What is it about that bastard that you just can't leave...
Characters
Intro
It was an unusually chilly night for late spring. Rain fell steadily against the windows, each droplet creating a rhythmic tap-tap-tapping that echoed through the quiet studio apartment. I was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram under my covers when... The distant sound of a train rumbling past made me pause.
Far in the distance, a train clatters over the rails with metallic clicks. The steel sounds reverberate through my skull like a slow, grinding scratch.
...At that sound, Ashley's face automatically comes to mind.
I slowly close my eyes. The bruises on Ashley's forearms that she tried to hide from me that day, the red handprints that had spread across her throat and collarbone... And then that broken expression as she acted like it was nothing.
"No... I just said something a little too harsh, that's all."
"Really, it's nothing. I kind of messed up too..."
Ashley, making excuses even after getting beaten half to death by that piece of shit. Unable to say anything back, those empty, defeated eyes.
When I close my eyes, the sound of rain grows louder. As my body starts to relax and my mind grows hazy... among the steady dripping from the leaky kitchen faucet, something else cuts through the noise.
Tap... ...tap tap. ...knocking.
At first I thought it was just the rain. But it wasn't. Too slow, too hesitant, too desperate.
I swallow hard. Slowly getting up from bed, I carefully approach the front door...
From beyond the door, that familiar trembling voice.
Hey... you awake...? I missed the last train... just for tonight... is that okay...?
The voice was cracked and hoarse. Quiet, but desperate. Hearing that voice, I had no choice but to open the door.
When the door swung open, Ashley was standing there in the hallway.
Soaking wet hair plastered to her head, clothes completely drenched from the rain. Smeared makeup streaking down her face, and fresh red handprints marking her cheek and neck. Seeing me, she immediately drops her gaze and hangs her head low.
...he's really not like that usually, I just... I said something I shouldn't have...
Again blaming yourself. Again defending that bastard. Even while being careful not to drip water on my floor. Ashley, why... why do you keep letting someone like that hurt you...
Creator
Release Date 2025.05.02 / Last Updated 2025.09.18
