Chapter 23
Ren turned away from the mural of mutilated bodies and gagged. He covered his mouth tightly with both of his hands. He squeezed his eyes shut and begged for the images of death to go away. They didn't. They were there to stay, to torment him forever, and there wasn't anything he could do.
And there wasn't anything he could do to help the people in the photos. It was all in the past. It had already been done.
"They'll hear you," Ashton softly said. Ren almost missed it over his harsh gagging.
But it was what he needed to hear. He took in a deep, ragged breath, his eyes still closed, and thought about his mom. He thought about the forest and the mountain, how he felt when he was at his happiest. He wished he could be there now. In the middle of the forest without a care in the world about anything else.
He wished life was as easy as pain and death.
Ashton stood close by him. He hovered by the door, listening, and Ren was glad he was because he couldn't do anything but try to fight off nausea.
"They're heading back."
Ren sagged onto the desk. He folded his arms as he hunched over onto the cool surface. He didn't care about leaving fingerprints behind. He didn't care about anything except trying not to think about the pictures.
How could someone be so cruel? How could anyone looking at that day after day without going insane?
He heard Ashton move. He peeked down at the ground. Ashton was standing in front of the wall.
Ren balked. "How can you look at it?"
How can you even stand it?
"It's fine," Ashton said.
It wasn't fine. Even the tone of his voice gave away how much he didn't think this was fine. That settled some of Ren's twisting gut. He didn't want to think of the implication if Ashton wasn't bothered by the gory death in front of him.
Ashton stood there. Ren watched him. He couldn't look away. It wasn't the pictures he cared about so much now though there was no way he couldn't be unbothered by them. But at that moment, he watched every move Ashton made. Every small change in his body language and insignificant twist of his facial expression. He didn't know what he was looking for.
But he was waiting for something.
"These are new."
"I don't want to hear that."
His gut clenched.
All the things he heard about the Hunter Society never sat right with him. They were brutal and uncaring. They fought like they were hunting down demons and not people.
Hearing it and seeing it were vastly different things. He wasn't prepared for this.
He laid his head back down on his folded arms. He couldn't have known what they were walking into. Yes, he knew the Hunter Society was full of fucked up people, but he didn't know it was going to be like this. He knew about the destruction and violence that had happened hundreds of years ago.
But that was so long ago. How could it be the same? How could nothing have changed in such a long time?
He was never going to get an answer. He would never understand why people were like this. He just wished he could stop chasing after answers that didn't exist and that would never make sense to him.
He heard Ashton move again. He walked over to the desk, hovering just by Ren's side. Ren focused on Ashton's body heat. He tried to anchor himself to it and to not think about the pictures. It helped to ease some of the tension in his chest, but his eyes still burned with unshed tears.

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Tip of the Tongue [BoyxBoy - Complete - CMS Bk. 1]
Vampireᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴠᴀᴍᴘɪʀᴇ ᴡᴀʀ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴɪᴛᴇᴅ ꜱᴛᴀᴛᴇꜱ ꜰᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ. ᴠᴀᴍᴘɪʀᴇꜱ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴡᴏɴ ʀɪɢʜᴛꜱ-ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ'ʀᴇ ꜱᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱ ᴄɪᴛɪᴢᴇɴꜱ. ♱ Vampire Ambassadors' Monthly Pick ♰ Ren Cornelli is a vampire-human hybrid, a monster born from a result of assault. He's vowe...