An incessant knocking drew Karl from his lounged position on the sofa. He snapped open his front door to be faced with the young officer who'd been plaguing him with phone calls.
"I've got nothing to say to you" Karl mumbled, scratching at the stubble on his jaw.
His other hand posed on the door ready to slam it shut. Officer Charlie Johnson notably stuck his foot in the doorway to prevent it.
"You've got nothing to say" Charlie mimicked snidely. "Your girlfriend goes missing again and you've got zip all to say?"
Karl glared at the officer with unwholesome dislike. Every time he saw him, Officer Johnson lost a little more of the professional glimmer that his senior partner Watts had exalted. Johnson reminded Karl of the bad cops in TV shows with the chip on his shoulder and a no doubt twitchy trigger finger.
"What do you want from me 'officer'?" Karl growled.
The whites of Karl's eyes were bloodshot and from the looks of the creases and smell, he'd slept in his clothes. He looked like someone who wanted to talk to nobody.
"Can I come in?" Charlie asked.
Karl snorted. "So you can case the place?" he leered. He shook his head before releasing his hold on the door. "Sure, come on in."
Charlie whisked past him, his shoulder clipping Karl's just enough to suggest a temper. Karl stuck his tongue in his cheek, sucking in all his anger like sucking the poison from a snake bite. He'd dealt with bigger assholes than Charlie. The officer would have to do something really special to get a rise out of him, he'd spent a year at Dale-creek Hill which was practically a home for wayward assholes.
Charlie placed himself in Karl's living room, letting his eyes roam around like intruders.
"So, you're telling me you don't know where Ashley is, not even the faintest idea?"
Karl leaned against the living room doorway with folded arms.
"No, and even if I did know, I certainly wouldn't tell you. If you're saying she ran away, she did it for a reason" he mumbled glumly.
"Even if she ran into the arms of two serial killers?"
Karl and Charlie shared at heated look. He was first to look away.
"Maybe she ran away because she was sick of people treating her like she was guilty" Karl bit back.
Charlie chuffed.
"Think about it Karl, she spent a year with them and you weren't present for all of it. Then she had three weeks alone on the run with big old Sam and pretty boy Michael. D'you really think your little lamb's wool was white as snow when she trotted her way back here?"
He got close to Karl, close enough to whisper. "Do you really think it's a coincidence that Ashley joined the same Asylum that held her big brother prisoner? After all the benefits of doubt, after all the trouble we went to find and rescue her, she disappears-"
"The word coincidence was created for a reason," Karl cut in stubbornly.
After a tense second, Charlie grinned and slapped a chummy hand on Karl's arm.
"Sure, whatever you say" he mocked.
"I'll let myself out" he added as he slid past Karl towards the front door.
Karl clenched his fists to keep himself still, counting down the seconds till he heard the door swing shut.
"I will find her" Charlie called back, "-and she'll have to answer for her disappearance."
Karl turned to see him standing in the doorway, the look on his face was unnervingly savage. There was an anger in him that made even Karl apprehensive, it made him worry for Ashley.
"And if I find out you knew anything, you'll answer for it too."
He slammed the door behind him and left Karl standing aloft.
Oh Ashley, what have you done.
Karl collapsed onto his chair and ran both hands through his hair. He felt a horrible pain seize his chest, it felt like a heart attack but he knew better. Broken hearts could kill a person, he'd read it somewhere once. He could see how for this ache in his heart seemed to branch out inside until he felt it in his fingertips. He hadn't been with her long, they hadn't always seen eye to eye either but Karl loved Ashley. Her first disappearance had felt like the end of the world to him, this time he just felt lost.
When had she stopped confiding in him? When did they stop working together?
He didn't believe for a second what everyone said about her though he couldn't deny the circumstantial evidence was convincing. He didn't want to believe it. They spent a year together and Karl refused to believe all the precious moments they had shared, the laughter and the tears were all a farce.
He wanted her to come home or at least call to explain what was going on. He wanted her to share her experiences with him, her fears, he wanted to support her but Ashley built a wall even he couldn't climb.
Karl hid his head in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut.
No matter how he tried to justify it to himself, he had failed her. Ashley didn't confide in him because she didn't trust him enough and he had done little to prove otherwise. All his own fears had wedged them apart when she most needed him. Adrian had been a better boyfriend to her and it pained him to admit it.
It hardly mattered now. She was gone and Karl hoped her location remained as much a mystery to Charlie as it did to himself.
He only prayed she hadn't done anything stupid, or at least more stupid than disappearing without a trace, but had an inkling he was wasting his prayers.
***
A loud bang ripped Ashley from sleep. Her entire body convulsed once in alarm and a cold sweat dampened her back. She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes of all the gunk sleep left behind and rubbed them for extra measure.
In her slumber, Ashley hadn't moved from her sideways position and now her limbs fizzed uncomfortably with pins and needles. She flexed her fingers to speed up the blood flow whilst searching her surroundings. The events of yesterday wasted no time in rushing back to haunt her, helped along by the fact Michael and Sam were seated opposite her.
Ashley sat up hastily and subtly wiped at the corner of her mouth whilst she pretended to stretch. Her eyes remained glued to her company as she flattened her hair down.
Michael had hissed at Sam as soon as she woke which suggested the loud bang came from the smirking blond. He seemed happy with himself for disturbing her from his place at the table, one of his hands were wrapped around a set of playing cards and the other rested over the back of the booth styled seating area. Michael sat opposite him, holding his own set of cards.
Ashley wanted to keep this amount of distance between her and them the entire time she had to be here but she knew that wasn't possible. Slowly she slipped out of bed and straightened out her clothes self-consciously. It angered her to have slept so long, who knew how many hours had passed with them watching her, whispering things she could have used to her advantage.
"Good afternoon," Michael said whilst sliding a card into his hand and replacing another on the table.
'Afternoon' Ashley thought in alarm. She had indeed slept far too long.
"Why didn't you wake me up" she murmured huskily before clearing her throat.
Sam snorted. "Just did."
Ashley shot him a quick look of disdain before returning her gaze to Michael who smiled briefly.
"There was no reason to, you were tired" he responded.
Ashley had nothing to argue back to that. She rubbed at her eyes again and moved towards the kitchen. Her mind was admittedly brighter after rest, it snapped into action with no time to slowly rise from the leftovers of sleep. Sam and Michael were both before her and she had no time to prepare herself.
She glanced towards the window, the sound of laughter and loud conversation filtered into the trailer alongside the evening sun. It was a bright afternoon which drew more people to the fair much to Ashley's unhappiness.
She heard one of them stand and glimpsed from the corner of her eye that it was not Michael.
Sam moved heavily into the kitchen and helped himself to the golden nugget cereal she had stowed away that morning.
Ashley did her best to ignore him and remained looking out of the window but the loud crunch- crunch of someone without table manners grated on her nerves.
Ashley glanced to the side and saw Michael wore an equally unamused expression when observing Sam.
Michael placed his cards down and twisted his body to face her. "You should get changed, the bathroom is there" he suggested with a brief hand gesture. "You must be hungry."
"I'm starving" Sam grunted through his mouthful.
Michael gave him another disapproving glance as did Ashley. Nobody asked him.
Ashley grabbed her bag up off of the floor and, after a cautious last glance at Sam, walked briskly to the bathroom and shut herself inside. The door was flimsy and didn't own a lock to her dismay.
It was safe to say Ashley showered quickly and dragged on a pair of grey quarter length joggers and a cotton vest top over her still damp skin. Clothes didn't make her any less vulnerable but they made her feel better all the same.
She took a deep breath before re-entering the main living area. Sam was wrist deep in the cereal box still and Michael waited at the table.
Sam sprang into action at her reappearance and tossed the cereal box aside.
"Finally" he grunted. He was out of the trailer door within the blink of an eye.
Michael stood too and snatched the cereal box off of the kitchen counter. With an irritable glance towards the door, he folded the cereal box shut and placed it inside a cupboard.
He closed the distance between them with a second furtive look towards the door and spoke softly to her so that other ears would not hear.
"While you were gone, Sam and I had plenty of time to come to terms with our differences. I've always admired him for his unpredictability and it's not the first time I've been burnt by it" he murmured silkily. "You on the other hand" he paused, his eyes loaded with silent accusation before he glanced down at his hands. "Well, it doesn't matter now, what happened between us is in the past. You're here now, you've realised your mistakes and I have no doubts in my mind that you'll make it up to me."
He glanced back up at her with his steely gaze.
"You will make it up to me, won't you Ashley?" he challenged softly.
Ashley nodded faintly. "Of course," she uttered weakly. "That's why I'm here."
Michael smiled briefly.
Ashley glanced to the side. What happened between them was not in the past that much was certain. Ashley could see in his face a swirling resentment that could flay her alive. He would punish her as yet, just as he must have punished Sam for betraying him. Ashley had a lot of work ahead of her if she wanted to gain his trust.
"You can start, by getting along with Sam" he continued suddenly.
Ashley's jaw dropped to object. It wasn't like the three of them were compatible, Sam gave her whiplash with his 'admirable unpredictability' enough to make it clear they should stay far apart. Even to pretend would be an enormous task.
A brief look from Michael prevented her from airing her opinion. She pursed her lips shut.
"You will get along," he added sharply.
It was common sense not to disagree with him. Ashley found Michael's idea that they all get along even less likely than her own private plan. She also found it infuriating that Michael still wanted the three of them to co-exist. It seemed to her Sam had got off lightly for his discrepancies and she was the one who would pay most dearly for betraying Michael.
"It's not me you have to worry about" she murmured.
Michael placed a hand upon her shoulder. "You do your part and leave the rest to me" he assured her. He gave her a light pat before turning towards the door.
"I would hate for this to end badly." She heard him add over his shoulder.
Ashley's features blanched. She swallowed thickly but felt like the dryness of her throat might choke her.
Ashley forced her legs to move and hurried down the steps to escape the stuffy trailer. Outside air brought no relief, the red evening light outlined the tallest of fair rides against the sky and reminded her this strange place was just as dangerous as the company she held.
Her fingers found the purple tie around her wrist and fiddled with it anxiously. This was only the first day, Ashley dreaded to think there would be a tomorrow where she would have to struggle all over again. Her only solace was the idea that somehow things would get easier and with it, she would grow closer to her goal; true freedom.