Mind's Echo

Shelly

After listening to Eva's story, the three sat around the fire, gazing into the flames for a while. Shelly was lost in thought about the newcomer's predicament.

Suddenly, shook her head and broke the silence by grumbling, "Wow, Eva! Your fiancé is a real shit. He just left you on the side of the road, near dark, out here in the middle of nowhere? Nice guy! Will he come after you at least?" She looked questioningly at the pretty lady with the long red hair sitting next to her. If that were her fiancé, she would definitely have a thing or two to tell his ass when she saw him again!

Before Eva could respond, Shelly felt a raindrop explode on her arm, then another, then another. She squinted up at the sky, a frown furrowing her brow.

"Shit! I think we are going to have to move our party inside, folks. Storm's here."

She jumped up and began to gather supplies. Alex and Eva also stood. Both of them began to scramble to collect supplies as well. The rain started to fall a little harder. They all worked quicker.

"I do not fancy sleeping in a tent in the rain," Shelly grumbled as she picked up her backpack. "Nothing like lying in a soggy sleeping bag, in soggy clothes, making your skin all pruny. I had hoped the storm would decide to move on and we could stay out here. That place," she looked toward the asylum pointedly, "weirds me out."

She headed toward the cover of the asylum porch with Alex and Eva on her heels. She dropped her load onto the rotted planks. She looked out into the shadowy night. Before her, the sky opened up and water began to fall in buckets, flooding the grounds around them. The group shared a strained laugh, glad to have made it onto the porch before getting truly drenched. The three of them stood on the porch, looking out, not seeing a damn thing because the rain fell just that hard. In the distance, thunder rumbled threateningly. Sighing, Shelly turned around and eyed the door leading into the asylum. Hoping the asylum would be the lesser of two evils, she couldn't help but wonder what the hell could happen next ...