I stared at Ashley from across the room, drinking his features in. He now sported a deeper tan than the last time I saw him, and he had scars decorating his arms and torso. Ashley's eyes held a combination of defiance and fear, his body taunt as if he was ready to fight for his life. And I guess in these circumstances, he actually was.
"How did you even survive that blizzard? I remember you running out wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, and it was forty below outside." I asked and he scowled at me.
"I survived just barely. The western quadrant saved me right as I was going to die." Ashley said, his body still not relaxing. I stepped closer and he gave me the coldest glare I had ever seen; it sent waves of pure ice down into my bones.
"I'm not going to hurt you Ashley... do you have any idea the hell I've gone through? How hurt we all were when we thought you froze to death?" I pleaded and his glare deepened.
"Like I give a fuck. All of my friends died back in that cabin all those years ago; you are nothing but a demon with Andy's memories." Ashley flexed his wrists, and his words made me wince. "You are incapable of love, or remorse, hell you don't even feel guilt. So don't bullshit me with your fake ass emotions."
"Ashley I really am still me! Why won't you believe me!"
"Because the Andy, CC, Jake, Jinxx, and Sammi that I knew would have rather burned in hell than become this." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose with my fingers.
"We're not evil Ashes..." He flinched when I used his old pet name, and I walked closer to him. I could smell how sweet the blood running through his veins right now, and felt my throat ache. Ashley stared up at me in defiance, his eyes glimmering with danger. Even I felt intimidated by him, and he was still human.
"Tell that to all of the people you've killed in your damned lifetime." My mind flashed to the young girl I had fed off of just before I came here, and it was then that Ashley sprang at me. We both fell to the ground, him punching me right under my eye. I managed to push him off of me, getting into a defensive stance.
"I'm not going to kill you or fight you Ashley!" I yelled, and he huffed before rolling onto his feet and taking an offensive stance.
"Well that's too bad for you Andy." Ashley jumped at me again, and I felt myself crash into the wall. My vampyric side came out and I felt my fangs slide down and I growled at him. Ashley's face had gone blank; his honey-brown eyes cold and calculating. From what I had heard about the rebels Ashley was a top fighter. He could kill a vampyre just as easily with a weapon, as without one.
He jumped at me again, his hands wrapping around my neck. I hissed loudly, and heard the door slam open. Without even knowing what I was doing I had gotten up off the floor and pinned Ashley to the wall.
"Andy don't do it!" Sammi cried out, and Ashley fought against my hold on him. With a quick dart forward I bit into Ashley's silky skin, and heard him scream. A predatory urge to change him went through me and I let my venom get into his blood. Finally the haze around my mind cleared and I dropped Ashley.
"No!" Ashley cried out, clawing at the bite wound on his neck. I backed away from him, and saw his body begin to shake as the venom began to course through his system. It would be a few minutes before the transformation was complete.
"Andy! Why did you do this to him? Oh my god..." CC rushed into the room, and I saw Ashley scramble back towards the wall. His breath was coming in heavy pants, and blood kept oozing out from between his fingers.
"NO!" Ashley screamed as his chest arched forward, and we all moved closer to him. His eyes flashed between red and brown for a moment and he glared at us.
"Stay away from me!" He no longer sounded as strong as he used to be. I looked up at Sammi and saw intense sadness in her eyes. Next thing I knew I was on the ground, and Ashley was running out the door.
"Ashley!" We all rushed after him, seeing him crash through the window at the end of the hall. I ran forward just in time to see his form lying on the ground. Blood trickled out of the corner of Ashley's mouth, but I could still see his chest rising and falling.
"We need to go get him!" Jake said, and then we all heard the somber tolling of sunrise bell. We all rushed down the long flights of stairs just to see the sun's rays hit Ashley.
"AH!" The scream that came from him sounded inhuman, and we all had to stand there and watch helplessly as Ashley writhed under the sun's intense rays. And then the screaming stops, along with his movements. Grief slammed through my body, and I fell to my knees. Ashley was gone, this time for good.

Notes

I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fucking sorry. My mom moved us to the middle of basically fucking nowhere, and we couldn't get any type of internet. AT ALL. So for the past few months I have had to put every single one of my stories on hold. Lately we got some hotspot internet, and I've been really busy with my homeschooling assignments that I haven't been able to update. But now I'm back (hopefully), and might be able to give you more regular updates. No promises though!
(P.S; the chapter title is in french. It means Death's kiss, or Kiss of Death. I thought it was fitting)