anne

19 | A bloody violent driver

Anne's Timeline

• ____________ •

Anne rushed Rebekah out of the store with her pale blue dress still half on. Rebekah grabbed her old clothes and ripped the tag off her dress before she got out to prevent the alarm from setting off, but it was in vain as the lady behind the counter saw and ran out to catch them. Anne whipped around, nearly bashed into Rebekah, and rummaged through her wallet to throw a few hundred dollar notes to the frantic saleswoman.

"Keep the change." 

And with no further delays, the two Vampires piled into Anne's car and sped off. Rebekah adjusted uncomfortably in her seat from Anne pushing her in so roughly, "What the hell Anne? What's going on?"

"Hang on!"

Anne got her phone from her pocket with one hand and half her concentration on the road. Finding Charles' contact she called him, and he answered almost immediately. 

"Hello?"

"I figured it out," Anne said, "I'll be there in ten." She hung up without another word, tossing her phone to a wide-eyed and whiplashed Rebekah.

"Sorry about the rushing, I just figured something out, and I need to get to Charles' house to tell him asap."

"Why?"

Anne sighed, gripping the wheel to a hard left as Rebekah lurched into the turn. "Basically his wife was playing 'Where's Wally' with her diaries, each one has a clue at the end of them that leads to where she hid the next one. We need to find all of these diaries as soon as possible so I can sort out what the hell happened to his wife, and why the fuck I'm suddenly part of it. The sooner I can sort this out and separate myself from it, the better."

Rebekah clung to the roof handle, "With your driving, we'll be on a separate plane of existence!"

"Oh please, it's a Toyota, and we're Vampires."

::: ::: :::

Anne slammed her foot on the brakes and Rebekah flung forward, "Jesus, you are a bloody violent driver!" 

"I'm better with my mustang."

But before Rebekah could reply, Anne told her to 'stay put' and was out of the car and running to Charles' front door. After a few seconds of impatient knocking, the door opened to reveal the smell of spaghetti and Charles in a relaxed button-up shirt, slacks, and a towel across his shoulder.

"What is it? What did you find?" He searched her face frantically.

"Come with me."

When he moved to the side, Anne marched to Celia's old art room behind the kitchen. He shut the front door with his eyes still glued on the mop of messy blonde hair searching his house, following her to the art room and closing that door as well. 

"What's going on? What are you doing?"

Anne rummaged through a closet, removing some boxes of old homemade candles to get the clothing hanging behind it. 

"I figured out the riddle!"

Charles' expression made it apparent that he was wholly unprepared to have this new chapter unlocked so quickly, but he still rushed forward to help Anne as she explained further. 

"In the diary, she had said 'young I am tall; old I am small,' which obviously meant candles."

They had removed another few boxes.