Moments Before

Ashton

The man strung out. He's not buff like a gym rat. He shoves past me making a strange cackling noise. I shouldn't have unbolted the chain. I'm such an idiot. Another stupid rich girl mistake. He spins around to face me again and grabs my biceps. He has long gnarled fingers that wrap around my arm and he tosses me onto the floor. Like I said, I can defend myself fine. Except that he's touching my skin. 

In a dark alley I see him inject a needle into his arm. His look of relief and his body sagging against the brick wall. His body went limp and he was dead. There weren't any loved ones, no ambulance called. A man walks in seconds later, sees the body reports it and leaves. No fuss over the man. He doesn't have long left. 

Than I'm back in reality. I'm scared because now I'm physically drained from the vision. Two in one day with no sleep prior. It's already late, and everything hurts from where he slammed me into the ground. He sneers above me and cackles. My insides shudder and fear is etched into my bones. His greasy hair keeps falling on my face and he's just holding me down. He's not hitting me, or forcing me into something. I have to keep quiet otherwise Rico will get up and he could get hurt. The man made up his mind but I'm still in too much pain to move. My jaw hurts again and I can barely pull my arms up to protect my face. He stands and kicks my stomach. I couldn't help it I yelled out. 

"Money." The man rasped and than coughed. I didn't know where Noah kept money and even if I did I wouldn't tell him. I only had a five and change otherwise I always use my debit card. He kicked me again and I let out a whimper. I made a sputtering noise finding that I couldn't quite talk right now. Holding my hands up the man stopped and waited. I gave him the five and put my card in his hand. "Password." Apparently with his addiction he also is incapable of full sentences. I tried to say something and coughed blood. It's frightening when you taste metallic blood in your mouth, and you can't talk. But that didn't compare to the fear I felt when I saw Rico's door open. Barely an inch but I knew he saw me. 

It amazes me that Rico was able to get into the wheel chair himself. He closes the door and I thank god. I try to say the password when the man smashes me into the coffee table. Desperate to get away I scooch backwards until I'm against a wall. I can't speak. I put my hands up and sob. It's a gurgling noise because of all of the blood but again he stops. I try to stand and he goes to stop me. Keeping my hands up and acting submissive I went to the desk and pull pen and paper out. I manage to write the numbers 3552. 

I'm not lying. Please, please believe me. I can't hold myself up now and end up collapsing on the floor. He kicks me in the face for good measure. For a second I thought he was going to leave but he turned back and slammed me against the fridge. 

Than the pressure on my arms propping me up is gone and I go down again. My eyes are blurry from tears and I think blood. I hear punches landing and I have no idea who it is or who's winning. Please let Rico be okay. Than there's a hand on my arm. I let out a panicked gurgle more blood spilling onto my shirt. It was covered by fabric so at least I wasn't thrown into another death scene. 

"Shhh it's okay. Everything will be okay. It's me. It's Noah. You're okay. That guy is gone. Take a deep breath. Is Rico okay?" I let out another indecipherable noise and he shushes me soothingly again. "I'm going to check on him and then driving you to the ER. Just hang on. I'll be right back." Than he vanished. I can't see still, and my hearing is distorted. I'm shaking and I can't breath. I can't begin to describe the aches from the hits. But worse than that is the way that fear has gripped my insides. Like it's choking me out by squeezing my stomach. If I could see anything there would be spots in my vision from the fear. 

"Ashton? It's Noah. Everything is fine. I don't think you can walk so I'm going to carry you to the car. I put on gloves so our skin won't touch. You'll be okay. I promise. Do you trust me?" I didn't know if I could trust anyone. I trusted Noah to not hurt me but I couldn't even see him. He put his arms under my body and lifted me. I groaned and he apologized profusely in my ear. I can't help but wonder if this is how I go. I've seen a lot of deaths, but I haven't really worried about mine. I assumed it wouldn't happen for a while. 

I pass out before we get in the truck and wake up in a hospital bed much later. Noah is sitting in the chair beside me and Rico's wheelchair is parked next to him. I groan and Noah's head snaps up. He sighs and I see sudden vulnerability in his face. 

"Hey. You should call your parents. They're keeping you overnight for observation." It's strange that those are his first words to me. I'm not sure what I was expecting though. 

"Do you have a phone I can use?" It's like our conversation in the office. It's stupid and awkward but there's not anything else to say. He chuckled and handed me his. I didn't punch in mom's number, or dad's cell, the bakery number or one of the grandparents. I put in Derrick's number and waited. One ring, two rings, three and he answers. 

"What's up and who's this?" My brother's voice is a relief after everything and I whimper into the phone. "Who is this? What's going on?" His voice is more demanding and I command my sore throat to form words. 

"Hey Derrick. It's Ash. Um- I'm in the hospital. It's not good. Can you come please?" My voice is a roller coaster and cracks repeatedly. He agrees and I can already hear him rushing out of the door. I hang up on him and punch in another number I know by heart. Logan's phone had been taken by his mother when he snuck out of midnight swimming so instead I call Cole. A similar reaction and he promises to get in touch with the boys and come ASAP. It's done so I pass Noah's phone back to him and relax into the pillows. 

"How bad?" I ask.