Author's Note: Sanctuary Bingo Entry. Having to use . as paragraph breaks due to FFnet's funky formatting
Prompt: Ashley's Room
Henry sat alone on the edge of the comfortable double bed, a faded t-shirt held lightly in his hands. It was a concert t-shirt he had given to Ashley after she returned from one of her many hunts, injured and with more torn clothing. He hadn't accepted it when she had tried to give it back to him, and had assumed she'd just binned it after she'd used it. He had been very surprised, therefore, when it turned up in the pile of washing he had been about to throw into the machine. Picking it up gingerly, he had gently sniffed it, surprised to find it still carried Ashley's scent. The smell of sandalwood, cherries and musk had taken him back to better times; times when Ash had still been alive and cracking jokes about monsters.
And so, without any conscious direction, he had ended up in the dead of night standing outside the door to Ashley's room. Silently, he pushed open the door and found the place exactly as it had been, as if she were just out on a mission and would be back soon. He padded inside, his bare feet making no sound against the thick carpet which covered the floor. Posters decorated some of the wall space, fighting for dominance against trophies and weapons. Decorated in pale pastel shades, the crimson bedspread was a large splash of colour that stood out against the left wall. Henry closed the door behind him and moved towards the bed, the t-shirt swinging from his fingers as he moved. His senses, heightened by being a werewolf, carried different smells to him; the essential scent of Ashley, gun oil, Helen's tears, Ashley's perfume. Lowering himself gently onto the soft mattress, he closed his eyes and breathed in all the smells which had defined the girl during her short life. While she had been an attractive woman, Henry had always seen her as a sister and it was as a sibling that he missed her now. He recalled her laughing at his jokes, punching him on the shoulder when he said something silly or teased her in some way.
.
Henry sat silently for a long time, letting the memories of his time with Ashley wash over him like waves against the shore. They had known each other so long, and so well, yet they had never talked about normal things like movies or stuff that most people talked of. Their conversations had always been weapons, or abnormals; never movies, or the opposite sex, or music. Their lives had been consumed with hunting Abnormals, gathering weapons, making the world they lived in a safer place for 'ordinary' people, who would never know the sacrifices made on their behalf. The tears began slowly, trickling down his face as Henry thought about all the sacrifices every member of the Sanctuary networks had made. The lives they couldn't save; the friends and family lost forever, torn away by the darker side of reality. There was so much Henry wished he had said to Ashley before she died, things he would never be able to say to her now.
"I miss you Ash," he whispered. Raising the t-shirt to his face, he breathed in her scent again and smiled. "See ya on the other side," he promised, laying on the bed and curling into the foetal position. Closing his eyes, he let the memories consume him, carrying him away from the pain of her loss and back to the happiness of all te amazing times they had shared together.