Deaton hurries forward to open the door for Kenneth as he carries his still unconscious daughter into her house. As of that morning, Charlie's cheeks were flushed pink and the poison completely washed from her system so the vet suggested she should wake up in her own bed. He also predicted that she would wake within the next twenty-four hours. It was this last admission that ignited a hopeful fire within the alpha.
Kenneth lays Charlie on her bed and covers her still too - cold body with her comforter. He grabs a chair from the kitchen and takes his spot by her bed. Her eyes flutter around under the lids and he finds himself wishing he could know what she's dreaming.
...
The voices swimming around in Charlie's head aren't the usual frightening ones. They are the voices she clings to-- the voices she needs to hear in order to pull herself out of the never-ending loop of dreams and nightmares that she's found herself in. At first they were distant and taunting but as time passed they became louder and stronger.
"If I had known wolfsbane would be the trick in killing you, I'd have poisoned you with it months ago."
Charlie sighs at the now familiar voice of the darach. She turns to look at its scarred face and shakes her head. The darach has been her one and only companion since she fell into this black hole. To say she's slowly being driven to insanity would be an understatement.
"And you still weren't able to kill me," Charlie says sarcastically. She turns a Cheshire grin on the darach. "Bummer for you."
Anger rolls off the darach as she glares at Charlie's amused expression. This has been the gist of their conversations since they became trapped inside this hellish nightmare. The darach, who Charlie has determined is female, will gloat and Charlie will fire back a sarcastic retort. Neither enjoy the others company. Mostly, Charlie has spent the quiet moments trying to figure out the identity of her companion-- an infuriating task.
It's infuriating because she can feel the name just on the tip of her tongue. Like a word she's forgotten. It's there and she needs to say it.
"I still have plenty of time."
Charlie laughs. "I think we both know that isn't true. If you want to kill me, you're going to have to physically drain the life from my body."
It's true. During their time together, the darach confessed to poisoning Charlie with the mistletoe at the beginning of the summer-- the night she woke up in a puddle of black blood. Except it didn't work the way the darach expected it to. Charlie was merely left in a weakened state. When it looked as though she would make a full recovery, the darach poisoned her again. Right before Charlie stepped on a bus where a whistle had been laced with wolfsbane. She and the werewolves spent hours breathing the poison in.
Wolfsbane has been known to cause hallucinations but with Charlie it made her see and hear things she normally tries to push out. It lowered her walls and it attacked her body. The gloating darach has spent each agonizing moment describing the scene to her and Charlie is forced to imagine her body covered in black blood and dying all to have Stiles, Lydia, and Allison find her.
Charlie has taken to reminding the darach that her heart is still beating. Those three teenagers saved her life. They are the reason she will be able to take on the darach and win.
"I know why you're trying to kill me," Charlie says in a sing-song voice. "It's because you know I can expose you."
"You have to know who I am to expose me."
"Who says I don't?"
Again, the feeling as though the name is on the tip of her tongue. She holds onto it, searching her brain for the answer she needs. It isn't until the darach speaks again that she realizes she relying too much on her brain and not enough of her senses.
"Say it," she hisses. When Charlie has no response, the darach laughs. "I may not have succeeded in killing you but I certainly took away your five years of life."
"What?" Charlie furrows her brows as she tries to make sense of the darach's words. They are enough to distract her from concentrating on what her senses are telling her.
"Oh, don't look so confused, Charlie. Your body was betraying you long before I arrived. The mistletoe merely progressed your symptoms and with the combination of wolfsbane," the darach cuts off with an amused laugh. "I predict you have barely a year left."
Charlie doesn't respond. She bites down on her tongue in an effort to keep from responding. Whether there's any truth to what's being said, she needs to focus on learning the identity of the darach. That's most important to the people she cares for right now. That's what will help them.
The darach keeps taunting her but Charlie doesn't hear it. She closes her mind off from her surroundings. She closes her eyes to block out any sight or movement. The only thing she sees is darkness and the only thing she hears is a quickly disturbed silence.
A chant echoes in her eardrums. The same, familiar chant of the darach. Her previous encounters with the nose left her cold with fear but now she clings to it. There's an answer in it. A name. It's there. She can hear it.
And finally she hears it. The one thing she needs to solve the puzzle. It's not familiar to her but it's a step in the right direction. She feels a smile forming on her lips.
"Julia."
The darach's taunting stops and she glares at Charlie. "What?"
"Your name. It's Julia," Charlie says. "Julia Baccari."
Whatever response she has is lost in a torrent of cold waves that wash over Charlie. The dull ache at the base of her skull reminds her of the reality waiting for her. It reminds her that there are people dying around her. She takes one deep breath and gathers every bit of strength she has.
...
"Daddy?"
Kenneth's gaze snaps away from the book. A pair of beautiful, sea-blue eyes stare back at him and joyous relief washes over his exhausted body. He raises up out of the chair and leans over to kiss her forehead. When he pulls away, his smile fades at the saddened frown on hers.
"Charlie? What is it?"
"Boyd."
...
A/N: Yay! Charlie's awake. So, next chapter is Derek's MIA episode. We're not too far away from the end of this book. I haven't figured out a title for the next one yet but I know what I've got planned for it. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it!
