North Water

Chapter 2

Careless: (of an action or its result) showing or caused by a lack of attention.

Careless. A word that describes many people without them even knowing it. It's so simple to not have a care in the world. Whether it's texting while driving, crossing the street without looking both ways, and even to opening a door without knocking. 

What some people don't realize is that carelessness has consequences and Ashley was about to learn that fast. 

*****

Ashley sat at the small coffee shop and ate her bagel. She checked her phone, 6:45.

"Shit!" 

"What's wrong, darlin?" James said.

James was Ahley's best friend from high school. He had a beautiful pair of china blue eyes and his hair was messy, considering she did call him at 6:00 in the morning to get his butt to their favorite coffee shop.

She let out a small laugh, "Im late!"

"Oh no! You better get going!" He said. She stopped and gave him her "Are you serious?" look.

"Thanks." She said sarcastically.

They grabbed their stuff and walked into the already busy streets.

"Are you going out with Matt tonight?" She asked.

"Yup. He's taking me to some fancy restaurant!" He smiled.

"Aww!" She yelled enthusiastically.

"Oh shut up and get your happy ass to work." He hugged her and then turned and walked down the street.

"Bye!" She yelled after him and made her way to her new job.

By 6:57 she was going up the elevator and making her way to the top floor. Ashley was filled with excitement and couldn't wait to get her life back on track. When the elevator doors opened she walked over to the closed door that led to Mr. Miller's office. She raised her hand to knock when she realized it was already cracked opened. It was dark inside and she creaked the door open further.

"Mr. Miller?" She questioned and flipped the light switch on.

"Oh my god." She screamed.

There he was. William Miller, hunched over a young girl with red eyes set on Ashley and blood dripping from his mouth.

He slowly got up and walked over to her.

"What are you doing?" Ashley screamed. Her mind was racing a thousand miles per minute. Her heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to explode. She tried to run but her feet were stuck to the floor.

"Stay calm, Ashley." He stated slowly. 

He started to walk towards her. Panic surged through her and she threw the closest thing to her. Right before it reached his face, his hand went up and caught it. His hand moved impossibly fast, not human fast. Her face scrunched up into a look of ugly horror. 

"Now, that's not very nice. This vase was extremely expensive and very old." He tsked softly.

Her instincts told her to run so she did. She ran as fast as her long legs could carry her, but he was faster. He caught her by the wrist, turning her towards him and shoving her up against the wall. With a grunt the back of her head hit the wall and she closed her eyes. 

"This is a dream. This is just a horrible dream."

"Open your eyes, Ashley." His calmed voice invaded her head.