Taken • cth

twenty one | armageddon

"Luke, are you alright?" Ashton asks feverishly as he swerves down the dirt path through the woods. They just now got out of the city, and are well on their way to Derek's house.

The black haired boy is a sickly greenish color, and his hand is pressed to the wound on his shoulder. It's pouring blood, getting all over the seat and his jeans. Ashton aches for him.

"No, Ashton, I'm not alright." He says through gritted teeth. "But I can handle it. Let's just find Cal and Arrow."

Ashton doesn't know what he expected when he flew down the stairs to see what Luke was screaming about, but it sure as hell wasn't a giant dog like monster. He's glad he brought the gun with him, or it would have likely killed them both.

"Take off your shirt." He tells him, tightening his grip on the wheel. "Use it to try and stop the bleeding. It's better than nothing."

Luke nods, and does as he's told with a wince and a hiss of pain. Ashton gets a glimpse of four jagged gashes extending from Luke's shoulder to his mid-torso, at least an inch deep and black around the edges. It looks like somebody took a red hot knife and went crazy with it on his skin.

Luke presses the cloth to his pouring wounds and sighs, leaning his head back against the seat. "Ash, it burns."

"I know Luke, I'm so sorry." Ashton swerves again and only barely dodges a roadside ditch. The pain in the other boys voice is making him even more anxious. "We'll be at Derek's house within the hour, if he's home we can try to get you some bandages."

"No, Ashton, I mean it burns." He strains to get the words out. "Like, it's pulsing. Its as if it's on fire, and I can't feel my other arm. It's like it's poisoned or something."

Panic dances along Ashton's nerves. "Oh my God."

Luke makes a noise like one of recognition, and a large pulse of blood flows down his bare chest. The t-shirt is already soaked through.

"Look, maybe Derek has like alcohol or hydrogen peroxide or something. We have to get you something. It's probably getting infected." Ashton bites his lip. The GPS on the truck says they're a little less than forty minutes away from the edge of the river. He doesn't know if Luke can hold out for that long.

Luke nods, and doesn't say anything else.

He eventually passes out, of pain or exhaustion Ashton doesn't know, but he guesses it's the first one. Still, he constantly looks over to make sure he's still breathing, and the boy is still knocked out when he pulls up into Derek's driveway. The sun is starting to settle low in the sky, and it should be dark within an hour or two. It does nothing to calm Ashton's nerves.

He parks the car and leaps out, running up the steps to the front of the house. There's a red truck in the garage, so somebodies home regardless, and Ashton's just raising his hand to knock when he freezes.

The door is ajar, cracked open a few inches. A strong sour metallic scent flows out from the inside of the house. His heart rate picking up speed, Ashton walks around to the side of the house to look into the window.

He can't. It's splattered with blood, all on the inside.

His breath catches in his throat. He returns to the front step, taking a deep breath and readying himself before slowly pushing the door open.

"Derek?" He calls out, his voice barely above normal. The hallway is a mess, paper cups and falling pictures all over the floor. "Is anybody home? It's Ashton, I'm Michael's friend."