Reincarnate

One Nail At A Time

Andy's POV

My hands still shaking and feeling more cold than the dead man's hands, I pulled my box of cigarettes out from my back jean pocket. Unfolding the carton's lid to claim my lighter, I stashed away a few more smokes in the smaller slot of my spare pocket of my pants. Knowing that when it was time to pass through the tolls when we arrived in Minnesota for our next event, assuming that they would be confiscated by security.

I placed one of the toxic but soothing sticks in my mouth and briefly put the gentle flame to the end. Holding my shoulder to calm the emotional ache I felt about this entire mess, I wasn't even able to make it through one cancer stick before I saw Ricky approaching the curb where I sat.

"Where's Costello?" I called out after a moment of staying seated in my silence with only myself to talk to; once he was close enough to converse with.

"Ashley? I don't know. Why?" He queried me in a numb manner but at the same time wore a look of shame on his face.

Making a gesture with my empty hand, I motioned him to sit with me. Holding a burn out for Ricky to take as a way of expressing that I wanted his company regardless of my suspicions; happily acting on my offer.

Once he made himself comfortable on the cement step ajay sent to me, I discreetly scanned him up and down, becoming disturbed about how destroyed he looked. Both inside and out. His sweatshirt had multiple large tears in the sleeves and even say a few cuts with blood still present coated his small structure that made me more fearful about his whereabouts; more than I did before.

"Not to be rude but you look like shit. What the hell happened to you?" I lightheartedly spoke in attempts to get a conversation off the ground, already assuming that he'd just dust off my concerns as an insult.

Cracking out a sarcastic but mildly offended smirk, Ricky brushed out his dark locks out of his eyes as a method of dealing with my confrontation. "Well. Thanks for the compliment."

I rolled my eyes as I took another smoke in hand and lit it promptly, allowing my voice to go a rather morbid tone to express the legitimacy of my question. "Seriously though. Where have you been? Everyone has been worried sick about you dashing off."

Taking his spare hand without a coffin nail in between his boney fingers, he nervously brushed his hair back again, even though there was nothing left to tuck behind his ears but I could tell he was choking on his words. "Places."

I folded my tattooed arms around myself, frustrated at his sorry excuse for an answer. "And what exactly does that mean? Hm?"

Glancing back over to the paved road before the two of us, he tightly held onto his awkward silence; not daring to explain. I was beginning to get angry at Rick and the urge to aggressively pull him back inside the tour bus was nearly impossible to resist so that the others could deal with this. I have had a hard enough day as it is and I really didn't need another serving of bullshit on my plate to deal with. I took another hit of my cigarette as I contemplated on where I should move this conversation, aware that there was still an opportunity to change the subject to avoid a heated argument between us but this issue wouldn't be able of being stacked away again. 

"That's it!" I angrily stated as I slapped what remained of his cigarette to fall to the pavement, stomping mine out as well as I clutched the collar of his sweatshirt to bring Ricky up to a standing position.

Dragging him along the parking lot to the entrance of the bus where the rest stayed, following close behind when I harshly shoved him back inside.

"What the fuck! Let me go this instant Andy!" Ricky screeched out as I carried out my path to take him to the other side of the bus so he was away from the door. Then blocking it after he was far enough to stay put. Returning back to my initial place at the exit that Ryan had previously assigned me, I was about to bitterly scold them all like there was no tomorrow but was caught absolutely speechless when I spotted T.J once more.

What in the hell did they do to him? Was he that dedicated to keeping his secrets from us that he'd ignore his breaking points? I could see that he was well past it and it didn't take an Einstein to recognize that. T.J's eye was almost completely blackened and his face was severely bruised all over to the point where it looked like he'd spill blood any second now. But when I toured my sight down more; checking out every horrific detail, he's blood had been spilled plenty already. His shirt drenched in crimson red and his chest exposed with deep slits from a knife's blade. I had counted about four, maybe five stab wounds in his left leg and about seven on the other but who knows how many there really were. The tone of his injuries were too dark like ink to tell for sure, drowning in his red. If this was just a fraction of what torture they forced T.J to endure, I could be sickened beyond belief to what could be seen under his garments; partially torn to shreds.

The desire to act upon my natural reaction of storming out of the bus for the second time, only to puke my guts out to cope with the gorey sight was stronger than it had every been since I first agreed to get involved with this disaster. My mistake could never be forgiven by my standards for leaving Ryan alone with Dev.

I must have been too occupied with being mad at Ricky that I must have been deaf to his cires but then again, Ryan must have been rather efficient in how he gagged him to where T.J could be choking on the saliva soaked rag in and around his mouth. Truly an awful vision and I couldn't comprehend how the rest could be lazily sitting around, doing their own thing while T.J whimpered out for mercy or possibly death. I know that I would be begging for it if I were in his position. Where was I? Who are are there people I knew as friends?

In a dining room sized area with a bunch of crazy humans who couldn't care less that there was a human inches from being a corpse before them. Was I the only rational and sane person here? What had we become?

Disgusted, traumatised and outraged, I marched short temperedly right up to Devin with my fists clenched at my sides as I readied myself for a fight as I'd try to knock some sense into him. Possibly taking a swing at Ryan if I were offered a chance to as well but I was more mad at the dress wearing one because this wasn't real.