broken kitten

End Up Here

The lean male strolls down the dark alley, as a gust of wind brushes across his bare arms. A chill runs through his body, as the cold air prompted him to walk quicker. He cursed under his breath, "stupid bus.." He had in fact missed the bus home from school that day, due to his after school debate club ran late. He pulls out his phone and considers calling a cab, but knows that if he does that, then his father will see the charge on his bank account... that would only lead to a harsher punishment.
Ashton sighs out and deiced to contuine onwards down the alley, hoping this will cut off some of his journey time, knowing that the later he makes it back home for, the harder he will be hit. The thought that his dad will likely not even be home when he arrives home, gives him a slight reprieve. Ashton's father was often away on 'business', Irwin Corp. Mr.Irwin invested in a lot of "Real Estate", but Ashton knew that his money was dirty. When Ashton wasn't at home and accounted for a certain times of the day Mr.Irwin would consider it an act of defiance and he would be punished, Ashton's father even went as far to check their security camera footage every night he was away from home to see if Ashton was obedient or not... Ashton rarely broke curfew, expect for today.
"Meow"
The sound brought Ashton out of his thoughts, causing him to look all around to find the source.
Looking down the alleyway he saw a small kitten revealed itself out of the shadows. He was black with a white patch around his left eye, and two front paws.. Ashton noticed the front left paw had some dried blood, and appeared that he was limping on it.
Ashton hurriedly moved towards the small thing to help but his quick movements cause the kitten to scurry into the empty building beside. The young man let out an annoyed sigh, knowing he was going to be heading after it. He shimmied his way through the wall and made it into a huge abandoned clearing. Behind a mostly broken brick wall, Ashton located the injured kitten and was able to pick him up. The kitten began squirming to get away from Ashton before he pet him and was able to calm the cat down.
Ashton nearly lost his balance when a sudden voice spoked him. "Luke, he doesn't have the money."
Ashton heard foot steps coming closer, he braced himself behind the brick wall, knowing he was out of sight from the main open room. He held the kitten close to his chest to keep them quiet.
"Send in Zayn. He'll deal with him." A second voice answered sternly.
"Calum, go get him." The voice called out loudly. Ashton could see a figure walking closer, when the figure moved towards the door and opened it. The voices stopped and Ashton thought he might be okay to make a break for it. He held his breath and listened closely for a few minutes more to confirm no one else was still there. Once he exhaled he decided this was the moment.
By the time his brain caught up with his feet, he was running towards the door. He quickly realized that he had fucked up as he was brought face to face with a man who was much taller and very apparently stronger than Ashton, as he found himself wondering how often this guy went to the gym. The way that his black t-shirt hugged tightly around his arms and chest, the smallest amount

of sweat forming on his upper forehead, but cool carless expression on his face made Ashton guess that this man was likely the "Muscle" in whatever illegal activity was happening with the voices from before. As he analyzed the situation, he realized he over looked the fact that he might be in danger here, because his escape plan just failed miserably.
"Who are you?" The man questioned, raising a brow to looked down at him suspiciously.
"N-No one, I just came in here looking for this kitten." Ashton admitted showing him the kitten in his arms. The taller man grabbed Ashton by the shoulder and paused for a moment trying to understand if he was kidding or not. He made a kind of amused expression on his face before tightening his grip and pulling Ashton back into the larger section of the building. Ashton attempted to protest but was not even given a minute to fight back before they were in front of the the other two men who were speaking before.
"Boss, what do you want me to do with this?" The man asked pointing towards Ashton, as Ashton tried to pull out of his grip with no avail.
The man who the first guy addressed as Boss, moved closer to Ashton. He wasn't as tall as the first guy but was still at least 6'3, which was at least still 4 inches taller than Ashton, which made him feel very intimated. He had messy dirty blonde hair, and a smirk across his face that normally might have made his heart flutter but in this moment only scared him more.
The blonde one got closer to Ashton, almost too close for comfort. "Who are you?" He asked in a tone that gave no room for declining to answer. Ashton opened his mouth to speak but could feel himself shaking. He must have taken to long to speak as the man began talking again, this time in a louder, harsher tone. "Who do you work for? Are you a spy for 7 rings?"
"7 what?" Ashton looked at the larger man with wide eyes, fearing that his answer made him look even more guilty. "I-I wasn't spying, I came for this" he said stuttering, while he feeling like his heart was going to be beat right out of his chest. Ashton slowly revealed the small kitten now nestled in his arms. The other man glanced down at the kitten and back up at Ash.
He knew that he was not good at handling his emotions and could feel the tears sweltering in his eyes. These people were clearly in some kind of gang and had no idea what they were capable of.
The tall man pulled a gun out from his waistband with his free hand. "Want me to take care of this?"He suggested nonchalantly, seemly suggesting to get rid of Ashton. The blonde haired man who had been doing most of the talking looked down at him.
"If you are lying to me, I am giving him permission to shoot you.. This is your last chance to come clean. Are you a spy?"
Ashton shook his head.