Double Betrayal (Chapter Two)

Chapter Two
April 26th 1994

It was getting very late, and Ashley’s boyfriend Ted had not arrived at the party that he had organized for her birthday. Everything was perfect; everyone who was invited turned up except Ted and Allison. Ashley was worried and upset about it but there was nothing she could do. There were simply too much to do without Ted around and Natasha could only help with as much as she could. As it stood, Natasha already had her hands full dealing with the food that needs replenishing constantly. Natasha was worried about Ted and Allison as well. They were seldom late. When Ashley started getting quite hysterical towards the end of the party, Natasha volunteered to go and look for the missing two. To her surprise, Ashley stopped her.

“Are you sure Ash? I think I’d better go out and look for them.” Natasha insisted.

“No Nat. Don’t go. I wouldn’t be able to cope if you go out now. Moreover, I got a feeling that they will turn up. It might even be a trick to surprise me! Let’s just wait and see what happens.”

Trying to downplay her negative emotions, Ashley walked off purposefully to entertain her guests. Praying hard that Ashley was right, Natasha turned to attend to the music, which was getting quite boring.

It was almost midnight when Allison rushed in, her clothes in disarray and breathing heavily. She grabbed Ashley by the hand and babbled,

“Dead! He is dead! He is dead! How could he be dead?” Allison whined incoherently and fainted in front of the crowd. The crowd had parted when Allison dashed in with her pronouncement; now they all rushed towards her.

“Ally!” Ashley shouted and tried to lift her up. However, Ashley did not have the strength to do so and Allison lied limply on the floor.

“Call the police someone! She seems quite bad here!” Someone shouted as he tried to resuscitate Allison.

Ashley rushed off to the telephone herself as nobody seemed to be in the correct mind to do so. She called the police and the hospital, babbling about her friend fainting and screaming her address into the telephone. She was about to rush back to see how badly Allison was hurt when Natasha grabbed hold of her.

“Let go, Nat! We’ve got to see how badly she is hurt!” Ashley tried to wiggle out of Natasha’s strong grip.

“Don’t Ash! Stop! Listen to me!” Natasha whispered urgently.

The anxiety and urgency in Natasha’s voice stopped Ashley’s protests. Ashley quieted down and looked at Natasha.

“I got a feeling that there are more than to meet the eyes here Ash. Look at Ally. Her clothes are in a mess… and she had a wild look about her. And where is Ted? Why isn’t he here yet?”

“But…but Nat…she is hurt. We are her friends. We have to help. I don’t know where Ted is, but I know where Ally is and I want to help. And besides, we do not know if the two of them are together.”

“The others will attend to her Ash, she will be alright. Come, sit down here. Take a deep breath and relax.” Natasha pushed Ashley into a chair and shoved a glass of wine into her hands. “Drink this Ash. I think you need it.”

Grabbing a glass for herself, Natasha gulped down the wine and reached for another one.

“ Nat!” Ashley suddenly came out of her trance and grabbed Natasha’s hands before she could drown the second glass of wine.

“Ally said…Ally said someone is dead. Who is dead? Is she talking about Ted? Is Ted dead? He can’t be dead…My Ted can’t be dead…”

Ashley began to wail hysterically. She did not know what was going on, but she had a bad feeling about things. She wondered if Ted was dead and was then horrified at the thought. This must be a bad joke, Ashley comforted herself. She clung on to the hope that Ted might walk in anytime and yell ‘Surprise!’ at the whole crowd and Allison would sit up and laughed at all of them. However, that never happened.

Allison was propped up against a cushion by the time Ashley calmed down enough for Natasha to leave her alone. Allison had regained her consciousness and was mumbling unintelligibly again, but she had her eyes close and seems to be having a bad dream. Natasha went up to Allison then, and after a short pause, gave her two slaps on the face to wake her up.

“Wake up Ally! Talk to us!” Natasha shouted in Allison’s face. Allison began to stir again and her eyes slowly opened. She drew a sharp breath when she saw the countless faces staring at her.

“Where am I? Nat? Nat? Is that you, Nat?” Allison grabbed hold of Natasha’s hand and held on tightly.

“Yes, this is Nat. I am here. Talk to us, Ally. Why are you in such a hurry? And do you know where Ted is?

Allison turned her head away from Natasha and refused to answer her. After a while, Natasha gave up and went back to sit with Ashley, who, by this time had calmed down enough to drink the glass of wine she gave her.

The police arrived soon after Allison had regained consciousness. When the police asked her what happened, she babbled and started to cry again. When the police probed her further, Allison admitted that the person who died was Ted. However, she refused to tell the police how he had died. When Ashley heard her admittance, she rushed forward hysterically and pulled Allison towards her, tearing her clothes in the process.

“What do you mean by that Ally? Is Ted…is Ted…really…really dead? Tell me!” Ashley was hysterical beyond words, and became incredibly strong in her fear and refusal to believe.

“Ted…Ted stopped in the woods when we were getting here. He said that he wanted to pick some flowers for you Ash, to go with the present he got for your birthday. I followed him out into the darkness and while we were picking flowers, I think he saw…he saw something. I don’t know what he saw, but the next moment, he fell to the floor screaming! He was dead in a few minutes. I…I don’t know what happened Ash. I am so frightened.”

Allison grabbed hold of Ashley’s sleeve and shook with fright, pleading her with her eyes to believe her.

“Are you sure Ted saw something, Allison? Was he attacked by someone instead?” the police sergeant, who was Natasha’s brother, probed gently.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, Aaron! I don’t know! It was dark, it was dark and he was in such pain…” Allison broke down into hysterical tears again as Aaron turned to look at the crowd with bottomless eyes. Natasha was holding Ashley up, for her face was sheet-white and looked ready to faint anytime.

“Take Ash up, Nat. I will finish whatever is here. Ash needs rest. Stay with her tonight.” Aaron told Natasha and stood up.

“Yeah, I will. We both need each other, Aaron. He was one of my best friends too.” Natasha mumbled as she half dragged Ashley up to her room. Aaron began to give orders to his men. Ashley heard that they were going to look for Ted’s body before she passed out completely.

Ashley woke up in the middle of the night screaming for Ted. Natasha was beside her instantly. She was not sleeping at all, but watching over Ashley as she slept fitfully. Natasha held her close and whispered comforting words to her as Ashley shivered and shook.

“It’s alright, Ash, it’s alright. I am here. Nobody can hurt you here.”

“Oh Nat! He is dead! How could he be dead? He promised to dance with me and he is dead! He died because he wanted to pick flowers for me. He is dead…Why? Why is he dead? It’s my entire fault! How could I ever forgive myself?” Ashley sobbed as she held on tight to Natasha.

“It’s not your fault Ash! You can do nothing! Please Ash, don’t be like that. Ted would be upset if you do. Please Ash, please.”

Natasha pleaded as tears rolled down her cheeks. Ted was one of her best friends and she shared the grief that Ashley was facing. Wallowed in their grief, the two friends sat up all night, each indulging in their own grief.

The investigation that went on after that seemed to point to the lead that something scared Ted to his death, although the autopsy did not reveal a heart attack. The only discovery was an unknown drug that Ted had seemingly consumed shortly before his death. In the end, Ted’s death was classified as an accident and the case was closed. Allison moved away after that. Natasha and Ashley lost touch with her after Ted died. Nobody did find out whom or what kill Ted, neither did they find out why Ted was with Allison that night he died…well, except Natasha, who had suspected what happened all along.