shadows - lashton

Chapter 8

*Luke's P.O.V*

The house was empty and silent, so much so you could have heard a pin drop. It wasn't like I was surprised that no one was home, so I ran up to my room as though the day was like any other. Glancing quickly at my phone and seeing Ashton had texted to request my address, I heaved out a sigh and slipped the device into my back pocket.

He knew my address, he just didn't know that he did yet.

It was scary, how much of my old self I saw in Ashton. So sweet yet so vulnerable, unaware that the stories passed from generation to generation about monsters that hide under your bed are all real. No matter hard I could pray for it to happen, however, the past was set and could not be altered. All I could do was prevent a similar outcome for another poor soul.

Overwhelmed by the feeling I had unwanted company, I checked my surroundings and was grateful to find no one there. But I was always watched, even when alone. For the shadows were my friends, my companions. They never left.

My boots sunk beneath me, imprinting muddy patterns into the creme carpet. I made my way towards the back window that overlooked the garden, unlocking it with one hand whilst raising my hood with the other. Looking back one last time, I smiled.

And then I jumped.

~

"Luke, huh?" The guy raised his eyebrows, seeming a little impressed. "Cool name, I'm Jake."

The blond nodded, unsure how to respond but desperate not to allow the converstaion to fall short. "Jake's pretty cool too."

"Nah," Jake shook his head, features outlined with disappointment. "It's too normal, I'm thinking about changing it."

"What's so bad about that? Besides, surely you couldn't get away with being of legal age to complete all the paperwork." I'd never been so curious, yet I'd known him for no more than five minutes or so.

"There's nothing legal about being a vampire, Luke, we can do whatever the hell we want."

Not knowing what else to do, I nodded in agreement. He hadn't exactly been wrong, so I saw my reaction as being fairly reasonable. Moments later he grinned and patted me on the back, walking towards a group of young males by the bar.

Jake seemed nice and I had hope for perhaps building a relationship with him in the future, a friend was all I wanted and my respect for him was undeniable. Where I preferred to sit back and let life control me, leading me in directions I couldn't help but doubt, Jake would much rather change things to what he sees right. It was an admirable quality.

People were beginning to filter out the back entrance so I followed the crowd, surprised I'd managed to occupy myself for as long as I did. Those that remained were forcefully removed by two security guards, also vampires, clearing out the club for the night.

Well, morning, as I would soon discover. I pulled out my phone to check the time, it now being 8 in the morning. Scrolling through my notifications was boring to start with, but as I neared the bottom I was in for quite a shock.

11 missed calls from Ashton.

The poor kid was probably freaking out over not knowing my address, two hours before the given meeting time. In any other situation I might have been a little more sympathetic, but I began to trudge home knowing Ashton would find out soon enough.

Arriving home earlier than expected, I stuck in through my still open bedroom window as if I hadn't been out all night. Which to anyone who cared, I hadnt. I ran downstairs to find my mum leaving for work, her pulling me close to her chest and kissing my forehead whilst fumbling for her keys.

"I'll see you later, honey. Make sure that you and your friend get all of your project done when I'm gone."

"Okay mum, bye."

She smiled and left without another word, slamming the door in my face and as far as I could assume, heading to her car. Once the sound of her driving down the street could be heard, I turned around and leant my back against the door, smirking. The following event would be unavoidable, his fate was sealed.

Then it came.

The knock, just on time.

I opened the door slowly, not due to hesitance but wanting to experience the moment to its full potential. Directly in my line of sight stood Ashton, face masked with confusion and staring as though he'd never seen a house before.

"Hey," I grinned, waving at him. Trying to cover my amusement was a struggle, I couldn't make him suspicious of what I'd done.

"How did I-? How did I get here?"

"No idea," I stated, staying on top of my game, "but you obviously made it to the right place so do you what to come in?"

"But-"

"Well?"

"Yeah, sure," he sighed, dragging himself a little frustratedly through the door and into my hallway. He remained in that exact position for a moment, observing the interior of a house he likely never imagined himself stood inside.

I assumed he was shocked to find it so contrasting to my persona, so decided to hurry him along to avoid any awkward questions. Coughing to get his attention, I lead Ashton into the kitchen, where he placed all of his books and papers on the rectangular wooden table.

Apparently not wanting to waste any time, he immediately handed a sheet labelled 'ideas' to me and I briefly skimmed over it.

"These were what I came up with," he explained once aware I had finished with my reading, "if you have a better idea then we can use it, but I wasn't sure if you would."

"This one sounds good," I said, pointing at the second idea on the list and pretending to seem interested.

"So you don't have an ideas?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Okay, so we'll do that one then."

Whilst he began to explain the idea in more detail, I zoned out and stopped listening. It was a shame really, since his voice was so beautiful, but I was far too captivated by the way his eyes lit up when he spoke and the crease of his eyebrows when he struggled to word his sentence correctly. His face looked a little better than it had the previous day, the bruise had faded to match his skin tone more closely and none of the cuts were still open.

Although I missed most of what he was saying, I thought it was likely I could guess most of it. Especially since I didn't actually plan on helping him with the project, I hated to place all of the stress on his shoulders but I didn't have much of a choice. The more time I had to be around Ashton, the more danger he was in. I couldn't risk it.

There was just something so different about him, even though I couldn't quite put my finger on what. I wanted to be friends with him above anything else, but it was impossible in these circumstances. Any circumstances, to be horribly truthful.

Beyond a doubt, summer was always going to be a bad time. With the hottest few months of the year fast approaching, I could almost feel the burning against my skin and pain rush through my veins. Ashton was one of the kids always wandering on the edge of crowds, knowing nothing yet everything at once. Seeing and hearing everything.

If there was one person I was desperate to keep my secret from, it was Ashton.

"Luke?" Ashton asked suddenly, appearing uncomfortable. "Can I use your bathroom?"

"Yes," I replied, "but on one condition."

~~~~~~~

A/n: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while! Also sorry for any mistakes in this and for it being pretty bad, I wrote it whilst getting some of my homework done and I had a headache too so yeahhh :(

Thanks for reading x