They packed up and left the motel quite suddenly, one moment Ashley was putting on the clothing that 'detail-attentive' Michael had brought her and in the next, Sam was rushing her out of the room, half carrying, half dragging her towards the car.
What bothered her most of all about the sudden evacuation was the fact Sam had managed to force the bathroom door open (where she had been at the time) with uncanny ease like it was a little stiff or jammed; not because she'd bolted a lock across to prevent a sudden walk in.
'Where are we going' and 'what's going on' were two of the questions she asked in the process of being forced towards the car but neither of them were answered. Now she was back on the road, on her way to yet another unknown destination.
She held on to a blossom of hope that somehow, the police were looking for her and they were on the right trail which would explain Michael and Sam's sudden urge to leave. She hoped that despite her past worries about them lagging behind, the police had experts tracking them down. She held onto that hope tightly, like an anchor that kept her safe from floating away into a sea of despair and dread. She held on to the slim chance that she might make it home alive.
In the meantime, Sam and Michael had reverted back to their usual silence in the car. Michael drove and Sam sat in the passenger seat which left her in the back alone again. Although there was something different about this latest journey. A strange atmosphere has settled amongst the three of them.
Michael kept muttering things quietly under his breath. She couldn't hear a word but she could see his lips moving out the corner of her eye. His expression was mostly unreadable in the rear view mirror but every now and again a fierce glower would cloud his features like an upcoming storm. Sam on the other hand fidgeted in his seat, his fists clenched constantly in a ball of carefully contained emotion.
Something had occured whilst she had been absent in the bathroom, she had broken away from eavesdropping dropping because the topic had been too uncomfortable but now she had missed something. Something one of them had said or seen had caused this. She was almost certain the reason they had to leave so abruptly was causing the tension but she couldn't be sure. When it came to Sam and Michael she could never be sure about anything.
She hoped somehow Michael had learnt that the police were hunting them, she wouldn't mind that they were on the run again if it were true. At least then she would know they were searching for her. Once again however, there was no knowing what was really going on, she hadn't seen or heard a snippet of news this entire time. Michael and Sam had done well to keep her in the dark.
Ashley rubbed her aching forehead. Knowing her luck the tension in the car and the abrupt evacuation had absolutely nothing to do with one another or the police and if that were true...
Ashley massaged her thumbs harder into her temple. She sincerely hoped that wasn't true.
She looked down at the clothes Michael had given her, a simple navy hoody that felt soft between her fingers and a pair of dark grey jogging bottoms.
She was still confused where the money had come from in order to buy anything or for that matter rent the motel room they had just left but decided to add it to the ever-growing list of other things she couldn't fathom.
How ever Michael done it he had also managed to get a spaghetti top, a pair of plimsolls, clean knickers and socks. She couldnt even begin to understand why he went to all the hassle of socks and underwear but she knew damn well it wasn't due to kindness. Even when he was a freshly escaped convict Michael still cared about the details.
The underwear was atrocious, the kind of knickers a seven year old girl would wear complete with a childish pink flower pattern. She wasn't sure what was more discomforting, the fact Michael now knew what knickers she was wearing or that he was the one that brought them and chose these ones out of all the knickers in the world!
Ashley went back to massaging her forehead, trying to force all her thoughts into soothing less worrying ones. She tried not to think about the fact she was wearing different clothing now and wouldnt be immediately recognised by anyone, she also tried not to think about the past days and the strange, confusing things they had involved.
In such a short amount of time, she had experienced being bait, a hostage, a form of payment and now a victim of the fashion police.
Ashley couldn't find the strength to smile at her own joke.
She had been called 'lovely' by the most captivating, evil- minded creature on earth and had eavesdropped on a conversation no one should ever overhear. She had someone hell bent on both killing and raping her probably at the same time and another person whose desires were unknown to all but they had kept her alive so far.
Ashley scrunched her eyes shut and forced herself to unthink all the things that had happened to her and could happen to her in order to focus on something safe and comforting instead; like her parents. She envisioned her strong-minded mother and decided she would have known what to do in this situation and although her memory was extremely fuzzy surrounding her father, she always imagined him as intelligent and feisty. She wished at least one of them was here with her.
She thought on wards about other people, like her aunt and uncle who knew how to be selfless and brave even when they were vulnerable themselves and her strange quirky friends who were stupid and naive but perfect all the same. Karl's features flitted to mind. She thought about the way she fitted into his arms like a jigsaw piece when they cuddled and the way he made her insides feel light and tingly when ever he looked at her.
If only she could be with Karl right now, even for a moment, just to feel his arms around her and his chin rested upon her head. She loved him. Ashley was sure of that. Her heart warmed at the thought of him and she felt pangs when she thought back to when he was on the Asylum floor broken and unconscious thanks to her and her big mouth.
She tried to think of safe comforting memories where the two of them were together but her mind fell into dark Asylum memoirs. She racked her brain for at least one more soft memory but there were only uncomfortable reminders of the past events that led her here to this moment. The warm feeling of love in her chest turned into a raging heat. Suddenly all she could think of was Sam and the vicious hold he once had on her. The memory of being pushed up against a cold slimy wall made her back damp with icy sweat. Her chest tightened at the thought of his hands roaming where they shouldn't leaving her skin burning and sensitive.
Ashley fought to think of Karl, even the secretive moment with Timothy, anything but the thought of Sam; but the more she tried the more she spiraled into the murderers clutches. He was the biggest, most terrifying thing she had ever seen and he had her, he had her in that moment and he was squeezing the life out of her. Everything was going dark, the world was collapsing around her.
Then he stopped.
She remembered that moment, like everything had halted in space and time. The way he looked at her with eyes so dark and tortured, fixing her with the gaze of a desperate man. He had said her name and it hadn't sounded right. The guards came swiftly after, she recalled their footsteps thundering down the stairs and the panicked look on Sam's face. Now that everything seemed to be going so slowly she could focus on that small passing look of panic, it was only brief before he began to spew the ludicrous things he sang afterwards.
Her memory was all wrong. It was jumbled and shaky. Sam was choking her but he looked scared. He was scared of something bigger than him. He seemed to swell up with such a mix of emotions, he wasn't just petrified but angry and brokenhearted too. He was trying to save her, kill her and plead for help all at once, almost like a hero, villain and victim were trapped inside the same body. Now she was on the floor and he was clutching her tightly in his lap. His hold felt so strong, her bones were snapping. He said her name over and over until it was just a word without meaning; until it hurt her head to the point it might explode.
"Ashley...Ashley...ASHLEY."
Something strong and firm grabbed her by the shoulders. It shook until her head snapped back and forth. The pain in her head changed.
"Ashley!"
Ashley opened her eyes and startled at the sight of Sam looming over her in the back seat. It took a moment before she cried out and struggled to get free. "Get off of me!"
Sam released her in surprise and she quickly slid back to the opposite end of the back seat. Ashley stared around wildly, startled and still partially asleep. The car wasn't moving and Michael had turned around in the front seat to stare at her with a new expression on his face. Her heart was racing but she managed to relax a little. She had fallen asleep. It was all just another bad dream.
Sam seemed to relax along with her. His giant frame sunk a little into his side of the car but his neck still craned forward due to the low ceiling.
"She was just dreaming" Sam murmured like he couldn't quite believe it.
Michael nodded slowly, yet his stare had evolved into one of suspicion. Ashley gazed back feeling a small heat creep up the back of her neck.
"Must have been some bad dream" he muttered, "you were convulsing. It looked as though you were having a fit. I've never seen that before. Do you have a condition?"
Ashley shook her head slowly. "It was just a bad dream. Hardly surprising" she retaliated.
She looked from Michael to Sam with a creeping worry. Ashley had suffered a multitude of bad dreams over the years, she was known for it and her aunt frequently woke her up as a result. No one had ever mentioned her doing anything as alarming as convulsions before, could it be stress related? Ashley had suffered more frequently from reoccurring, erratic nightmares ever since she'd started the Asylum. It wouldn't exactly be a surprise if everything was finally taking a larger toll on her body judging from the situation she was in.
Micheal stared at her some more before nodding to Sam. "You drive, I'm going to sit in the back."
Ashley gawked at Michael with wide, horrified eyes. She sat up some more. "Why? I'm fine" she mumbled hastily.
He ignored her and proceeded to get out of the car. She turned her eyes to Sam who was staring back at her already. He must have jumped into the back with her when she was having her lucid dream. He glanced down and she followed his gaze. Her right foot was enclosed within his hand. Slowly his thumb grazed it softly. She watched his expression turn thoughtful as he stroked her. It made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle.
Ashley snatched her feet away from him and pulled her knees into her chest, leaving herself out of reach. She gave Sam a strange, querying look and he returned it with a disgruntled glare. It was a tiny gesture but it made Ashley worry about what he was thinking.
Michael opened the back door and stood waiting. Sam shifted his weight and got out but Michael didn't get in straight away. The two stood outside for a moment, in silence and despite Ashley being unable to see their faces clearly she could tell from their bodies they were having some kind of quiet stand-off.
She was sure now that there was tension between them, she had witnessed something similar to this at the abandoned gas station, this awkward sensation between the two of them. In fact it was similar to the awkwardness back when they were in the middle of nowhere after David had been put to rest too. Was this what disagreement looked like between them?
They both broke away slowly. Sam stomped around to the driver's seat and Michael slipped into the seat next to her with the grace of a shadow. Ashley tried not to make eye contact and instead adjusted herself into a normal seated position.
The engine came to life as Ashley glanced to the side at Michael. He looked back on cue with a small smile and threw one arm over the back of the seat.
"Want to sit next to me?"
It was a simple question but it sent ice through Ashley's veins. She looked away and shook her head in a stiff manner. Her voice came out in a tiny, embarrassing croak.
"No thank you."
Glancing at him from the corner of her eye Ashley watched displeasure wash over Michael's face at her reply. It made every hair on her body stand on end. Sam chuckled as he pulled the car out of the make-shift lay-by onto the road. The sound of his poorly contained ridicule gave Michael's expression a fresh shade of fury.
Clearly, that was not the right answer. Ashley wiped her clammy hands onto her bottoms. This was going to be a long journey.