World Ashen

Chapter 8 - Jensen

Ash died early this morning, and Jace blamed himself because of what he had said the night before. "We're cremating Ash, too," Jace stated, close to tears.

"Wouldn't that be mean? His name was Ash," I said, voice cracking.

"Don't worry about it now," Amy said.

Jace collapsed onto his knees. "We cremated Jadance, so why not Ash too?" His body shook. I got onto my knees and wrapped my left arm around my brother's neck. Outside, the wind howled viciously. Cayler started humming gently, calming Jace down a bit. I stood up with Piper's help and walked over to August. "Where's Ash?"

August pointed to the basement door and handed me a flashlight. Turning it on, the corpse of Ash laid on a table and Alex had covered him with a sheet. I uncovered his face and kissed his cold forehead gently. "Ash, thank you for being an amazing brother." Even though he was dead, I continued talking to him. I sat there with my hand resting on his cold one, holding something in it. I hesitated before taking it from his grasp, so I called Jace downstairs.

"What is it, Jensen?"

"He had this paper crumbled up in his hand." I hesitated for a moment. "Do you think it's okay if we look at it?"

"He's dead, so I don't think it matters."

"Alright," I said, taking the piece of paper, uncrumpling it, and reading it aloud. "Dear Jace and Jensen, I know I'm knocking on heaven's door, and I'm laying on my deathbed. Before I go, there are a few things I wish to tell you. I love you and hope you know you are the best brothers anyone could ask for. Jensen, thank you for teaching me ASL. Jace, thank you for teaching me how to ride a bike. Love, Ash." Tears rushed down my face, and Jace cried too. Something small was at the bottom of the letter, "please, cremate me," I coughed this and Jace caught it. "See? There was no point fighting yesterday."

"Guys," Piper called down to us, "breakfast is ready." Hearing this, Jace and I both darted upstairs. Even though it had been only a month since we last had breakfast, I was still happy about it.

"What is it?" Jace asked, and I glared at him. "Sorry, I mean, thank you so much, Mrs. Hayner." August's mom smiled, placing plates on the table. Brianna, Alex, and their kids sheltered us for a month now. Everyone sat down and thanked Brianna, "Mom, how did you get the bacon?" Tony, Olivia, Jack, Laya, and August asked. Everyone was thankful, since we were all skin and bones.

"Your dad and Wyatt killed it." August pecked Wyatt's cheek and, as the others said, thank you to Alex and Wyatt.

"If only Ash was here to enjoy it too." Jace said quietly, then he said loud enough, "let's give a moment of silence to remember the lost." Every single one of us bowed our heads and closed our eyes. Shortly, someone interrupted the silence by banging loudly on the door. Alex, Jack, Tony, and Wyatt all shot up, running to the door. Alex slowly opened it, then a few seconds later, the guy pressed Alex against the wall with a gun pressed to his forehead. Another man followed, and they both wore army uniforms.

"I'm looking for General Tyler Michaels," the second man said.

"I'm sorry, sir. General Tyler has been dead for two months."

The first man shoved Alex toward us. "Tell me where he's buried, or I'll shoot this old man," the second one said, as if he was reading a script from a movie.

I smirked, "and why should any of us believe you?" I asked this because they weren't army soldiers. The first man did all the talking and none of the shooting. Panic spread over Brianna's face, but she said nothing. The first man who held the gun dropped dead after Dan broke his neck. Alex, now free, slowly backed up over to his family. "Now then, would you like to explain yourself?" I had a firm grip on the second guy's arm. "And how did you know my dad's name? Plus, why were you going to kill this poor man if you weren't told the information?" I gritted my teeth. "And how in the world did you and your gunner find this place?"