Dust to Dust

18

Jenny hadn't spoken to Asher since that night. She figured it would be better to keep her distance since he was clearly messed up and possibly dangerous based on the way he was acting. He didn't try to approach her at all either. At least the creep knew she wanted to stay away from him.

But it was still difficult to try and socialize after everything. It was so strange not seeing Delilah every morning and having the usual chat. She would adjust, it would just take a while. For the past day or so she had spent most of her time sitting by the lake until the sun set, bringing back whatever fish she managed to catch. Fishing wasn't exactly a skill, but even if it was, she was fairly good at it. While it might be the most tedious thing she had ever participated in, it was better than just sitting in the cabin all day. Sometimes she convinced herself if she could think hard enough, Delilah would be sitting next to her, encouraging her. It still hadn't really sunk in that she was never coming back, but it would hit eventually. Until then, she would just keep up with helping around camp.

She was sticking with that routine, sitting on the water's edge, just daydreaming and waiting for something to grab onto the rod. Light footsteps were coming up from behind her and she could only assume it was either Jasper or Eren trying to check on her. Mistaken, she recognized that silky robe, and that slender figure. The top of her face was hidden, as always, but she could tell it was Charlotte because of that little friendly smile she always wore. "Hello, Jenny. Would it be alright if I joined you?"

Jenny nodded, smiling back. "Yeah, sure."

Charlotte adjusted the length of her robe to drift behind her, and got on her knees. "You've been coming here often. Any particular reason?" she asked sweetly.

Jenny turned her eyes back towards the lake "It's just nice to be by myself sometimes. Also... it's a really pretty setting. It reminds me of when Delilah was still here."

While her face wasn't entirely visible, Jenny could feel the sympathetic way she was looking at her. "Yes. It was very unfortunate, her death. She was so young. I'll never understand why someone so pure took her own life."

So she believed it was a suicide too. Jenny held her breath and was about to say something, but stopped, unsure where to start.

"You need to say something?"

She paused. "It's... about Asher again. I think he knows more about her death than he's willing to share. I know you said he has to keep things to himself but this is really bothering me. I don't want to think that he's responsible, but-"

"Oh dear god no. Jenny, let me explain something to you." she sounded very serious now, but Jenny was willing to listen. She moved over to face Charlotte.

"Asher... is extremely unstable as you've probably noticed. He's not afraid to admit it, but he's terribly ill. When you went to go talk to him about Delilah's death, did he seem off to you?" it was like she was there when it happened. From what she was describing, this had definitely happened before.

Jenny slowly nodded. "Yeah. He said he only talked to her about food shortage on the day she seemed to go dull. I said it was a stupid excuse and he just lost it. Like... he started laughing like a maniac."

Charlotte scoffed and put her hand over her covered face. "Asher. He just can't hold himself together sometimes. When an extremely sensitive topic is brought up, he'll do his best to hide whatever information he can, even if it's not necessary. I'm sorry you had to sit through that. I understand it may seem like I'm trying to cover something up, but I'm on your side. As well as his. Whether you believe me or not, that's just the way he is."

It did feel like that sometimes when she was talking to her. But there was something about Charlotte that was just so trustworthy, almost like it was impossible for her to lie.