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An Unexpected Visitor

"Ch-charlie?!"

"Shhh..." Charlie raised a finger to her lips, "try to keep your voice down. Don't wanna wake up that guy over there because I'm not supposed to be here. I had to sneak in."

Elizabeth would have sooner expected Ennard to reappear right in front of her and get its revenge than to see Charlie again. Especially since Elizabeth didn't exactly tell the brunette where the troupe's next stop was.

"How did y-you know wh-where to find me?"

"Remember how your ringmaster made you leave one of your troupe members in my town? Well, I heard about it from my friend Marla -- she's a nurse -- and figured that the 'circus guy' she told me about had to be Freddy. I mean, there weren't exactly a lot of traveling circuses that had just left. Anyway, when he was picked up, I managed to convince the driver to take me along."

"Okay... why did y-you come here?"

"I, uh, got kinda worried after our phone call. Just had a real bad feeling, y'know? So I decided to find you and see how things went. It seems that they didn't go... great. You managed to get rid of the demon, but..." Charlie trailed off.

"Two p-people d-d-died. S-somebody else g-g-got injured. And I'm g-going to pr-prison."

There was a short stretch of silence between the two of them.

"I'm really sorry about your friend."

Elizabeth would have started crying again, had she not expended every last tear left in her body a while ago.

"And those other people... the stuff that happened is terrible. But listen here," Charlie stepped a bit closer and placed her hands onto the bars, "you're not going to prison for stuff that you didn't do."

"But I d-did do that st-stuff. It's m-my fault th-that everyone got hurt. And I d-deserve to be punished for th-that."

Charlie frowned, "Come on, now. Don't say that."

Elizabeth traced over the fresh lines of blood on the floor.

"I know that you clocked out halfway through our phone conversation, but I'm pretty sure you were still listening when I told you that it wasn't your fault. The demon used your body and that's it. You didn't give it permission. There wasn't any conscious volition from you when it took over and... did the things that it did."

"I sh-should've realized th-that it was using me."

"It's... I've never dealt with a case like this where somebody realized they were being possessed without me telling them first. And keep in mind, unlike you, all of them would pass out after their demons decided that they were done with them. It's a really hard thing to realize on your own. Harder than you'd think it'd be."

"I sh-shouldn't have followed after it so quickly wh-when it popped up d-during our call. My brain w-was telling me to say put and I st-still followed after it."

"Probably had a bit of a pull on you. Sometimes demons can kinda influence your actions without actually possessing you. Like when you saw that arrow spray-painted on the ground. You mentioned in the stuff that you wrote for me that you really didn't want to follow it. Your head was telling you no, but you walked further into the alleyway anyway."

The redhead was about to say something else but got cut off by Charlie speaking again.

"Look, maybe there are some things you could've done differently, but in the end, it was that demon's choice to harm those people, not yours. You do not deserve to serve time for its choices."

Elizabeth was used to being told that everything was her fault and that she deserved to suffer. She heard it from her parents, teachers, classmates, and even her fellow troupe members on a few occasions. After a while, she had come to accept it as the truth. 

Jesse even told her once that Elizabeth was the most guilty person she knew. When Elizabeth asked what she meant by that, Jesse explained that she constantly apologized for stuff that either wasn't that big of a deal, or that wasn't really her fault.

Maybe she should just accept this as one of those instances. It didn't seem like Charlie was ever going to agree with her, anyway.

"W-well, its n-nice that you think that, but I d-don't think the j-judge is gonna feel the same. Th-there isn't exactly a lot of evidence in my f-favor."

"Is that what you think? Looks like we disagree again," Charlie said. "What did you say during questioning?"

"Nothing."

"Not a single word?"

"N-not a single w-word."

"Okay, that's good. I filled your troupe in on what was really happening and they're on your side --,"

"They are?" Elizabeth interrupted.

"Yeah. It took a bit of convincing, but they realized that stuff didn't add up if you were the culprit. You didn't exactly sound anything like yourself with that demon using you. Arlen and Laura both described hearing a raspy, sorta androgynous voice when they were attacked. One without a stutter.

"The handwriting in its messages doesn't look like yours. If you wanted Arlen and Freddy dead, you wouldn't have called ambulances for them. If you wanted Laura dead, you wouldn't have told your ringmaster that you hadn't seen her for a while... Y'know, stuff like that.

"Anyway, it's a good thing that they're on your side because it's been decided that the attacks on them are definitely linked to the killings and other attempted attack. The victims are going to give eyewitness testimonies in your favor. Ideally, I can get that Garfield guy to do the same.

"He hasn't said anything yet either. Still in shock, I guess. I'm gonna find a way to speak to him before the police try again." Charlie paused for a moment. "We'll talk a little more before the actual hearing. With a lawyer. Work out all the finer details and stuff."

"Y-you sure are g-going through a lot of effort f-f-for me."

"Well, yeah. I haven't known you for that long, but I care about you."

As the brunette started to walk away, Elizabeth mumbled a quiet thank you that probably went unheard.