Asher's sitting down on a chair. His hands are clasped together, his elbows are resting on his knees, one of which is swiftly moving up and down. His heart's beating rapidly and his face is full of worry. There was only one thing on his mind. Was she okay? Had the other found them in time...or were they too late? His knee starts going up and down even faster.
If she dies, it'll be his fault. His fault.
"My fault," Asher whispers.
FLASHBACK
"Penny?"
Brooke, April, Sam, and Penny all stay still in shock for a few moments before they snap back into reality.
"Phoenix!" April shouts, running towards the two.
Brooke follows, but Sam stays on his knees, not being able to move. Penny starts taking steps towards Asher and the limp body in his arms.
"What..W-what happened?" April asks once she reaches them, staring in shock at all of the blood.
Phoenix is out cold. Her face is pale and it looks like she's barely breathing.
"I..I don't know," Asher answers shakily.
He's still breathing heavily.
"What do you mean you don't know?! You were with her, weren't you?!" April shouts at him, grabbing him by the color of his hoodie.
Asher presses his lips together, his hands starting to shake. This was all his fault.
"Enough, April," Brooke says, grabbing onto her shoulder and moving her back, forcing her to let go of Asher's hoodie.
April looks down at her hand. Blood. Phoenix's blood.
"We need to get her down to the main room, now," Brooke demands.
"B-but," April says, feeling a little light headed now.
"Ape, the only way I can help her is if we get down there."
April holds back her tears and nods. They walk back to Sam and Brooke crouches down in front of him, trying to ignore the bodies right next to her.
"Sam, we have to go. Phoenix is bleeding out and she won't be able to hold on for much longer."
Sam's lip is quivering as he stares at Phoenix's body, her arm drenched in blood. He looks back at Brooke, a slight bit of panic in his eyes.
"Sam, please. We have to go," Brooke pleads.
Sam clenches his fists together and shuts his eyes, trying to think of something to calm him down. His mind flashes to an image of June. June. He can't let her see this. If he can't take it, there's no way she'll be able to handle it. At all. Sam opens his eyes and takes a deep breath, then stands up.
"Let's go," he states.
All four of them, along with Phoenix, rush back over to the hatch at the end of the first hall. Asher keeps applying pressure to Phoenix's wound, Brooke doing the same with her right hand. Once they reach the end, Sam opens the hatch and climbs down. There was only one main thing on his mind right now. June.
"What happened? Did you find anything?" June asks, standing up straight from leaning on the wall.
Sam quickly grabs onto June's shoulders and forces her to look straight at him.
"Sam?"
"Listen to me. We don't know what happened-"
"You're scaring me," June interrupts him.
He can hear the fear in her voice as she notices the faint traces of dry tears on his cheeks.
"June, just.."
Penny climbs down, followed by April. June spots a faint red stain on April hand. She looks back at Sam, even more panicked now.
"Listen to me. She's going to be fine."
He doesn't know what else to say. What can he say? Brooke climbs down next. Her shirt and hands are covered in blood, but she doesn't seem to be injured. June's eyes widen, her heartbeat increasing quickly.
"S-Sam?" She says shakily.
"Please don't look."
That's when Asher climbs down. Phoenix's limp body is still in his arms as he carefully and slowly climbs down the ladder. June feels her heart stop. Her limbs go numb and she feels like she's about to faint. Her breath gets caught in her mouth. Everything is stained or tinted in the deep red liquid that is Phoenix's blood.
"PHOENIX!" June shouts, finally snapping out of her trance of shock.
She tries to move forward and follow the others into the main room, but Sam grabs her arm and pulls her back, holding onto her tightly. She can't be in there. If Brooke can't save her, June won't be able to take it. He needs to keep her out in the hall.
"Let me go, Sam! Let me go right now!!!" June cries.
"We don't know the severity of the injury! I'm sure she's-"
"LET ME GO!" June screams, hot tears streaming down her face.
"JUNE!" Sam shouts.
She can't take it anymore. Her legs give into the numbness and she falls onto her knees, Sam still holding her. She starts sobbing uncontrollably. Sam quickly pulls her into a tight hug, June instantly burying her face into his shoulder.
"She's okay. She's gonna be okay," Sam comforts her.
"I promise, she's okay."
June just continues to cry. She cries, and cries, and cries.
END OF FLASHBACK
Asher closes his eyes and tries to take a deep breath. It just comes out all shaky. He can't stop thinking about everything. It doesn't exactly help that he has blood all over him. Her blood. He looks up across the room, where Brooke is working on helping Phoenix's wound. April is by her side helping her while Penny is standing at the far end of the room.
It's been a good while since they all reunited again, but he hasn't even had the time to check up on Penny. Luckily, she beats him to it. She leaves the wall she's leaning on and heads over to sit down next to Asher.
"Hey," She says softly.
Asher looks at her and sighs. He holds out his arms and hugs her.
"You okay?" He asks.
Penny nods.
"Are you?" She asks, pulling away from him.
He ponders the question for a bit.
"Yes and no. I'm not hurt but...I don't know."
Penny nods.
"Were you by yourself?" Asher asks her.
She shakes her head.
"I was with Sam and June the whole time. They're nice," she smiles slightly.
"About time you made some friends," Asher claims.
She shoves him in the arm and he laughs breathily.
"Glad I could get a smile out of you," she says.
She puts her hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sure she'll be fine."
Asher nods slightly as she sighs.
"I'm going to go see how Sam and June are doing."
He nods again as Penny gets up and leaves the room.
Penny walks out into the hallway where they left Sam and June. They're both sitting against the wall with June's head resting on Sam's shoulder. Her eyes are extremely puffy and Sam's hand is resting on top of June's. They look cute together. June looks up at Penny as she fully walks out of the room and she lifts her head off of Sam's shoulder.
"What is it? Is she okay?" She asks impatiently.
"We still don't know yet. Brooke's working on closing up her arm, but she lost a lot of blood and we don't have a lot of medical supplies."
June's lips start trembling. Sam squeezes tighter onto her hand.
"Brooke knows what she's doing, June."
She nods, trying her best to hold the tears back.
"I know," she whimpers.
Sam looks up at Penny.
"Is she gonna be okay?" Penny mouths to Sam.
He nods. Penny nods back.
"Should I go back in?" She mouths again.
Sam moves his head to the side, motioning for Penny to sit down next to them. She accepts the invitation and plops down onto the floor on June's other side. The three of them sit there in simple silence.
There's a million thoughts running through Asher's head right now. This is all his fault. Why the hell was he such a baby? She was forced to cut her arm open, all because he was too scared of being in a tight space. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he still holding on to something that happened fourteen years ago? His thoughts are suddenly interrupted by someone coming up to him and sitting down in the chair next to him.
He looks to his side and sees April. His eyes widen.
"What happened? Is she okay?" he asks, worried.
April sighs.
"She's okay," she reveals.
A huge wave of relief falls over Asher. Thank God.
"She lost a lot of blood, so she's going to be pretty weak when she wakes up, but she's not going to die. We were lucky we found you guys when we did. A few minutes longer, and she wouldn't have survived."
Asher shuts his eyes for a moment and sighs deeply. His heart was just a little bit more at ease now.
"Do you really not know what happened?" April asks.
He shakes his head.
"I woke up inside of a safe. One big enough for me to fit in, but not big enough to stand or sit up right. Then I heard Phoenix outside. She kept saying that she was happy to meet me and made me promise to keep you guys safe. After that, she apologized and then it was just..silent. When I managed to get out, she was on the floor with blood all around her."
April clenches her fists.
"Do you think Lewis did it?"
He shakes his head again.
"I gave her my switchblade at some point during the separation. When I stepped out, it was there, on the floor..covered in blood. She did it herself."
April looks down at the floor.
"Why the hell would she do that?" April wonders to herself.
"I think Lewis made her do it to save me," Asher responds.
April looks up at him.
"But why would she actually go through with it? I mean, no offense, but we've only known you guys for like three days."
"I know.."
"Not to invalidate your life or anything! But, you know what I mean."
Asher nods.
"We won't know for sure until she wakes up," he says.
April stays silent.
"It's my fault..." Asher whispers.
"I'm sure it's not," April responds.
"Trust me. It is. If I wasn't such a baby, I could have gotten out of that safe by myself. She wouldn't have had to do what she did. She wouldn't be lying there, unconscious, if it wasn't for me."
April sighs.
"Did you voluntarily get in that safe?" She asks.
"What?"
"Did you get in that safe on purpose? Did you crawl in there, lock the door, and stay in there based on your own will?"
Asher stays silent.
"Did you?"
"No,"
"Then it's not your fault. All of this is Lewis' fault. Just his. Not anyone else's, so relax. We don't blame you, I'm sure Nix doesn't, so you shouldn't either. None of this is anyone's fault."
Asher looks at the floor and starts bouncing his leg again.
"If anything, we should all be thanking you," April starts again.
"You could have left her there to bleed out, but you were willing to help her. You were actually worried for her, and I can tell you still are. So, thanks. For not being an ass," April clarifies.
Asher scoffs.
"You're thanking me for being a decent human being?"
April nods.
"You don't find those too often anymore."
Asher ponders it for a moment, then nods in agreement. There's silence in the air for a few seconds before April starts again.
"Do you always do that?" April asks.
Asher looks at her confused. April gestures at his leg. He stops bouncing it.
"I don't know. Sometimes," he says.
April sighs, then places her hand on his shoulder.
"I know you're scared, and I know you're nervous, but she's fine. It's not like she's going to blame you when she wakes up."
April emphasizes the last part. She's letting him know that she will wake up. Asher nods.
"You should go tell the others that she's going to be okay. I don't think June can take it any longer."
April nods and leaves Asher in his thoughts as she goes out to the hall. She spots Sam, June, and Penny all sitting against the wall, staring at the other wall across from them. When they see April, June shoots up.
"What happened? Is she okay?!" June exclaims worriedly.
April holds her arms out and June rushes to hug her.
"She's okay. She's going to be fine," April reassures her as June starts crying into her shoulder.
Sam and Penny both take a breath of relief as they hear the news. After a while, April pulls June away from her.
"Let's go in. We all need to talk."
June nods and the others follow as they both enter the room. June sees Phoenix on the floor, her arm all bandaged up, her head lying on the hard floor, her skin pale as a ghost.
"June," April reaches for her hand.
"She's alright," she reassures her one more time.
June nods as she heads over to the floor. Everyone forms a circle on the ground. There's still silence.
"She lost blood. A lot of blood. But she's gonna be alright," Brooke explains the situation.
Everyone nods.
"I think we have a lot to talk about," April begins.
"What happened to everyone?" She asks.
There's silence for a few seconds until Asher speaks up.
"We woke up in a random room after Liam's death. Lewis had left us a note and all it said was, 'I think we all need a break'. So, we sat down and just talked for a while until we decided to go to sleep.."
He pauses for a second.
"Then she had a nightmare. A really bad one."
April and June both tense up a bit.
"You were right," Penny says, turning her head to look at June.
"The screaming. It was Phoenix."
June sighs shakily.
"She wouldn't tell me what it was about, and I was hoping one of you might know," Asher continues.
Everyone stays silent.
"It's..personal," June states.
"Did you guys just talk to each other for a day straight?" April asks Asher, returning to his explanation.
Asher shakes his head.
"After her nightmare and more talking, we were...interrupted."
Everyone stares at him, waiting for him to explain.
"A man. One of Lewis' men. He came into our room and started fighting with me. Phoenix...killed him," Asher finishes.
Everyone's faces are filled with shock. June's eyes look like they're about to pop out.
"What?!" She shouts, standing up.
"June, sit down," April grabs her arm, pulling her down.
"She didn't know what else to do at the moment. He was beating my face in, so she just grabbed my switchblade and..."
Everyone stays silent. Phoenix killed someone..for someone she just met?
"Are you lying?" Brooke suddenly asks.
"What? Why would I lie about that?"
"Brooke," April mutters under her breath.
Brooke sighs.
"I'm not trying to accuse you of anything. I just find it hard to believe Phoenix would do that for someone she doesn't even know," Brooke clarifies.
"Look, I don't know why she did it either," Asher states.
"You never asked her?" June adds.
Asher shakes his head.
"I think we were both in too much shock to really say anything about it. It was clear to me that she didn't want to talk about it, so we left it alone,"
"Left it alone? She freaking killed someone and you just left it alone?" June asks.
Asher sighs.
"What would you have done in my place? Treat her like a monster? A murderer? Did you want me to yell at her and tell her how much she fucked up?"
June stays silent.
"I had nothing else to say. The man was dead and that was that. So, yes. We left it alone."
Everyone remains quiet.
"What about the body? Is it still there?" Brooke asks.
"Probably. Neither of us touched or moved it."
Brooke sighs.
"She was probably going through so much shit in her head," April murmurs.
"It doesn't help that the trauma from Liam's death was still..fresh," Asher adds.
Everyone goes silent. All that's heard is their breathing. Nobody moves. Not a single inch. Everyone tenses up except for Asher and Penny.
"Shit. Too soon," Asher thinks to himself.
"Do you think..his body is still in there?" June asks quietly.
Brooke, April, Penny, and Sam's hearts drop. They forgot. She doesn't know.
"June-"
"It probably isn't. Lewis most likely took it," Sam interrupts Penny.
"Sam," Brooke calls him out.
June looks at everyone confused.
"What?" She asks.
April sighs.
"It's upstairs," April tells June.
June's eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" She asks again.
"Liam's body. It's upstairs..with Kira and James," April continues.
June's eyes go wide.
"W-what?" June asks, her nose already turning a bit of a faint pink.
"And..and you guys just left them there?! Why didn't you bring them down?! Or..or at least..do something?!" June shouts, the tears in her eyes starting to escape.
"There was nothing we could do, June," Sam states.
June's tears finally manage to trail down her face. She breathes out shakily, trying to get herself to calm down. Sam reaches for her hand and squeezes it, trying his best to help.
"How cute," A voice suddenly fills the room.
Everyone looks up. Lewis.
"This bastard," April spits.
Lewis chuckles.
"Well, we had a fun day, didn't we?"
No one says anything.
"Oh come on, you didn't enjoy it?"
Still no response. They're all just glaring at the speaker on the ceiling. Lewis sighs.
"It's no fun when you guys don't respond."
Asher scoffs.
"You're fucking crazy."
Lewis laughs again.
"I thought we already established that."
They can all hear his smirk through his wicked words.
"Anyway, I'm not exactly here for a status update. You should know what time it is. Hurry up, or you get nothing."
Lewis turns the speaker off, leaving them all with their pent up anger. Asher sighs.
"Let's go, Penny."
Asher and Penny both leave, taking one final look at the other four as they stay on the floor.
"Ape," Brooke calls out.
April lifts her head to look at Brooke.
"What are Nix's nightmares about?"
Everyone pauses to look at Brooke, then April, then back at Brooke. Sam lets go of June's hand and looks at her as well.
"You two, plus Liam, are the only ones who know, right?" She continues.
April and June both look at each other.
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing that serious. Just..random nightmares," April tries to brush it off.
Brooke sighs.
"We all know that's not it."
"I don't know what you're talking about," April states as she starts nibbling on her fingernail.
"It's really nothing, Brooke," June tries to butt in.
"If they were really nothing, she wouldn't wake up screaming bloody murder every time she has one," Brooke states bluntly.
The room's now filled with tension. Sharp tension.
"Listen, if she hasn't told you, she hasn't told you for a reason. We're not in the position to disclose her private information," April explains.
Brooke scoffs.
"'Private information'? Come on, April. We've been friends for eight years. You're telling me we're not close enough to know what the hell is going on with her? What's been going on with her all these years?"
April stays silent.
"Please. Just tell us,"
Sam and Brooke both look at the two girls, waiting for a response. They don't get one, because right as June takes a breath to start speaking again, Asher and Penny come back. June takes her breath right back, leaving the unanswered questions lingering in the air.
"Talk about childhood," Asher says, entering the room with the grocery bag of stuff.
Penny reaches inside and pulls out a lunchable.
"He gave us seven of these, plus water bottles."
Everyone just nods. Asher and Penny glance at each other. Something definitely happened while they were gone.
꧁~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~꧂
Hey guysssssss!!! Soooo, whatcha think? I honestly don't know how to feel about this chapter, but oh well. Anyway, I'm excited for the next chapter at least. I'll dive deeper into some of the characters, which I always love doing. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading!
🫶