Page 70 of Ashes to Ash’s

Fair. He’d been through so much that he’d probably aged more inside than anyone else his age.

“Who’s being murdered?” Such a strange question. One that should strike fear into all of our hearts, but instead, we’d become accustomed to it. Violence and murder were just two things that were the norm to us now. I dropped back into my seat, and let him join me, while I wondered if it was the right thing to do, or a really really wrong one.

“My parents,” I said quietly, leaning my elbow on the desk, my chin in my hand. There was something oddly anticlimactic about the whole thing now. I watched as Ethan crowed with delight, blood splashing his face as he tore into my father with his knife, while Em was trying to goad my mother into a fistfight, and Ash just watched, laughing. Every now and then he glanced at the camera, like he wanted to meet my eyes and share this moment with me.

“They deserve it,” Ren said softly, resting his hand on my shoulder, “just like mine.”

I tore my gaze from the screen, looking carefully at the boy we’d ‘adopted’, and I could see the sorrow and pain all over his face, the glimmer of tears in his eyes.

“Ren, did they do more than what we already know about?”

He lifted a shoulder, feigning carelessness.

“Ren?”

He pulled his hand back, leaning his elbows on the desk, his eyes firmly on the screens as blood flew, and Em and Ethan wore an unhealthy amount of it. Ash was staying blood-free somehow, just skirting around them and taunting them. Egging his family on, as they committed murders right in front of all of us.

“Ren, you can tell me anything.”

He sighed. “They didn’t abuse me or anything. They didn’t really care that I existed. Maybe that’s why it was so easy to ship me off to your cunty uncle.”

Jesus. “Neglect is still abuse, Ren. You’ll never have to worry about us ever stopping caring about you.”

He pressed his lips together, but his shoulders shook a little, his small body fighting emotion and god only knows what else. No. Not god. No. I can’t…

“You have a family now, Ren. We’ll always be there. Me and Ash. Those two sick fuckers own there, and their three parents, and other siblings.”

“But I’m not really family. I’m just some kid.”

I grabbed his shoulder and dragged his chair to the side, so he had to look away from the screen, away from the shit that’d give us both nightmares for a long while.

“Family isn’t blood, Ren. It’s who we choose to love. We’re choosing you, and maybe one day you’ll choose us right back. We’ll protect you. We’ll help you find your dreams and follow them. We’ll always be here to support you, and listen, and whatever else you need.”

His lip trembled, and he fought the urge to dart his gaze away from mine. He didn’t want to deal with the emotions here. He wanted to hide from it all. It wasn’t up to us to decide which he chose, only he could do that, but I wanted to spare him pain.

“Always, Ren.”

He choked back a sob and stood up, practically throwing himself at me for a hug, so we stood there, hugging it out, while my parents were murdered by our new family, and the next phase of our life began.

“Cal?”

I hummed a response, watching as Ethan merrily flicked blood all over the kill room, and Em berated him for it. The looks they were giving each other told me Ash should get out of there, and the cameras should be shut off. FAST.

At least this stuff was over now, and we could start building a family together, a future.

“Can we kill my parents too?”

Fuck.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Ash

As soon as I realised my twisted older sister, and her insane nutjob of a husband, were about to get it on, I got the hell out of there, hoping Cal had the good sense to shut the cameras off before he saw things he couldn’t unsee. For clarity, I’m talking about family sex. Not the murders. Those I hope he saw, because the pain and suffering of his parents was an essential part of his healing process. Now everyone who’d ever hurt him was gone, well, except me, but I’m not going anywhere.

He wasn’t in the office, but the screens were off, thank god, so I went in search of him, sure I’d find him chilling in the lounge, nope, or in the kitchen getting coffee or a snack, still nope. Ren was there, tucking into a sandwich nearly as big as his head, so I guess Cal fed him before he disappeared.

I found him, not even in the bedroom, but in the shower. He was curled up, fully clothed, without the water running, at least not from the showerhead. His eyes, however, were wet, and he was more anguished than I’d imagined. That’s on me. I know I’m not the smart Cross kid, but I thought he’d see this for what it was. Closure. Freedom. A future.