All the tension disappeared from the body of Ash as she was finally left alone in her small temporary home.
Her home was her place of solace and safety where she could feel at ease but that private space had been invaded by others.
It made her very uneasy and everything about the while ordeal felt very invasive to the point that she wanted it all to end very quickly or to reject the landlady right as she brought it up.
Unfortunately she knew that rejecting such a thing would only bring her more troubles and since she had nothing to hide, there was no need for her to reject a quick inspection of her living space.
Each room and storage spaces were searched one by one until every possible location for others to be staying could be ruled out.
There was no search warrant or legal obligation that would have forced Ash to comply with such an inspection but there was the pressure from the current events that had forced her into complying with the request.
No officer or legal representative of the village and the nearby town had come forward to search her home so it was too early for them to take action on such cases since it usually took a certain amount of time to legally identify someone as missing.
There would only be a search conducted on a person's home or land if there was any kind of evidence or probable reason for the missing person being kept there.
It meant that the villagers had stepped out of line and acted much too soon in their assumptions without getting the right people to take care of such matters.
It was left to the landlady but even that was not exactly how anyone should have proceeded.
It was not any of their responsibility to conduct searches and investigate their suspicions since there would be someone far more qualified to do it.
Ash did not know well enough about the laws behind conducting such searches and how they should be done but the whole process felt very wrong and invasive as it happened.
She was just glad that the search conducted did not go too much into her personal items and anything she had in smaller places so there would be nothing being found by her landlord which would draw unwanted attention to her.
It took some time for her to finally calm down and settle her nerves before she had went back to her studies a little.
There was a voice in the back of her head that was constantly whispering to her which was filled with her fears about the situation not being fully resolved.
'If this is not solved then they may come back to me..'
'If this situation worsens then I may have to just leave this place earlier than I expected.'
'What should I do about my things?'
'Where would I go from now on?'
'How will I live from now on?'
'Hmm.. now that I think about it, is this a regular thing in the village or is it something that has only happened since I have turned up?'
'Is this a problem created by a careless child getting lost or getting into an accident or…'
'Or is this a supernatural case?'
Many thoughts swirled around her head almost like they were giving her more worries and questions to what was going on around her.
The less she knew, the more uneasy she was.
The less she knew and more questions she had left unanswered, the less control she felt she had over her surroundings which worsened her overall mental state.
It was a quick spiral downward back into a state of fear and panic.
The thoughts and questions plagued her mind not giving her a moments rest.
Her breath was heavier as she held a paper bag blowing into it slowly as if to stop herself from having a panic attack. "Ha.. ha.. ha.."
Ash was in between having to deal with everything she was suffering from or to try to face it all head on so that the questions could be answered and so she could try to regain some control.
All that was needed was a single step outside and to go look for the source of her current questions and worries.
The world around her was closing in as she felt claustrophobic and uncomfortable.
With each breath into the paper bag, she felt her vision clearing up a little more after she had felt lightheaded and had blurred vision.
Ash was quick to act and calm herself down as if she had practiced the methods before so she saved herself from spiralling down to a worse condition where she could have passed out from the ordeal. "Ha.. ha.."
A bottle of water was taken out from the fridge and she drunk some of it allowing her to clear her mind and hydrate her body a little. 'Alright.. now before me is two difficult choices. The first is to stay in doors and have everything plague my mind just like now.
The second is to leave and face whatever is happening so I can try to solve the problem and gain more information to let my questions be answered."
She was stuck between the two for some time as she hesitated.
The first option was safer for her but there were always ways for unpredictable events to take place again if she just hid away and did not face the problem then there was the growing issue of the increased worries she would have as she sat alone with her thoughts.
The second option was more challenging but it would help to answer the questions she had running through her head and she could try to regain some form of control.
Ash made her decision as she got dressed then walked towards the window to pull aside the curtains.
After taking a short look around her surroundings for any signs of others lingering around her home from the safety behind her window, a little less of the burden on her body and mind had been removed.
Ash did not want to leave her home and suddenly be caught off guard so she spent a little more time looking around before grabbing some things and putting them into her bag.
Her hand paused over the door handle and stayed there for a little while as if hesitating to go out.
Ash let out a small breath and squeezed the handle before opening the door and stepping outside.
The simple act of leaving her house seemed to be very difficult for her to do even though she had done it several times already.
The longer she stayed in doors, the more she felt it was safer to just stay in doors so it took even more courage to take a step outside.
The door was open and just like giving herself a small push, Ash leaned forward and stepped outside before closing the door behind her. "Now.. where should I go first now that I am out?"
She had no real plan of action since she did not have a lot of information.
All she knew was that a child was missing and that she was one of the suspects according to the suspicions of the villagers.
Since Ash knew that she was not behind it then she could only go looking for something that would help find the child before it is too late to do anything about it.
Search lights of torches were seen off in the distance around the village and around the edges which had given away some of the locations of the villagers. 'Hmm.. where would I go if I was a small child?
Somewhere fun? Somewhere scary? Somewhere that could be dangerous? Perhaps a scary place? Kids like challenges after all.. hmm..'
Her gaze turned back towards the road leading to the town them further to the side of the roads where the forest area was located. 'Hopefully this is just a simple problem to solve. It does not hurt to come prepared for anything though.'