ding dong dead ✘ 5sauce

four days and counting

would just like to say that before this chapter, stella is further on in time. she is at the end of thursday whereas this chapter starts early thursday morning after the boys got back (like 3am. yeah?). does that make sense? maybe it will at the end of this idk.

ashton - thursday

"Ashton why do you smell of almonds?" Cal had come round the corner just before I took a sip. Stopping, I sniffed the air.

"It's not me, you idiot." Calum sniffed again, following the 'smell' with his nose, right towards the water in my hand. He took the bottle and sniffed at it again. "That's water, Cal. You drink it."

"Don't get all condescending with me, Irwin." He glared at me before turning to go back to the boys. "Did we buy flavoured water?" 

Both of them gave him strange looks and looked at me as if asking what the hell was going on. I shrugged at them and they both shook their heads in response to Calum.

"Well then why does this water smell like almonds? Was it open?" Thinking back to it, I never did have to crack the seal that existed around the lid of the bottle. I ran back to the kitchen and grabbed another, noticing the seal had already been broken on that one too. The next three I pulled out also all had broken seals.

"They're all broken!" I shouted, carrying the bottles with me into the living room and dumping them on the floor.

"What makes water smell like almonds?" Calum pointed at the laptop in front of Luke, as if telling him to research it. He hesitated, giving Calum another weird look before doing as he wanted. Michael was shaking his head in annoyance.

"You're being paranoid, Cal."

"I think, after everything, I have reason to be!" Calum huffed before sitting down.

"There was a note. Told me to have a drink. I didn't think it was a threat so was going to drink anyway?" My confession came out more as a question and all three boys stared at me. Calum muttered 'idiot' as Michael leaned closer to Luke. Suddenly, they all became as paranoid as Calum had been.

"What's cyanide?" Luke questioned, his eyebrow raising at the information he was reading.

"It's a poison." I stated, having learnt that in history because of the Black Hand Gang before the World War. "Oh my god, I was nearly poisoned. They tried to poison me!" I kicked the bottles that were in front of me away at the same time as Calum dropped the one he took from me on the floor.

None of us knew what to say. All four of us were staring at the bottles in the middle of the room that were full of poison.

"If you hadn't come round the corner, I'd be dead." I spoke to Calum, shocked at how close I was to death just five minutes ago.

"I think I'm going to put these in the bin. Then I think we should go to bed." Michael picked up all the bottles in his arm, holding his head slightly back as if keeping it away from the bottles was going to help. As he passed me, he stopped. "You alright, mate?"

"Just a little, you know, shocked." He nodded and looked at me sympathetically.

This was getting way out of hand.

Luke patted my back, leading me up my stairs. I turned to him when we were at the top.

"We can't let this carry on." He agreed with me. Whether he didn't want to think about it right then or he was just trying to get me to move, I wasn't sure but he sounded like his agreement was half-hearted.

In the doorway to my room, I stopped again due to another thought that came into my brain. "We need to talk to Stella and Dylan."

"You're obsessed, Ash." Luke sighed at me, crossing his arms at me.

"No. It's this thing called caring. Maybe you should all grow a heart and start!" It annoyed me the way they had no worries for the two girls who had been dragged into this mess because of us. It was our fault that they were in danger, especially Stella.

Luke was looking at me like he couldn't care less. In response to his look, I stepped backwards into my room and slammed my door, quickly turning the lock. Share a bed between the three of you, you heartless twats.

I didn't sleep even though we all knew we probably weren't going to school the next day. I really needed to start working on my grades or I'd fail senior year.

Failing senior year wasn't the biggest worry i had that night but it was one of many. My mind wouldn't shut up, causing me to not sleep.

Though, I'm glad I didn't sleep and we didn't go to school. Or I wouldn't have heard someone opening my back door.