Laszlo had been busy at work in the Institute, knowing that it was still his, but his involvement in it had been reduced considerably ever since he had taken the Vienna job. He didn't mind so much, but he had to constantly remind himself that he should not get too involved or too annoyed with how things had changed. Doctor Jane Martison had proved to be a great custodian and the Institute's reputation remained intact and, if possible, had even flourished. Her mind was brilliant and she and Laszlo would often debate and discuss recent psychological advances, the two of them sharing a bottle of bourbon after the working day had ended.
"Doctor Kreizler," Jane greeted him when she walked into the large office that the two of them shared whenever he returned from Vienna. He still enjoyed the work he did at the Institute. Meeting with children and discussing their problems came second nature to him. In a sense, they opened up to him more than his own daughter currently did.
He was seated behind the large mahogany desk, one leg folded over the other and his glasses on the end of his nose as he wrote down notes from a session that he had just had with a prospective new patient. Peering up, he dropped his pen onto the table and saw Jane walking in. The woman was slightly older than Laszlo with pinched lips and a slightly crooked nose she claimed came from it being broken when she had engaged in roughhouse as a child. Her cheeks were tinted red and her eyes were a dark green colour. Her hair was bright red, often hanging in a loose bun at the nape of her neck with wisps dangling down.
She was a woman who was dedicated to her work and, as far as Laszlo knew, she lived alone and was not married. He did not pry into her private life, just as she did not pry into his. They remained collegial, both of them able to talk about matters with each other without bringing up their personal lives.
"Doctor Martison," Laszlo greeted her, placing his pen down to the side of his document folder.
"Please," she said with a scoff and moved over to the new desk that he had bought her by the window. "You can call me Jane."
"Then you should call me Laszlo," he insisted, knowing that they had this exchange every time he returned to the Institute after a period of absence. "And I apologise if I am in your way."
"You're never in the way, Doc…Laszlo," she caught herself and dropped the book she had been carrying by her side onto the desk and pulled the chair out. "Besides, it is still you name above the door of the Institute. This is your Institute, I am merely its caretaker. However, I was surprised to see that you were both here today."
"Both?" Laszlo questioned, brows pinching together and pulling his glasses from his eyes. Jane settled back in her chair, smoothing out the green skirts she wore tucked into her white blouse.
"Yes," Jane said, her own face contorting from confusion as she continued to watch him, eyeing up his features and working out what was going on. She knew that there had been problems at home and she had heard him whispering with his wife whenever she visited the Institute. She knew it was concerning their adopted daughter, but it was not her place to ask for anymore information. "Your wife is downstairs outside the dormitories. I asked her if she was alright and she said that she was fine."
"I did not know Elizabeth was visiting today. Were the girls with her?"
"She said that Diana was looking after them and she was alone," Jane said and she moved a hand through her hair, knocking more strands from the bun it was placed in. She laced her hands onto her stomach and sat back. "I can finish things off here today if you wanted to go."
"Perhaps I might call it a day," Laszlo agreed, pinching the bridge of his nose and checking his pocket watch, seeing that it was almost three in the afternoon. Charlotte would be finishing school soon enough and he had told her that he would meet her and walk home with her. It seemed that Elizabeth might be joining him.
He stood up and began tidying things away on his desk as Jane watched him focus on that task at hand, reaching for his jacket that he had hung up and shrugging into it once he was finished.
"If you need time away from the Institute then you know I can cope here," Jane said to him, not wanting to overstep her boundary, but knowing that she had to say something. "I know that you have a lot on your plate at the moment."
"Indeed, but I can cope," Laszlo said to her, pulling his arms into his coat and reaching for his cane. He sighed softly and realised that his tone might have come across as too harsh. "But thank you," he added on, wanting her to know that he appreciated everything she was doing. He had no doubt that she would be able to find employment elsewhere if she so wanted. But she chose to stay here with him. "I appreciate it."
"Of course," Jane said with a soft smile in his direction before she reached for a piece of paper to the side of her. "Have a good evening, Laszlo."
"You too, Jane," Laszlo said to her and he left the office, moving down the stairs and towards the dormitories. He could hear the familiar sound of children playing in his ears, their laughter ringing out as they ran around the playground during break time. The Institute was quiet while they were out, his footsteps echoing on the floor as he walked over the wooden floors and saw his wife at the end of the corridor.
She was stood by the door, her arms folded around her waist and her eyes set on the room in front of her. She had her hair tumbling down her back. It looked rather windswept and her cheeks were pale and her cheekbones more prominent than usual. She was hardly eating, Laszlo knew that much. Stress was getting to her and it was clear. It was getting to both of them, but Laszlo spotted the way his wife's corsets needed to be tightened even more than before. Her dresses also looked looser than usual. She had bags under her eyes and no amount of makeup would conceal them from him. She wore her green blouse tucked into a checked grey skirt with her light red coat around her frame.
"Elizabeth," Laszlo spoke her name and she turned her gaze over to him, looking at him as he approached her. He moved a free hand to run over his beard for a moment before he stood before her and she turned her gaze back into the room, Laszlo's own eyes following hers.
"Where did it all go wrong?" Elizabeth wondered from him. "She was a little girl…sat right there…she didn't speak, but I knew that she understood everything. She was our little girl."
Laszlo's eyes landed on the bed that Charlotte had once claimed as her own. It had been her bed and it had been that bed Elizabeth had sat on and read numerous books to her on.
"It hasn't gone wrong," Laszlo promised her, moving his arm out and letting his hand fall into the small of her back, running up and down it in an attempt to soothe her. He didn't know if it worked, but it felt right to him. "She is still there, Elizabeth. Our Charlotte is still her…she's just going through something that we cannot quite understand as of yet."
"And when will we understand?" Elizabeth wondered from him. "Because my patience is wearing thin with her and I'm running out of ways to talk to her."
"I fear that it might take time," Laszlo said to her. "And all we can do is give her time."
"We don't have time, Laszlo," Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. "And how do we not know that more time might push her away from us even further?"
Laszlo let out a deep sigh. He knew that his wife had a point. He was scared of that too, but he didn't know what more they could do. Every time they tried to talk to Charlotte they just seemed to push her away even more. He felt Elizabeth lean closer to him, her side brushing against his front as he wrapped his arm around her waist and felt her move a hand to sit on top of his on his cane.
"I don't know what more we can do, my darling," Laszlo confessed. "But we can't give up. We don't give up."
"I know," Elizabeth sighed in agreement and he bent down to kiss the top of her head tenderly.
"Anyway, I had not thought to find you here today," Laszlo said to his wife. "I was going to leave soon to meet Charlotte from school."
"That is why I'm here," Elizabeth said to him and she straightened up again, turning so that she was facing him straight on. She folded her arms over her chest and her hip jutted out. "I received a call from the school this morning. Charlotte didn't turn up."
Laszlo's brows arched on his forehead and he shook his head. "Not possible," he said. "I walked her to the school gate. I saw her go in."
"Turns out she turned back around," Elizabeth said to her husband. "She returned at lunchtime and refused to tell her teacher where she had been. They think that it might be best if she is suspended for a while because of her behaviour."
"Suspended?" Laszlo echoed back, cursing in his mind at the idea of that. But what about that was shocking? He should have seen it coming. He should have known that she would only be able to get away with so much for so long. He shook his head back and forth, struggling to comprehend what that would mean for her studies.
"She's at home with Diana," Elizabeth said. "I went to fetch her from school this afternoon and we had an argument. She slammed the door shut on her room and I didn't know what to do…I just sat at the top of the stairs and started crying. Diana had to take Emily and Lucy away because I think Lucy saw me. It's not healthy for them, Laszlo, to live in such an atmosphere."
"I know," Laszlo agreed with her. "Lucy has become quite perceptive to what is happening. I am trying to keep her calm and immune to it, but that is proving to become more difficult with each passing day."
"Then we have to do something."
"What do you mean?" Laszlo questioned. "We have tried talking to her and all we end up with is being involved in arguments."
"I'm not talking about conversation anymore, Laszlo," Elizabeth informed her husband with a shake of her head. "I'm talking about doing what I was not keen on doing before, but we have hit the stage where I am running out of other ideas."
Laszlo nodded once, suspecting that he knew what she was talking about. He moved his hand out to her and she took hold of it. He gave her fingers a squeeze, feeling her wedding ring and engagement ring with one finger. He began to walk with her as they ambled out of the Institute together.
"You want to follow her?" Laszlo checked, needing to know that they were on the same page and it turned out that they were when he saw her nod.
"I think it might be for the best," Elizabeth said. "We need to find out where she is going, but we need to do it, Laszlo. We can't be involving Sara in this."
"And I understand why you would say that, my darling," Laszlo agreed with her, moving her hand to sit on his arm, tucking it into the crook there as they came to the sidewalk and he knew that they would be walking home considering that Stevie had asked if he could go and spend the afternoon with Cyrus.
"Why do I get the sense that there is a however to that statement?" Elizabeth questioned, stepping over a puddle and drumming her fingers against Laszlo's green coat covered arm. His lips quirked despite the situation they were involved in, but he knew that his wife knew him better than anyone ever would.
"Because you know me too well," Laszlo said to her. "However, I do fear that she would be too…well…would it be too obvious if we were to follow her? She knows us, Elizabeth. She knows what we look like."
"And can you imagine her anger if we had someone else follow her?" Elizabeth questioned from her husband. "She would be furious with us, Laszlo. She would be practically fuming."
"I do not think she could be anymore annoyed than she currently is," Laszlo said and Elizabeth suspected he had a point as they crossed the road after a carriage had just passed them by. Laszlo kept his cane by his side, letting it hit the floor and move up with each step he took. Elizabeth tucked her hair behind her ear and peered up to him with a sigh.
"Maybe you have a point," Elizabeth admitted to him on that one, despite the fact that she wasn't all too keen on his idea. But, again, he made sense with what he said. "But Charlotte knows what Sara looks like too."
"Then perhaps one of her girls will suffice?" Laszlo asked her. "I know that you do not like the idea of bringing other people into our family business, Elizabeth, but I am running out of ideas and suggestions. I think that this could be the best thing for us to do."
"And I know that it would make sense," Elizabeth conceded to him on that point. "I just don't want other people to know. You know how society can be, Laszlo. You know what we've been through together. Charlotte's behaviour…she's fifteen…acting like this…I just don't want people to talk about her how they talk about us."
Laszlo knew that his wife put on a brave face most of the time. She pretended not to care about people's opinions. She pretended that she didn't care what they said about them, but Laszlo knew that it impacted her sometimes. It would be hard not to. She had grown used to people whispering about her whenever she walked into a room. She did her best not to listen to them, but she struggled. Anyone would struggle to ignore everything that was said about them. And she was trying to protect Charlotte from that.
"I understand," Laszlo assured her, peering down to her as they rounded the corner and the sun shone directly in their eyes, both of them squinting. "And I think that is why we need to do this, Elizabeth. I think we need to have her followed to see what is happening."
Elizabeth sighed softly and nodded. She looked up to her husband and met his gaze, seeing the determination there. Laszlo was always determined. He had gone through so much and he had never given up. The times when Elizabeth had felt herself fading or wanting to give up, he had always been there. He had always been the support she needed and she only hoped that she supported him just as much when he needed her. She felt him bend down and peck her on the cheek as they continued walking back home.
"Let's do it," she agreed with him. "It couldn't get much worse, could it?"
Laszlo shook his head and she dropped her head to his shoulder for a brief moment. He hoped it couldn't get worse. But what little did he know.
…
"You need to play this note here," Laszlo pointed out to Lucy as she sat besides him on the piano bench, dressed in a flowing yellow dress with a white sash around the middle. Her hair hung loosely down her shoulders in soft curls and her fingers danced over the keys, copying Laszlo's movements. He was looking down at her as she concentrated on the movements as Elizabeth sat on the couch with Emily in her arms.
She looked at the back of the two of them and her lips quirked for a moment. Lucy was completely the spitting image of Laszlo and he knew it. She had developed his talent for playing the piano and was proving to be quite interested in other instruments too. She had a musical streak inside of her and Laszlo had wondered if they should consider a tutor at some stage, but Elizabeth had insisted she was still too young. If she wanted to play then she should play for fun and not think anything of it. If she wanted to be tutored when she was older then so be it.
"I think you are ready for bed, Emily," Elizabeth said to the youngest Kreizler in her arms.
"No, mama," Emily complained and Elizabeth shook her head. "No bed."
"But you need to go to bed or else you'll never grow into a big girl," Elizabeth joked with her and stood up, feeling her tugging at her hair softly, her arms wrapping around Elizabeth's. She kept her grip on her firm as she adjusted her against the front of her body. "So say goodnight to Lucy and dada."
"Dada…no bed," Emily complained and Laszlo almost wanted to laugh at hearing her as he stood up and dropped a hand to his hip, his bad hand rubbing his fingers together.
"You need to go to sleep," Laszlo said to his daughter and stepped towards her as Lucy repeated the notes on the piano that Laszlo had just played. "And your mama is right…in fact, you will learn soon enough that she usually is," he added on playfully and Elizabeth stuck her tongue out for a brief moment without the girls seeing. Laszlo chuckled and bent down to kiss his daughter on the top of her head.
"Do you want me to take her to bed?" Laszlo wondered but Elizabeth shook her head.
"You finish with Lucy and then bring her up," Elizabeth urged from him. "I'll help her get changed and put her to bed."
"And Charlotte?" Laszlo wondered and he heard Lucy stop playing the piano, her ears clearly picking up as she began to wonder just what was going on with her adopted sibling.
"I'll see if she is awake," Elizabeth muttered so that prying ears couldn't hear. She bent down and pecked Emily on the top of her fair curls before she moved over to Lucy and she kissed the little girl goodnight as well.
Carrying Emily upstairs, Elizabeth hummed softly to her as she moved towards the nursery, hearing the soft sound of the piano enter her ears gently. She closed her eyes for a brief moment as she came to the landing and entered the nursery, turning the light on as she went. She lowered Emily into her crib and sat with her for a while, reading her a story and perching in the chair next to the bed.
She fell asleep quickly despite her protests and Elizabeth knew that she should go and check on Charlotte. She hadn't seen her since dinner. She had come downstairs and ate with them before going back to her room. She had barely spoken two words over the meal and Elizabeth didn't want to push her into saying anything either, knowing that it would likely end in an argument that she didn't want Lucy or Emily to witness. She wanted to keep them as protected as possible.
Knocking on the door, Elizabeth pushed it open when she didn't get a response. She stepped into the room and looked for any sign of Charlotte, but there was none. Elizabeth shook her head, refusing to believe that this could have happened again. She couldn't have snuck out without them hearing her. They had been in the parlour and she couldn't have gotten past them without them hearing her.
Moving further into the room, Elizabeth then noticed how the curtains were blowing gently in the wind at the same time the phone began to ring in the hallway downstairs. She went to the window as the phone continued ringing and she heard Laszlo's footsteps from downstairs. Peering out the window as he answered the call, Elizabeth noted the trellis at the back of the house that led onto the roof of the outbuilding. She must have climbed down that.
Swearing under her breath, Elizabeth ran from the room and down the stair to the hallway as Laszlo continued to talk on the phone.
"I will be there straight away…of course…yes, Sara…I shall meet you and the Isaacson twins at the morgue."
Elizabeth watched him hang up the call, but before he could tell her what it had been about, she was already talking.
"She's gone," Elizabeth panted out, her cheeks red with worry and her hands shaking once more. "She climbed down the trellis and she's gone, Laszlo."
"Charlotte?" Laszlo checked, trying to make sense of what his wife was telling him.
"Yes, Charlotte," Elizabeth said rather impatiently. "She's gone and I don't know where or when. Why is she doing this?!"
"Daddy," Lucy's voice came from behind them and they turned to see in the doorway, looking up at them with her arms dangling by her side and her head tilted to the side, her eyes wide and wondering. "Where's Charlotte?"
"She's just gone out for a walk," Laszlo said, not wanting to worry his daughter. "Now, I think it is your bedtime as well, Lucy. Come on, let me take you up and I can tuck you in."
"I think that I can do that tonight, Doctor Kreizler," Diana's voice suddenly entered the room and they looked to the maid who had emerged from the kitchen, dressed in a simple green dress with her hair in a loose bun at the back of her neck. She looked rather flustered, but she didn't say why. She had been spending the evening in her room and studying, or at least that was what she had told the Kreizlers. She hardly wanted to tell them that her beau was currently hiding in her room after sneaking in through the back.
"Diana, I thought you were studying?" Elizabeth asked from her.
"I was," she said, "but I heard the phone and thought I would come and see if everything was fine."
She gave Elizabeth a knowing look, indicating that she knew it wasn't alright. She had heard what had happened as she left the kitchen and she knew that Lucy wasn't supposed to know. Elizabeth nodded her head back to her, silently thanking her as she took Lucy's hand and led her upstairs after her parents had kissed her goodnight. Once they were certain they were away from inquisitive ears, they moved into the parlour and Elizabeth began to pace up and down.
"I don't know what to do," Elizabeth said to her husband, "except for the fact that we are taking that damned trellis down and locking that window."
"I can see to that," Laszlo assured her. "But right now we need to work out what we should do."
"Call the police?" Elizabeth suggested.
"She has run off on her own and not been kidnapped, Elizabeth, I doubt they would be too interested in helping," Laszlo deadpanned with her. "And I do not know where she could have gone, but we can go and have a walk to see if we can find her if you wish."
"I can't sit here," was all that she offered him and Laszlo nodded, knowing what she was saying to him.
"Then let me call Sara back at 808 and tell her that I have a more pressing matter to attend to," Laszlo said to his wife, standing in front of her and stopping her from pacing anymore. He moved a hand to her shoulder as his bad hand managed to take hold of one of hers. "And we will go together and see if we can find her."
Elizabeth nodded in agreement with that. She knew it made no sense. The chances of finding her were slim, but she had to try. She would feel useless sat there and doing nothing.
"What did Sara want?" Elizabeth questioned, reaching for her coat and pulling it onto her body, pulling her hair from under the collar and letting it fall down her back as Laszlo picked the phone up.
"Another girl had been found," Laszlo said to his wife, holding the receiver in his hand. "She wanted me to come with her and see if the pattern matched the girl discovered the other day, Josephine Jones. According to the Isaacson twins, the girl was brought in without her fingers and her hair had been scalped."
"A…a girl?" Elizabeth checked with her husband and Laszlo could see the cogs in her mind begin to turn. He almost didn't want to say it out loud, but he knew that he would have to. He placed the phone down for a moment and reached for her, taking hold of her by the hand and holding onto it tightly, squeezing her fingers.
"It's not her," he whispered and Elizabeth swore that she was about to be sick at even the thought of Charlotte being one of those girls. She could only imagine what their parents were going through and even then she didn't think she had the imagination nor did she want to imagine it, not truly.
"But she's out there, Laszlo," Elizabeth whispered. "She's out there and she's not here with us where we know she's safe. We need to get her and bring her back. We need to go."
"And we will," Laszlo said, his grip on her hand tight to stop her from running off anywhere. The last thing he needed was her running away from him too. "Just let me call Sara and then we will go, I promise you."
Elizabeth managed to nod as she gulped, Laszlo giving her hand a final squeeze before he called Sara and prepared to go into the night to find their daughter once more.
…
Sitting on the bench in the dark, Charlotte had to admit that she was turning cold. It had been pleasantly warm all day, except for the breeze which meant that she needed a loose coat on her body. She had left the house as soon as the night fell, checking the clock on her drawers and seeing that it was almost eight. She had snuck into the park and sat on the bench where they had agreed to meet, but the woman was not there yet.
Looking around, Charlotte saw the closed lemonade stall where she used to always get a lemonade from whenever they visited the park. She saw the swings in the corner where Elizabeth had pushed her numerous times. She remembered the exact spot of pavement where Lucy had fallen over when she had insisted on walking on her own. She could see Elizabeth picking her up and kissing her arm where it had cut as Charlotte stood by the pram with Emily. She remembered how Laszlo had sat with them on a blanket on a warm summer's day and they had discussed Vienna together.
All of the memories almost made her want to cry. She wanted to stand up and return home. She wanted to apologise to Elizabeth and Laszlo for everything that had happened. But then she remembered what they had done. She remembered how they had taken her from her mother. She wasn't going to let them get away with that nor would she forgive them so easily.
"Charlotte, darling, I am so sorry I am running late."
Looking to the side, Charlotte peered up at the woman who was approaching. Her blonde hair had been twisted into a bun and she wore a dark green dress with a grey coat over it. She had leather gloves on her fingertips, but they dangled limply on her hand that missed her fingers. She settled down next to Charlotte and took the girl's hand.
"I haven't been waiting long, mama," Charlotte promised her and the woman smiled sadly at hearing her.
"Did anyone see you sneak out?"
"No," Charlotte said. "And I doubt they would check on me tonight. We had another argument today."
"What about?" the woman asked, moving her hand from Charlotte's to brush her daughter's hair from her face, letting it fall behind her shoulder. She was wearing a dark green coat over her long purple skirt with white blouse, wisps of her hair tumbling into her face from where it had come loose from the plait it was in.
"I was suspended from school," Charlotte admitted. "They found out that I had missed classes and they suspended me. Elizabeth wasn't happy and then Laszlo told me that I had to be careful or it would be a permanent expulsion."
"Perhaps this is becoming too dangerous," the woman fretted, chewing down on her bottom lip and shaking her head slowly. She didn't know what more she could do, however. She wanted to keep meeting Charlotte. She had to keep meeting her. "I do not want to cause friction at home and make the doctor and his whore suspicious," she spat out and Charlotte almost recoiled at hearing her speak about them in such a way.
"No," Charlotte said firmly. "I just found you, mama, I can't lose you. Perhaps we should just tell them that we know what they did?"
"It isn't the right time," she responded.
"But when will it be the right time?" Charlotte complained. "How can they sit there every night and lie to me? How can they tell me that my parents died when they know that they have taken me from you?"
"Because they're evil, Charlotte," she said to her and stroked her cheek softly, her thumb tracing the curve of her cheekbone. "Laszlo Kreizler is nothing but a selfish man who would do everything in his power to get what he wants. You know what he did to Elizabeth."
Charlotte bit down on her bottom lip and did her best not to show any kind of sympathy. Her mother despised it whenever she seemed to become sympathetic towards Elizabeth and Laszlo. But it was hard not to be. It was hard to push aside everything that she felt for them.
"He seduced her and she was easily seduced by him," she reminded Charlotte. "She is nothing but a common whore who murdered her husband."
"She said it was an accident," Charlotte muttered.
She scoffed in response. "And you know that you cannot believe them. They wouldn't tell you about me…wouldn't give you back to me…they cannot be trusted and we will be away from them soon enough."
"When?" Charlotte asked, the niggling feeling in her stomach taking hold of her once more.
"As soon as I have finished my work here, darling," she promised her. "We will be gone on the first ship to England and we will build our life there together, but there are some things I need to finish here first. I just need you to be patient. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?"
"I guess so," Charlotte agreed and she smiled widely in response, squeezing her cheek and then dropping her hand.
The woman pushed her hair back and Charlotte noted the fleck on her cheek as it seemed to glow in the lamp above them that was burning low. She let her eyebrows knit together on her forehead as she spotted it and then motioned upwards with her chin.
"You have some blood on your neck, mama," Charlotte said.
"Do I?" she asked, her voice soft and gentle as she giggled softly, swiping at her neck and looking at the dried blood. Shaking her head, she reached for a handkerchief from her pocket. "I had a spot earlier that I caught when I was scratching. I must not have cleaned it properly."
"I can't see a scab," Charlotte said.
"It's beneath my collar," she responded, dabbing at the dried blood and ensuring that it was all cleared up as Charlotte sat back on the bench, one leg folding over the other quickly. "Anyway, we should talk about-"
"-Sh," Charlotte quickly interrupted her, holding a hand up and sitting up straight. The woman frowned at being interrupted, but she remained quiet, doing as Charlotte had asked. She was about to question what she was making a fuss over before they heard it again.
"Charlotte!"
It was a distinct voice for Charlotte. It was Elizabeth. She was calling her name and she sounded distressed. Charlotte bit down on her bottom lip for a moment before looking around, wondering how far away they were. The voices sound so close but she couldn't tell what direction they were coming from.
"It's Elizabeth," Charlotte hissed out. "What is she doing here?"
"Looking for you, I'd imagine," her mother deadpanned with her and moved to her feet. "I thought you said that they wouldn't be bothering us?"
"I didn't think they would," Charlotte defended herself and also stood, hearing Laszlo's voice join Elizabeth's yells. "But you need to go. I don't want them to see you here. I'll be fine, I promise."
"I know you will be," she said in a soft voice and bent down to kiss Charlotte on the forehead, bidding her goodbye and then slipping into the night. Charlotte watched her disappear off the path and into the woods, the darkness engulfing her. Charlotte remained stood where she was, knowing that Elizabeth and Laszlo had to be close by now.
It turned out that they were. She didn't have to wait long, hands in the pockets of her coat. She saw Elizabeth and Laszlo approaching, the two of them frantically looking around before Elizabeth's eyes landed on Charlotte. Charlotte's stomach twisted as she saw audibly let out a gasp of relief and place a hand over her mouth. She was doing this to her. She was causing the woman who had taken her in so much pain.
"Where have you been?" Elizabeth demanded, storming towards her, coat billowing behind her and Charlotte saw her eyes were wide and wet, tears staining her cheeks and her body visibly shaking as Laszlo struggled to keep up with his wife. "Do you have any idea how worried we've been about you? You can't keep doing this to us!"
"I didn't think you'd know," Charlotte said as Elizabeth reached for her shoulders and shook her, almost as though she could shake some sense into her.
"Why would you think that?" Elizabeth snapped, relief and anger mixing into her tone. "Why would you even think that?"
"Because it's not as if you really care about me," Charlotte spat out.
"Enough," Laszlo was the one to hiss at her then, tired and emotionally spent. He didn't think that he had enough emotion left inside of him to keep doing this. "We've spent the past two hours wandering the streets looking for you worried sick because girls are being abducted and killed, Charlotte."
Charlotte remained silent as Elizabeth let go of her and dabbed her eyes dry, sniffing loudly. Laszlo continued to watch her, stern and serious with his expression as he continued talking.
"Sara called me before we left after we realised you had gone missing. She told me that a girl had been kidnapped and murdered. She told me that and I had to tell Elizabeth that it wasn't you. I had to reassure the woman who took you in…loves you…would do anything for you…that she didn't have to go to the morgue to look at your body on a slab."
Charlotte recoiled from his words then as Elizabeth looked up to him. "Laszlo," she whispered his name, almost pleading with him not to be so harsh.
"No," Laszlo defended himself. "She needs to know this. She needs to understand what she is putting us through."
"I'm fine," Charlotte said to him and then looked to Elizabeth, her gaze softening. "Nothing happened to me."
"Who is to say that nothing would have happened?" Laszlo demanded from her, his voice spitting out the words. "Do you know how dangerous it can be out here? Do you know how horrible it can be? No, you don't know because we have done everything we can to shelter you from it. We have tried to protect you and this is how you repay us…by running away…making us fear the worst…well it ends right now."
"I didn't mean to worry you," Charlotte said as Elizabeth began to cry again, the tears refusing to stop flowing down her cheeks. She looked at her and tried to plead with her, knowing that Laszlo was too angry to plead with. "Elizabeth, I didn't think you'd notice and I'd be back before you noticed."
"But this isn't the first time, Charlotte," Elizabeth said, her voice hoarse from all of the shouting she had been doing earlier to try and find her. "This isn't the first time you've run away from us and all we want to know is what is going on. We want to understand…please…just tell us where you're going."
Charlotte closed her eyes for a moment and pictured her mother's face. She remembered everything she had told her. She remembered the moments they had spent together and how she had enjoyed them more than anything. It felt as though she finally belonged somewhere. She couldn't betray her mother.
"I just need to get out," she decided on saying.
"I don't know what's worse," Elizabeth whispered. "The fact that I know you are lying to us or the fact that you seem to do it so easily."
Charlotte felt the sting of those words inside of her. She almost gasped and wanted to start crying, but she didn't. Instead, she watched Elizabeth look to Laszlo, the two of them exchanging brief glances and then she shrugged.
"Let's go home," Elizabeth said.
"Elizabeth," Charlotte spoke her name and the woman looked down to her. She opened her mouth to continue talking, but she couldn't find the words she wanted to say. "Never mind."
"Alright then," Elizabeth said, her tone now calm, almost defeated as she turned on her heel. "Let's go."
Laszlo made sure that Charlotte went with them, walking by her side as Elizabeth walked a few steps ahead. Charlotte's gaze fell onto her back and she knew that she could only keep this pretence up for so much longer.
…
A/N: I'm back! Sorry for the delayed absence, but I have been in hospital with a dislocated knee so I've not been able to write. I'm now on bed rest so hopefully there will be time for some updates. Let me know if you're still with me and if there's anything you want to see happen. I love reading your comments, as always!