Broken Descent (Bruno Mars)

Monsters

For the second night in a row, Charlotte came running into Bruno's room, squealing and panting. "Daddy!"

"Again?" he asked softly as she literally jumped into his arms.

Charlotte nodded her head. "I wanna sleep with you."

"Sweetheart I promise that there are no monsters in your room."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"But are you very sure?" she asked again.

"I'm very sure," Bruno nodded, gently rubbing her back.

"But..." she stuttered. "What if they're outside and they come inside?"

"Charlotte, that's never going to happen."

"But...but what if it does...and they take me away."

Bruno ran his hands through her hair. Her hands were pressed up against his chest. "Daddy would never, ever let anything happen to you."

"Okay," she smiled a little. "Can I still sleep with you?"

Bruno sighed with a gasp and a smile. "Okay, just one more night, but you need to get some rest for Disneyland tomorrow. Tomorrow you're sleeping in your own bed. I love you."

Charlotte slowly dropped herself down onto his chest, falling asleep very quickly.

The next morning, Charlotte was in her room by the time Bruno woke up. Everything was ready to go for the day.

"Charlotte are you excited?" Bruno asked her as they stood in front of her closet.

"Yes!" She squealed.

Charlotte tugged on one of her blue dresses. It was going to be very hot that day. Charlotte put it on and stood in front of the mirror. Bruno sat behind her on the floor, buttoning up the few buttons on the back.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered into her ear, making her smile and giggle.

"I look like a princess," she said, twirling in her dress.

"You ARE a princess," Bruno winked.

For the earlier part of the day, the kids met a lot of the Disney characters. Then, they played some arcade games and won a ton of prizes. Next up was Mickey's house on the other side of the paths. Charlotte was especially excited, jumping up and down.

"Marley," Bruno said with his hands full of the prizes and gift bags. "Hold Charlotte's hand."

"Ugh," he groaned. "It's too hot for that."

"I don't care," Bruno spoke sternly. "Hold her hand, just until we get there."

Bruno and Phil led the group, and they disagreed and argued at an intersection of the paths.

"No," Phil said, pointing to one path. "Mickey's house is that way."

"Naw man it's that way," Bruno said, pointing in the other direction.

Charlotte pulled away from Marley's hand to bend down and fix her shoe. Crowds of people passed the group, bumping into them because they weren't moving.

When Charlotte stood back up, she looked up at all the unfamiliar faces around her. Similarly to the zoo, she was frozen. She spun in circles and stood on her toes, trying to spot Bruno or Phil or Marley. A small moan escaped from her mouth.

"D-d-d..." Charlotte stuttered looking in all directions.

The pathway was still extremely crowded. Charlotte looked at a park bench nearby and walked toward it to get out of the way. Before sitting down, she noticed a faded blue color underneath. She bent down to pick it up, examining it a bit. It was her blue bird, the first one. She was both glad and confused to have found it. It was very dirty. Charlotte sat on the bench, holding the bird tight. The bench dipped a bit. Charlotte looked over, past the burning tears in her eyes.

"Hello..." the man said. "I'm a friend your daddy's."

"You are?" She asked, unconvinced.

"Yeah," the man said. "I can take you to him."

The man was familiar to her, not in a good way. Charlotte wiped her eyes, unsure about what to believe and what to do. Bruno had talked to her about how she shouldn't talk to strangers many times.

"C'mon," he said, standing up and holding his hand out. "Don't cry. I'll take you to him."

Charlotte hesitated again, trying to stay strong. Her fear and innocence were no match for his manipulation.

"Let's go," he said, smiling still.

His persistence beat her and she took his hand. She gave her blue bird a tight squeeze.

Meanwhile, the group followed the path Bruno insisted on, stopping after quite a ways.

"This ain't right," Phil said.

"Alright, fine," Bruno sighed letting his eyes gaze wander at a lower level. "We'll go your way."

He looked at Phil and then Jaime and then at the kids. He looked at Jaimo, Zadeh, and Liam. His glance ended with Marley, whose hands were in his pockets. His heart sank. Charlotte wasn't even within sight.

He grabbed Marley by the collar and pulled him aside, not wanting to yell, especially in front of the younger kids.

"Where's..." he stammered, gritting his teeth. "Where's...Charlotte?"

Marley didn't give Bruno anything. He just stared, stuttering a bit. "I...I...I...She..."

"You couldn't fuckin' hold her hand for a couple of minutes? You're almost eighteen years old..why couldn't you do what I told you? She's four years old for God's sake...this park is huge..." Bruno scolded. His voice faded as his brain caught up to the reality of the situation.

Bruno's heart sunk even further. All the adults, except Phil took the rest of the kids to Mickey's house so they wouldn't get scared.

Bruno cried to himself, trying to hold it together.

"Keep your cool, man," Phil assured. "Maybe she went back to the arcade games...or...well we'll find her. Let's go find a security guard."

They walked around, looking for help. Bruno failed at holding back his emotions.

"Phil she wouldn't just walk off..." Bruno whined.

"She did at the zoo though...and that guy..."

"I talked to her about that. I know she didn't walk off this time...I just know...she's a good kid...she listens to me."

When they reached a guard, the head of security put out a crew of guards out to look for her, including checking the cameras. They put out an announcement with her description on the speakers.

Charlotte looked out the window of the unfamiliar car. It didn't have the books her dad had in the seat pockets or the music he always had playing or singing. Most importantly, it didn't have his face looking at her from the rear view mirror. She heard, in her state of shock, man's voice call for her.

"Are you thirsty?" he asked. He wasn't the same guy from the bench. This man, looking at her from the passenger seat, was blond.

She was very thirsty so she nervously took the cup.

"Thank you," she said meekly, taking sips through the straw. She made some faces. The juice didn't taste very good, so she didn't finish it.

Charlotte squeezed the bird tighter, wishing it was Roberto so he could sing to her. She wanted to cry, scream, and call for Bruno, but sleepiness came over her very, very suddenly despite the sun shining through the window. She sang in her head, over and over, watching the trees pass by as the car sped off on the ramp of the interstate. Her tears were tough to keep at bay. They dripped down her face, staining her dress.

"Save me..." Charlotte whimpered so quietly that neither man could hear. "Daddy..."