Ashton bit the inside of his cheek as he placed the unconscious boy on the chair in the middle of his warehouse. He tied ropes around Calum's waist, wrists and ankles before standing up and tilted Calum's head up.
Ashton studied the boy's cracked lip, burst eyebrow, possibly broken nose, and the big wound by the side of Calum's head.
Ashton could easily have cracked Calum's skull when he slammed him into the wall, but he didn't want that. He wanted Calum alive until the very last seconds.
Until the sound of a bullet being released.
Ashton released his hold on Calum and let the boy's head fall forward again as he walked over to his safe and opened it to take out his gun. He checked so it was loaded before he put it in the waistline of his jeans, making sure it was stuck before walking over and got the bucket of ice cold water.
He brought everything over to Calum before going off and got himself his own chair, placing it in front of Calum, and sat down to look at the younger boy.
Calum was broken, completely and utterly destroyed after what Ashton had did to him. His dark skin was covered in the dark red and thick substance while it was mixed his bruises and cuts all over.
The cuts on Calum's chest from Ashton's knife were dripping in blood and the shirt Calum was wearing were now more red than grey.
His body was slouched. To other people he would look completely dead, but Ashton know how much he's have to do to kill anyone, or only make then unconscious.
Ashton also knew exactly how long Calum would be out of it, and it wouldn't take long before the young boy wake up.
Wake up to a nightmare that is.
After ten minutes of nothing but waiting, Ashton finally noticed the small twitches and movements in Calum's fingers, showing him that Calum was on his way to consciousness.
Ashton stood up from his chair and stretched out his limbs before walking over to the bucket of ice cold water. He picked it up and slowly poured it over Calum, making his senses kick back to reality.
Ashton watched Calum wake up and when he knew he was in consciousness, Ashton poured the rest of the freezing water over Calum, finally hearing that gasp of air, making him know that the boy was back to reality.
Ashton watched Calum's sharp and rapid breathing as the boy tugged at his tied up wrists, desperately trying to get away in fright. Calum looked around in the warehouse, his heartbeat picking up its pace as he didn't recognize his surroundings.
"Morning," Ashton spoke and walked into Calum's view, "Had a good little nap?" he asked as he sat down on the chair in front of Calum and leaned forward so his elbows were resting on his knees as he studied Calum's terrified face.
Calum didn't speak, he only tugged at the ropes again and whimpered in fear when realizing he was stuck. He let out a small sob, making Ashton roll his eyes.
"Everything is a sob-story with you, huh? Isn't it, Calum?" Ashton asked and Calum lowered his head to avoid looking at the intimidating boy.
"I didn't do anything, I- Please" Calum said quietly through sobs, making Ashton roll his eyes once again.
"Yeah okay, because that sounds believable" he mumbled before taking out his gun, inspecting it while brushing his thumb over the side to take away some dirt. Calum whimpered at the sight.
"You're gonna answer me questions, and with a single wrong answer or a pathetic little lie, I will put a bullet through your body somewhere until I reach that stupid little head of yours" Ashton spoke and watched Calum shut his eyes closed tightly like if it would make him disappear.
"Have I made myself clear?" Ashton asked and looked at the younger boy with raised eyebrows. Calum only bit his bottom lip and sobbed, making Ashton sigh out in anger before standing up from his chair and walked over to the smaller boy.
Ashton took a harsh grip on Calum's jaw and tilted his head up so the younger boy was looking at him with wide eyes. Ashton locked his jaw before pressing a thumb against Calum's chest that was filled with cuts, making the younger boy scream out in pain.
"Do you understand what I'm saying? Have I made myself clear?" Ashton growled again, making Calum nod his head frantically while he breathed quickly and sobbed out in pain.
"Good" Ashton mumbled out before releasing his grip on Calum and sat down on his own chair again. He slowly took up his gun again, checking so it was fully loaded before clicking the safety off, making sure it was ready to be fired.
"Okay then, let's talk" Ashton spoke and looked at Calum who had fear written in his eyes.
"I-I don't know what you want me to say-"
"You fucking told me you could 'explain' so I'm letting you do that now" Ashton said harshly, making Calum scrunch his face up at the loud booming voice.
"Okay, I-I know who you think I am and I know it looks bad but you have to believe me when I tell you that it's not how it looks! I swear to you just-"
"Do you know who Jets are?" Ashton asked sternly, shutting Calum up.
"I-I, no or-"
"Do you?" Ashton asked even more sternly and walked over to Calum grip his face harshly, making sure to push his thumb into Calum's throat violently hard.
Calum looked at Ashton with glossy eyes while whimpering at the pain and the difficulty to breathe. "Yes" Calum struggled to speak out, and when he did Ashton tightened his grip on the boy's throat even more.
"Do you know who Syndicates are?" Ashton asked again and gritted his teeth when Calum nodded, "And Kings?"
"Yes" Calum whispered out in between a sob. Ashton tighten his grip even more before forcefully pushing himself away.
"And I assume you know who Ryan and Drake are?" he said through gritted teeth as he turned his back to Calum.
"Yes, but-"
"And you were the one to shoot at me yesterday?"
"Yes," Calum breathed out but shook his head as Ashton turned around to face him again, "But you have to let me explain, it's not as it looks-"
Calum was cut off by Ashton punching him in his jaw, making his head turn to the side forcefully while he screamed out in the excruciating pain. He couldn't close nor move his mouth without pain exploding through the left side of his face.
Calum knew it was out of its place and he cried at the thought and the pain.
Ashton gritted his teeth and turned Calum's face back to grip his jaw and moved it back and forth, ignoring Calum's painful screams, before he got the jaw back in its socket.
Calum's chest was moving up and down quickly as he was breathing heavily. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as his eyes were red and his face was still dripping in blood.
"You're such a fucking motherfucker," Ashton seethed and looked into Calum's eyes with a burning glare, "It will be a pleasure to hand you back to your daddy in multiple fucking pieces"
"My father is in prison" Calum whispered out. He had almost no strength left in his body to speak any louder.
"No he's not. If he was, we wouldn't be doing this shit" Ashton said and locked his jaw.
"My father is in prison," Calum repeated, "My father isn't Drake, nor is it Ryan"
Ashton stood up and gritted his teeth harshly, almost making his jaw ache. "Then who the fuck is your father?" Ashton seethed lowly, his eyes still glaring dangerously at Calum.
"My father is David, and he's in prison for money and marketing frauds" Calum said and Ashton pursed his lips before bringing up his gun and pressed it against the side of Calum's throat.
"And?" Ashton asked, pushing the gun harder against Calum's skin, ushering him to continue.
"And, my father tricked Drake and his crew, not knowing what they worked with. My dad was supposed to help them hold their money and he promised them to double the income within one month. He didn't and used their money for his own good.
"When Drake found out, they started to abuse my father to the point he almost died but the police came and they found out about what my dad had done, since he had done it to a lot of the people in New York, and he got sent to jail for multiple frauds.
"I was only 6 when this happened, so I lost my father, and me and my mom started to get threats from all kinds of people and once we were close to death because of Drake. But then after a few years of threatening my mother and me into doing all kinds of stuff for them, they left the city, thanks to your group" Calum whispered and looked up at Ashton. Ashton still had a tight grip on his gun and his jaw clenched harshly.
"Me and mom moved away as well, but we were forced to move back when Drake had done so as well, and I was forced into their group, otherwise they would kill me and my mother! I swear to you Ashton, I've never wanted to hurt you, or Luke, or anyone in your group, I'm just trying to keep myself and my mother alive!"
Ashton was quiet as he listened to Calum's words. His rage wasn't going down though. Calum had still been a part of everything that has happened and he had still gone against Ashton. There's no apologies in the world that could calm that down.
"What have you done for them?" Ashton asked through gritted teeth. Calum didn't answer so Ashton brought his gun away from Calum's throat up to his head, placing the tip just by his temple.
"Fucking answer me!" Ashton growled, making Calum whimper.
"I- They forced me t-to keep an eye out for you in school and report everything you did. I met Luke and I saw him looking at you and I tried to make him change his mind so he wouldn't get involved in all this, but he was so stuck already. I only tried to protect him from them, Drake and Ryan, I swear-"
"Keep talking about what they made you do" Ashton said and pushed the edge of the gun harder against Calum's head.
"T-They made me look after you and report when you left and all that, making sure that they could take you and Michael," Calum spoke and Ashton gritted his teeth together when remembering how he and Michael had been ambushes and how Drake had carved their name into his skin.
"Then they found out about Luke and you, and I told them that I didn't want to bring innocent into this, but they didn't listen and said that if I didn't do as they said, they'd kill my mom so I had to take those picture of Luke and put up those cameras in his room a-and I-"
Ashton gritted his teeth slammed the gun into the side of Calum's head watching the younger boy scrunch his face up in pain and whimper out desperately.
"You fucking what?" Ashton seethed and held a tight grip on Calum's hair as he pushed the boy's head back so he could look down at him in anger.
"I-I didn't want to, believe me! I never wanted to hurt Luke, I never wanted him to be a part of this but I didn't want to lose both my parents, you have to understand-"
"I do understand, Calum," Ashton said before placing his gun against the boy's temple again, "But I don't fucking care"
"No, no, no!" Calum sobbed out and shook his head when feeling the cold gun press against his skin, "I have more to tell you, just let me explain!"
"Then fucking talk" Ashton seethed and pulled the gun away from the smaller boy to sit down on his own chair with a clenched jaw.
"I-I had to do that to Luke but I didn't want to, so I made sure to keep my eyes on him in school all the time to make sure he was okay! I always made sure to call and stuff but when I knew you held him safe, I was sure it would be okay.
"But then they found out about you and Luke, they told me to break it up between you two so Ryan could-" Calum spoke but stopped to squeeze his eyes shut and whimper quietly.
"So Ryan could what?" Ashton pushed.
"So he could have Luke," Calum spoke and Ashton gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, "I don't know why or for what but he threatened me and said to break it up between you two but I didn't want to! Luke looks happy with you and I care about Luke a lot, I don't want to see him hurt!"
"And?" Ashton mumbled.
"And, I tried but I failed and Ryan got mad and threatened me further. And then Luke got mad at me because he thought I had sent the cops on him and everything was just so screwed up! He didn't talk to me for days and when I tried to tell him the whole truth at the football game, he didn't listen.
"But then when he found out it was Jack who did it, so-"
"Wait, what?" Ashton asked, making Calum look at him with big brown eyes.
"Jack was the one to send the cops on you and Luke," Calum spoke quietly, "You didn't know?"
Ashton clenched his jaw and gripped his gun tightly before speaking again, "Continue what you said before"
"O-Okay," Calum stuttered and nodded his head before continuing, "After that late night with Luke, when I almost k-kissed his and so on, I hurried back home but was stopped by Ryan and Drake, and they told me that I had taken myself too much time on such a simple task.
"They started to talk about that if I couldn't just simply break the two of you up, I had to make one of you disappear," Calum said and closed his eyes shut again, "They gave me a gun and told me where to be and when. I didn't want to kill you or Luke, not anyone ever, but they forced me and hurt me"
Calum tugged at the bandaged wrist, showing Ashton what he meant. "I don't know if it's broken or just sprained but it hurts and in the end I did as they said, waiting for
either you or Luke to show up.
"You were to one who did and when I saw you I started crying and I didn't want to do it but I had to so I just did it quickly and hoped for it to be over fast. I hoped none of the bullets had hit you and when I saw you today in school I was really relieved that you weren't dead-"
"Shut up," Ashton said and stood up from his seat, "Just shut the fuck up"
Calum looked at Ashton with big eyes, his bottom lip between his teeth as tears were still slowly running down his cheeks.
Ashton sat his gun back down at the waistline of his jeans before he walked over to untie the ropes around Calum's body. The younger boy let out a shaky but relieved breath and cried silently.
Ashton kept his jaw clenched and untied the last tie before stepping back to look at Calum. The boy was crying and whimpering slightly as he tried to stand up but couldn't as his body was so broken after everything Ashton had done to him.
Ashton only scoffed out and shook his head before gripping the collar of Calum's shirt and tugged the boy up from the chair before he threw him down on the floor. Calum winced and gasped out in pain before he looked up at Ashton.
"What are you-"
"What am I doing?" Ashton asked, interrupting Calum in his sentence, "What, you thought I'd just let you go now?"
Calum opened his mouth to answer but no sounds came out, making Ashton snort at him.
"You're so stupid Calum," Ashton said and crouched down beside him, "Just because you're not willingly a part of those motherfuckers' group, you're still a part of it"
"No, I'm not! I'm not!" Calum said and shook his head quickly, his eyes releasing more tears every second that went by.
Ashton rolled his eyes and reached for Calum's bandaged wrist. "You want to know if this is broken?" he asked and watched Calum frantically shake his head. Ashton ignored it and took the wrist in his two hands, snapping the bone like a twig.
"There, it's broken" Ashton spoke when Calum was screaming out in pain. He moved around on the floor and Ashton let him because he knew Calum could never run away from him now.
"Just because you didn't want to do all those fucking things you did, you still did them. And to fucking Luke, that is" Ashton seethed.
"I don't care if it was me, but now it's Luke, and I will fucking kill anyone who tries to hurt my Luke"
Calum sobbed at both the pain he felt everywhere in his body and the words Ashton just had told him.
"I-I didn't mean for any of this to happen, I just wanted to protect m-my family," Calum whispered while crying, "You can understand that, right?"
"No, I can't," Ashton scoffed, "Ryan's family killed my family, so I have no one thanks to that little leader of yours"
Calum's eyes dropped in color when realizing what Ashton had just said. He knew he was as close to death as possible right now, and no matter what he said, he wouldn't get himself out of this situation.
"I'm sorry" Calum sobbed out, at least trying to make things better.
"Yeah well, I don't accept apologies," Ashton said and shrugged his shoulders before reaching down to get his gun out again. Calum whimpered, making Ashton roll his eyes.
"To think you have your old man to thank for this, huh? He didn't care for you or your mother enough when he started to rat around in the wrong places and then he left you all on your own" Ashton said and lowered his head down closer to Calum.
"Tell me Calum, has he ever said sorry to you?" he asked Calum silently cried as he nodded his head as a silent 'yes'.
"Did you accept his apology?" Ashton asked again and this time Calum shook his head no, "There you have it. It's the same thing here; you apologize, I don't accept it"
"But I didn't kill my father" Calum choked out, making Ashton scoff.
"Well, if I send you to jail you'd be dead in mere hours, baby boy" Ashton whispered before slowly inching his gun to Calum's temple again.
Calum shook his head, trying to get away from the gun, but it only caused Ashton to grip his chin harshly once again to keep his head still.
"What about Luke?" Calum sobbed out. Ashton only rolled his eyes again.
"What about Luke? You die, he lives. End of story"
"W-What will you say to him? I'm his best friend"
"Listen to me now Calum," Ashton said and gritted his teeth, "I'll tell him everything you've done to him, I'll tell him what a fucking rat you really are, and he won't cry"
Calum cried though, he kept letting his tears run down his cheeks as he sniffed and sobbed.
"It's the same thing about you and your father," Ashton spoke lowly, "You don't care about your father anymore now when knowing what he has done to you. It will be the same thing with Luke; he won't care"
Calum cried because the words Ashton just had spoken were even more painful than the cuts in his chest, his aching jaw, his broken nose, and his broken wrist all together.
Calum loved Luke, and he never once wanted to hurt the blond boy. He didn't want to hurt Ashton either, he'd never in his entire life even think about hurting him.
He didn't want to hurt anyone, but somehow during all this time, he had ended up hurting everyone.
"I didn't mean for this to happen" Calum whispered out while breathing heavily. He opened his eyes to look at Ashton with pure regret. Ashton didn't care though.
"But it did happen, more than once that is" Ashton spoke lowly, and Calum nodded his head as he whimpered.
Ashton licked his lips before reaching up to reload his gun. Calum let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes shut when feeling the newly loaded gun press against the side of his head.
"Bye Cal," Ashton whispered and slowly curled his finger around the trigger, "I'll see you in hell"
Calum whimpered and sobbed one last time before making himself ready to take his very last breath.
And it was like people said; you really do see your whole life flash in front of your eyes. Calum saw everything. He saw his family, his saw his childhood, he saw his ever first love, he saw all different colors he had learned to like, he saw Luke. He saw everything.
"Ash?" was heard through the warehouse, making Calum get back to reality in a flash.
Calum opened his eyes quickly and looked up at Ashton who had his head turned to the entrance of the warehouse.
Ashton placed his eyes on a confused-looking Michael in the doorway. The green haired boy looked around the warehouse and raised his eyebrow at Ashton.
"What the fuck?" he asked and looked down at the body below Ashton.
"Why are you here?" Ashton asked and lowered his gun, making Calum breathe out in relief.
"I live here?" Michael said and slowly started to walk into the warehouse, "What are you doing here?"
"Taking care of business. Leave so I can finish it"
"This is why you had to go home earlier?" Michael asked and scoffed lightly, "Luke will be mad, he's already bitching because you left school without telling him"
"Luke? Why have you talked to Luke?" Ashton asked and Calum whimpered quietly at only the mention of Luke's name.
"I drove him here, he's looking for you. It was something he had to tell you" Michael said and shrugged as he walked over to place his eyes on the beaten down Calum.
"Fuck, Ash," Michael said and widened his eyes, "Why the fuck is he here? You can't let Luke see him!"
"You don't think I fucking know that?" Ashton seethed and gave Michael a look before handing the gun to his friend, "You take care of him and I'll take care of Luke. Make it quick and silent, okay?" Ashton said before standing up, leaving Calum sobbing again.
"I- Okay?" Michael said before gripping the gun and watched Ashton walk out of the warehouse like nothing.
Michael turned to look at Luke's friend and frowned slightly when seeing the damage Ashton had done.
"Fucking hell, Ashton" Michael mumbled to himself before taking a deep breath and brought up the gun, pointing it to Calum's forehead.
The younger boy sobbed and and shut his eyes closed before breathing shakily and opened his eyes to look up at the green haired boy.
Michael stared intently into those big brown eyes, getting lost in those deep brown pools, almost feeling like he recognized them in some kind of way.
Michael shook his head to get those thoughts out of his mind before he placed his finger over the trigger.
The younger boy kept looking at him with those big familiar eyes before he quietly spoke out,
"Please," he whispered and sobbed once again, "Mikey"
And right then, Michael dropped the gun to the floor and looked at the younger boy with eyes slightly wider and his mouth agape.
Michael knew he recognized the boy from somewhere. He knew he recognized those deep brown eyes. He knew he recognized that voice, that nickname.
Michael knew he'd always remember his first love.
-
you got so many answers in this chapter and you will get ever more the in the next ones so don't worry and keep your calm lol
the next few chapters will tear on every little person in this book, don't hate me
vote and comment
ily