Author's Note: Here's Chapter Three. It's going to finally get to the beginning of the movie.
Alone
Chapter Three: Mistrust
It had been three days since Corinne and Ashlyn had gone to Nicky's with Tyler and Reid. Ashlyn still wouldn't talk to Corinne about her dreams or her feelings, however dangerous, for the aggravating blonde. She was purposefully spending more and more time at the dance studio and running inane errands, like picking up her uniform for classes, which started the next week. She knew she couldn't avoid Corinne forever. She just needed to avoid her until the party Friday night at the Dells. Corinne was persistent, but far from stupid. A party was hardly the place to talk about issues, magical or personal. So, that was her plan. It would have worked too, if she hadn't been cornered on her way out the door on the morning of the party. Corinne must have been desperate, because nothing ever got her out of bed before ten under normal circumstances.
"Okay, I've had enough. Spill your guts or I'll do it for you and don't think I won't."
"It's not important. I can't be with him or anyone else and you know it."
"It sure as hell is important. You can't be with him now. Once we figure this mess out though, you're a free woman again. Of course, then you have to work around both of out idiot brothers, Tyler, and Pogue. That should be your biggest worry."
"There's more to it than that. You know Reid's type. Tyler says he's never actually had a girlfriend, just multiple fuck-buddies. I'm not that girl. That's your department."
"Yeah, I guess you're—hey! I'm not a slut! I'm just less picky than you are."
"Uh huh. Whatever you say, Cori."
Corinne glared at her friend. Ashlyn was trying to keep from laughing aloud.
"Whatever. And you know I can count the number of guys I've been with on one hand. It's not like I just hand it out to anyone."
"I know. I'm just messing with you." They smiled for a moment.
"You'd be a whole lot less uptight if you got laid once in a while anyway. And don't give me that 'I want it to be special' bull. That's not it." Her teasing tone disappeared and her face got serious, "You've been holding out for this kid since you were thirteen and he missed your birthday party. You're right. Now isn't the time, but once this is over, there won't be anything left to hide behind. What are you going to do then?"
Ashlyn just glared and walked out the door. Corinne didn't bother following. She'd already made her point. Instead, she went down the hall to wake her idiot brother.
line
"Dumbass, get out of bed!" she ordered picking the lock with bobby pin.
"No!"
"Now, moron. I need to talk to you."
"What is it?" he sat up, now completely awake at hearing the very serious tone to her voice.
"Something Ashlyn related. Something big is coming, and it's coming soon."
He looked worried. Having a nearly omniscient baby sister meant that when she had a bad feeling, it shouldn't be taken lightly.
"What should we do?"
"Prepare for the worst. I need to see Suriya soon. I have a feeling we'll need her."
Scot groaned. "Wonderful. The little bitch can help you two get on my nerves."
"Oh shut up. You just don't like her because she shot you down and then kicked your ass at poker at her brother's graduation party."
He still sat brooding on the bed, neither confirming nor denying his sister's statement.
"Just get dressed. We're going to a party tonight and I want to go talk to Suri beforehand."
"Why am I going to the party, again?" he whined.
"Drunken high school girls," she deadpanned, "and we may need you to get us out of there fast if something happens."
"Yeah, I don't really care for that last part. Don't come get me unless it's a real emergency."
Corinne rolled her eyes and muttered "Perv" under her breath.
Scot just smiled his most charming smile and she shoved him.
"That doesn't work on me. I'm your sister. I'm immune."
He just stuck his tongue out and she left him to get dressed.
line
Ashlyn was frustrated. As much as she hated to admit it, Corinne had been right. She'd always held guys to an imaginary standard that was "Reid Garwin." She'd liked him since they were kids. Of course, he'd aggravated her to no end since then too. That's why he'd never known about her little crush. None of them had known. Ashlyn had always worked very hard to make sure those boys spent as little time picking on her as possible. Besides that, Reid was the only one who she was never to. He was the least protective of her. He spoke to her the least amount. He was always more interested in whatever Jeremy was saying or whatever prank he and Tyler were going to play or anything other than her. Of course then, it had just been a silly childhood crush. And then he was gone. The crush just never went away with him.
Now she was in Ipswich with him, he was actually showing interest (to an extent), and now getting close to him—to any of them—could get them all killed. Irony was not her friend. She needed a break. She needed to get away from people, from thinking, and from all of her problems. She found herself driving into town and to Miss Jeannie's dance studio.
After a couple hours dancing, she felt much better. That was, until she saw Reid at the cafe down the street. He was with some girl with light brown hair and way too much make up. She thought about just turning around and going in the opposite direction, but her car was parked in front of that cafe.
'Shit.'
She tried to keep her eyes on her car and the street signs and anything but the blonde boy and his 'date.' She was nearly past them when she chanced a glance in their direction. Her eyes met Reid's and she immediately broke from his gaze, but she could have sworn she'd seen something in those gray-blue orbs in that half second they had met her brown ones. She just couldn't place it.
She gripped her keys harder and walked faster back to her car. Once safely behind the darkly tinted windows, she took a deep breath to collect herself before starting the car and driving off.
'Guess he's still not interested...'
She drove slowly back to Spencer. She didn't want to deal with Corinne's lecturing at that moment. So her normal lead foot had an uncommonly light touch. She used every excuse she could think of to delay going back to the dorm. She went to the car wash, to the gas station, she drove toward the mechanic, planning to get an oil change and her tires rotated, and then realized Pogue was there with his Ducati, as he'd been every other day for the past week. She did some grocery shopping, justified by convincing herself that the mini-fridge full of junk food that was currently between hers and Cori's beds needed restocking. She then decided she needed to go get a trim (her layers were growing out) so she spent the next half hour painstakingly searching for a salon she approved of. By the time she ran out of excuses to avoid going home, it was nearly time to start getting ready for the party, so she finally pulled into the Spencer parking lot.
Corinne took one look at the freshly groomed girl and the bags of junk food and immediately knew what she had done.
"I wasn't going to say anything else. I made my point. You didn't have to buy out the convenience store to keep from coming back early. I wasn't here anyway." There was a joking tone to her voice, but Ashlyn could tell she was a little offended. So she mumbled an apology and offered a King Size Twix as a peace offering. Corinne laughed and took the candy, pulling her friend in for a hug.
"What happened?" Corinne had always had the uncanny ability to sense her friend's distress.
"He was on a date. I got a wonderful view. They were at the cafe near the studio. My car was parked on the street there."
"Oh, Sweetie, I'm so sorry. Don't worry about him. He's a jackass. Come on, we'll go make you look amazing for that party tonight and he'll see exactly what he's missing. We'll make him jealous as hell and you'll feel much better. Trust me. By the way, where's that idiot brother of mine? I need to cut his hair."
At that moment, the 'idiot brother' walked through the door with an electric trimmer in one hand and a sheet of paper and pen in the other.
Ashlyn reached for the paper in curiosity and burst out laughing not even three lines in.
"Really? You're going to be that anal retentive about your hair?"
Corinne perked up at that and snatched the paper from Ashlyn's grasp. She read it all the way through and then looked up at her brother.
"You have got to be kidding me! A contract? You wrote up a legally binding contract to keep me from fucking up your hair?"
"Actually, I called Keegan yesterday and she wrote up a legally binding contract and emailed it too me. I just hit print."
"You called your cousin?" Ashlyn asked shocked and more than a little amused.
"No, I called my lawyer. The fact that she's also my cousin is irrelevant." He flashed them a cocky grin and handed the pen to his sister. "You fuck up my hair and I get to shave your head. Those are the terms. Take 'em or leave 'em."
Corinne grumbled a bit, but signed the paper. Ashlyn just watched in amusement. Twenty minutes later, Scot's green mohawk was gone and his hair was re-gelled so that the little one inch spikes stuck up everywhere.
"Happy?" Corinne asked once she was done.
"Very. Good job, baby sister, you can keep your hair."
"Gee, thanks, your majesty."
"You know sarcasm doesn't really suit you." He laughed as he walked back to his room to let the girls change.
Corinne threw her pillow after him, but only hit the door. "I despise him some days."
"You do not. You'd kill for him and he'd do the same for you."
"Yeah, well that doesn't mean he's not a jackass."
Ashlyn laughed at her pouting friend. Corinne smiled back. At least she was happy again.
It took them nearly two hours, most of that time spent arguing over how short Ashlyn's skirt had to be before it was considered too short, but they were ready. Corinne's idea was significantly shorter than Ashlyn's. They finally finished not thirty seconds before Scot returned to the room whining that he wanted to leave.
"Oh, shut up, Scotty. We're ready," Ashlyn said, giving him a peck on the cheek as she passed. Corinne did the same and followed her down to Ashlyn's Escape. Corinne called Tyler for directions and relayed them to Ashlyn, who got a little frustrated when she realized she'd gotten her car washed only to drive out into the middle of the woods. They finally arrived and stood in a circle. Rock, Paper, Scissors commenced. Scot lost and groaned as Ashlyn handed him the keys. He was the designated driver, again. He really needed to think of a new deciding game.
After their little game, Scot and the girls went their separate ways. Corinne spotted Kate laughing with some blonde girl and dragged Ashlyn in their direction.
"Hey Kate," Ashlyn chirped.
"Hey! Sarah, this is Ashlyn Danvers and her friend Corinne Daniels. Girls, this is my roommate, Sarah Wenham." The girls greeted each other politely, before Kate got impatient. "Now, back to what I was saying. First thing you have to know is that Aaron Abbot is a prick. Treats girls like dirt."
"Don't worry, he'll think twice with Cori here. She gave him a swift pool cue to the groin a few days ago. I doubt he'll be so eager to try again." Corinne grinned proudly and Ashlyn just rolled her eyes.
"Okay, who's that?" Sarah asked nodding toward a guy several yards away.
"New guy." Kate's interest seemed to be more than just a healthy curiosity.
"He's looking over here." Sarah said excitedly. Ashlyn and Corinne glanced over and sure enough, he was staring at them, or more specifically Kate.
"Don't know much about him, but I intend to find out." The look in her eye made Ashlyn more than a little angry. Wasn't she supposed to be completely devoted to Pogue?
"He's cute." Sarah was oblivious, but Kate nodded in agreement, eyes still locked with the mystery boy.
"Yo Caleb!" was heard off in the distance and Kate's attention was immediately drawn away from the new guy.
"They're here!" she whispered excitedly.
"Wonderful," Ashlyn mumbled and Corinne squeezed her hand in comfort.
"Who're they?" Sarah asked curiously.
"The Sons of Ipswich."
Ashlyn and Corinne couldn't hold in their amusement at the ridiculous nickname. Ashlyn's eyes went wide and Corinne snorted, but tried to cover it up with a cough.
"Hey Kate, Cori, Ashlyn."
"Caleb, hi!" Kate said excitedly. Ashlyn just grunted in acknowledgment and Corinne waved. Kate then threw her arms around Pogue and kissed him.
"Your late," she said against his lips.
"I had a thing with the family." Ashlyn raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'I didn't know the bike was family,' but he continued talking to Kate. "Who's this?"
"My new roommate. Sarah, this is Pogue Parry, Tyler Simms, Reid–" Kate's introduction was cut off abruptly.
"Garwin. Reid Garwin. Good evening." He was trying, far too hard to be suave and it failed.
"Good evening," Sarah giggled, humoring him. Ashlyn was getting tired of watching, but it was like an awful train wreck. She couldn't tear her eyes away.
"You know, Sarah's my grandmother's name. You kind of remind me of her a little." That was the last straw for both Ashlyn and Corinne. Ashlyn walked off and Corinne burst into peels of laughter.
"What, did you lose a bet or something?" She was still laughing and mumbling something about his grandmother as she went off to find Ashlyn.
She found her by the keg, drink already in hand. Ashlyn took a big drink and made a face.
"I hate the taste of beer. Do you think they have anything stronger? If it's going to taste bad, I at least want to get drunk."
"No, there will be no getting drunk. For fun it's one thing, but you don't need to be drinking because of some guy."
"What was he doing anyway? I mean it was bad enough that he was hitting on her just seconds after meeting her, but he was doing it badly too. What's he playing at?" Ashlyn was just getting started on her rant when someone announced cops were coming. The students scattered.
Corinne and Ashlyn made it back to the car, just seconds before Scot who, ironically, had Reid's bimbo from earlier that day on his arm. Ashlyn cringed. Corinne gave him a look that clearly said 'she'll get in this car over my dead body,' and just in case he misunderstood, she spoke the words to him telepathically seconds later.
"We aren't going back to the school, Scot. Sorry, Hon, you'll have to find another bed to warm tonight." The girl glared at Corinne's too-sweet smile, but walked up to another car and immediately found that new bed, as well as a ride home. Scot got into the car and weaved his way free from the woods and back onto the main road.
"So why aren't we going back to Spenser?" he asked frustrated.
"Oh, we are. I just wasn't spending the thirty-minute drive back to Ipswich with her. Besides, you should be thanking me. I wouldn't think you would want Blondie's leftovers." Both Scot and Ashlyn cringed a bit at the thought of any and all girls that have been with Reid Garwin. Corinne and Scot hadn't been in Ipswich long, but the blond boy's reputation preceded him. Whispers about his latest conquest were popular in the girls' bathroom. Scot wasn't exactly a fan of Reid's. Any time he hit on a girl back at the dorms, Corinne would quickly send him a mental image of her kissing or doing other dirty things with Reid. He wasn't entirely sure which ones she fished out of those girls' minds and which ones she thought up her self, just to make him miserable.
Ashlyn's cringe, though it came from the same disgust at the thought of any girl with Reid, was also tinted with jealousy. She knew she had no claim to him, but seeing him with other girls, or hearing about it from girls in the bathroom on her floor and even from Tyler, hurt a little more each time. Since being in Ipswich, she'd wanted so many times to hate him for it, or if nothing else, to forget about him and just move on with her life. However, each time she tried, he would send her that flirty smirk or feed her some line (one she was sure he'd fed to tens of girls before her) and it would draw her back in. For that moment, she would let herself believe that he really meant it and that, once this was all over, they could actually be together.
She knew she couldn't keep on like she was. She swore to herself it would be the last time. She wouldn't let Reid Garwin get under her skin ever again. She was strong and didn't need a guy anyway. Especially, one like him. She could play his game right back. She could be flirty one minute and pretend he didn't exist the next. Ashlyn had never been anyone's plaything and she wouldn't have Reid toss her emotions around as if they were nothing any more. Sure, he didn't do it on purpose, but that didn't keep it from happening. She wouldn't let it happen again. She was done.
Corinne watched Ashlyn's internal battle, having a pretty good idea of what it was about, even without peeking into her best friend's mind. She just hoped it would work as they walked up to their room and changed for bed. The last though on her mind as she closed the door to their room:
'I hope she knows what she's doing.'
line
Not even twenty minutes later, Ashlyn was woken up by a scream in the hall. She walked out to see Kate's roommate, Sarah, in a towel. She looked terrified as she spoke to a smirking Reid Garwin.
'Of course he's smirking, the smug asshole. What did I ever see in him?' she thought as she watched silently from her doorway.
"Sorry, I'm just a little freaked out. I felt like someone was watching me in the showers." Well, at least that explained why she was in a towel, and why she looked so scared. Sarah glanced back toward the bathroom.
'Something really spooked her,' Ashlyn thought, feeling sorry for the blonde girl.
"Let's take a look shall we?" Reid seemed all too eager to follow Sarah into the girls' showers. Ashlyn rolled her eyes and made her presence known.
"I don't think so, Garwin. Go to your room. I'll take care of this." Ashlyn looked back and forth between Sarah, the bathroom, and Reid. Reid was about to push, but the look Ashlyn gave him left little room for argument. He didn't exactly want a repeat of the episode in the Danvers' living room. His pride was still a little bruised from that one. Reid, however, had never been one to count on to think before he spoke.
"You sure you don't want me to come with you, Ash. A nice, steamy shower with me seems like just what you need to loosen up that stick you have up your ass." He smirked. He just knew she would back down. She wasn't one to attack with words.
"Oh, I'm sure. I suggest you leave now, before Sarah here gets to see that smirk wiped clean off your face when I knock you flat on your back." The look she gave him said she wasn't bluffing. She'd do it if he just gave her the opportunity. He stepped back, discreetly leaving her reach.
"Didn't know you liked to be on top, Danvers. I'll have to remember that." He flashed another smirk her way, but still made his way down the hall toward the stairs and his own room.
"God, he's so annoying! How does he turn everything into something dirty?"
"Well you did say you wanted him on his back." Ashlyn shot Sarah a dirty look and stalked off toward the girls' showers.
She looked around and a chill went up her spine despite the warm, steam-filled air. Something had been in here, but it wasn't something Sarah needed to know about.
"Looks like the bulb just burst. Nothing to worry about." The girls exited and Ashlyn watched Sarah walk back into her room before opening her door and shaking Corinne awake.
"Get up! I need you to come check something out." Corinne was angry, but Ashlyn's frightened tone made her force herself out of bed. She let her friend drag her down the hall to the bathroom and gasped when she entered.
"So you feel it too." Ashlyn whispered and Corinne nodded.
"Is it him?" The hitch in Ashlyn's voice made her question all too clear to Corinne. Was it the same person who had taken her family from her? Was it the same person who took the lives of three people, one of whom was barely a toddler, and forced Ashlyn to leave her home? She wasn't sure which answer she would rather give. Would it be better to say 'Yes, the guy who killed three innocent people in warning to you is here, not only in Ipswich, but he was feet from our dorm' or would it hurt less for it to be something else, a new danger for them to face. She took a deep breath and told Ashlyn the truth.
"No, it's not him. This power is different. It's more like yours, but it's wild. It's so out of control, it's almost like it's pulling this person apart. I can actually feel the power. This guy is crazy with it. He's so angry. Ashlyn, I think he already hurt someone. Not Sarah, but someone else. This isn't good. The power, it isn't like yours or any of the guys. It's the same power, but it's stronger somehow and it's malicious. Magic isn't supposed to be bad or good. It's the person and their actions and intentions, but this is different. The magic is tainted. It's evil, Ash." Corinne look scared. She'd never felt anything like this.
Ashlyn didn't know what to think as she walked a shaking Corinne back to their room. This wasn't good. That much, she knew.
line
Neither girl slept for the rest of the night. They didn't talk, they barely moved. Both were lost in their own thoughts. It was well past eight before Corinne finally broke the silence. She took a deep, settling breath.
"I went and saw Suriya yesterday."
Ashlyn looked up sharply. This wasn't exactly good news to her. Suriya came from one of the only other magical families they had known back in New York. Involving her only meant one thing: Things in Ipswich were about to get much, much worse.
"While I was in town?" Corinne nodded. She knew Ashlyn wouldn't take the news well. She didn't want to involve anyone else, and that made her choose her next words even more carefully.
"Suri...she knew I was coming. Kazuo was there. She called him back into town. He's working on transferring her here, but she doesn't know if she'll make it in time. She seems to think that whatever is coming will be here soon."
Ashlyn couldn't think. She could barely breathe. It was too much to deal with. Now she not only had to worry about her own nightmares coming back to haunt her, but a new evil in her new home. She didn't know if she could handle it.
Corinne's jerky movements caught her attention. There was more.
"What else did she say?" Her tone made Cori flinch. She hated that Ashlyn was angry, but it had to be done.
"Whatever is coming, it's not after you. She doesn't know who or what it wants, but it isn't you, me, or Scot."
That sounded like good news, but Corinne's tone didn't change. "It's after power, hungry for it, but it's more than that. I could feel it. It wants revenge. It isn't after us, and Ipswich isn't exactly a Mecca for magical beings."
Ashlyn knew what was coming now. Corinne took a shaky breath and continued slowly, "I think it's after the guys."
So many thoughts were running through her head all at once. She didn't know what to do or say. The guys didn't have anyone like Corinne or Suriya. They would have no way of knowing what was coming. How would she explain this to them? They didn't know she even had the power. What would they think when she found out that she'd kept this from them? Would they trust that she was telling them the truth or think she was the threat? If she told them, did that mean she had to tell them about the evil after her as well? At this point, she didn't know which was more dangerous: telling them, or keeping them in the dark.
Scot popped in their room breaking her out of her thoughts.
"We have a door you know?" Corinne grumbled. Her heart wasn't in it though. She couldn't even scold her brother properly she was so scared.
"We have a problem," he said as he threw down a newspaper and ignoring her comment. Both girls gasped.
There was no way this was coincidence. Corinne had already felt it. She knew this new power had already hurt someone, she just didn't know that it had already killed.
Ashlyn took a deep breath and, never looking away from the picture of the boy, spoke to Scot. "Call Kazuo. Tell him he can work on enrolling Suriya from here. We need them. No more waiting. I have to tell the guys. This has gone too far already."
The girls watched as Scot pulled out his phone and called the older man. Kazuo was only in his mid twenties, but he'd always been more like a parent to his baby sister. Their mother had been quite bitter when her daughter had received the power and she had not. Suriya from a very young age had proven to be very gifted at divination. Something that caught their grandmother's eye and her love as well. When their grandmother was still alive, they lived as a family, but once she died a few years back, their mother threw the poor girl out on the streets. Kazuo, then twenty-two and already CEO of the American branches of their father's company, brought the fifteen year old to New York and took her in.
There she met Corinne and Ashlyn and the three girls formed a bond. They were like sisters, though each of them was very different. Suriya was a year to the day older than Ashlyn, just months older than Scot. Corinne was the baby at only sixteen, but that didn't bother her. She enjoyed being the baby.
The five of them had gone through a lot together. Nothing happened to any one of them without at least one of the others by their side. Kazuo, as cool and unfeeling as he seemed, cared more for those girls than anything. Jeremy's death had been hard on all of them. They weren't a very conventional family, but they were tied by the power, different as it was, that ran through their veins. Kazuo didn't have power like his sister and her friends, but he had influence, and he had the kind of personality that had helped them get through many tough times. If they were going to survive this, they needed to be together, whether Ashlyn liked it or not.
Scot hung up the phone and looked at the girls with sad eyes. "He's trying, he really is, but he said the earliest they can get here is mid-week. Suriya said to be careful."
"Damn it!" Ashlyn sent her fist through the wall by her bed. She retracted her bruised and slightly bloody knuckles and, upon seeing Corinne's disapproving glance, used to fix the wall. She could care less about her hand. She couldn't really feel it anyway. She couldn't feel anything. She had to get out of there. She needed time to think. Everything was coming at her much too fast and she didn't know how much longer she could take it before she broke.
She growled at Corinne to call Tyler and find out where they would be tonight before storming from the room, slamming the door behind her.
"Told you she wouldn't be happy," Scot grumbled.
"I knew she wouldn't be happy, Scotty! What was I supposed to do though? I felt something coming. Suriya can sense these things a hell of a lot better than I can. I know she didn't want to tell them and I know she didn't want Suriya and Kazuo in danger, but we can't do this alone. One murderous psycho with magical powers maybe, but not two. She's more afraid of letting more innocent people die than she is of involving some that actually stand a chance of surviving."
Scot nodded in understanding and reached out to hug his teary-eyed baby sister. They were too young to deal with things like this. No one should ever have to deal with this much death, let alone feel responsible for stopping it. He knew his girls, Ashlyn, Cori, even Suriya, and he knew they could handle a lot, but even the strongest break under enough pressure.
line
Ashlyn was running. She couldn't be trusted in a car right now, her hands shook, her vision was blurred by tears, and she had no idea where she was going. All that she knew was that she had to get away. She didn't want to be around anyone she knew. She couldn't go to the studio. With everything else going on, she was terrified for Miss Jeanie and the girls. She ran for over an hour. Exhausted and drenched in sweat, she found herself in a park nearly ten miles from the school, one she'd passed hundreds of time since being in Ipswich. It was on the outskirts of town, near the Russell Orchards Winery. It was small, quiet, and no one from school would be there under normal circumstances, let alone on a Saturday morning. It was perfect.
She sat on a bench, watching the little kids on the playground. One little girl in particular caught her eye. She couldn't have been any older than three or four. She had tiny blonde ringlets hanging down to her shoulders. She looked so much like Olivia. She pulled out her phone, as it was vibrating in the pocket of the tattered, old soccer shorts she wore. It was Corinne, so she simply pressed ignore. She knew she wasn't calling to talk anyway, just to leave a message telling her where they were meeting the guys later. She regretted pulling out the phone the second her background flashed. It was a picture of her and Livvy, at the toddler's third birthday. The little girl sat in her lap, chocolate cake all over her mouth, and both of them wore bright smiles on their faces. Ashlyn looked from the picture to the girl, currently being pushed by her father on the swings, and couldn't stop the tears that fell down her cheeks.
"You know, I'm pretty sure that creeping around a kids' playground like this is borderline illegal," a familiar, and annoyingly cocky, voice spoke from behind her.
"Get lost, Garwin! I can't deal with you right now." She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and winced when she brushed against a battered knuckle. She knew he noticed when she felt him sit beside her.
He refrained from asking about the hand, and for a moment, she was thankful. Until he spoke, that is.
"So, what's with the kid?" He nodded toward the girl on the swing and the only thing that came to mind was 'I'd have preferred talking about the hand.'
She handed him her phone, not saying a word. He stared confused for a moment before recognizing the little girl's clear blue eyes. He knew those eyes, only the last time he'd seen them, they belonged to a young man with dirty blond hair. They were Jeremy's eyes.
"Her name was Olivia. She was three years old." This was her niece. The same niece that died in the car crash with Jeremy and his wife. That little girl on the swings could almost be her twin from a distance. He understood. Her tears had nothing to do with the little girl on the swings. Her broken voice and puffy, red eyes were caused by the little girl whose picture he held in his hand. For once in his life, Reid Garwin was speechless.
"When I lost my mom, it was hard, but I still had Jeremy and Anna and eventually Livvy. Then when they died, I thought I might as well have gone with them. I know she was only technically my aunt and him, my cousin, but they raised me. They were my family. When I was little, it was the three of us. I never questioned it. I mean, I guess I wondered what it would be like to have a dad, but I never really pushed it, you know." He knew the question was rhetorical, so he didn't bother answering and she continued, her voice just as broken as before.
"I don't know what I expected to be different when I got here. Okay, so I expected to have a new family, one that I didn't already know, and who didn't sit back and watch while my world fell apart back home. I thought I'd get a father for the first time in my life, but no, he's dead too. I heard some girls in the dorm talking about it. Instead, I have a perfect brother who thinks he knows fucking everything and a mother I can't even speak to, let alone trust."
It was then that her brokenness was replaced with anger. "She didn't even come to either of their funerals. Her own family! None of you did. I had to take care of Jeremy's myself. I was the only family member there. He was only twenty-three! He wasn't supposed to die. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."
Reid didn't speak for a minute. He really saw her for the first time in that moment, with her sagging shoulders, puffy, red eyes, cradling her obviously bruised, if not broken, hand. Ashlyn looked so broken and tired. It hurt him to see her that defeated and, in that moment, he'd have done anything to make her happy again.
"Come on," he said, barely nudging her shoulder. They walked nearly to his car, or more accurately Tyler's car, before she asked him where they were going.
"First, I'm going to fix that hand. I've put my fists through enough walls to know what it looks like. I also know it must hurt like hell." He pulled a first aid kit from Tyler's glove box and soaked a cotton ball in anesthetic. As he took her hand in his, he closed his eyes and touched the cotton ball to her broken skin. Despite the sting, she could feel the power surrounding her and fixing the damage done to her hand.
When he opened his eyes, he noticed the curious look she gave him.
"Why do you do that?" she asked, rubbing the top of her now healed hand.
"Do what?"
"Close your eyes like that when you use? It isn't like I don't know about the power."
He shrugged. "Force of habit I guess. We better get going. I have something I think you should see. Caleb's going to kill me though, so that may have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight, I want you to meet me and the guys at Nicky's. You can watch me kick Abbot's ass at pool."
She smiled slightly at the devilish smirk he flashed thinking about the money he would soon make off Aaron Abbot. He relaxed upon seeing her smile. Things were looking up. A genuine smile reached his lips for merely a second before being replaced with his patented smirk. As they pulled back up at the school, he walked her back towards her room, or at least to her floor, before telling her to meet him and the other Sons at seven. She walked back to her room, finally calm and feeling the confidence she'd been missing since the death of her adoptive family.
line
It wasn't until they were about to leave for Nicky's that she remembered the new danger and the talk she had to have with Caleb and his friends. She could actually feel the confidence drain from her body, along with the blood in her face. Pale as a sheet, she shakily handed Corinne her keys, as Scot had opted to stay in with his date. She didn't feel like driving and he was occupied. Ashlyn shook her head to rid herself of her thoughts of exactly what he was doing back in his dorm room.
Nicky's was packed, so Corinne dropped her off at the door and went to look for a parking space. Ashlyn walked in just in time to nearly be knocked over by a pissed off Aaron Abbot and his goons. She saw Kate at a table flirting shamelessly with the new guy, and Sarah glancing nervously at the back door.
"Hey, where are the guys?" she asked the blonde.
"Out there. Do you think we should go out there and check on them?"
Ashlyn shook her head and told her to go find Corinne in the parking lot, then proceeded to walk out the back door.
The sight that met her as she slipped through the door silently, without drawing the attention of anyone inside or out, was more than a little shocking. Tyler and Pogue stood off to each side of the door with Caleb and Reid in the middle. Caleb had his back to her, his hand on Reid's shoulder. Reid held his wrist and his eyes were like onyx. He was using.
"Reid, stop," Caleb said struggling to breathe. Ashlyn assumed his eyes must have flashed black as well, because in the next moment, Reid flew into the metal storage building behind him. She was too stunned to move or even make a sound. She just watched as Tyler and Pogue glanced between their fighting friends and each other, not knowing what to do.
"What will it take for you to get it? It's addictive you moron! You've seen what it can do if you abuse it. You want that? That's your business. But if you use in the open like you did tonight you risk exposing us all. And that I won't let happen." Caleb's voice was commanding and the words were spoken through gritted teeth. Reid struggled to his feet, his breathing heavy. A keg, Ashlyn couldn't tell if it was full or empty, began to float by Reid.
"My power's greater than yours." Caleb's matter-of-fact tone made Ashlyn's fists clench. If this is how he'd been acting since he turned thirteen, she couldn't blame Reid for wanting to show him a lesson.
"Not until you ascend," Reid said determined. That was typical of the blond son, ever the stubborn one.
"Alright, go for it, tough guy." Caleb was taunting him now.
'Don't take the bait, Reid. He's just trying to get a rise out of you. He wants you to use. Don't do it.' Ashlyn silently begged Reid and any god that would hear her, that he wouldn't do anything stupid.
Unfortunately, being that he was Reid Garwin, and because he can't read her thoughts, her pleas went unanswered. Caleb's taunting just pissed him off more. He launched the keg at the older boy, but Caleb deflected it easily and sent Reid flying back again, this time into a huge stack of empty glass bottles. He started toward the obviously injured boy, and that's when Ashlyn snapped.
"Reid!" She rushed forward, her eyes flashing black, and Caleb hit the storage building he'd thrown Reid into moments before with a painful thud. She held him there, bound by invisible ropes, as Tyler ran to Reid and half carried him from the mess of boxes and broken glass. Caleb didn't even look at her, but struggled against her binds as if he really wanted to go after the blond boy down the alley.
"Leave him alone," she growled in an icy calm voice. Caleb froze and his eyes landed on his little sister. Three other sets of eyes looked on cautious and confused as realization hit them.
On the bright side, she no longer had to think of a way to tell them that part of her story. The looks she was receiving clearly mirrored their thoughts.
Ashlyn had the power.