Amongst the worst

Forgetting

Claire POV:

This elevator brings back too many traumatic memories.

I could see it in Ashton's eyes, in Axel's harsh breathing that they felt the same.

"If he's not there?" I ask

"We go back, we don't tell Rose" Ashton says leaning the back of his head against the wall

"We might find out something we don't want to hear" Axel says "We have to be prepared for that"

"If he's not there, we go back and we accept it"

____________________

Axel POV:

Walking up to our childhood house again, I had this odd feeling.

I wasn't quite able to pin point what is was but, it seemed darker here.

Lifeless.

Dull.

I swing the door open and one by one we step in.

It was just as before.

"Guess no one ever thought to redecorate after all these years" Claire points out

Just as we we're about to look around, we hear a creaking sound coming from the stairs.

We all simultaneously turn.

"You have any weapons on you?" I ask

"None" they both say

That's just great.

A figure steps out into the kitchen where we were.

I recognised him immediately.

"Greyson" I breathe out

He pulls his hood down, to reveal his face.

His eyes were the first indicator. The first confirmation.

His face was bruised and pale. A scar passed diagonally though his left eyebrow.

He looked hurt.

Obviously.

"You son of a bitch" I hiss "You let us believe you were dead" I walk up to him

"Greyson!" Claire ran up to him and threw herself at him.

He looked a little startled at first, but hugs her back nonetheless.

"You better start talking right now" Ashton demands "You have no idea what you've created"

"It had to be done. I had to find out more before I could tell you I was alive." He tells us

"Spit it out" I snarl "You better have a damn good reason for what you've done to us. To Rose. You have no idea how much that effected her."

"I'm sorry okay? But I had to! I survived the crash and the first person I saw after I got out was our father. He was looking. And I was going to go back but I had to know more about the curse and more about what was going on first. But I found out something else. Something that changes everything"  he says, still trying to remain calm

"What is it?" Claire asks

"Our father, he's sick. He's dying. He's been sick for a while. We just didn't know. He has cancer."

"What?" Claire gasps "You're kidding"

My jaw drops.

I couldn't help it.

I would never have guessed.

"I know, I didn't expect it either. I mean- I suspected something was wrong for a while, but I didn't expect it to be this." He says

"And he doesn't have long left"

________________________

Greyson POV:

"What does that mean for us?" Axel asks

"You can ask him yourself" I say "Follow me"

As much as I despise our father and as much as I have no interest in being involved with him again.

I make sure the gun is still in my back pocket and I keep walking.

We deserve to hear what he has to say.

When we walked into his room, there he was.

Laying in the bed, barely moving.

It's hard to imagine, this is what destroyed my life. What destroyed our childhood.

I could kill him right now.

"Wake up" I hiss at him

He doesn't budge.

"Wake up" I say louder this time

He jolts awake.

"You're going to tell us everything" I demand "You owe us that much"

"What?" He looks around quickly, his eyes not fully open yet

"You heard me. Tell them what you said you would say"

A grin forms on his face.

"I can tell you, but you won't like it"

"Shut the fuck up and tell us" I snarl

"You shouldn't speak to your father that way, considering I'm the one with the information"

I don't respond, I just stare at him blankly. He doesn't deserve my frustration.

"I see Rose isn't here with you" he notices

"Get to the point" Axel glares at him

He takes another look at us, observing us.
"You don't know..." he realises

"Don't know what?" Ashton speaks up

"It's a shame, that you're too late. If im already like this-" he says weakly "You're too late"

"Too late for what?" Claire asks

Then he looks me dead in the eye "She's already gone" he says

I feel something in me break.

Shatter.

"Shut up!" I growl "Liar"

"She's forgotten you all" he says

I couldn't take it anymore, I take the gun out my back pocket and I shoot him, straight in the head.

His blood splattered on all of us.

But I didn't have time to explain, the realisation hit me so hard it hurt.

For the first time in years, I felt a tear toll down onto my cheek

And I ran.

This can't end like this.