Ashley's Asylum (3)

30 | Ashleys Asylum

"Where would you like to start," he prompted after the silence that followed.

Ashley lowered her drink into her lap. She wanted to know where Sam was, his absence made her more on edge if that were even possible, but she knew that wouldn't be a good first line of questioning.

"What the hell is going on?" She demanded.

Michael smiled mirthlessly as he folded his arms. "You'll need to be a little more specific."

Ashley felt like slapping the grin right off his face. Her dislike for him at that moment scorched her insides. The state of her temperament (like many) was dictated by her sleep or lack thereof and so it was no surprise patience was currently in short supply. It just so happened to be the thing she needed most.

The last time she saw his hateful face, he stabbed her in the hand with a scalpel, he pressed those grinning lips against hers and made her feel all kinds of wrong. With a few words, he left her in utter torment for months. With a few words now he infuriated her. She wanted to know about the months of waiting, the clues, the fair, all of it.

Ashley took a deep breath.

"You're right" she conceded. "Let me be more specific. When we left off, you stabbed me through the hand and left me bleeding on the floor. You, you-" she took another deep breath and skipped over the kiss. "You told me 2 weeks and then abandoned me! I thought you were coming back, I waited-"

"I never said I was coming back" Michael interrupted, his arms unwinding to wave a dismissive hand at her. "I said 2 weeks, that's all you'll last. It's obvious what I meant, that you'd only last a fortnight before you wanted to come back before you realised everything you were craving this whole time was meaningless. I let you go like you wanted."

Ashley held her hands open in front of her whilst shaking her head in exasperation. "You call murdering innocent people and leaving gruesome messages letting me go? It's emotional blackmail."

"Is that why you came back?" He snapped.

"Don't change the subject" she retorted hastily. "When you left, you were in a stolen car, no money, no nothing, Sam was nearly dead yet somehow you're here" she gestured around at their surroundings. "You're living, working here like nothing is going on outside."

"You resent me for being resourceful."

"No, what I resent is what I had to go through" she hissed with vehemence. "I struggled for months at home, months trapped in uncertainty. Nothing felt right, the whole world judged me, looked at me like I was some kind of freak. I got hate mail, phone calls late at night saying awful things, things that were meant for you. I didn't deserve that, I didn't deserve to be treated like that."

"I gave you what you wanted" Michael replied stiffly. He crouched down in front of her, his cool eyes reflective of his nature. "You're angry because I was here because I didn't suffer, well guess what, I never said going home was a good idea but we all make mistakes."

He averted his eyes and, after a moment, shrugged his shoulders. "I made a mistake with the message" he muttered. "I didn't think it would take so long for you to come to your senses-"

"My senses? You thought murder would make coming back to you more appealing" Ashley exclaimed irritably.

"No," he snapped back before faltering, "I told you it was a mistake, I just thought going back would make you realise where you belonged, or where you didn't belong."

When her fierce, accusing glare didn't ease up, he pushed away from the floor and threw a frustrated hand up into the air. "I waited didn't I? I tried to give you space. I gave you months but you refused to come back didn't you! What did you expect?"