35 ᴍᴍ ꜰɪʟᴍ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ᴄᴏꜰꜰᴇᴇ I 🎀 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒸𝒾𝑒 𝒜𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓂𝓈 [𝑔𝓍𝑔] 🎀

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟏: 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞. [𝐓𝐖]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 31 [ᴛᴡ]

The silence in the bathroom was oppressive, pressing down on Charlie as she sat in the cooling water, her body trembling uncontrollably. The weight of her soaked clothes clung to her skin like a second layer of punishment. Each breath felt shallow and jagged like her lungs couldn't fully expand. Her arms lay limply at her sides, too heavy to lift, too drained of strength to push herself up.

For a moment, Charlie didn't move. She couldn't. The tears fell silently down her cheeks, merging with the water that clung to her skin, but her sobs were quiet now, a muted ache in her chest. The sting of Kate's words and actions lingered, wrapped tightly around her, constricting her every breath and every thought. Her mind was spinning, replaying the fear, the panic, and the sound of her own gasps for air as Kate had forced her under the water.

I'm sorry. Please, Kate...

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, her body trembling, the coldness of the water beginning to seep into her bones. But at some point, the emptiness became unbearable, the silence too loud. Charlie knew she had to get out of the tub. Staying there felt like surrendering, like giving up completely.

But her body didn't want to move.

But slowly, with trembling hands, she gripped the sides of the tub and tried to push herself up.

The effort was too much. She collapsed back against the cold ceramic wall of the tub, her head leaning against it as she gasped for breath, her tears blurring her vision. Her chest felt tight, and with every breath she took, it felt like there wasn't enough air, like the walls were closing in on her.

Charlie's breath quickened, shallow and frantic. The panic and the fear were rising again. She pressed her wet palms to her face, trying to slow her breathing, but it wasn't working. Her heart pounded in her chest, erratic, too fast; each beat like a hammer inside her ribcage.

"No... no... please..." she whispered to herself, her voice shaky and broken. But the fear wouldn't stop. It was consuming her, filling her lungs with fire and suffocating her all at once.

Her vision began to blur, and the room started to spin. Her pulse was racing, faster and faster, and she couldn't control it. Her fingers dug into the sides of the tub as she tried to focus on something—anything to keep her grounded—but the world was slipping away from her. Her breathing grew more frantic, sharp gasps cutting through the quiet, her body shaking uncontrollably.

I can't breathe. I can't breathe...

The walls seemed to be closing in, the space around her shrinking as her panic attack took full hold. Her mind raced, spiralling into a dark void where there was no control, no escape. The room felt too small, too confined, like the air itself was disappearing.

"No, no, no..." she whimpered, her voice barely a whisper now, her breaths coming in sharp, shallow gasps. "Please, stop... please..."

Her hands clawed at her chest, her fingers digging into the fabric of her wet shirt as if she could tear the panic away, but it wouldn't leave. Her chest felt tight, like a vice was closing around it, squeezing every bit of air from her lungs.

Charlie curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around her knees as she pressed her forehead against the cold, wet fabric of her jeans. Her body trembled violently, her sobs coming out in broken, ragged bursts. She was drowning, not in the water but in the weight of everything that had brought her here. The more she tried to pull herself out of it, the deeper she sank.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to the empty bathroom, her voice hoarse and broken. "I'm so sorry."

The words felt meaningless, but they were the only ones that came. She didn't know if she was apologising to Gracie, to herself, or to the version of her that had once believed she could be free. All she knew was that she was trapped, the walls of her life closing in, tighter and tighter, until there was no space left for her to breathe.