BABYLON //a.f.i//

• W O N D E R L A N D •

•••Cora•••
________________________________

"Really messy."

Ashton didn't say anything for a moment. With his hands still on my shoulders, he looked deep into my eyes. His own amber ones flashed wildly in the light, dark and tinged with anger. And when he seemingly finally found what he was looking for in them, he leaned in close, his lips brushing against my ear.

"The truth doesn't cost anything, Cora. But a lie could cost you everything." I felt my blood run cold. There was something in his tone, something precarious. I guess I wasn't as good of a liar as I thought I was.

He pulled away, never breaking eye contact. "Luke, go in and tell them you're with me. They'll take  you to where we're meeting. I'll be there in a minute. Cora needs to get cleaned up." His voice was steady but it was threatening. I could see Luke in my peripheral vision walk towards the front of the massive building, the light eventually engulfing him in its colorful flashes.

Neither of us said anything for a minute. Eventually I gave in. "Ashton..." I whispered, having absolutely no idea where u was going to take that sentence, but the silence had been killing me. I clenched and unclenched my fists, But he didn't let me finish.

"He must know something truly dark about you Cora if he was willing to lie to me about it."

I shook my head. "Ashton, listen..."

"If I know Luke at all, this means he knows something about you that he thinks is going to hurt me. Those are the only times he ever lies to me. It's something I've picked up on over the years, but I've continued to let him do it. So I've become quite proficient in knowing when Luke is lying." It was this quiet, controlled type of angry that actually scared me. Fury flowed in his amber eyes, but his words were ominously cool. It begged the question of what Ashton Irwin was really capable of.

"He doesn't fucking know anything, Ashton! I just had a bad reaction to the accident, that's all! Any fucking normal person would!" I could only hope my lying was a bit more convincing than Luke's.

"Normal?" Ashton gave me a look of bemused bewilderment. "Normal? Cora I've known you for what, a week, and even I know that your closet is so packed full of fucking skeletons, it threatens to burst open every time you speak! Secrets drip from your eyes like tears, and I can see the pain coat your lips like sticky gloss. You're trapped in your own body. You've built a cocoon of ignorance, and the only way to maintain that is to lie not only to others but to yourself! It keeps the real away, doesn't it? You said you wanted real, but now you're relapsing. I can see it. I can see how much you fucking hate this world. You want nothing more than to disappear right back into those lights, right back where I found you!" His words felt like glass shards sinking slowly into my flesh.

I was stricken speechless. I thought Luke of me had hurt, but Ashton's was far worse. It's like he saw me better than I saw myself. I didn't understand how.

"You're right." I could feel tears stinging the corners of my eyes as I dug my fingernails into my palms. "Is that what you want to fucking hear, Ashton? You're fucking right. I'm pathetic. I'm a quitter. And ya know what, I love the fucking disenchantment. I love the illusion. I love the lies that built this city. I love the drugs and I love the glitter. I'm addicted to it; it runs in my blood now. I hate myself for it, but that's just the way it is now. It's just the fucking way it is. I lost myself a long time ago, and I keep trying to act like that bothers me, but the truth is that it fucking doesn't. That girl that was me can burn. Fuck it, everything can burn! I don't give a shit, I live in wonderland!"