BABYLON //a.f.i//

• S E E I N G G H O S T S •

"You ask a lot of questions for a man with little answers."

His grip on my hand tightened. "There it is. There's that fire. I can see it burning within you. I can see the anger, the rage, the misery, and the mourning. One day you'll let me know who lit that fire, who sparked that eternal flame within you." He leaned in close, my hand still on his cheek as the other one touched mine. His lips tickled my ears as he spoke, his warm breath hiding the intent of his cold worlds. "I look forward to that day, Cora."

And with those words leaving their chilling mark within my conscious, Almost as if immaculately scheduled, a knock came from the door.

"Ash." Came Luke's voice from the other side. "Ashton?"

I began to turn away from him, but Ashton leaned in one last time, still holding my hand. "To be continued." He whispered in my ear before letting go of me all together and going to answer the door. I was left with an odd sense of  haunting foreshadowing, analyzing his words in my mind.

Ashton opened the door, green neon light suddenly illuminating the room. Luke's figure looked ghoulish outlined in the light as he stepped into the room.

He glanced me over. "And sleeping beauty awakens." He smirked. "I don't know how you do it Cora. You could sleep through the end of the world."

I didn't have it in me to play Luke's game; my conversation with Ashton had shaken me. Remembering Calum only made it worse. The more I thought about it, the more I realized this was probably the longest consecutive  period of time that I'd been sober. Maybe that's why I could see him. Maybe that's why he was haunting me.

"Is she okay?" I snapped back into present time when I realized Luke had been talking to me.

"She's fine." Ashton shifted a glare at me. "I've just been explaining some things to her."

Luke nodded, silently glancing between the both of us before continuing. "Who we are or who we really are?" Like raised his eyebrows.

"Not now, Luke." Ashton's gone darkened. "Did you find anything on Dean?"

Luke ran a hand through his dirty-blonde curls. "You know Dean. The guy won't be found unless he wants to be. He's every fucking shadow in every fucking corner of this city Ashton, isn't that why you hired him in the first place?"

I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, but I could tell now was not the time to interrupt every few seconds with a question. Instead I tried to keep mental notes on names and any more hints on who exactly Ashton and Luke were, because from what I'd gathered, I assumed I still wasn't being told the whole truth. This was reasonable for the time being I guess, but there was something about this situation - it was deeper than it seemed.

Ashton sighed, being his hands to his temples for a minute before looking up again. "Well did you get anything useful?"

Luke was silent for a few moments, almost as if he were hesitant. "Max Ronan."

Ashton's head immediately shot up. "No."

"Ashton-"

"Do not fucking that sentence. Whatever he has to do with this, it doesn't matter. I'm not going anywhere near that motherfucker."

"Ashton I asked around, and apparently Ronan is the last known guy that Dean worked for. If that's true, then that's our only way in."

"There no fucking way-"

"It's the only fucking way Ashton!" Luke seemingly lost his patience, releasing his words in a harsh tone. "We know next to nothing about what's going on here. Our best fucking friend up and vanished, and we're none the closer to finding what fucker is doing this. So in my opinion, I'm going to take whatever option I can to get my brother back!"

Silence. Ashton glared at Luke with fiery eyes, but I could tell he knew Luke was right. "You know I don't trust Ronan."

"We don't have the luxury of options any more Ashton. I don't like this any more than you do, but it's the only fucking way. You know I would've done anything to avoid this if I could."

Since I'd been silent the last couple of moments, I decided now was the moment to interrupt. "Who's Max Ronan?" I looked first at Luke who only looked at Ashton. Ashton's whole posture had changed. He stood tall, his muscles rippling under his shirt as he clenched his fists.

"Max Ronan was my mentor."

I tilted my head, not fully understanding. "Well then why are you so upset-"

"He's tried to kill me. Several times actually. That I don't care about as much. Personally, I believe he's responsible for the death of a close friend of ours. The only reason that mother fucker is still alive is because I haven't figured out a death painful enough for him yet. When that man dies, it will be in agony. It will be alone."

This was different. His tone of voice. The look in his eyes. I almost didn't recognize him. He radiated cruelty and a type of pure anger I hadn't seen him express before. His expression alone was enough to make me want to step backwards. If there was anything I knew about anger, it was that it builds nothing but it can destroy everything. And I was well versed in the art of destruction. I've always turned my anger toward self-destruction.

But those eyes. Those amber eyes. They spoke one word.

They

screamed

Annihilation.

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Im sorry. I know that chapter was probably pretty boring, but I promise things are going to pick up in the next chapter. There's just so much going on in each characters past that needs to be addressed at some point. Anyways, I really really hope y'all are enjoying the story. Please let me know what y'all think in the comments; I love reading them! Thank you for reading!