Into The Dark (Rewrite)

Into The Dark (1)

My name is Ashley Grant, but my friends call me Ash. Mainly because it sounds much cooler, but also because I hate my name. My parents named me Ashley after, can you guess it? Yup, my great grandmother, who died long before I could ever meet her.

My parents are...well, I guess you could call them shitty parents.

My father was an abusive drunk who always hit on me and my mom, and my mom was a sad little lady who could not stand up against him if it meant saving my life. And then there was my older brother, he's currently in prison for drugs and theft, but don't let that fool you. He was a perverted creep who didn't take no for an answer, ever.

And that's why I left the second I could, if I had stayed, I would have ended up like them or dead. So I came to the only people who have ever shown me any kindness in my entire life, the Dixon brothers.

I first met the youngest brother, Daryl, when I was 12. He was a little older than me but he seemed to understand exactly what I was going through. I met him at a family reunion my family held, and let me tell you, there were so many people that I didn't know that were apparently my family. Anyway, one of my cousins, that I absolutely resented, invited a friend over to the house for the reunion. And that friend just so happened to be Daryl Dixon.

I was standing in the corner of the room for the entirety of the event and I noticed the second they walked in, mainly because everyone got quiet and stared at the door in disgust.

There Daryl stood, in a muscle tee and jeans with long shaggy hair and dirt under his fingernails. He was the definition of a redneck's son, and my family did not like him at all just from one glance. But they had no right to judge, they were white as the Palm Beach sand crackheads who came together once every decade to insult each other, eat all the food, and leave without saying bye.

It was like he could feel my awkwardness from across the room because he looked straight at me, not ten seconds walking in. He had walked toward me, my cousin following closely behind him in confusion, and I just stood there like an idiot trying very hard not to make eye contact.

The two boys had walked over to me and were standing right in front of me so I had nowhere else to look but at them. Me and my cousin made eye contact and he gave me a harsh glare and I quickly looked down at my feet.

I saw in the corner of my eye his friend giving him a look that I didn't understand. He then looked at me and I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment. "What you doin' over here in the corner? Don't you have any friends?"

I felt like I just got gut punched by this guy. Like seriously? Rude much?

I just shrugged my shoulders, planning to play it off cool. "Yeah, they just haven't gotten here yet. I'm waiting for them but it's taking a while 'cause they live out of town and it took them a while to find a ride but now they have one and they are on their way."

I clenched my fists tightly as I continued to look at the floor. Yeah, real smooth, Ash. Just had to go on a rambling rampage.

My cousin let out a barking cold laugh. "Yeah right! I remember you, dear cousin. You're the one who angered Uncle the last time our parents met up. What was it you did again? Oh yes, you spilled Uncle's beer all over my mom. He was very angry with you, wasn't he? What did he do to you when he took you to the back room, cousin? Did he-"

I had quickly cut him off before he could say anymore in front of his friend. "N-no! That's not it! I-it was an accident and f-father just took me back there to tell me that-!"

"That you're a worthless piece of trash? Or that nobody would ever love you? Or how about that you're an ugly pig with too many fat rolls?" My cousin harshly intervened, stopping me from my ramble of nonsense.