Intertwined

Then There Was Light

A/N: This chapter has some violence in it. The picture above relates. I've tried to keep descriptions of feelings rather than the actual acts themselves.

I couldn't feel Mia's warm arms around me, but I could smell her. Close. I couldn't feel a blanket, but I was on a mattress and I shivered. I tried to reach to pull a blanket up but both my hands moved and the jolt made my head hurt. Suddenly a bright light shone in my eyes.

'Mia. That's too bright,' I tried to put my hand in front of my face and I realised that somehow my wrists were stuck together. I opened my eyes and my head hurt, just above my right eye was a sharp pain. It was so bright I couldn't see properly. I needed to sit up. What light had Mia turned on?

'Mia!' I called and I tried to sit up. That's when I realised my legs were stuck together at the ankles. 'Mia?' I called out in panic.

'Don't say that name,' an angry male voice yelled at me. I knew that voice.

'Mia? Mia where are you?' I was still struggling against the bright light shining at my face and my pounding head.
'Don't say her name again,' the man shouted and I felt something hit my back so hard it took my breath away. I curled up on my side trying to take deep breaths but each breath in was accompanied by a pain in my back. As I gasped for air I heard footsteps come towards me.
'I'm here now. It's going to be you and me Charlotte,' I could feel the voice close to my face, 'promise me you won't ever say her name again,' I could feel his hot breath on my face and flinched. It didn't smell nice, the smell made me feel sick. 'Promise me,' he shouted in my ear and his spit landed on my face. His smell, his anger, the way he invaded my space all had my heart racing. There was nothing familiar around me, no safety, no love, no Mia, no Grace and Evie. There was cold, stone walls and floor, a damp smell and bars around me. Where was I? I darted my face around trying to make sense of the location. Stone walls and stone floor, I was in a cage, a cell with metal bars at one end of a narrow room, an underground room, no windows. It smelled damp. There was a desk with something like a computer at the other end of the room, a fire place near the desk, a bench an old refrigerator. I was cold and couldn't stop shaking. 'Come now Charlotte, say you promise and I will help you.' His voice softened. It was almost loving. It made me feel sick again. His face was too close to me and he gritted his teeth waiting for my response.
'I. I. Promise,' I stuttered out through my shivering.

'That's it my darling. It's you and me now. You and me,' and he sat beside me giving me a hug I didn't want but was too terrified to reject. I scrunched up as small as I could and realised I had one of Mia's robes on. I felt tears fall as I repeated Mia's name over and over in my mind.

***

Mia looked over at the stairs. She couldn't go back up to her bedroom. It probably seemed strange to everyone else, but Mia couldn't bring herself to be where she could smell Charlotte, where her clothes were, her perfume was, her hairbrush, where her handbag was. She was terrified her heart would break again and the pain was already unbearable. What if the small pieces and essence of Charlotte in the bedroom of a house Mia didn't even want anymore, was all Mia ever got to experience again?

Despite there being some evidence that Charlotte was still alive in those three photos, Mia was scared that was false hope. She wanted Charlotte to be alive and be back with her and hold her and never let her go, but Mia's heart was stuck in limbo. Would hope end up crushing her if the reality was that Charlotte never came back? Could she keep moving through the pain and hold onto her faith in the strength and courage of her forever person? Her faith that Char would fight to live. Char would fight to get back to her.

It had been 24 hours since the first three photos, since Mia had woken up to an empty house. The police couldn't locate Adam or find a trace of him for the last few months. He had quit his IT job and abandoned his flat months ago. Where had he been going, how had he managed to survive without a trace of money and a place to live? It didn't make sense and added to the despair Mia felt. It was like her Char was falling into the darkness and there was nothing she could do.