shadows - lashton

Chapter 15

*Ashton's P.O.V*

Pleading for him to stop, I shoved my wooden desk chair under the handle and scrambled behind my bed. He continued knocking, slamming his hands against the other side of the door and yelling at me to come out and face him.

With every hit the hinges squeaked and cracked, alerting me to how little time I had remaining before the door would detach from the wall and I would be at the mercy of my dad's violent and unpredictable nature.  

"Come out right now, son!" He screamed, still relentless in his efforts. Knowing that he had lost his right to call me his child and to be my father, I covered my ears and tried to block out the sound of him with my own cries. In any other situation I would have been embarrassed, but I felt I had no reason to be anything but scared.

"Leave me alone," I sobbed. If my predictions were in any way accurate, he was going to get in soon and I had nothing to defend myself but a lamp and a phone charger, neither of which were likely to do any damage.

I couldn't help but wonder whether anyone was curious by the intense noise - the banging, the screams, everything. We had neighbours who cared deeply about our family and wouldn't hesitate to save any one of us if necessary, where were they now?

Then there was Lauren and Harry. I very much doubted they were sleeping through all of this, they were likely terrified and I was the one at fault. A part of me wanted to hope they were with mum and getting them some place else, she'd keep them safe. But at the same time, if she cared for them the way she cared for me, they were screwed.

What about Luke? Had he received the voicemail and was on his way to save me right now? Or was he too busy with something else, someone else, not bothered by what happens to me. I'd tried so hard to convince myself that he did care, but I just wasn't sure anymore.

"N-no he's not c-coming," I stammered, muffling my own voice in the fabric of my shirt. "He doesn't l-like you, no one likes y-you. You're all alone, A-Ashton. All alone."

The knocking and banging suddenly stopped, engulfing the entire house in an unnerving silence. Aware that my dad had never given in so easily, I shrunk into a tight ball and begged to no one that I could be anywhere but there.

Out of nowhere, he rammed his shoulder into the door with such a force that the wooden chair once keeping it shut snapped in two, and the door fell flat against the floor. Overwhelmed by temporary helplessness, I allowed him to storm towards me, eyes filled with such rage I doubted I could ever forget it.

"Get up," he spat, grabbing my wrist and pulling me harshly to my feet. I tried to break from his hold on me and move away, but it only increased his anger and I knew resistance was useless.

My dad dragged me towards the door, or at least the frame that was left, ignoring my cries and protesting. "P-please don't do this, I d-don't want this."

"Well that depends on you, ready to tell me the whole truth yet?"

"I told you everything I can remember!" I screamed, although my words seemed to have no affect. "I was at Luke's and then I was at the park and I don't know ho-"

"Liar."

That was when I couldn't take it anymore. Finally attempting to resist him, I began to thrash around and tried desperately to release his grip on my wrist. But it seemed to work against me, as he only held tighter.

"You're a pathetic excuse for a son, I told you that there would be consequences." He spoke through gritted teeth, as he now pulled me into the hallway.

I begged him to stop for what must have been the hundredth or so time, but by then I had accepted my fate. My body went limp from the exhaustion of fighting back, allowing him to drag me along with his nails digging deep into my arm. Tears tracked down my face, although I barely cared about my current appearance.

Just as I gave in to the idea that nothing could stop him, a loud thud echoed from behind me and I was dropped to the floor. I pulled myself up so my body rested on my elbows, turning around just far enough to see my dad pinned against the wall by a figure in black. His hoodie slipped up to reveal ink on his lower arms and then I knew immediately who had come to save me.

Luke.

"Ashton!" He yelled, attempting to pull me from my dream-like trance and just about succeeding. "You need to move!"

But however hard I tried, I just didn't seem to be able to. It was like the lower half of my body wasn't functioning at all, so I instead lay there with disbelief, eyes fixed on the scene unfolding before me. My dad wriggled free and slipped under Luke's arm, slamming him against the wall. Luke cursed loudly, twisting his head around and burying it into my Dad's shoulder.

"Luk-"

"I said go," he spoke barely louder than a whisper, then I heard my dad take a sudden breath before falling silent. Whatever Luke was doing to him, it certainly appeared to be working.

Finally following Luke's instruction, I pulled myself along until I was just above the stairs, trying to manoeuvre my legs so that I could safely make it to ground level.

I glanced up just long enough to see Luke take a small step away from my dad, before my hand slipped on the edge of the rug and the few seconds that came afterwards were a complete blur.

Tumbling helplessly downwards, I felt my head crash repeatedly against many of the wooden steps and eventually reached the bottom with nothing to soften my landing. Luke was at my side in almost an instant, pulling me into his arms and cradling my body as my vision began to dim.

And then I lost Luke in the darkness.

~~~~~~~

A/n: :(((

I felt bad for the last chapter being really short so I made this one a little longer, but pretty much the whole thing is terribly written so I apologise about that

AND I KNOW IM A HORRIBLE PERSON FOR THIS BUT I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE CUTE AND LASHTONY

OKAY? OKAY.

Thanks and byeeeee :) xx