Never The Same

Chapter Nineteen

I woke up at seven expecting to be alone, but Asher came out of his room about twenty minutes later. I tried to pretend sleep, but I was too late to fake it, so I just sat up.

"Are you always up this early," he asks.

"Yeah," I say.

He just nods his head up and down continuously. I was afraid that he would be angry, but he wasn't. He was kind of calm actually, like it really did not bother him. All he did was nod his head and continue to make coffee.

I sat there in silence, acting strange just like Asher, as if something were different. I couldn't quite tell what, if there was even anything that had slightly changed. So I didn't bother to spend anymore time on the subject.

"So Emma, here's the thing," he says in his stern voice. "I'm going to have to trust you today, can I do that? I mean, unless you want to be locked away for the day."

"No, no. You, you can trust me." I feel like an idiot for stuttering.

"Good." He smiled and walked towards me with the coffee. He set it down on the little coffee table and proceed to walk my way. He kneeled down really close to me and I tensed for a moment, but not for too long.

"Will this hurt?" He laughed, then took out his knife and cut the duct tape from around my ankles. He got onto his feet then grabbed me and helped me up. I turned around and he released my hands from the cuffs.

"Only if you let it," he mumbled. I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but I was still too afraid of him to ask, so I thought it'd be better if I didn't.

He brought over the coffee and sat on the opposite side of the couch as usual. I was ready to ask him 'why today' but then I was distracted by door opening. Asher immediately got up and greeted Carter at the door. My heartbeat kept getting faster and faster. I felt like I was going to pass out.

"Come on in," Asher says.

"No, I can't stay. Just came to say hi and drop off," Carter responds.

I tried to avoid eye contact, but I turned my head and looked over at him. He glared at me with his evil eyes and I bit my lip, looking away. I glanced back after noticing the diaper bag around his shoulder.

"Hey Avie," Asher says.

"Dada ba da," I hear a little voice shout with a little body running through the door.

I see Asher out of the corner of my eye. He bends down and opens his arms for a hug. Little Avie runs and stretches her tiny arms around him as well as she can. Carter sets the bag on the coffee table and steps close to me.

"You better watch it, Emma," he whispers. "This kid is important to me."

I just nodded. And he nodded back. Then he left. My hear stopped until I heard the door slam shut. This wasn't anything close to what I was expecting when he came in, but he didn't stay for long, so I guess it's okay.

"Who is this?" I still sat on the couch, hesitant to move or go anywhere.

"Technically, she is my daughter. Biologically, she is Carter's." He smiles at me and I smile back. He looked kind of cute holding a baby. "Come on over."

"Uh, sure." I got up and kneeled down by the girl who was clinging to Asher's side.

She was this tiny little thing with a golden color hair and dark brown eyes. She looked like she could just barely be over the age of one. Her clothes looked too big on her, as if she were still in a six to seven months child clothing still.

Asher guides her forward and introduces me to her. She takes a moment to examine me and then she opens her mouth really wide and lets out the cutest laugh and smile. Avie waddles my way, but loses her footing and trips. I help her up, hoping she's not in anyway hurt. She just scrunched her nose and laughed again.

"She is so adorable. Wow. She's yours?"

"It's complicated. About two years ago, Carter hooked up with this girl, you know and got her pregnant. Along came Avie, no worries there. Until he found out she was married, with kids. She insisted to keeping the kid, but just saying it was her husband's. Carter was mad that he lied to her, so he said he wanted partial custody."

"But how'd she end up with you?"

"Carter didn't really want the kid, so he always brought her to me. Ummm.... Can we talk about this later?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Great, I'll go get the toys from the garage."

There I was, all alone with this kid. I wasn't tied up or anything. Nothing was holding me back from leaving this cabin and running away. Nothing stopping me from going home. I wasn't even scared that he'd find me again. But I didn't leave. I couldn't. I had opportunity and I had motive. Why in the world would I want to stay here? But I still couldn't get up and leave.

Asher came back in and put the toys down. I thought he'd come sit, but instead he went into the kitchen to make breakfast. I almost forgot that I haven't eaten yet. I'm not quite used to these kind of surprises.

"I'm making omelettes today, I hope that's okay. It's Avie's favorite."

"Yeah, sounds good."

I spread out a mat for Avie to play on and she picked up a toy to play with. It was this little 20 piece Mickey Mouse Clubhouse puzzle. She dumped out the pieces on the floor. I expected her to just pick them up and put them down, or at least stick them in her mouth. But she didn't. She separated the different pieces and proceeded to put them together.

I picked up one of the pieces and tried connecting it to the wrong part. "Does this one go here?"

"No." She laughed and took the piece from my hand to place it in the right spot.

"Did you see that?" I looked at Asher, with a big smile, until I realized that this is Asher and I am Ellie. And this isn't how this is supposed to go. I'm not supposed to be happy here.

"Yeah, I did." He smiled back at me, cutting the peppers and tomatoes.

He was happy with this life. I wasn't supposed to be.

Because he was Asher. And I was Ellie.

And many people, like Emma and Brooke, have died because of this. And many people, like my mother and best friend, will suffer since I was gone.

Because he was Asher.

And I am Ellie.