Nightmare Ride chapter 14

Ashley, Jake, Jinxx and CC froze where they stood. The man, or whatever it was that was standing before them, was the cause of all the pain Andy had suffered for so many years, the cause of his sorrow and fear of sleep and nearly caused the death of him.

"You," Ashley uttered through gritted teeth "You're the one who's been control Andy's dreams!"

The man stroked his chin and smirked an evil smirk, his horrible, yellow teeth showing.
"But, of course" he replied casually and then did a little bow "I am Ambrose, power spirit and half-demon and, as you put it, the controller of your friend here" he indicated Andy's lifeless body.

Ashley started to make his way over to Andy, who was right next to the spirit, but the old man stopped him with a glare.

"Oh, I wouldn't go near me if I were you boy" he said, kneeling down and, with surprising strength, hauled Andy over his shoulder which made Ashley growl, "I have places to go"

And suddenly, the spirit started to run so quickly it made the band members jump. The shock didn't last though for all of them immediately began running after him, their shoes splashing in puddles and shouted words flying out of their mouths.

They ran for quite a while until the person they were after stopped in the car park where the bands bus was parked. It was dark and was completely deserted. The only signs of life there were the band. The old man couldn't pass as a "sign of life"

He turned back to the boys, looking as if he hadn't run at all. His breath was normal and he didn't look tired at all. He watched the 4 boys pant and cough as if they were animals.

"I must say, that is impressive you can keep up with me" he remarked, taking Andy of his shoulders and quite literally threw him on the ground. The sound of Andy hitting the tarmac made something in Ashley snap and, with a loud cry of anger, he charged at the man…

… and went straight through him.

He gasped as a cold chill ran across his body and he turned just in time to see the spirit raise his hand and shove him in the back. The push was so strong that, when Ashley hit the floor, his head slammed on the ground and he heard an audible crack.

The spirit looked down on him and laughed "Running at me, boy, does not take any effect at all except on yourself"

"Ashley!" his other band mates shouted as Jinxx stepped forward, his fist raised "You leave them alone you hear me!"

The man looked bemuse, turned back around and flicked his finger through the air. And Jinxx's mouth zipped shut! The top and bottom lips met and, try as Jinxx might, he couldn't force them apart.

"Children should be seen but not heard" Ambrose said "Like you for example"

Jake ran over to Jinxx who was still pulling at his mouth. Jake's face bridled with anger as he glared at Ambrose and began to throw curse words at him.  But, it seemed, the spirit wanted to exercise more of his magic.

As if the temperature shot down, Jake felt a sudden chill up his legs. It's like I'm in ice! He thought and, when he looked down, he was right. Jagged shards of ice were encircled around Jake and they were growing still ever so slowly. Jake cried out in shock and fright.

"Temper, temper" Ambrose said, rolling his white eyes "You should calm down a bit"

CC didn't know what to do. He was the only one who hadn't been inflicted by Ambrose's power. What could he do? One wrong move and he could turn into a cockroach but if he ran away, he would leave his friends behind. He was stuck.

"Now, as we are all comfortable," he said, looking round at each member "I think I need to resume my true form" he squirmed a little "I cannot stand this human body for much longer" He said the word human as if it were something of total disgust.

"But I do need something before I do" he said, fixing his eyes on the frightened CC "Energy"

*

Andy was awoken from his unconscious state by a scream of terror. His body felt so weak and he could barely raise his head. He remembered feeling a sudden heat inside him and the feeling of almost throwing something up. His eyes flicked open and he began to get back some strength.

But then his eyes laid upon where the scream had come from.

CC, the drummer of Black Veil Brides, was lying against a brick wall not too far away. His face was deathly pale, since he didn't have his make-up and war paint on Andy could see that. CC's eyes were partially closed and Andy could only see a thin brown line between CC's eyelids.

Someone was drawing something from CC's body, something that looked like water but was flowing through the air. No, it wasn't water. It almost looked like it was CC's soul.
"C…CC!" Andy cried as loud as he could, trying to awake his friend. Suddenly, the flow stopped and someone turned around to look down at him.

"Ah, Andy finally wakes up" it said, turning to him and began to walk closer
Andy knew who it was. He had met him once before inside his head, his nightmares.

"You're… you're the spirit, Ambrose" he muttered in shock.

"You remember well, young Andy" the spirit replied and then gestured around the area "Take a look as see what I have done"

Andy looked around and a cry escaped his lips at every person he saw. CC who was unconscious and weak, Jinxx who was struggling with his mouth which seemed to have been shut and was struggling to breathe, Jake who was shivering as huge ice shards grew up his body and Ashley who laid on the floor, twitching and whimpering in pain.

"Ash…Ashley" he sobbed, as tears began to fall from his eyes. He managed to crawl over to his boyfriend and gently picked him up and held him in his arms "Oh, Ashley, please be okay. Can you hear me?"

Ashley's eyes met Andy's and a smile appeared on his face "You're… okay" Ashley whispered, gripping Andy's hand.

Andy nodded and held Ashley closer. The spirit's chuckle made Andy look back at him with a look of rage.

"Aw, how sweet," Ambrose said, moving away from the band "Andy Biersack finally found a lover that he hasn't killed"

Ashley heart froze as he heard this. What? Ambrose had done this before? The spirit stood still and made a shout to the heavens "Liceat mihi vera forma!"

A roar of thunder struck with no lightning and Ambrose began to change shape. His body got bigger and sprouted hair, his eyes became a red tint, his hands grew giant claws and his head became a snout. It was like a giant werewolf only much more terrifying.

"Now," the new form of Ambrose said in a deep, growl "Who shall I feast on first?"