Broken Descent (Bruno Mars)

Day 2: Torture

"Daddy!" Bruno heard, as he looked into the refrigerator. He hadn't eaten in days.

"Char? Charlotte?" he asked quietly.

"Daddy!" he heard again. It sounded like the voice was coming from the living room. Bruno rushed into the living room, nearly running into every wall on the way.

The adrenaline pumped through his body so much that he was out of breath despite the short distance.

"Charlotte?" he asked again, hearing no response.

Bruno slammed his fist against the wall when he realized she wasn't really in there, and returned to the kitchen. He didn't search for food anymore; he just sat there.

Later that night, Bruno opened the cabinet. His eyes were drawn to the box of Lucky Charms on the middle shelf. All of the little things that used to make him happy no longer had meaning. In fact, they just made him more depressed.

Bruno closed his eyes for a second and refocused to the top shelf, grabbing the half-empty bottle. He hadn't touched a drop of alcohol in a long time. This was the only bottle he had left.

The whiskey burned his throat as he chugged it in large gulps until it was gone. His eyes burned with tears as he stumbled over to the couch. With his head buried into the couch cushion, he grabbed his hair, letting his pain-stricken screams vibrate the cushion. He screamed for a while, until the alcohol sucked up his energy and allowed him to walk again. He screamed until he heard her little voice calling for him again.

"Daddy! I need you!"

Bruno picked his head up so quickly he felt all the blood rushing to his head. His eyes bugged out and he gasped.

"I'm...I'm coming! I'm coming sweetheart! Hold on!" he yelled, sprinting down the hallway, and running over to her room.

Almost slipping on the wooden floor on his way, he burst through her door. Nothing in the room had been touched or changed. Everything was sitting perfectly in its place, except for the most important piece. Charlotte wasn't in her bed, playing on the floor, or rearranging the stuffed animals on her bed. Bruno sat on her bed and squeezed Roberto until he sang. Her voice and giggles in his head were louder than the bird. Bruno set Roberto back down and pulled his curls once again, screaming in pain.

He looked at the picture of the two of them on her nightstand, never knowing that something could give him so much pain and joy at the same time.

"You can..." he smiled at the picture."You can sleep with me whenever you want, Charlotte...whenever you want. Please come back to me and I'll never let go of you again...I promise...I really really promise."

Bruno was surprised that looking at her pictures helped. He then grabbed a handful of pictures she drawn from her desk. Most of them were of the monster she'd been seeing in her nightmares for so long. They were all bleeding because she also had drawn Bruno wearing a cape, stabbing them with a sword. Bruno let out a tiny laugh as tears rolled down his cheeks and onto the picture.

"Yo! Bruno!" he heard a yell.

"What?" He replied weakly.

"It's Phil," Phil said from the doorway, getting closer to see Bruno sitting on her bed. Eric was standing beside him.

"What's up?" Bruno asked, wiping his eyes for the millionth time that day.

Bruno shuffled through the pictures. Phil and Eric got close enough to see what Bruno was doing.

"Bruno," Eric sighed. "Don't do this to yourself."

"It's helping me...she...she loved drawing...I used to tell her maybe she should stop coloring for a few hours and do something else...but now...but now I want millions of her drawings..."

"We're here for you," Phil assured. "You need anything?"

"You know the answer to that...I need...I need..."

Bruno burst into tears again, dropping all the pictures on the floor. Phil and Eric sat on either side of him, embracing him tight.

Phil picked up the pictures and smiled. "Aww..."

"I guess I'm not really a hero..." Bruno sobbed.

"Yes you are," Phil said, patting his shoulder.

"Well I couldn't really save her from the monsters. She's probably so scared right now. This is torture...I...I can't...do this. Maybe I'll go to the police department and see if there's anything I can do..."

"Bruno it's late," Eric said.

"I can't sit here and do nothing...she needs me...and I'm sittin' here doing nothing. Where is she? Why is there no trace of her? Why did they take her? I just...I don't even know anymore..."

"You should go to bed," Eric insisted.

"I can't..." Bruno cried. "I can't sleep if I don't know if she's safe..."

The alcohol began to catch up with him. Sharp pains stabbed him in his stomach. He winced as multiple forms of pain and agony assaulted him for the rest of night, forcing another long, dreadful night.

Charlotte hadn't eaten in two days. She held her stomach as it bothered her more and more. She was offered food time after time. She grew weak as they passed mile marker after mile marker, state after state. Her red and swollen eyes no longer had the ability to produce tears.

She tried to fall asleep, but hadn't been able to for days. This long car ride had sucked so much energy out of her that she became overtired. Everything hurt. Her heartbeat pounded harshly. Holding her fist up to her chest, her fingers scrunched up her dress.

"Ow..." she whispered and whimpered to herself, pressing her head into the back of the seat and closing her eyes. The night sky emerged, exposing the moon. "Ow...Da..Daddy...please..."