Ashley sat frozen on the edge of the mattress.

Her fingers clutching the rough blanket around her chest as she watched Alexander step into the bathroom.

The sound of the running shower filled the small motel room.

Offering a strange, grounding comfort against the lingering panic in her chest.

She looked down at her bare legs.

Every muscle in her body ached.

A harsh reminder of how violently she had fought against the grease-stained hands of the bar owner.

Her cheek throbbed with a dull, rhythmic heat.

Yet, as she looked around the quiet room and then toward the locked door leading directly to the garage, the terrifying weight of the morning began to lift.

Replaced by a profound sense of exhaustion.

Ten minutes later, the bathroom door opened.

Alexander stepped out.

A fresh black t-shirt hugging his frame.

His damp hair slicked back.

He looked completely refreshed.

Devoid of the chaos they had just escaped.

"How are you feeling?" asked Alexander, his eyes scanning her pale face

"Better" whispered Ashley, her voice still small and hoarse "Just... everything hurts, my face, my ribs... it feels like I got hit by a truck"

"That bastard didn’t hold back" stated Alexander, walking over to the small table and picking up his car keys "But you’re intact, that’s what matters, do you want me to go buy you some clothes, or are we heading straight to your place?"

Ashley swallowed hard.

Looking down at the blanket covering her knees.

The thought of walking out into the slums naked under a sheet made her stomach twist.

But the thought of staying in this motel room any longer made her feel trapped.

"Can we just go to my house?" asked Ashley, her green eyes looking up at him, filled with a sudden vulnerability "My mom isn’t home at this hour, I can just slip in, get changed, and... I don’t want anyone else to see me like this"

"Fine" said Alexander, nodding toward the connecting door "My car is parked right inside the private garage, wrap that blanket tightly around yourself and follow me, no one is going to see you"

Ashley stood up unsteadily.

Her legs trembling beneath her weight as she tightly wrapped the heavy motel fabric around her body like a protective cocoon.

She took slow, painful steps.

Following Alexander as he unlocked the door and stepped into the dim, enclosed garage space where the clean Mercedes was waiting.

He opened the passenger door for her.

Helping her slide onto the leather seat before walking around to the driver’s side.

The engine purred to life with a low, smooth rumble.

As Alexander backed the car out of the garage and steered it back toward the decaying streets of the lower district, Ashley leaned her head against the cool glass of the window.

She watched the gray buildings pass by.

Her mind spinning with questions about the mysterious, sharp-eyed guy who had saved her life.

Completely unaware of the bloody massacre her own brother had just left behind in that grimy bar.

The Mercedes cruised smoothly through the cracked, potholed streets of the slums.

The high-end suspension absorbing the worst of the terrain.

"So, what were you even doing in a place like that?" asked Alexander, keeping his eyes on the road "How old are you, anyway?"

Ashley snapped her head toward him.

Her green eyes flashing with sudden irritation as she pulled the motel blanket tighter around her shoulders.

"Why do you care?" muttered Ashley, her voice sharp "First you save me, and now you’re interrogating me? I don’t need a lecture from a stranger"

"It’s not an interrogation" stated Alexander, his tone remaining perfectly calm and even "It’s just that you look so young, and you’re beautiful, I honestly don’t understand what you were doing in an awful place like that, surrounded by such ugly people"

He wasn’t just saying it to flatter her, either.

Marcus’s sister was a striking beauty.

She had a cascade of golden hair that framed her face perfectly.

And her eyes were a warm, green color.

Standing in the middle of the grimy, decaying lower district, she looked like a gorgeous, fragile doll—the kind of girl you instinctively wanted to shelter and protect for the rest of your life.

Ashley’s defensive posture softened slightly at his words.

A faint flush creeping up her neck.

Though she quickly looked back out the side window to hide it.

"I’m eighteen" muttered Ashley, her tone dropping some of its bite "And I wasn’t planning on hanging out with those disgusting pigs, I just wanted a drink, I was having a terrible morning, okay?"

"A drink? At nine in the morning?" asked Alexander, a subtle smirk playing on his lips "That’s a pretty rough start to the day"

"I skipped school" confessed Ashley, her fingers digging into the fabric of the blanket "I just... I couldn’t stand being in that classroom for another second, everything at home is a mess, school is a mess, and I just wanted to disappear for a little while, I didn’t think the guy running the place would drug my drink the second I turned my back"

"The slums are dangerous, Ashley" said Alexander, turning the steering wheel smoothly to navigate a sharp corner "People down here smell vulnerability from a mile away, if you look like you’re running away from something, they will take advantage of it"

"I know that!" snapped Ashley, her voice cracking slightly with emotion "I live here, remember? I know exactly how terrible this place is, I just... I made a mistake, I thought I could handle myself"

"Clearly, you couldn’t" stated Alexander directly, his dark eyes flicking to her bruised cheek for a split second "If I hadn’t been there, you wouldn’t have walked out of that backroom"

Ashley swallowed hard.

The harsh reality of his words hitting her like a physical blow.

She looked down at her bare feet on the floor mat. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

A tear threatening to spill over her long eyelashes.

"I know" whispered Ashley, her defiance completely evaporating "I know what would have happened, that’s why... I really am grateful, even if I sound like a bitch right now, I just don’t know who to trust anymore"

"You can trust me" said Alexander, his voice dropping into a deep, reassuring register as the car approached her neighborhood "I already told you, you’re safe now"