Lawless [h.s.] AU

Chapter Two

October 2313:
Charlotte Reign:

"Keep quiet, or I'll give you a reason to scream." The man said to me before he slipped through the door, locking it behind him. His jaw was sharp, and his tattoos intimidating; the sound of his voice should be attractive, how deep it is. But the venom that drips from his tone makes it unnerving and terrifying. There was limited light in the room, he revealed to me, having been blindfolded before. 

I need to get out of here. I need to get home to Eric and Abigail. I can't leave Abigail alone; we've all lost so much. She can't lose me too. I need to get out.

About 12 Hours Ago:

I make Abigail the same lunch I always do when she isn't feeling well. It's the one our mother made Eric and me when we got sick, the meal sweet Abby never had the chance to have made for her by mom. 

Cinnamon sugar toast may have zero nutritional value, but it tastes good, and the sweetness helps battle the bitterness of a bad cold. So here I am, sprinkling sugar and cinnamon over buttered toast, pretending that it would help her get better any faster than natural medicine would.

"Hey Lotte - I gotta run out for a bit. Will you and Abby be ok by yourselves? Does she need anything? What about you?" I hear Eric call out to me. 

"Of course, go, we'll be just fine!" I let him know. 

It's just Eric, Abby, and I now. Mom died shortly after she had Abby. It was tough on all of us, but we're so lucky that Abs looks more and more like her every day as she gets older - a true piece of mom left behind. 

When Dad disappeared, Eric took on the "man of the house" role pretty well. I've always been a stand-in mother to us all, especially with Abby, but Eric's been the best brother and has stepped up in Dad's absence for Abby, too. He might be overprotective, but he would have always ended up that way regardless of dad. 

"Lotte!!" I hear a cry from the other room. "Lotte, I'm scared!" 

Another nightmare. We've all had them a reasonable amount, Dad's disappearance taking its toll, but poor Abby gets them the worst. 

"I'm coming, Babs, it's OK, you're safe! I'm coming!" I scoop up the plate with the two pieces of toast I've made for us and the bowl of oatmeal and run down the hall to our bedroom. 

"Hey, Babs, it's ok! What was it this time?" I ask her as I settle down next to her on the bed. 

Sniffle. "They, they were coming to get me next." Sniffle. "Daddy... Daddy was with them, and he tried to stop them, but he - he - and then they" - sniffle - "and they got me too!" She turned her entire body into my side to grab me and hide herself. Snuggling her face into my neck and pulling her legs up by her chest to turn herself into a tiny little ball on my lap. I cradled her on the bed and rocked her back and forth until she calmed her breathing a bit. 

"Hey, it's ok. You're here, I'm here, and Eric is here too - we are okay. How about this little bug? How about we have some toast, and you eat your oatmeal, and we can watch another movie? How's that sound?" I dry some of the tears off her cheeks. 

She collects herself a bit more and finally rests back on the bed with her back on the headboard. Only slightly hiccuping now. Her slight smile peeks through when she sees the cinnamon toast and dinosaur egg oatmeal I brought her. 

"Ok... Thanks, Lottie."

We all have nicknames for each other.
I've always been Lottie; it was easier for Abby to say as a baby than Charlotte. Abby is our little Babs, what she called herself, and Eric is Ricki - again, a result of a struggling baby Abigail trying to pronounce our names.