All Night

Part 6

I met up with Taylor, Tyler and Logan on the way to Ashlyn's house. Ben and Aiden were already there on the porch with Ashlyn, waiting for us. We walked into the house as Ashlyn called for her parents. We waited in the living room will the ginger went to the kitchen. We all sat on the couches, minus Ben, who decided to stand. Once Ashlyn and her parents came into the room, we looked at the snack platter. Aiden instantly dove in, eating as if he hadn't had food in years. We all cringed at his behavior. "So, what was it that you guys wanted to talk about?" Ashlyn's dad asked. Ashlyn started to speak but then she suddenly stood up and walked over to a lamp. "Notice anything off about my shadow?" She asked her parents who only looked at her, lost and confused. "Uh, not particularly" they replied. We all looked down. "Were we supposed to notice something?" Her parents asked. "Ah no, never mind, but we do need your help" Ashlyn rubbed the back of her neck. "The thing is, Logan's being bullied" the ginger explained. Her parents eyes narrowed. She then asked if her parents were okay with teaching us self defense. Which they agreed to do as long as our parents were okay with it. After that we headed to the graveyard. "Jaeyoon will be fine with it" I said. "Are you sure?" Ashlyn asked. I nodded. "I know some combat from my friend back home" I said. "How much combat?" Tyler asked. "Enough I guess" I said as checked the water jug with him. "It's ironic that we chose this place because of the high walls but now we have to fortify them" the brunette said as he poured the water into the jug. "Well we didn't exactly predict that the phantoms could climb the walls" Aiden replied. "And we also chose it because we have plenty of tools here and we can bring supplies over and it won't be suspicious" Ashlyn added as she checked our food supply. "You voted just like the rest of us" Ashlyn stated. "I'm just pointing out the irony" Tyler leaned his chin on the water bottle. "I'm not sure it was even worth the effort to get here" he added. We were separated for the first few nights after this all started. We needed a safe place but it took Ashlyn the same distance to get to the graveyard as it did for the rest of us. We met up at a convenience store first and due to the fact that we start right where we left off the night before. We were all at the same risk at that point. "Well, we're here now, let's just try to make the best of it" Taylor said, looking at our weapons. "Agreed" I put the cap on the water jug. "Another benefit is that we get to set traps during the day too" Ashlyn continued. I nodded. We continued to work about the graveyard until it was time for us to go home.

A month later, we were learning combat from Ashlyn's parents. Mr. Banner swept Tyler off of his feet. Literally. Mr. Banner helped Tyler up and gave him some advice. Tyler, Logan and Ashlyn were training with Ashlyn's dad while me, Taylor, Ben and Aiden were training with her mom. Ben was also tossed to the ground. "Rosaline, it's your turn" the older woman called me over. I got into a stance. Mrs. Banner threw a punch which I dodged, I swung my leg up to her head, which she blocked. I then brought my leg back down. While I kept her focus on my hand movements, I made an attack to her legs. I swept my leg under her, knocking her down. She looked up at me. "THAT WAS GREAT!!!" she grinned as I helped her up. "And here I was thinking that I was scared of your dad" Tyler said to Ashlyn. "It's surprising that she knocked my mom down" Ashlyn continued the conversation. "Alright let's call it a day" Mrs. Banner stated. Logan sighed in relief. His relief quickly vanished when Mr. Banner got him in a headlock. "Do you kids want to play board games?" Mrs. Banner asked. "We'll have sandwiches" Mr. Banner added. "We can't, we have to study for midterms" Taylor said. "Oh, okay, then we'll bring the sandwiches to you" the ginger woman said. Then they turned and walked away. "That was a funny lie" Aiden smiled. "It's not a lie, we actually have midterms coming up" Tyler crossed his arms. We were chatting and then Ashlyn suddenly stood up. She walked around one of the buses. We followed after her, only to see a crow, nothing else. "Did you here something?" Aiden asked the girl. "I thought I did, but it's just a bird" Ashlyn answered. "You got worked up over a bird?" Tyler questioned. "Don't be like that, sometimes people hear things differently" I said to the taller boy. After a while, we all returned home.