Sprinting as fast as her sinewy legs could carry her, Ashley ran away from her home. Her long jet-black hair flew behind her while some of it covered her pale heart shaped face. The blackness of her hair brought out her sky blue eyes and made them glow in the starry evening. Wind was pushing against her face, chapping her lips. Several goosebumps appeared on her body, making her skin feel scaly. Ashley heard heavy footsteps behind her. She turned to look back but saw no one. Finally, after reaching a local park, she headed to a deserted area.

Ashley tried resting on the cold, itchy, wet grass. It didn't work. The night was too dark and frightening. Wind was howling and pushing trees as it passed by. All the animals that brought the park to life were silent, a little too silent. Ashley was alone in the park. Anxious that she was going to be seen by someone, she hid by a group of trees.

Since Ashley couldn't go to sleep, she reflected on what happened earlier that day. In her mind passed the same image of the livid, drunk woman who murdered her father. There was no use in returning home because she knew she was next on her list. The angry woman would slaughter her just like her father.

"Why did my life take this ghastly turn?" Ashley asked herself. She tried to find an answer to her question, but no answer she thought of helped solve her quandary.

A moment later, Ashley felt a strong breeze push against her face. Her lips were so chapped that when she tried to move them they got cut. She decided to go search for a source of water to salvage her lips. The night got bitterer and darker by the minute. Ashley walked on the path the moon highlighted for her. Every step she took was painful. The coldness of the air had reached her bones.

While trying to keep warm, Ashley noticed a small shack looking house. She was mesmerized by it and forgot everything she was doing. Walking towards the shack, Ashley found a bronze antique key. It was lying on the hard ground as if it was patiently waiting for her. Ashley picked up the key and assumed it belonged to the house. Arriving at the front door, Ashley noticed the shack looking house was very run down. Tan paint was peeling off the exterior of the house. The windows were cracked and filthy. Ashley also noticed there was an atrocious stench circling the house. It smelled of rotten eggs. After inhaling the foul scent for too long, Ashley decided to enter the home.

"Now isn't that convenient?" Ashley asked herself rhetorically.

The door was unlocked. Ashley entered through the threshold and noticed the room had very poor lighting. She felt a sudden chill as she closed the door behind her. From what Ashley could see there was nothing pleasant about the room. Blood stained tools were hung on the walls behind large glass cases. The room reeked of metal and a lifeless body decaying slowly over time. It was awfully quiet except for the buzzing noise of the lights and Ashley's heart beating. Ashley couldn't stand the silence. Every moment of it made her more anxious.

She decided to search the room to maybe find what was causing the dreadful stench. File cabinets were the first item she checked. All she found were bloodstained documents like ID's, birth certificates, and a list. The list she found caught her attention. Ashley looked through the list and saw several names written on it. She found her father's name crossed off. Although she was puzzled about the list, she still kept on reading it. Looking down the list, she found her uncrossed name near the bottom of the page.

Several minutes passed when Ashley heard a slight noise. Surprised by the sound she turned quickly. Nothing was there. Ashley was convinced that she needed to be more wary. With this in mind she went to a secluded corner in the room to see if she could find more information on the documents she had found.

Before she could start searching for anything, Ashley heard the same noise she heard before. The turning of the doorknob was loud and screechy. Ashley knew the door was going to get open so she hid inside one of the large cupboards next to her. She kept the cupboard door ajar so she could see who entered through the doorway.

A loud door slam was heard when the door got closed. There was a tall womanly figure entering through the threshold. The woman was slender yet muscular. She wore all black. Something that caught Ashley's eye was the woman's platinum blonde hair. Ashley recognized the woman's hair. In fact, she knew who the woman was. It was her malevolent stepmother.

The sight of the woman made Ashley cringe. Ashley knew the woman could smell her fear. She wanted to hide but she recalled that she was still hiding inside the cupboard. Carefully observing the cupboard Ashley noticed there was a keyhole by her foot. Ashley remembered the bronze key she had found earlier. She quickly searched for the key in her jean's pockets. Inserting the key in the keyhole she heard a footstep.

"Oh no!" Ashley thought. "She found me."

Ashley managed to get the secret passage way opened. Looking down she saw a ladder and she decided to climb down desperately. Once she reached the bottom Ashley ran through the dim lit path that followed. She turned her head to look back. Ashley saw a tall figure following her. Coming to a dead end in the path Ashley stopped running. There was nowhere else to turn. Ashley was trapped.

"I see you have nowhere else to go," declared the woman as she walked towards Ashley. She was slowly reaching into her purse to get something.

The sight of the woman now made Ashley fill with rage. Memories of her childhood passed through her mind. None of them were satisfying. The woman trashed every single one of them.

"Why did you kill him?" Ashley inquired the woman.

There was a short silence. A blank look appeared on the woman's face as if she were shocked by the question. The woman then smiled and broke the silence.

"You really shouldn't be asking me this question. Then again, think I'll grant you your last wish. It all started out when I met your father. Everything was fine until I found out he had a daughter. At first I thought 'okay I can deal with it', but you proved me wrong. Day after day I tried to turn you into a decent person. Your father didn't help me at all. I was alone and it made me mad. You kept rebelling and that made it more difficult," explained the woman.

As the woman kept telling her story, Ashley looked at the object in her hands. The woman held a gun. Ashley tried to keep her facial expressions neutral so the woman didn't suspect anything. She tried thinking of a plan to take the gun away from the woman.

"Finally my plan took action earlier today. You would've been amazed at how good it felt to kill him, to see his last facial expression full of pain. Pain that I felt when he didn't support my ideas or me. Too bad it's over now. Although I'm still not satisfied, and I won't be until I get rid of you."

At that moment the woman pulled the gun out of her purse and pointed it Ashley. There was a short silence. Ashley then thought of a plan and kicked the gun right out of the woman's hands. The woman was surprised. Both of them tried running to get the gun. Ashley got hold of it first. She started running when all of a sudden the woman appeared out of nowhere.

The woman then tried pulling the gun away from Ashley's hands. Neither one of them wanted to let go of the gun. There was so much pulling and grabbing that one of them pulled the trigger. A loud POW was heard and then a long silence followed. Ashley stared at the woman. She was dead. Astonished, Ashley threw the lifeless body to the ground and made sure it was true.

A feeling of accomplishment grew within Ashley. Now she knew she was safe and that no one else could get hurt. Ashley exited out immediately and locked everything with the key. Outside the dreaded home were a beatiful sunrise and a new beginning to Ashley's life.