A/N: Sorry this one is so short, it is more of a scene than an actual chapter, but due to content, must stand alone.
She walked through her mother's main lab. Everything in her vision looked red. She looked down at her mother. Helen was badly injured on the arm, and crying. A large gun laid at her side, which she seemed to refuse to pick up.
"Hey, Blondie!" The voice came from Kate. Ashley looked up in time to see a rocket hurtling her way.
She took the blast, and flew back several feet. The next thing she knew, she was back on her feet after a woman pushed her mother down. The woman had claws like she did. Her claws extended to their full length when she saw the strange woman looming over her mother. She grabbed the wrist of the woman with her clawed hand.
"Ashley, please!" Helen sobbed.
Ashley turned to her mother. "Mom!" she choked. With her mind set, she teleported with the strange woman.
Ashley woke with a scream. She looked down to see her blanket torn to shreds, and some of the cloth stuck to her claws. She also noticed the fangs. She cried out again.
Helen looked over at her secondary computer screen, which was connected to the security camera she had installed into Ashley's room. Her eyes narrowed at what she saw on the screen. She threw her pen down, and marched straight to Ashley's room. She nearly bumped into John outside the library.
"Something's wrong with Ashley," he said as he trailed behind her.
"I know." She continued walking without further acknowledging his existence. She pushed open the door to Ashley's room, and accidentally slammed it against the wall of the child's room.
Ashley screamed when she saw the outline of her parents. She tried covering her mouth with her clawed hands, but Helen caught her. "No! Stay away from me before you're hurt again!"
"Ashley, I'm not going anywhere," Helen replied softly. She sat at the foot of Ashley's bed, and did her best to smile softly. "What happened?"
"I don't know. Mommy, I'm afraid."
"Come here, sweet-heart." Helen held her arms open until her daughter edged close enough for her to embrace her. She held Ashley close, and buried her face in her child's soft, blonde hair, and wept silently. "Its all going to be alright. Mummy's here."
"Mommy, why are you crying?"
Helen stiffened. She pulled back, and stared at Ashley in wonder. "It's nothing. Come to my room. I'll tell you a story."
"Ok." She snuggled closer to her mother, and closed her eyes. Her claws and fangs retracted, and she appeared again to be a normal child.
Helen shifted so that she could carry Ashley out of the room. When she looked up, John was already gone. She sighed inwardly, and walked down the hall to her private room.
She walked to her bed, where she sat with Ashley, and gently rocked the child back and forth. She listened to the sound of Ashley's slow, deep breathing before reaching back for a small, leather bound book. As she opened the book, she looked down to see Ashley already asleep. Her eyes softened, and she adjusted herself so that she could lay down with her daughter. She turned off her overhead lamp before succumbing to sleep herself.