At first Charlie considered calling the police and Stolas, to tell them everything she knew. But then she realized, who in the world would actually believe her? Hell, the police would probably laugh at her and Stolas would probably disown her under the belief that she was making a joke out of such a serious a matter. Still there had to be someone she could talk to. Someone who would believe her.
"Gina and Angel!" She said snapping her fingers. "I don't know how much help they'll be, but I'm sure they'll believe me. They know something about all this. I can feel it."
At once Charlie put on a fresh pair of clean clothes and emptied her backpack of school supplies. Then she replaced the supplies with items that would prove more useful to the situation at hand. A box of in-case-of- emergency candles, a pack of matches, Stolas's garden shears, the book that Gina gave her, and the crystal that Alastor gave her. After packing, she put her shoes and her jacket, and the very last thing she did before leaving the house was write a note to Stolas and leave it on her bedroom pillow.
Stolas had still not come home so she could easily slip out their flat undetected. She made her way down toward the lower flat where Angel lived and knocked on the door rapidly. She didn't stop until she saw the light flicker on from behind the window and the door was soon answered by a drowsy Angel.
"Charlie?" He spoke, his voice still heavy with sleep. "Do you have any idea what time it is? What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to your grandmother. Is she awake?"
"No and she's on medication that will keep her knocked out at least until six."
"Then I'll talk to you."
"Can't it wait until morning?"
"No. It's emergency. Octavia is gone. Disappeared just like Vaggie."
Now he was wide awake.
"Oh God, what happened?"
"I don't know exactly but I do where she is and where Vaggie is."
"Where are they?"
"They're in Mystique Hollow."
"Aw shit! Not this again."
"Don't you dare call me crazy!" She shouted.
"Shhh! Keep it down! My grandma might be in a drug-induced coma but my cousin isn't, and if he thinks I'm up to something, he wouldn't think twice about squealing on me, the stool pigeon."
"I'm sorry. But I'm not crazy and I think deep down you know I'm not. I think to some degree you do believe me."
"That's ridiculous. Why would I believe any of the garbage you ranted about the other night?"
"Because your grandmother believes it. Why else would she give me this book?" She pulled the book from her bag and handed it to him. "Where did she even get this? Did she write it?"
"No. She just found it years ago."
"Found it where?"
"I don't know. She was cleaning out the basement one day, chased out some bats and owl that were nesting there, and it just fell out in front of her. Must've belonged to that previous tenants."
"An owl was there when she found it?"
"According to her."
"That's how you never got caught." She said, thinking out loud. "He had Louis bring the book to your grandma so she could keep you safe."
"What are you talking about now? And who's Louis?"
"Angel I need you to do me a favor. I'm going over that bridge to find Vaggie and Octavia, and I need you to try to keep everyone from panicking while I'm gone."
"Charlie this is nuts."
"Angel please! I don't know what else to do."
"Look I want to help you, I really do. But none of this makes any sense to me. How did this all start anyway?"
"I told you! Vaggie and I crossed the bridge at night. we discovered a whole other world and it's ruled by some crazy woman who kidnaps children. And now she's kidnapped Vaggie and may very well have taken Octavia too."
"Well if this is all true, how come you weren't kidnapped?"
"Someone over there helped me escape. I think her name was Mia."
Once again Angel became quiet and looked like he was about to have seizure. Charlie braced herself to catch him, should he collapse.
"Mia..." He said after about ten minutes of silence had passed. "Her name was Mia?"
"Yes."
"By...By any chance did she have that name tattooed on her left thigh with a heart around it?"
"Yes, she did."
Suddenly his legs gave out and he briefly fainted. Charlie caught him and moved him over to the sofa.
"Are you alright?"
"Her...Her name..." He choked, ignoring her question. "Her real name isn't Mia. It's Molly."
"You know her?"
"She's my sister. Our mother's name was Emilia but everyone apart from Grandma called her Mia. And after she died, Molly got permission from Grandma to get a tattoo of her nickname in memory of her."
"I didn't know you had a sister."
"That's because she disappeared before you moved in. We don't know what in hell happened to her, she just left one night and never came back. The cops looked everywhere but they found nothing. Then one day Grandma had read through Molly's diary and she had written about this place on the other side of the bridge. This other world that's supposed to be fun and ruled by this woman. Grandma believed it was something supernatural at work but I was sure it couldn't be true."
Tears were in his eyes now.
"Are you really telling me that this place is real and that my sister is trapped over there?"
"Yes."
"Where is she then? Take me to her!"
"No, I'm the only one going over there."
"She's my sister!"
"I need you here to keep the adults calm. Talk to Vaggie's mother and Stolas, tell them where we are and that we'll be back."
"What makes you think they'll believe me? Besides if Molly and Vaggie really are over there, I'm not going to stand by and do nothing. That's what I did when I caught Molly sneaking out and I've regretted it ever since. Please! Don't make me live with the guilt of making the same mistake."
"Well someone has to stay behind and keep our families from freaking. If not you, who else?"
Five minutes later, Angel was sneaking into the next room where his cousin was sleeping.
"Blitzo!" Angel called out to him. "Blitzo! Blitzo wake up!"
"Ah!" He gasped sitting up. "The good silverware's in the dining room. Take whatever you want, but don't hurt me!"
"Relax it's me." Angel said.
"Oh..." He groaned, irritated. "This better be important."
"Charlie and I know where Vaggie is and we're going to find her."
"I should have been more specific. I meant important to me."
"We need you to cover for us. Keep Grandma and the other parents from having a meltdown, and maybe get some more information on that old bridge."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because we're family."
Blitzo just looked at him.
"Because I'd do the same for you."
Blitzo rolled his eyes, still not convinced.
"Because if you don't then when the police search the house for the evidence they're going to find a note saying that you sold me and Charlie to sex traffickers."
"What?!" He cried out enraged. "Why you little rat! You'd set me up? Your own flesh and blood? After all I've done for you?"
"Like what? Name one thing you ever did for me."
Blitzo started to say something but then he just closed his mouth.
"Thought so." Angel said.
"Okay so I've never done anything for you but I'd never set you up! I mean that's just low!"
"Sorry but desperate times call for desperate measures. This isn't just about finding Vaggie, Charlie's foster sister Octavia is missing too."
"I know, I heard."
"Well isn't she your boyfriend's daughter?"
"Hey! He is not my boyfriend! We just have sex sometimes!"
"Whatever! Point is, don't you care?"
"Why should I? It's not my kid."
"Oh come on! Even you can't be that callous!"
"I just don't like to get involved."
"Alright I didn't want to bring this up cause I didn't want to give anyone false hope but there's a chance Molly is where they are too."
"Molly?" Blitzo said, now interested. "What about Molly? I thought she was as good as dead."
"So did I, but I think she might be alive and that she's being held in the same place Vaggie is. Blitzo, it's my fault Molly disappeared, I didn't say anything when I saw her leave and I've lived with that guilt for years but now I have a chance to make things right. And while, you and I have never seen eye to eye, you of all people should understand exactly how that feels."
Blitzo paused and pondered his cousin's words, feeling a sense of empathy for once.
"Okay I'll cover for you. I can't promise that I'll succeed, but I'll do my best."
"Thanks."
"And by the way, if you're facing something that steals kids, I can promise you they're gonna be psycho. You'll need weapons."
"We don't have any."
"But I know where you can get them. Mr. Devalcourt has a huge collection of guns and knives, and he has habit of forgetting to lock the backdoor."
"How do you know that?"
"Not important. Anyway you might be able to sneak in and swipe some things. But be careful, if that maniac catches you he'll shoot first and ask questions never."
"Okay, I'll remember that. Thanks Blitzo."
Taking Blitzo's advice, Charlie and Angel made one last stop before going to the bridge. The taxidermist place, and just as Blitzo had said, the back door was unlocked. The two teens opened the door and sneaked inside.
"I don't know about this Angel." Charlie whispered. "I mean this is stealing."
"But we can't just go over there unarmed, and neither one of our parents keep weapons in the house. Also it's an emergency."
"I guess but what if we're caught?"
"Doubtful, Mr. Devalcourt suffers from depression, alcoholism, and he's recovering from attempted suicide, there's a slim chance of him being that aware."
"Hey you don't think what happened to Vaggie and your sister could have happened to his son, do you? Maybe he really didn't kill him but he was lured away to Mystique Hollow."
"Considering the new evidence you've brought up, that might be possible and if it turns out to be true, I'm going to feel like a jerk for some time."
It was dark inside the store making it very hard for them to see anything and move around. But they couldn't risk turning on the lights or doing anything that could trigger an alarm. Charlie moved slowly and carefully moved her hands about to feel for something. Her fingers eventually made contact with a glass screen and a wooden frame.
"I think I found a gun case." She said. "But it's locked."
"You think he would leave the key somewhere in here?"
"Only if I was a damn fool!" Suddenly the lights came on and there stood Etienne Devalcourt pointing a rifle at them, with a crazy look in his eye.
"Oh shit!" Angel cursed, holding his hands up.
"Step away from the gun case or I'll shoot you in the leg!" Etienne said. "No gang members are going to rob me!"
"Wait!" Charlie protested. "We're not gang members! And we're sorry about breaking in but we need one of your guns!"
Etienne adjusted his glasses and when he saw that the supposed gang members were really just two kids, he still looked crazy but he lowered his rifle.
"What the hell do you need a gun for?" He demanded to know.
"It's an emergency!"
"What kind of an emergency?"
"My friend and my sister have been kidnapped by a mad woman and we're trying to get them back but there's a good chance things could get out of control and we need to defend ourselves."
"If that's the case, tell your parents about it or the cops!"
"They won't believe us, it's complicated. Can't you just help us out there?"
Etienne looked at her like she had completely lost her marbles.
"So let me guess this straight, you want me to just give you, a little girl, a gun? A gun that you could accidentally hurt yourself with and then your parent could get me thrown in jail for selling a firearm to a minor?"
"Um...Yes." Charlie said, thinking that she was probably wasting her breath.
"Little lady, you must think I am the biggest and dumbest jackass in the world! I oughta call the cops on both of you for such an insult! But I'm too pissed at em right now, so I'm just gonna call your parents! You belong to that Goetia freak right?"
"Hey he's not a freak!"
"Clearly you haven't heard his sex talk. Ugh! He sounds like deviant."
He reached for the nearest phone, Charlie acted fast and grabbed his arm.
"No you can't! Please! This is a matter of life and death!"
"Get off me!" He snapped. "Are you trying to kill us all?! You could have made me set off this-"
But he paused when something shiny caught his eye. Something shiny that hung around Charlie's neck. It was her locket. He instantly reached for the pendent and studied it carefully.
"Where did you get this?" He said. "You heard me! Where did you get this?!"
"I found it!" She stepped back afraid.
"Where?!"
"I don't know!"
"You lie!"
"I swear I don't know!"
"You're lying! You have to be! This pendent was a brooch that I gave to my wife! But she's dead and my son broke it! So how the hell did you get it?"
He was teetering off the edge, Charlie had to think fast. Maybe she could appeal to him.
"Maybe...Your son gave it to me."
"What?!" He cried out furiously and then suddenly he looked terribly broken and guilty. "What do you know about my son?"
"I know that he ran away and that everybody thinks you killed him but I know you didn't do it. And I don't think he's dead. I think that maybe someone took him."
"Look I don't know what kind of sick joke you're trying to pull here kid, but you should be ashamed of yourself!
"I'm telling the truth."
"Liar! My boy is gone! No one in this damn town knows what happened to him or where the hell he is! And no matter how much I search, I'll never find him! I've lost Alastor for good!
Charlie flinched at the mention of the familiar name. Alastor. Little Al Devalcourt. And looking back at Etienne, she noticed that there was a slight resemblance between him and Alastor. For a moment she internally reprimanded herself for not putting the pieces together sooner.
"Your son's name was Alastor?" She asked him.
"Yes." Etienne confirmed.
"Mr. Devalcourt, I can assure you that your son is alive. He's alive and I know where he is."
"You are a vicious and ugly person!"
"No I can prove it! I've met your son! He's lanky, he would be almost eighteen by now, he hates sugar, he likes jazz and swing music, he tells really lame jokes. Like why do fathers take an extra pair of socks when they go golfing?"
Suddenly the cloudy darkness in Etienne's eyes began to clear and a long forgotten light was sparked, along with tears that formed. Color came back into his face and his mouth formed a stunned smile.
"In case they get a hole in one!" Then he cried out ecstatically. "That's my boy!"
He was so overwhelmed and excited that he accidentally pulled the trigger and the gun went off. No one was hurt but the bullet hit a glass case. An alarm went off and Angel quickly grabbed a pistol from the case, and a pack of bullets. Then he ran out the back door, pulling Charlie along.
"Wait! Stop!" Etienne called out to them.
"Don't worry Mr. Devalcourt! I'll bring your son back to you! I promise!" Charlie vowed.
