Ashley stood on the roof top of the hospital, just at the edge staring down at the ground below. The hospital building had about seven floors. Which meant, if she were to fall down now, it would mean falling to her death.
The wind blew, Ashley's auburn hair flew around, a few locks getting into her face. She felt as though she was losing her balance.
"Ashley.", A voice called out from behind. It was a female voice. Ashley turned her head almost stiffly with the fear of falling.
Ashley's pupils shook. Fear clouded her face. Her breathing turned rapid, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "Penelope.", she whispered.
The little girl from Ashley's childhood who framed her for stealing her butterfly brooch was now a grown woman. Penelope was looking down at her with a wide smile, her chestnut brown hair flying in the wind and her azure blue eyes glowing in the dark.
"Did you miss me?" There was laughter in her voice which sounded very unpleasant to Ashley. The young woman sucked in a breath of cold air, her bones stiff with fear.
She felt Penelope near her, the young woman was whispered in her ear. "I know I missed you." Penelope laughed once again.
"Oh." The woman walked to her other side, her long blue dress fluttered with her every movement. With her hand behind her back and curiosity all over her face, she asked, "What are you doing here?"
Ashley wanted to know the answer to that too. The last thing she remembered was lying in the hospital bed, still thinking about her decision to get divorced when she saw herself here and in this situation.
"I bet you don't know, right?" Penelope suddenly walked away which caused Ashley to breathe a sigh of relief but in the next second, she appeared right next to her, startling the young woman. "Penelope's azure blue eyes stared deeply into her grey ones. "But I do."
Ashley thought she saw her eyes turn darker and darker. Her blue eyes suddenly became black. "In order to be happy, I need to make you suffer. I want to make you suffer as much as I did, Ashley."
Ashley shivered. She tried to keep herself in a still position but to no avail. Fear had overtaken her entire being.
"I want you to die, Ashley! I want you to go to hell! Everything will be much better without you around!"
Ashley couldn't see the look on Penelope's face, since she was trying so hard to steady herself, but she could hear the deranged tone in the woman's voice. Ashley realized that Penelope really wanted her to die. And if she couldn't do something to save herself, Penelope really would succeed in ending her life.
The young woman felt a hand push her. She felt as though she was falling into nothing. Ashley shrieked and everything went dark.
…
"Ashley!"
"Ashley!"
"Ashley!"
"No! Please leave me alone!" Ashley shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks even though her eyes were closed. She thrashed around on the bed madly. She tried pushing away the figure which was holding on to her but to no avail. She was too weak.
"Ashley. Wake up." She seemed to hear Nathan call out her name, but she was too caught up in her nightmare to respond.
"Ash. Dear, wake up." Leticia's voice too was heard. Ashley covered her hands with her ears, trying to block out the sounds. She then felt someone hug her. The body was warm and had a cool manly scent. She slowly felt a sense of calmness and tranquility. Her body lay limp in the other person's arms, her eyes closed even though she was awake.
"It's okay. Everything will be fine." The voice said to her while a hand caressed her back.
Ashley slowly opened her eyes, her grey orbs struggling to adapt to the light. She was in the arms of Nathan with her mother beside her. "Ash?" She could here Leticia choke. Her body shook witnessing her daughter's state. "Are you alright?"
Ashley removed herself from Nathan's embrace, wiped her tears before beaming with a smile as she looked at her mother. "I'm fine, mom. Just another nightmare." Her attitude now was different from the crying Ashley from just a few moments ago.
Nathan stared skeptically. He knew she wasn't fine. She was fare from fine, considering how her body was convulsing in her arms just a few minutes ago. And the whispers. Leticia didn't hear the content of Ashley's whispers, but he did, and he was completely sure that she was simply lying to her mother.
Leticia continued to gaze at her with a worried look in her eyes. "Mom, I'm fine. Believe me." She reassured.
Everyone tried to forget about the nightmare fiasco, but Leticia didn't. She always hated when her daughter was in pain, and she knew those nightmares were the cause of her suffering.
Leticia stood on the staircase in the Scott mansion gazing at the large portrait on the wall. It was of her and Ashley. She sat on a seat, Ashley behind her with her arms around her neck. Both of them were smiling. Leticia only smiled like this when she was around her beloved daughter.
Leticia had just realized that it had been a long time since she saw her daughter smile like she was in the picture. Ashley's smile, to Leticia, no longer looked as bright as before.
Leticia's pupils shook. She had promised to take care of her daughter, but it seemed she was doing the opposite of that. If her daughter was still suffering, then what was the point of everything she had done.
The woman looked up at the ceiling, memories of the past coming back to her.
She looked ack at the portrait, her eyes landing on Ashley's gray eyes. It reminded her of the man that had made her like this. The man that had tried to lock her up: Ashley's father.