Space Between a Blink and a Tear

[Ashley Benson]

There was so much blood

Ashley didn't know where it had came from.  The numbness that gripped her entire body made it impossible to sense if she'd been cut herself, or if the crimson on her hands glinting in the moonlight was from someone else.  It had been so long since she'd seen them., the faces in the mirror lurking behind her.  They were featureless, only soulless, black eyes and narrow slits for mouths.  Nothing more than pale figures that always lingered nearby.  Figures that spoke without moving, whispering threats and warning Ashley of impending doom.  There was no trigger, nothing she could find that made them appear.  They acted of their own volition, the demons in her mind made real.

So much blood

Damp hair hung over Ashley's face, shrouding her features.  The sweat dampened locks clung to her cheeks and neck as the terrified sobs wracked her body.  She was barefoot, clad in a simple t-shirt and pair of thin pajama bottoms, both of which were now covered in dirt and patches of red had soaked into the fabric.  The faces were still there, she knew it.  Even though she'd seen them a hundred times the horror still squeezed her chest every time.  She didn't dare lift her eyes to them, though she felt their presence.  Felt them standing around her their black, lifeless eyes staring through her soul and peering into her very being.  Her body quaked with fear, an all consuming terror that held grasped her psyche with long, icy fingers.   "Go away."  Ashley begged in a soft, yet haggard whisper.   Her head bowed, eyes clenched so tightly it was a wonder the tears were still able to stream down her blood smeared cheeks.  "Please go away."  

The sound of approaching footsteps sent Ashley into a near panic.  She reached out to snatch the kitchen knife that had been sitting in the dirt in front of her for protection and, in her haste, wrapped her fingers around the blade.  With a cry of pain at the fresh cut in her skin, Ashley dropped the knife and scurried away from the shrouded figure that loomed over her.  Her feet kicked the dirt as she pushed herself across the ground, only stopping when her back pressed against the trunk of the tree.  "No.  Please."  She whimpered, bringing her arms up to cover her face.  She was exhausted.  There was little mental or physical fight left in her.  All she could do was curl up into the smallest ball possible and hope whatever it was that was stalking her would eventually give up and leave her be.

"Just leave me alone."




Devyn Solway

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn had been enjoying her little stroll out in the woods, like she often did every time she would sneak out of her room and hang out in the woods. She could not help it, her sleep was always so weird from being able to take naps at any time during the day and then managing to get some sleep during the night. She would stay in her bed the whole night; even if she was awake, when Vera was staying the night in her room. Yes, she would get up to use the bathroom, grab something to eat, or a video game to play until she felt sleepy again but she stayed close to Vera.

It was something she was growing used to since Vera often spent a lot of time staying the night in her room. They might as well been roommates, but neither of them seemed to have bothered about getting a room change and Dev was okay with that. Her thoughts on Vera were broken when she picked up an interesting scent; someone out in the woods with her at this late and dark time of night. Perhaps someone else who was more on the nocturnal side of things. Of course Dev moved to investigate, unable to just ignore who could be out here. She could hear sobbing, and soon saw the figure that the sounds and then the order to 'go away' came from.

She could see in the dark after all, so it was not that hard to make out that the person was female, but their hair was covering up the features that would mainly tell Dev who it was. The smell of blood, the girl curling up on the ground, as she kept crying. "It's okay. I don't bite, well unless someone wants me to or...never mind that, I won't hurt you." Devyn said, failing at the comforting thing at first as she kept moving closer to the girl. She spotted the knife on the ground, almost letting out a growl but managed to keep it down as she carefully moved to get closer to the girl. Once closer, the scent was a familiar one.

"Ashley?" Devyn asked, not one hundred percent certain because this person could have just spent a lot of time around the girl she had met on the bad kids camping trip. Didn't really matter who it was, because they were hurt and clearly in distress. "I won't hurt you promise. I'm just here to help, it's impossible for me to leave a damsel in distress." Devyn said, chuckling a little as she tried to put that joke out there to help relax the situation as she carefully moved to kneel down in front of the girl.

[Ashley Benson]

"Ashley"

The sound of her voice cut through the deafening white noise. Ashley's eyes snapped open and searched the dimly lit area for the source. Slowly she unfurled herself as she became aware of a rapidly approaching presence. As if in a daze she looked all over before her gaze finally settled upon the girl kneeling in front of her. There was no recognition in Ashley's piercing blue eyes as they widened. She tried to scoot back away but found herself pressed against the tree once again. Clutching her now bleeding hand to her chest, Ashley's head shook. "No, please." She whimpered between sobs. Ashley's eyes were locked on Devyn, though the other girl was not who she was seeing. A scarred, disfigured visage loomed over her, drawing closer, reaching out to her with a clawed hand.

"NO!" The scream erupted from Ashley's lungs as full blown panic set in. She tried to scramble to her feet but to no avail. Her feet slipped in the grass, still wet from the latest round of the sprinklers, leaving her with no choice but to try in vain to fight off her attacker. Weakened from the physical and mental exhaustion, as well as the dizzying blood loss, Ashley flailed miserably against Devyn. There was no coordination, no reason, no intent other than to escape from an unseen assailant. Ashley wasn't a fighter. Her mind was gone leaving behind only pure instinct and crippling fear.

[Devyn Solway]

It had to be Ashley, it smelled like her, and while she clearly was a mess it still looked like her but it didn't seem like she recognize Devyn. Hell it didn't look like she recognized where she was or what was going on. It reminded Devyn of hos Vera look when she was having one of her nightmares which made her think that Ashley was having some kind of PTSD breakdown. She didn't know what this girl had gone through but she did have a feeling that there was something dark there; just not dark to the point that the girl looked so broken and terrified of her.

It always pained Devyn when someone looked at her with those eyes. Like she was going to hurt them, like she was a monster, even if she was probably doing a bit of projecting there. She pushed back how she personally felt and focused on the terrified girl in front of her to try and think how to help her. She could still smell blood and Ashley was not calming down in the slightest, despite Devyn trying to use words. She was never really good at words, which meant it was time to get physical, which was probably going to make things worse but she didn't know what else to do beside to get a hold of the girl and get her to fully look at her.

"I won't hurt you, promise. But I'm not going to back off." Devyn responded, now spotting the blood on the girl's hands and figured that the girl possibly cut herself and the knife that was a few feet behind them. Dev just lowered herself closer to the ground, much like a wolf would when it was showing that it was not a threat as she edged closer to the girl, not even worried about the blood. "It will be okay, I'm here to help." Devyn said, still speaking in a soft tone as she reached out to carefully touch's Ashley's shoulder. Her main concern was getting Ashely to settle down a little bit but if she didn't Devyn was going to do what she had to do in order to tend to Ash's hand so the girl would not keep bleeding and have to deal with an physical problem then whatever was going on in her mind.

[Ashley Benson]

The moment Devyn's hand touched Ashley's shoulder, the panicking girl jumped. It was as if Devyn had snuck up on her. She let out a surprised shout, hands coming up to shield her face in fearful instinct. Slowly the wide orbs of blue that stared, terrified of Devyn, began to fill with a sense of recognition. The horrifying visage of the unknown being that had been haunting Ashley shifted and melted into the familiar, concerned face of the other girl.

"D-Devyn?" Ashley stammered, eyes still wide as she peered up to Devyn. Her entire body began to quake as she became more aware of her surroundings. "Oh god, it happened." She was mortified. The fear was quickly replaced with embarrassment and shame. A myriad of emotions flashed across her face until she utterly broke down. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she lunged forward, throwing her arms around Devyn and clutched her tightly. "I'm s-sorry." She stuttered out the words between heavy sobs. She was exhausted, mentally and physically. The terror that had consumed her still weighed heavily on her mind, clinging to her every thought.

"Did I hurt anyone?" Ashley pulled back just enough to look back up to Devyn. The concern shone plainly in her eyes. That had always been her biggest fear. She could handle losing touch with reality. It was torturous and would forever keep her on edge and anxiety ridden but, in the end, the knowledge of allowing someone else to come to harm due to her condition was fare more than she could bear.

[Devyn Solway]

Ashley jumped as soon as Devyn managed to touch her, but that didn't cause Devyn to back off. if anything it just made her move a little slower as she reached out to yet again to and touch Ashley to try and sort of hold the girl in order to calm her down. The kind of holding of just her arm for now until the girl calmed down enough before Devyn would think of trying to pull her in for a hug. Thankfully Ash did start to calm down, her eyes showing that she recognized who was before, and even said her name. "Yeah, it's me." Devyn responded, giving a friendly smile as she reached to push Ash's hair out of her face so she could see her better.

The other girl started to shake, freaking out as she talked about 'it' happened again, and Dev had no clue what it could be other than a mental breakdown. Ash's emotions quickly changed and soon the girl was practically throwing herself at Devyn in the form of a hug. Devyn had fully planned to hug the girl so was alright with this and didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around her friend back. "Don't be, it's okay." Devyn responded, wondering if Vera would mind if Dev said she had to deal with this sort of thing with her girlfriend. Perhaps leave out that bit and let her know that this was something she was used to dealing with, since she had dealt with it outside of her girlfriend as well.

"Not that I'm aware of. Just yourself, which you probably just got some blood on my shirt but I planned to use it to wrap up your wound anyways." Devyn said as she smiled and tried to reassure Ash that it was alright. She did pull back from the hug a big more in order to remove her shirt and reached for Ash's injured hand so she could get a closer look at it. "Do you mind me asking if you have...like a form of PTSD?" Devyn went ahead and asked. If she was certain what she was dealing with she felt a little more confident she would be able to help more.

[Ashley Benson]

"I saw them." Ashley said, almost in protest. "There were there. Right there." She insisted, her head shaking. The tears hadn't slowed and she could taste the salt from them on her lips. She swallowed hard, looking up to Devyn. She knew what had happened. Knew it hadn't been real. Or had it? Her head shook again as she let out a low whimpering sound and dropped her gaze to the ground. "The shapes." She spoke now with the resigned voice of a young woman who's own mind had beaten her into submission. There was no panic or distress in the words, only sorrowful reluctance. "They wanted to take me into the dark."

Ashley gave a short nod of her head as Devyn responded. She was, at least, thankful it didn't seem as though she'd hurt anyone in her hysteria. There was some semblance of solace Ashley could take from that though it was apparent her mind was far from settled. She swallowed again as Devyn asked the one question Ashley dreaded hearing. She didn't blame the other girl for wanting to know what, exactly, it was she was dealing with here. She must have sounded like a madman talking about the things that went bump in the night because, for all intents and purposes she was mad. Regardless, it didn't make it any easier to talk about.

"No." She said after a long pause. A thin smile had touched her lips, though, when Devyn brushed the hair from her face. It was a subtly affectionate gesture that served to pull just a bit of Ashley's mind from the chaos swirling around it. Her eyes turned upward to Devyn once again. "I..." She didn't know how to explain it and struggled for a moment to find the right words. "I don't work... right." She managed to get out while bringing her uninjured hand up to tap lightly at her temple. "Sometimes I see things."

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn was tempted to ask who she saw, but Ashley was not done speaking so she figured she would soon find out. She listened closely, wanting to grasp what the other girl was saying so she could do her best in order to help her through what her mind was doing to her. Devyn kept the girl close to her, reaching out to try and wipe away some of those tears that kept pouring out of her friends eyes. It always physically hurt in Devyn's chest when someone was crying around her and sometimes it caused her to shut down. Go cold and act numb to it but she knew she had to be there for her friend so ignored what he body wanted to do in order to avoid emotions.

"It's okay. I won't let them take or hurt you. You are safe, you got that?" Devyn asked, trying her best to make sure that Ash knew that she had her back and was not going to let anyone hurt her. Devyn didn't know what happened in her friends past but assumed that someone had to have hurt her in a bad way or possibly that she was the one doing the hurting. If it was the latter, it would have had to be an accident because there was no way someone like Ashley would hurt anyone on process, Devyn believed that in her heat; call it 'animal’ feeling even.

She dared to ask the question that many did not want to answer, especially if it was true or something in general was 'wrong' with them. Ashely seemed like she was going to tell her, but clearly was struggling to get it out. She was going to say if Ash was not ready to tell her, that they could wait and try another time to talk about but Ash spoke up. Saying that she didn't work right and said that she saw things. Ah, okay so it was a type of Schizophrenia or something along those lines that involved hallucinations. "Oh, you have medication for it right? Or have you not been taking it...if you have any?" Devyn asked.

She knew that medicines for such a thing were indeed made and it would be no trouble for the school to give her such a thing. On closer look at her friend’s hand, she knew that it needed to be cleaned and some of those butterfly stitches should be good enough. All of that was back in her room, which meant getting Ashley there. For now Devyn moved to use her removed shirt to wrap around Ash wrist to work on at least getting the blood to stop flowing out of it.

[Ashley Benson]

Ashley nodded hastily, though Devyn's words did little to comfort her. Somewhere her mind screamed at her that the visions weren't real. That the creatures that lurked in the darkness, waiting to slink out and steal her away only existed in the deep recesses of her shattered psyche. She knew it was just her condition taking hold and yet it was impossible to deny how real it had been. She could still feel the hot breath of one of them on the back of her neck. There was no escape from the demons that lived in her mind. No chance and no hope.

Fighting back the sobs, Ashley quietly allowed Devyn to look over her wounds. When the cloth found the large gash in her palm she winced and sucked air through her teeth, though she fought back the urge to pull away. The cut on her chest wasn't nearly as deep. She didn't know how she'd gotten that one, though she imagined she'd probably had an initial run in with the blood smeared knife that was now sitting in the grass, slick with a crimson that glinted in the moonlight.

"There's no cure." She Ashley said, her tone soft as she lowered her head. Her hair fell into her face this time, shielding her from having to see what was sure to be a judging look from Devyn. "The medication helps but doesn't stop it." Ashley was nothing if not astute in her treatment. She meticulously watched her diet, managed exercise and sleep, all the while sticking to a very strict and aggressive medication schedule. And still there was nothing she could do to fully prevent these breaks from happening.

"I'm cold, Devyn." She said, knowing how pathetic and weak she sounded. It was as if the teenager had been replaced by a scared, lost little girl who just wanted to go home to mommy. In a way, though, that's who Ashley was. She could fight until she had nothing left. She could take every step imaginable and would still find herself rendered helpless beneath the weight of her subconscious. "Can you..." She paused, hesitant to ask what she seemed to think was such a monumental favor. After swallowing hard she managed to force out the question. "Do you know Ellen?" It was a shot in the dark, even if it was obvious Ashley hadn't regained full control over her own mind just yet. "Ellen Banks? Can you take me to her?"

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn was not really good with words, she never words. It was just so much easier to just pull someone in close and let her body do the talking through a hug or whatever she felt like the other person needed. Right now it just felt like Ash needed a hug and to just have some sort of thing that was real in order to be a tether to reality. Then again, Devyn never really had to deal with someone who saw things and didn't have PTSD so this was new. However; it didn't change her mind on how she felt about the other girl and if anything it just made her want to help Ashley out even more.

To be able to say that despite not really knowing what to do, that she had gave it her all and would hopefully be of some help. Right now she knew that she had to at least clean Ashley's wounds and clean Ash up in general. She didn't want the girl to end up with an infection or getting sick after her trip in the woods. Dev didn't say anything and just gave a small nod when Ash said there was not cute. Well that sucked and it just made it that much harder for Devyn to think up what was the right thing to say in this situation. "Is it because of your power or have you always had to deal with it?" Devyn went ahead and asked.

She figured that worse case she could talk to the side-effect specialist at the school to see if he could create medication that would be able to help her out more. She spotted the other wound on her friend and figured a small band aid would be enough for it. At hearing Ash say that she was cold, Devyn didn't hesitate to pull the other girl closer to her for a moment. She was no longer wearing a shirt but still had a t-shirt on and all the same she would feel pretty warm to the touch. "Come on, get on my back." Devyn said after she would pull away from the hug and turn around so Ash could climb on. Then there was the question about Ellen Banks and if she could take her to her.

Dev wondered why for a moment but quickly figured it out given what Ellen's power was. "Yeah, she is one of my best friends; even if she probably won't call me that in public." Devyn said with a slight chuckle. She and Ellen knew one another for a little over three years now and while Ellen didn’t hang out with her as much as she used to, Dev still thought of her as a good friend. "Let me first take you back to my room to get you cleaned up and then we will go to her. That okay?" Devyn said and then asked. She really wanted to make sure Ash was okay physically first and then they could take care of her mentally if she still needed it.

[Ashley Benson]

Ashley melted into Devyn's embrace. It was such a simple gesture, but one that seemed to begin putting the girl's mind at ease. Another sob wracked her body as she clung desperately to Devyn. "My mutation.". She answered, sniffling as she reached her uninjured hand up to wipe at her eyes. "I... Hurt people when I manifested.". It wasn't an admission Ashley gave often and it certainly wasn't one she intended to offer any more details than she already had but there was something comforting about the conversation. Any conversation would have helped keep her grounded at this point and she figured Devyn deserved at least some sort of explanation.

"No.". Ashley replied with the first hint of determination creeping into her voice. She appreciated the offer to be carried back to the dorm but she couldn't allow herself to be coddled. "Thank you, but I want to walk." She insisted. It was evident that she could be beaten by the unseen forces dwelling within her mind but she refused to relent. She'd struggled for years to get to a point where she could take control of her own life. She wasn't about to give up now.

Slowly, still cautious of the figures only she could see, Ashley moved to get to her feet. She still leaned on Devyn, her arm moving to slip around the other girl's waist for support. "Really?" She said, the faint vestiges of a smile flashing across her face at the talk of their mutual friend. "She's the first person who saw me, and not some freak.". Ashley issued a dry, exhausted chuckle. " You're the second, you know?"

She then nodded, content with any course of action so long as it got her inside and away from the scene of her breakdown. Ashley gave a frown as she started trudging back toward the campus proper. "Thank you, Devyn.". She said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry you had to see this."

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn could feel Ash relaxing in her embarrassed and was pleased that her guess was correct on what Ashley needed from her. It was just so much easier to just hold the girl then try to say all the right things when she was always worried she end up saying the wrong thing. Still, words were needed so she was saying what she thought was right but the whole time she was making sure to actually think on her words and choose them carefully before actually saying anything. Devyn was actually happy to hear that it was something that came with her power, not in the fact that she had to deal with such a thing but because that meant that there was likely more that could be done to help her friend out.

"I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through such a thing when you came into your power. Not sure if it helps any but...I killed a few things when I came into my powers; forest animals mostly and my neighbor’s dog." Devyn admitted. She was not sure if telling something like that would help but she gave it a shot. "But I think you should see one of the side-effect specialists at the school. I'm not really a fan of meds and stuff but I've heard that they are pretty good at helping people get through the negative things that come with their power." Devyn informed Ash. She was not going to force her friend to go there unless she really felt like Ash's life and others was in danger.

For now she was just going with the power of suggestion and leaving it to Ash to make the choice if it was something she wanted to look into and possibly try. Dev gave a small nod when Ash said no to being carried and would walk on her own. "Alright, the offer is there if you change your mind." She was not going to force Ash to let her pick her up, especially if the girl was capable of walking but she was still there to help in anyway. She kept an arm around Ash, keeping the girl close to her to make sure she would not fall and also to still provide some body heat to help Ash warm up.

Dev nodded he head yes at the question about Ellen. "Yup. A lot of people tend to be pretty cold to her because of how she acts but I saw past that whole walls things and know deep down she is a good person. So I'm not all that surprised to hear that she was nice to you." Devyn responded as she smiled, just thinking about how Ellen behaved towards Ash and now she was going to have to tackle Ellen and mess with her a little bit for showing her kind side to someone else that really needed it. "Thanks, and I can promise you I won't be the last. I'm sure you will meet others that see you for who you really are, cause you are not a freak. You are a beautiful young lady who just has to deal with some messed up shit." Devyn responded as she leaned over a little to give Ash a kiss on her forehead.

They made their way back to campus; it being a bit of a walk but Dev was able to see thought the dark so they had no trouble getting around the forest floor and out of the woods on the way to the dorms. "You are very welcome and don't even worry about it. Friends help one another, especially with this sort of thing. I can relate to it on a personal level and with having others that have to deal with things similar to this." Devyn assured her with a smile as they headed to her dorm room.

[Ashley Benson]

I killed thirteen people, including a pregnant high school teacher. And didn't remember it the next day.

The words nearly tumbled from Ashley's lips as her mind flashed back to the horrors of her own manifestation. She bit back the admission, though, she was in no mind to reveal any more of what lurked in the dark recesses of her mind than what had already been unleashed. She merely nodded in response to Devyn's words even though they offered little comfort.

"I've spent four years here being poked by doctors and specialists." She said, "This is just a slip." It sounded now Mike she was attempting to convince herself of this along with Devyn. "I'm as okay as I can be. Really."


Talk of Ellen, strangely enough, seemed to have a tangible affect on Ashley's entire demeanor. While Devyn could still feel her body shivering and, if she was close enough, Ashley's heart pounding in her chest, listening to the rather strong opinions given about her friend brought out a certain calmness. Ashley was about agree when Devyn slid in a bit of encouragement along with a compliment of sorts. "You have the patience of a saint, Devyn, do you know that?"

[Devyn Solway]

Had Ash actually told Devyn what had been on her mind, Devyn would have felt bad for trying to say that she too knew what it was like to kill. It was one thing to kill animals; it was a whole other thing to kill people. Still, she did understand what it was like to kill people since she had also done that before thanks to SPECTRE. There were still nights when she would dream of how she would bit into someone’s body, how they screamed, and how it felt to have bullets go thought her shadow beast head. Thankfully her head didn't actually end up where her beast form was and that was likely why she ended up just having to deal with scars over actually ended up dead when that event happened.

She really was just trying to help but was still not fully sure what to do. All she knew worked best was being physical and letting someone know that you were there for them. She looked at her friend as she spoke about how she had spent years being poked at and looked at by the people at the school and how this was a slip. "...I see. Well...it still does not hurt to keep trying to get the help, if you want it. Your call in the end cause I can understand if you don't want to be bothered by medical people." Devyn responded. She still had mixed feelings about it, especially because at times she wanted Vera to go in and get check as well to see if that would help with her nightmares.

While Devyn personally didn't want to go in and get herself check out, but she already knew that she herself was a hypocrite. Ash said that she was okay as she could be, but Devyn was not sure if she bought it, mostly because she would say the same thing too. Still, she just gave a small nod and said nothing more on the matter. They had reached the dorm and were already heading to Devyn's room by the time Ash spoke up about Devyn’s patience which had her laughing. "Only for people who are honest and kind with me. If it’s someone lying or being an asshole, my patients drop really fast." Devyn informed her as she opened up her dorm room and move all the way into her room and had Ash sit down on her bed.

Once Ash was sitting on the bed, she went into her bathroom, grabbing her first aid kit, and wetting a cloth before she came back. "Alright, let’s get you cleaned up." Devyn said as she started to wipe away the blood and dirt off of Ash's hand, face, chest, and anywhere else she found it. She wanted to make sure everything was nice and clean before she would apply any medicine and Band-Aids.

[Ashley Benson]

Ashley fell silent. She was exhausted, physically and mentally so, and her mind stubbornly refused to stop swirling about. Her eyes closed as she let Devyn guide her. It was obvious the other girl didn't understand. Ashley's was a condition that couldn't be fixed. No amount if therapy or medication known to modern medical science could prevent such a thing as her break from ever happening again. All she could do was hope to limit its affect on her life moving forward.

"Thank you, Devyn." Ashley repeated softly, leaning into the other girl a bit more both out to help be moved along and for the comfort the closeness brought about. "I'd hate to see you pissed off." She gave a light, dry chuckle before falling silent again.

Ashley gave no resistance in being led through the dorms. She took a seat in the edge of Devyn's bed as directed and lowered her head as a dull ache began to creep into her entire body. Glancing up when Devyn returned she offered a faint, almost embarrassed smile if thanks before sitting up to allow Devyn better access to her wounds. There were no words to speak, only silence and Devyn set about cleaning and bandaging the cuts in Ashley's skin. The one on her palm was the worse of the two. It was deep, though stitches probably wouldn't be needed.

Ashley winced as the cloth touched the sensitive cuts but stayed largley stoic. An exhaustion had settled into her eyes and her already pale skin looked even more ashen and sickly. With eyes half lidded she peered up to Devyn. "Do you always take in strays you find in the woods?" She asked before a tired, weathered grin spread across her features.