AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I gently shake her awake. She groans as she sits up. She rubs her eyes slowly and looks at me with bleary eyes. “What’s going on, Meredith?” she asks, her voice groggy with sleep.
“We have to go,” I tell her, my tone urgent. “We can’t stay here anymore.”
Charlie’s eyes widen in alarm. “What? Why?” she asks, her voice starting to rise.
I don’t want her to wake up the whole house, so I put my finger over my mouth to signal her to be quieter. I need to explain this in a way that won’t upset her but will convince her to leave without a fight. I draw a deep breath.
“It’s complicated,” I tell her. “But we’ve imposed on these people long enough. This was never meant to be permanent. It’s time we find you a place that is.”
Charlie looks at me, confusion and anger etched on her face. “What are you talking about?” she asks breathlessly. “Evanesce said Pocus wouldn’t make us leave. She told me she’d fight Pocus if he tried to kick us out.”
This takes me by surprise. I had no idea his sister had spoken to Charlie. I’d been out on the bayou when it happened, oblivious to everything happening at the house. When I left, Charlie and Daisy were playing, and Pocus was watching them. I wanted a little peace, but I should have known there’s no such thing for me.
I hesitate for a moment, considering her words. Then I decide honesty is the only way I can hope to get through to her.
“You’re strong, Charlie,” I tell her. “Stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. I don’t fully know what you’re capable of, and I don’t think you do either. I’m worried you might accidentally hurt someone.”
Charlie looks down at her hands, her expression pensive and shamed. “I don’t want to hurt anyone,” she says quietly.
“I know. And that’s why we need to find you somewhere else to live. Somewhere with good parents who can help you with your outbursts and can help you learn to control your gifts.”
Charlie looks up at me, her eyes bright with tears. “But I don’t want to leave,” she says, her voice trembling.
“I know, sweetie.” I reach out to brush a strand of hair out of her face. “But we have to. It’s the best thing for you.”
Charlie’s lip trembles, and she starts to cry. “I don’t want to go,” she sobs.
“I know,” I whisper. “But we have to.”
To my astonishment, she slowly gets out of bed and puts her shoes on. I expected a much bigger fight, but she looks like she’s had the fight knocked out of her. It hurts me to see her so defeated, but one day she’ll understand I’m doing this for her own good. One day she’ll be happy and thriving, and it will be because I was able to make the hard decisions for her.
We move quietly through the house, though I hear her sniff behind me. I wish I could pull her in my arms and tell her everything will be okay, but she’d never let me do that. She’d scream and tell me that I’m doing this because I don’t care about her. Instead, I hold my phone out with the flashlight on so we can get down the stairs and to the front door without bumping into anything.
We make it to the porch when she decides to give me grief. I see my car. It’s a few feet away, but it’s like the sight of it makes it too real for her. I look behind me to see that she’s stopped moving, instead standing stock still, staring out into the night.
“No,” she whispers.
“We don’t have time for this,” I tell her firmly. “We need to go.”
“No!” she screams at the top of her lungs, and a light turns on in the house.
Shit. We don’t have time for this. I reach out to grab her hand, which is the wrong thing to do because she has a full-on meltdown. She collapses on the porch and screams at the top of her lungs. The whole house will wake up now and they’ll come down. It’ll only make it harder.
I crouch down to scoop Charlie into my arms. She’s heavy, but her weight is manageable. She kicks me, screaming at the top of her lungs, but I can deal with it long enough to get to my car. We reach the door. My hand is on the handle when a voice calls out.
“Freeze!”
My blood runs cold.
A bright light is shone on my face. Suddenly, I see the glow of police light in the distance.
“Meredith De La Croix, you’re under arrest for kidnapping.”
There’s a fucking SWAT van on my property. I’m going to kill Seer. Sure, he can’t be blamed for the screaming that woke me up from a sleep that is very hard to come by. It’s not his fault Meredith was trying to sneak out with Charlie in the middle of the night. But it sure as hell is his fault that Damien stands on my lawn, shaking hands with the chief of police. Seer brought this idiot into my life.
“What the fuck is happening?” I growl, approaching the men.
“Pocus,” the chief of police says in a bright, cheerful tone that’s too much for this time of night. “Thanks to you and our man on the inside.” He winks at Damien. “We’ve caught a very dangerous kidnapper.”
