Wingless {Clifford A.U}

Chapter Ten

"Ashton." He said barely above a whisper, eyes wide. She looked at him, a worried expression written across her face.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. He didn't say anything, he just stared. "Michael," she said touching his arm. He gave her an apologetic look and stood up.

"I-I got to go somewhere." he stuttered.

"But what's going on?" she asked and he just shook his head.

"I-I'll explain later. I got to go." he said practically stumbling out of the classroom, leaving Astrid confused.

He ran his hands through his hair and let out a deep breath. He didn't expect to see him ever again and it came as a shock. He walked down the now empty hallway and stopped at the locker that used to be his. He didn't know who owned it now, but he just leaned against it and sank down to the floor with his head in his hands as memories came rushing back as if they had just happened the day before.

*Flash back*

It was like any other day. Michael was walking home from school again do to a few of his classmates slashing his tires a few nights before. He had his earbuds in with the volume turned up to almost full blast as he walked alone. His mum's house was about a twenty minute walk, but he didn't mind, he kind of liked walking anyway.

He stared at the sidewalk, kicking any pebbles or rocks into the empty street. He was too wrapped up in the music to notice the foot steps that were coming up behind him, so he had no clue what the hell was going on when he was hit in the back of the head with something hard. He yelled out in pain and fell onto the concrete. He reached for his phone, but it had fallen out of his pocket.

He stumbled to his feet, he knew one thing for sure: he needed to get out of there fast. He used the wall of a building that was near by to support himself as everything spun. He was too dizzy to run away, he then felt someone drag him into an ally that was beside the building and shove him into the brick wall. He groaned in pain but shook it off now that his dizziness was wearing off.

There was someone standing about a foot from him, their face covered. "L-look I don't have any money, or anything worth taking." he said. The person in front of him didn't hesitate for a second and hit him in the stomach. Michael groaned and doubled over, clutching his stomach.

"I don't want your money." The person said. It was a guy, his voice sounded familiar, but Michael couldn't figure out who it belonged to, he only reacted on instinct, and grabbed the guy by the waist and forced him to the ground. Neither of the two boys were stronger than the other, punches were thrown as they wrestled on the ground.

Michael threw a punch, and he heard a cracking sound as his knuckles made contact with the other guy's jaw and he groaned in pain. His hand reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out something, but Michael only saw the gleam of light off the blade before it had entered his side. He looked down quickly at the scarlet stain that was spreading across his white T-shirt, his eyes wide and pain spreading through his body. They guy took this to his advantage and rolled on top of Michael and stabbed him again. Once. Twice. Three times, none of the places he was stabbed in wouldn't have been fatal however, unless he was to bleed out, and that would take time, too much time and the attacker wasn't going to take that chance.

He wrapped his hands around Michael's throat, and started to choke him. He struggled, but he was weak from the pain and the bleeding. He just clawed at his attacker's hands as black dots spotted his vision and his lungs burning from lack of oxygen. He knew he was about to die, and the realization was the worst thing that had happened, and no one would be there to save him in time. He however needed to know who his killer was before he died, and he pulled the hood off of his attacker's face. His eyes widened as he saw the familiar face of one of his classmates, one specifically who had a history with him, over him and with his last breath he said his name, strained and barely above a whisper.

"Ashton." and that's when he couldn't hold onto life anymore and gave up the fight. He didn't expect to end up in the afterlife where everything was explained to him finally. Although, he was never aware of what was going on in the mortal world. He couldn't bear it, so he didn't concern himself with it, though a part of him just hoped that Ashton had been caught.

*End of flashback*

But seeing him today around everyone came as a shock, how his death wasn't justified, and now he had someone to protect, but how is he supposed to protect someone else when he couldn't even protect himself? He knew one thing though, he had to warn Astrid. He waited anxiously for the bell to ring thinking about how he was going to tell her, he couldn't just tell her everything however, it would scare her and she might tell someone else, and that would only cause more trouble. The bell rang and Astrid came out of the classroom, irritation written on her face.

She grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the nearest janitors' closet and pushed him inside and closed the door behind her. "What the hell was that? Why'd you just run out like that?" she said, anger laced through her tone.

"I'm sorry, but there's something you need to know, but you have to listen closely." he said and she rolled her eyes.

"What?" she said, her tone short.

"You have to stay away from Ashton, he's dangerous." he said and she scoffed.

"I've been around him for over a year, he's dating my best friend. Yeah, he's rude and a jerk but I don't think he's dangerous." she said.

"You don't know, but you need to listen to me." he said. She shook her head.

"Don't try to control my life. You may be my guardian angel, but you're not my babysitter." she snapped.

"I'm not controlling I'm just trying to protect you." he said getting irritated.

"You know what, why don't you just leave me alone. You told me you'd be there when I needed you, but you weren't there while people insulted me, threw things at me, just being awful. You promised. Just leave me alone." she said purely out of anger and he was taken aback a little, and slightly hurt, but he glared down at her.

"Fine. But I warned you, just remember that." he said in a oddly calm voice. She shook her head and left the closet, and he left behind her, but in the opposite direction. She bit the inside of her cheek, the realization of what she said slowly sinking in and she realized that maybe she shouldn't have said what she did. Maybe she did the right thing. She wasn't sure, but she was sure she probably just lost Michael.

A/N: so here's chapter ten I hope you liked it. I kinda hate myself for writing a murder scene and then killing Michael but it's only fiction. Please vote and comment, Love you guys. Next chapter will. be soon.

-Xx E.J