Arresting Attraction: How To Create A Criminal

Chapter Twenty Six

Sleep was hard.

Laying on my back, I fiddled with Charlie's knife, rolling the handle between my hands, feeling the heaviness of the metal; the sharpness of the blade, dangling inches above my face. Danger was evident if I dropped it.

But, I couldn't sleep. And, for the first time in a long time, it wasn't because I was scared, or anxious, or alone or frightened. It was because I was finally starting to understand. It was because I continued to hear the same words echoing over and over in my head, waiting for a response.

I want you to come with me.

Promise me you'll think about it.

I want you to come with me.

Promise me you'll think about it.

I want you to come with me.

Promise me you'll think about it.

Charlie Thomas was an enigma to me. I wasn't sure who the real Charlie Thomas was, where he began; where he ended. Was he the evil maniac that ran the facility into the ground? Or, was he the genuinely warm, caring protector who wanted to grant me my freedom in return for companionship?

But, Charlie Thomas didn't do companionship. That I knew. He hadn't done companionship in a very long time, which was what threw me off.

Why me?

Was it only me?

Did he finally understand the meaning of friendship?

Or was it something else entirely?

I sighed, the knife still present between my fingertips. I opened and closed it, exposed and covered the blade over and over. My fingers skimmed the obsidian, avoiding the edge as I ran my tips over the engraving of his name. Charlie, scrawled almost effortlessly, beautifully.

Charlie Thomas.

Charlie. Thomas.

I wanted to believe I could escape. I really did. If not for him, for my family, for my friends, for everyone I left back home. I wanted to see my mother again, I wanted to see my father. But, it wouldn't take long for word to get out if I escaped from Charlie Thomas. And, I most certainly wouldn't be free. I would be immaculately trapped. Trapped in a world of darkness and wrongdoings with Charlie.

But, was that such a bad thing?

As much as I wanted to fight the feeling, I couldn't. Charlie Thomas was something to me. And, despite my want to deny it, I was something to him.

We were more similar than I ever wanted to admit. We understood each other like no one else did.

I knew the hesitation I had for leaving was in him

Sighing, I lowered my hands, resting the knife on my chest as I looked over towards the ever flashing red of the security camera. Without fail, I knew Charlie was watching me. I knew he wanted an answer, he was waiting, searching, most definitely finding that answer. And, as much as I tried to justify it, I knew what I wanted just as much as he did.

The slow screeching of metal on metal pulled me from my thoughts as the elevator lowered to the last level of Max Hold 1. I wouldn't dare deny the part of me that wished Charlie was in that elevator. But, I would be stupid to believe that. Instead, I turned my back to the cell, to the gate, to the elevator, and stayed quiet.

Expecting one set of footsteps was naive of me. High hopes lowered as I noticed three distinctive steps approaching. They walked as silently as they could, each having a problem that left them noticeable.