Something Special

Chapter 4

Later that night, after looking over all the bills and counting up all the money he had, Alastor came to the conclusion that he was in real big trouble. He needed a big payment and he needed it fast. So he decided to go back to the yacht and regrettably apologize to Charlotte then beg her to give him the six-hundred dollars. He knew that there was a slim chance of it working and that he would probably be throwing away his dignity for nothing but the man was desperate.

He called up Vaggie and Angel, asking them to spend the night with the kids. This of course meant he had to explain the whole incident with Charlie. Vaggie was horrified by what she learned. She knew Charlie to be one of the kindest and most selfless people in the world, always so happy and friendly when they were young. Now to find out that she grew into such a mean and hateful person, it was almost heart-breaking.

"I don't believe it." Vaggie said to Angel sometime after Alastor had left. "I just don't believe it."

"I know it's crazy babe but you know Al wouldn't lie about this." Angel said.

"But how? How did this happen? How did she...How did she change so much?"

"Her father. The guy was always a world class jerk. Remember when he found out she and Alastor were sleeping together? He tried to get Al on statutory rape. Even though they weren ot only the same age but Charlie was older than him by four months."

"Then I guess it shouldn't come as a complete shock to me that she turned out this way. When they moved away, we should have known he'd ruin her."

"Life can be a real bitch, huh?"

Vaggie nodded. She and Angel decided to stay up for another hour and watch one of the late night films. Somewhere along the middle part of the picture, they heard a creaking noise in the house. It was coming from the kitchen where the back-door was located.

"What was that?" Vaggie panicked. "Angel, did you forget to lock the doors again?"

"No." Angel said.

Still Angel brought out the baseball bat he brought over and Vaggie grabbed the poker from the fireplace. They slowly crept into the kitchen, ready to attack any possible intruder. But thankfully it was no intruder, just a tiny girl, no older than five, wrapped up in a blanket and holding a cup of water.

"Hi Uncle Angel, hi Auntie Vaggie." She greeted innocently.

"Carrie, what are you doing out of bed?" Vaggie said. "Are you trying to give us a heart attack?"

"I wanted a drink of water. Where's Daddy?"

"He's very busy tonight. He'll be home tomorrow." She put the poker back and picked up the child. "Let's get you back into bed. Angel, check the doors again so I can sleep peacefully tonight."

"You got it babe." Angel said.

Vaggie took Carrie into the other room and sat her on the bed which stood across from another bed where another girl, one a few years older, slept like the dead.

"Auntie Vaggie, can I ask you something?"

"Not now. It's too late. Go to sleep."

"But I can't sleep. Not until you answer this question. It'll be in my head all night."

"Okay, fine. What's your question?"

"Why don't I have a Mommy?"

Vaggie paused, speechless for a moment because she didn't expect her to be the one to be asked this question and because she didn't really have an answer.

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Because Uncle Angel says you act like you know everything, so that must mean you're very smart."