Monday mornings were always a reminder of Ashley's goals and dreams to keep pushing till she gets to the top, which is to become a District Attorney and later venture into politics.
She had her life all planned out nicely and was engrossed in thoughts of the future that she did not notice a stranger staring at her on the train. The way the stranger looked at her made her realise she'd been smiling to herself all along.
She quickly composed herself and checked her watch. She didn't want to mess the day up for Abigail, her boss, the Assistant District Attorney. They had prepared for the hearing of the "big case of the decade" as the media called it which involved a mass shooting in a school.
But first, she had to stop and pick up a cup of coffee for her boss at the Starbucks café.
Abigail was pumped for the hearing and pacing in her office like a wounded lion when Ashley came in with two cups of coffee. Abigail glanced at her without saying a word, took one of the cups and headed to the courtroom.
On her way to the court room she noticed the Starbucks coffee cup was labeled "Ashley" she shrugged her shoulders and drank from it.
After about an hour in the courtroom, Abigail noticed how pale Ashley was. She whispered to her, "Why are you pale and sweating profusely?"
"I'm fine."
"No, you are not! Go home or to the hospital. Anywhere, I don't care but not here before you ruin this case for me."
Inside her room, Ashley washed her face and went to bed. She closed her eyes for like a second and when she opened them, she noticed her hands and legs were tied to the bed poster. She couldn't move.
"Hello? Is anybody there? This is not funny, Chris." She called out to her younger sibling who loved to play pranks on her especially today being Halloween. There was no answer and her room was dark. She heard a growl followed by footsteps moving closer towards her bed. She tried to scream but her voice wouldn't come out.
"I must be dreaming. Wake up!" she said to herself. But instead, the situation became intense as she felt a claw scratch at her leg. Her fears had taken shape as she remembered the Halloween stories told to her by her granny when she was little about "Baba Yaga".
The window burst open and slammed against the wall, the radio came on and off by itself and the growling sound increased. Ashley mustered all her strength and broke free from her bounds.
She rushed to the switch on the wall and flipped it on and off but the light did not come on. She stumbled on her way to the bathroom, turned on the faucet and splashed water on her face but instead she could perceive a very offensive stench from the water she just used. She screamed and ran out of the bathroom.
She almost jumped out of her skin when the coffee maker and blender suddenly came on simultaneously beside her. She ran towards the door and was struggling with the door knob as the footsteps and growl grew louder. She turned around and saw a huge man dressed in black with a pumpkin head with fire glowing eyes and fire protruding from his mouth with a pitch fork in his left hand coming towards her.
Suddenly the door opened and three aliens in lab coats came in and subdued her onto a stretcher. That was when she finally lost consciousness as she couldn't take it anymore. She believed she was dead until she opened her eyes and saw Abigail sitting next to her in the hospital.
"What happened? Where are the monstrous-looking aliens?" Ashley asked.
"You were drugged with a very potent hallucinating drug. I believe it was meant for me as I mistakenly took your coffee cup and you drank mine. This was done to discredit me and make me unfit for the case. The police were able to trace the perpetrators after the lab test came through and this helped the case. It was the final nail on their coffin and an admission of guilt. I know it sounds odd but thank you," said a smiling Abigail.
Ashley smiled back. It was the first time her boss said something nice to her and actually meant it.