Everything Will Change

Fortunately for me, Michael's house wasn't that far away from the restaurant. It actually was pretty close, thankfully. I ran faster than I've ever did before. I had five minutes to get there, not any second more. My boyfriend was in danger. He was going to get hurt and I had to stop it. I could not let Michael touch a single hair from Ashton's head. This wasn't going to happen. If he wanted to hurt him, he would have to hurt me first. I promised myself that I was never going to let anybody hurt Ashton and I was about to keep my promise by saving him from Michael.

When I left the restaurant it was exactly 10:05 PM. When I got to Michael's door, it was exactly 10:09 PM. Thanks God, I was right on time. I made it in less than five minutes just like Michael wanted me to. Whatever was the plan Michael had in mind, it would have to wait now that I was here. I knocked loudly at his door. I was pissed off and extremely worried about my precious Ashton. But I had to show a strong and confident face in front of Michael. I could not let him see my vulnerable side.

''Open the freaking door Micahel Clifford or I swear I'm going to murder you,'' I yelled.

10 seconds later, the door opened, revealing Michael. He looked pretty horrible. The pretty and nice boy I used to know was all gone. His hair was all dirty, he had bruises all over his body and most of all, he had a devilish look in his eyes that I had never seen before, when we were having sex with each other.

''Looks like you made in on time, Luke. Congratulations,'' Michael said.

''Save your words you freaking jerk. What did you do to Ashton?'' I wondered angrily.

''Calm down Hemmings. For now, he simply is locked up in my basement. I told you that you had five minutes to get there until the game would begin. I said I was not going to touch him if you could reach my house in five little minutes. And I kept my promise. He is okay, for now,'' he replied.

He grabbed my wrist, making me step into his house. He closed the door behind me and locked it. I tried to get out of his grip, but it was no use. Michael was ten times stronger than me, I didn't stand a chance against him. So I simply stopped fighting and let him guide me to wherever he wanted to. He was taking me to the basement where Ashton was supposed to be. I swore to myself that he better have told me the truth when he said that he did not hurt Ashton. I would not have stand seeing Ashton, my perfect boyfriend, all in pain.

Fortunately for himself, Michael didn't lie. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw Ashton seating on one of the couches. Physically, he was okay. He did not show any signs of physical pain and abuse. Mentally, he was not. He was a sobbing mess. He had his head in his hands and his sobs were the only sound filling the room. They were heart breaking. How couldn't he be emotionnaly unstable? He pratically was kidnapped by a psycho who wanted to get his revenge on me. I could not believe that I had sex with this horrible psycho and that I actually enjoyed it. I was disgusted in myself. But at that time, he was so different.

''Look who finally joined us, Ashton,'' Michael said sinisterly.

Ashton raised his head and his eyes automatically fell on me.

''L-Luke, you shouldn't have c-come,'' Ashton sadly.

''I had to, Ash. I was not going to let you here on your own. I had to come, for you,'' I replied.

''Will you two just shut up already, please?'' Michael ordered. ''Now, Luke. You are going to seat right next to Ashton and you are both going to remain quiet until we are done in here. You are going to do everything that I say, you will obey me. I'm your master and your my slaves. You two are just pieces of shit with no value. If you dare disobeying me, I won't show any mercy. Understand?''

Ashton and I nodded. I walked to the couch Ashton was sat on and took a seat next to him. I felt so guilty about this. If I had not been involved in this whole selling drugs thing, Ashton and I would not have been in danger at that moment. We would not have been stuck in Michael's basement. We would have been okay and safe, like we always were. This was all my fault. I needed to get us out of this. I put us in this, and I was also going to be the one to take us out.

We weren't allowded to talk to each other, but Michael didn't say anything about not touching each other. I held Ashton's hand in mind, trying to comfort him and telling him that it was going to be okay. It was easier said than done since even myself barely believed that things were going to be okay. For the first time in forever, I felt defeated and weak. For the first time, I was scared.

''So, the reason you guys are here today is because Mr. Luke here tried to mess with me. What were you thinking Luke? You thought it would be funny to cause me some trouble and send me to jail? It wasn't funny. I had the worst of time in there, because of you. You're so full of shit,'' Michael said.

I didn't reply. I was not allowded to and I also agreed with everything that Michael said. It was a bad move from me to give his name to the police. It sure made me a piece of shit and I could not blame him for hating me. He had all the rights to hate me and make me pay. He already did when he sent those boys to beat me up, but he needed more. But Ashton? Why did he want to hurt Ashton when he did nothing? It was his way to hurt me. He was going to hurt the thing I cared the most about in the world: my boyfriend.

''I was able to send those boys to beat you up. By what I heard, they did a pretty good job. It was supposed to ruin you. It did, only for a little while. Instead, you found happiness in the arms of the boy seating next to you. And I can't stand seeing you happy when my life has been a mess for the past two months. I don't like that. Little shits like you don't deserve to be happy,'' Michael added. ''Now, I'm going to go back upstairs and grab some little toys for our little game. Don't you dare move or talk.''

He walked up the stairs, leaving Ashton and I on our own. We were not going to have much time on our own until Michael would get back so I took the opportunity to hug him. We both really needed it. We needed comfort in this whole nightmare. We needed this hug to give us a little hope that things might be okay.

''I'm sorry,'' I whispered.

''It's not your fault,'' Ashton replied.

Michael came back a couple of minutes later holding three things. In one hand, he had a whip. In the other hand, he had a knife and a candle. He was going to torture us. He was going to make us suffer as much as he did back in jail. And he was going to use Ashton to make me suffer even more. That could not be real, that was not okay. I pinched myself hoping that I would wake up from this bad dream, but it was real. This was reality.

''So. Here's the plan. I'm going to whip you both. I'm going to whip curly hair 8 times and I'm going to whip Luke 10 times because I hate him. If you dare screaming, moving or pushing me, I'm going to punish you either with this knife or the burning wax of this candle. And don't you both dare trying to stop me. You're going to watch me whip one and other and you're going to remain silent the whole time. Or else, there will be punishment. Understand?'' Michael explained.

Ashton and I both nodded. We didn't really have the choice. I felt sick. I knew it was going to hurt like hell, but I could take it. But Ashton? Sweet innocent Ashton did not deserve any of this. He was an angel who always tried to be good. He always tried to do the right thing. He was the best person in the entire world. There was no way I was going to let him get whipped.

''So, I'm going to start with you, Luke. Take off your shirt and lay flat on your stomach. Now,'' Michael ordered.

I did as he told me. I took off my shirt and threw it to the floor. As Iayed down on my stomach, I noticed the mix of terror, panic and sadness in Ashton's eyes. He was about to watch me get hurt. But it was better me than him. I would have taken 100 hits just to protect him.

''I love you,'' I whispered. ''Please don't try to stop him. I don't want you to get hurt.''

''Well, looks like you're not following the silence rule, Luke. I'll just have to whip you 4 more times for a total of 14 hits. Do you have something to say so we can bring it up to 18?'' Michael replied.

I didn't say anything. I layed on my stomach and waited for the pain to come. And when it did, I realized those 14 hits were going to be the end of me. I can't put the pain I felt into words. It was horrible, awful. And there were 13 more to come.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.10.11.12.13.14.

He was done and I was calm, not giving Michael the satisfaction to see me cry. I could not feel anything anymore. I felt like the entire skin on my back was pealed off. Even though it was suffering, I did not yell or cry. Ashton did the crying for the both of us. I could not believe that he just watched me getting hurt all over again. I could not believe that I was just wipped...and that it was going to be his turn. I could not let this happen. Ashton did not have to pay for the things that I've done. That was unfair to him, that was not how things were supposed to be.

''Good boy Luke,'' Michael said sinisterly. ''Now, it's your turn, curly boy.''

Ashton, as he kept crying, took off his shirt and layed flat on his stomach. I had to stop it, but I did not have enough strenght. I barely had enough energy to simply sit up. Ashton was going to get hurt and there was no way for me to stop it. But when Michael raised his arm and was about to give the first hit, I found this special strenght inside of me. This special strenght was love. I found myself jumping on Michael, taking him to the ground. I could not control my gestures as I started to hit him in the face until he was unconscious.

''Is he...?'' Ashton asked nervously.

''N-No, he just lost consciousness,'' I replied.

Ashton ran to me and helped me stand up. I could barely stand on my feet, it hurt too much. How could this happen to me? I knew that I made mistakes, but I didn't deserve this. None of us deserved this.

''I-I'm so sorry Lukey. Oh my god. Your back is all and I-I'm sorry baby,'' Ashton said, crying.

''Better me than you, baby. C-Come on, let's get out of here before that p-psycho wakes up,'' I replied.

I had no idea where this strenght came from, but Ashton grabbed me in his arms. He rapidly went out the stairs and out the house. Still with me in his arms, we ran away from the house until it was out of sight. We reached a small park where Ashton made me sit on a bench. Everything hurt.

''I-I'm going to call 911 now okay baby? You're going to be okay. We're going to be okay, I promise,'' Ashton said.

I nodded and he quickly dialed the emergency number. He was bright enough not to mention Michael's name. He simply said that someone was hurt and needed help.

''The ambulance is on its way, Lukey. Hold on baby. I-I'm so sorry that you had to go through this. I'm so freaking sorry and it hurts so much to see you like that. I wished I could have stopped it but I-I was too scared. I'm an horrible boyfriend...'' Ashton said sadly.

''I love you, Ash. This is not your fault. And I'm glad that you let him hit me. Otherwise, he would have hurt you. I can't stand the fact that you almost got hurt. I needed to protect you baby. I'm happy that I'm the only who is hurt. Doctors will take care of me. We're free, we are going to be okay now, I promise,'' I said weakly.

I did not have much strengh in my body, but I still had enough to kiss Ashton. The kiss made us feel better. We both have been afraid that we were going to lose each other, but we did not. We made it alive. We were together and we were not seperated. The power of love helped us. As long as we were going to be togheter, nothing was to stop us. We were infinite.