Creatrix

Chapter 23 - Inner demons

It was late in the evening, and Anika had eaten well; she’d had a meal with Charlie and his mum. The evening was full of sympathy and questions; she didn’t answer all of them and was happy to now be alone. She sat on the bed in the room that Charlie had shown her to. It was simple and pretty, but storage boxes were stacked against the wall next to the bed; Charlie’s mum said she would get him to move them out later.

Anika sat there with the barest of her belongings, trying to think. She had just drifted through the last couple of hours. The last one passing like an illusion; it was out of her control; she barely took part and just allowed herself to go with the flow. Charlie’s mum, Steph, had called her a poor thing, but she was kind and understanding. Anika answered her questions: Yes, her dad had hit her. No, it wasn’t the first time. No, she didn’t want to call the police. Yes, she knew it was abuse. No, her mother had left and she didn’t know where she was. Anika was worried that Charlie’s mum would call the police on her behalf, so she told her she was sixteen next week and nearly old enough to leave home anyway. She lied about her surname, and told her that her father needed help, and that she didn’t know how to help him anymore. She cried, but this time, she wasn’t angry. They were clean tears warmly accepted with a kind hug.

Steph told Anika she was welcome to stay for a while but she should let her father know she was safe. Anika said she would call home and leave a message; she didn’t want Steph or Charlie to get involved. She unpacked her few possessions and put them in the paper-lined drawers and she tried to settle the beating of her heart. She was shaking and she tried to make sense of it all. Charlie was downstairs, he was bound to come up at some point, and when he did, she wouldn’t know what to say. It was bizarre; to think that she’d been walking right by someone she was spending time with, not knowing it was him.

She heard someone outside the door, then a knock; it was Charlie, and she let him in. During dinner he’d been quiet, looked scathingly at his mum; mortified because she asked so many questions. Now, he looked more relaxed. He lounged back on the bed next to her.

 ‘So, how are you doing?’ he asked.

 ‘I don’t know, I’m a bit spun out to be honest.’

 ‘It’s okay; you can stay here for as long as you need to. My mum said so, but you’ll have to talk to her about it. This is so great Anika!’  He swung his legs round to sit cross-legged next to her. ‘We can play Creation and hang out with each other, and you could even help in the café if you want. I still can’t believe it you know.’

 ‘Neither can I; I thought I was going to sleep out on the streets.’ Anika told him.

 ‘Really? No way! I’m so glad you didn’t! This is just too weird; lucky I worked out it was you.’ He said.

 ‘That’s what I don’t get, how did you know it was me?’

 ‘I’ve seen you coming in and you look really upset then today when you came in and I saw your face, I thought it can’t be.’ Charlie’s face was red and he was talking fast. ‘I really didn’t think it could be you, but I must have, because as soon as you logged in and said you were in a café, I had to go on myself to see if you were there, and you were.’  He was grinning, his eyes wide enough to wrinkle his forehead. ‘Then when you said you’d left home, I thought, it must be her. I saw the sleeping bag you had when you came in. It was so weird, I logged out and had to come and ask you. Ha, you should have seen your face.’  Charlie was laughing now. Anika just managed a smile.

 ‘I had no idea it was you,’ she said, ‘I’ve been coming in here for ages and I never knew it was you.’

 ‘I know, it’s mad, oh we are going to have so much fun,’ He was so excited. ‘Shall we get on with this quest? C’mon, we’ve got a Grimoald to kill.’