Connection

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Charlotte

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Chapter Twenty-Seven: Charlotte

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The world came back to her through a pounding head and watery eyes. She winced as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

Charlotte swung her neck in slow circles, working out a kink in it. A thin stream of dried blood caked her hair and her back was throbbing.

She sat on the ground, surrounded by nothing but the flat stone surface. Not even a glass of water had been placed in the area she was being held. A door to the left was visible but too far for Charlotte to reach. Shackles had been placed around her ankles which kept her a body-length away from the wall at all times.

With a groan, she pushed herself toward the back wall and exhaled deeply. In a whirlwind of blurry images, what happened the last time she was conscious crashed down on her. She remembered the ferocious excitement that had bubbled out of every one of her captors pores and their location.

An unrelenting despair crept its way into her heart as she realized that any previous hopes of escape were an absolutely foolish notion now that they were where they were.

Even if she could miraculously make it out of here, she would be stuck on top of a mountain without any chance of getting away before they caught her again.

The thought made her insides squirm and any small flicker of hope dancing in her mind extinguish, leaving her in a shroud of darkness.

Brooklyn walked in as she was drifting amidst her thoughts. She pulled herself to the situation at hand to find a scowl on Brooklyn's face.

"You're damn lucky we have magic to heal you. You would have been dead a good few times had we not," she remarked, anger lacing each word.

"Why don't you just let me die if it's such a pain?" Charlotte fired back. The acceptance of her inevitable doom had freed her mind of many other mental barriers.

"Oh no," Brooklyn chuckled, "we have much bigger plans for you, dear."

"Well, why haven't they happened already? You've had me kidnapped for at least a month. What are you so afraid of? All of those wizards and wielders who are so much stronger than you? Or is it your glorified babysitters that are scaring you?"

"Shut up," Brooklyn exclaimed, her voice echoing through the stone chamber repeatedly. "Shut your ugly mouth! You know nothing! What we are about to do is bigger than you; bigger than anyone!"

"Then do it already."

Brooklyn was upon her in a flash, with her hand raised. As it made contact with Charlotte's skin, she cried out. The force of it sent her sprawling onto the floor. The sound reverberated through the room.

"Stop insulting us. We're on a schedule; if something happens out of time the whole plan would be ruined. So yes we're waiting, but for good reason. And that doesn't mean we're afraid, it means we're smart, a trait that skipped right over you."

Charlotte rolled her eyes as she pushed herself off the ground. She knew with the lack of strength she wasn't in a position to make sharp remarks and fight, but the desire to do so churned inside her so powerfully she though it might fuel her more than food and drink ever would. The darkness had somehow set her free and it made her feel invincible.

"You set another toe out of line," Brooklyn spat, "and I'll make sure you'll regret it."

She wanted to remind her she already had but bit back the retort as she thought about the waterboarding. Charlotte had only just stopped having nightmares about that and she didn't want them to start back up again.