Laconic » a.i

1.7

//cooper//

We stopped at a motel to rest for the night. Calum had mentioned where we were but I didn't pay attention. I didn't care; I was far away from Ashton and Michael and that was all that I got out of it.

"We'll get two rooms," Calum decided before he got out of the car to check in. "Emily and Luke in one, and the Coopers and I in the other."

I sighed quietly as I stared out into the night. Before, it would've been me and Luke sharing a room. I didn't want to say I hated Emily because she was a sweet girl, but I felt like Luke was getting too caught up in this new relationship -- if it even was an actual relationship -- of his and it really upset me.

Calum and Jeremy got out to go check in. I felt awkward being stuck in the backseat of the car with Luke and Emily, though. I wished the two boys would've invited me in with them, but they knew I just wanted to sulk and be sad and mourn. Apparently no one else cared that Ashton and Michael were dead.

It fell uncomfortably silent in the car and I didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't want to just sit there and wait for Calum and Jeremy to get back because I'd probably lose the little bit of my sanity that I had left. I found myself getting out of the car and walking across the empty lot.

"Cooper?" Luke asked before I slammed the door. I heard it open again as I continued to walk. "Cooper, where are you going?"

Instead of replying, I found myself fading away.

-

//ashton//

It felt like days but it had only been hours. Hours locked in a basement, chained to a wall by our wrists and ankles, being tortured by a twisted little 13-year-old girl. It was only a matter of time until we were goners.

"Sabrina!" her sister's voice called from upstairs.

Sabrina looked toward the basement stairs, a knife still in Michael's abdomen. She ripped it out and he let out a loud scream.

"Shut the fuck up." she said sharply, covering Michael's mouth with her hand.

"What was that?" Annie's high voice wondered loudly.

Michael's eyes lit up but he couldn't seem to show how happy he was to hear Annie's voice. Instead, he just breathed, "Annie" and let his eyes fall shut as he waited for his wound to heal or for him to pass out -- whichever came first. It wouldn't take long for either of those things to happen.

"Sabrina, you better not be doing what I think you're doing!" Ms. Marco yelled down the stairs. "Rebecca, go check on your sister."

"Shit," she hissed, glaring at Michael. "You're going to wish you-"

"Were gone?" Michael finished. He sounded tired and I wished I could've managed my way out of the chains to help him. "I already do, Princess."

Loud footsteps could be heard coming down the wooden stairs -- multiple pairs. Rebecca rounded the corner, Mali-Koa following soon after, and gasped at what she saw. I could only imagine what this all looked like to them. I was just thankful Sabrina hadn't done anything to me, she just made me watching the pain she inflicted on my best friend. I would've rather taken the physical pain, but then she'd know I was a ghost.

"Sabrina, what the hell?" her sister demanded, running over to Michael. Nothing came out of his wound, but it still looked like it hurt. It was like ghosts were just hollow inside. "We need them; you can't be doing this to them!"

What would they need us for?

"But their ghost friends snuck in. They deserved it!" Sabrina yelled.