You don't end up having to.

Instead, Emma herself walks in behind Ashley. She's wearing a cowboy hat, boots, crotchless jeans, and a button-up shirt that has its front wadded up and tied together rather than buttoned up. She looks at Ashley, surprised. "How did you get in here?"

Ashley turns on her and lunges, pinning Emma to the floor. Emma yelps as they go down, and the lights flicker. Ashley instantly straddles Emma and begins throttling her, causing Emma to begin making **** noises.

Suddenly, a voice sounds out, belonging to neither Ashley nor Emma. "Stop. Don't kill her. We can do better than that."

The ghost woman appears translucently, standing behind Emma and Ashley. "She deserves to get some of what she gives."

Ashley grins darkly as the lights flicker again and the ghost woman disappears. She withdraws her hands from Emma's neck, but Emma doesn't cry out. It seems like she's trying, but she's unable. It's as if her voice box simply stopped working. Ashley stands up and walks over to you, approaching tenderly. Emma remains on the ground, as if still pinned. Ashely meets your eyes.

"Hey. You okay?"

You stifle a sob as you slowly shake your head. Ashley sits next to you and tentatively opens her arms out to you. You practically leap into her embrace, finally letting it all out.

You cry shamelessly as Ashley holds you, the terror of the past however-long-it's-been finally being allowed to pour out. Ashley soothes you as you sob into her shoulder, her auburn hair getting in your face a little.

Even aside from today's events, it's been a long time since you've been held like this. You actually can't remember it the last time. All of this leads to you crying into Ashley's shoulder for an almost embarassingly long time before your sobs slow to sniffles. Eventually, you take a deep breath and pull back, staring up a little at Ashley.

"S-sorry."

Ashley smiles tenderly and ruffles your hair. "You have nothing to be sorry for. My car's downstairs and outside. Why don't you go wait in there? I managed to snag your stuff from the library."

You nod, sniffling a little before taking a deep breath in through the nose to steady yourself again. "Okay." You look over at Emma, who is still lying on the floor, and is wearing a very confused expression. "What about her?"

Ashley shakes her head. "I'll deal with her. Don't worry about it."

You stand up, unsteady at first, but then a bit more firm. You make your way downstairs and get in Ashley's car. You find your things in the backseat, and start organizing your books and notes to help you settle down.

They seem to be in disarray, almost as if they were thrown together.