Ash's Dark Past *DISCONTINUED*

His Depression... (Serena's PoV)

It's been almost a week since Ash got let out of the hospital. Ever since then, he hasn't been acting like himself at all. He started wearing a long sleeved black shirt under his jacket instead of his black tee that went up to his gloves, and he's been acting sadder and he's been going deeper into thought. He's been quieter and also been ignoring us a lot. Onikage and Kyle started traveling with us, and I could tell that they knew something was up. Bonnie and Clemont seemed oblivious too it, but I could hear them whispering occasionally. Pikachu was almost as worried as I was. Almost. It wouldn't leave Ash's side, like me, but it would nudge Ash's face and he'd turn his head. He would also leave for an hour or two and then reappear as if nothing had happened, but the look in his eyes was purely pained. His eyes were slowly getting duller as each day passed. I decided to ignore it for the first 3 days, but then things kept getting worse. He'd stopped talking at all by this point, and while we were in town he'd gotten an MP3 player and constantly had his earbuds plugged in. He wasn't eating or drinking anything, and by then everyone was worried. We were all sitting down by a rocky riverside, eating. - Well, like he's been for the past 4-5 days, Ash wasn't - and Onikage finally had enough. He got up, yanked Ash's earbuds out of his ears and yelled,
"Okay, that's it. What the heck is wrong with you, Ash? You're not eating, you're completely silent, and you're always listening to your music. What is going on, Ash?! We can help you if you just tell us!" Ash didn't look up. "You can trust us!" Ash muttered softly,
"Trust is for people waiting to get hurt." Mine and Onikage's faces were surprised. Ash would never say anything like that. Ash got up, shoved his hands in his pockets, his hat covering his eyes, and said louder, "I'm going for a walk." I get up and grab his wrist.
"Ash..." I say. He yanks his arm away and whispers,
"Just leave me alone..." and walked away. My arm hung in the air. Onikage plugged in one of the earbuds, and he let out a gasp. His eyes were wide with fear.
"What's wrong?" I ask urgently. Onikage's eyes met mine, and he said,
"We have to find him. NOW." His eyes meant enough; Ash was going to do something either incredibly stupid, dangerous, or both. After Ash was out of sight, we left. I went out in a full sprint after him, looking for him against the rocky ground which burned my feet, but I didn't care. I needed to find him before he did something stupid. The others followed me, then we split up, trying to find Ash and cover more ground. I called his name out to see if he would answer, even though I knew he wouldn't. I was about to give up hope when I heard a painful grunt and a faint cry coming from some rocks nearby. I inched forward to them, until I saw the back of his red cap. I was about to sign of relief, but when I looked closer, I gasped in horror. There was a sharp stone in his hand, and his wrist was exposed. There was blood trickling down it.
He was cutting himself.
"Ash!" I yelled as I flung my body towards him, grabbing the blood-stained rock. His face shot up, and a look of agony and fear showed on it along with the tears that flung off his cheeks.
"S-Serena..." he stammered. He looked me straight in the eye with his dulled ones.
"G-give t-that b-b-back!!! P-please!" He cried. I stared at him in horror. I went to him and pulled him into a hug.
"No. n-no p-please, S-Serena... j-just l-l-let m-me!" He sobbed. I felt the tears start to roll down my own cheeks, too, as he said, "p-please... I-I'm w-wort-thl-less... I w-want to d-die... i- i can't... I can't..." he gripped my arm and cried even harder. I felt my heart burning. I couldn't believe he'd been suicidal this whole time and I never realized. I started crying too as Onikage and Kyle found their way to us. Kyle just stared at Ash's wrist while Onikage wrapped an arm around Ash's shaking shoulder. Bonnie and Clemont never came, but I didn't care about that. I pushed Ash away slightly and lifted his broken face to mine.
"Ash, promise me you'll never scare that ever again." I say shaken. He nodded and more tears fell. I pulled him back into a hug, this time he wrapped his arms around my waist and placed his head on my shoulder blade, and my hands were running through his messy black hair.
"I'm so sorry... I d-don't know what c-came over m-me... I don't ..." he whispered.
"Ash, why would you ever think I wouldn't come for you the second I knew something was wrong?" I ask. "Why would you want to kill yourself?"
He took a staggered breath.
"Th-they k-know... m-my m-mom l-lied t-to m-m-me m-my whole l-life... S-silver... h- he w-wants t-to h-hurt m-me a-and y-you..." he cried softer. I felt horrible. He'd really been sinking deeper and deeper into this depressed state  this whole time, and he hid it so well that even I didn't notice it. He finally pulled away after what seemed like forever and smiled sadly.
"Sorry for scaring you so bad, guys." He said looking around at the three of us who were with him. Kyle remained silent, but Onikage spoke up.
"It's alright. Just, don't listen to that song again, 'Kay?" He asked. Ash looked back at him with his sad eyes and smile.
"Yeah. I gotcha." He turned and kissed my forehead gently. I blushed as he said, "And I'm especially sorry for scaring you so badly. I shouldn't have tried to do something so permeant to such a stupid thing." He laughed sadly, rubbing his cheek. I smile sadly and shake my head.
"No, you just weren't thinking straight. You've just been tormented too long to know how badly your actions could affect us." I say. He looked at me, his smile turning upside down. His face looked drained... oh no... I remember seeing something like this in a book. The girl cuts herself once, and she looses too much blood, and she- my thoughts were cut off my Ash's weakening voice.
"Yeah... guess your... ri-unh." He fell onto the ground, completely unconscious.
"Oh, no! Not again!" I say as I turn his body over. Kyle finally broke out of his trance and came to help Ash up. Ash was nearly colorless, his face pained and his wrist covered in blood. Onikage looked at Kyle with wild eyes, and Kyle knew what he meant. He immediately started unwrapping the bandage on his wrist. Kyle's wrist was bruised slightly, but nothing major, and rewrapped it around Ash's. The blood immediately seeped through the bandages, even though they were really thick. He picked Ash up and carried him back to the spot we'd set up, where Bonnie and Clemont were waiting for us. As they ran up to us, Ash slowly stirred, but then went back into unconsciousness. Kyle set him down in his tent on top of his sleeping bag while Onikage went to dampen a towel to put on his forehead. I got a bowl and filled it up with water next to him. There was still one thing I was still curious about; "Onikage, what song was Ash playing before he left?" He looked up at me, then back to the river.
"'Her last words' by a girl named Courtney Parker. It was basically a song about... suicide... that's why I was so urgent to find Ash; because I knew he was going to try to commit." I stare at him, then look back at the tent, where I could see Kyle crouching over Ash's limp body. Kyle seemed more worried about this than normal. I wonder why?
"Kyle's friend did, if your wondering." Onikage said. I turn back to him.
"What?"
"Kyle's first friend, when we were still alive, hung himself from being bullied for years. That's why he's so worried about Ash. He doesn't want the same thing to happen to him." Now it made more sense why his playful attitude had suddenly been replaced my this serious, scared one he had now. I didn't know what to think; everything had happened so fast. We went back into the tent and sat there for a minute while I tended to Ash. Kyle crouched and held his hair back with his hand. He seemed nervous. Well,  he had a good reason after what Onikage told me. I suddenly felt like someone was watching us. I flung my head to the entrance, where a boy with long, baggy pants and dark blue hair stood there. Alan.