Chapter 47

Ren couldn't breathe. He sucked in air over and over, but it was disappearing before it made it to his lungs. He gasped as he gripped Ashton tightly to his side. Ashton's arm that was slung over Ren's neck was weak, barely holding onto Ren as Ren dragged Ashton across the ground. Ren's feet wasn't doing much better. They were sore as if he'd been walking for hours and his ankles were giving away under the pressure every other step.

But they were getting away. They weren't at the mercy of the Hunters. At least, not right then. He knew that this wasn't going to be the last time they saw each other. When they came out of hiding in the forest, the world that they once knew wasn't going to be the same.

Ren wasn't prepared for it.

The crying of the siren had lessened. The deafening sound was wailing in the background. His feet dragged over the wet soil and it was hard to pick them up so that he didn't fall face first into the dirt. The ringing in his ears was a combination of the siren and his own fear that he'd dug them further into a hole. But he pushed all those thoughts away. He couldn't think about them right then.

He looked down at Ashton. Ashton's face was whiter than usual. It was stark white, sickly white, and it made Ren's stomach turn with how bad it looked. His chest felt heavy as he noticed the beads of sweat dripping down Ashton's face. His lips were parted as he panted. His eyes were squeezed shut as if that was enough to block out the pain.

"Hang on, okay? I'm not going to leave you." It was difficult to get the words out. He didn't want to lie. Not right now.

He knew how bad it felt to be told that things were going to be alright when they actually didn't. He couldn't do that to Ashton. Even if Ashton might not have done the same for him.

Ashton's weak hands grabbed tightly to Ren. Ren jolted as one hand clasped his neck. It didn't hurt, but it was a pressure to his neck that he wasn't comfortable with. He grabbed the offending hand, holding onto the wrist so that Ashton couldn't move it any further.

Still, with Ashton's eyes closed, he kept his hand there.

"Let go, Ashton," Ren whispered.

He hadn't stopped walking. He couldn't. The Hunters could still be coming after them. It would take over a fraction of a second for them to get ahead and to find them. He needed to keep moving no matter what happened.

Ashton did drop his hand. It slid down Ren's neck, down his chest, and fell away to Ashton's side. Ren didn't know what had happened. He wasn't going to push it further though. He merely held Ashton as hard as he could and walked faster. There was a burst in his step. He couldn't feel the thing, but he was sure that it had something to do with it.

What he did back there couldn't have been possibly all him. The thing had driven him to do something so reckless that it could have gotten both of them killed. He hadn't been thinking and that was the problem with him. He didn't think anything fucking through and it always lead to him getting into messes like this.

Time was sluggish. He felt sluggish. His arms were going numb with pulling Ashton's weight. He gritted his teeth as the pain in his back got to be too much. But he pushed through it. He bit his tongue as his thighs ached and his feet screamed to be given a break. The sirens were almost dead, but he knew that it wasn't enough for Ashton. He was still weak and the sirens had to be completely be gone for him to recover.

If the sirens had hurt Ren that much, it had to be thousands of times worse for Ashton.

Then, Ren saw a combed out cave made of dirt.

"Fuck. Yes."

He was jolted with another burst of energy. He didn't care where it came from. He just took off with it, pulling Ashton toward the opening, not caring if there was something lurking inside. It couldn't be as bad as the Hunters following them. He didn't even care if it was a Hell Hound. They couldn't do what that freak Cipher could do to them.

Ren's stomach twisted as the images of the killed vampires flashed once more in his head. He closed his eyes to fight them off and tripped over a bundle of brush that had been in front of his feet.

"Shit." He clutched onto Ashton to save himself, but that didn't do anything.

Ashton stirred, opening his eyes.

"No, no. Close your eyes. Go back to sleep." Ren didn't think as he put his hand over Ashton's eyes. He was frantic to get to the place that looked like it could be safe and that was it.

As he put his hand on Ashton's face, he felt how clammy it was. It was cold to the touch. Not quite to the point where it was like touching an ice cube, but it was bad enough. He knew that it shouldn't be like that.

Ren shoved his way through the thick brush that was hiding almost half of the structure. Once he got him and Ashton past that point, he could fully see what this mud cave looked like. It was good enough. It had to be enough because he couldn't keep going on like this.

"Thirsty..."

Ashton's raspy voice startled Ren. He jolted, clutching Ashton even tighter to his side. He glanced down at him, his hand still pressed over Ashton's eyes, and then back at the place that they needed to get to. Another push of strength shot into his legs. He didn't question it as he pushed himself to get to the opening.

The smell of the mud rose heavy in the air as he got nearer. It was fresh from the earlier rain, becoming slimy as far as he could see. The ground was getting softer and softer until taking a step was made much harder as the mud clung to the bottom of his shoes.

They made it though.

Ren turned around, his back to the cave as he put his full strength into dragging Ashton inside. His eyes darted around the empty surrounding forest. He hoped that the Hunters were far behind.

He turned again, this time his back to the opening of the cave or whatever this mud thing was called. He wasn't too worried about it as Ashton was still mumbling to himself. At least he was talking. That had to be a good sign, right?

He wasn't too sure of it as he laid Ashton onto the damp ground. He crouched down near Ashton's head. His hand hovered over the vampire, unsure if he should touch him or not. It was kind of ridiculous when he just had his hands all over Ashton just a second ago. The poorly phrased thought turned the lobes of his ears hot. He cleared his throat and merely looked down at Ashton.

He carefully watched as Ashton's chest rose and fell. It didn't look like he was have trouble breathing. The pattern looked normal though it was a tad faster maybe, but that would be understandable after what they'd just gone through.

"Thirsty..." Ashton whispered again.

His chapped lips parted and he tried to open his eyes again. They fluttered open, falling over and over even as he tried to keep them open.

"Sh. Keep your eyes closed. Just rest." This time, Ren wasn't afraid to touch him. His fingertips brushed lightly over Ashton's eyelids. The lids closed softly without resistance.

Ashton's soft voice echoed in Ren's head. It sounded nothing like the Ashton he knew. He didn't like it. At all.

He gave Ashton's shoulder a soft pat. He turned on his heels and looked around the cave.

He wasn't expecting much. He could see that the structure went on a little further, but not by much.

A hand grabbed him.

"Shit!" Ren jumped. It was just Ashton grabbing his thigh, but it still sent him almost flying.

Ren grabbed his hand. He didn't mean to clutch Ashton's hand as tightly as he did, but he'd been so surprised that he couldn't help it when he held Ashton's hand in firm grip.

"Sorry," he said, dropping the offending hand. Ashton didn't react. His eyes were still closed and he was mumbling under his breath.

Ren couldn't make out what he was saying, but he assumed he was still going on about being thirsty. As he looked once more around the small den, he knew that he wasn't going to find anything that would sate Ashton's thirst. Muddy water was all that he was going to find and he couldn't chance searching for a clean brook.

So, he did all that he could do in that moment. He crawled around Ashton's resting form. He moved Ashton's head and upper body so that he leaned against Ren's chest. That's where he stayed. Ren leaned back on the damp mud walls holding Ashton close to him. He feared that in this position that he wouldn't be fast enough to fight the Hunters if they found them, but he knew that it couldn't be that comfortable to be laying on the ground.

Soon, he didn't have to guess how uncomfortable the circumstances was. His butt was going numb from how hard the ground was. He would have thought that the mud would be softer from how palpable it was, but instead, there were bunches of tiny rocks mixed in making it not so soft as it had once looked before. It also didn't help that the cave was being mostly held up by roots and long dry pieces of what looked like grass. The walls weren't any better than the ground.

But he settled in. They were going to be here for a while. Whether that was a couple of hours or the entire night. He would figure out what they had to do later. For now, he would make sure that Ashton was comfortable enough to fall asleep.

Rest was all that Ren could give him. Hopefully, that would be enough.

***

Ren had been staring at the same spot on the wall for the last two hours. He'd almost dozed off a dozen times in the mean time, though, each time, he'd pinched himself. He'd only been partially successful at keeping himself awake. He was daydreaming every other minute and it was driving him crazy with all the random thoughts he was getting.

He blinked a couple times. A dry patch had formed at the corner of his right eyes. He rubbed his eye a couple of times, trying to get the dry patch to go away, but messing with it only made it worse.

"Fucking hell." He shuffled around, wincing as he moved Ashton's head to the other side of his chest.

He finally gave in and just let the dry patch be. He closed his eyes, listening more intently than before since he had to lean on it more so than when he was actually looking around at his surroundings.

His anxiety had peeked long before this moment, but the rattling inside of him hadn't fully gone away. The fear that they were going to be discovered wasn't going to go away anytime soon so he just had to deal with it.

There was something nice though about being with someone who understood what he was going through. Ashton was in the same position as Ren was. They were both tied together and if one got killed the other one would die as well. They had the same stakes hanging over their heads. And though that sounded like something that was still terrifying either way—whether one was alone or was surrounded by a thousand friends—Ren had never felt like this.

He had someone he could talk to if he wanted. He probably wouldn't and he doubted Ashton would listen anyway. But it was nice to have the choice. He wasn't boxed in like he was when it was him and his mom. As much as he loved her, there were just some things you couldn't talk to a parent about.

Ren gave a soft snort.

A friend was the word that he was looking for. He needed and wanted a friend. Ashton wasn't that person. He was never going to be that person.

But enemies were the next best thing, right?

He laughed at the stupid joke. It wasn't funny at all.

Ashton turned on his side. Ren's eyes flew open.

"Everything's fine. Stay down." He rubbed his hands over Ashton's shoulders.

Ashton looked around the cave, brows furrowed. He blinked a couple of times before he rubbed his eyes.

"Where are we?"

Ren supposed that it was a reasonable question to ask when waking up to an unknown cave. However, Ren was going through quite a bit of a situation and he couldn't quite find the right words to explain where exactly they were.

"In a cave," he ended up saying. He regretted the words, wishing that he could have think up something a little more descriptive. But surely it didn't fucking matter.

Ashton didn't seem to think too deeply of it anyway. He merely tried to get up though Ren was trying to push him back down.

They fought for a moment until Ashton finally shoved Ren's hand away.

"What are you doing? Let me up for fucks sake."

"You need to rest. You were fucking bleeding out of your ears."

He wasn't joking. He'd seen the damage that the siren had done to Ashton. He himself had only experienced just a tad of the pain that Ashton had gone through and he didn't want to imagine how fucked he must feel right then.

Ashton shoved Ren's hand again when Ren tried to get him to stay down.

"I'm fine."

Ren looked at him doubtfully.

Ashton twisted around until he was leaning over Ren's body. His hips were angle so that he was resting of Ren's left leg. His arms bracketed Ren's waist.

Ren wasn't intimidated though. He thought it was kind of funny actually that Ashton was still trying to put on the tough act when he could barely stand.

"Are you?"

He could just tell by the blurry look on Ashton's face that he was in fact not fine. There was a light pink blush over the bridge of his nose and over his cheeks. His ivory skin was covered in a sheen of sweat, making his clear complexion shiny. All that combined and paired with dilated pupils and his panting chest made it very obvious that Ashton needed to chill the fuck out.

Ashton turned the opposite way, avoiding Ren's eyes. He was still looking at the empty cave like he couldn't quite comprehend what was going on. Ren couldn't help, but feel a little worried about him. He couldn't do anything. He didn't know what to do in this instance.

He made sure that he didn't feel out for Ashton's emotions. He didn't want to feel how confused and scared Ashton looked. Seeing it was enough to make the pit in his stomach feel like a boulder.

Ashton let out a whine, falling onto his back between Ren's legs. He was panting as he lifted up his shirt.

"What are you—" Ren was just about to make Ashton cover himself back up when he saw it.

Ashton was hurt. And it wasn't a little scratch or anything. It was bad.

Ashton pulled his shirt up higher, hissing as the wound was finally open to the air. The wound was like nothing Ren had ever seen before. A nasty red rash about the size of a softball had spread above Ashton's hip. At the center of the rash was a quarter size puncture wound that was covered in green puss.

Ren winced.

"It burns," Ashton gasped out.

He lowered his head on Ren's thigh, turning his face away from the wound.

"Well, now that you see that you're not fine."

"Shut up."

Ren moved out from under Ashton. "How the hell did this happen?"

As soon as he asked it, he remembered how the Hunter Kenny had been shooting blindly. That's how it must have happened.

"They fucking shot me you idiot. How else?"

He guessed he kind of deserved the smart ass remarks.

He ignored them and the glare that Ashton was sending his way. Though, he could tell that Ashton wasn't that peeved. When he glanced up at him, he saw how much in pain that he was in and the slight fear.

Ren wasn't feeling so good either. Not because he could feel anything from Ashton, but because he didn't know what the fuck he could do to help. He looked down at the wound. The puss was a dead give away that the wound was infected. It was bad enough that he was wounded, but for it to be infected and for a rash to be growing around it—it felt like the worst possible situation.

Ren took a deep breath. "Okay. Let me—"

He touched the unaffected skin surrounding the rash, pulling the skin just a tiny bit so that he could get a clearer look.

Ashton let out a loud growl. He hit Ren's hand away.

Ren looked at him bewildered.

"Ow," was all Ashton said.

"It's going to hurt a lot more if we don't do something about it."

"I don't think I like the idea of you poking around."

"Then what's your idea? Huh?"

Ren looked at the wound once more. The skin was puckered around the puncture wound. He could see the skin building over and over, but it seemed like there was something stopping the wound was completely healing.

"You're healing. That's good." But it didn't seem like it was enough.

Ren put his hand back on the unaffected skin and pushed.

Ashton gasped.

"Tell me what it feels like."

Ashton clenched his jaw and threw his head back. He let out another groan. Sweat was dropping faster down his face.

"I-I don't know. It burns. It's like there's a flame pressed to my skin." He twisted his head. "Fuck. I think there's something in there."

That might be why it's not healing. If the Hunters did something to their bullets...

Ren was still looking at it as Ashton shuffled once more. Ren's hand slipped and he almost stabbed his finger right into the center of the wound.

"Watch what you're fucking doing!" Ashton kicked his legs out.

Ren dodged the kick, smacking the legs and almost shoving Ashton over.

"I'm trying to help you. Do you want me to leave you to rot here? Because I will!"

"Then do it!" Ashton yelled. It wasn't loud enough that Ren worried that it would capture the attention of the Hunters, but it was loud enough to bring down a dark mood over the two of them.

Their eyes met and neither of them looked away for a long time. Ashton's chest heaved. His naked chest quaked and Ren averted his eyes.

He turned away, waving his hand. "I'm not going to do that."

He got up and walked around the small space. The soil was still wet and pushy beneath his feet.

"Why not?"

He went to the opening of the cave and looked out. The sky had darkened some. The sun was still high in the sky, but it had to be later in the day. A mist had settled over the path that lead back to where the Hunter Society building was. Dark clouds hovered above them. He could feel it in the air that it was going to rain soon.

An idea sparked. Maybe he wouldn't have to travel far to get them suitable water.

"Answer me."

Ren shook his head. "Still demanding even when you're on the verge of death."

Ren crouched back down near Ashton. He started rustling through Ashton's pockets.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Ashton tried to grab Ren's hands, but he was still weak.

Ren hated that he was using that to his advantage, but he was working on a time crunch.

"Do you have anything plastic? Anything waterproof?"

"Why the hell would I?"

Ren groaned. "I know you're in a lot of pain, but could you not take it out on me right now."

Ashton gave him a dark look.

Ren returned the look and searched once more for something that would work for the purpose he was thinking of. But he couldn't find anything. Ashton had nothing that could be that useful.

He went back to the opening of the cave, looking out at the plants that surrounded him. Suddenly, his great idea didn't seem so good after all.

He crouched there and folded his arms over his knees.

Things just couldn't go his way.

Raindrops fell. The rain went from soft to heavy in a millisecond and all Ren could do was stare. He stared blankly wondering if it could get any worse than this.

He rubbed his face.

He could hear Ashton groaning in the background. The rain fell harder.

"Ren...Ren..."

He tried to ignore the pleas. He tried to feel like he didn't care and that he could let Ashton die.

He couldn't. He couldn't be that heartless if he tried.

"I'm here. I'm sorry." He crawled back to Ashton's side.

"Don't apologize. I'm the one being an asshole."

Ren cracked a smile. "That's the first time you've ever come close to saying that you're sorry."

"Don't get used to it," Ashton mumbled.

The smile on Ren's face got a little bigger. He hid it though, knowing Ashton wouldn't like it.

Ashton shivered and Ren's smiled dropped.

It was getting worse.

And as the rain poured down harder, Ren realized there was only one choice he could make to save Ashton.

Let Ashton drink from him.