South of Nowhere 1. Chapter 1

Hi again :3

This story is something I started writing more than eight years ago by now. That makes me feel old qq  
The story itself got lost many years ago, when my old laptop broke and the HDD turned out to be completely useless. So putting a few printed pages aside, a more than 500-pages long story had been completely and entirely lost.

That's partly the reason why I wasn't too fond of writing for quite a while.

Yesterday, I ended up telling a friend about this very story and realized, I still have every moment that happened, every important meeting, the red thread itself, it's still all there.

And while I will have to make some changes, the story itself has great Spashley potential :)

Be aware, though, that the first few (maybe even quite a lot of) chapters will be focusing on Ashley only. Spencer will eventually come into the picture and have her own, important impact, however, to make that role possible, Ashley will have to be alone for a while.

On a last note, this story is set in medieval times, originally in France but since I want to keep their names as they are, this will be set in a small town in the middle age in good ol' Britland.

Without further ado, this is it from my part and I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy remembering and rewriting it.

* * *

„She's over there!" angry shouts could be heard throughout the small town. "Catch her!" "Burn the  
witch, don't let her escape!"

With the shouts getting closer as she kept running down the streets and alleyways, Ashley Davies  
tried hard to shake off the angry mob that kept hunting her through the starlight night.

Oh, and it had been a beautiful night indeed. The full moon was illuminating the small British town  
making it almost seem wonderfully romantic. So if you forgot about the angry mob with weapons of  
all kinds chasing behind her, she might as well have really enjoyed it.

Chuckling bitterly, she tried picking up her pace. That, though, turned out to be quite the difficult  
task, as a group of five men suddenly crossed her way, cutting of the alleyway she had been running  
through.

"There she is," one of the men started shouting, "don't you dare let her escape again, she's a  
murderer!"

A murderer, huh? Quickly turning to her left into another alleyway she tried to shake off the latest  
addition to her group of followers.

Much to her advantage, she knew this little town better than anyone else. Growing up here, she had  
found out about so many of its dirty little secrets, even caused some of them herself. She had been  
forced to explore its darker sides, sneaking through dark, narrow streets and alleys. She was very  
confident that she knew this place a whole lot better than any of the other people who had been on  
her heels for the past hour or even more.

Her biggest problem was that they had successfully cut of any of the ways leading out of town. They  
tried the best they could so she would be unable to escape the mess she had gotten herself into. And  
oh, how much they had wanted her dead.

The usually small town was currently bustling with noises, angry screams, crying women and  
children. All she could really hear right now, though, was her own pulse and ragged breathing. Her  
heart was pumping so fast, she was scared her followers would be able to make out where she was  
just from the sound of it.

Cutting another corner, she was fairly confident that she had shaken off the five men she had met  
not too long ago. Pressing herself against the wall of one of the many houses lined neatly at one  
another, she took a minute to catch her breath.

She had been running so much, her lungs were hurting. Adding in that it was a pretty cold winter day  
didn't make her feel any better about herself. Taking in air literally burned. She had never been much  
of a sports person, either. But she knew she had to keep going soon. If she didn't, they would catch  
her.

If they caught her, they would sentence her.

If they sentenced her, she would be burnt at the stake.

They had declared her a murderer and a witch at that. Just because they didn't understand how  
poisonous herbs were working, it didn't mean that she was using any kind of witchcraft to do what  
she did.

She could not deny, however, that she had indeed taken the life of five people this very night. At  
least, she was responsible for all of their deaths, even if she had not taken one of them personally.

It had been her fault, her very own fault that she had been killed by him.

She shouldn't have believed that he would end up changing for the better. She should not have  
believed in him at all. She should never have fallen for his smiles, his words, his touches, his..  
everything.

Shaking her head, she heard footsteps closing up on her. Almost got caught reminiscing here.  
Pressing herself harder on the wall to be as invisible as possible, she tried figuring out where the  
footsteps were coming from.

Listening intently, she tried to calm her breathing down further, as much as possible. She did not  
make a sound. And there it was, the grumpy voices of another group of men searching for her very  
person.

"I don't think she's here anymore, we should go back to the others and make sure all exits are  
secured," a first voice spoke up.

"Don't be an idiot, we have enough people at the exits and from how she's been running about  
the whole place, she's fully aware of that, too. We have to make sure she doesn't end up hiding  
somewhere. We don't exactly know how she looks like, yet. It's just too dark and those petty torches  
do very little in helping us out for that matter."

She listened intently. So they weren't exactly sure how she looked like, that would help her out for  
sure.

A storm was coming up. She could hear the sounds of thunder coming from the distance. As if fitting  
the situation, a couple of thin clouds passed the light of the moon, making the already dark streets  
even darker. This beautiful night would soon turn into a storm, surely.

"Still, we know she is rather short. She couldn't be taller than maybe 160cm. We would be able to  
easily tell her apart from other people trying to leave town, considering women don't try to get out  
of town very often altogether," the first guy tried calming the other man down now. He didn't want  
to be out, hunting some mad woman. She had killed five people. What if she really was a witch and  
could just kill them in an instant? He didn't want to find out, he really didn't.

"Stan's group said they saw her not too long ago. It wasn't too far from here either, so shut up and  
keep looking for her. The faster we find and capture her, the faster we will be out of this mess. And  
the faster she will be paying for what she did."

A shiver ran down her spine as she heard those words. Filled with anger and hatred. Had that guy  
known any of the people that had died tonight? It was not unlikely. This town was so small, everyone  
pretty much knew everyone. Maybe he had known her father. Well stepfather. That guy went out  
drinking with half of the town at times. So it wasn't very unlikely that he did indeed know him.

And considering that her old man liked using the little money they had – the money she had to go  
out to make – to invite whoever he had been with, his anger was quite understandable.

At least from that guy's point of view. In her opinion all that guy had ever deserved was a life under  
the ground. With the worms and rats and whatnot. And finally, finally that was what he would be  
having.

"This place is a maze, though. And she seems to know where she's going. So where do we go next?"

"We came from down there," he said pointing down a small road, "so let's try the other direction.  
From what Stan said, she went somewhere there." He was pointing in the direction of her current  
little hideout.

She tried peeking around the corner to get an idea of where they would be heading. She took a few  
steps closer to the small crossing in order to see them. It was still snowy so she had to be careful not  
to make any sounds as she moved her feet. Even if they were still arguing, they seemed to be pretty  
closeby. Especially right now she had to be more careful than ever. She knew she had to start running  
again any minute but if she ended up running right into them, her little adventure tonight would be  
over. And her life as well, you might add.

Holding her breath, she took one step after another and was finally at the corner of the house. She  
bent her upper body to the right and placed her head against the cold cobblestone. She could feel  
her cheek stinging the moment she touched the cold stone, but she had other things to worry about  
right now.

She carefully looked down the small road, but she couldn't see anything. Letting out her breath for a  
moment, she was back at the wall in an instant. She needed to breathe but she had to be careful.

Taking in some more air, she turned to the alleyway again, this time checking the other direction.

And then she saw it. Two small flickering lights, dancing in the darkness. They had to be torches. All  
of her followers had them, they needed the light.

To her, the light of the moon was more than enough to find her way around, it had always been. But  
seeing that the sky was getting more cloudy as time passed, she was unsure, of how long she could  
keep up this hit and run she was currently facing.

She slowly crept back into the alleyway. There was no way she could make her way to the eastern  
exit of the town with the group of men standing there.

A change of plans was needed and quickly at that. Wrecking her brain, she tried to think of the  
safest and fastest way out of this small hellhole. As she slowly backed into the darkness as she felt  
something make contact with her back.

Before she had time to react, the wooden barrel had made contact with her and was now quickly  
approaching the ground. She saw the whole thing in slow motion as the goddamn thing hit the  
ground and the voices in the distance went silent.

Only to be replaced by the sound of footsteps quickly coming her way.

Suddenly out of time to even think about where she should be heading, she found herself running  
into the darkness again.

This was going to be a long, dangerous and stressful trip out of town, that much was for sure now.

And she absolutely had no idea how long she could keep up this rat race at all.

* * *

So, how did dear Ashley end up in a situation like that?  
That's what the future chapters will be telling~


	2. Chapter 2

That was fast don't you agree? I felt terribly inspired xD  
Adding in that I don't have to work this weekend I did actually have the chance to write some more so I have a little stash, yays!

Chapter length will vary as I see a cut fit. I'm sure you'll come to understand.

Off we go :)

* * *

_Cock-a-doodle-doo!_

_Cock-a-doodle-doo!_

_Cock-a-doodle-doo!_

Oh, how she hated the sound of the freaking rooster. Every morning, without a break it would start  
screaming on top of its lungs. When she was a child, she used to love waking up at the break of dawn  
but that had changed years ago.

She also knew what would be coming next, just like every morning. Day by day. Week by week.  
Month by month. Year by year.

_Ting, ting, ting, ting._

_Ting, ting, ting, ting._

_Ting, ting, ting, ting._

Yes, indeed. The always reliable morning bell.

Groaning she turned around, inwardly praying that there was any way she could spend just a few  
more minutes, preferably hours in bed. But as always, she would be denied that small pleasure.

She was aware that if she wouldn't be up within the next few minutes, she'd end up in more than  
just a little trouble.

She had dared asking for a day off once. The reaction she got was a fist into the stomach, a couple of  
really hard slaps into her face. She definitely would never ask for a day off ever again.

But a girl can dream, can't she.

As she rolled out of her wooden bed, she stretched a little, waking her sore muscles up and popping  
one or the other bone in the process.

Yawning, she put her pillow and blanket in order on her bed and took a look around her room.  
The three times three meter big room was located on the second story of the small house she had  
been living in ever since she could remember. There was only one other room on this floor which  
would be the master bedroom where her mother and stepfather were spending the night in.

A heavy beech door marked the entrance into her very own place. She was not sure if she was lucky  
or not that she no longer had to share it with anyone.

The house itself was made of wooden planks. Sometimes she enjoyed the smell that provided, other  
days she dreaded it. Especially on rainy days she sometimes was unsure if she liked living in a pile of  
wood or not. It made her feel uncomfortable, even though she usually loved the rain so very much.

The room in itself was rather plain: She had a small window across the door the usually was pretty  
much the only source of light she has. Considering that the sun was only just starting to set, it was  
barely illuminated by the few rays that shone through the small opening in the wall around this time  
of the day.

Sometimes, when she had to be up at night or during winter days, she was provided with an old  
petroleum lamp. Since she was not allowed to "waste" any kind of resources her family owned, the  
days she was allowed to turn on the little lamp in the room were scarce.

Other times, she would allow herself the luxury to light a candle in the evening and to just stare into  
the distance, look at the stars and dream her life away.

Wishing she lived in a far, far future were things would be easier and she actually was allowed to  
do things. She had always wanted to learn reading. Her late father said he would teach her, but  
before his death many years ago, they only got so far. She did, however, still have some of his old  
documents and even one or two books. So whenever she did have a moment of silence for herself,  
she would try to decipher the words and give them a meaning.

Her father had done a really good job in teaching her the basics. After a couple of years – she was  
seventeen years old by now – she had mastered what she could sneak away during the chaos after  
he had passed away.

Comparing that to other people her age, men and women alike, it actually was an achievement she  
could take pride in. But then again, nobody really knew that she was capable of reading. Not that she  
really talked to people. She held the ability dear nonetheless. It was her only bounding to her father.

So sometimes, when she was absolutely sure that nobody was around, she would light the little  
candle, sit on her small chair and just enjoy the words while remembering better times.

The books and documents themselves were secretly and securely stashed away under her bed.  
Talking about the bed, it was a rather small wooden bed with a hard mattress. It stood in the right  
corner of the room and had a white sheet, pillow and a brown blanket on top of it. The blanket was  
made of wool. Her mother had given it to her many years ago. She had made it herself.

That actually was the last gift she had ever received from her mother, who held a deep grudge  
towards her ever since her father and the rest of her family died during the incident seven years ago.

At first, she did not really blame her mother. She understood that she was grieving for her late  
father. Later, however, she started despising the woman. It had become obvious that she was  
wishing it was Ashley who had died. She overheard a conversation once – she had asked her new  
husband why it was her who had to survive. Why it was her who was given the gift to keep living  
when so many others were not allowed to.

That night was the first of many she lay awake at night, stargazing or reading.

On the other end of the room were her chair and a small table. Both made of wood. Under the table  
she had a bucket of water which she refilled every evening and a small washcloth. Furthermore, she  
had a little drawer with few clothes inside them. She was sure other girls her age had a lot more than  
what she owned, but she had little to say when it came to that.

Whenever she grew out of something, she would get two new sets of dresses or a blouse and a skirt  
and that was pretty much it. If for some reason any of the clothes got torn, all she could do was to fix  
them up by herself.

Sighing, she stripped out of her white nightgown and sat down on the small chair. She washed  
herself off with the washcloth, shivering once she felt the cold water on her skin. She knew her  
mother and stepfather did in fact not wash their bodies every day – she could not understand that.  
She hated the feeling of dirt on her skin. Then again, if they had known she did give herself that little  
luxury every day, they would call her wasteful and most likely punish her for it.

Another reason as to why she did not have too much time in the mornings.

Sometimes, during summer, she would try to get a hold of a couple of flowers to also add a fresh  
smell into the water. She loved the smell of flowers. It reminded her of better days when all she had  
to worry about was playing around with other children in the nearby flower fields.

Nowadays, her days were all about work. Sell things, bring home money – if she did not, she would  
be in trouble.

Being in trouble meant pain – both emotionally and physically. So all she really could do was swallow  
the feelings she had and just robotically go through the day, go through what she now called life.

After she finished washing up, she pushed the bucket back under the table, making sure nobody  
would see it on first glance when entering the room. She put on fresh underwear and her light red  
linen dress. She used her hands to brush through her hair (she did own a hair brush but it had broken  
not too long ago. She would have to find a way to get a hold on a new one) and let her brown locks  
fall loosely on her shoulder.

Sometimes, people would approach her and call her pretty. Sometimes, people would approach her  
and promise her the clouds from the skies. Sometimes, she wondered why people even bothered her  
with all of those lies.

In her opinion, she was anything but pretty. She was not very tall, had brown hair and eyes. She had  
once met a German woman as she and her husband were passing through the town. She had had  
blonde hair and green eyes.

She was mesmerized by those eyes and incredibly jealous. She was not too fond of her eye- and hair  
colour. She found it too plain. Yet, she hated the thought of standing out too much at the same time.  
She also did not like the size of her chest. Most girls her age were a lot more ample than her. It made  
her feel inferior, especially if you added in her height.

Her father used to compliment her smile, saying how much he loved how she'd crinkle her nose  
whenever he could win a smile from her.

Nobody but her father had ever been able to really see her smile, though. She had stopped being  
happy the very day he passed away. Whenever she had to laugh or smile now, it was forced. It was  
fake.

Her whole persona had become fake at a certain point. But she did not care too much. Wearing a  
mask to deceive people made things so much more easier than actually having to confront them.

Smiles sold goods. Smiles made people leave you alone. Smiles kept you out of trouble.

Because, during these times, all you did was to sink into the crowd. To not stand out. Sometimes,  
when she was in one of her thinking moods, she came to the conclusion that that also indicated not  
to live.

So, to put things short, she was living without really living. Complicated much? Indeed.

After getting dressed, she decided it was time to push these thoughts aside for now and face  
whatever the day would have coming for her. Not that that would be too much – as always.

She slowly pulled open the door leading into the small hallway on the second floor and looked  
around. It seemed her mother and stepfather had already finished getting ready for the day and  
were now downstairs.

She could make out the faint smell of Barley Tea and heard voices coming from the small kitchenette.  
Sighing and bracing herself for the little show she had to put up with the two older people, she  
stepped out of the dark hallway and walked towards the stairs.

Slowly taking one step after another, she was down way too fast for her liking but then again, that  
was pretty much unavoidable with a mere eight steps.

Her mother, Christine, and her stepfather, Geoffrey, were sitting together at the large wooden table,  
deep in conversation. Now, you could not really have any kind of deep or meaningful conversations  
with her mother but then again, Geoffrey was no different. Her mother had never bothered to  
learn anything about anything. She knew how to cook, sew and few other things to do around the  
household but that was pretty much all of what she fathomed to do.

Geoffrey was a farmer. Or used to be. He now was leading a small business with his younger brother,  
Richard. Richard had taken over their family's old farm and Geoffrey would be selling the goods  
here in the town. So all her stepdad did was to bring the goods into the town and then have his  
stepdaughter sell them all day on the market place.

Additionally, Richard's wife was doing a lot of pottery and some other crafts – she was a lot more  
talented than Christine – so once a week she would also have to sell these.

Richard and Geoffrey split the income evenly. Geoffrey was a lazy bastard but he knew how to trick  
people into letting him have an easy life. He did know his way around numbers and he was a talker.  
Not with much knowledge to beckon that but he just knew how to talk people into doing what he  
wanted.

And that was also how he got a deal out of his brother that left him with half of the money his goods  
made while barely having to do anything by himself.

Ashley did actually like Richard and Melissa; they were a really kind couple. On the other hand,  
however, she barely had any opportunity to see them. The only occasions would be important  
holidays such as Christmas or Easter time. Other than that she was never allowed to see them, or  
really anyone else for that matter.

While she was still in thoughts, she could hear her mother's annoying and shrill laugh shriek through  
the room. Apparently, Geoffrey had told another of his "jokes".

God, the guy was anything but funny, Christine was too stupid to realize that, though and would end  
up laughing at anything he threw out just because she didn't know better. And of course, she herself  
would have to laugh, too.

Because you did not want to upset Geoffrey. He could be pretty violent, even more so if he didn't like  
you. And she doubted that there was any person in the world whom he despised more than he did  
with her.

They still hadn't noticed her. Or they decided to ignore her until she would make her presence  
known enough. Not that she cared either way, she hated having to spend any time with them. She  
could see they were already eating breakfast. Christine was a terrible cook, but then again they did  
not have the greatest choice of things to cook with.

Even though, unlike other people thanks to Richard they had a pretty decent amount of goods to  
choose from. Different kinds of vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots and cabbage. Every few months  
he would also let them have some beef, pork and cutlery. Whenever he ended the life of one of the  
animals he was breeding. Richard's farm was pretty big and thanks to him, the family lived better  
than they honestly deserved.

She was ever so grateful for Richard's existence. She wished she could live with him instead,  
however, that was but a dream.

Anyways, Christine's breakfast usually contained of some semolina, sometimes with milk, other times  
just plain water. On better days, she would also be able to serve some cut fruits with it. Whenever  
Geoffrey got sick of the "stuff" as he called it, she would also stick to making a simple soup. When  
they were sick of either, they would stick for some simple bread, butter and salt.

Whenever Ashley was lucky, they would actually leave some for herself. It was not the norm for  
sure. She would have to skip breakfast on at least three or four days of the week. During these  
times, Geoffrey usually allowed her to take one of the apples and eat them. Sometimes, however, he  
merely forgot and she was left without any.

It was not that she couldn't just take one of the apples even if he didn't tell her she could. She had  
tried before, a girl has to eat after all. When she had come home that evening, though, he had  
counted the money and goods as always. He noticed one apple was missing or the payment thereof.  
So after explaining him, she had eaten it for breakfast he had been furious.

Over a stupid little apple, yes. He had beaten her up and she had to go without any kind of food for  
two days. So it shouldn't be too hard to believe why she stopped trying to care for her own nutrition  
too much after that.

Christine would always cook for two people. Geoffrey and herself. If for some reason she made a  
little too much or either of them was not really hungry, that meant breakfast for Ashley. Otherwise,  
well that's life.

As she approached the chatting couple, their conversation died down for a moment. Rolling her  
eyes inwardly, she put on a fake smile and greeted them cheerily. "Good morning sir," she started  
nodding to Geoffrey, "mother." As she had her eyes on her mother she always had to ask herself  
where things went wrong. She, herself, had never done anything to wrong her mother, yet the

woman hated her with passion.

No use going there, she told herself before carefully pulling back a chair at the end of the table, the  
one farthest away from Geoffrey and her mother.

The couple had just nodded in acknowledgement, not wasting any of their breath to actually talk to  
her. Nothing new there either.

Today seemed to be one of the better days, though. Her mother reluctantly pushed a cup of Barley  
tea and a bowl of what looked like a simple vegetable soup towards her, accompanied with a very  
small slice of bread. Apparently, they had already eaten the rest of the bread. But she sure as hell  
wouldn't be picky, it was more than she had had in the past two weeks for breakfast.

Somewhat gratefully she slurped down her meal and the couple continued their conversation. As  
always, she did not pay any attention to what the two of them were talking about. She knew she  
wasn't the smartest person around but compared to them she sometimes would end up wondering if  
they even had any common sense.

Their topics usually evolved around late-night-activities, the lack thereof with couples they knew and  
other stupid gossip. Not her thing at all.

She watched the living room silently. The living room her dad had put up. There was a small fireplace  
on the left side of the house. In front of it was a sheepskin. She used to love cuddling with it during  
cold winter days in front of the heat of the fire when she was younger.

At times, her dad and her would just be sitting there and he would tell her fairytales or stories of his  
youth. Her grandfather had been a travelling merchant and because of that her dad had spent a lot  
of his childhood seeing many parts of the country. While he had loved it, he himself had preferred  
to settle down. But nonetheless, he had great stories to tell. He once even saw the king! Those  
memories would always make her smile. Regrettably, that was all they were – mere memories.

Geoffrey getting up ripped her out of her thoughts. It was time for her to leave for another day of  
standing on a market place, trying to sell the goods he was supposed to sell. Making the money he  
should be making.

The money, she would never see a single penny of at that.

She took her bowl and cup and took it towards the bucket they used to clean them up at least a  
little. Doing that, she then put them to the rest of the little amount of dishes they had, before going  
towards the door.

She put on her simple leather slippers and waited for Geoffrey to bid his farewell to Christine.  
Farewell for about ten minutes before they would be doing whatever it was they did all day long. She  
surely had no intention of ever knowing. Their late-night-activities were enough at times. God, and  
they were so noisy. Geoffrey always kind of grunted and her mother, well... She was a screamer. It  
had kept her up many nights and given her nightmares about as many times.

After Geoffrey finally let go of her mother – had had picked her up at one point to kiss her rather  
passionately – he finally approached the front door and left it with Ashley following him.

They went around the house to the small wooden cart that was placed there. He handed her the  
goods she was to sell today: around ten cabbages, a bunch of apples, some potatoes and two rather  
big bowls made of clay.

She carefully placed them into the wooden cart, very very carefully. If she broke anything she would  
just end up beaten up again. No thanks. Really, no thanks.

Once they were done, Geoffrey nodded into her direction before stomping back into the house.

He sometimes sent shivers down her spine. She actually had no idea how old the guy was. Her guess  
would be late thirties or early forties. His face was covered by a brown beard that started to go grey  
on some places. She honestly couldn't understand how her mother could like kissing him with that.

While he had a lot of hair in his face, there was a lot less on his head. Putting aside his receding  
hairline, his hair was rather short and just... ew. Geoffrey really hated washing his own body. That  
you could not only see but smell as well. Whenever his hair had grown a little it would look greasy  
right away. You could probably fill a barrel with the oil emitting from his body. Once again, ew.

His eyes were too close together and they were in a light-brown colour. His eyebrows were so thick,  
sometimes she thought he only had one – right across his face. His nose was a story for itself, too. It  
was long and big. And you could see his nose hair pretty much all the time. Gross.

He had thin and pale lips, his face sometimes reminded her of a distortion. His ears just made him  
look even more pathetic, they were waaaaay too big and looked like he could use them to fly off like  
a bird.

Giggling at the thought, she decided it was time to leave now.  
Gripping the two handles of the cart she had to use her whole body weight to move it from its spot in  
the grass. That was always the most annoying part. Once she had it moving, it was usually at least a  
little easier.

After she finally got the cart moving and down the grass, she carefully dragged it through the streets  
of the small town. The cobblestone working in anything but her favour.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey there !

Glad to see some people are as interested in this story as my old classmates were back in the day.  
So while I'm still waiting for my girlfriend to be back, I can update more frequently still.

That being said, here's a small one. I still do have two more sitting around but I'm not quite sure when I'll have time to write more, with work and hopefully my gf back soon.

Enjoy!

* * *

The small town of Oxleigh was, for its standards, bustling in the morning. You could see a lot of men  
and women alike rushing through the streets. The men mostly to get to their respective workplaces,  
a lot of women to do groceries in order to prepare the meals of the day and the likes.

A few people were similar to Ashley. Carrying or dragging goods of all kinds towards the small market  
place in the centre of town.

Considering its size, Oxleigh was a fairly busy place. A lot of travellers and sometimes even rich  
people would pass it on their way to bigger and more important places. That also helped in keeping  
the small market place fairly busy since there would always been some kind of stranger looking  
through what they had to offer.

Once or twice a year it did get really busy, though. Some of the higher ranked people in the  
Royal Family had a summer place not all that far away. So whenever they went there during their  
vacations, their staff ended up buying most of what they needed in good ol' Oxleigh.

Oxleigh was located in the South-East of England. It was Northern of Portsmouth and had a small  
outlet of the Avon river flowing nearby. There were a total of four entrances leading into the  
town itself. The rest of the place was surrounded by a sturdy, pretty high wall made of stones. The  
entrances led to the East, West, South and North. The Northern one marked the biggest one, though,  
and also was frequented the most.

Whenever she did end up leaving the city years ago with her father, they would use the Eastern exit.  
It led towards a beautiful grassy landscape and bordered on a deep, yet mesmerizing forest.

The people usually avoided going to said forest because rumour said it was haunted. Apparently, the  
ghosts of all the victims of a recent attack were buried there.

That rumour hadn't started coming up until about five years ago, though. By now, most people  
avoided going there. It made it very interesting to Ashley. She couldn't help but wonder which  
secrets lay beyond the maze of trees.

The Avon also crossed the forest. It pretty much parted it in the middle. The river itself also was  
located in the East of the town. A small road of dirt led into the forest, however, not very deep as  
people had stopped getting their wood from there. There was another, smaller, forest located near  
the Northern exit and that's where people went if they needed wood.

The dirt road that led into the forest made a fork around two hundred meters before reaching the  
forest. The other part of the road led into another town, pretty far away. It took around half a day if  
you wanted to walk there. Between the forest and the town itself was the grassy area she loved so  
much. Depending on the season you could find the most different kinds of flowers there. Oh, how  
she loved flowers.

If she could, she would go to pick up a different bouquet every day. The only thing that spoke against  
that idea would be her stepfather. He had made perfectly clear she was not to leave town at any  
time. He had literally told her that he would come to hunt her down if she ever tried to leave the  
place.

So, much to her regret, that was out of the question. The threat itself also included her leaving her  
designated spot on the market place. She had to stay until sundown unless she managed selling  
everything he had given her for the day. Which rarely happened.

If for any reason it did, she was to come home. Obviously, whenever she did sell everything, she just  
stayed on the market. He had long stopped checking up on her, being too busy with whatever it was  
that he was doing day by day and she just hated the thought of having to spend any more time at her  
wonderful "home" than necessary.

It wasn't that she did not enjoy her time on the market place. She liked watching people and their  
interactions. It helped her learn a lot about the people of Oxleigh. And its visitors as well.

You could easily see where a person was from, how their home was like and what kind of people  
they were from just watching them.

The market was in fact not very far from their house. Considering that Oxleigh wasn't too large  
altogether that made sense. They did, however, live near the Northern exit of the town. The closer  
you lived to the middle of town the easier it was for you to do any kind of business. That's why most  
of the people doing any kind of repairs or handicrafts could be found near the centre of town.

Several ways led towards the market place. Of course, there were the what you would call main  
roads. They were ways made of cobblestone, one coming from every exit/entrance of the town. So  
you could say there were four main roads made of cobble stone.

On the other hand, you had a whole lot of alleyways that led there as well.

The deeper you got into town, the fancier the houses got you could say. While the ones near the  
exits were mostly made of wood due to reconstruction processes some years ago, the ones near the  
centre of town were still mostly in tact.

They were pretty large two-story buildings made of wood and stone. Often, you had a one-or-two-  
step pair of stairs leading to the entrance. Two big windows on each side of the doors and another  
right above the door to offer enough entrance for the light. Ashley did sneak a peek inside of some of  
the houses at times. She was often too short to really be able to see through the windows, though.  
Especially if there were more than just two steps leading to the entrance.

From what she had seen, the interior itself seemed pretty similar to their own place, though. A small  
kitchenette, a living room with fireplace. She obviously had never seen how they looked like upstairs.

She did notice, however, that a lot of the houses just seemed more home-y. You could see some  
wooden toys lying around, sometimes there was a happy-looking granny knitting in a rocking chair  
with some balls of wool near her feet. Sometimes you could see children chasing each other or a  
mother feeding her baby girl or baby boy.

It just seemed... better than what she had. It seemed normal, how things should be. And it made her  
resent her own circumstances yet again. So she usually just pushed the thought aside. She had to.  
Anything that made her feel uncomfortable or resentful, she had to push away. There was nothing  
she could do about it anyway.

With the amount of houses, though, you can imagine that there were indeed a lot of alleyways. They  
were like a little maze within the town. She had always enjoyed taking those instead of the mainroad  
to get to the market place.

That sometimes was impossible with the cart she was currently dragging behind her, though.

She did find out which she could use with her cart over time. Sometimes, she only had to carry a  
couple of baskets full of goods and that gave her even more freedom with her small explorations.

Over time, she had learned more and more about the sneaky paths you could use to move around  
town. And she had witnessed quite a few stories about Oxleigh's inhabitants as well.

The arguing couple that left their windows open. The child that threw a tantrum because their sibling  
had broken their favourite toy. Sometimes, when she came home in the evening, she could see  
secret meetings between lovers.

One time, she had even seen two women secretly meeting in one alleyway before they had sunken  
into each others' arms. She had seen them for several nights before they suddenly had stopped  
meeting in the safety of the darkness.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen them since around two or three weeks ago. Maybe  
they had gotten caught. Maybe they had gotten tired of their experiment. She hoped they just found  
another place.

She was not the kind of person to judge others. She did not see the point in declaring someone filthy  
just because they loved whoever they loved. But pretty much everyone would agree with her in that  
aspect. A man loving a man or a woman loving a woman was "against nature" and "disgusting". It  
had to be "punished" and they had to be "led on their right way again".

Bullshit. But then again, there was nobody she would be able to ever talk to about her opinion,  
nobody she could argue about this point, nobody who cared to even exchange a few words with her.

So, as always she would be keeping these thoughts to herself.

Rounding another corner, she could hear that the noises of the market place were beginning to grow  
closer. Chatting people, shouting merchants, the sounds of animals, giggling women, coins being  
exchanged or falling on the ground.

It was always noisy on the market place, no matter which time of the year it was. She was secretly in  
love with the place. It was so easy to just dig into the masses of people and watch. Watch, observe,  
learn.

She left the alleyway and approached her usual spot on the market. Pushing the cart into the right  
position, she placed the different goods on display, so people would recognize what she had with her  
without having to ask too many questions.

As much as she enjoyed being on the market, she didn't like when people tried to push her into a  
conversation.

And it honestly was not an easy task to not have a conversation with the bored wives, lonely widows  
or chatty teenagers.

She usually managed to keep her cool, though. That was who she was, Ashley Davies, always  
watching, not one to talk much. In a way the complete opposite of who she had been a mere ten  
years ago.

Then again, ten years, a whole decade, were indeed quite a long time.


	4. Chapter 4

Happy birthday to meeee. Okay, I'm not too much a fan of birthdays, I did, however, want to post something. Because I can :D

And I decided to dedicate this whole thing to the most amazing woman I've ever met. And since it's for her I gotta finish it for sure - she scolded me before about my habit to forget to continue stories at one point. xD

Enjoy :)

* * *

_Ten years ago._

_It had been such a great day for little Ashley. Definitely the best tenth birthday she could have_  
_dreamed of! Her daddy had taken her, her old brother and her mommy out for a picnic. Her grandma_  
_Annie had been there as well. She had given her a pullover she had been working on for the past_  
_couple of weeks. She had loved it so much._

_Her elder brother Danny had even surprised her with a little wooden bird he had been carving under_  
_her dad's instructions. Her father had been working as a carpenter and taken an interest to the little_  
_art associated to wood many years ago._

_Her mother had also surprised her with a new and cuddly blanket. She had known that she got cold_  
_at night easily so the simple brown blanket made of wool had made her incredibly happy._

_And her dad had had the idea of going out for the great picnic they were currently all having. He_  
_knew how much she loved just sitting out there on the grass field and take in the scenery, playing_  
_and running the day away while listening to his stories from time to time._

_The day had been, without any exaggerations, perfect. So it was understandable how much she had_  
_dreaded going home when they had told her that it was time. She had begged and begged but there_  
_was no way around having to leave._

_Recently, news of a feud had been spreading so it was not safe to go out of the town after sundown._  
_And the sun had started to set quite a few minutes ago. A lot of thieves, and even some murderers_  
_had apparently made their way into the neighbourhood. People could never be too careful. The_  
_rumours were spreading slowly, but they did spread._

_A pair of rich noblemen had decided that either of them wanted to increase the land they were_  
_owning. Which meant in armed men going into places, attacking and trying to take over them._  
_Oxleigh itself was pretty much at the border between two counties but it had never been really_  
_considered an important place._

_So the people were likely to attack other cities first. There were, however, often some groups of_  
_lawless people who would enjoy taking a chance like this to cause trouble. To enrich themselves at_  
_the cost of others. So the authorities had decided to just make sure that nobody would get in and out_  
_of the town after the sun had set._

_It would be the safest way for everyone. Furthermore, they had some guards positioned on each of_  
_the gates. Most of them on the Northern gate since that was the place that would be taken down_  
_during an attack if anyone decided to cause trouble._

_Reluctantly helping her family pack up it wasn't before too long that they were heading back towards_  
_the town. Her dad had offered to carry her home for the day, since today she was the princess. How_  
_she had loved when her called her that. It was the absolute best!_

_So while he was carrying her on his shoulders she decided to take a look around. They had left the_  
_town through the Eastern gate so they had been on the large grass field between the forest and the_  
_town itself. She had wanted to go explore the forest with her dad and big brother but they had said_  
_that right now that was too dangerous due to the current circumstances._

_At first she was a little sad about it but when they had moved to her favourite oak tree that was in_  
_the middle of the field to sit under it and listen to her dad's stories, she had stopped pouting and_  
_finally continued enjoying the beautiful day._

_Now, as they were on their way back, she let her lingering gaze drift towards the woods. As she_  
_stared at the trees and wished to be able to run in between them, she suddenly saw movement._

_Intrigued by it she kept staring a little more. She could see a whole lot of dark figures moving in and_  
_about from tree to tree. She was a little confused as to why they would be running around there_  
_right now. She had been told that the woods were dangerous after all right now. Someone should_  
_probably go and warn them. She had no idea why they were dangerous, her family avoided the_  
_subject whenever she was around, but she didn't want anyone to be in trouble because they didn't_  
_listen._

_She saw them move large wooden machines through the forest. But as soon as she saw these, they_  
_had disappeared again already. She should probably ask her daddy why the people were playing hide_  
_and seek in the woods at such an hour. She should definitely ask him._

_Getting more and more sleepy because of the rocking movements from her father walking back_  
_home, she decided to tell him whenever they were back home._

_That definitely sounded like the best idea._

_While little Ashley was sound asleep on her father's shoulders, the rest of the family had continued_  
_making their way back home. Passing through the Eastern gate and after a quick talk to the guards_  
_about the current situation, they quickly made their way back to the house they had been living in for_  
_more than ten years now._

_Her mother and grandmother had started making dinner together and her father had put her down_  
_on the sheepskin in front of the fireplace, lighting up a fire shortly after._

_She had always loved napping there. She wouldn't be all by herself in the dark room – it scared her_  
_at times, even if her brother was sharing the room with her – so she preferred sleeping when there_  
_were people around._

_After they had put the food to boil, her mother joined her father and brother at the dinner table and_  
_they were engrossed in a light conversation. It was rare these days since recently they had mostly_  
_started about what her brother Danny would be doing with his life. He would be turning seventeen in_  
_about a month and he had yet to decide which profession he would be striving after._

_He had never told them but his father's love for working with wood had also been in his blood so_  
_he was planning to just join into his business. He hadn't told them yet because he wanted it to be a_  
_surprise, fully knowing that he would make his father incredibly happy with that decision._

_Her grandmother kept Ashley company. The old woman usually spent most of her time knitting while_  
_sitting in the rocking chair her son had made for her._

_She had lost her husband in the war a couple of years ago and ever since then it had only been her_  
_and her son. She had not been too happy about his decision to marry Christine. The woman was,_  
_without a doubt, beautiful. She seemed very fishy, though. The way she acted was fake. Her smiles_

_were fake. There seemed to be a whole lot more to her person than she was letting everyone see._

_But her son had been happy. And she had given her two wonderful grandchildren. Danny was just_  
_like his father. Wild, shabby blonde hair and a smile that could kill. They had that from her husband._  
_May he rest in peace. Her son also had one of the most soothing voices she had heard in a long time._  
_She was not quite sure whose genes were responsible for that, but it didn't matter to her either way._

_Sometimes, when he thought nobody was around, he would sing songs to his little daughter. And oh,_  
_it sounded so wonderful. Ashley had been his jewel, his princess. He would carry her on his hands he_  
_was so proud of her. She already felt sorry for the poor guy who would one day try to marry Ashley._  
_She could only imagine what kind of ordeal Raife would be putting the poor guy through._

_She really hoped she would still be around once it was time for that. She put her hands in her lap,_  
_momentarily stopping the scarf she was knitting for her granddaughter and took a look at the curled_  
_up sleeping beauty._

_Just like her father, the girl had a wonderful voice. Whenever she sang along with her father, you_  
_could easily hear it. Sometimes, when she was taking care of the kid while her parents and brother_  
_were out for work or otherwise busy, she would ask Ashley to sing for her. While she did not know_  
_too many songs yet, she would always comply her grandma's wish._

_Talking about the sleeping beauty, she stirred a little under her grandma's gaze and turned on her_  
_back, placing a small hand on her stomach. She slightly opened her mouth and cute little snoring_  
_noises came from her mouth._

_She still worse the smile she had been wearing throughout the whole day. Grandma Charlotte_  
_sincerely hoped that the child would be able to wear a smile like that forever. She was such a good_  
_child, she never wanted her to have to feel any kind of harm._

_Ashley did, however, have quite the interesting sleeping habits. She usually tossed and turned a lot._  
_Sometimes she would speak in her sleep. Sometimes she was fighting monsters, sometimes she_  
_dreamed of being a princess._

_At times, she even suddenly started singing in her sleep._

_Other times, though, nightmares would make her cute little face scrunch and the girl whimpered_  
_or even cried. Whenever she noticed that she would be there to gently stroke her head so all the_  
_bad dreams would disappear. Not long after the affection, Ashley's bad dreams would usually turn_  
_around and she kept sleeping peacefully._

_Looking at how amazing and smart her granddaughter was, Charlotte felt sad that she had so very_  
_little possibilities for her future. She surely was smarter than her brother already and she was a lot_  
_younger. She also knew Raife had been teaching her how to read and she could sing better than_  
_anyone else in the family already._

_She was extremely curious and could never get enough of learning about things. But during these_  
_times, even the smartest and most amazing woman would still just end up being someone's wife._  
_Charlotte did not like the thought but there was nothing anyone could really do about it. Maybe_  
_somewhen, in the far far future things would be different._

_But much to her regret, Ashley was born into a time where she would never really be able to live out_  
_and up to her full potential._

_She could still do her best to make sure that whoever she would end up with would respect her_  
_enough to not suffocate her talents, though. She was sure that Raife thought the same about that._

_Hence her suspicions that whoever wanted to marry Ashley one day would have to go through some_  
_of the most terrible ordeals imaginable._

_Chuckling at the thought she got back to knitting the scarf for her little granddaughter._

_Ashley was still lying on the sheepskin dreaming about the beautiful day they had. She was so sound_  
_asleep that her family decided to let her sleep while they were eating dinner. She did eat plenty_  
_during the picnic after all so she probably wouldn't be too hungry anyway._

_As Raife was about to pick up his little princess to carry her to her bed, a loud sound stopped him in_  
_his tracks._

_He got to the window at the back of the house and stared into the darkness, trying to figure out what_  
_was happening._

_A crash. Followed by another. And another._

_Shouting and screaming people._

_Something was definitely wrong._

_He dashed towards the door and tried to get any kind of information as to what was happening._  
_People were running around the town, hastily rushing from one place to another._

_When a young man with a torch in his hand passed his house, he grabbed him by the shoulder,_  
_demanding answers. "Kid, tell me what's happening here?"_

_The boy must have been around the same age as Danny. He looked scared, terrified, as he spoke up:_  
_"It's bad, sir. We were guarding the East gate and were just about to switch shifts. Suddenly, like out_  
_of nowhere they came rushing out of the forest," the kid was fidgeting, like he didn't have a lot of_  
_time and was unsure of what exactly was happening altogether, "They just came and attacked! They_  
_had arrows, burning arrows! And a lot of swords and, and, and..."_

_"And what kid? Get a grip!" Raife was usually a patient man but this sounded like it could harm his_  
_family. He needed the information and he needed as much of it in as little time as possible._

_"They have battering rams. They're trying to tear down the city walls," he stopped as another_  
_crashing sound was creeping through the night, "and it looks like they're almost done. Everyone_  
_is gathering at the market place to try holding them back while the women and children are being_  
_guided towards the next town, down the Western exit."_

_"Thank you kid, I'll be there shortly," with that he let the boy go. He knew everything he needed to_  
_know. And he knew he needed to act fast if he wanted to make sure everyone would be out of the_  
_danger._

_They were living pretty close to the Eastern gate and if their attackers really did manage to break_  
_through it would only be a matter of time before they would try to tear down their house and do_  
_God knows what to Ashley and Christine. Maybe even his mother._

_He stormed inside the house and gave orders to Christine and his mother to quickly grab some things_  
_they needed and get ready to get out of town as quickly as possible._

_"Danny," he had started saying, "the men are meeting at the market place in order to hold them_  
_back..." He fell silent for a moment. He hated the thought of having to ask his only son to risk his life_  
_in order to fight those people back. Before he could continue to even think about how to break the_  
_news to him, Danny had interrupted him,_

_"It's okay dad, I'll be coming, too. We have to defend mom, Ash and granny after all." He smiled. That_  
_was his son._

_After a few minutes, they had gathered everything they needed in order to leave the town quickly._  
_He gave his mother instructions as to where they were supposed to be heading. He knew nobody_  
_knew their way better around this area than his old mother. She had grown up here after all._

_Ashley had slept throughout the whole situation. Still peacefully resting on the sheepskin she had no_  
_idea of all the things happening around her. She had been a very very heavy sleeper. This was the_  
_night that habit was to change for forever._

_Raife knelt down next to his youngest child, "Ashley, Ashley honey."_

_She slightly stirred and slowly opened her eyes to find herself looking into her father's worried face._

_Mimicking his look she spoke up, "Daddy, is something wrong?"_

_"No princess, everything is fine," he forced a smile. He didn't want the child to be scared, "but we_  
_have to leave, we have to leave really fast."_


	5. Chapter 5

I'm baaaaaack. Thanks for the kind reviews! I likies them o:  
I can imagine I threw up some questions but I promise they will be resolved within the next few chapters, as to why and how she lost her grandma, why the heck her mom is with Geoffrey and all that.

Aiden will be appearing soon, too. It's still gonna be a while before Spencer will be in the picture but I promise she has one heck of a roll :)

* * *

Ashley had no idea of what exactly had been going on. One moment they were peacefully enjoying and celebrating her birthday with an extremely tasty picnic and now her father was carrying her out of the house in a rush.

Something was definitely wrong. She couldn't help but wonder if it was in any way related to the people she had seen in the forest.  
It scared her, it scared her so very much.

"Daddy, daddy!"

Raife didn't respond right away, too busy trying to figure out what exactly to do.  
"Daddy, it's important!"

"What's wrong sweetheart?" His voice sounded strained. He was already exhausted before he really had been doing anything to really help them out.

"Earlier, I saw people in the forest. But I was so sleepy I didn't really think anything of it. Are they bad people, daddy? Are they the ones making all of the noise here? Is it my fault?"  
Little did she know at that point that this would be the very last conversation she would ever be having with her father. Little did she know that she would end up blaming herself for a very long time for not having told her father that she had seen the people in the forest.  
Hating and blaming herself for having been so stupid and naive. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself for the incident for a very long time, if not forever.

"Don't worry about it honey. You were sleepy and you probably just saw an animal or maybe something else running through the forest," he bit his lip thoughtfully trying to remember if he had seen anything when they were on their little trip to the grassy fields. But nothing came to mind.

Ashley let out a whimper, the guilt already making its way through her small head. Had it been her fault? Had she really caused the people in this town a lot of trouble? She gripped her father's shirt a little tighter as the thoughts just kept rushing to her head.

"Shhh, shhh," his soothing voice tried ripping her out of her thoughts, "nobody would ever blame you even if you did see something. You had no idea that anyone was really trying to harm anyone here. We never told you so you wouldn't have to worry your pretty head. So don't overthink anything now, cutie."  
He bent his head down and planted a soft kiss on her head before putting her down.

"Okay, mother. I want you to take Christine and Ashley to the Western gate and leave town until someone notifies you it's safe to come back."

Charlotte eyed her son suspiciously. She didn't like the idea of having to part ways here. It never was a good thing, "Raife, you and Danny should just come with us. I don't want either of you to be harmed in any way."

Smiling at his mother and her worries sadly, he could only shake his head, "You know we can't do that, mother. It would be unfair to all of those other men – young and old – trying to defend this place and buy you guys time so you can escape without being harmed."

She understood where he was coming from. She really did. But she did not have to like it just because she understood. She hated the thought of having to leave Raife and Danny behind. There was no way she could just accept possibly having to sacrifice her own flesh and blood just so she could escape safely.

"Raife. I do know that you want to protect us but please just come with us. If not for me, then do it for little Ash and Danny. They need their father. And from what it sounds like...,"

Another loud crash followed by a lot of yelling and screaming interrupted her, "from what it sounds like there's just too many of them, Raife. There's no way the few men we have in town here are going to be able to make a difference. Please, let's just go."

Oh how he wished, he could just comply her wish. But he knew he just couldn't. He looked over at his son. He, too, looked very scared. And he didn't want his son to be in any harm. He was about to speak up, but Danny interrupted him again, "I know what you're about to say dad and don't even think about it. I want to protect them just as much as you do. I'm old enough to make this decision for myself. And I want mom, granny and Ashy to be safe. If everyone just went along with their families, we would all sooner or later be trapped. They would catch up and slaughter," his voice got a little more silent, "and possibly rape the ones they get into their hands. We have to hurry to make sure they have enough time."

There was not a moment Raife had been prouder of his son. He knew nothing he would be saying would change the kid's mind. As stubborn as his father.  
He laughed heartily at his son's antics and turned back to his mother, "You heard the kid, mother. I do agree with him. I want to protect you and Christine, and my little princess," he smiled down at Ashley, "so don't worry. We'll be back before you even notice we were gone. And then you'll complain at how much of a show we put up when in the end we didn't do anything."

He laughed at his own joke but inside he had a feeling that this was probably the last time he saw his family. He could not explain why but given the situation it did not take some big general to see that the situation was bad. Very bad indeed.  
But they needed to buy them time so they could escape. So at least the rest of his family would be safe.

"Now go," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

He stepped in front of them and kissed his mother on the cheek. He then turned to Christine and took her into his arms. She seemed overwhelmed with the whole situation. She didn't dare to speak but her eyes told him volumes. She was scared, she was worried, it all was already too much for her.

He gently kissed her lips and whispered a soft "Everything will be alright, don't worry" into her ear before turning to his little princess.

Ashley had started crying the moment she realized that it most likely had been her fault that everyone was in such a terrible situation. That it was her fault that her Daddy and Danny would be in danger just to help her out.

Her dad knelt down in front of her and fished something out of his pocket. "I didn't mean to give it to you like this, honey. But your old man saved up for quite a long time and had to ask quite a few of his connections for help to get you this."

He took out a simple silver necklace with an as well silver A-shaped pendant on it.  
"I hope you like it," he was smiling now. It was a sad smile. Ashley knew this was farewell.  
She, as well as her dad did not exactly know why, but deep inside she felt it. And it was everything but a pleasant feeling. It scared her, terrified her and all she wanted to do was to drag her father and brother with them so they could hide together.

He carefully put the necklace around her neck and marvelled at his little girl for a while.  
"I hope you like it," he couldn't help but feel proud at his little girl. She was incredibly smart and you could already see that one day she would be a breathtakingly beautiful woman. He just hoped that he would be there to fend off all of the horny teenagers and men who would surely be trying to seduce his little princess to make her theirs.

Ashley nodded feverishly, currently not able to form any words.  
"Promise me to stay strong. Promise me to take care of yourself and your mommy. And granny Charlotte of course." He pulled her into a hug and felt that she was sobbing even more now.  
This was goodbye for good. And nothing he could say would be able to change that fact.

He had to leave. The noises were coming closer and even if he could only hold some of them back for a little, it would be more time. More time for them. Them wasting any minute more here also meant that they would lose that time trying to get out of here.  
So he did what he had to do. He broke the hug with his little girl and gently pushed her towards his mother.

He exchanged a silent nod and knowing smile with both Christine and his mother, both on the verge of tears now as he ordered them, "Now run!"  
He grabbed Danny by his sleeve and dragged him towards the source of the noises.

Her feet were hurting. Her lungs were burning. But she couldn't stop. She, her mom and grandmother had been running for what felt like forever now. And they hadn't even reached the exit of the small town yet. They were surrounded by other people, mostly women and children, who were trying to escape the small town as quickly as they possibly could.  
Most of them were barely paying any attention to their surroundings which often ended up in people running into each other, people being thrown to the ground or being minorly injured in some way.

Before this day, she had never noticed just how many people apparently were living in Oxleigh. The stream of women and children seemed endless as they were pushing through the gate, keeping one another from quickly escaping the place.

If they had just slowed down a little and let others pass through, it wouldn't have been nearly as chaotic as it was. Ashley found her hand being taken by her mother who, too, participated in the mindless pushing and pulling through the mass. Her grandma trailing right behind them.

Behind them she could hear the men fighting. Agonizing screams and cries were still filling the air. They were mostly drowning in the screaming and yelling she found herself into right now, though.

At times, another crash could be heard throughout the whole town which resulted in the people panicking even more and the situation getting even more out of hand. She could hear women and children screaming. It also seemed like someone got into an argument, cussing and cursing at a person who had fallen to the ground. She hoped the person was alright.

It took them a while but eventually they managed getting out of the town. Her mother and her were on the small road leading to the next town, still surrounded by other people but it was a lot less chaotic there. The people in a rush just ran ahead while others travelled a little more slowly.

Still holding her mother's hand she looked around quickly. Her grandmother wasn't with them anymore. She was nowhere to be seen.


End file.
