Cycles [A Charlie & Elizabeth AU]

Chapter 6- Frustration

Charlie set down her bags with a huff, setting them on her old childhood bed. A cloud of dust flew upward in response, causing Charlie to hack.

"Oh god-" she breathed between coughs, waving dust away from her face, "When was the last time this place was cleaned?!"

Sparky looked at her silently before rolling over onto its back.

"You're right; dumb question- AAAAAAAA-"

Charlie screamed and quite dramatically fell backwards onto her butt. Sparky began barking, but stopped when it noticed who had scared her.

Sitting on the bed cross-legged and seemingly unbothered was none other than Cassidy.

"That was a bit of an overreaction." She said, unamused.

"Yeah? Well if you don't want me to join you in the spirit world, give me less ways to die of a heart attack,"

Cassidy rolled her eyes and got off the bed. "Anyway, I actually do have a reason to be here; and it's to help you."

Charlie raised and eyebrow. "How in the world are you going to help me?"

"If you let me finish, I'll explain!" Cassidy snapped, "Luckily, I have magical ghost senses-"

"Pfff, sure-"

"Shhh! As I was saying, I have special ghost senses, and one of them is knowing how close the guy we're looking for is!" Cassidy paused.

"... Well, that's convenient-" 

"He's close," she explained quietly, ignoring Charlie. "Closer than from your house, definitely- but something's off... the aura... feels almost like static..."

"...And that isn't normal?" Charlie asked, with a softer tone potent with concern in her voice. Cassidy shook her head. Charlie just looked down, at a loss of what to say.

She didn't know who- or what- she was looking for, and as much as she wanted to be rid of all of this, and effectively put an end to a chapter of her life she wanted closed forever, she didn't know where to start. Maybe she'd ask-

Charlie looked at the clock.

"Oh god I'm going to be late! Why does time pass so fast?!" Charlie began pacing around the room, grabbing jackets, pocket change, and other trinkets, and stuffing them into her bag.

Cassidy, visibly confused, raised her voice,

"What?! Where are you going?!"

Charlie paused.

"Oh, I..I'm meeting a friend,"

Cassidy shrunk, and Charlie took note of it.

"I promise I will look later, okay?" She bent down to Cassidy's eye level. "Together. And will end this. We've got time, right?"

Cassidy said nothing, and Charlie slipped out of the room.

"That's the thing, Charlie..." Cassidy muttered quietly, "You might have time, but we don't."

~~~

"Elizabeth!" A voice called out. Elizabeth cast her gaze down the gravel path, and saw a silhouette running towards her. She let out a sigh, and clenched her fist, trying to stop it from shaking.

Calm down, she commanded herself, but it had barely worked; her hands clammed up.

"Sorry I'm so late, I lost track of time!" Charlie smiled, trying to hide her panting. Elizabeth's expression softened.

"It's no bother." She said smoothly, and gestured towards the path reaching far into the forest. "Shall we go, Princess?"

Elizabeth meant that as a sarcastic question, but she noticed Charlie tensed up and her cheeks pinked as she passed.

"Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked, picking up her pace to match Charlie's.

Charlie waved her hand in the air dismissively, "Yeah! Yeah I'm fine," she laughed, though Elizabeth could sense that tone was fake. She cocked an eyebrow, before turning her attention to the forest floor.

Bah, why did she even care how Charlie was doing? She reprimanded herself. It didn't matter, Charlie was going to die today.

Yes.

That is the only reason they came here.

Elizabeth snuck a glance at Charlie, but found she was already looking back at her. She found herself looking into Charlie's dark brown eyes speckled with golden flakes, an enchanting, deep, pool that reminded her of a vortex but still reflected the yellow night stars just faintly. It drew her gaze, and for a moment Elizabeth forgot the world right there as it was, the felt her breath escape her.

Then Charlie fell.

Her foot caught on an unsubmerged tree root, sending her toppling forwards at an alarming rate, before she could even register what was happening. Elizabeth, startled, reached out to catch her but to no avail. Charlie hit the ground with an oof, then groaned.

After the surprise, Elizabeth burst out laughing.

Charlie looked up at her questioningly, a mixture of concern and embarrassment plastered on her face.

"Sorry-" Elizabeth wheezed, "I just-" she clutched her waist. Charlie smiled too against her will.

Eventually, Elizabeth wiped her eyes and apologized again. She held out her hand, and Charlie took it, before standing back up. Their eyes met; and Elizabeth slowly realized, without want nor warning; that her face began to heat up at the same time as the girl her hand held onto, being dyed a rosy red.

No, wait.

In a single moment reality hit Elizabeth like a truck. What was she doing?! This wasn't her friend! A warm, growing, anger clawed at her chest.

 At least not anymore; she had made sure to dump all fond memories and affections towards her the second Charlie abandoned her. This wasn't a person she could trust this was her enemy, nothing more than a tool for her own means. Plus, she could never get away with betraying Vannie like this.

Charlie whipped her hand back into her jacket pocket suddenly, leaving Elizabeth in a haze. The anger 

"Your... hand... is really cold..." she laughed awkwardly, shifting her jacket as a way to busy her hands.

Elizabeth didn't stir, her head clouded with fog, operating like a cog machine full of spiderwebs. "Let's... just continue our walk." She said softly, hand stuck in place. "That is... if you still want to...?"

Charlie smiled, "Of course, we gotta see the sunset, right?"

Elizabeth nodded, though it was hesitant. They wouldn't see the sunset the speed they were going now, and they both knew it. Yet still, they trekked onward, a gentle breeze pushing them in the right direction.

~~~

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so dang long, school got in the way, but I'm moving to online again so hopefully I'll have more time to write in the future

In the meantime, Security Breach got postponed, huh? Oh well, I'm still excited for it, what about y'all?