I stand in the hallway of his house. All walls as far as I can see are creamy white, and the same for the carpet. "If you don't mind, could you two ladies take of your shoes?" He asks, taking off his converse. Sue and I take off our heels. The carpet is soft, like a fluffy blanket fresh out of the dryer. I look down at my feet and see that they're covered in blood. The woman from my dream, Ben's mother walks into the room. She looks exactly like in the dream, except her clothes. She wears a white blouse and a black skirt. "Oh my darling, let me get you some clothes to change into." She says as she walks over to me. I nod slightly and she starts walking towards the wooden stairs "Follow me, dear." She says. I follow her up the stairs. "Wait out here." She says. I stand out in the hallway as I wait for her. After a minute she walks out with a baby blue knee length skirt and a white blouse. "You can wash up if you'd like in the bathroom at the end of the hallway." She says. She hands me the clothes and sighs slightly. "Oh, and there are towels in the cabinet above the toilet." She says. She turns from me and walks downstairs. I frown slightly and walk to the bathroom. I turn on the lights and close and lock the door. The walls are seablue and there is white tiled flooring. The bath is made of what I guess light blue porcelain, as is the toilet and sink. I set the clothes on the back of the toilet and turn on the water. I start undressing and I notice bruises that weren't there before. "How did that happen..." I mutter to myself. The blood had stained through the dress so I had a red tint on my torso and knees. I turn the shower on and step in. The hot water streams down my body and I close my eyes. Why can't life feel like this? Why can't it be warm and just cradle me like the water? I ask myself. I grab the bar of soap and lather it over my body. After a few minutes, I manage to clean off the blood, but the bar is covered in pink suds. I rinse it off before putting it back. I grab the shampoo and squirt some in my hand and lather it in my hair. I rinse off and turn off the water. I get out and open the cabinet and grab a black towel. I quickly dry off and change. I decide to put the towel in my hair to keep from getting the blouse wet. I grab my dirty dress and unlock and open the door.
"Thank you, again for letting us stay here for a bit." Sue says as she grabs a cookie. Mrs. Westerndale had put my dress in the wash and was now sitting in the couch with us. "Oh it's no problem. I figured you wouldn't want to go home right after that." She says. I nod slightly and clasp my hands in my lap. Ben walks downstairs. He walks into the room and sits next to me. "Later tonight, Ben will show you where you girls will be sleeping." She says as she stands up. "I have to leave for the night, but my phone will be with me, so if you need anything that Ben can't help with, feel free to call. And Ben, call if anything happens." She says. He nods and she kisses his forehead. She grabs her bag and keys from the coffee table and leaves the house. "Well, this will be intresting." He says. I look over at him and he looks slightly paler than usual. "I'm going to eat all of these cookies." Sue says. I close my eyes. Stop stop stop...
"So, what's the deal? You don't dress like you have a lot of money." Sue says, looking over at Ben. "So what if I don't?" He asks her. "It's just weird. Your family has a lot of money, but you dress like Ash." She says. I shoot her a look and she laughs slightly. "Well, I happen to like this style of clothing," He says "and besides, Ash doesn't look that bad in her clothes." I grab a cookie and sigh. "Well, my mom will be over to drop off some clothes for Ash and I." She says. I lift my feet up onto the couch and hug my knees with one arm and scroll through social media on the other. Sue and I share a few online friends, and we run a blog together, so we get a wide variety of posts. I get a message from my friend Alveena.
Dude, Sue told me what happened.
Oh...
I'm sure it was a lot worse for the girl and her family, so...
Yeah, but, still. Are you okay?
I'm fine, I'll call you later.
I put my phone down and rest my forehead on my knees. That brought back to much...That little girl and what happened to her brought back to much... I think to myself. I close my eyes. The image of his dead body, the blood draining from the back of his head as my mother screamed. The moment I realized that I'd never laugh with him again, the moment I realized that I'd never look forward to my father taking my brother and I to the park. The moment when I lost the person who taught me so much. I shake my head slightly, trying to repress the memory back to the dark hole of pain from which it came from. "Ash." I look up and Sue is holding some of my clothes. "Come on, Ben is gonna show us where we can stay." She says. I get up and follow Sue and Ben up the stairs. On the opposite side of where his mother's room is, is a room with red walls and gray carpet. It has two beds and a desk. "You guys can stay here." He says. I walk in with Sue and she sets my clothes on the bed with the gray blankets. She sets her clothes on the bed with the white ones. I lay down on my bed and stare at the ceiling. "She's gonna be in here all day." Sue says as she walks out with Ben and closes the door.
