Present day
The sun set in the sky, though she wasn't outside, the young girl could tell as the shutter blinds on the windows had stopped giving out light and instead replaced it with an burnt orange glow.
She stepped up to the door, her fingers grasping the sign hung on the glass, her blue eyes looked both left and right for any sign of civilisation before she turned the small wooden plaque over. Finally, the café had closed and in a short amount of time, once she had wiped the tables in and collected the menus, she was free to walk home.
The girl grasped the first menu from the table closest to her, her eyes skimming the small lettering naming each and every one of their specials. Bacon and eggs or baked beans on toast. They were the most popular of the bunch.
She collected more and more in, reaching the far side of the café. It didn't take more than one person to clean up and lock everything away, the town she lived in was practically a ghost town and not many people visited. Sure, they'd have the odd rush around lunch time on a Monday where people are just too tired to even make themselves anything to eat. But at that, it would only be about 15 people on a good day. She had no idea how the place was still running.
A small bell echoed through the empty room as the girl had her back facing the door. She huffed quietly to herself, there wasn't many times a customer had ignored the 'closed' sign, but every time it happened, it was always her shift.
"I'm sorry, we're closed" she spoke in a hushed tone to match the atmosphere of the night. In a sleepy town like this, you learn to keep a constant inside voice if you don't want other people to know your business.
The girl fell speechless when she looked at the man stood in the doorway. From his pristine leather shoes all the way up to his neatly groomed hair, every single aspect of him seemed so familiar, yet she could never put her finger on it. Was he a visitor from out of town? Here on business? But whoever he was, he surely didn't understand the social norms and the meaning of the word 'closed'.
The man walked up to her slowly and cautiously, as if she were a deer ready to prance off at any given moment. The door quietly shut as he left it to its own devices. "It's been a while" he said with parted lips as he stared down at her name badge. Ashley.
But of course, he knew that wasn't her real name.
"I'm sorry, am I supposed to know you?" She didn't want to be rude, the girl who had been falsely named Ashley was never a rude person. But the way this man looked at her, the way he spoke to her and what he said to her just made her think even more.
The man snapped out of his trance and shook his head, a chuckle escaping his mouth "I'm sorry" he apologised "I must have mistaken you for someone else, forgive me"
"It's a small town you know, this mystery girl you're looking for could be pretty close" she placed the menus on the counter and folded her arms "What's her name? I probably know her"
The girl was ready to show off her knowledge of the whole town when he immediately shot her down. "Nobody of importance, forgive me for intruding" he nodded and swiftly turned and exited the building, leaving her shocked and confused.
She didn't know it, but her hand had grasped on to the necklace she had always worn. The silver, antique locket that she had never ever wanted to take off. Yet, she didn't know the contents, and she didn't want to know. This girl never had the urge, the curiosity to open it up to see what was inside.
The door closed and she let go of the locket, realising she had held it the whole time and realising she watched every move that strange man made when he walked to the door. But then a surge of power ran through her as she had the strangest of urges to just run after whoever that was in her café. She needed to know and she didn't know why.
Ashley opened the door quickly and tried to see any trace of the man, she stood still on the first step and looked around. The empty streets dimly lit by a few small street lamps along the path. The sky was now black but the streets had turned orange under the colour bulb.
She stepped out and decided to walk left, but a few steps into her stride, she felt gloved hands wrap around her from behind. Her mouth had been covered so her screams and cried for help were muffled.
She wriggled and tried to escape the grasp but whoever this was, well, they were stronger than anything she had ever experienced before. Or at least stronger than she thought she had ever experienced before.
The girl kicked her foot back and hit the knee, causing a grown to escape from what she knew to be a man now. It was like she could feel a lot of power with this man's touch, though she didn't recognise who he was. The next thing she felt was a prick in the side of her neck, a needle injecting something into her bloodstream.
Ashley managed to turn her face to the side and free her mouth, but instead of screaming for help, she decided to fight. She bit the hand that was near her face, the one that had been previously holding onto her mouth, and then she kicked backwards, freeing the rest of her body.
She quickly spun around to see the face of her attacker, but as soon as she did, a gust of wind blew from in front of her and there he was. That man, the one she had just met, with one hit he knocked her attacker to the floor.
By this time, the girl was hysterical. Her breathing was mixed with her cries and it with every breath, she groaned. Her eyes were smudged with her eyeliner, the tears had left a darkened trail. And her hair, the messy bun she had it tied in had now become even messier, to the extent that half of it was down beneath her shoulders.
A black car had parked up next to them at a diagonal stance. It seemed like this suited man had saw her struggle and had come to her aid.
Silence filled the air as she looked down at the man on the floor, he was bleeding and she wasn't entirely sure he was breathing either. "We need to call an ambulance" she said, trying to get her phone from her pocket "or the police, I don't know" she cried, her fingers pressing the number 9 on her emergency call screen.
The man took her phone from her hands "that isn't necessary" he said, the serious look on his face scared her even more. "Get in the car, Willow"
"W-w" she couldn't force herself to pronounce what he had just said, but everything seemed so weirdly familiar yet it wasn't. Her name wasn't Willow, but it surely fit better than Ashley.
"I'll explain when we get home" he interrupted, opening the car door and staring at her until she stepped in.
Next stop, New Orleans.
Ashes - Madi Diaz
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Cover (as always) was made by -ScarsPetrova and her backup account smolsalvatore she's crazy talented and now has a book where you can request covers!!! Go check it out ^.^
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Willow ↠ Elijah Mikaelson
Fanfiction"And to give you the life you've always wanted, Willow, I'm going to have to let you go" Willow Matthews was a bright spark, she was well known and well looked after. That was until, she went missing. The Mikaelson's were in the midst of a battle w...
