Preachers Daughter, Charlie Mayhew.

²² Shadow Confessions

Shadow Confessions     ━━      𝒗ol II.
xxii.         ✧           chapter twenty two

"This is not how it was supposed to go." a distant and fuzzy voiced sounded out in the darkness.

Addie lay in her hospital bed, the dim lighting casting shadows all over the room. She tried to open her eyes fully, look at what was going on. But the amount of pain medication and sleep mixed in her system left her eyes blurry and mind numbed.

All she could make out was two figures standing over her, one on each side.

"You fucked it all up! What am I supposed to do now."

The voice was soft— feminine, almost. It was something about it that seemed similar to Addie but she could not find the energy anywhere in her body to remember.

She tried to push herself up, and a small wince slipped past her lips. Both figures shot their heads towards her at the sound.

"Fuck, go! She's waking up"

Addie felt her conciseness slip in and out before the world went black. When she opened her eyes again, the room was empty. It was clearer now, there was nothing there. Was there ever?

Was she going finally going crazy?

━━

Adelaide awoke once more that day, she had decided it was all a bad dream and went back to sleep. This time, she was met with two faces.

Ones she could actually make out.

Addie did not feel alive, she was awake, But her heart and the rest of her muscles felt completely numb and out of use. Everything felt out of place. And she couldn't tell if it was from the drugs flowing in her veins or her soul slowly dying.

Lois and Charlie sat on opposite sides of the bed. She mustered up a weak smile towards them both.

Charlie looked up and realized that she had waken up, it was the first time he had seen her eyes in a week. He came everyday, making the hour drive to see her for a while. Like clockwork.

Lois came once. But when the doctors called to inform her that Addie had finally woken up, she hauled ass to get Charlie and they traveled up together to see her.

"Hey there." Charlie said, smiling at her. He reached out to grab her hand, satisfaction rising in his bones when the skin he felt was warming up. Addie was back, his Addie.

Lois looked up as well, a proud smirk growing on her lips. She knew Addie would come back, she was a strong girl. "Welcome home, girl."

Addie grinned, her mouth hurt for a little. She had not moved in a week and the action pulled against her skin. It was like waking up every muscle in your body at once, all tingly and painful.

"Hi." She whispered, her throat too dry to be any louder.

Addie looked brand new— except for the vertical row of stitches in the middle of her chest, there was no physical indications that anything had even happened. She looked perfect as always. But on the inside she felt completely empty. It still hurt and she was still so confused on everything, death had consumed her and spit her back out like nothing had happened. One day she was gone and no longer had any place on this earth, and now here she was. A whole week had been missing from her brain, like she had blinked and went through days while she did.

Charlie helped her sit up against the pillows. He placed a soft kiss on her lips and smiled when he felt her reciprocating. It had been too long since he felt the warmth of Adelaide, and it all rushed back like it never left. Addie missed Charlie as well, it was all she thought about before the incident and was all she wanted now. His lips felt like heaven against her broken down body, it felt like salvation in a new light in contrast to the pain she felt in her heart.

She groaned as she repositioned herself, the stitches in her chest pulling at the skin around it. With the hand Charlie currently didn't hold, she reached to trace the scar through the top of her hospital gown.

It had bumps and groves like a hill. She felt the thread that held her skin together and a wave of sadness washed over her. Would this stay with her forever? Was this her punishment?

"It'll go away, don't worry." Lois spoke up, noticing the sad look on her face. Addie exhaled and smiled again.

The muscles in her face started to warm up the more she smiled. It felt nice to be back in the living world and know what's going on. Still, she thought back to whatever had happened a few hours prior.

"Were there other people here? Before you guys..." She asked softly. It was hard to remember if what she saw was real or something that was a hallucination from all the medicine she was on.

Charlie and Lois looked at each other as he gripped Addie's hand tighter. As far as they knew, no one else had come to visit her. They were the only ones.

"Not that we know of." Charlie said.

Addie frowned and bit her lip, gasping when she felt the dryness of them. She darted her tongue out in an attempt to wet them. No way that was enjoyable for him to kiss.

"I thought I heard people in here..." She said. It was blurry and there wasn't much to recall but a tiny bit inside of her felt like it was real. Two shadows standing over her fragile body. Two shadows that also just disappeared in seconds.

Her heart dropped for a second as she remembered how fast he had gotten away the previous times she had encountered him. It wasn't crazy to think he had found her again, he did at the motel. She assumed they were still near it.

She closed her eyes and let her self breathe. It was okay. Charlie and Lois were here.

"I want to go home." Addie said. It was scary how fast the thoughts of the man who had gotten so close to ending her life flooded her brain. It was like a shock that sent her into panic mode every time she had a glimpse of it.

She just wanted to go home. Back to where she belonged. It was better to die in a place you love than somewhere you do not even know the name of. To her, it was scarier to be lost in a darkness you didn't know than to be in a darkness you knew very well.