The storm shook the house, the wind howling through the trees, chasing the night that had fallen early on the campsite. It drove the rain before it, the torrential deluge running off the roof and flooding into the amassing streams cascading down the lawn to the swelling lake. Blackness swamped the world beyond the front door, the other cabins lost to the battering storm and the suffocating night. Too frequently lightning severed the sky, a spider web of white slicing through the clouds barrelling over the mountains. Thunder cracked like a whip, echoing off the rocks and across the lake, causing the main house to shudder under the onslaught.
Most of the students had taken refuge in their rooms, hoping to wait out the storm by sleeping or reading. It left the halls and main rooms eerily deserted and silent against the fierceness of the weather. Only the sound of the generator rumbling against the night, seemed brave enough to challenge the storm, and even it spluttered and wavered, the lights flickering and fading with each hiccough from the old, tired machine.
Charlotte pulled back her alteration as she faced the empty, dark corridor beyond her room, glad to find her path to the kitchen undisturbed by people she was doing her best to avoid. The house was bathed in an air of unease as the night rattled on, but Charlotte wasn't worried about the storm. She was worried about bumping into James or Wallace or Ethan. She was worried she would have to face those who could see past her mask to her pain.
She slipped into the corridor, easing the door closed behind her, and tiptoed barefoot along the corridor and down the stairs to the kitchen.
It was a large room with wooden cabinets, a monstrous island counter and two giant double fridge-freezers. Charlotte's stomach growled as she dragged open the freezer, snatching a half-finished box of potato waffles from the shelf. She cast an eye around the freezer looking for anything else that might offer a quick meal, a meal she could eat in solitude, but there was nothing so convenient.
The glass rattled in the window frame as she slipped what waffles were left in the box into the industrial size toaster and waited. She sat up on the counter, resting her head against the wall, closing her eyes as the lights flickered.
She could hear the television from the front room. It was constantly running, the looping news feed giving them their only connections to the world beyond and to what their enemies might be up to. It was a thankless job, but it was their only hope in predicting what was coming next.
"I thought I heard somebody in here".
Charlotte opened her eyes, trying to appear indifferent to the disturbance. Matt was leaning against the doorframe, his arms folded and his dark eyes full of mischief. He looked like the old Matt, the Matt she knew from Kingston, from Daphne Haskins house. Though perhaps he seemed a little more worn around the edges, wearied by the current circumstances, as they all were.
Charlotte forced a half-smile, closing her eyes again and listening to the wind rattling the window.
"I haven't seen you in a while," Matt said as the toaster popped. Charlotte opened her eyes as he moved into the room, taking a plate from one of the cupboards and pulling the steaming waffles from the toaster. He laid them out on the plate and handed her a fork from the drawer.
Charlotte sighed, taking the plate and resting it on her lap. "I've been... distracted".
"I can imagine," he replied. "Would you like a drink?"
Charlotte shook her head. "I'm okay, thanks". She could still hear the noise from the television inside mingled with the noise of the storm and the spluttering generator. "So you're on television duty?"
Matt grinned, leaning against the island opposite her. "Well thanks to my lack of superpowers, I had to make myself appear useful somehow".
"So what are they reporting? Are they still looking for us?" she asked, through a mouthful of steaming food. She was surprised that she didn't really care either way. It was just something to talk about, to distract her from everything else.
"Seem to be," he nodded, his dark brows furrowing together. "This Ramsey guy seems to have taken control of the situation – likes to paint you and Alexander as the bad guys a lot". Matt fell silent for a moment.
"I knew he was trouble from the beginning," she breathed, waving her fork back and forth. "He always feared us. Now he's spreading that fear. We are battling his prejudice and something worse... our own kind," she sighed. "I thought this was supposed to get better?"
Matt exhaled, moving his lips so that his dimples caught in his cheeks. "It will," he offered. "The world will realise... you will convince them".
Charlotte couldn't help but laugh. "And how will I do that? I can't seem to convince anybody of anything anymore".
"Not true – the other night... in the meeting... you convinced me to join the fight," he smiled, his dimples deepening in his cheeks.
Charlotte paused, staring at him, before swallowing her food. "Matt, you can't fight. It's too dangerous," she sighed, shaking her head. "You aren't..."
"Strong enough?" he grinned, challenging her.
"No... and yes. This is our war," she sighed. "Oh you know what I mean".
"Maybe," he breathed, after a long moment. "I think it's why I watch the television for any information. At least I'm doing something".
"I didn't mean to make you feel..." she frowned. "You know I just don't want anything to happen to you".
He half-smiled at her words. "I know," he sighed.
Charlotte nodded, a strange thought entering her head. She focused on her plate as she pulled apart a waffle with her fork, wondering if it was possible for her and Matt to be friends. It would be nice if she could be friends with him again, a friendship she had long lost hope of. Though it was a thought she didn't want to put words to, fearing she would sound pathetic or he would reject her. She furrowed her brow, gazing at her food, heat crawling up her neck as she thought of her own weakness. When did she start sounding so pathetic?
"Anyway how are things going with Alexander? I mean I haven't even ran into him yet – maybe we'll be best friends this time around," he said flashing his old mischievous grin.
Charlotte couldn't help but laugh at his nonchalant approach to it. Most people didn't ask, or looked at her as if she was a little bit mad.
"Is there any improvement?" he asked, in a more concerned tone, which Charlotte appreciated too.
Charlotte stared at her hands trying to carefully choose her words and to avoid saying anything that might weaken her current mood. "No, in fact not only does he not remember me, now I am quite certain he resents me".
"I doubt that, Charlotte," Matt sighed, an automatic response that Charlotte was in part thankful for.
"You didn't see how he looked at me," she whispered, forcing a smile so she could ignore the tightening in her chest. "Anyway I hardly think you want to hear about my problems with James – and I definitely don't want to talk about them... Tell me about Freddie and Rhian. How are they?" she asked, trying to change the subject away from James.
"They're pretty pissed with me to be honest," he grinned, rubbing his jaw. "I kind of ran away from home with a stranger I met in a bar just after you had disappeared from D.C. You can imagine they weren't exactly approving of my rashness".
Charlotte burst out laughing, grinning at him. "No I wouldn't think so".
"I just hope..." Matt said, frowning. "I mean I haven't allowed myself to contact them since I left. I hope... I didn't make their lives difficult. I mean Freddie is a new man since Harris helped him, but... I still worry, you know. I have no idea if he's safe, if he's healthy. And I can't risk trying to find out, because if I do I could expose you all". Matt fell silent, rubbing his jaw for a moment. "I miss them... even if they were driving me mad before I came here. I miss them more than I thought I would".
"Of course you do," Charlotte sighed, placing her now empty plate on the counter. "They're your family".
Matt nodded, and half-smiled. "You met your family too? What were they like?" He spoke as if he too, was trying to avoid talking about issues that were too painful to think about.
Charlotte frowned, a blush creeping into her cheeks. She hadn't thought of her parents or her brother all that much since they had left the hotel. "I... they were nice. I mean I got on well with them and they made me laugh," she sighed. "I've just been a bit distracted. I hadn't thought about them. I can't imagine how they are dealing with this".
"It must be hard. To lose you once is hard enough..." Matt frowned, not meeting her gaze. Charlotte could feel the heat in her cheeks deepening, the knot in her gut tightening. "But to lose you twice... would be unimaginable".
Charlotte forced herself to exhale and continue. "I just hope they don't believe the lies Ramsey is telling," she whispered. She forced herself to look up at him, meeting his brown-eyed concern. "What has he actually been saying?"
Matt smiled gently. "You know..." he shrugged "Just the most horrible things," he teased. "The most outrageously outrageous lies you can imagine".
"You're not going to tell me, are you?" she asked, unable to hide her smile.
"Not a hope, Owens," he breathed, as a clap of thunder shook the house and the generator cut out.
Thanks so much for reading Feared. Just a simple chapter today, but I hope you enjoyed it! Charlotte just rekindling some of her old friendships! Anyway please don't forget to vote and throw a comment my way before you go! Matt has been in the background for the last while so I hope you enjoyed him playing upfront for this chapter! Thanks again, Sorcha x