When Fate Decided to Play its Part

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT:

CHARLOTTE

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Althea hit her until Charlotte begged and apologize, saying she was just kidding, and she knows Tyler. Althea huffed and squinted her eyes on her; of course, how could she forget about him? Charlotte rubbed her arms that were reddening from her pinches, honestly, Althea felt bad, but she didn’t show it. Serves her right.

Charlotte complained that it stings, she sneered at her. “You want more?”

“No thanks,” she mumbled while flinching away. She continues to rub her arms and look at her. “Is he really with him? Of all people?”

“Hmm.” Althea just hummed in agreement and recounted the events of what happened as how Becca did to her. Charlotte nodded in understanding before turning silent, it was brief, but Althea saw guilt flashing in her eyes.

She pursed her lips and smack her with the pillow. She didn’t dodge and let the soft thing smack her face before saying; “I really need apologize to Kyle, I almost made him motherless.”

“Shut up!” She hit her again, not bothering to correct her.

She frowns, “I don’t want him to be motherless after being grandparent-less-“

“Charlotte- just shut up- never mind that- come here, let me pull your hair out.”

“Don’t, my husband will not like me even more. But- kidding aside,” Charlotte stole the pillow and hugged it. “Why did you let him go with him? Can I safely assume that your over-“

“No.” She answers immediately, not even letting Charlotte to finish her sentence.

The temperature in the room dropped by several degrees again, it was okay after they broke the ice earlier, but the atmosphere changed for the second time. Unlike a couple of minutes ago, it was Charlotte who’s refusing to have an eye contact with Althea, but now, Althea was looking anywhere but her eyes.

She looked at her in silence. Her heart aches every time she sees her like this, like she was trapped in an endless maze. Charlotte thought she was already okay after therapies, but it seems like she was blind enough or pretended to be blind to not notice.

The silence was madly suffocating, Althea begun biting her lips again and holding the ring finger- but the ring that keeps her nerves in check was gone. It made her sunk into a dangerous pit. She started to overthink things in her head, and it got darker and darker. In silence, she began fretting over things. Months ago, she should have stopped it early and not fall into something she wont like, but the past events unearthed memories that accelerated her fall even more.

Lost in the sea of her past memories;

She lost her reasoning.

-

into thin

“Althea-“

to Tyler temporarily, okay? Take him- take kai from him later- hear that?” Althea begun to

Althea was having an anxiety

but she was catching her breath as it becomes ragged and uncontrollably short. Her chest aches

by the wall. It had no facial features, it was just a hazy, black, smoky silhouette, but Althea knows

It was him.

a broken switch, she saw different places, a hospital, and an old, abandoned factory. The places she

heard a familiar chalky

“I told you,”

It’s him.

throat tightening; she was choking. Her mouth was dry, and she was sweating heavily. She

even more, stretching his lips

come for

He’s really here!

can hear Charlotte’s voice faintly, she felt- or maybe it was just an illusion- her holding her trembling hands and squeeze it weakly before calling

happened or not, Althea doesn’t

and not. Althea wants to calm down, but the shadow of that man was walking slowly towards her. She tried calming herself by breathing in and out deeply but her breathing stuck in her throat. It was swirling, it was only a distortion, she

her and called her

moves backward on the bed. Her eyes were reddening from not blinking too long and tears were peeking out. She was struggling to give more distance between the two

hands inched

Slap!

-

on her face. She was now facing on other side, her neck looking broken. Charlotte panicked, thinking she accidentally

grasped her shoulders and shook her furiously, her one knee is even on the bed’s mattress now, embedding. “Althea- Althea snap

-

hurts. She gasped for air, and she realized that she was breathing again. With her heavy breathing, she looked around and saw that the distorted place returns normal. That man was not there anymore, like he

breathing was short and fast. Her whole body is cold. She was

only thing that made her slowly calm down was the gentle caresses of Charlotte’s

she saw her

asked what she

shook her. “I let you

to pry them away. The other is usually weak but she had a little bit more strength today, she won’t budge. Her grip tightened even more. “Althea,

you think it’s easy to forget it, Charlotte?” Althea spat at her after being silent. The surpassed anger in her made her voice cracked and shaking.