Born To Die Part Two - The Charm Of A Conflict

The Train, The Admittance, and The Escape

Ashton sits on his bed, looking at things on his laptop. He hears his door open with a soft click.

'Ashton,' Alexis says softly, 'Cheri told me what she saw and...'

Here we bloody go. Ashton shuts the lid of his laptop, sighing, 'I know, I know. It was wrong. But she didn't need to tell you.'

'She did. It's the right thing to do,' Alexis tries to keep her cool. She shuts the door behind her, leaning against it, 'You know what I said, we aren't letting him come into our house again. I feel like you don't listen to me.'

'It's my life, Alexis. Stop acting like my mum,' Ashton huffs, looking at her with a severe expression. Her heart sinks, but he persists, 'I'm turning twenty in six months. We're both adults, and you aren't me. I'm not me. I'm thankful that Kristoffer saved us, and, to be honest. I... I'm still in love with him.'

'It was a school relationship, Ashton. It's not serious,' Alexis feels herself snapping slightly, her eyes prickling with warm tears. Her voice shakes, 'Him saving us is the least he could do.'

'The least he could do?' Angry disbelief floods his mind. He finally raises his voice above the usual volume, 'We were there to see the grim people who work there. Imagine what they'd do to him if they found out what he did. He did that for us. Not for him, not for anyone else in the world. Us.'

'No, Ashton. He did it for you,' Alexis screams, tears running from her eyes. Ashton's face falls. She furiously rubs at her eyes, smudging her mascara. She returns to her usual tone, 'Look. I think he's nice. I've thought he was good for you as a boyfriend and good for me as a friend. But I've been nothing but sour to him. That's screwed everything up. But now... I can't forgive him for what he did.'

'Being sour is your fault. Not mine,' Ashton hisses, his head leaning down so his hair covers his eyes, 'Get out of my room before you wake Cheri up.'

'But...'

'Get out.'

Alexis nods solemnly, opening the door and swishing out. She clicks it shut. She hears angry footsteps toward the door and the rarely used lock clicks shut. Alexis feels numb. She checks in on Cheri. Still asleep.

Well, not really.

Cheri keeps up her fake sleep routine. She had heard a brief muffled argument about Kristoffer. Had she done this? Maybe her mind reading had done this. She shouldn't have been so nosy. She should've just asked him to listen. She doesn't hear the conversation. Alexis sighs heavily and swiftly walks across the corridor to her room. She hears a soft sob from her room.

*

Kristoffer presses his head against the desk, groaning. His brain is full of buzzy thoughts. Being the only one working a night shift is pretty awful. Suddenly, the staff room door slams open. Eudora stands in the doorway, out of uniform, out of breath, and carrying a huge plastic Tesco bag.

'You look upset,' She pants, flicking a straggly strand of hair from her eyes. He lifts his head from the desk, nodding, 'Well, look. I have a plan. We're getting all these magic people out of here.'

'This is.. news to me. But I'm in,' He grins, his spirits slightly lifted. Eudora puts the piece of paper between her chair and his. It looks as though it had been scribbled out like a midnight intrusive thought. Kristoffer looks at her face; she has flaking mascara and purple, tired eye bags.

'Look. Here is a blueprint of the facility. We have about five floors, so we need to get everyone down to the bottom floor, down here,' She points to random parts of the blueprint, 'To this exit. It's at the back. Then, we leave with them.'