Chapter 22
It was a world made of mist, a cool and heavy world that made all his movements stiff and difficult. It seemed as if the world was fighting him, pushing him away from where he needed to be. Yet even Ash wasn't sure of where that was.
Immediately he knew this was a dream, a small meaningless spark ignited. Inside him, but it didn't last long though; instead he was left with a curious wonderment.
This world was unclear—fuzzy in everything. The further his feet carried him, deeper into the mist, the more lost he felt, uncertain. But there was something there, hiding and afraid. Something inside him pushed forward. Until there was the outline of a figure, huddled to try and sustained warmth. For a brief moment it looked as if Ash could reach out a hand and touch their shoulder and then with a blink of an eye that figure suddenly seemed so far away.
"Who are you?" he called out.
The figure raised their head, their face whipping from side to side looking for him.
"Who are you?" He tried again.
"Ash!" The voice sounded as if it would burst.
"Mary-Lynnette? Mary-Lynette!" He pushed forward, ignoring the pain and the pressures of the wind that was pressing against him. Why? What was keeping them apart? He was desperate to see her, to bury his face in her hair and holder her tight against him.
The figure—his Mare stood then, her mind, her heart spinning around trying to find him. But this fog—this world made everything so hard to see. Her heart almost broke and this world was cruel.
"I can't see you." She called back.
Mare heard Ash struggle, the fact that he wouldn't give up to find her made her heart swell. Yet it was breaking all at the same time.
"Mary-Lynnette where are you?" His voice seemed lost in the winds; unable to reach the one person he truly wanted most. He started forward, but quickly stopped, his thoughts yelling at him.
Calmer, "Tell me where you are. I'll find you."
There was a short pause, "By the lake—I can't see the water, but the stars are in the same place. It's an old house, but I couldn't get a good look at it though."
There wasn't much to go on and they both knew it, the land was wide and the lake stretched out for miles. Ash knew that they hadn't left the state, but still. "It's alright I can work with that. I'll get to you. I'll find you!"
But he couldn't say trust me. How can you tell someone that when all you could do was doubt yourself?
Mary-Lynnette's figure mingled further into the mist, her voice choking his heart. "Please—Hunter is planning something. I'm scared, I don't know when or how long I have. Please…"
The winds picked up, rushing up at him. Pushing, ripping at his clothes until there was nothing he could hold and was blown back.
There was a brief instant when the mist had cleared while the mist fought against him, he found her. Sad eyes starring at him crowded and blurred by her tears.
Ash had never seen Mary-Lynnette so broken.
The world became real again—or was this the dream?
Ash sat up, the fire had long since died and the sky was being born again. Another day was just starting, but its death would be different. There was no doubt about that.
Jacket in hand, car keys in his pocket, Ash was determined to search that lake for days if he needed. That image of Mare seared into his mind and his own stupidity for the fact that she was so close to him all this time. Yet it was far enough away for him to still never be within reach of her.
He had barely made it into the foyer before a broad hand slammed against the way cutting him off from the door.
"Move." He seethed.
'Where are you going?" His tone annoyed Ash to no end. The stare of Quinn was unbreakable.
"I'm going to find her."
Quinn looked at him, eyes barring into his, searching. "You're not thinking at all. At least find some facts before you go running off into the unknown. Here are you even going to start?"
"I'm going to the lake. She's there somewhere." Ash shoved Quinn away
"How do you know?"
"Trust me—I know."
But Quinn followed, even as Ash's voice kept rising Quinn's remained the same, his voice leveled and calm. Neither one listened to the other.
They continued their argument, pushing at one another trying to get the other to reason. One was a raging tornado and the other a silent an deadly storm that had yet to explode.
"Ash how do you know? If you even walk into Hunter's territories you think you'd find her? Let's say you did this—how would you get her out? What if she's injured or unconscious? Where are you going to start?"
"I know"
The one person neither one of them expected to stand there while fiddling with the fraying strings on his shirt; the confident cocky look had been replaced with an emotion that fit his appearance for once.
"If Mar—that human is still by the lake then I know where she is." Said Timmy.