After Alastor left, Rosie and Charlie spent more time working on Charlie's book. As she was helping her edit the pages, Rosie noticed that Charlie's thoughts appeared to be somewhere else. She didn't mean to ignore Rosie or lose focus of the objective but she was thinking about so many things. Her suspicions about those voices she kept hearing, her worries over Angel, and her growing attraction to Alastor. With all these things whirling around in her head, her writing career had become the very last thing on her mind. Maybe Vaggie was right, maybe this place, this town was hiding a secret. But she doubted that it was human trafficking like Vaggie had suspected. Dark secret or not, Charlie just couldn't believe someone like Alastor would be apart of anything like that. Somehow she just knew that he would never raise a hand to a woman if it could be avoided and that he would never harm a child for any reason.
"Is something bothering you dear?" Rosie finally asked her.
"Well I don't know. I...I..." Charlie said. "Can I confide something in you? Can you keep a secret?"
"Are you kidding? That's my best quality." Rosie teased. "You tell me a secret and I'll take it to my grave."
"Okay." Charlie said. "The thing is...Ever since I've arrived here I've felt so strange. I hear voices in the house but I don't see the people who own them. Sometimes I get a sense that I've been here before but I know that's not possible. And when I'm with Alastor I..."
She paused, not sure how her next words would sound to Rosie.
"Go on." Rosie continued. "It's alright. I don't judge. With my rap sheet I can't afford to."
Charlie smiled lightly at the joke before continuing.
"If I told Vaggie this, she'd think that I've gone crazy and I can't say that I would blame her." She said. "I know that Alastor and I have only known each other for a short time, but I feel like we've been together for years. I feel so safe with him. He makes me feel like I can do anything. When we're together it's like a dream where nothing is real and nothing matters except us."
Charlie expected Rosie to look at her like she was a lunatic and probably take a few steps back. However Rosie's expression was one of worry.
"You say that you feel like you've been together for years. Anyway to specify that more?" Rosie asked.
"I wish I could but I can't, and what's even more strange is that when he looks at me I can't help but feel that he's been missing me."
"Missing you?"
"Missing me, waiting for me, looking for me. It doesn't make sense but it's how I feel. Be honest Rosie, am I crazy?"
"No." She dismissed. "No. Lots of people have strange emotions and feel connections that they don't understand."
"They do?"
"Yes it's a lot more common than you think. As for the whole feeling as though he's missed you, that might be because he reminds you of someone you knew. Someone who might be missing you."
"I can't think of anyone. Except maybe my parents but Alastor isn't anything like either one of them."
"Then maybe it's a hopeful crush? I don't have all the answers but I can promise you that you're not crazy." Rosie assured her. "Now that being said, would you mind telling me about these voices you've been hearing? The ones that don't have faces? Do you know what they say?"
"They..." She paused again, still a little fearful of what Rosie would think of what she was going to say. "Sometimes they tell me that I should leave this place. Other times they tell me that I have to help them. I don't understand what it all means and I'm almost certain that I'm just imagining them but they sound so real and...And then Angel told me about something he found that really spooked him."
"What did he find?"
"First he said he found paintings that moved and changed on their own, then he saw a mirror that made him look like his face was peeling off, next he said that he saw a floating head in a crystal ball that lifted him off the floor, and finally he swore up and down that there's a picture of me in the attic. Well not me exactly, someone who looks like me."
"What was he doing in the attic? We told you all not to go up there because it isn't safe."
"He ended up there on accident, and I know how all this sounds, I know that everything Angel told me doesn't make sense but I don't think he's lying or that he's lost his mind. I just...I just don't know what to believe."
"Hmm...That is a problem. I wish I could help but I'm not sure how I can."
"Can you answer a question for me? Honestly?"
"I suppose. What is it?"
"Do you have a picture of someone who resembles me?"
"No." Rosie answered simply "I own nothing resembling you save for the photograph you sent me in your letter and that's the God's honest truth."
"Okay."
"Anything else you would like to know?"
"When will Alastor be home? I'd like to talk to him about this. See what he thinks."
"Unfortunately he won't be getting in til much later tonight."
"How late?"
"Probably after midnight. Important business came up, must dealt with immediately and he can't come home until it's done. But he has the day off tomorrow and he'd be happy to converse with you for as long as you wish."
"Thank you for telling me that. I look forward to speaking with him."
"In the meantime, why don't we take a break from writing and editing, and try to pick out something to wear for the Harvest Moon Ball? The wardrobe in your room has a particularly lovely selection of dresses."
That almost made Charlie discard all her fears and worries entirely. Together she and Rosie went upstairs to Charlie's bedroom and Rosie carefully looked through the wardrobe, laying out the 19th century styled garments. Charlie really took the time to study each dress, she was amazed by the remarkable design and detail of each one. There was a long-sleeved burgundy dress with a lace petticoat, a silken dress the color of a Robin's egg, gold sundress with a fluttering skirt. They were all just so pretty, how could she just pick one?
But she did pick one. She chose the regency gown made from Rose-pink satin and slik with matching silk flowers over the bodice and pearls stitched along the skirt. It was one of the most beautiful dresses Charlie had ever seen and she thought it would be the perfect thing to wear.
"You want to wear that one?" Rosie asked as she noticed the way Charlie admired it.
"Yes." She said. "Do you think it'll fit me though?"
"Well let's try it on and see. Here, I'll help you."
Charlie was sure that the gown would definitely need alterations, sure that the it would be either be too big or too small on her. But surprisingly, the gown fit her perfectly. It was just her size. As if the gown had been made just for her.
"Well that's one less alteration to make." Rosie said. "I'll go pick out some gloves and shoes for you to wear with that."
"Thank you." Charlie said changing out of the dress and back into her clothes. After that she hung all the dresses back up in the wardrobe and sat down on her bed for a moment. She spotted the diary she had fond on her nightstand and decided to read some of the pages.
September 10th 1876
Dear Diary,
Mother cannot be with me anymore. She has finally passed on, doing so in a very peaceful sleep and even though I always suspected this day would come, I am not prepared for it. I have cried for her so many times that I have lost count. At night I have had dreams where it's all just a mistake and she's still here with us, only to wake up and go down the hall to her room to find an empty bed.
On nights like these I wish so very much for Father to hold me but he does not. Only Nanny Sara holds me, she holds me close and tells me that Mother is in Heaven now and that in Heaven she can't hurt anymore. In Heaven she's not sick and she'll never be sick again, and she doesn't have to stay in bed anymore. That now she can walk and run around again. But I still wish she would come back here and be with me.
Nanny Sara says that it's okay to have those feelings and that she has them about her late mother sometimes. But she promised me that someday I'd see Mother again. That when the time came for me to go to Heaven, we'd be together. But how long until then?
Sincerely,
Charlotte Magne.
Charlie felt tears prick at her eyes as she read the page. As if she could somehow relate to the girl's feelings at the time even though her own mother was alive and well.
She turned another page.
September 17th 1876
Dear Diary,
I did a terrible thing on Sunday. After church I went down to the bayou and I tried to drown myself. Father barely speaks to me and now he's decided to send Nanny Sara and Annie away. I'll never see them again. I felt so alone, I didn't think I could be happy here anymore so I tried to die and go to Heaven to be with Mother.
Annie saw me go under though and she pulled me out. Nanny Sara took care of me and when I felt better she yelled at me, it was the first she had ever raised her voice to me. She told me to never do anything like that again because God says suicide is wrong and that it only causes more pain. She said that if I ever did anything like that again I would hurt her and Annie and Mother, saying that Mother doesn't want me to come see her in Heaven now. She wants me to grow up, get married, and live a full life.
I'm very sorry for what I did. I never meant to hurt anyone, I just wanted to be with Mother, the only person left who would care for me. But if suicide will only hurt Mother and the people I love then I promise to never do such a horrible thing again. I just wish that I didn't have to be so alone.
Sincerely,
Charlotte Magne.
Charlie couldn't read anymore. She would burst into tears if she did. She closed the diary and placed it back on the nightstand, willing herself to swallow down her sobs. After that she picked up her phone and called her mother.
"Hello? Mom?...No I don't need anything I just wanted to say that I love you...No nothing is wrong. I just wanted to tell you that I love you very much and I'm glad to have you."
She smiled tearfully as she heard her mother reply, "I love you too. To the moon and back."