the ripper || irwin

[ 12 ] the house

A few days later...

Ever since Ashton had left the hospital in the middle of the night and killed that girl, he had been confined to his room for several days.

At first, Alice was worried over his strange behavior, but she often visited him. Seeing him so much better, so normal, made her think that maybe he was recovering. The one recently misbehaving and acting strange while Ashton was calm was Luke.

She pushed the door to his door open, holding a tray of breakfast for him. 

His hazel eyes watched her as she walked to his bedside and set the tray on his lap. "I got you some breakfast." She smiled at him brightly.

He took one look at the food and a happy smile graced his features. "This doesn't look like the colorless, tasteless mush they normally feed us." He pointed out to her.

She nodded, "I made it myself. I thought since you've behaving so well, I would do something nice for you."

His smile dropped slightly. "I've been fighting the voice in the back of my mind that threatens to take over me." He explained, his eyes averting her gaze. Rolling up his opposite sleeve, he exposed a bloody scar on the wrist that had remained naked when he arrived at Sunflower Fields.

But this one wasn't a pentagram.

No, it was the opposite of that. It was the cross.

"Do you believe in God?" He asked her.

She nodded slowly. 

"I used to refuse believing in God because I was an orphan. I never had a family or a place to actually call home. My entire life was shit." His last sentence was full of bitterness and hate. "I always thought he didn't care because I was always stuck in the worst of situations. Especially when I was offered to Satan. But now...I think he's listening and he's watching. I carved the cross into my skin and I have been feeling better."

Her blue eyes watched him sympathetically, but she said nothing.

She knew that what he needed more was to be heard.

A large hand picked up the silver fork on the tray and he poked through a warm and delicious smelling hash brown.

He scarfed down all the food on the plate in seconds, while she sat at the edge of his bed, watching him. When he finished, he told her, "Will you go help my brothers today?"

Her heart stopped. The mere thought of going to a house where the caretakers worshipped Satan made her cringe internally in fear. She knew she had agreed to do it, but she hoped he had long forgotten about that. "Er..."

"I can go with you." He offered.

She shook her head, "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"I'll lead you to the house and I'll protect you." He said, a hand slipped into hers reassuringly.

"What if you have a relapse?" Her blue eyes looked into his hazel ones.

"I promise I won't. I will fight the urge until we return." He swore.

She sighed, "And then we have one little problem..."

"What is it?"

"How will I get you out?" She asked.

.

.

.

.

"I can't believe the alarms didn't go off." She breathed as the two of them walked down the dark street.

It was past midnight and Alice was afraid of getting caught. She also feared the unknown of the empty streets of Sydney. But Ashton, he was calm. Those were streets he had spent much of his time on.