The Sanctuary✔️

38

"Ashley, look at me?" When she didn't look at him John looked away too. Ashley looked like a mess with hair a mess, tears and pink cheeks, a running nose, her mouth red, the definite marks on her body from Gabriel and her last encounter. "Ashley please...I'll take the gag off."

Slowly, Ashley looked up. It was barely a movement in her head but more with her eyes, looking at John with a sad haze following her brown eyes.

"Here, take these." Holding out the pills, John looked at her before realizing she couldn't. Her hands were tied. He remembered that she hated to dry swallow pills, biting his lip before standing up and telling her he would be right back as she sniffled to herself. Her mouth moved as he threw the gag on the floor and left her.

She watched him leave to the kitchen where he grabbed a cup of water for her, along with a knife to cut the ropes that bound her hands together. John walked past Troy who was on the phone against securing plans to get them out of the state safely. Looking at him with a smirk as John left the room again, rolling his eyes after when he saw the glass of water.

When he entered the room where Ashley sat, she stared at the knife in his hands as soon as she saw it by his side. Her body tried to move backward as her eyes clouded with fear. Her voice started to cry now that the gag was off, she wanted to scream out and cry yet was terrified. If she made a sound would he hurt her? Kill her even?

"Ashley, it's okay." John looked at the knife before lowering it more, "I'm not gonna hurt you Ash. It's for the ropes, we can't undo them with our hands. I promise you're safe."

"G-Get away from me."

"Ashley, you need these pills. They're gonna help your head." Ashley continued to shake her head as John advanced her, moving to sit by her but eventually moved again so he was sitting directly behind her, trapping her body with his. Slowly he cut the ropes and moved the pills and the water into her hands. "Drink it."

John still held the knife near her body and that alone shook Ashley's core. So she drank the water and took the pills. She breathed deeply as John put the knife down and rubbed her arms with his bare hands. Hoping it would help calm her down some while it only made her tense and want to shake.

"Thank you-" John was going to thank her for being cooperative about taking the pills and yet was cut off by Troy entering the room and aggressively shoving his phone into his pocket. When he saw John sitting behind Ashley and holding her, his face lightened. He had hoped that John was being assertive and making sure Ashley was listening. Scaring her into behaving or something along those lines.

"We need to get ready to go. Hal said that cops are onto us and will be here in a few hours if we aren't careful."

"T-Troy?" Ashley watched him as tears continued to roll down her plump cheeks, her lip trembling as he smiled at her and winked. She was terrified to know that she wasn't dreaming that it was Troy and that he was actually working with John. That they knew each other and the entire time that Troy had been at the sanctuary was most likely to help john keep an eye on her from behind bars.

"Morning Doll. John, get her in the car if you wanna leave with her."

"W-What?" Ashley tried to move but John's body tightened around her, not because he would hurt her if she did something; but because Troy wouldn't hesitate to knock her out, by any means necessary.

"Troy, she needs her head to be checked out."

"She can get checked out in California as long as she isn't a problem on the way there. We are getting on a plane in an hour. Now move your guy's butts." As Troy left the room again, Johns's grip tightened on Ashley's body, her arms being covered in goosebumps as she sat there with him. They sat like that for a while, both of them frightened and startled a bit.