"Carlton? Yo Carlton!" Carlton's opened his eyes hazily. John and Lamar stood over him. He waited for a second before hearing light tapping. His eye looked to the window and he saw grey skies outside and rain. He blinked before closing his eyes once more. Carlton sucked the cold morning air through his nose, before turning onto his front.

"Sorry, guys.. Too early for me," Carlton mumbled, slipping back into sleep.

"Carlton, get your ass up. It's 9:30," John said, shaking his sleepy orange haired friend.

"Too early for me," Carlton replied in a whisper. John looked to Lamar, Lamar raised an eyebrow, before getting that recognizable smile. The same smile he had seen the night before, before Lamar ate his anchovie pizza. That specific smile, that told you, he was up to no good.

"It's a shame," Lamar said shrugging. "We were going to head out to try and find Charlie, but before we do, we were thinking of stopping by that diner we've been going to and eat a nice warm breakfast." Lamar was baiting Carlton. Carlton's left eye flashed open.

"Breakfast?" Now they've got him. Carlton sprung up. "Give me a few minutes." He dashed out of bed to his closet.

"Alright. But if you take too long, we'll leave without you," John said, playing along. Carlton slammed the bathroom door shut. The two guys looked to each other before snickering.

"Smart thinking Lamar," John said.

"Well, I might not remember all of what I learned in Sophomore history class. But if I can remember one thing about Carlton, is that he cannot resist food." The two of them walked out of the messy room and downstairs.

Marla, Jason, and Jessica were in the kitchen, talking and Jessica was sitting up on the counter.

"Then Diana says, 'I mean if he can't even realize that I'm a person and that I can't always be there to give him constant emotional support, at like 3 in the morning, when I'm out doing errands, or at my job. I mean, I cared about him, but he would call me practically everyday. If I was out, he'd leave dozens of messages on our answering machine. He would be whining and crying the entire time. There's only so much of that I can take, you know?' And I'm like, I think he needs some counseling or therapy."

Marla nodded, while she munched on a granola bar. Jessica's stomach grumbled loudly, and she curled her fingers on her belly.

"Ugh, where's Carlton?" She whined.

"He's coming," John replied. The two entered the kitchen to join them and wait for their hungry friend to come down.

"All we had to do was mention food and he was up," John continued. Marla snickered.

"Sounds like him," Jessica said trying to hide her smile with a scoff.

"Marla," Jessica whined. "Can you please let me have the rest of that granola bar."

"No Jessica," she replied. "I asked you if you wanted it and you said no. So I'm eating it." Jessica hopped down from the counter.

"But I wasn't hungry before, I am now. I'm starving over her Marla, can you at least spare me the other half?" Jessica begged. Marla shook her head, no. Jessica made a bunch of whining noises before shouting angrily.

"CARLTON! Get your ass down here!" Just as she did, they heard loud booming footsteps speedily coming down the stairs. Carlton who was heavily breathing and obviously not completely dressed stood before them. He was hopping on one foot, while slipping his right shoe on.

"Sorry guys, I'm ready. Let's go get some breakfast," He huffed, while trying to catch his breath.

"About time," Jessica scoffed angrily.

"You get kinda vicious when you're hungry, huh?" John asked looking over to his usually cheerful friend.

"Trust me, I have my limits," she replied bitterly.

"What's with all of the yelling?" They all jumped and froze, before looking to one another. They had thought they had been alone.

They heard the person coming down the stairs. This time, it was not thuds of Carlton's feet, but rather the hard clicks of heels.

They all turned to staircase. A middle aged woman stood before them. She was dressed in a black business suit, she had blonde hair which was tied tightly back into a bun, with the addition of hairspray. It was Carlton's mom. Her eyes traveled to each one of them, before focusing on her son.

"Carlton sweetie, do want to inform me on what is going on?" She asked sternly. Her eyelids hung lowly over her eyes, in an obvious scowl. Carlton was absolutely terrified at the sight of her.

"Did.. dad, not tell you?" He responded innocently while slightly trembling. She crossed her arms.

"No, I believe he didn't," she replied, still waiting for an answer. Carlton's eyes looked to the others for a quick second, before looking back to his mom. He cleared his throat.

"Mom, this is the gang..." Carlton said nervously. Before turning to them.

"Guys, this my mom," he continued.

"You all can call me Betty," she said.

"Betty," Carlton said, obviously not used to or comfortable saying it.

"She's a Defensive Attorney for the city of Saint George, which, isn't too far away," Carlton explained.

"Yes, and I'm meeting with a client today. Currently I'm going to be 10 minutes late, so can you hurry up and tell me what's going on?!" She said sharply.

"Mom, you remember.. The bunch of us were friends when we were kids. Until, well, 'it' happened. Then they all moved away and out of Utah," Carlton replied.

"Ahh, this is about the memorial isn't it? That's why you're all here. Yes, I remember all of you very well," she replied. Her eyes locked onto John.

"Especially you John, I remember that you convinced my son to play outside in the rain one day, and you both got completely covered in mud." John, slightly embarrassed, just shrugged while his cheeks turned red. The others giggled at his expense.

"Well, what can I say, I was a rowdy, mischievous kid," he replied in his defense. She nodded, his response was obviously not helping his case.

"You know, I had to hand wash those clothes because there was no way in hell that I was going to throw them in the wash with everything else." She looked down remembering. "I never could get out all the stains out though," she continued. They were all still giggling. She looked back up and her eyes set on Jessica.

"And you Jessica, you wrote on one of the walls outside of Freddy's in pink chalk that my son smelled like feet," she said, obviously not very impressed by idea of it. Everyone's giggles turned into laughter, except Jessica who was now the one blushing in embracement.

"It was true though," she responded in a small voice. Betty's mouth curved up into a smile and she looked at them all.

"You kids certainly have grown. I've been having a hard enough time accepting Carlton's growth, now I have to see all of you too. You're all already adults. I'm starting feel old," she joked. She finally had noticed there was a shorty among them.

"Say, who's the little one?" She asked pointing to Jason. Marla looked down to her side at the small boy next to her.

"Oh, this Jason," she said scooting him forward a little so that Betty could see him better. "He's my step brother."

"Uh, hi," Jason said giving a small wave. Betty smiled happily, and greeted him back, before he scooted back to his previous spot.

"Shy one ain't he," she said. Marla awkwardly smiled. Noticing this, Betty cleared her throat.

"So, were you kids not able to get hotel rooms?" She asked, showing concern.

"No, we had rooms," Jessica replied. There was a couple seconds of awkward silence, before she continued. "But, something really.. wild happened, so your husband wanted us to stay the night." Betty gave a look of confusion.

"And what was this, really 'wild' thing?" She asked, regaining some of her skepticism. They all looked at each other, before coming to mutual wordless agreement.

"We'll explain, but first, you might want to take a seat," Lamar said gesturing to an empty chair, while he himself sat down at the dining table.

"Just let me grab my coffee first," Betty replied, walking over the hot, steaming coffee pot. When she returned and sat down. Outside, the rain continued on and they began their tale.

They did their best to explain what had happen, starting from their first day back in Hurricane. As the story progressed, she obviously became more and more visibly worried. Her breathing even hitched, as they explain how Dave kidnapped Charlie right in front of them. How they were unable to stop him. How Clay was starting a search for their missing friend. She put her hand over her mouth taking it all in. She nodded.

"This is very concerning," she stated. She looked up at them. "Charlie was the victim of so much death and abandonment during her childhood, I had hoped that her life would turn around for her in her later years. That she'd finally be able to live a better, happier life.. But I guess when you've got loose ends like Freddy's and the murderer.. you can't always be sure that they won't come back to haunt you." She looked down at her folded hands on the table, before rising and walking to the phone on the wall.

"I'm going to reschedule the appointment and stay home today. This is very important news and I need to be here in case anything happens," she dial the numbers. "I mean, after all, you kids were all in hurry this morning, because you wanted to go out and search for her yourselves, right?" She said smiling slyly back at them. She had seen right through their plan.

They all looked at one another, surprised by the fact she easily put the pieces together. She began to talk with the client on the phone and John leaned over to Carlton.

"She knows what we were planning Carlton. What do you think she's going to do?" John whispered worryingly. Carlton looked at him, visibly sweating.

"I don't know," he replied. He turned his attention back to his mother.

"Thank you for understanding. And once again I'm so sorry Mr. Jefferson.. Alright.. ok. Have a good day," She hung up the phone. She turned back to the kids.

"Come with me," she said. She went through door that was an offshoot of the living room. They slowly rose from the dining table and gingerly followed her, they were all nervous because they didn't know what she was going to do.

They entered into the garage, it was how they expected. Cold, grey, and dark. It was especially even more cold now that is was raining outside. However, the noise gave them the impression that the rain seemed to be slowing down and softening. The walls were covered in shelves, plastic boxes, and tool boxes. She continued to walk forward, squeezing past the bumpers of their two cars. John noticed the cars were both older models. He started to wonder why they still had them. They were pretty rich after all. Maybe they had some sentimental value to them or something.

"Mrs. Burke are we in trouble?" Marla asked, finally breaking the silence. Betty looked back at her with a 'what?' face.

"Heavens no. I.. I'm not your mother," she said turning back to the plastic bins. "Besides, why would you be in trouble? None of you have done anything wrong." They all looked at each other, confused. Most adults would've lectured them and told them that's it's too dangerous. Or force them to stay put and let the 'adults' handle this. But she was treating them like they could handle this, that they were adults. That was definitely a first.

"Alright here we go," John turned his attention back to Betty and the others. She opened a light brown plastic bin. The lid was labeled in sharpie as, 'Old Police Equipment'. John raised an eyebrow. What was she planning to do? She starting digging through the different devices. They clattered loudly as she moved them. She pulled out a big black flashlight and stuck it out to them. Marla took it, and Betty pulled out another, Lamar took it. Then she pulled out two tasers and rose.

"At the station, since there isn't very many serious crimes that are committed, there aren't many serious weapons. It's mainly just nightsticks and tasers. However, Clay had snuck a few home, with him. He came and told me, that he wanted both Carlton and I to hold onto one, he even showed Carlton how it worked." She stated turning and looking to her son. The others looked to him and he just shrugged.

"It was sort of a long time ago, so I'm not sure if I completely remember how it works," he said. Betty walked over and handed it to him.

"Well, I still do. And I'm going to show each and every one of you how it works. It's very important that you do," she said holding the other up in her hand.

"Why?" Jessica asked. Betty dropped her arm in disbelief.

"Because Afton is a very dangerous man. Hes literally killed people. This isn't some thief or some thug that we're talking about, he's a serial killer. He's smart, he's manipulative, and he's not going to hold back. If he gets the chance, he will kill you. That's why you need to know how to properly defend yourselves." There was silence among them. Nobody said a word. Betty's eyes traveled across them.

"Do you all understand?" She asked. They all nodded.

"Good." She gave the other taser to Jessica and put the lid back on the box, snapping it down tightly. It seemed that the rain has ceased, probably moving down to another area in Hurricane. They all heading back into the house, excited to get out of the freezing cold. When they all were back in, Carlton was the first to speak.

"Hey, mom? Why do you think dad was so keen on making sure we knew how to use one?" He asked quietly.

"Because he loves us. We're his whole world and he'll do anything to protect us. But what triggered it, I think mainly, was his paranoia after the missing children's incident. He was perfectly fine before then. But I definitely noticed a change after it had occurred. God love him, it probably wasn't easy taking on something like that. I'm glad that he got better after a few years though. I mean, that's how the tasers ended up in that box in the first place. After he had calmed down, he simply put them in there along with other old equipment." She crossed her arms.

"Mrs. Burke?" Marla asked and Betty looked to her. "Why are you putting so much faith in us. I mean, we thought you would've just forced us to stay here for the day while the 'adults' did the searching." Betty smiled.

"Did Clay want you all to stay here?" She asked. They all tried to think of him mentioning it.

"Oh yeah," Carlton remembering. "I think he told me something like that early this morning."

"Well, I'm not him. I don't look at you and see nothing but children who need catering and stern talks. I see a group young responsible adults who know that this is dangerous but are willing to take the risk," she stated firmly. "And even if I wanted to, I couldn't force you to stay. You are adults. You don't need to be told what to do. And no matter what Clay thinks or what others think. It would be wrong of me to do so. And besides, if I tried to convince you stay here, I know that there is nothing that I can say, that would change your mind." She looked among them, her chest was puffed out slightly. She looked like she was talking to soilders rather then a group of 17 year-olds and one 11 year-old.

"You guys care about Charlie a lot. And I know that you'll stop at nothing to get her back. Also, you guys are her friends. You know her very well, so you're bound to find or learn something that Clay won't and I'm all for that." She continued. There were glances exchanged, but Marla stared on. Smiling happily at Betty's words.

"Thank you Betty," she said.

"Don't thank me just yet," Betty replied. "After all, I still haven't shown you how to use these yet. So come on."

Betty went through the kitchen, into the living room, and opened the back door.

"The rain has ceased, but it's a little wet out here, so be careful. We'll just practice on the patio."

The others followed in haste, their was new found excitement among them. Not from being in the cold again. But, the idea that they were going to be taught something new thrilled them. They were going to learn how to use their newly acquired weapons. Each and every one of them were finally going to able to do something to help their friend.

Wherever she is...

Sorry for keeping you all waiting, but I hope you enjoyed this little chapter.

Also, I drew a thing: art/I-love-you-Charlie-639564622