AFTER NEVER (Charlotte's Story)

Chapter 55/127: Ocular Replica

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I blinked at her, obliviously, as she continued to squeeze my face. "Eh? W-Why are you saying that?"

Her hazelnut beads glowed in the dark, as she let go of my face, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

She didn't answer.

I gulped, "My worst nightmare?" I snorted, "You don't even know me!"

She still didn't react.

I bit my lips, "Just... What did you mean?"

Her expression remained as dark, full of mysteries, "Do not mind my words much," She shrugged dismissively, "I'm just getting a bit tipsy."

I eyed her, uncomfortable, and let out another sigh.

She turned away, "How old are you, Charlotte?"

I blinked again, confused, "Err, twenty-two."

I eyed as her gaze intensified, and she emptied her glass, "Ah."

I licked my lips, "Wh-What about you, Miss Scarlett?"

She didn't even spare me a glance, "Twenty-Four, and remove the 'Miss' bullshit when you call me."

"Err, sorry." I pursed my lips, "And why," I paused slightly, "Are you working in th-this place?"

Her eyes swept around the rotten place, and only lack of emotions was mirrored.

"I didn't choose this."

I gulped, "If you didn't like this, you could've─" She cut me off.

"This is the life I've been granted." She muttered, "It's a curse given to me by one man."

I frowned, softly, "One man?"

She clenched her jaw, "My father."

Wow, another father-daughter thingy.

I gulped again, "But... Why would you blame him? And... What curse are you talking off?!"

She didn't seem fazed, like she was already out of emotions, "Just because he decided to fu** a woman one night does not mean he had to bring me to this life." She spat, "You see the curse, Charlotte, don't you?" She gestured all around, "My life is a curse." She seemed disgusted as she spoke, "My existence is a curse!"

I shuddered, and her eyes crashed against mine.

"I am a person that shouldn't have existed! That shouldn't have been born!" She spat is revulsion.

My eyes widened, "Wh-Whatever gave you such an idea?!" I snapped, "You shouldn't say that! Life is a blessing, it's─" Her voice cut me off, sharp.

"Just because you've been born with a father smiling at your existence does not generalize the concept!" She snapped, eyes wide with fury, and teeth gritting, "All these years, and even now..." She fixed her eyes into mine, "There was one reason I have not attempted suicide to get rid of this curse of a life..."

I gasped, and her orbs remained shallow.

"And that was the desire of my survival which I saw in my mother's eyes. She struggled to keep me alive." She clenched her fists, "And now that she's dead, I plan to survive because she wanted me to live. To have a fate different than hers. A brighter one." She let out a humorless laugh at that, and clenched her fists, "She died before seeing such a day come. A day where she sees me... Happy."