Children of the Elements: Prey to Him

Chapter Twenty-One: Down in the Deep

Chapter Twenty-One: Down in the Deep

It had been silent between Will and Ash for hours now. Ash had dozed for an hour or so, only to wake up and find Will still not sleeping. It had been at least a day that they’d been travelling, and she hadn’t seen Will even close his eyes for longer than 5 minutes.

The now all-too familiar sound of the van door creaking open rang out, but was quickly pulled to as Phil came in, causing both of them to lift their heads off the van’s sides. He immediately took off Ash’s handcuffs, fiddling with the lock for slightly too long in Ash’s impatient state.

Will looked at them through narrowed eyes. “It’s the middle of the day, isn’t Craig still here?” he asked in a hushed and suspicious tone.

Phil flicked the key in his direction, Will keeping it steady in the air for a second or two as he waited for Phil’s response. Phil sat down on the bench next to Ash as he spoke, pulling out his alcohol flask. “Technically yes, but he’ll be on the phone for a while: he’s talking to the lab technicians at Parkinson’s. Apparently there’s been an issue with one of the chemical suppliers.”

Chemical suppliers. Would they be so eager to give away random rare compounds if they knew what they were being used for? Will stayed still for a minute, and Ash thought she could even see the debate running through his head. Eventually, the key moved, taking off his restraints and letting him grab Phil’s half-full flask off of him. Phil looked as though he were about to complain, but instead smiled, passing another tinfoil-wrapped parcel to Ash.

“So, how far away from Craig’s house are we?” Ash asked around a mouthful of ham sandwich. Will glanced at the pair of them as they conversed, taking a large swig of Phil’s whisky.

“We’ll be there by this evening.”

Ash felt her heart jump. She didn’t want to be away from Phil or Will. She felt just about safe with the two of them around, even if Phil was only here for Will. “I’ll try to stick around.” Ash looked up at Will, a smug look on his face. She sometimes forgot he could hear what she was thinking.

“I doubt you’ll be able to stay together, if I may intervene,” Phil added quietly. When neither of them said anything, he continued. “Craig’s waiting to talk to you, Ash, and he won’t have Will talking for you seeing as he knows what to say to send Craig in the wrong direction.”

Will acknowledged Phil’s compliment by lifting the flask, before taking another gulp of its contents.

“I’ve talked to him so many times: what more does he possibly want from me? He knows I won’t support his cause, so why he keeps bothering is beyond me.”

“Because if you support anyone else’s cause, then he’ll probably lose, and he knows that. You have more power over him than you think you do,” Phil explained.

“He doesn’t want me alone, though.”

“He had Nathan for a long enough time and seemed at least half-satisfied by that” Will murmured, not really focussing on their conversation.

“I still don’t know what that really means,” Ash argued. “Care to expand?”

Will considered her question for a second before he sipped at the flask, throwing it back to Phil empty. Resting his elbows on his knees, he rubbed the back of his head, messing up his hair, a stance which reminded Ash of Nathan. “God it must be so quiet in your head,” he muttered. “I’ve forgotten what that’s like.”

All of a sudden, sunlight hit Ash in the face like a punch as the van door opened. A strange face appeared in the gap as she stared at him, his expression changing from one of boredom to one of confused interest. Phil’s mouth opened and closed several times, struggling to find an explanation for why he was sat with the two unlocked prisoners in the back of the van. The guard started to back away when he finally spoke. “Paul, please don’t.”