Chapter 54 – Charlie
CHARLIE
Mitchell’s phone vibrates with his morning alarm, and I hear him shuffling around, likely reaching for it to turn it off, but I don’t look. I don’t roll over or move at all. I stay exactly where I am, watching Charlotte as she sleeps soundly beside me.
Mitchell nudges my shoulder, whispering my name in an attempt to wake me quietly without waking Charlotte, but I’m already awake.
The truth is, I never slept.
The moment my head hit the pillow, all I could think about is lying comfortable in bed while Bonnie and Jace are who knows where, sleeping in who knows what condition.
I understand why we didn’t leave straight away to go looking for them. We have no idea where they were taken. We could have driven hours in the wrong direction and wasted so much time.
But fuck, does it feel like that’s what we did anyway. With my parents, Ari and the guys here, it felt like we were needed out there more than we are here.
That is, until Charlotte woke up from a nightmare, calling out for her mum. Then I was grateful we were still here and able to calm her back down until she fell back to sleep.
“Should we even be sending her to school?” I question quietly, brushing a strand of hair that’s fallen into her face behind her ear.
He’s quiet for a long-drawn-out moment and I finally move, sitting up so my back is rested against the wall.
“I think she needs it. School will give her something to focus on. Something normal amongst all of…this.” He sighs, rubbing a hand down his face. “I don’t know.”
I think back to the days after Bonnie and Jace disappeared when I was younger, how much I hated the thought of going to school.
But, looking back with adult eyes…I’m inclined to agree with him.
It gave me something to focus on, a routine and a sense of stability that got me through those darker days.
“Yeah, you might be right.”
I pause outside of the school’s office, letting Mum, Dad and Mitchell go on ahead so we’re all not crowding around inside. Charlotte looks back, breaking away from them and I kneel down.
She places her little hands on my shoulders, looking serious for a moment before she whispers in my ear. “You found them once; you’ll find them again.”
Then she gives me a quick hug and runs off into the building, leaving me wondering just how much she’s overheard and understood.
“Are you really that surprised?” Dad asks, his heterochromia eyes focused intently on me. “It’s no wonder she’s figured out more than we all intended her to, look who her father is.”
For a moment, I think he’s referring to her biological father, but my eyes follow his to Mitchell as he steps into the office and I hum my agreement.
We’ve all been pretty careful about what we say around her, especially after my slip up yesterday, and I thought we had been pretty successful.
All things considered, she’s been coping better than expected, but now I’m wondering if it’s less to do with her not understanding the severity of what’s actually happening and more to do with the faith she has in us to bring them home.
“All sorted?” Ryan asks when they finally come back out and Mitchell gives a nod before turning to me and I swallow, nervous now that we’re finally leaving.
We have a plan for today; we’re heading to the Volkswagen owner’s house first. Eric left before we discovered the guy posted on his socials how the worst part of taking a holiday, is coming back home to reality.
Something he is due to do this morning. So, we decided to make a quick detour to see if he’s home and whether we can rule him out as one of the three suspected victims that had their plates stolen.