Consciousness came slowly as she felt it start to spread across her mind. The slow awareness that came from waking from a long sleep. Slowly her eyes opened as she gave a small yawn. Her body stretched as she felt the familiar comfort of her bed and the soft fluffy pillow to which she was cuddling her head into.
It took her a few moments before memories started to surface in her mind and she opened her eyes quickly to see the light pouring in from her windows. Sitting up quickly she looked around and went still as she sat there.
Looking at every aspect of her room everything was there, in place and as she normally left it. She looked down to see she was even in her usual pink pajamas with eighties style drawn comics on them. Sitting there unmoving she even checked to see her backpack was there and while it wasn't in it's usual spot it was by her desk.
Eyes going to the chair she normally used to prop against her door at night so no one could get in and saw it was not blocking the door. However her phone was on it's charging stand next to her bed. Despite the very miner out of place items she couldn't help an overwhelming sense of relief fall over her as she fell back in the bed. In fact she felt tears suddenly spring to her eyes at how overwhelming her relief was, that it had just been one horrible nightmare.
She wasn't even going to focus on how she didn't remember getting home, just consider herself lucky as she gave a deep breath and sigh getting her emotions under control. Looking over at her phone she could see it was already nine in the morning and Saturday. "Oh my god…" she muttered to herself before she finally sat up again.
However as she grabbed the comforter to pull it off of her she felt the pain there in her hands. Hesitating, she looked down and saw that there were indeed those superficial scrapes upon her palms. Looking down she pulled up the legs of her pj's and saw there was still a bit of red on her knees from when she had fallen. Hesitation filled her as she sat there for a moment.
"No." she said, shaking her head finally. It had been a dream, she must have fallen yesterday and just wasn't remembering it. After all she was home right? She got up from her bed and walked to the door to her room. Opening it very slowly and almost afraid to look out, but when the sight of her familiar hallway to their house was there she relaxed. "Just a really fucked up dream." she muttered as she relaxed and walked out.
The house was somewhat nice, in fact she had to admit it was one of the nicer houses she had lived in growing up. Of course it was her biological fathers to which she was still growing accustomed to. The door to his room was right next to hers along the hallway, then further down it was the bathroom and her brother's lay across it.
The hallway led to a small dining area and beyond it was the kitchen. To her left was the entryway to the living room where she heard the news playing, her father sitting on his overly priced leather couches. "Oh come on!" She heard her younger brother exclaim from her right down the small set of steps that lead to a larger room from the dining room. He was sitting at a desk and playing a game it seemed on the computer.
Shaking her head she went into the kitchen and got herself a glass of water. Simply letting herself take in the fact that everything was truly ok and she was home. She never thought she would ever feel as grateful as she was in this moment to be in this house that had never felt like home. Yet at this moment she felt it held that safe security of home.
Making her way back into the dining room she took a drink of water before pausing hearing her name from the living room. She looked over and then made her way to the entryway looking at her father then the big screen T.V. he was watching. "Yeah…..Dad?" She asked, the label unfamiliar still on her own lips as she looked at the man sitting there.
He wasn't an imposing person she knew, after all he stood perhaps 5'6" in height if she had to guess. Dark brown hair and eyes etched into an older face, his clothing consisted of simple jeans and a white t-shirt that had grease stains from working on machinery. She looked at the man wondering what it was he wanted. Rarely did he bother talking to her unless it was to lecture or demand she do the stereotypical women's work around the house.
"See why I said no? You had no business going on it anyways, but if you had, look what would've happened." he asked nodding to the T.V. and motioned with the remote. She gave a small frown looking at him and stepped further into the room to look over at the news story. "Maybe you won't bother me with spending money on useless shit again. Nothing you can't find on the internet these days." He said.
Ashley's eyes went to the screen, half ignoring her father now as she stared at the news story. A bus full of kids had lost control, rolled down the side of a cliff before ending up in the river. The bodies of the teacher and driver had been found but so far they were still trying to locate the bodies of the students. With the damage to the bus and how dismembered the two bodies had been they didn't hold much hope that anyone had survived the tragedy.
She blinked in complete startled shock and didn't realize she had lost her grip on her own glass before it hit the ground at her feet and shattered. She jumped looking down unable to help be shaken a bit.
"The hell is wrong with you?" Her father said, sounding angry as he sat up and gave her a disapproving look. "I'm not made of damn money. Clean that shit up." he said and Ashley went a shade of red looking at him. "Uh. Sorry." she said as she looked down and then carefully had to step to avoid any glass before going to the kitchen for paper towels and the broom.
They were dead? So they had really gone on the trip? But she was home just fine. She had gone…...had that been a dream? Was the dream real? No, how could she be home if it had been real? But if Mrs. Granger was dead then why did she dream she died too? Nothing made sense and she couldn't help that her hands were somewhat shaking as she cleaned up the mess. Managing to avoid cutting herself but she noticed the shake in her own hands.
As she threw away the broken glass she couldn't help feeling a little overwhelmed with panic, standing by the sink she closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to steady herself. "Hey you ok?" She heard behind her, she gave a little jump but just saw her brother there. He was two years younger then her but he was now starting to grow taller then her.
His sandy brown hair was a mess and he had a rather lanky form as he stood there looking at her with a small level of concern. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something, what's up?" He asked and she looked at him for a moment, opening her mouth to tell him exactly what was wrong before she stopped. She'd sound completely insane wouldn't she? "I uh. I just found out one of my favorite teachers died yesterday." She said finally and her brother looked at her surprised.
"Oh damn. That sucks." he said as he looked at her then towards the living room before he went to go sate his own curiosity as to what was up. She watched him go and sighed before she moved and retreated back to her bedroom, closing the door behind her so she would get some privacy as she looked around at all of her things.
She went and looked in her hamper to see that the clothes from her dream, and what she had worn yesterday was tossed in there. That wasn't really that out of the ordinary, her eyes went to her backpack and she opened it up, looking through to see everything was actually there just as she would have it. Looking at herself even, she was in the right pajamas as well, looking around the room a little before she looked at the window.
Going over to it she pulled the curtains back to see that it was properly locked. Nothing would have managed to get in without breaking the windows. It was secure and locked just as always, causing her to look around the room again before slowly sitting down on the bed. "I'm going crazy." she muttered to herself and even placed a hand on her own forehead to see if it felt hot to her.
Of course she wasn't feeling sick or feverish. A frown upon her features as she looked around again before laying back on the bed. It was just a nightmare, and what was on the T.V. was just a tragedy, none of that could have been real. Shaking her head a little she closed her eyes, some trying to calm her own nerves. Her mind went back to the man who had declared his ownership of her and she shook her head opening them again. She was starting to have some really twisted fantasies, did she need to consider therapy?
Reaching up she rubbed her face with her hands as she laid there for a few moments more before she got up. Making the decision that it had been just that, it was the only logical explanation after all. She grabbed herself a fresh change of clothes and went to the bathroom to get a real start to her day.
Cleaning herself up she wrapped both of her hands just so that there was something between her hands and the rest of the world while they healed. A pair of worn and torn black jeans now hugged her legs, and a simple t-shirt with a happy looking little robot in a dog suit waving wildly upon her front. Unlike the baggy clothing the day before these showed her lean form, the hourglass shape that was formed from her breasts and hips. Despite her tiny form she had an attractive full formed body.
Brushing her hair she pulled it back in a simple ponytail while it was still wet. Looking at herself in the mirror for a moment or so. Her naturally fair skin was both heritage mixed with her lack of staying out in the sun. She didn't bother with makeup, while she did in the past to accent her eyes and lips, she never was one for a lot of makeup unless she had a specific look she was going for. Today though she had too much on her mind to feel inspired to paint herself up.
Going to her room she emptied her bookbag on the bed and then picked up a stack of various books that looked well read from the top of her desk and put them inside instead. Then she reached for her Mp3 player where she normally kept it, only to feel nothing there. She paused and looked to see it was gone. She started to search everywhere in her room for it.
After checking everywhere she could think of she frowned, it was gone. She went to her hamper and then dug through what she had been wearing the night before, maybe she had left it in the hoodie? Yet she was rewarded with more empty space. "Damnit." she said not able to help the fact that she found it upsetting it was gone. She took music with her everywhere and now her source was gone.
Scowling a bit she went and dug through one of the drawers in her desk for an old pair of headphones she had. Only one of the earbuds worked but she had kept them instead of throwing them out just in case. Grabbing her phone she plugged them in and then went to see what she happened to have stored there still. Seeing it was a mix of a lot of Within Temptation and Starset she gave a sigh. It wasn't the band she was big on lately but at least it was decent music.
Zipping the backpack up she made a short stop to let her father know she was going to the library before coming out to the backyard where she normally stored her bike. She stopped short though when she saw it wasn't there against the side of the house. Frowning she went back inside. "Hey where's my bike?" she called out towards her father and brother. Her brother looked over to her from heading towards the computer again. "I don't know." He said as she heard her father yell back "Where ever you left it".
"So helpful." she muttered to herself as she went back outside but didn't see her bike anywhere. If someone had stolen it she wasn't going to be happy, it was a bit of a walk to and from school after all. In fact even the library was a bit of a walk. She gave a sigh and put her backpack on though, cell phone in her back pocket after pushing play and only one earbud in she started walking.
As she was walking along the sidewalk she wasn't able to ignore the world around her as well since she only had music in one ear. Her hands in her pockets as she moved and didn't look up too much as she paid attention to where she was going more than anything else as she tried to consider all of the facts and wonder where her missing bike fit in with everything else.
As she made it down several blocks she stopped as this was the deciding point between the two most common places she went. She looked in the direction of the library but then towards where her school was, a nagging feeling of wonder. Was her bike somehow still at school? She didn't remember riding home the day before, she didn't even remember getting back to school. Her backpack had been in her room but her bike was missing.
With a frown on her face, a feeling of wanting to know one way or the other, she started walking towards school. It wasn't like it was going to kill her to make the trip, find out her bike wasn't there, and then have to double back to get to the library after all. Though she was anxious and nervous over the memories and what could and could not be reality, she was able to calm herself as she hummed gently to the music.
Outside of the oddities she had already faced so far that day, things appeared completely normal and the same as every other day. Life was progressing normally as if there wasn't the possibility of monsters lurking within the night. Making her feel even more foolish for almost believing that her dream could have somehow been real. Looking down at the bandages she had put on her palms though she wished she could remember how she had managed that.
Finally she was walking across the field of the school and soon making it to the bike racks. She expected they would be empty and that someone had to have simply stolen her bike from their yard in the night. Yet there it was, right where she had left it chained to the bike rack with her combination lock. She walked up to it and looked down with a slow frown. Why would she have gone home without her bike?
Did she need to get her head checked? She shook her head, the idea she could have some sort of brain tumor was frightening as well. Instead she just undid the lock and wrapped the chain around the body of the bike and locked it again. "I probably was daydreaming or something." she muttered. In fact as soon as she said that she decided that was it, she daydreamed often and there were occasional times she found herself coming out of auto pilot because of it. Usually she remembered everything even while daydreaming but maybe here she hadn't.
Getting on the bike she took off and headed to the library, moving much faster now that she had wheels under her. She knew the routes to take to avoid some of the much steeper inclines, and while she took a less direct path it was much easier on her body. She didn't mind the extra time, she enjoyed biking after all.
Pulling into the library parking lot she eased the bike down the pavement, moving she was no longer sitting on it but standing alongside on one of the pedals with practiced balance as she glided into the bike racks at the public library. Coming to a stop she locked her bike down so no one would run off with it. Then pulling her backpack off of her back she headed inside the library.
It was actually quite massive and out of all of the libraries she had frequented in her life, she had found this was her absolute favorite. It didn't just have a few rows dedicated to different genres and types of media. It had whole areas dedicated to them. Going in the front doors she could see the stairs that lead up to the upper story, it had an open ceiling so that the top floor could look down into the lobby of the library rather easily.
This library had the place sectioned off for ease of its patrons, the upper floors focused on the more mature and adult content that they had, while keeping the lower levels non-fiction or family friendly. The children's books up into the teen reading were also on the first floor but in a room of its own, decorated to be welcoming they actually had a small wooden prop castle for kids to climb in and sit on beanbags and read.
Ashley could smell that familiar smell of old books that a library just seemed to emit whenever she was in one and immediately relaxed. No matter what was going on in her life this was one of the sanctuaries she knew she would be safe in. Heading up to the front desk she opened her backpack to return the books she had. Putting them on the shelf that said 'returns', before she headed up the stairs to find the next set of books she planned to get.
Despite the fact that she was still a teen no one stopped her as she went up to the top level. She made her way down to explore the rows of fantasy novels. Though surrounded by silence it was a comfort, the familiar setting and routine of hers made her feel at ease as she started to look through the rows of books.
She wanted to get the next book in the immortal series by Piers Anthony, though she saw it was out and she sighed. So she moved on to the next book she was searching for. Picking up the next few from Anne McCaffery books in the Dragons of Pern series. While she planned on checking them out she put them in her backpack to make it easier to carry. She had become familiar with most of the staff by now they knew she would stop to check out and not try to steal any of the books.
Soon she was just looking through the books for something of interest before she felt uneasy. She felt as though someone was right there behind her, and then a cold chill filled her as she didn't just feel something behind her, it felt like HE was right there behind her. She couldn't bring herself to move for a moment as her fear rose up. Then she told herself she was being silly, he wasn't real, he couldn't be there.
Yet that didn't keep her from being afraid to look behind her. Moments ticked by as she stared at the books in front of her. The feeling that someone was right behind her became overwhelming before she felt breath upon her neck. She snapped into action, whirling around. "Get away!" she said loudly, hoping someone would hear her. Unlike the estate this was a public place after all, he couldn't kill everyone there.
But her eyes found empty space as she looked ahead of her and she hesitated for a moment looking around before pausing as some people sitting in chairs quietly reading were giving her a look for her loud outburst. She suddenly went bright red as she realized she must have simply spooked herself, because she didn't see him anywhere. "Sorry…" she said with a bit of embarrassment across her features at how she had disrupted the calm air of the library.
She gave a slightly shaky breath as she was letting the fear leak away and she shook her head a little. Silently scolding herself she picked up her bookbag from the ground and headed downstairs. She checked out her books in the self checkout with her card before she headed outside the back of the library where they had an outdoor garden area for people to sit and read.
It's beauty reminded her of the garden that she convinced herself had been a dream. It even had a large rock water fountain to which people would toss pennies to make a wish. Making her way over to one of the concrete benches she slowly sat down under the bright sunlight and looked at the water as it fell over the rocks.
Taking a deep breath then letting it out as she let her body relax. Closing her eyes she just focused on the warmth of the sun and the music in her ear. Softly whispering the words to herself as she sat there trying to ground herself. Then her music stopped short and she blinked opening her eyes as she heard the ringtone go off instead. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and looked to see who it is before pausing.
She answered the phone after quickly pulling the earbud out of her ear. "Hey Mom." she said as she sat there and looked towards the water fountain again. Leaning forward as her elbows rested on her knees while she listened.
"Oh Thank God. I saw the news, I was afraid you had been on that bus." Her mother replied on the other end. The relief in her voice was evident.
Ashley hesitated for a moment. "Yeah no….no I'm fine." she said, shaking her head a little. "Just at the library getting myself some books." she added as she sat up then and looked around her. She paused as her eyes went past the lawn that surrounded the library and to the sidewalk. She saw a man leaning against one of the light poles wearing a simple button up shirt and slacks. Everything about him seemed perfectly normal and fine, except she recognized him as the man from her dreams, the one who had been carrying Emma.
Frozen in her seat she half heard her mother as she stared at the man who seemed to finally look at her, a light knowing lift of lips as their gaze met. He even gave an off handed wave with a look of amusement upon his features.
"Are you listening to me Ashley?" Her mother demanded her tone growing irritated from the sounds of it. As Ashley blinked the man just wasn't there anymore and she blinked a few more times. "W-what?" she asked wondering if she had seen him or just imagined him. "I'm sorry mom." she said as she couldn't help her pulse had jumped into her throat and she looked around quickly to ensure that no one else was around. Afraid she would see Nathanial standing there.
"I said, wasn't Mrs. Granger the teacher you said had helped you be able to go on that trip I signed for you?" her mother asked and Ashley hesitated for a moment still looking around but seeing no one. "Um yeah….yeah she was." she said lightly.
The reminder that her favorite teacher was gone caused her to suddenly feel the grief of that loss. But instead of the image of a bus driving off a cliff, it was her dead eyes after falling to the ground she saw instead. Yet no tears formed at all despite how bad she felt the loss. "I'm going to miss her." she said softly.
"I'm so sorry sweetie." her mother said and took on a less annoyed tone. Even if the tears didn't fall the pain was clear in Ashley's voice as she spoke of missing her. "I wish I could make it better." Her mother said honestly.
Ashley shook her head and then remembered of course her mother couldn't see her. "It's ok Mom. I'm fine." she said as she gained control of her own voice again, shoving the emotions down out of reflex. "I have to go though, I'm low on my minutes for the month." she said wanting to hang up, she hated to talk on the phone as it was.
"Alright hun. Be careful ok? I'm just so glad you're alright. I love you." Her mother responded. "I love you too mom." Ashley said before she hung up the phone and took a deep breath before she let it out. After hanging up with her mother she looked at the phone in her hand and half wondered if she should've asked her mom to help her set up seeing a doctor about what she was seeing. Torn between wondering which was worse, having a brain tumor, or last night being reality.
Checking the time on her phone it was already almost three in the afternoon. She was going to have to head back home, dinner wasn't going to cook itself. If she didn't make it then her father would be grumpy for the night and her little brother probably wouldn't eat. Shaking her head she gave a sigh, one last look around to make sure no one was around before she headed home.