Broken Souls Read Online Free PDF Page B

People's eyes were already on her from Gabby's earlier display, so she didn't need to attract further attention.
    “ Ashley...”
    She froze at the sound of Ben's deep sigh. “Ben, is everything alright?”
    “ Yeah... no... I don't know,” he replied with a sigh again. “I'm just sitting here thinking about things and ended up calling your number. Kind of weird, huh?” He laughed awkwardly to alleviate the sudden silence between them.
    Despite the freezing weather, Ashley immediately felt the temperature in her body shift. Her palms grew increasingly clammy and warm as she tried not to read into Ben's growing unease.
    “Is something wro — ” Ashley stopped as loud shouts and screams echoed from the main road. Directing her attention towards the front of the queue, she tried to see what was happening.
    “ What’s that noise? Where are you?” The concern was immediately evident in Ben’s voice.
    “ Gabby and I decided to go out this evening,” Ashley whispered distractedly as she craned her neck to see what was going on above the heads around her. It sounded as if a riot had kicked off outside the front of the club, which was most definitely not a good sign.
    She bit her lip and continued to listen to the growing noise while Ben threw question after question at her.
    And then she heard it.
    The unmistakeable sound of car tyres screeching.
    “ Do you need me to come and get you? Where did you go? Is Gabby nearby?” Ben pressed her for answers, his tone becoming angrier as her silence carried on. She couldn’t listen to him. The only thing that Ashley could focus on was the sudden hush of silence brought about. “Damn it, Ashley! Where the fuck are you?” he roared into her ear.
    The sound of approaching sirens filled and swirled around her head as everything came to a standstill. It didn’t sound as if only one was approaching. She could clearly make out at least three different sets of sirens coming from different directions.
    The sounds churned around her brain like a hurricane as a feeling of déjà vu swept over her. She had been here before. The oddly familiar feeling of dread and gloom was slowly materialising and cloaking her body in a thin veil.
    “Where's that girl?” Ashley's eyes snapped up as she recognised the booming voice of the gentleman that had been stood behind her and Gabby from before. “Who was with the girl in the orange dress?”
    A million thoughts rushed through Ashley's brain as the people surrounding her raised their hands and pointed in her direction. Before she had chance to react, the gentleman had grabbed her arm and pulled her up the small side street towards the main road.
    Still clutching her mobile phone, she tried to keep up wit h the man as best as she could, despite the burning sensation currently ripping her feet apart. The leather of her heels dug painfully into the soft and supple flesh of her feet, but she refused to let it slow her down.
    Something had happened to Gabby.
    She struggled to capture her breath as they rounded the corner onto the main road. The place was completely manic—police cars, ambulances and fire engines. There were people milling about everywhere, their faces showing a twisted picture of torture and grief as they watched her pass.
    “This is the girl with the friend in the orange dress,” the gentleman rasped at a nearby police officer.
    An agonised scream ripped from the back of Ashley’s throat as she spotted the crumpled body of her best friend being worked on by a group of paramedics.
    D ropping to her knees on the road beside her, she reached out to grasp her hand, holding it tightly against her cheek that was now burning with her own tears. “You have to help her!” she begged, pleading with anybody that would listen to her. “You have to help her! You have to! You have to!” Her sobs overwhelmed and shook her body from head to toe.
    She couldn’t believe that this was happening to her.
     

Three
    Steam poured from the