A/N You know, I thought this chapter might take me a while but it really didn't. I actually really liked this one, so I hope you guys do too :)
Charlie was running. She was bolting through trees, around boulders, faster than she ever thought she could. Something was chasing her, she could feel it, and she knew she had to get away. In her arms, a baby wrapped up in a blanket was crying loudly, and she tried to calm it down. If it didn't stop crying, they would be discovered. They would die.
Suddenly she wasn't in a forest any more, she was back there, in Philadelphia, in the very room that baby had been conceived in. "Oh no, no, no." Charlie hurried to the window, but it was bolted shut. She tried the vents, but they were sealed. There was no way out.
Behind her, the doors burst open and there he stood. Sebastian Monroe. He smiled menacingly and started to walk towards her. Charlie held the baby closer to her body, trying to protect it as she backed away. "I've been waiting a long time for this," Bass said, and the back of her legs hit something. The bed. Fear gripped Charlie's heart as Bass reached for the baby and snatched it from her hands.
"I'm so happy you're back where you belong, Charlie," he whispered as he placed the baby in a crib, then turned back to her. "With me." Charlie rushed forward, but Bass's grip was too strong. He pushed her towards the bed, and she fell backwards on to the sheets. "You will pay, for running away from me."
His eyes were like ice, shooting daggers in to her every time she looked. She tried to get out from underneath him, but he had her trapped. "No, no please, not again. I can't take it!" Charlie shouted. Bass laughed and ripped open her shirt, tossing it on the floor. The baby in the crib began to cry, and so did Charlie.
"There's no escaping this time!" Bass shouted, still smiling. He forced his lips against hers and ran his cold hands along her bare skin, sending shivers up her spine. "You're mine."
"No, please!" Charlie's eyes shot open and she looked around the room. It was dark, she was in a single bed, and there was a large tree outside her window. This wasn't Philadelphia. This was Atlanta. Bass wasn't here. Charlie sighed and tried to control her breathing, slow her heart rate. This was the third time tonight she'd woken up from a nightmare about that man, and it was really starting to get to her. With shaky movements she got out of bed and put on her shoes. She needed to walk around. She needed to think.
Stepping outside her door, she began to stroll down the hallways of the Capital building. It was cold, but not nearly as much as she was used to in the middle of April back home. Maybe it was because they were further south. Charlie crossed her arms over her chest and let out a shaky sigh. Images of her nightmare just wouldn't leave her, no matter how much she wanted to forget. Why was this still happening to her? After eight months… why couldn't she move on?
"Damn it!" Charlie jumped as she heard a shout from the room next to her. When she opened the door she saw her mother leaning over one of the amplifiers she'd been working on, and she didn't look happy.
"Are you all right?" she asked. Rachel glanced up and sighed.
"Oh it's you. What are you doing out of bed, did I wake you up? I'm sorry."
"No, it's… it's fine." Charlie walked over to the table and looked down at the jumbled parts that made no sense to her, but she was sure her mother knew what they were. "How's the amplifier coming along?"
Rachel shook her head. "I've been working on this thing for almost three weeks, and I'm still no closer to finishing it than I was when I started."
"Why, what's the problem?"
"It's these materials! I'm sure they're the best that could be found, but I was hoping…." Rachel sighed. "Then again it has been fifteen years. It's just, I'm having a hard time adapting the machinery to…" her sentence trailed off as she looked up at Charlie, who was barely managing to hold back her tears. "Charlie, what's wrong?"
Charlie shook her head. She couldn't speak now. If she did, she was sure the tears would start flowing and she couldn't have that. Not here, in front of her mother. Rachel saw her obvious struggle and stepped forward to wrap her daughter in a hug, but Charlie took a step back and let out a shaky breathe. Rachel's arms slowly dropped to her side, and her expression fell. "Sweetie, what is it? What's bothering you?"
Charlie wiped her eyes and shook her head. "It's nothing," she said with a loud sniff. "I'm just… it's these damn hormones, making me emotional. That's all." Rachel wasn't buying it. Slowly, she approached her daughter and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. As soon as she did, Charlie felt her walls begin to break down and she leaned in to the comfort of her mother's embrace.
"You know you can tell me anything," Rachel said softly. "I'm your mother. If there's anyone you can trust, it's me."
"I know, it's just…" Charlie fought to keep the emotion out of her voice, but it was difficult. "I've tried so hard to keep this in, to get over it. I didn't want you or Uncle Miles to find out, especially not him."
Rachel's brown furrowed in confusion and concern. "Find out about what?"
Charlie hesitated a moment, several moments, before finally answering. "I've been having nightmares. Well… more like memories, hallucinations…" she let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't even know any more!" Now she began to cry, and Rachel held her even closer.
"Every time I close my eyes, I see him! Every time someone touches me, I feel him! And I can't stop it, I just can't!" Charlie placed her face in her hands, and her body trembled with held-in sobs threatening to burst their way out. Rachel felt her heart break at the sight of her daughter so broken down and beaten, and she wrapped her other arm around her, as if she was trying to shield her from the world.
"Shh," she whispered. "He can't hurt you any more, it's okay."
"No, it's not okay!" Charlie insisted. "It's- it's been eight months! I should have gotten over this by now, I shouldn't be so afraid all the time! I'm so... so… weak."
"Charlie…" Rachel started, but she wasn't sure what to say. She rubbed her hand alone Charlie's back as the fabric on her shoulder slowly became damp from the tears slipping through her daughter's closed eyes. She was still fighting back the crying, even now, and Rachel knew it had to stop. She pulled away and placed a hand on each of her shoulders, looking at Charlie right in the eye.
"You are not weak, Charlie," she said. "Don't you ever say that again."
"But look at me!" Charlie answered. "I'm a complete mess!"
"And that's okay!" Rachel shouted. Immediately, she sighed and lowered her voice. "Charlie… you went through something… that no one should ever have to go through. It was awful, it was horrible, and it was traumatizing. You don't have to prove anything to us, Charlie, because you aren't weak. In fact, just the fact that you made it through that experience makes you the strongest person I've ever known."
Rachel felt tears form in her eyes and slowly slide down each of her cheeks. Charlie's defenses seemed to be breaking down as well, she could see it on her daughter's face. "It's okay to cry, Charlie." She said softly. For a brief moment everything was silent, and Rachel could see the conflicted emotions her daughter was feeling.
Finally, Charlie took a step forward and collapsed in to her mother's embrace. She was crying. Not just crying, but sobbing. Rachel held her as tight as she could with the baby bump in the way, and Charlie continued to let out all the emotions she'd been holding in for ages. For hours, they stayed in that position, until the sun rose in the morning marking the beginning of a brand new day.
