Now or Never ⇀ John B Routledge [1]

i. i don't fuck with you

Ashtyn Hughes was never one to sleep soundly through the night, often feeling the need to escape her claustrophobic bedroom in search of water around three in the morning. Tonight was no different other until she ran into a body while turning the corner for the stairs.

Momentarily, she panicked, fearing Claudia caught her in the act and would accuse her of never going to sleep in the first place, but when she locked eyes with her brothers familiar green ones, she relaxed.

In less than five hours, Peter and Claudia were scheduled to take Lucas to the greyhound station so the boy could be transported to the nearby Challenge program in Virginia Beach. He didn't want to go, but by now he had no other choice.

In the last month, the older Hughes child accumulated numerous felony charges, one of which being arson after one of his delinquent friends decided to burn down a barn on the outskirts of town. No one was harmed, but the possibility is always there. The cops hoped that the charge would teach the kids a lesson, but it only seemed to make things worse.

Their parents were at their wits end with him. Nothing that they said or did seemed to set him straight and Ashtyn truly believed that he didn't want their help. Luke acts out specifically to piss off their mother, to make her look bad in front of friends in town, but he never did realize the impact that his actions had on Ashtyn.

At school, she was a joke. Her former friends ditched her in fear that their houses would be set on fire next if one wrong thing was said to the young girl. Everyone was scared of her and she even got kicked out of the majority of her after school programs.

For as long as she could remember, Ashtyn had been one of the most sought after people in school. She was always voted on for student council, but due to Luke's actions, she was now seen as the nerdy kid with a psychopathic older brother.

Luke's hands fell on top of his sisters shoulders, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes as the two stared at one another. A duffle bag had been sloppily thrown across his body and his old high school backpack looked to be ripping at the seams from being so full. "We need to talk."

"O-okay..." Without a moments hesitation, Luke gripped her hand into his much larger one, pulling his sister silently through their old two story home. The duo skillfully avoided the downstairs furniture before slipping into the soundproofed garage.

When the lights flickered on, that's when Ashtyn noticed how scared her older brother truly was. His eyes were red from having cried recently and the bags under them were so dark that a lighthouse wouldn't even be able to shine through. "I'm leaving."

"I mean," Ashtyn didn't understand the severity of his statement as he stared down at her, "yeah, mom and dad are taking you away in a couple of hours."

His head shook, messy brown hair whipping from side to side. "No Ash, I mean I'm leaving now. I'm not going to fucking military camp. I won't survive."