Never Let Go

The real chapter nine sorry.

Blood was everywhere on her, being soaked into the cloth that barely concealed her body. I was scared for her; her breathing was shallow. I felt that I made it too late. I made a pallet and laid her on to it, for she was too heavy for me to pick her up and place on the bed. I ran to the bathroom and got a hot, soaking rag and started to clean up all the dirt off her face, being careful to avoid the open wounds that were on her body. After taking off all the the rest of her clothes, leaving her in just a bra and panties, I checked for a pulse. Upon not finding one, I called the doctor.

•Ace, can you make contact with her wolf?• I asked, hoping that she could.

It felt like a eternity as I waited for her to talk to me back and for the doctor to make it to my room. I didn't know what I would do if she died. As I sat, I felt like if she died, I would never be able to move on, to never forget the pain she put me through, to never forgive her for the pain she put me through. I would always be hellbound to my past of unforgiveness. But if she lived, I would forgive her; forgive her for all the marks she laid upon my body, for all the words and expressions that made me cry at night, for all the pain I have felt these years of being abandoned, of being unloved, of never having a friend or anybody to talk to. I would forgive her for that and everything else. I was willing to move on, if she was. I was willing to help her get the forgiveness of the overprotective Alice and the exaggerated Oliver.

•Ash, I can slowly feel her, but she's dying also. She has lost too much blood, and only thing you can do is wait and pray that the doctor gets here in time. • she finally replied back.

Right when she stopped talking, there was a knock at my door. I got up. I was surprised to see that it was the doctor as he came into the room and closed the door, trying not to wake the others up just yet.

"Doc, do you think you can help her? I can't tell you what actually happened, but it looked like she was attacked. I woke up and found her outside my balcony door. My wolf says that she doesn't have long, so I'm begging you, please hurry," I said, moving to the side so he could have better access to Ashley's body. He slowly started to inspect her body, taking in the cut on her arms, the bite marks across her stomach and face. She was damaged, and it seemed like if she made it, she would be internally scared of the memory of whatever attacked her.

"Ash, I will do everything I can, but I need you to leave the room," Doc said as he placed his tools on the floor beside him. I looked to the clock and noticed it was a quarter 'til six a.m. Everyone would be getting up, so I followed the Doc's wishes and left the room, closing the door silently behind me. I made my way to the kitchen to start on some breakfast, knowing that others would be down any second now. I knew that questions would be thrown at me, for the smell of blood hung heavy in the air, and it came from my room. I just didn't know what to say, what to do, what to even think about. I was tired, stress overwhelming my mind, ready to just give up. I had been through too much in the past week; first Alexander, then Mark, and now Ashley. I just wanted to get away, to go somewhere I could organize my thoughts. And that's what I did. I took a detour to the front door and ran. I got into my car, started it up, and drove off. I didn't care where I was going or what would happen next.

•Ash, it's okay to want to be alone, but to just up and leave is not fair to you or them. You know they will come looking for you,• Ace said. Even though she disagreed with the way I just left with no word, she did agree that we needed time to think about everything, because out world was spinning out of control.

•I know Ace. When I get to where ever we're going, I'll call them. I just had to leave; if I stayed, I don't know what might've happened.•

I felt bad, now that she had brought this to my attention. I had left them with Ashley, and on top of that I didn't leave a note, but I was not going to turn around and go back. I turned the air on, since the summer heat was starting to get to me.

•Ash, go to that place. Go to the Mountains.•

Yes, that is a smart idea, I thought as I took a left on the highway, heading towards the mountains and away from my troubles.

Oliver's POV

I awoke to a heavy weight on top of me. I looked down and noticed Nicholas was halfway on top of me. His head was on my chest, his legs entwined with mine. As I laid there, I traced the patterns on his back; spiral, circle, spiral, heart, and so on. I felt peace in this moment. I laid my hand flat on his back and recalled what all had been happening in my life.

I remembered the day when Ash and I first met. I had found her beat up, curled into a ball at the side of a building. I felt bad for her. I had always seen her around the community alone. I knew what it felt like to be alone because, you know, I was out of the norm; as they say I was gay. But being gay did not define us, it does not classify you because I was not different from anybody else, I was the same. And being that way causes a lot of people to dislike you, hate you even, so I wanted to help her, show her that she did not have to be alone, so I went over there to her, picked her up, and carried her to my home. I cleaned her up and showed her what care is, what love is. It wasn't too long before Alice joined our group. After that, we started growing closer together; Alice with her anger issues, me with bettering myself, Ash with her confidence. We were a pyramid, the Three Musketeers, but now it felt like we were growing apart. We were slowly branching off, going into our new lives. I couldn't tell you the last time we just sat and enjoyed each other's company, and now as I sat here and wondered about life, I realized that I never took the time to actually ask how Ash was doing, or how Alice felt after seeing her brother. I was just too wrapped up in my own life that I never took the time to be a actual friend to the ones that were always by my side when I needed them.

I pushed Nicholas off of me and jumped out of bed, prepared to go and see how my friends were doing. I was just putting on my clothes when Alice burst into the room, wearing nothing but a robe, but something was wrong. I could see it on her face, and that's when I smelt it. The smell of blood. It was very heavy in the air. I got scared, and before she could even say anything, I ran out of the room. The smell led to Ash's door. It was closed, but I was scared to open it in fear of seeing something dead, and I didn't want to see Ash on the floor, blood covering her body, and she'd be gone from this world, from this earth. I was afraid to see something that I could not change, that I could not protect her from. I slowly opened the door, and the first thing I saw was a person laying on Ash's bed. I was inching forward when Alice came into the room.

Trying to catch her breath, she finally spoke. "Ash....Ash is missing." She looked into my eyes, hers reflecting the fear that I felt.

Cough cough.

We both turned just in time to see the person who was in bed roll over to face us. Shock was what I felt as I got a good look at the person.

"Ashley!!!"