Silence » a.i

3.3

I came to in a dimly lit room. The only windows I could see through my hazy vision were small and showed I was below ground in a basement. I tried to soundlessly sit up and focus on the things around me. The first thing I noticed was talking. It was a boy and a girl. They both sounded familiar.

"You can't do this!" the boy was whisper-shouting.

"Shut up," the girl commanded, "you were in on it the entire time."

"That doesn't mean I wanted to do it!" he continued. "I tried to tell her to stay away-"

"Of course you did," she groaned. "You're a pain in the ass, you know that?"

"For being a good person?" he spat.

"For being a traitor." she retorted.

My eyes adjusted and I looked around, I couldn't see the boy or the girl who were talking, but I did see three bodies lying limply on the ground. There was a lanky boy with blond hair dressed in all black, a dark-haired boy with messy hair that covered the edges of his face, and one with white hair in a white singlet and dark pants. Luke, Jeremy, and Michael.

"They need to get up already," the girl complained. I laid back down the way I was, keeping my eyes slits to see vaguely what was going on. Through my lashes, I saw two shadowed figured approach Mikey. One of the kicked him. I knew it was the girl, because she shouted, "Wake up, Michael" after she did so.

Michael groaned before rolling over and sitting up. He looked around the room before his gaze stayed on the two, "Are we in your basement?"

"Michael, I-"

"Shut up," the girl snapped, interrupting the boy. She bent down so she was eye level with Michael, putting a finger under his chin. "If you cooperate, you'll get out of this alive."

"I'm already dead." he told her.

"But we brought you back, so we can put you where you belong." she said in a snarky tone.

Brought him back? Calum? It couldn't be. But if it was, the meant it was Mali with him. Why would they be doing this? They couldn't do this. Calum and Mali were such good friends with us.

"What the hell are we here for anyway?" Michael wondered as Mali stood up.

"For help," she hummed. "You remember that whole problem with Ashton? Well, I might've found a way to fix it."

"I told you, Mali, Ashton said-"

"I know what he said, Calum!" she barked. In a lighter tone, she said. "However that doesn't mean it won't work for me. We haven't tried it."

"What are you going on about?" Michael quizzed, watching her as she walked in slow circles around him.

"I heard about how Bridgette Cooper was able to snap Ashton out of his memory loss. I couldn't believe I never tried it, so I'm going to." she said in a sweet voice.

"So what do you need me and them for?" he wondered, nodding to the two other boys still out cold, and myself.

"Ashton's feelings will still be the same for Bridgette," she said in sharp tone, "and I can't have the risk of him going back to her. Unfortunately, I'm unable to get Bridgette out of the way, so you three are going to do it for me."

"Mali, please-"

"Shut up!" she growled, turning to face her brother. "I can't believe you became friends with her! You weren't supposed to and you know it. You can't defend her, Calum. She's going to be gone, whether you like it or not."

"Gone?" Michael repeated. "Y-you wan't us to...kill Bridgette?"

"In brutal terms, yes." she nodded.

My blood ran cold and I tried to keep my breathing steady. But I was terrified. Mali wanted to kill me? Over a boy? Didn't anyone understand I didn't want Ashton anymore? He was a killer! Didn't she know that?

"No fucking way!" he shouted, springing to his feet. He faltered a bit, but kept standing over her. "You're not touching her!"

"I'm not, you are," she reminded him. "The problem with him falling in love with her is that if I kill her, he'll never love me. That's why you three are doing it."

"Mali, I-"

Mali turned to her brother again, slapping him across the face, "Do you want to be tied up too?" He stepped back and put his head down. She turned back to Michael and looked up at him. "Once Ashton wakes up, I'm getting him back. And then Bridgette Cooper will be dead."

She stalked off, calling over her shoulder for Calum to wake up me, Luke, and Jeremy. Once I heard a door slam, I sat up, blinking at Calum and Michael who were staring at each other wide-eyed. When they noticed me, they both rushed over.

"We have to get her out of here, Calum." Michael said, helping me to my feet.

"How?" he quizzed. "There's no way we could sneak her passed Mali. And even if we could, where are we supposed to go? The potion will wear off eventually on Jeremy and Luke and she'll find them and torture them until she realizes they don't know where we went. Then she'll put them in the ground. And she'll still have Ashton."

How exactly did you torture a ghost? Was it the same as torturing a human?

Now probably isn't the time for this.

"What about your mom?" Mikey suggested. "Isn't she here? Does she know her daughter is a psychopath?"

"She's gone to her sister's," he sighed. "That's why she's doing it now instead of when she found out."

"She can have him," I said in a hoarse voice. "Doesn't she realize I don't want him? Why would she kill me now?"

"You heard all that?" Michael questioned.

"Because he still loves you. He is and will always be hung up on you," Calum explained, ignoring Michael. "She doesn't want that. She's too in love with Ashton to want him to even think about anyone else."

Someone stirred behind Calum and Michael. I looked around the two boys as they turned their heads. Jeremy sat up, his hand on his head. He looked around, confused and disoriented. His eyes stopped on the three of us before studying Luke still lying next to him on the floor.

"Where the hell am I?" he asked.

"Let's get Luke up first." Calum decided.

I made my way over to him and got on my knees. I shook him gently, "Luke. Luke, wake up. Please."

He stirred before stretching out. I think I heard his joints pop if that's a thing ghosts still have. He sat up and stared around before his blue eyes studied my face, "What's going on? I swear we were just in my house."

Calum explained everything to Luke and Jeremy, who's faces turned to horror and anger. Luke cradled me in his arms, my face against his chest where no heartbeat sounded. No matter how many times I heard it, I couldn't cry. I was all cried out from the Ashton ordeal. I just felt my stomach twist in knots as I thought about how I was going to die over a boy I didn't even want anymore.