Next chapter guys I hope you like it and give me feedback! It only helps to make me better!
Chapter 1:
One year later….
Ashley sat in the back of the car with her twin brother Michael and their dog Nanook as she read one of her books while her mother drove down the road. "We're getting close…" Lucy said.
Sam sniffed the air. "What's that smell?"
Lucy took a deep breath. "Ocean air."
"Smells like death."
Lucy glanced in the rearview mirror so she could see both Michael and Ashley. "Look guys I know it hasn't been easy what with the divorce, the shooting…" Her eyes locked with Ashley as she said this. Ashley glanced away looking down at the ground as her hand unconsciously started rubbing where the second bullet had hit her shoulder just inches above her heart. "And now the move...but I think you're really going to like living in Santa Carla."
Both Michael and Sam looked skeptical but Ashley didn't really care either way as she looked out the window. Lucy sighed. "How about some music." She flipped the radio on and a country song was soon flowing through the car.
"Keep going." Sam said.
An easy listening station came on next. "Keep going." Michael said.
The next station she found had Donovan singing Mellow Yellow. "Keep going." both brothers said.
Lucy laughed. "Wait. Haight-Ashbury! The summer of love! Mellow Yellow."
Michael, Sam, and Ashley all look at each other. "Keep going!" they said together while laughing. Lucy laughed with them as she flipped to a rock station.
They passed a billboard that read Welcome to Santa Carla. On the back someone had spray painted the words Murder Capital Of The World.
When they pulled into Grandpa's driveway Michael hopped off of his bike and helped Ashley out of the car. After the shooting the bullet that had hit her in the leg had left her knee in a bad state so she now walked with a permanent limp. The surgeons had done what they could but there hadn't been much that they could do. Pulling her back on over her shoulders she grabbed her cane and carefully followed after her mother.
The small family of four step up onto the porch. "He looks dead." Michael said.
"Oh he's just a deep sleeper." Lucy said as she crouched by Grandpa. "Dad? Dad?"
"He's not breathing Mom…" Ashley said.
"If he's dead can we move back to Phoenix?" Sam asked.
Before either Ashley, Michael, or Lucy could smack him Grandpa began laughing. "Playin' dead...and from what I heard doing a damn good job of it too."
The three teens looked at each other before following after Grandpa and Lucy into the house. After each person claimed a room they looked around the house for a bit. "Grandpa does not own a T.V. Have you noticed? There's no T.V. Santa Carla has no malls, no Cineplexes and now I won't even have MTV." Sam pouted.
"Sam we're flat broke." Ashley said from where she was leaning back against the wall.
He looked at her. "Even poor people have TV's."
She rolled her eyes. "You know you might want to try reading for a change. And I don't mean comic books."
Sam made a face at her as he followed after his older siblings as they made their way back inside.
As Ashley was exploring the living room she suddenly heard Sam and Michael come running down the stairs. She shook her head as she watched the two run around before suddenly coming to a halt inside one of the rooms. Ashley furrowed her eyebrows as she walked in behind them. "Ok." she said. "That's a bit creepy…"
Sam and Michael nodded.
"Rules!" Grandpa suddenly shouted as he appeared behind them. "We got some rules around here." He motioned for them to follow and three did. In the kitchen he opened the refrigerator door. "Second shelf is mine... keep my root beers and double-thick Mint Oreo cookies there... Nobody touches the second shelf…" He closed the door and walked back into the living room.
Michael noticed a small cropping of plants growing outside and pointed it out to his siblings. Ashley laughed while Sam looked confused. Rolling her eyes she made smoking gesture with her hand and the youngest Emmerson finally got it and laughed too.
Entering the living room Grandpa looked at all three of them. "When the mailman brings the TV Guide on Wednesdays, sometimes the corner of the address label will curl up... You'll be tempted to peel it off. Don't. You'll end up rippin' the cover and I don't like that." He walked over to the taxidermy room. "And stay out of here!"
Sam's head shot up. "So you do have a TV?" he called.
"No. I just like to read the TV Guide. Read the TV Guide and you don't need a TV."
The three looked at each other rolling their eyes before going to finish unpacking their rooms.
The next night they heard about a concert on the beach right by the boardwalk and all decided to go. Michael and Sam decided to go to the concert while Lucy and Ashley walked the boardwalk. "How do you like Santa Carla Sweetie?" Lucy asked.
Ashley shrugged. "It's alright so far." she said. "I'm just glad to be out and away from...well everything." She looked down as the walked letting her naturally curly hair fall around her face. After the shooting people had shunned Beth and her even more than they already had. They had all believed that because the two had been friends with Thomas they were somehow in on the entire thing. Beth's parents had moved her away a few months after the shooting took place. Ashley hadn't been so lucky. Her father had refused to let her "take the easy way out" as he called it and made her stay. It wasn't until Michael had found out that the other students had been physically bullying her that Lucy had finally said enough. She'd pulled her kids out of school and filed for divorce the next day.
Lucy looked at her daughter. "I'm glad Sweetie. You'll like it a lot here. I promise."
Ashley smiled at her mother as the two walked up to a bulletin board. There were fliers advertising stores, apartments, and some help wanted papers but the most notable were the missing posters. As they were looking a woman came up and placed a new poster on the board of security guard. The woman looked sad as she looked at the picture and Ashley assumed the woman was his wife. The two Emmerson women move away to continue down the boardwalk. As they go they pass a small boy crying on the street.
"Are you alright Sweetie?" Lucy asks as they crouched down to talk to him. The boy shook his head. "Are you lost?" Nodding the little boy started crying harder. "Come on I'll help you find your mother."
"Mom." she said gaining Lucy's attention. "I think I'm going to wander around a bit."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'll met up with you later at the car."
Lucy looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Alright. Be careful." She looked at the little boy and gave him a small smile. "Come on Sweetie lets see if we can find your mother."
Ashley watched her mother head into a video store before turning and making her way down the boardwalk. As she was walking she stopped at a small store that had tons of art supplies in it. Smiling she pushed the door open and walked in. She loved to draw. It was one of the things that helped to keep her calm, especially after the shooting. Wandering through the store she picked up a thick sketchbook, some new charcoal pencils, and some colored pencils. She had used up the last of her stuff before coming here and she was so glad to have found the little store. And the prices weren't bad either. After paying the cashier she left the store and walked a bit more.
Walking the the boardwalk with a cane wasn't the easiest thing to do as the end of the cane kept catching the uneven boards. After nearly falling a few times she finally got the hang of walking down the uneven planks. She stopped to watch a man with a guitar when she saw them.
Jason and Katie. They were twins that had gone to Hillside with her. They were also her main tormentors after the shooting. As she was about to turn away and go in the other direction the two spotted her. Biting her lip she turned to leave and try and lose them in the crowd but with her limp she was too slow. The twins easily caught up with her. "Ashley!" Katie said in a fake cheery voice. "What are you doing here in Santa Carla?"
"I-I just moved he-here." she stuttered. Even as she attempted to move away from the two they were able to somehow steer her away from the crowd. "Wh-what are you guys doing here?"
"Oh we came to visit some family that live around here." Jason said. He draped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her roughly to his side. "So how have you been?"
"Fi-fine." she said as she attempted to pull away from the two. They were having none of it however as Jason tightened his hold to nearly bruising force. "I-I need t-to get back to my mother. Sh-she'll be l-looking for me."
The two ignored her however as they pulled her into a deserted area. Once away from the crowd the two lost their fake kindness as they shoved her into a wall. "So Ashley have you talked to Thomas recently?" Katie asked as she sneered at her.
She shook her head. "N-no! He sends me letters sometimes but I've never responded to them." She looked at the two of them her green eyes wide with fear. "Ca-can't you guys stop bothering me? Please. I had nothing to do with what happened and I was just as much a victim as you two were."
Both burst out laughing at that. "You were no victim!" Jason suddenly shouted as he approached her. He grabbed her cane from her and tossed it away from them. His hand reached out and wrapped around her neck as he slammed her back into the wall behind her. "Because of you our friends died! You may not have been the one with the gun but you knew about it! You knew he was going to bring a gun to the school!"
Her hands reached up and scratched at the hand that was wrapped around her throat. "No!" she gasped out. "I swear I didn't know! I would have stopped him had I known!" It was becoming harder to speak as he tighten his hand around her throat.
"Don't kill her yet Jason." Katie said. "Let me take a few shots at her first." Jason let go of her throat and Ashley dropped to the ground. "You should have been one of the ones to die Ashley. Not Stacey and David. They were good people with good futures coming their way. You are nothing." Her foot came out and slammed into her stomach. "Worthless." Her foot connected with her jaw causing her head to snap back and blood to fill her mouth. "Pathetic." Another kick to the stomach. "And useless!" Katie kicked her once more in the face.
Ashley lay still on the ground moaning softly in pain as she clutched her stomach. Her brown hair covered her face and stained in her own blood. Her body ached as she felt the bruises forming already. Why? she thought. Why can't they just leave me alone? Why must I be their scapegoat for the things that they did? It was because of them that Thomas brought the gun to school. It was because of their treatment of him and me and Beth that caused him to snap. Why do I have to take the blame? Tears dripped down her face mixing with the blood and dirt that already covered her.
Katie smirked as she looked down at the beaten girl. She shook her hair out and looked at her brother. "Why don't you have some fun with her for a bit? I'm thirsty so I'll go get a drink. Do what you want with her just don't kill her until I get back."
Ashley closed her eyes as she saw Jason approaching her. She felt his hands on her as he flipped her on her back as she began to sob in earnest now. She hated what she had become. She used to be strong. She didn't stutter when she talked to people. She would never have let anyone treat her the way that they did now. After the shooting and being beaten down by her classmates she had lost who she was. She was no longer strong.
Jason grabbed hold of the light jacket she was wearing and ripped it off of her. The cool air of the night brushed against her arms as she closed her eyes tightly. "Pl-please don't." she whispered.
Suddenly someone screamed and Jason let go of her shirt which he was about to rip off of her. "Katie!" he shouted as he jumped up.
Keep your eyes closed. a voice whispered in her mind. Ashley didn't know why but she listened. She kept her eyes closed as she heard feet shuffling around on the ground. She kept them closed as she heard both Jason and Katie crying out. She kept them closed when they sounds died out.
A cold hand touched her her swollen cheek lightly. "You can open your eyes now." the voice said. It was the someone that had spoken in her mind but this time out loud. With great effort she pried her eyelids opened and looked up at the blonde crouching over her.
