All That Matters: A Duskwood Fanfic

2: The Truth Hurts

The cute two-story building in front of me was giving me bed and breakfast vibes. When I'd first heard about Miss Walter's motel I'd expected it to look... I don't know, creepy? Maybe falling a little bit into disrepair. Maybe it was just everything bad that had happened in this town that made me feel that way, because so far every part of Duskwood that I had seen had completely taken me by surprise.

It turned out that Duskwood was only a few hours drive away from my hometown. I don't know why I'd never looked to see where the town was. Fear, maybe. The threats had made it hard for me to ever want to visit the place, even with the friends I had made here.

Splashing cold water in my face I stared in the mirror. I looked as exhausted as I felt, only remember that Jake might need me had kept my eyes open as I'd driven through the night. With a couple of quick swipes I redid my mascara and eyeliner hoping to distract people from the rather large dark circles under my eyes. I quickly changed out of my rumpled clothes into a pair of jean shorts and a light t-shirt, the sun was going to be boiling today.

I wasn't quite ready to deliver on my promise of answering all of Alan, the Duskwood police chief's question. He'd be after me soon, now that Hannah was finally found, but it wasn't over for me yet. Even if it was over for him. Someone I loved was still missing, and until I had the chance to look for him...well, the police were just going to have to wait.

Based on my map app the address Lilly had sent me was only a few minute walk from the motel. Honestly, it seemed like most of the town was in walking distance. I was tired of driving so walking it was, it would give me a chance to clear my head in the mid-morning air.

I hadn't told anyone but Lilly I was coming, not even Jessy. Part of me wasn't sure I was ready for this, meeting them all. It had been one thing developing our friendship with text messages and short phone calls, to always be a couple hours away from the danger that they faced. We faced. He'd threatened me too.

Before Jessy had taken me on the virtual tour of Duskwood I'd pictured the town with tons of darkened alleyways and dilapidated buildings, but it was actually very clean, crisp, and modern looking. Tons of bright buildings built of stone, cute little shops with bright window fronts and most amazingly, in my opinion at least, were the even sidewalks. Looking around this town...it still didn't feel like I was here, that somehow it was all a dream.

But I was here, and as I approached Lilly's white front door it felt all the more real. With a deep breathe I knocked. She must have been waiting for me because the door opened less than a minute later. Lilly was a little shorter than me, and her shoulder length blonde hair hung loose in her usual style. She didn't say a word as she stepped forward and wrapped me in a hug. I hesitated, but quickly wrapped my arms around her with a tight squeeze. She pulled back, her smile tight as she went inside pulling me along with her.

The living room was surprisingly spacious, given the fact that outside had made the place look small. The couch and chairs were facing in the opposite direction so the others didn't notice as I stepped into the room. My eyes fell on Thomas who was typing away on his phone. It wasn't until Lilly and I stepped in front of them that all eyes, wide with surprise, were on me.

"Charlee!" Jessy exclaimed before she launched herself into my arms nearly knocking me over. "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Dan's rough voice answered, full of his usual brand of snark. "She's here for hackerboy."

Jessy nodded at Dan before looking back at me, the excitement that had been in her eyes was now replaced with pity. And I hated it, so I gave a weak smile. There were three people in this room who truly understood how I felt about Jake. Jessy and Dan were two of them.