Page 95 of Ashes

I let out a soft chuckle. “And I bet the suspense of not knowing is just fucking killing you, isn’t it?”

He licked his lips. I took note of his trembling hands. Something was wrong with him. He rubbed his temples, his face scrunched up before he rocked on the stump.

“No. No. Don’t… Fuck.” He staggered to his feet, his chest heaving as he continued to rub his temples.

He muttered and babbled shit so low and fast I couldn’t understand him. I simply watched his meltdown, almost hoping his ass would fall into the fire and end his shit.

“Rinny… Sirena.”

I got to my feet at the mention of her name.

“Asylum? What the fuck is going on—”

He stumbled past me, his face flushed. “I’m Seth. Not Asylum.”

Quickly, I turned and kicked out the fire so I could follow him, but when I finally swiveled back around, he was gone, having disappeared into the dense foliage of Northern Michigan.

I stood in the silence, my heart pumping hard, my breathing heavy.

Something was wrong.

I just didn’t know what.

Or maybe Asylum had just finally lost his shit.

I’d seen the look on his face though. This was bigger than just an episode. Deciding I needed to get back to campus, I broke into a run.

When I reached the house, I rushed through the door to find Ashes and Sin in the living room talking.

“What’s wrong?” Ashes demanded, his lighter snapping closed as he rose, worry on his face.

Sin sat forward, frowning at me.

“I-I met Asylum in the woods. I think something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Sin demanded.

I shook my head. “I honestly don’t know, but he called out specter’s name and took off.”

“Do you want to check on Stitches and Sirena?” Ashes asked.

I nodded tightly. “Yeah.”

Ashes barged past me and right out the door with Sin following.

I wasted no time in joining them.

Maybe I’d let Asylum get into my head. Maybe he’d just had an episode and was off his meds or some shit. He’d said Stitches and Sirena were together. That offered me some comfort because I knew Stitches would die to protect her in the event Sully decided to try anything.

“Everything will be OK,” Ashes said softly as we jogged to the medical building.

I said nothing. I didn’t have to because Sin said it for me.

“And if it’s not, we’ll break them out and kill the fuckers.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

ASYLUM

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