Chapter 6: From Here to There

Asha felt a throbbing pain in her head as she finally returned back to consciousness. Her eyes felt like they were about to pop out of her head as she struggled to make sense of her surroundings. The foul taste of blood was still fresh in her mouth and her nose felt swollen as the warm liquid continued to ooze from the gaping cut.

Asha soon realised that she was unable to move; her hands and legs tightly bound to the small wooden chair she now found herself sitting in. She shifted a little, contemplating an attempt to free herself, but the consequent blinding pain that shot over her was enough to convince her to stop.

"Well it's good to see that you are awake," a menacingly deep voice boomed from the shadowed corner of the room. Asha's eye's flitted from side to side desperately trying to seek out her mystery companion. She now saw that she was in a small room. A light hung loosely above her head, feebly attempting to reveal the room to her clouded eyes. The room had no contents besides the chair, the concrete floor and walls were smeared in dirt and mould garnished with the odd splatter of dried blood. All this combined to create a harsh smell that stung Asha's nostrils as she took in deep breaths. It was certainly a most unwelcoming environment, the air heavy with the sickly warmth of sweat and decay coupled with the menace from the only other soul in the room.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm being terribly rude. My name is Gray." A bulky man dressed in a tight black shirt and smart black trousers emerged form the shadows giving Asha a face to put to the voice. Looking at him, Asha kind of wished he had stayed hidden. The gloom from the solitary light highlighted every groove on his face creating deep chasms that ran deep in every direction. His eyes were clouded in darkness like two random blots of ink. He looked almost unnatural as his mouth twisted into a smile.

"What is your name?" he asked expectantly.

"Asha," she replied, fear tightening its grip on her.

"Asha…hmm pretty." He smiled at her again. Asha wanted to look away but felt compelled to stare at this demon-like man, who was as captivating as he was intimidating.

"You know Logan Cale, yes?"

"Yes."

"You went to see him tonight didn't you?"

Asha nodded this time, troubled that he knew she had been round to see Logan. Was he watching her? No, she may have been a part of the S1W but surely she wasn't that important. Logan; they must have been watching Logan. Maybe they were after Eyes Only and knew that Logan was his closest informant. Then again, Eyes Only hadn't been seen in months and posed no immediate threat to anyone. Asha's mind was in frenzy as she frantically tried to figure out why she was in this undesirable position.

Gray took a few steps toward her and, with his hands behind his back, leaned close to Asha's face. The light now covered his entire person, unveiling his jet black eyes as they bore deep into her own. Asha felt the warmth of his breath as he spoke:

"All I want to know is what you told dear Mr Cale. It must have been something important to make him cry the way he did, maybe news of a loved one?"

Something clicked inside Asha's head; this Gray was after Max. He must have been watching Logan's place figuring that if the missing Max was to contact anyone then the most likely candidate would be the love of her life. Asha began to feel sick as an unwanted thought surfaced; she knew where Max was and she had an awful feeling that this monstrous man knew that. Suddenly feeling in immediate danger, Asha desperately tried to think of something to say.

"Well his grandfather just passed away and I had to pass the news onto him cos I was staying at the hospital while he got some rest. They were very close." Asha's voice betrayed herself as uncertainty echoed in her tone. Gary chuckled to himself as he slowly paced away from her, his footsteps reverberating around the empty room.

Without warning, his arm emerged from behind his back, his hand brandishing a thick lead pipe. Asha had no time to prepare for the imminent impact as in one fluid motion Gray brought the pipe crashing into her left knee.

All she could do was scream in pain as she felt her knee shatter, fragmenting into dozens of pieces. Then like a rush of water down a sink, the pain travelled up her leg all the way to her head, ripping and tearing at her nerves as it moved. It was unbearable, Asha moaned in agony as the initial shock passed and she was free to feel the full extent of the damage. Letting her head droop, Asha felt like a child as tears began to flood from her eyes.

"Don't give me that bullshit!" Gary spat, "you tell me the truth or I will break every fucking bone in your body!"

"Please," Asha pleaded trying to reason with a man who obviously didn't care.

"I'm telling the truth," she sobbed.

Gray thrust his face into hers, his eyes raged at her as he hissed: "Do you think that you matter to me? Do you think that I would have the slightest problem bleeding you dry? You are nothing to me, just an insignificant bug waiting to be put out of its misery. Another wretch who should know that I exist to be feared."

Asha couldn't control the tears as they washed with the blood from her earlier wounds. She did not want to betray Logan but this was at odds with her own natural instinct to survive. A battle of right and wrong now raged fiercely within her. She knew she had to make a choice, but at what cost?

Gray pulled away from her and looked disgusted as he began to pace up and down the room, twirling the pipe in his hands as he chewed on is lip. Impatience was getting the better of him. He didn't plan on being so forward, so…out of control. Regaining his composure, he turned his attention back to a whimpering Asha.

"Well I tell you what; I'll help you out shall I? You see I think you were informing Logan of the whereabouts of a certain young lady, a lady most precious to him." He stopped, again looking Asha up and down. He could sense something about her, a feeling brought forth by the mention of Logan Cale. Gray laughed to himself as he realised that this poor girl had feelings for Logan as well.

"Just as Logan is special to you," he added. Again Gray came toward Asha and crouched in front of her. His face was less intense as before and had softened remarkably.

"If you tell me the news you shared with him, then I will let the poor bastard live. You see, if I don't get what I want from you then I shall have to obtain it from him. Now believe me when I say that, for Logan, things will be far worse, after all he is not as pretty as you are."

Gray was confident with his words, convinced he had struck upon a weakness.

"If I tell you…will you kill me?" Asha's voice was meek as she spoke. Gray let out another deep laugh.

"No, I will only kill 452…you may live. Hey, maybe then you and Logan can be together."

Against all that was good inside of her, Asha gave in. She couldn't take anymore, she wasn't some genetically enhanced super soldier, she was just an ordinary girl and this was more than she could stand.

"She's in a town called Greenough. It's just shy of the Canadian border." Asha felt like she condemning herself to hell, but she didn't want to die; not now and not like this. At least this way she could spare Logan from this beast.

Rising to his feet, Gray looked distinctly pleased with himself. Smiling he reached behind his back and pulled an automatic pistol from the back of his trousers. Asha had no time to form a final thought, to beg for forgiveness as the bullet entered her forehead, burrowed its way mercilessly through before exploding in a devastating shower of red out of the back. Once a beautiful figure, Asha was now limp, lifeless and lost to the world.

"Another lamb to the slaughter," Gary said as the door behind him opened and Jess stepped through.

"Damn Gray, I thought I was gonna get this one," she muttered upon inspection of Asha's bloodied corpse.

"I'm gonna leave for Greenough immediately, I don't want to be late for my date with destiny. I wonder what 452 is like; I hope she gives me a challenge. Anyway I want you to stay here, clean up this mess and then keep an eye on Logan. If it turns out that bitch was lying then I want you to get the information out of him."

Jess nodded as Gray turned and left. With a sigh she moved towards Asha. She was a pitiful sight; slumped in the chair, now surrounded by a dark pool of blood.

"I'm sorry," Jess whispered as it began to rain, beating relentlessly on the roof, nature mourning another of her needlessly lost innocents.