Ashley's Asylum (3)

04| Ashley's Asylum

They packed up and left the motel quite suddenly, one moment Ashley was putting on the clothing that 'detail-attentive' Michael had brought her and in the next, Sam was rushing her out of the room, half carrying, half dragging her towards the car.

What bothered her most of all about the sudden evacuation was the fact Sam had managed to force the bathroom door open (where she had been at the time) with uncanny ease like it was a little stiff or jammed; not because she'd bolted a lock across to prevent a sudden walk in.

'Where are we going' and 'what's going on' were two of the questions she asked in the process of being forced towards the car but neither of them were answered. Now she was back on the road, on her way to yet another unknown destination.

She held on to a blossom of hope that somehow, the police were looking for her and they were on the right trail which would explain Michael and Sam's sudden urge to leave. She hoped that despite her past worries about them lagging behind, the police had experts tracking them down. She held onto that hope tightly, like an anchor that kept her safe from floating away into a sea of despair and dread. She held on to the slim chance that she might make it home alive.

In the meantime, Sam and Michael had reverted back to their usual silence in the car. Michael drove and Sam sat in the passenger seat which left her in the back alone again. Although there was something different about this latest journey. A strange atmosphere has settled amongst the three of them.

Michael kept muttering things quietly under his breath. She couldn't hear a word but she could see his lips moving out the corner of her eye. His expression was mostly unreadable in the rear view mirror but every now and again a fierce glower would cloud his features like an upcoming storm. Sam on the other hand fidgeted in his seat, his fists clenched constantly in a ball of carefully contained emotion.

Something had occured whilst she had been absent in the bathroom, she had broken away from eavesdropping dropping because the topic had been too uncomfortable but now she had missed something. Something one of them had said or seen had caused this. She was almost certain the reason they had to leave so abruptly was causing the tension but she couldn't be sure. When it came to Sam and Michael she could never be sure about anything.

She hoped somehow Michael had learnt that the police were hunting them, she wouldn't mind that they were on the run again if it were true. At least then she would know they were searching for her. Once again however, there was no knowing what was really going on, she hadn't seen or heard a snippet of news this entire time. Michael and Sam had done well to keep her in the dark.

Ashley rubbed her aching forehead. Knowing her luck the tension in the car and the abrupt evacuation had absolutely nothing to do with one another or the police and if that were true...

Ashley massaged her thumbs harder into her temple. She sincerely hoped that wasn't true.

She looked down at the clothes Michael had given her, a simple navy hoody that felt soft between her fingers and a pair of dark grey jogging bottoms.

She was still confused where the money had come from in order to buy anything or for that matter rent the motel room they had just left but decided to add it to the ever-growing list of other things she couldn't fathom.

How ever Michael done it he had also managed to get a spaghetti top, a pair of plimsolls, clean knickers and socks. She couldnt even begin to understand why he went to all the hassle of socks and underwear but she knew damn well it wasn't due to kindness. Even when he was a freshly escaped convict Michael still cared about the details.

The underwear was atrocious, the kind of knickers a seven year old girl would wear complete with a childish pink flower pattern. She wasn't sure what was more discomforting, the fact Michael now knew what knickers she was wearing or that he was the one that brought them and chose these ones out of all the knickers in the world!