"This sucks, G. Everyone is away at a scene, except you, because you're here doing the paperwork Sara bullied you into. I'm bored and lonely and there's nothing to do." Ash says, putting the now finished Moby Dick next to her On teh break room sofa.
"I wouldn't say that."
"You wouldn't say that because you're a CSI. You're putting the bad guys away. I'm trying to come up with something to do. And failing miserably."
"Have you met Hodges yet, Ash?" She shakes her head. This surprises me. Ash has been here about a week now. Brass pulled some strings. She can stay here until a foster home opens up. But due to Ash's lack of records, I'm thinking it might take a little while. Even Brass thought it was strange. The lack of records, I mean. Almost very foster child has a file, a record. Why they're there, how many times they've moved from place to place, any behavioral issues, etc. Ash didn't. It was like she had Ben dropped from the sky. She refused to talk to anyone about the situations that had landed her in foster care, but we guessed her mother had abandoned her. Her first name was Åshild. Her mom was a CSI, and her dad was Norwegian. That was all we knew about Ash.
"Follow me, A," She got up and followed me to the glass windows of the trace lab. "Okay. That's our target," I pointed at the gray-haired man running samples off a red t-shirt.
"David Hodges. Lab rat. Jerk. My arch nemesis. Middle age. Alone."
"What's the plan, G?" She asks, narrowing her eyes.
"Mind tricks, A. You ready for this? I'm warning you, he screams like a girl," She laughs into her hand and nods. "Okay. One sec." I run to the break-room and grab the white blanket from the cupboard. Racing back, I hand it to her. She flashes me an evil grin, wrapping it around her, reading my mind. Her skin is still pale, her body weak, bones popping out of her skin. Although it helped with her ghostly appearance, I was worried. A week here hadn't done much to fix her years in foster care. She refused to talk about it. But her scars and bruises spoke for themselves. I had been trying to get her to speak about it, with someone, anyone. So far, the only people she would say a word to were Brass, Finn, Sara, and me. She was terrified of everyone else, Nick especially. I didn't know why. The Texan had tried everything to get Ash to smile. But she quivered in his presence. I shake the thoughts out of my head.
"You ready?" She whispers, and I give her a quick thumbs up.
"Hey, Hodges. You got those results for Sara yet?" I ask, walking into the room.
Hodges shoots me a look of disgust. "I'm not your slave, Sanders. Try patience. Or even better," he pauses, peering into the microscope, "Medication."
As if on cue, Ash walks in. Her eyes look blank, dead. She wanders absentmindedly through the lab. Hodges, still looking into his microscope, doesn't notice. It's only when she gently taps the wind chime, evidence on a new case, that he startles. He looks around for a moment, but Ash is crouching behind the table, out of sight.
"What? It wasn't me!" I say when he gives me a glare.
"They honestly don't pay me enough to work around children like you." He walks over to the computer, turning his back to us.
A terrible mistake.
Ash gets up quietly, flashing me a final evil grin before tapping the lab rat on the back. He jumps a foot in the air. Turning around, he notices Ash. His eyes grow wide and his chin begins to tremble.
"Hello, David. Did I startle you?" She looks and sounds like she belongs in a movie about a perfect blonde doll. That comes to life and kills everyone. Hodges tries to take a step backwards. Instead, he crashes into the computer cart.
"Oh, David. Don't go breaking things. Didn't your mommy teach you that?" She cocks her head to the side, a positively frightening smile creeping up her lips.
"G-g-ghost!" He screams.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone run that fast.
We both double over in hysterics, laughing in the floor of the trace room.
I was laughing so hard I didn't notice she had stopped breathing.
Well. That escalated quickly.
I know I haven't been updating. SO SO SO SO SO sorry. Feel free to punch me. Actually, I take that back. Please don't punch me. It would hurt. BUT. This chapter is completely the work of Morgan, who made me feel and with her amazing writing and updating skills. I hate her. So much.
I've run out of funny ways to say "Please review." So...please review