||Series Removed|| OTB

28 - Homicide, She Wrote

  As much as I didn't want to be there, Blessing insisted that I stand by the police department's reception as she confronted Charlotte about her behaviour the past couple of days. For a dead girl that claimed to struggle with the most basic of human interactions, she certainly had her way with words.

  "...And that's pretty much it. I took advantage of Daniel and his friends, insulted your feelings towards me, all because I could. I don't expect you to forgive me, but just know that I never intended to hurt anyone. Not like this."

  "Why? I thought that you-" Charlotte whispered, stepping towards her in an effort to keep her voice low. "You... never liked me?"

  "Of course I like you. We're friends. More than that, you remind me of what I always wanted to be... someone who cares about others, a fine tactical solider as well. I just wanted to know, what it felt like. As a part of you."

  Blessing brushed her fingers up her own pale arm, almost in a display of bashfulness. The blonde had no reservations when it came to accidentally flashing her artificial body, and yet exposing the emptiness inside made her appear more naked than ever.

  Drawing a careful eye over to me as I loitered behind them, Charlotte hesitated for a moment before shifting into the space between us. Her hands reached into her back pocket, pulling out the slender yellow box she'd rescued from the ashes of Patch.

  "You're not the only one. I think that I may have been using you, as well..." Her hands tightened around the container, letting an uncomfortable silence slowly build. For some selfish reason, I could never stop myself from interjecting into other people's conversations.

  "Charlotte. That name, you said before, 'Sophie'. She was important to you, wasn't she? That box belonged to her?"

  "What? How did you-" She froze, and instantly gave up her line of questioning. We had both analysed each other so much, that it became automatic between us. "Y...Yes. She was my best friend, Tanner's friend too. Sophie was first person who ever heard me sing, the only one who supported that creative side of me."

  Charlotte's hands grazed the wooden surface and opened the lid slowly. Inside the cushioned box, rested a broken guitar string and a blurry photo-booth picture of two young girls. Charlotte, and a fair-blonde who must have been her first love.

  "You look so much like her, Blessing. She was strong and confident, like you always are. If only I had been too, then maybe she would still be here. To believe that she could be replaced, that was foolish of me..."

  My mind churned back to Ian, the first hard-hitting loss in the web of deaths I'd left behind. I couldn't help but think, if only he could have held on for a little while longer... No, I couldn't expect that of him, of Charlotte. Nearly everyone I came across refused to ask for help when they needed it most, and it wasn't their pride that held them back.

  "This has always been you, Charlotte." I nearly mumbled, lost in the horrors of the past. "Strength has nothing to do with it. There are just those who accept their feelings, and the ones who think they should change. Your friend Sophie, you can't blame yourself-"

  "You don't understand." The brunette interrupted, grinding her jaw subtly. "She didn't kill herself. I welcomed her into my life, and she accepted me in turn. I know that the Lord approves of what we had, too... It's my father, who never understood."

  A heavy drop brought our attention towards the glass doorway, and our collective eyes met with the mayor's as he and Tanner finished loading the rest of our supplies into the reception. His line of sight trailed to the yellow box in Charlotte's hands, forcing an uncomfortable shake of his head.