Ashley opened her eyes quickly, blinking slowly as her head pounded. She gradually realized that she was in a fast-moving car. Next to her, Florence was fast asleep, while Joshua and Samuel were chatting in the front seats. As soon as one of them noticed Ashley was awake, Josh immediately told Samuel, who was driving.
"How are you feeling, Ash?" Sam asked from behind the wheel.
"What happened?" Ashley answered his question with another, still confused as to why she was suddenly in the car.
"Flo found you passed out on the floor of the women's restroom. Looks like you were pretty drunk, Ashley," Josh explained, looking at her with concern.
The black-haired girl frowned in confusion. Was she passed out from being drunk? Suddenly, a flash of memory made her eyes widen. She recalled what had happened. Someone had covered her eyes from behind and clamped her mouth shut so she couldn't breathe. Ashley studied her two friends carefully. It seemed they didn't know what had happened and assumed she had passed out from drinking. She decided to keep the incident to herself, thinking they wouldn't believe her and would assume she was hallucinating from alcohol.
"Really? No wonder my head hurts so much." Ashley rubbed her aching head. She wasn't lying about that—her head felt like it was being stabbed by a thousand needles.
Josh then pulled something from his bag and handed it to Ashley. "Here, drink this. I've got a painkiller too; maybe it'll help with your headache."
Ashley stared at the drink and painkiller in front of her silently. Seeing her hesitation, Josh smiled. "It's just water and ordinary painkillers. You can see it's still sealed. I didn't put anything in it."
The black-haired girl nodded slowly and mumbled a thank you. She couldn't help but be cautious about accepting things from people she didn't know well. Although Josh was a close friend of Sam and Flo, she wasn't willing to take any risks, especially after the mysterious incident that had just happened. She had no choice but to stay alert around those around her.
Ashley quickly drank the water but didn't eat the painkiller. Her throat felt so dry, and she needed it badly. After quenching her thirst, she glanced over at Flo, who was still asleep with her head resting against the car window. Her friend seemed completely unbothered by the conversation happening between the three of them.
"We'll drop you off first, and then we'll take Flo home," Josh said, glancing at Sam and asking, "Do you know her address?"
Sam raised his eyebrows. "Of course I do. I'm her boyfriend."
Josh chuckled. "Right, no need to ask then."
After 30 minutes of driving, Sam stopped the car in front of Flo's house. Ash looked around and noticed how quiet her friend's home was, as usual. Only the porch light was on, and the inside of the house was dark. Florence Thomas's house was quite large, with two stories. It had an elegant Neo-Classical design, with a long balcony and a dominant white color scheme.
Florence never bragged about coming from a wealthy family. Her parents worked as diplomats and often went on business trips, leaving Flo to live with several household staff. Since she and Ash had become close friends, Flo had often invited her to stay over, so Ash knew the ins and outs of Flo's house like the back of her hand.
Sam unbuckled his seatbelt and moved to the passenger seat. "Come on, help me, Josh." The two men quickly helped lift Flo inside, with Ash following behind, letting them carry her friend.
After knocking on the door, one of Flo's household staff immediately let them in. Sam and Josh carried Flo to her bedroom on the second floor. It was quite a challenge, as Flo kept struggling. The scene was familiar to Ash and Sam, though not to Josh, who was seeing Flo drunk for the first time.
"Wow, I didn't expect Flo to be such a handful when she's drunk," Josh sighed after they finally laid her on the bed.
Sam, stretching his arms, sympathized. "She's always like this. That's why she's only allowed to drink when Ash and I are with her."
The blonde-haired man then turned to Ashley, as if remembering something. "Oh yeah, Ash, you should stay here at Flo's tonight. You're not feeling well, and your house is pretty far from here. If you stay, you can rest longer. I'm sure Flo wouldn't mind."
Ash frowned, considering Samuel's suggestion. It was true that her head still ached, and her body felt weak. She also knew that if Flo were awake, she'd insist on Ash staying, considering how protective Flo was of her.
After thinking it over, Ash nodded. "Alright, I'll stay. You guys be careful."
"Okay," Sam waved to Ash, while Josh smiled softly. "We'll head out. Bye, Ash."
"Bye, Ashley."
Ash dried her wet hair with a hairdryer. Even though she didn't like showering at night, she forced herself to do it, knowing that a warm shower would help her relax. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, Ash noticed that her face had grown even paler. She sighed, realizing that the weight of her thoughts was starting to affect her physically.
She let her hands move on autopilot as she dried her hair, while her mind spun back to the mysterious letter she had received and the unknown figure who had attacked her in the restroom.
What exactly had happened?
Who was this mysterious figure who attacked her?
Why, after all these years, did this person want revenge?
Ash turned off the hairdryer and placed it back on the nightstand. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror again. Both hands rubbed her face in frustration.
"How did it come to this?" she whispered. "I never meant for this to happen," she whispered again, though there was no one there to answer.
***
Florence Thomas found herself lying in her bed. Her head hurt, and the strong taste of alcohol still lingered in her mouth. Feeling queasy, she staggered to the bathroom to throw up. This was her usual routine whenever she drank too much. Sometimes Flo hated her body for having such a low tolerance for alcohol.
"Ugh!" The brown-haired girl had just vomited.
With weak hands, she pressed the toilet's flush button, but before she could get up, someone quickly helped her.
"Hey, are you okay?" Flo turned to see Ash looking at her with concern.
"My body feels wrecked," she groaned, hugging her friend.
The black-haired girl sighed before helping Flo back to bed. Soon after, one of the household staff came into Flo's room with food, a glass of water, and aspirin. Ash thanked them before continuing to care for her disheveled friend.
"I asked them to prepare this. Come on, eat something and then take your medicine." Ash helped the brown-haired girl sit up against the headboard before spoon-feeding her porridge.
Flo winced. "You're treating me like a patient in a hospital," but she still accepted the spoonful from Ash.
"Oh, so you'd rather be on an IV drip than eat porridge?" Ash replied sarcastically.
Flo playfully grimaced. "I was just kidding," she said, opening her mouth for another bite.
As she watched Ash busying herself with her care, Flo smiled slightly. She was grateful that her friend was there for her. Without Ash, she might still be slumped over the toilet, weak and miserable. But that smile faded when she noticed Ash's face looking even paler than usual.
Her eyes grew sharp as she observed the changes in her friend's appearance. Flo knew Ash already had a pale complexion, like a vampire, but now she looked as pale as a corpse. Dark circles under Ash's eyes suggested she hadn't been sleeping well. On top of that, Flo could tell that Ash seemed more exhausted than ever.
"What's going on with you?" Flo asked, scrutinizing her friend.
Ash raised her eyebrows in confusion, pausing mid-spoonful. "What do you mean?"
"You look awful. Haven't you been sleeping?" The blonde-haired girl bombarded her with questions.
Ash looked away, startled that Flo had noticed the change in her. How naive of her, she thought. Of course, Flo would sense something was wrong. She was always sensitive to the people around her, like a hyena sniffing out blood from afar.
"I've just been a little sleepless. Don't worry about it." Ash resumed feeding Flo. The blonde girl opened her mouth, but she continued to eye Ash with skepticism.
Flo stared at her for a long time before sighing. "You know we're friends, right, Ash? If something's bothering you, you can tell me."
"I'm fine," Ash replied.
Flo didn't immediately believe her. She still eyed Ash with suspicion, but seeing the exhaustion on her friend's face, she decided not to push further.
"Okay, but if something comes up, please tell me, alright?" Flo squeezed Ash's hand and looked at her seriously. "I know I'm not the most reliable person—heck, I'm probably the least reliable person," she joked, rolling her eyes. "But if I can help, I'll do my best, okay?"
Ash nodded softly, smiling gently. "Okay. Thank you."
In her heart, she wanted to tell Florence everything, but she stopped herself, weighing the consequences. If Flo knew about Ash's past, would she still want to be friends with her? The negative thought screamed in her mind. Florence was her only close friend. She didn't want to lose her just because of her past. Besides, the mysterious person who was after her could also endanger those around her, including Florence. Ash cared deeply for Flo and didn't want anything bad to happen to her.
Flo, what should I do?
***