Screaming Schemes - Tyler Locke

Sam Lesser Is Back

2980 words
chapter six

Charlotte sits up quickly, her mind playing a fire over and over in her head. It's the same as before. She tries to fall back asleep but everything is burning through her system. She closes her eyes tightly. The feeling in her chest is a little bit like what she had felt with Joe's death - like the flame centered nightmare earlier - but less intense. It isn't making her want to scream.

Either way, she gets to her feet. She lets herself walk wherever she's meant to go and finds herself standing in front of Javi's house which is clearly hosting an illegal party. She's about to continue on her way when Tyler comes out of the home, a look that Charlotte can only describe as pissed and worried and sad on his face.

He attempts to walk past Charlotte, causing her to frown as she remembers how he hadn't even been there for her at Joe's funeral. She grabs his arm, pulling him back toward her. "Something's wrong," she tells him urgently. "I can... I can feel-"

"Stop it," Tyler says harshly.

"What?"

He rips his arm out of her grip. "Just stop it. I don't want to talk to you about death. I don't want to deal with the magic keys that are apart of my family. I don't want anything other than the ability to be a normal teenager!"

Charlotte's taken aback by the pang in her heart. After all this time of keeping people at an arm's length - minus a few exceptions like Jackie and Lucas - and she chose Tyler Locke to add into her small group only for him to do this. It hardens her expression faster than Eden's comments could hope.

"You don't believe me?" Charlotte demands. He steps back, surprised by her anger. "Do you think I want to be able to feel death? Do you know how terrible this is? It's horrible! I know when someone's going to die before they do! Before anyone else does!" She gets close to him. "I felt Joe die. That's why i had to leave. Do you know what that's like? No. You don't. And if you don't want to believe me right now, then fine." She pokes his chest. "Just don't come running when you realize that I'm not lying to you about something being wrong."

And with that, Charlotte Orion walks away from Tyler Locke, the pain stinging more than she thought possible with her back toward him.

She groans internally when she realizes she's ended up at Key House, knocking on the front door without meaning too. Her argument with Tyler is clearly fresh in her mind but she pushes the anger she feels toward him again away when Kinsey opens the door with Bode by her side.

"Did you break the window?" Kinsey asks.

Charlotte frowns, wondering if she had done something to piss off both the Locke kids that are around her age. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The window," Kinsey repeats.

"Again, what?"

Kinsey pulls Charlotte inside by her wrist. She drags the redhead over to a broken window. "Did you do that?"

"Why would I?" she replies with a frown.

Kinsey lets go of Charlotte. "Is it Well Lady?" She glances at Bode. "But I thought she could get anywhere she wanted."

Bode nods. "She can."

Charlotte glances at the ground. "Would the trail of blood help?" Bode and Kinsey follow her gaze and soon, they're following the trail she had pointed out, clearly realizing whoever broke the window isn't the Well Lady... "Is she the woman from earlier? With the ring of fire?"

"You know her?" Kinsey asks, frowning.

"No. I just saw an outline of a woman." Charlotte forces herself to not frown as she thinks of saving Tyler that night. "Is that Well Lady?"