To Conquer (On Hold)

Chapter 3: Crashing Down

                He had hoped It’d be a normal day when he got home. He hoped everything would be alright. He had hoped that everyone would still be alive and healthy when he opened the front door. He was wrong.

                As he walked up the block to his home he heard noises and sounds he found unusual for his neighborhood. With every step he picked up his pace, wanting desperately to find out what was going on. Then he saw the one thing he didn’t want to see. In front of his house were cop cars, ambulances, a crowd of people and the worst of all, crime scene tape. He almost fell to the ground; it felt like the air had been knocked out of his lungs. Then he ran, he ran as fast as he could with tears in his eyes to his house. He had no idea what had happened yet, all he knew something had happened to the only people in the world he cared about.

                “What happened!?” He yelled as he ran up to the nearest police officer who stood next an EMT. “Please tell me what happened, this is my home… it’s where I live.” For someone as smart as Ashton it wasn’t difficult to put the pieces together of what had happened. The amount of cops, the ambulances and medical personnel, the crime scene tape and the very fact that not a single one of his family members were there to tell him what had happened. Tears fell from his eyes without a single word from the cop having to be said.

                “I’m sorry son, but when we arrived it was already too late. There was a murder, no one survived. Again, I’m sorry.” The cop patted his shoulder and walked away. No one looked at him or said anything as he walked past the crime scene tape.

                Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion, like nothing else existed but him and the long path to his house. He could hear the echoes of his feat against the hard concrete. He could feel the tears from his eyes dripping down from his eyes. It was just too surreal for him; he had no idea if he could handle everything that was happening at that moment. As he continued to walk he felt like the air was getting heavier and thicker as he went. The couple of steps it took to get from the side walk felt like forever.

                Then he saw a sight he knew he’d never be able to forget. One by one stretchers rolled out of the house, all led by a different EMT. He watched all three bodies come out in black bags. His mom came out first; he could tell by the length of the bag, tears began to pour from his eyes and his lips shock. Then his dad, the width of it was all he needed to see and he felt his knees start to buckle. Finally the last one; small and thin, his sister.

                That’s when he lost it. That’s when his entire world came crashing down around him. He felt like a ton of bricks slammed onto his shoulders and fell to his knees. He cried, he cried from the very top of his lungs. Tears burned his eyes and his screaming tore his throat, but he didn’t care, he no longer cared about anything. All he wanted was to die. He watched as the body bags were loaded into the ambulances and without caring for his own wellbeing he ran out into traffic to chase after them. To catch his family before they left him on his own.

                Before he could make it into the street he felt an arm wrap around him and hold him. He didn’t know who it was nor did he care. Screaming he thrashed in the arms that held him tight while he still had one outstretched arm reaching for his lost loved ones. Held out for the only people he had ever truly loved and cared about. Then black. Blackness filled his vision and he felt himself start to fall, he was just so tired. Slowly his eyes slid shut and he was lost in the land of sleep.