Ashley didn't immediately fall asleep after returning to her room.
She stood beneath the shower, watching the water at her feet turn red.
Some of the dried blood on her skin dissolved beneath the warm water. Some remained tangled in her hair, taking longer to wash away.
Tilting her head back, she let the water cascade over her chest while her fingers combed through her wet hair.
There was a reason they had taken longer to arrive.
Before returning to the rendezvous point, she had gone somewhere else on completely different business.
Yet that wasn't what lingered in her mind.
Instead, she couldn't stop replaying her conversation with the priest.
"I guess..." she whispered as she turned off the shower and reached for the towel outside. "...it wasn't that hard after all."
After speaking with the priest and before pulling the trigger, Ashley had realized something.
What had driven her there wasn't just anger.
She had thought it was, but it wasn't.
