||BEHIND THE MASK SERIES: BOOK 4||
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"Sometimes you need a second chance
because you weren't ready for your first."
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In which Charlie Barton is pulled
back into the world she left behind
to help a man with a metal ar...
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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟗 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐃𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒
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"Anđeo?!Anđeo, where are you?!" the familiar voice screamed as Charlie stood frozen in the darkness. Footsteps broke the silence that followed the shouts, causing chills to run up and down her spine as her breathing became unsteady. The Barton girl's eyes scanned the room around me, only to be greeted by a familiar pitch-black as the sound of him approaching got louder. "I know you're here. Please come out."
The sound of him walking around the abyss that surrounded her cut through the air as Charlie's blood ran cold at the tone of his voice while he proceeded to call out to me. He didn't sound like his fun-loving, playful self. He almost sounded...angry. "You can't hide forever. Don't make me have to find you."
She stood in her place as if her feet were glued to the ground while her ears listened to the silence around her. She soon realized that the sound of his footsteps wasn't audible anymore and she began to panic. Before she could fully comprehend her discovery, a sharp pain went through every inch of her body. Her hands reached for where the pain originated, only to be greeted by a warm liquid and a cold object against her stomach. The next thing she knew, bright lights filled the room that she was trapped in before her eyes landed on Pietro standing inches from her face.
"Now you know how I felt that day."
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Panic coursed through Charlie's veins as she snapped out of the nightmare she was trapped in. After managing to calm herself down, she found herself next to Bucky in the back of the blue VW Bug that Steve managed to "find." The Barton girl stared at the floor of the car for a moment before looking up to find the three men staring at her with concern on their faces. She soon began to fidget in her seat from being watched from all sides before her fingers subconsciously intertwined in her lap. It wasn't long before Charlie snapped her attention away from the men and looked out the window to watch the landscape fly by.
"You told me the nightmares stopped," Steve broke the silence that surrounded them, causing Charlie's gaze to turn away from the passing cars to meet his eyes through the rearview mirror.
"If I didn't tell you that, you and Sam wouldn't have left my apartment," Charlie responded before she let out a sigh and looked down at her interlocked hands, "I couldn't let you babysit me when you had jobs to do."
"Are they still the same?"
"Sometimes it's just the flashback like before. Sometimes it's...different."
