Day 5: Morning.

It was precisely midnight when Ashley left her car. She loitered outside of the motel room’s door listening for any movement coming from within. It’s too easy. She didn’t like the idea of Anna not putting up a struggle. I want the bitch to scream. I want her to beg. She made her way to the side of the motel where the garbage cans were kept. Quietly at first she rolled the lightest one to the walkway in front of Julien and Anna’s room. As she approached the door, she ran with it, and flung it into their door.

A light turned on inside.

“What the fuck?” Anna asked rhetorically.

“Don’t open it. It’s her. You know it’s her,” Julien pleaded.

“Babe, just shut up. You’re being so fucking irrational. No one’s out there except maybe a drunk or a bum, or a combination of the two.”

“Then why bother checking if you’re so goddamn certain it isn’t her?”

“Because it sounded like someone could have gotten hurt. Just stay in bed and I’ll handle it.”

Ashley, next to the door during the couple’s meager argument, laughed at Anna’s common sense. She’s even dumber than me, she concluded.

Julien jumped up from bed, and blocked the door with his body.

“Move,” Anna was pissed with her fiancé now and was making demands of him. “Do you really have to choose now to piss me off? It’s fucking midnight and I want to just go back to bed.”

“Then go back to bed and leave her out there. She just wants us to unlock the door so she can fucking get in without effort. She’s a lazy murderer.”

“Just fucking stop it!” Anna was screaming now. “Someone is probably hurt out there. Or an animal is. Either way, I just want to help whatever the fuck it is if I can. Get out of the way!”

“No.”

At this point Ashley had realized that Julien would sleep standing against that door to protect his beloved. Ashley understood that the door was never going to open willingly; there was only one thing she could do now. She ran back to her shitty car and retrieved the ax. With a running start from the car, she slung the ax into the door, and miraculously missed Julien’s head. She hacked away at the door, pleasured by the couple’s fear.

“I fucking told you she was here!” Julien screamed.

“Now’s a bad fucking time to say ‘I told you so,’” Anna bluntly replied.

Frozen, the couple stared at the door. The only movement coming from their bodies was from the sweat and tears dripping down each of their faces. They slowly slid to the floor backed against a wall, unaware that they were doing so. The two looked at each other, Julien grabbing Anna’s hand and crawled with her into the bathroom. They hid inside the locked bathroom until the blows against the main door subsided, and they heard footsteps enter the now destroyed motel room. Even though the couple knew that Ashley was aware exactly where they must be hiding, they found it necessary to remain in utter silence anyway.

“So should I count to ten? Is this like hide and seek?” The couple listened to Ashley’s sarcasm through the walls of the bathroom. Ashley began to count menacingly.

“One.”

She won’t go through with it, Anna denied to herself.

“Two.”

We’re gonna fucking die in here, Julien panicked.

“Three.”

Okay she will, Anna now admitted.

“Four.”

We’re really gonna fucking die in here. This was all Julien could think.

“Five.”

Oh merciful God, please send her away or strike her down, or fucking something, Anna prayed to the god she never believed existed before.

“Six.”

Julien rocked back and forth, his mind was numb, and his body dysfunctional.

“Seven.”

Please fucking listen to me God. Now’s a good time to show you exist. Anna was reverting to her old ways already, and stopped believing in God again.

“Eight.”

Julien continued rocking with his legs pulled to his chest.

“Nine.”

Okay fuck you God. I was right about you. You don’t fucking exist. She still had a shred of hope there was a god to protect her now, but then quickly realized again that there wasn’t, and became illogically angry with something that was a feeble creation of man’s imagination.

“Ten.”

The ax broke through the bathroom door. There was no time for thinking or rocking, just shrill, icy screams: one of a man, and one of a woman.


Meanwhile, a family of three in a room two doors down had previously called the manager to complain of a noise disturbance. However, the good-for-nothing manager took no action. At the sound of the screams, the father in the family once again called to complain, knowing once again the noise would not actually be taken care of.

“Look it sounds more serious now than just noise. Can you at least check the rooms, or outside at least to make sure your guests are all in check?” the man told the front desk.

“Sorry sir, but we do not provide catering service to our guests. Privacy is our policy.” The girl at the front desk hung up the phone.

So after making the complaint call to the motel desk, he called the police to report a domestic disturbance. After explaining what could be heard from the family’s room an officer replied, “We’re on our way.”

Relieved the couple and their young son attempted sleeping again. The mother and boy were successful, although the father was not.


Back in the room, Ashley slugged at the bathroom door with the ax. The couple was desperately trying to squeeze out of a barred up window. Time passed slowly, partly because of the intensity of the situation, and partly because Ashley was not strong enough knock down the door quickly even with an ax in her grasp.

The door was finally demolished enough for Ashley to slip in. She told Julien not to worry, that he was safe in her care. “I love you baby. I wouldn’t dare lay a finger on you. I wouldn’t remove once hair on your head.”

Julien placed himself directly between the women in defense of Anna. Ashley roared with laughter.

“Honey, if I have to hurt you then I will. I just don’t want to.” Ashley explained to Julien.

He swallowed the saliva in his throat, and closed his eyes. Ashley held a staring contest with Julien’s closed lids for what seemed like hours.

The father of the family also residing at the motel waited up for the police. He felt they were taking to long to arrive, and finally set out to discover what mischief was taking place for himself. He immediately found the broken down door two rooms away from his. Out of sheer curiosity, he silently peeked inside. No blood or people directly in sight, but another broken down door to the bathroom. Through bravery and stupidity, he set foot into the room. He overheard a one-sided conversation between Ashley and the couple.

“You know you really are screwed,” Ashley said. “I mean I am sparing you for the time being. But, I mean, that’s just the time being. Who knows? Could be minutes, hell could be hours until I decide to end all this shit. But I will tell you this. You don’t have until…” Ashley’s sentenced trailed off. Something taking place in the main room drew her attention.

Despite how quietly the father had initially slipped into the room, Ashley was able to hear him crunch a board in the first doorway. She smirked at the couple, and turned towards the noise of the now ever more broken piece of wood.

The father saw Ashley step out from the bathroom, the ax still in her hand. “I won’t…” His sentence ended there. Before he could get another word out Ashley had flung her weapon across the short distance of the room, and into his head. Blood splattered on the walls and bed. The area of floor which he’d been standing was now soaked in fresh pools of blood. Ashley walked towards the lifeless body to remove her weapon, which happened to be the only one she brought into the room with her.

Julien seized the opportunity. With a piece of broken wood he struck her over the side of her face, knocking her to the ground. Anna burst out of the bathroom with lamp from inside of it, which had been sitting on the counter, and added to her fiancé’s blows. When she was distraught enough, Julien yanked Anna be the arm, which was still mildly sore from her depo shot, and raced out to their car.

Ashley, finding the strength to get up from her beating, ripped the ax from the dead man’s head and followed the couple. First, she attempted to catch them while they were getting to their car, but as she approached, they’d safely made it inside. While running back to her black sedan, the couple ignited the engine and sped away. As they were leaving, police were just appearing at the crime scene that was still taking place. Hearing the sirens, Ashley found a hiding place. The cops quickly headed for the room with the busted door. Upon approaching the door, they instantly found the body of the father and called for an ambulance and back up.

Ashley was hidden in the bed of a pick-up truck when the cops had entered the room. After taking a peak, and seeing that the officers were within the walls of the murder site, she slid out the side of the bed of the truck. Ax still in hand, she took place directly next to the doorway and waited for the police to emerge. As one did, she slung the ax into his throat. The other rushed to aid him, and she repeated the same action.

With the officers’ guns now, Ashley got into her car, and went off to find Julien and Anna once again. Concluding not many cars were on the road so late at night, finding them would be easy.


Back at the crime scene, the EMT’s and back up officers found three victims dead upon arrival. Victim one: Officer J. Randall. Ethnicity: white. Age: 25. Weight: 165 lbs. Height: 5’10”. Eyes: blue. Hair: dark brown. Victim two: Officer R. L. Williams. Ethnicity: black. Age: 29. Weight: 190 lbs. Height: 6’0”. Eyes: brown. Hair: black. Victim three: Kyle Reynolds. Ethnicity: white. Age: 36. Weight: 170 lbs. Height: 5’9”. Eyes: blue. Hair: blonde.