Ashes

Asher laughed and turned. "Are you going to shoot me?", He asked.

"If it's necessary.", Zoa replied.

"Then shoot me.", Asher announced.

"I'm a professional shooter as well. Don't underestimate me. It will be a hassle to bury another dead body. But if you insist. What Can I say?", Zoa told him.

Asher didn't flinch or react at all. "Bang"

Asher closed his eyes because of the loud voice. He turned his head as if he was harmless. Zoa had shot at a tree.

"Nice shot!", Asher complimented her.

"I'm warning you again. Stay away.", Zoa pushed him and walked in the opposite direction. Asher grabbed her hand again.

"Ma'am you are taking the wrong way again. Your farmhouse is on that way."

Zoa turned and walked in that direction. She had no idea where her farmhouse was. She was clueless. 'I'm the stupidest and dumbest person. How could I believe a stranger? He is not a stranger anymore. But could I trust him?'

Zoa's mind was filled with uncertainty and mystification. Her headache was getting severe as well. But still, she kept moving.

This time Asher was moving forward and Zoa was following him. She struggled to meet his steps. Their hands brushed and Zoa held his hand.

"Do you…", Asher looked at her. Zoa had lowered her head and was trying to match her pace with him. She was lost in her world.

This scene took Asher to his past memories, where he was walking on the same terrain hand-on-hand with her.

"I think. I've seen this tree before.", Zoa pointed at a tree.

"All trees are the same.", Asher said.

"No, this one is different."

"If you say so."

Zoa wanted to touch that tree, but she had time constraints. They silently walked toward Zoa's farmhouse.

'I can't believe that I have forgotten about my father and this farmhouse. But finding this place and getting attacked like this. It was all a plan. I should have sensed that something was wrong.'

Asher and Zoa had reached their destination, but it was not the place they had expected to see.

There were ashes all around. The house was on fire. The blazes of the fire had only burned the house in the middle of the trees.

The fire was aroused after Zoa had put her feet on a fire initiator chemical. The chemical was sprayed around the house so skillfully that it would only burn the house and not the nearby trees.

The farmhouse kept burning and Zoa sat down on the ground near the fire. Her penetrating gaze wanted to look deep inside the house.

Asher clasped her hand and sat with her. It started to rain. Zoa looked at the sky after rainwater dropped on her face.

The fire had converted into smoke and ashes. Zoa said, "Your nickname must be Ash like those Ashes."

"No, my nickname is not Ash. But you can call me if you want.", Asher said.

"Then what's your nickname?", Zoa asked.

"Everyone calls me Doctor Blake. Nobody calls me by nickname except my parents.", Asher responded.

"What about your girlfriend?", Zoa asked again.

"Don't have any.", Asher responded.

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm a single man. Do you want any proof?", Asher leaned against her.

Zoa moved a few steps away from him. "No need. But you didn't tell me your nickname.", Zoa changed the topic.

"Do you want to call me by my nickname? You can call me 'Honey, Baby, Darling, My Doctor,' or anything that suits your preferences. You can also call me Ash." He also moved a few steps toward her.

Zoa didn't reply again. She was again lost in her thoughts. "Zoa??"

"Huh?"

"What's your nickname?", Asher asked.

"I don't have any.", Zoa responded.

"That's impossible. You must have a nickname. Are you keeping it a secret?", Asher asked.

"Yes, like you are keeping your nickname a secret.", Zoa responded.

Asher pouted and said, "I'll tell you my nickname. But you have to tell me yours as well."

"We will see."

"Hey, promise it first."

"I don't want to know. I've no interest in your nickname."

"But I'm interested in telling you."

"Fine."

"So, you'll tell me your nickname as well?"

"We'll see.", Zoa murmured and slightly nodded her eyes.

"Elephant."

"What Elephant?", Zoa asked.

"My nickname.", Asher replied shyly.

"Why? Were you fat or something during your childhood? Or do you love elephants?", Zoa asked.

"No, That's not the reason."

"Then?"

"When I was ten years old. I had a crush on a girl. She liked elephants. She wanted to see a real elephant. I insisted my parents buy an elephant but how could we buy an elephant? So, I ended up wearing an elephant costume for her on her birthday."

"Hahahahaha... So, your parents call you elephant after that.", Zoa was laughing so hard that a few tears of joy fell from her eyes.

She was drenched in the rainwater. But Asher had still recognized her tears and wiped them. He placed her hand on her face and murmured something.

"Huh?"

"Now, tell me your nickname?"

"I've already told you that I do not have any nickname. Nobody had ever called me with any nickname. My grandfather often used to call me his genius daughter except that I never had any nickname."

"And what about your father?", Asher had asked this question with an inner motive.

"I have no memories of him. I recently came to know about him after I received a strange letter. Ahn! Everything went wrong after that letter. Somebody had sent me a letter and a picture of mine with a person."

"I investigated that picture and place and ended up here. It was my mother's plan from the start. I should have tried to trace that unknown sender first."

Zoa almost shouted. She was furious at herself and that anonymous sender. Asher's face was pale upon hearing this.

"How could you be so sure that the unknown sender is the reason for your misery?", Asher asked with a lower head.

"Of course, all my mom planned was to push me to this deserted place to end up getting killed. The first step was that letter. I should have worked hard to locate that sender."

Zoa regretted her decision not to investigate that sender. She had tried to do this but she was not serious about it.

"What if that sender wanted to remind you something?", Asher asked.

"What?"

"What if that person had nothing to do with your mother and that plan?", Asher suggested.

"That's absurd."

Asher's head was feeling heavy as he was imagining Zoa disappearing into the sky like those ashes and smoke. He held his breath for a few seconds and revealed a secret.