"Hey Sam, I am glad we are talking again," said Ashley, in a low apologetic voice.
A radiant smile curved its way across Samantha's face.
"And I am sorry for being the way I was these past few days," she said, extending her right hand towards Ashley.
Gently holding her friend's soft hand, Ashley said, "Best friends once again?"
"Best friends for all eternity," Samantha joyfully said.
"Hmm, but that's such a long time." Placing a finger against her lower lip, Ashley curved her lips, slightly narrowed her eyes— making an expression of being lost in thought— and said, "Are you sure I'd survive your constant nagging for that long?"
Ashley burst into soft laughter when Samantha let go of her hand and delivered a mild punch on her shoulder. The two girls laughed as they sat on the swing mounted on the veranda of Samantha's place. The lights had been adjusted a cast a dim glow allowing the moon to show off its brilliant light that shined caressingly on the flowers that grew by the veranda; kissing them all with a unison bright color.
The cold of the night hit Ashley like rough ocean waves against a rock. She was fine though— actually Ashley had never really been bothered by cold weather— but Samantha on the other hand was shivering to her bones. Ashley took off her jumper and offered it to Sam. With a proud smile across her face and her eyes closed, Samantha stretched out her hands, lifted her chin, and said, "Would you mind doing the honors?"
Chuckling silently, Ashley began to slide Samantha's arms into the jumper.
"Definitely wouldn't survive an eternity with you, Sam," Ashley frowned.
Ashley threw her gaze to the stars. 'Little shining silver chandeliers hanging in the great dark void'; that how Coley described them.
"Hey, Sam. Remember what Coley once said about the stars?"
Samantha let out a relaxed sigh and replied, "Girl, Coley has said a lot of things about stars, and about just about everything in this world. But I am sure you are talking about the thing she said about how when two people who share the gift of true love for each other look at the same star… it shines even brighter." A soft laugh came out of Samantha's mouth and she appeared thoughtful for a while.
"So, do you believe it would happen?" Ashley asked.
"I believe is a lot of things Ash but that… I would have to see for myself." Samantha rocked the swing a bit and it began to sway forward and back. "Though I must say if it were true, then love is definitely not in the air today… Or is the sky now? Hold on a minute." Moving closer to Ashley, Samantha gave her a hard stare and asked, "You are the one who is dating, have you tried staring at the same star with Adrian."
Ashley's heart jumped. She remembered how happy she was when Adrian had called her earlier. When she found his missed call she wasted no time calling him back. But to answer the question Samantha had just asked, Ashley said, "No, we haven't."
"You guys haven't… Or… You are the one who has been hesitant to try it," Samantha stated.
"Afraid that you Prince Charming isn't the prince charming?"
Ashley laughed and sighed, "I think we are getting carried away by a simple superstition."
"Hey, you are the one who brought it up," said Samantha, raised her hands with her palms open. She then suddenly gave a look that told Ashley that she was up to something mischievous.
"Why don't we try it?"
Ashley's mind went completely blank and by the time she had gotten her bearings straight, Samantha had already wrapped her arm around her and had held her in a way that her face was directed to the sky.
"Come on, looking at the one!" Samantha joyously exclaimed. "No, not that one silly… That one…"
Ashley was trying to get out of Samantha's grip but when the girl wanted something she wouldn't stop for anything until she got it.
"Look, look, look! It glowed!" Samantha shouted.
"Sa… Sam," Ashley said.
"Oh look, it's moving Ash!" Samantha's voice rose even higher.
"Sam, that…. that's a plane," Ashley said, not easily though since she literally being choked to death by her over-enthusiastic friend.
Ashley took in a deep breath when Samantha let go of her.
"Oh, man," Samantha said, folding her arms and frowning. "And here I thought I would be your true love."
Ashley smiled and rested her head on Samantha's shoulder. "You will always be. I don't need a star to tell me that."
"Do you remember the day we first met?" Samantha asked.
"Sam... Of course, I do," Ashley replied. "It was two days after we had moved here I was playing outside the house..."
"Right?" Samantha interrupted. "Well, I guess trying to literally dive into a storybook can be considered playing."
Ashley laughed.
"Hey I was five... and I remember you coming out of nowhere and telling me that I was doing it all wrong. You said, if I may quote, 'You need a magic spell to open a portal into the book realm' and we even created a spell for it..."
The two friends spoke loudly in unison.
"We call on the powers... super and grand...
We call upon them... take us... to Wonderland."
"Well... Wonderland was quite tempting," Samantha said.
The girls laughed so hard that Ashley actually felt her stomach muscles tighten.
She then felt Samantha's head lean slightly against hers.
"You know, there was a time when I truly believed magic was real."
Samantha's voice was low. Ashley knew where this conversation was headed but this time she didn't try to stop Samantha. Instead, she said, "Me too Sam… more than you know."
"And you're sure what happened that day was all in our imagination?"
"I don't know Samantha," Ashley said.
Five years ago, an ocean wave almost hurt Ashley and Samantha but Ashley had stopped it. She remembered it clearly. The rush of power she felt, the wave obeying every hand gesture she made. She never told Samantha or anyone this but that wasn't the only time something like that happened.
There were other times.
Why was she thinking about that!? Like Samantha said; it was all in her head. After over two months of therapy, Ashley had come to accept that she was just like everybody else; a normal human being.
Ashley's head automatically turned to her left and her hand reached for the back of her left shoulder. Ashley wore a blue sleeveless shirt and could feel part of the tattoo that was engraved on her shoulder.
"Still no memory of how you got the tattoo huh," Samantha stated.
"Nope," Ashley replied, releasing a sigh of defeat.
Ever since the accident last year, Ashley had this tattoo; a lion, with the head of a goat protruding from its back, two large wings and a tail ending with a snake's head; a lion, dragon, and a fox with two horns— a tattoo of a Chimera. Most of what happened last year was still a mystery to Ashley. The cliff. The same cliff where she met Richard. She almost lost her life on that cliff and yet she was still drawn to it. No one could figure out how she survived that fall, how she missed the rocks below, how the giant waves didn't drown her.
"Anyway I am sure it will come back at the moment you least expect it to," Samantha said, trying to cheer Ashley.
"Well, I better get going," Ashley said.
Samantha sighed and made a funny frown, "And just when I was getting to the bottom of the mysterious Ashley Morgan."
Ashley chuckled and rose to her feet. She yawned carelessly, stretched her body and said, "Oh I can't wait for tomorrow—"
"You, me, the guys— just like old times," Samantha finished.
"And Luke called saying he might come," Ashley added. With everything going on with his father, Luke needs this day.
And His friends are going to be there for him, Ashley resolved.
"See you girl," Samantha said, waving as she unlocked the door. "Ashley…"
Ashley stopped walking.
"Yeah?"
"About the stars…"
"Yes?"
"Why don't you try it with Richard? Might work"
Ashley really wished there was a rock or an object nearby. She felt her face flush as Samantha strode like a child into the house.
"Good night, Sam," she said in a low voice, shaking ahead with a smile on her face.
As she walked along the road, she realized that she had left her jumper with Samantha. Sighing happily, she continued walking home; which was only a few houses away. Ashley pulled out her phone from her pocket and turned it on.
Oh, a text from Sara.
But before Ashley could read the text, a large hand grabbed her by her waist, and everything around her blurred. The houses disappeared in the distance and Ashley could almost see the blurry images of what looked like trees.
She had no time to even scream and in what felt like— and could have been seconds— Ashley found herself struggling to stand on a clearing near the beach. Her vision was coming to focus but she still felt dizzy and everything around her was moving in circles.
The crashing sound of the ocean echoed throughout the area. Whoever or whatever had held her let her go. Ashley's body lay face down on the ground. Her body was stiff— shaking— and she couldn't move.
Darkness was near her; true darkness. She felt cold but it wasn't because of the weather; it was because she was in danger.
Ashley saw two boots come in front of her. She wanted to get up but her body wouldn't let her. The dark aura that was around her… It was so overwhelming that it felt as though someone was pressing her down by her neck.
"I mean you no harm."