Post by Charlotte Adair Cashton on Jun 28, 2011 23:49:01 GMT -5
Yesterday I died, tomorrow's bleeding
Fall into your sunlight
The future's open wide beyond believing
To know why hope dies
Losing what was found, a world so hollow
Suspended in a compromise
The silence of this sound is soon to follow
Somehow sundown
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To say that Charlie had been through a rough night so far would be the understatement of the century at this point. She had watched as something had ripped her Gran to pieces right in front of her. Charlie had never even been allowed to watch any sort of violent shows so seeing something like that in real life had been a complete shock to the nine year old little child. She had lost the woman that had taken care of her since her parents’ deaths and now as far as the little girl knew, she had no one. No that wasn’t true, she had Madison right now and while she didn’t know for how long, at least it was something. She wasn’t alone. Shedding the disgusting and sticky clothes that were stained with her Gran’s blood, Charlotte got into the bathtub and scrubbed to get rid of the dried blood on her hands and arms and touches here and there on her face as well. She was numb at that moment. It didn’t feel real to her. She didn’t want it to be real. She wanted to wake up crying on the backseat of her Gran’s car and be gathered into the old woman’s arms and soothed by her soft voice. She wanted that more than anything in the world right now. Closing her eyes, Charlotte lay back in the bath water, going underneath the water for a few moments before coming back up.
It was true. All of it. She wasn’t sleeping. She was fully awake. Tears slid down her cheeks as she sat in the increasingly dirty water, her eyes downwards as what happened continued to replay itself in her mind. The lavender salts were indeed soothing but they didn’t help Charlotte relax. She was tense and afraid, jumping at any sound she heard or thought she heard. Madison was able to help Charlotte get the blood off her hands and she was given a washcloth to get the rest of the blood off. Her movements were almost robotic in nature, just going through the motions, her brown eyes wide as she continued to see it happen again and again.
"Can you tell me what happened, Charlie?" Madison’s voice was soft and her thoughts were of Charlotte and how she was coping. Charlotte didn’t want to say what happened. Didn’t want to think about it. She could hear it, her Gran’s screaming, the sound of growling… “Make it stop!” She cried out, covering her ears with her hands, eyes closed tight as she tried to shut it out but she couldn’t. It wouldn’t go away. None of it would. Maybe not ever. “Make her come back! Please Madison, bring Gran back.” She wanted to just cry but she choked back a sob and looked at Madison, her eyes filled with so many emotions; fear, confusion, and so much pain. She was hurting so badly and nothing could make it stop.
Madison still wanted to know what had happened and only Charlotte could tell her. The child was silent for a moment as she thought of how to start before her pain-tinged telepathic voice filled Madison’s mind. “She put me to bed early… I knew something was wrong but she wouldn’t tell me.” Maybe Charlotte should have pressed more to find out what had been bothering the old woman but she wouldn’t have told Charlotte. Her Gran had been stubborn like that. “I had just fallen asleep when I heard her scream. I tried to get out to help her because something was hurting her. But Gran locked my door.”
Charlie choked back another sob and looked mournfully at Madison. “I was able to get the door open and I saw…” With that, the damn broke and she began to sob again though not near as badly as she had when Madison had first found her. She was so tired, emotionally and physically exhausted and she just wanted to sleep and yet she didn’t want to sleep. “I keep seeing it in my head. I want it to stop now please.” Madison had promised to keep Charlotte safe and she could ‘see’ in Madison’s thoughts that she meant it as well. She felt the need to keep Charlotte safe but would Charlie’s presence here endanger Madison as well?
Once she was squeaky clean and not an speck of blood or dirt was left on her, Charlotte was wrapped in a big fluffy towel and dried off, all the while yawning, her eyes drooping. “Can I sleep with you tonight Madison? I don’t want to be alone. I’m scared.” She couldn’t handle being alone that night, not even for a second. Even at a young age Charlotte knew that once her eyes closed, she’d be pushed back into the nightmare she had already endured. She clung to Madison because at this point, Madison was all the little girl had.
Tags; Madison
Lyrics; Shattered – Trading Yesterday
Word Count; 847
Outfit; ---
Comments; None