Quote of the day : Fear cripples your ambition and inner will to fight, so let go of your fears.

    "Who is there? Is that you Humphrey?" She went stiff as she heard a feminine voice caught through the quiet in the house, the quiet she had disturbed by making the pan fall. Damn, she had to be clumsy on a night like this. She got even more scared as she realized that she would soon be caught, her father was going to definitely kill her if she ruins his plan. She heard soft steps coming towards the kitchen, her hand unconsciously tightened around the gun.

   She heard the soft steps draw closer to the kitchen, her heartbeat had now picked up its rate, it was beating at a very odd speed. She thought of running, but that would only alert the person to danger, she could stay and let the person know she meant no harm. Damn her foolish father for leaving her alone in a stranger's house, if he could do what he came for alone then why had he brought her along.

      "Who are you?" The woman asked as she put on the light. Soft glows of light fell on her, she looked at the woman before her, sea green eyes and dark waves for hair. The woman was wearing a green apron, and underneath the apron she could see that she was wearing a day dress. She was very pretty, and obviously Cassandra, no wonder her father hadn't been able to let her go. "I said, who are you?" Cassandra asked again her eyes going to the gun in her hand. She knew she looked like an assassin, the dress, the mask, and the gun in hand. There would be no way to make her believe that she meant no harm.

     "I mean no harm, I assure you," she said with a shaky voice. Cassandra cocked her eyebrow at her, this woman was definitely fearless, she wasn't even scared when a stranger was in her house with a gun. That must be because the stranger with the gun was the one shaking.

     "What are you here to steal, or lemme guess, you are one of Alfred's many mistresses and you want to kill me to get your way." She was very angry as she said this.

      "No, I don't even know your husband, I swear to you I mean no harm." Ashley said, raising the gun up above her head for emphasis. 

      "I don't think so," Cassandra said and dipped her hand into her apron pocket to fish out her phone, she watched in horror as she dialed a number eyes glued on her. "Hello, is this the police?  Yes, I have an intruder in my home...address..."

   Before Cassandra could spill out the address Ashley fleeted across the kitchen and snatched the phone from her hand, the phone fell, shattering on the marble tiles. "I assure you, I'm not an intruder."

      "Then who are you, the owner of the house?" Cassandra said grabbing hold of the gun in her hand. Cassandra was able to easily take it from Ashley's hand because her hold on it wasn't strong enough.

     Ashley tried all means and got hold of the gun once again but Cassandra wasn't letting it go, they both started struggling for the gun.

   "Please, let's just stop and talk this over, I swear I mean no harm." Ashley said breathlessly trying to maintain her hold on the weapon.

     "Really? Talk it over, you expect me to let you kill me. You see I have had enough of Alfred and his mistresses, maybe if I teach you a lesson the rest would leave." Cassandra said angrily. The woman was very angry, seemed as though she had had a bad day, and her father was to blame for all the problems she was having in her marriage.

     "I'm not his mistress, I can assure you of that," Cassandra made a move to throw Ashley off her feet but she countered it, the woman seemed to be very strong. "I'm..." Whatever she had to say got stuck in her throat as she heard a gunshot.

    A gunshot, from where they were, she looked between her and Cassandra and saw that they both still had hands on the weapon. She wasn't hurt, that could only mean it was...Cassandra slumped, falling onto the floor, eyes filled with terror.

   Ashley stood there, over her, shaking as realization dawned on her. She glanced at the gun once again to see that her hand was firmly on the trigger. "Oh no, I killed her!" She said.

   Fear filled her up as tears began to stream down her eyes, behind the mask. Her hands shook with the gun as the sound of the gunshot kept on resonating in her ear.

   She had killed a person! She had just killed a person! She murdered a woman! The words kept on playing in her mind like a mantra. She couldn't think straight as realization of what was to become of her dawned on her, she would definitely go to jail, if she is unlucky enough, she might get killed. Regret filled her, she wished she hadn't answered her father and let him come there on his own.

     The sound of hurried footsteps woke her up from her reverie, she watched as a guy cladded in blue tee and jeans ran into the  kitchen. His eyes immediately went to Cassandra on the floor, he bent over her and patted her cheek with fright. Ashley stood there watching the sight as guilt ripped through her heart.

      "Mum, mum..." His voice was hoarse as he called onto her. She knew then that he was definitely the boy her father always talked about, his son. The only issue was that he wasn't a boy. "Mum wake up."

    His eyes darted up at her slowly, he looked at her gun that was still in her shaky hands, then up at her. She felt shivers run through her as she came in contact with his sea green eyes, so similar to that of Cassandra. His eyes were filled with bone chilling hatred, it had her even more scared than she already was. She had kinda gotten used to been looked at with hatred since that was like her father's daily dose of insanity, but this was different. It was from a total stranger, a stranger whose mother she had killed.

    He rose up slowly from where he was crouched, his green eyes still on her, fear ran through her as she knew what would become of her if she stayed there. So she did what any sane person would have done, she ran.

    Ashley ran out of the kitchen, not caring to know where she was going, she just ran to where her feet carried her. She turned back to see if he was following, and he wasn't. She stopped at first wondering if he gave up on finding the person who killed his mother, then she heard it, the shrilling sound of an alarm. Soon heavy footsteps ran into the house, this was it, she was done for. She found herself in a secluded part of the house and walked as stealthily as she could, it was hard to, with her heart pounding several beats in her ears. She felt a hand grip her arm and she was shoved hard against a wall. She looked up with fear knowing she had been caught, only to come in contact with her father's hazel eyes. His eyes was hard, and angry, full of hatred, which wasn't new.

     "What have you done bitch!" Her father said quietly, but she could still hear the anger in his tone.
 
       "I didn't mean to," she stuttered out with fear.

      "How dare you, how dare you do that to my Cassie, how dare you!"

   Shit, he knew. She wondered how he found out so quickly about what she had done. Fresh tears spilled out of her already blotchy eyes, "I'm sorry father, I didn't mean to. Help me."

     "No! You will regret this," he said with promise in his tone, and he turned back. She grabbed hold of his hand before he could walk away.

     "Father, don't leave me," she begged. Damn, She knew he was her only hope.

     "Let go!" He said jerking his hand off with venom dripping in his voice as he left her. She watched his retreating back.

     "Father, don't leave, I can't do this alone, please don't leave." She followed behind him hastily, She knew if he left her alone, then she was officially a dead meat. She followed him as he went back the same way they had come in, through the underground staircase that lead to a secluded side of the house, close to the fence. She hurriedly got in with him.

   She could hear distant shouts as several footsteps moved about the house, definitely searching for her. They passed the dark tunnel and soon they made it out. Once they were out instead of her father helping her up the fence as he had done before, he climbed on his own, ignoring her.

    "Father," She called stretching her hand towards him. "Help me." He looked at her for a long time Before jumping over, ignoring her again. Pain speared through her heart as she watched him jump.

  It took several minutes of standing before she realized that her father had actually left her, a part of her prayed he would come back to help her, but he didn't. She turned back and saw the side door close to the fence they had passed open and two men came out. She knew they would be able to sight her fast, her auburn hair was definitely going to be the end of her, the light shining on it made it all the more worse. She could have sworn that the place wasn't this lit when she and her father had first arrived . She stopped thinking and looked at the fence, she gauged it and knew she would end up with either a broken leg or arm if she tried jumping it. It was better than dying, wasn't it? So she climbed up slowly, thankfully the architect of the house gave the fence some lumps or maybe it was design she couldn't care now.

    "Over there!" She heard a man's voice. She knew they must have seen her, so she jumped hurriedly landing on the floor with a yelp of pain. She sat up slowly and saw that her right hand had bruised badly. She stood up and her legs wasn't broken, but it hurt a little, it was nothing she couldn't endure. So she picked up speed and continue running through the scarcely lit area, the houses as she said before weren't that many in this area. So she continued running. Her father had left with the car, what a wicked soul.

    "I ran away," she said gravely staring at Chloe's attentive face. She hated retelling that event, it felt like she was reliving it all over again. Greg's stormy eyes full of hatred felt so hard on her, just as it had this night.

    "You ran, so how did you come about the girl who died?" Chloe asked with concern.

     "That girl, she...she died in my place." She blurted out remembering now that she hadn't just killed a person, but two persons.

     "How?"

   "While I was running, the guys were still after me, and police had also arrived on the scene, so I had hid myself at a secluded corner. That was when I saw her, she was dressed in a nursing uniform, so I guessed she was a nursing student. What I noticed about her was the similarities we had in hair, she had auburn curls like me, but hers was a lot more wilder. That was when a thought came to my mind."

     "What thought? What did you do?" Chloe asked wide eyed, with fear.

    "I...waylaid her."

   "You what?"

  She watched as the lady came closer, getting nearer to her side, she snuggled closer against the wall so she wouldn't get a whiff of her. This alley was a bit dark, and the police still hasn't caught up with her so she still had time, but not too much. The lady kept on glancing backward at God knows what. She readied her gun as she drew nearer, once she was close enough she grabbed hold of her and pinned her against the wall.

       "Who are you? What do you want?" She asked in a very scared tone. That was when she saw her eyes, she had chocolate brown eyes and so her plan definitely wouldn't work.

     "I have a gun," she said shakily raising her gun up. Damn, she was really scared.

    The lady sized her up and smiled lovingly, like really, what's with people and not fearing a girl with a gun in hand.

      "You are the one with the gun, and you are the scared one." She said calmly, and she gently tried to take the gun out of her hand but she held on to it tightly.

    "Either way, I'm still the one with the gun." Her breathing was labored with fear and several other emotions.

     "What do you want? Let me guess, you are the one who the police are looking for." The lady pushed her off as she stood by herself. "You are hurt," she said glancing at her bleeding arm, "let me help you." She dipped her hand into her bag.

     "I don't need your help."

    "Then why did you stop me?" She asked even more calmly, "there is fear in your eyes, I can see it, what did you do?" She asked again, and she still didn't answer her. She was tongue tied, when she saw her at first she had planned to get her as a cover up since they had similar hair, but now she couldn't do anything. She was far too scared, and this lady was far too calm and gentle. "You want me to help you escape right."

   Her head shot up instantly as she heard this, hope flashed in her eyes, she looked at her with expectant eyes.

      "I'll do it." The lady got busy unbuttoning her shirt.

     "Do what? What are you doing?" She asked very scared now.

    "The only way I can help you now is if I dress up as you and lead those guys away, don't you think?" She said cocking a brow. This lady look no more than her age, but she had an aura of maturity around her that she definitely couldn't match.

      "Why would you do that, you could get killed." She said finally coming to terms with the idea that she couldn't bare to have another person's blood on her hand. "I will just..." She got lost for words and sat down on the granite floor, resting her back against the wall. She dropped the gun on the floor in front of her, deciding that she had had enough of the destructive weapon to last her a lifetime. She soon felt the girl sit down beside her, she must be crazy if she was still there.

     "I want to help you, because I want to perform one last good deed before I die," the lady said. Her voice was sad so she turned to look at her and she was also spotting a sad look. "According to my doctor, I'm suppose to die yesterday, but for some reason I didn't." She gave a dry chuckle as she said this, but there was obvious hurt in her eyes. "It seems God wanted me to help you, I have little to no life left in me, and you still have a whole lifetime ahead of you. So I will like to help you."  The lady gave her a reassuring smile. "And please don't ask questions as to why I'm dying, I won't like to talk about it."

    She stared at her curiously, she had questions, she wanted to know what disease she had. How long she had it for, and all that, don't mind her, she was curious by nature. "But still..."

    "Stop, I want to do this for you, I don't know you, but I have seen your eyes, filled with so much fear and pain. It looked like you have gone through a lot, you shouldn't die without atleast having a taste of the good things in life." She smiled lovingly at her and added. "I don't know what you did but promise me one thing, promise me you will confess it all one day and take the blame for what you did because that is the only way you can truly be free."

   "I promise you."

  She remembered saying to her before they both exchanged dresses and she left with the gun, she remembered how not quite long she heard a gunshot, she knew then that she didn't make it. New tears streamed down her eyes as she felt guilt rip through her all over again, she had also failed the girl, she didn't fulfill her promise. After that she had been so scared and waited for things to die down before she had ran home, and hee father wasn't there. She has discarded the clothes, but the mask she had forgotten to take off, and she let it. Why?

     "I know how you must feel Chloe," Ashley said bending her head in shame. "I know you must hate me, I know how disgusted you are of me. So its okay if you say so." She all but expected Chloe to do all this, but what she did shocked her. Chloe's hands went around her in a hug, she shot her head up instantly. She pulled out of the hug and stared into Chloe's eyes to see her crying. "Why Chloe?"

   "Why? Why am I not hating, or judging you?" Chloe asked in a raspy voice. "Its because you have already judged yourself enough to last us both a lifetime, so tell me why will I judge? When all you did for the past two years was judge and hate on your own self, how do you expect me to do the same Ashley? How?" Chloe burst out crying now falling into Ashley waiting arms.

   She was happy, she was glad Chloe doesn't hate her, happy that for some stupid reason Chloe is still stuck with her. In all the fears she felt creeping up her heart she was glad Chloe was still there.

    "I can't judge you Ashley, I can't."

     "Thank you." She found herself saying, and they both just sat there in each others arms crying until they both drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter fifty two.
Mary Aden.