Cold Blood

❥ Chapter Twenty-three ❥

Written by Deadlydisasters

Everett's pov:

We can't see anything, the room is pitch black. The target in front of us is big enough that it will hide us both, when dad finishes making that call and he comes down here to watch us we'll run past him. As quietly as we can to reach the front door and escape. Ash's hand is shaking so hard that he's shaking mine, there's something bothering him. Something he didn't tell me but I'll have to deal with that later.

We wait for what feels like a few hours but was probably only a few minutes. I can hear Father humming as he makes his way down the stairs. "Good news Everett!" He yells when he jumps to the floor. I know that's what he did because he did that when I was young. "The police will be here very soon!"

I pull on Ash's shaking hand and we run down the hall, I watch my father's back as he walks into the room. He doesn't notice that we are missing yet and when he does it'll take him a second to react. I run as fast as I can, we can't be caught. I refuse to ever be caught by the cops and if I ever was I won't allow Ash to go down with me. If I'm taking anyone to jail with me it would be my father.

My heart is racing, I feel the adrenaline rush I normally get when killing. We're almost at the top of the stairs, I can just picture my father right now. He's panicking, he's rushing around looking for us everywhere down there. He's got sweat running down his slightly wrinkled face, his blue eyes hoping to spot us before we escape. After he searches everywhere downstairs he'll rush upstairs tripping on a few. He was never good at being prepared for something like this, never ready for his victims to fight back.

Father will have grabbed a few of my weapons by now to try and harm us enough that we can't escape. He never thinks far ahead, he doesn't plan. Each plan he makes is rushed and not very well thought through, when I was learning from him I knew I would work harder then him. I would be better then him, I will never underestimate my victims and now that Ash is here he can help make my plans even better.

We are at the front door, both of us breathing hard and we know the fight isn't over. Ash is still shaking, I drop his hand and yank the front door open. I grab the impala keys that are hanging on a hook right next to the door. I let Ash run out before me so that I can shut the door. His black hair is messy, his face is no longer hidden. His eyes show how truly terrified he is but I don't believe for one second that it's because of my father. He has tears running down his face, his eyes are red and watery. He makes no move to wipe them off. We get in the car and right as we make it to the end of the drive way my father rushes out of the house looking insane. He runs at us, arms out trying to grab the car. We are driving down the street, my father's bright red face in the rear-view mirror. The car would be silent if it weren't for our heavy breathing and Ash's occasional sniff.

My heart is pounding in my chest, it's beating so hard I can hear it and I'm afraid that Ash can hear it too. I drive and drive, no destination in mind. We pass people walking their dogs and children playing. Our breathing has calmed and I can't help but to smile at the thought of my father trying to explain what happened to his captives. My smile falls when I think of what he told Ash. Ash didn't need to know that, I don't want his pity. I grit my teeth and take a sharp right turn that throws Ash, who's not paying any attention against the door.

He looks up at me, his eyes silently asking 'what the heck was that?' I don't give him an answer and we pull into a hotel parking lot. I could kill my father for digging up the past. I wasn't ready to tell Ash, I may have never told him but now he knows. I couldn't handle it if he treated me differently because of it and I know for a fact that's what father wanted. He wanted me to lose another good thing in my life, he wanted me to be treated like I could break at any moment. If the opportunity arises I will kill my father. I know I was driving with half a shirt, the front so torn that it's more like a thin jacket without a zipper. Luckily it covers my back and I have spare clothes in the backseat incase a kill gets too messy. I reach back and grab the shirt, I take off the one I'm currently wearing. Taking care to make sure Ash doesn't see my back I slip on the new shirt and get out of the car.

I take a few of the many stolen credit cards I have stashed around the car. I don't risk taking one incase the real owner has canceled it. Ash follows me silently and for that I thank him him in my mind. I need to work out what I plan to say to the hotel desk person if they ask why we don't have bags. The lobby isn't very extraordinary, the walls are painted white. The carpets are baby blue with dark blue spots. The furniture is a light brown and well used looking. There's an empty fire place with a small table and a few dark blue chairs, I guess they are trying to make the place look a little more cozy. The lights are bright and there is a few people sitting around at some of the tables or in some of the blue chairs.

We walk up to the desk and the man behind it looks up from whatever he was working on. He pushes his glasses up so he can see better, he has his blond hair pulled back in a man bun. I stop myself from making a face at it, the man looks us over in disgust before asking,

"Can I help you?" Someone clearly doesn't like being interrupted.
"Yes, we'd like a room for the next two nights." I say giving the man a smile.
"One or two beds?"

"Two and can we get meals here?" I ask. The man looks slightly less disgusted and irritated with us, what did I say that made the difference?

"Breakfast is free you have to pay for lunch and dinner. Your current bill is three-hundred dollers, one-fifty a night and that does not include meals." I nod and hand over one of the stolen credit cards and give him a false name. The credit card goes through and he gives us the key to our room. I thank him and we go over to the elevator and ride up to the fourth floor. We get to our room and Ash collapses face-down on one of the beds. I sit on the other and just look around. The carpet is a nasty dark blue, it looks as if it had never been cleaned. The walls are painted with white and blue lily flowers, I guess that makes sense since this hotel is called the White and Blue Lily.

The bed spread is a light blue and it looks and smells as if it has been recently washed so that's good. I inspect my bed for anything gross such as bed bugs, weird spots, or clumps of hair. Satisfied I lie down on my back and close my eyes, Ash was so freaked out earlier what happened? I look over and watch his back rise and fall as he breathes, I don't know if he's awake or not but I have to know.

"Ash?" I gently call to him.

"Hmm?" He mumbles back, not lifting his face from the bed.

"What happened earlier? Why were you shaking so bad? Why did you have tears running down your face?"

"It's nothing." He said as he turned his head so I could see his face but he had his eyes shut. I frown at his answer, he's not getting out of this.

"It's not nothing, you were terrified of something and whatever it was it made you cry. What was it?" I raise my voice slightly but not enough that the rooms around us would notice. He shakes his head, not even bothering to speak again. I go over, grab his shoulders and pull him up. I move and sit infront of him. He sits on his legs and just watches me.

"Tell me." I demand of him. He sighs and gives in, knowing that I won't leave him alone about it.

"I wanted to hide it from you. I did'nt want you to find out, guess I didn't do that good of a job." He laughs a little and continues. "It's not just nightmares. When I'm alone and in the dark I can feel them. They are waiting for me to mess up, for me to speak when I'm not supposed to. I can hear their footsteps and each slow breath they take. I know they aren't there but it really feels like they are, like I'm a child again being starved in the pitch black closet. My parents waiting for me to cry out so they have an excuse to beat me."

His head is down and I hug him, we both have really messed up pasts. I don't know why but my heart aches for him. Neither of us should have gone though what we did, him especially. I rub his back in soothing circles. I whisper in his ear,

"My dad wasn't telling the whole truth about what I went through. He would just beat me for hesitating or not being able to make a decision. He would be me for not standing straight and not butting my shirts all the way up. He would whip me too, he didn't show you my back because it's littered with whip marks. I had to be a proper young boy, no friends, no mistakes, and a killer. That's what a proper boy is to him."

Ash doesn't say anything, he just puts his arms around me and hugs me too. I know even though he hasn't said anything that he'll never look at me with pity. He might have been fearing I would kill him again but I can't. I could never, he's all I have and I'm all he has. He breaks the hug and lays back down.

"Wake me when it's time to go get food." He says, I laugh and leave the room to go investigate our stay for the next two days.