Ashes of Sunlight

Ash awoke to darkness. Not the darkness of night, but the darkness of a room with no windows. Feeling a body lying next to her, without being able to see, made Ash panis and struggle out of the bed, to land in a heap on the floor. She had to find some sort of light, find out where she was, and how to get home...no, not home...back to her motel room...what had she done last night? She was still dressed, in what felt like her own clothes, but there was no way to see!



Just as Ash began to crawl around the floor, trying to get a feel for what was in the room and the dimensions, a match was struck and put to a wick, the small candle flame showing Dwayne's sleepy face, before his shadowy form drifted around the room lighting other candles until the perimeter was dancing wicks and melting wax and Ash could see the room, although not as brightly as she would if someone had flipped on the light. Wait, she was in the cave. The Boys' cave...and it didn't have an overhead to turn on.



Looking back at the bed, Ash found it empty. "Where's everyone else?" she asked, looking around the enclave/room the boys had brought her to to rest. "They're all up and about. They didn't want to wake you, and I volunteered to keep you company. Feeling better?" Dwayne asked. Ash stared at him blankly before remebering her breakdown and flushed a bright red. "Yeah. Sorry about that." "Yeah, well, sometimes the poison just needs to come out. You ever feel unsafe with any of us - ANY of us, and we'll give you room. If you bump into someone who gives you the creeps, get me or one of the other boys and we'll handle it. You're part of the family now - if you want to be - and we take care of each other. None of us are gonna think you're weak or anything - we all got our own shit." Ash smiled at wayne's little monologue and walked over to give him a hug, drawing in a deep breath of the lingering scent of cigerettes and motorcycle oil and smiled.



"So, where are the boys? You said everyone was up, but you didn't say where. Are they in the cave?" Ash asked, bouncing out of Dwayne's arms to explore more of the cave. "Entrance is that way, if you wanna go back to the fountain. Might want to explore later. I don't know where they at, let's go see." Dwayne replied, pointing in the opposit direction Ash had started in. The walk back to the fountain was short and Ash was distracted during the walk to see quite a few tunnels leading off the one they were walking in, some more like rooms from the hotel and others more like cave pathways. "wooooo!" Paul screamed from above the fountain, hanging from the chandelier and swinging it back and forth. "Hey Babe, you're up!" Paul noticed Dwayne and Ash's entrance first, and jumped off the chandelier to wrap her in an enthusiastic hug. Also in the cave were Laddie and David - no sign or sound of Marko. "Hey Paulie!" Ash said, welcoming the hug. With Paulie's arm around her waist and her hand tucked into one of Paulie's back pockets, Ash turned to look at the three boys lounging around the room. "Morning Laddie. Hi David. Where's Marko?" David smirked and replied, "He was hungry, went out for a snack. Should be back soon."