Ashallia sat on a stool in her Dad's old workshop, carefully filing the edges of the intricate metal piece she'd just created. She wiped her tear-stained cheek with the back of her hand. She always missed him more when she was here, in his space, but especially now. She felt so alone. Liam had dumped her, and so had all her 'popular' friends the moment they realised he had. And her closest friends had resented her the moment she began dating him. She missed them too. Alena was always so bright and infectiously upbeat, and Jacinta had always understood her better than almost anyone. Anyone except her Dad. She looked around at all of his old tools and workbenches, and wiped another falling tear. Dating Liam had been the worst mistake of her life, and she hated him for it. She'd fallen hard for him though, or at least for the charming facade he'd put on to get her to date him in the beginning. She hated him for that, too. 'Ugh
After spending the rest of the early hours driving around, familiarising himself with the layout of the small town, he sat waiting in his car for the rental agency to open. He'd booked a private house off a homeshare website, just a few hours ago, hoping to be discreet. Two days earlier, he'd also booked a cheap motel for several weeks from now. His target, Henrik Leighton, owned the larger hotel, and both of the motels in the town. He knew he'd be checking the bookings for anything unusual, especially at this time of year. With any luck, he'd have a few weeks before Henrik expected him here. The property manager was late, and looked half asleep. He guessed they didn't appreciate the early start this far into the off season. He felt little sympathy for that, given the odd - and long - hours that he usually worked. After finally getting the keys, he headed for the lush-looking holiday house. Having deliberately chosen one close to the w
Ashallia turned down the alley behind Pete's Place, heading towards the back entrance. She'd managed to walk here without seeing anyone she knew, thankfully, and hoped the night would continue that way. She left her things in her locker, then put on her apron, and tied her curls up into a loose bun. Charlie was the chef on tonight, and he smiled at her as she walked through the kitchen, towards the front of house "Hey Ash, how's things?"She forced a smile, with just a "Hey Charlie" in response. Charlie was a decent guy, and always friendly to her, but she didn't want to face the questions tonight. After a quick hi to the other kitchen staff, she grabbed an order pad and pen, tucked them into her apron pocket, and headed through to the front, where her heart dropped to her stomach. Liam and his friends were seated in one of the booths, along with Kacey, who she'd found him with at Paige's party, on Saturday night. That was when he'd dumped her.
After leaving the holiday house, he'd meandered through the town, always taking the quieter, darker, back streets and alleys, slowly working his way through the centre and out towards the less affluent area of town.He knew Henrik owned several other businesses in this area, and he'd hoped to get close enough to hear, or see, something useful. And it seemed he was in luck.There was a mighty crash from one of the warehouse loading docks, followed by several smaller ones and some yelling. He melted into the shadows - a peculiar ability of his kind - where his presence was almost completely imperceptible. Silently, he slipped closer until he was in proper earshot, "..needs to be cleaned up and out by tomorrow! Henrik'll be checking back Friday, and if he sees this mess your ass is in it!" Some more loud noise followed, along with some muttering and swearing, before all went calm again.He smiled, seeming satisfied. Friday. Perfect. Slipping away, he se
Pete's was pretty quiet tonight, so Ashallia worked through her tasks pretty quickly and with few interruptions, albeit with continued stares from the man in the corner.Kacey had come over and tried to order her around once, with a sly smirk on her face, but Josh had stepped in quickly, which had quickly wiped it off her tanned, sulky face.Ash was sure Kacey would have loved to find a way to make her work life horrible, but neither Josh nor Pete were giving her a chance. She was grateful to them both.Pete pulled her side a couple of hours before close, after Liam and Kacey, and their friends had left, "Hey kiddo, I've gotta head off. Charlie's in charge for close, but I'm only a phone call away if you ever need me, okay?"She smiled warmly at him, "Thanks Pete, I appreciate it." He smiled back, then left through the kitchen. Only moments after she'd heard Pete's loud bike pulling away, the front door opened, and she immediately
Now her panic really set in, but as much as she tried to kick, scream, claw, and bite, she was held firm. The others just laughed more, one of them reaching to open the back of the car.She suddenly remembered something her Dad had told her, and pressed the heel of her workboot against his shin bone, and dragged it down hard, right along where the flesh was thinnest. He yelped and released her, grabbing at his leg. She almost fell, but pushed herself up and ran as hard as she could, while they were caught off guard.They were surprised enough that she managed to get a few metres from them, only to suddenly slam into what felt like a solid brick wall. It knocked the air out of her and she stumbled back, looking up, right into the eyes of the creepy guy from the corner of the bar, who'd spent the night staring at her.And she froze. The expression on his face looked absolutely murderous. The four sleazebags seemed to think so too, she heard them
The moment he saw her step out from the kitchen, he knew she was responsible for this nightmarish sensation he'd been feeling since he woke up.It was coming from her, and drawing him to her. At this distance, it was taking all too much effort from him to resist its powerful pull, and that kept him constantly on edge.What kind of being was she, that she could cause this strong an effect on one like him? On a human, he could understand, they likely wouldn't even sense what was happening. But he was far from human, and despite her appearing so innocent and unaware, it seemed the same was true of her.Both furious and intrigued, he sat silently, watching her closely all evening. He noticed her face when she saw the people at the other table, noticed the other server making sure they didn't bother her, noticed those sleazebags hitting on her - which only made him angrier, both at them, and that whatever she was doing made him feel somehow protective of her.
An hour had gone by before she moved again, getting up to wash her face and drink some water, her hands still shaking as she took off her work clothes and left them on the floor. She grabbed one of her Dad's old band tees from her drawers, pulled it on, and climbed into her bed, exhausted.She hadn't bothered setting an alarm, and slept, mostly restlessly, until late morning. Rubbing at her eyes and yawning, she reached for her phone. There were a bunch of new notifications from her senior year's group chat, and a message from Josh, checking she got home okay.She paled, thinking of the night before. She almost hadn't, but she didn't want to with worry him with it, 'Yep, all good. Thanks Josh! :)' she wrote back, before sighing and sitting up. Hearing a lot of noise downstairs, she grimaced. Obviously, her step dad, Kevin, was home today. This would be awkward.Getting up and pulling some leggings on, she went to the bathroom, and then downstairs, he