Forgetting Ashley

Chapter twelve

--------------------------------------------------------Damien's POV----------------------------------------------------------

Hmmmmm, I wonder what everyone is doing right now. Meh, I think I’ll just call to see if anyone wants to hang out.

As I picked up my phone it started vibrating in my hand. "Huh?" someone is calling me? "Hello?'

"Damien, this is so bad, I don't know what to do. Jess is crying and I have no idea what happened."

"Wow, calm down Ashley."

"I can't, you don't know what just happened."

"Then tell me what happened."

It was a pause; I could hear some sniffling in the background, "Nils is dead."

My eyes shot open.

No. Not Nils.

"Damien, are you there? You need to get over to Nils's place right now. Jess, Raven and I are already there. Hurry."

She hung up and I just sat down on my bed to try and grasp what just happened.

I shot up and grabbed my keys. “Cornelius, I’m going out.”

“When will you be back?”

“I don’t know.” I slammed the door and I left the house.

I went to my car and headed to Nils’s.

When I got there, they were taking a body out on a cot. I guessed that it was Nils because of the white sheet that the body was hidden by. I walked over to Ashley and hugged her. Jess was sitting on the curb with puffy eyes. She must have been crying a lot.

“Are you Damien?” a voice came from behind me.

I turned to face the person, “Um, yah, who are you?” I didn’t recognize who it was. He was a tall, dark haired man. “Um you are?” I repeated.

“Erm, well, would you believe that I was Nils’ boyfriend?”

“Wait, what’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m Erik. Nils and I were a couple where he used to live,” he paused and sniffed, “he texted me and told me what he was going to do. He told me not to worry and that he knew what he was doing… It was the first time that he had texted me in over three years.”

I had a sad look on my face after he told me that. “I’m so sorry,” I paused “Nils must have meant a lot to you.”

Erik chuckled a bit “Yah, he did. When we lost contact, I would try to talk to him on the phone or I would message him, but he never answered. It was like he had made and an entirely new life, and I wasn’t part of it.”

“But then how did you know about me?”

“He messaged me once. He told me about how his life was going, and who his new friends were and what they were like. It was strange when he spoke about you and Talia.” Erik stopped and looked like he was in deep thought.

I looked at him and waited for him to speak again.

He sighed and brought his head up more. “He really liked you two.” He had a worried look on his face, but I just brushed it off.

“Well we three were amazing friends.” I said smugly.

“Niles was bi. He like you both more than just plain good friends should. He told me. He was worried that it might ruin your friendship if he ever told either of you.” He looked down.

“And, so instead he told you?”

He nodded, “And told me that if anything happened to him, I was to tell you.”

“What about Talia? She is dead…” I stopped as soon I said that. I know she isn’t dead but everyone thinks she is. I feel like such a fool.

“She is?” He looked so concerned and confused. “What… what happened?”

I stopped and looked down, remembering that night. “There was an explosion. We were on the beach having an end of the year party. Nils’ car exploded and killed Talia. Her twin sister Ashley survived.” I lifted my shirt to show him the now scarred burns. “This is what I walked away with.”

Erik gasped and gaped at the burn scars. He went to touch one but pulled away. “Was everyone ok?”

“No, Kay and Arrow died too. Three deaths, one critical, one minor, and two almost unharmed, but I think that they walked away from that with the worst thoughts and memories.”

“I’m so sorry. Is that why Nils killed himself?”

“I don’t know, but it might have been a factor. From what you told me, he killed his crush and seriously injured the other.”

“Damien??? Where are you?” I heard Ashley’s voice.

“Over here, Ash.”

As I saw her come around the corner, I saw that her eyes were red and swollen. She stumbled over to me and leaned on my. “Who are you?” She asked Erik.

“I’m Erik. You must be Ashley. I’m so sorry about the loss of your sister, Talia.”

“She straightened up and made herself square to him. “Who is this guy? And how does he know about Talia?”

“I told Erik about her, and also Nils did too.” I said to her in a calm voice.

“It’s a touchy subject for me so I would rather you not bring it up.” She said calmly to Erik.

She hugged in close with me. It felt right to have her in my arms.

“I guess I’ll be leaving now.” Erik said and started walking away “Thanks for letting me talk with you.”

We watched as Erik left. “I hope to see him again.”