The Purge ➵ a.i

14

Annalise

6:01 a.m.

We walked out of the gig house. I am holding his hand so I could stay close to him. I can't lose anything else.

"Anna," he says. I look up at him. "What happened?" he asks. I look down at my feet and then back up at him.

"Michael, he told me to go with the crazy man, and when I wouldn't he pointed a gun at me. I love him, and he doesn't give a shit about me," I say, starting to cry.

Michael looks at me, pulls me close. "Anna, I don't know where Ashton went. He was gone when I when I woke up," Michael says. I look up at him.

"There's still about an hour left of this nightmare, and I have no clue where Ashton is at. Michael, will you help me find him? I may hate him, I may love him at the same time as I hate him, but I need to find him," I say.

Michael looks at me and says, "I understand how you feel." I give him a confused look and slightly tilt my head to the side. "Nothing. Let's go find Ashton," he says.

I just nod my head. That's what I need right now, honestly. Yeah, he's an ass, but I need to know that he's okay.

***

We've been walking for about fifteen minutes. Nothing. No sign of Ashton anywhere. The sun is starting to come up, luckily we're still alive. Not sure if Ashton is.

We start to walk back home.

"Michael, I hope Ashton isn't dead," I say. "Me either," he says, and looks at me sympathetically. I feel my eyes watering, I'm starting to cry again. I close my eyes tightly to keep from any more tears to come out.

"Anna, we'll find him," Michael says. "Promise?" I ask him. "Promise," he replies.

We continued walking. Ashton's house isn't that far from here. "Michael, thank you," I say, and hug him. "Anything for you, Anna," he says and hugs my tightly. Michael's like a third brother. That's exactly why I need him. That's exactly why I can't let him go.

We finally were in front of Ashton's house. We walk in.

Michael promised we'd find Ashton, that's exactly what we did...