Warning: Light mention of SA, please be aware <3
I asked for time. I couldn't wrap my head around it. There was a part of my brain that screamed in joy and another part that stood shell shocked as the other jumped around.
Jax was kind enough to take me home. I planted a kiss on his lips, wanting to enjoy the taste of him again and another part wanted to make sure everything was reality. I had scurried out of the vehicle after.
Now, I laid in my bed in a a bit of boy shorts and an oversized hoodie. I had the hood over my head, back against the wall as I walked myself through everything that happened tonight.
My eyes closed as I brought back the memory of Aspen spilling the truth. I could see the urgency in his eyes to understand and not just leave. I've had the same look in my eyes before. I froze, unable to move or blink as the words sunk in. It seemed like I was punched in the diaphragm, my breath knocked out of me.
Mates. Soulmates.
It sounded familiar, like I should know what it was, what it meant. It made me wrack my brain over and over. There was no memory I could conjure that told me where it was from. I grabbed hold of my head, closing my eyes as I grunted, muttering "come on" as I tried so hard to desperately grasp at the memory that kept fleeing as I tried to grab it.
I sighed out heavily, dropping my hands, my knees flopping down from being held up to my chest. My head turned against the wall, catching my reflection in the mirror on my desk. I pulled at the ribbon of magic always brewing on the surface, my eyes warming as they glowed. The longer I stared, the more I could feel my spine relax from tension.
Something in the bathroom clattered to the floor, probably my almost empty shampoo bottle, but my eyes still snapped to the bathroom door. Though when I did turn to it quickly, I was no longer in my room.
I sat on carpeted floor, my back against the knee high twin bed, a book open in front of me. My head craned up and to the right, my reflection in a tiny mirror hung on the wall displayed a young me, no more than 7 years old.
I couldn't seem to control my body as I turned back to the kitchen, yelling out "Mom?" My body sprung up as I ran to the kitchen, a left out my bedroom door, and a right to get to my destination.
"Yes Char?" I could feel my heart race as I observed my mom, as beautiful as the last time I saw her. I wanted to run into her arms, but I was only in a memory, I couldn't distort it, I couldn't change it.
"I hear something fall." My tenses weren't quite mastered at my age, I wanted to laugh. Mom simply looked down at me, smiling and gesturing to the fallen Tupperware on the floor.
"No danger Char, don't you worry my love." Mom bent down, placing a kiss on my forehead, "Hop up onto a chair, the foods ready." Her voice was soft, and I followed it obediently. I sat on the opposite side of moms seat. We had a small square table with only 2 chairs, we didn't need anymore.
I listened throughout the entire dinner to mom laughing, whether at me or with me. I was homeschooled, mom letting me know about the some of the topics we were gonna cover tomorrow. I slumped at the thought of school, the feeling still hasn't changed.
Mom cleaned up our spots, my job was to put the tablemats into the drawer. I did that quickly before jumping onto the couch. I made room for mom, who sat beside me, putting on a movie: Tangled. I could feel my younger me's glee and mine combined. I loved the movie.
I pushed my head to rest on mom's lap, her fingers combing through my long hair, bringing me ease. Lightly humming from satisfaction, I curled even closer to her.
"Mom, am I like Rapunzel?" She hummed as she thought.
"A little bit, Char. I'm no Mother Gothel, but keeping you safe is my life's mission. You will be free one day, when you know what you're up against, and you'll even find love one day. One day far from now." Mom enunciated as I giggled, she added on with a soft voice, "You're too precious."
"Did you found love?" Mom let out a huff of a laugh, a sad one that I can now detect.
"I did. He was my other half. My mate. Unfortunately, our beings were different, I would have to bring him into a world that didn't belong to him. While everyone else brings their mate in, our world is different than theirs. You will find your other half one day, and you'll have the choice of bringing them into our world. By then, you'll know everything, you'll understand, Char." I moved my body to face her, biting the inside of my cheek.
"Was he my dad?" I spoke quietly, moms face dropping as her eyes clouded.
"He is. And he loves you, Charlie. I'm sorry he isn't here. Momma was scared of what could happen to him, so now we can't be together. I'm not able to do all the things mates are capable of doing with each other. Every mark, every enhancement, every spark.." She trailed off as tears fell from her eyes.
I nuzzled my head into her belly, her arms holding me tightly as she rocked us back and forth. I felt sadness, so much sadness in my being. I wish I could talk to her about what was going on. Seeing her like this, even if it's the past, only makes me miss her even more. My soul longed for my mom.
My child self began to tire the longer mom rocked us. Eyes drooping as my ears began to go deaf. I held onto mom's shirt as I slowly drifted off into a comforting sleep, no plaguing of nightmares, just floating in an abyss of peace.
I wanted to wake up, see her more, hear her voice again, I had forgotten it. I seemed to scream, but there was no noise as everything just went dark.
x X x
I blinked my eyes open, my alarm going off as I was once again, back in my bed. My body was curled into my pillow, the same position I was in when I fell asleep in the memory. I wanted to be completely shocked, but couldn't be as I finally pieced together where I had heard it.
Dragging myself from my bed, I went to the bathroom, relieving my bladder with a sigh. I could, in-fact, see my shampoo bottle on the floor of my shower, chuckling as I was right. I didn't rush as I brushed my teeth and braided my hair, 2 french braids down my back.
I had work, my life not stopping its routine, even as my world was flipped on its axis. Putting too much thought into my outfit was too much overall. I pulled on a khaki colored pair of form fitting cargo pants, a black bra, and a black V-Neck long sleeve shirt. I chose my comfort shoes: low top black converse. A simple black zip-up hoodie on my top, some white scripture on it to at least match some color.
Dropping my body onto my desk chair, I put minimal makeup to look slightly presentable: concealer, blush, mascara, and powder. It wasn't too much, but enough so the rings around my eyes didn't cause to much attention. I put a simple dark pink gloss on my lips and called it a day.
I refrained from wearing too much jewelry to work, only wearing a gold ring on each hand and a gold necklace with my initial on it. My hands were on my hips as I finished getting ready, swiping my phone from next to my pillow and jogging downstairs to the kitchen.
Food wasn't too appealing, but I still took a small package of crackers in my bag with a mini bottle of raspberry lemonade. I filled my water bottle, slinged my tote bag over my shoulder, and grabbed my keys, making my way out of the door.
I locked the door, before walking calmly to my car, jumping inside, and starting it up. I shivered as the temperatures were dropping even further. I wouldn't be surprised if it snowed. While the car warmed up, I connected to the bluetooth, putting on some music as I sprayed some perfume on me from a bottle I kept in the center console.
Deodorant I didn't really need, my body never gave off odor or even produced sweat. I thanked Nyx for it multiple times in my life.
Checking the time, I sighed, putting the car in reverse as my shift starts in 20 minutes. The bar I worked at, Neon, was a 12 minute drive from my loft. It was a nice commute.
By the time I got there, it was dead. It was no surprise at 9am. By 11am more people would be rolling in, that I was not so excited about. I parked in the back, holding my bag close to me as I knocked 4 times on the door. I crossed my arms as it swung open, Bri smiling at me widely.
"Good morning, Sunshine. You're my ticket out of hell." I chuckled as I walked in behind her, the door slamming closed behind her.
"Did you work a double?" My shift was at 5pm yesterday, the one she kindly took. Bri nodded tiredly with a groan.
"I'm trying to buy some concert tickets. Meet and greet is so expensive nowadays. Like, why do I have to pay so much to see another human being?" She had spun around sharply to complain to me. I refrained from saying how she was paying to see them perform in the first place, but withheld it in the end.
"At least you're putting the work in." I shrugged, trying to get her to see a brighter side as I pushed my bag into my locker in the staff room. She sighed as she nodded, mumbling a few words I couldn't quite catch.
"Sometimes, I wish I was just rich." She seemed dazed as she stared off into the nothing, before making an 'eh'ing noise and shrugging, "Not sometimes, all the time actually." Bri grabbed her bag from her locker, slamming it closed. I cringed at the loud noise, my left eye squinting close in reaction.
"Don't we all, Bri." I sighed, agreeing with her.
"I'm going to go home and research ways to get rich without doing anything. You have fun on the floor." She smiled at me widely before bidding me goodbye, leaving me to quickly clock in and then walk to the bar. Oliver was cleaning some drinking glasses, grinning at me as he saw me walk in.
"Hey Lily girl." The nickname Oliver gave me, because Charlie ends with the sound 'lee' he rephrased it to call me Lily, I didn't really see a connection, but didn't mind it.
"Hey Olie. How was graveyard shift?" I ask him politely as I stock some top shelves with liquor bottles that were in boxes on the floor.
"Busy. I got more cosmos spilled on me than the group of Bachelorettes who could barely stand." I laughed at his remark, feeling bad for him. The amount of spills you get on you is truly magical.
"At least we're not on graveyard tonight." We both shuddered in disgust and fear. Saturdays were a fearful day for bartenders. In the town of Pyro Falls, Saturdays were the days to come in with the mission of leaving completely plastered.
"True that. I just want to be in bed with my cat." He spoke with such sorrow, sighing as he cleaned a draft glass. I pouted with an expression of laughter in response to his words. The door dinged as a couple fellows walked in, chattering. I smiled at them, putting Olie at some ease.
"I got them."
Time was slow and fast at the same time, my body itched to run back to them. I was coming around, knowing more on the topic, but there was still some fear. It became more deep rooted at the remembrance of mom telling me about my dad, and the dangers of bringing mates into our world.
All I could was hope that I would make the right decision in the end.
Olie slid his sunglasses over my eyes, my hands moving along my body as I threw out some poses. He cheered me on as I laughed. I pushed his shoulder slightly as a group of boys walked in.
"Can I get you boys something?" My voice was light and airy as I was still in my laughing fit. Still with sunglasses, my smile faltered, eyes widening as I registered a person I never wanted to see again.
Ricky.
Katherines son, a person who took my soul. A person who caused me to be afraid of every figure moving in my peripheral. A person who holds so much hatred, I wasn't sure he was even a human sometimes.
"4 Vodka Redbulls and a round of shots." A blonde haired boy requested, his elbows leaning forward on the bar edge as he smirked at me, "It's my friends birthday, we can double this if you give him a birthday gift." He slid over a hundred dollar bill. I tilted my head as I grabbed the bill, bending forward to make sure my words get across.
"I am a bartender, not a hooker. I need to see some ID, since it seems you want to be childish." I've had him at the bar before, alone without his friends, he was of age, but he irked me.
He cleared his throat, pulling out his ID. I skimmed it over, already knowing, but pretended to be deep in thought as I pushed my tongue into my cheek. I moved my head to make it look like I was looking from him to the ID.
"It's real." He deadpanned at me with an irritated voice. My lips twitched in a smile as I slammed it back down.
"Oh I know, you just pissed me off." Turning my back to them, I got their drinks, not caring as he kept trying to get my attention again.
I kept working, more people flooding in. I was back and forth on the floor, frequently cleaning up spills. My body was on high alert around Ricky, afraid if he figures out it was me. Olie took over serving them as he heard them with their remarks. I thanked him every chance I could.
They stayed my entire shift. A whole 8 hours at the bar. When it was time to shift between Olie and I with Christian and Lenny, I was moving quickly to grab my bag and leave. Olie was in the bathroom when I went out the back door, taking long strides to my car.
A clatter behind me had my steps falter as I looked in the side view mirror of a car, Ricky coming up from behind me. I didn't piece it together with his wickedly evil grin as he approached me.
"Where you going, Miss Bartender?" He slurred as I hurriedly grabbed my keys, but my breath knocked out of my lungs as he pushed against my body, crushing me between him and my car. I groaned as my hip hit the car, my bone radiated with pain.
"Get off of me!" I snarled as he sniffed my hair, I looked around me frantically, pulling on the ribbon of magic, eyeing a car. The alarm went off, Ricky flinching as he jumped off me. I turned around, my hands coming up to his chest as he attempted to grab me again.
My palms warmed to a melting temperature as they connected to his skin. A scream bubbles out of his mouth as he pushes my hands off him, my body folding forward at the force. His fist comes out of nowhere, connecting to the right lense of the sunglasses. It hit the rim of my eye, a yelp leaving my mouth as it throbbed in pain.
The glasses dropped to the floor as I looked up at him as I covered my injured eye instinctively. His eyes immediately widened as he took faltering steps backwards.
"Demon.." I flinched at the whispered claim. I quickly grabbed my keys at he pointed his finger at me, chanting the word. Panic was flooding my senses, my powers going haywire, a ribbon of magic leaving my being, hitting him straight in the chest, sending him flying across the parking lot.
I jumped into my car at lightening speed, turning on the ignition, and speeding out of there with the squeal of my tires. I didn't have my seatbelt on and my mouth opened in a loud sob. Too many emotions hitting me, all of which came with a large amount of panic. A fearful question that kept repeating in the back of my head as I raced home.
What's going to happen?
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I actually wrote this entire chapter in under an hour guys! I finally had some down time :)
Same week update, yayy!!
Love all of you beauties <3