Deviant

Andy's POV
I watched as Ashley made out with my baby sister, my mind in shreds. I couldn't focus on anything. My mind was whirling at the speed of light, and I was still trying to comprehend everything. I was going into overload mode.
I saw Jinxx and Jake and Sammi looking at me worriedly, and realized that I probably looked like I was about to kill somebody. Somebody named Ashley. I took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to get my priorities straight.
Okay. Nix hurts herself. I need to do something about that. She's into Ashley. No big deal, but if he hurts her his insides aren't going to be inside him for very long. Jinxx knows something about Nix that I don't, and that is why we were in the middle of the freaking jungle right now. I need to talk to him. And I had mixed feeling about someone who was off-limits. Not good.
I looked at Ash and Nix and held back a tortured sob as I got a better look at the scars on Nix's arms. Most of them were fresh, and the older ones had obviously been reopened several times. Right now a few were bleeding over Ashley's shirtless back, leaving dark trails across the muscled skin. The semi-translucent liquid looked black in the dim moonlight. By the looks of her skin, she cut multiple times a day for about an hour at a time, and she had been doing it every day for five years. She probably did all sorts of other stuff too. Now that I looked at her, really looked at her, I noticed that she was unhealthily skinny, and her lips looked chapped from smoking. I remembered times when her eyes had been glazed over, and she usually hadn't been able to remember certain parties or school events.
Jinxx walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "How did I not notice?" I asked, unshed tears making my voice thick and unnaturally deep. "I used to do the exact same thing. How did I not see the signs?"
"I don't know, man." Jinxx said. "But I do know that we will help her. Now that we know about it. She wouldn't want you to beat yourself up about this. She's strong, you need to be strong. But you haven't been there for her." I opened my mouth to deny it, but he held up one hand, effectively silencing me. "Sure, you've got a job, you've paid the bills and got food in the fridge, but when were you there for her? When was the last time you actually had a decent conversation? Just the two of you?"
I thought about it, and realized that he was right. I finally couldn't hold back the flood of tears that overflowed at that moment. I felt arms wrap around my waist, and I turned around to see Nix. Her arms were slick with blood. "It's not your fault." she slurred. She stumbled backwards and walked away from us. She dragged her stuff behind her and walked along the path that would hopefully take us to the legendary rebel camp that F.E.A.R. had never been able to find.

Phoenix's POV
The kiss had been wonderful, but now I felt all my energy seeping away and I was sluggish, almost like I had been drugged. It was difficult to put one foot in front of the other and walk in a straight line. My vision went black and I don't remember anything after that.

Ashley's POV
My back was slick with sweat and something else. I walked over to Andy just as Nix staggered off. "What's on my back?" I asked. Andy looked at it and blanched, making my blood run cold.
"What is it?" Jake asked, coming to look. He swiped his finger across it and it came back covered in a dark, sticky substance.
"Is that... blood?" Jinxx asked.
Andy nodded mutely. He looked over my shoulder. "Where did Phoenix go?" Sammi asked. I turned and raced in the direction I had seen her go.
"Nix!" I yelled frantically.
"...Ashley..." the voice was weak and broken, but it was definitely Phoenix's.
"Nix!" I followed her voice deeper into the trees, finally finding her. She was swaying and her arms were bleeding profusely. She was surrounded by blood.
"Oh my god, ANDY!!!!!!!" I shrieked. Every cut on Phoenix's body was bleeding. She swayed and listed hard to one side. I pounced forward and caught her just as she fell.

Notes