classroom. We took them, before getting out a journal and doing our school work.

---

Calum and I had made no progress until fifth period, where we had a teacher that was always eating candy. After he pulled out a chocolate bar, Calum and I exchanged a look. I decided to talk with the teacher after class.
 
The class filed out after the bell rung, but I stayed back, along with another person, who's hood was up. The teacher asked if the kid was staying for tutorials and the hood nodded. I made my way over to the teacher, watching as he smiled at me.
  
"What can I do for you, Ashton?"
 
"I don't really understand the concept you were teaching. Is it okay if I come by after school to get help on it?"
 
"Of course."
 
I thanked him, before pointing to the candy wrappers on his desk.
 
"You have quite the sweet tooth, huh?" I asked and he nodded.
 
"You have no idea," he chuckled. "My wife hates it."
 
"Awe, what's your wife's name?"
 
"Charlotte."
 
"Old fashioned, cool."
 
I watched as he reached into an empty drawer, making a candy bar materialize. Got 'em. I pretended like I didn't see it, before standing up and excusing myself to my next class, saying I'd be back after school. As I was passing the desks, my eyes met with the hooded person's eyes, and I saw a familiar blue, causing my heart to skip a beat. They looked down and I shook my head.
 
Luke was dead. I needed to stop imagining things.