“The house is in the old part of town on a big lot, it’s huge so it’s not surprising that you weren’t aware of a lot of what must have been going on,” his father said.
Charlie nodded, “I’m just sorry that my brother and sister caused so much trouble.”
“It’s not your fault, and you’ve been nothing but helpful, we don’t blame you,” Steven’s mom said, “We’re connected to this somehow, and when we find out how, hopefully it will all make more sense.”
“I hope so,” Charlie said, forcing a smile, “I’m ready to find the truth and put this all behind me.”
“And we’re going to help you do that,” Steven said, feeling love flooding him when he looked at Charlie who was trying so hard to be brave.
Chapter 17
***Charlie***
Charlie was sitting in the back seat with Steven watching the city go by, occasionally glimpsing something familiar. She’d only been eight when Clarise had sent her off to boarding school and the city had changed a lot. But when they turned off the highway and made their way back into an old neighborhood, the streets began to look familar.
When they pulled up in front of a dilapidated old Spanish colonial house, she recognized the front porch immediately and a flood of memories came rushing at her. “Oh, I remember this house,” she said, a little breathless.
William turned around and looked at her, “Are you ready?” he asked, his voice soft and gentle.
Charlie looked at him and saw that he wasn’t quite as unfeeling as he’d seemed the night before. “I’m ready,” she said, opening her car door.
As they walked up to the porch Charlie’s memory began to awaken, “I remember sitting here on the porch waiting for Clarise and Gerome to come home from school, I hated being in the house alone.”
Steven took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, then pulled her up the steps. When they stepped inside she gasped, “I remember the house now, my bedroom was upstairs at the very end of the hallway,” she said, pulling Steven with her up the stairs.
They walked down the hall to the last closed door and stopped. Charlie took a deep breath and reached out, turned the doorknob and let the door swing open. She stood on the threshold looking at the room for a few minutes, then stepped inside and walked around the little space.
“It seemed much bigger back then,” she said, opening the closet door, “I used to build forts in here and stay there for hours. It made me feel safe,” she said, walking into the closet which would have been just big enough for a child to hide in.
Steven put his hand on her shoulder, “What were you hiding from?”
Charlie thought about that for a few minutes, “I don’t know for sure, I just remember never feeling safe in the house,” she said, then walked over to the window and pulled back the curtain.
“Oh, I remember that shed, I used to hide in there too,” Charlie said, pointing out the widow, “I’d go there when the fighting got so bad I could hear it from my room. I’d steal food from the kitchen and stay there until Clarise or Gerome got home.”
She shivered, and Steven couldn’t help but pull her into his arms, “I know these memories may feel fresh to you since they’re just coming back, but remember these things happened a long time ago.”
Charlie buried her face in his chest and took a deep breath, feeling better with Steven’s arms around her. “Thank you for reminding me of that,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and hanging on for a long time.
Then they heard a strange sound down stairs, “I think Annabelle and Justin are here,” Steven said, kissing the top of her head. “Are you ready to see the kitchen?”
Charlie nodded, then looked up at him and asked, “Is Annabelle really a witch?”
“As real as they come, she and her sister are pretty amazing, twins like Penny and Justin,” Steven said, his voice full of admiration. “If you’d seen some of the things they can do, you’d understand what I mean.”
Charlie thought about that as they walked down the stairs, “I’m a little nervous, I’ve never met a witch before.”
“Don’t worry, you’re going to love her. She’s nothing like what you’re probably imagining,” Steven said, guiding her into the living room.
Annabelle and Justin were standing in the middle of the room with Samantha and William and the first thing she thought was that they made a striking couple. Annabelle was nearly a foot shorter than Justin but had an earthy beauty that matched Justin’s rugged good looks.
As soon as she saw Charlie, Annabelle broke from the group and came over to greet Charlie, “Hi, I’m Annabelle, you must be Charlie. It’s so nice to finally meet you,” she said, giving Charlie a hug and instantly making her feel better.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Charlie said, a little breathless.
Annabelle led her over to an old couch, “Let’s sit down here for a few minutes and talk,” she said.
Charlie sat down next to her, “I’ve never met… I mean… this is all new to me,” Charlie stammered.
Annabelle nodded, “I know this must all seem a bit strange to you. I know Steven talked to you about what we want to do, but if you don’t feel comfortable we don’t have to use a memory spell.”
Steven had explained before they left the ranch that Annabelle could put a spell on her that would help bring her memories to the surface and she’d thought about it a lot. “I want to do it, I need to know what really happened all those years ago. It’s the only way I’m going to be able to figure out who I really am.”
“Okay, I just wanted to make sure. If things get too intense I’ll neutralize the spell, but once those memories come out, I can’t put them back. Are you ready for that?” Annabelle asked.
Charlie nodded, then looked over at Steven, who crossed the room and sat down next to her. “I’ll be there the whole time,” he said, putting his arm around her and taking her hand.
“Then I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Charlie said, taking a deep breath.
***Steven***
Annabelle got to her feet, took Charlie’s hands and pulled her off the couch. “It’s a simple spell so all you’ll probably feel is a little tingle,” she said, then began reciting what sounded like a poem to Steven, her eyes locked on Charlie’s.
After she’d recited it a few times, she let go of Charlie’s hands and walked around her reciting another spell, then stopped and stood in front of Charlie and waited. Charlie’s quick intake of breath and the shiver that ran through her seemed to please Annabelle, who nodded to Steven and gestured to the hallway that led to the kitchen.
Steven took Charlie’s hand and said, “Okay, we’re going to go into the kitchen now.”
Charlie nodded and let him lead her to the doorway, then pulled back to look around the room. It was a huge kitchen with an island in the center, and industrial sized appliances along the walls. Pots and pans hung from the ceiling, rusted with age and covered with spider webs.
He felt Charlie tremble and looked down at her, her eyes were focused on a door tucked into one corner of the room. “I used to hide in that closet too,” she said, crossing the room to stand in front of the door. “It’s a pantry, but it was always empty.”
Steven followed her and waited while she stared at the door, “There are little cracks between the boards that I could see through, I’d hide in here for hours just watching,” Charlie said, then gasped. “I was in here that night, I remember now, I came down for a drink of water.”
Charlie reached for the door knob but hesitated as if she knew that once she opened the door everything would come pouring out. “It’s okay Charlie, open the door,” Annabelle coaxed from across the room.
She turned the knob and pulled the door open to reveal a little room only a few feet wide and equally deep, the walls were lined with shelves which were empty. “I could just fit under the bottom shelf if I scrunched myself up,” Charlie said, pointing to a small space at the back of the little space.
“What happene
d that night?” Annabelle prompted.
“I woke up because I was thirsty, we’d had pizza for dinner that night because my parents weren’t home. We’d been having a good time, it was just Clarise and me and I remember thinking how nice it would be if it was always just us. But then she got a phone call and hustled me off to bed. It was early, and I was mad at her, so I told her I didn’t want a story and I guess she forgot to leave me a glass of water like she always did,” Charlie said, her voice soft and dreamy.
“So, you came to the kitchen for a drink of water,” Steven prompted, watching Charlie’s face closely.
“I was never supposed to leave my bedroom at night, but I was so thirsty, I decided to break the rules. When I opened my bedroom door the house was quiet, so I ran to the kitchen and got a glass of water. I was standing at the sink on a stool drinking it,” Charlie said, going over to the sink, “when a car pulled into the driveway. I knew I was going to be in trouble for being out of my room, so I ran to the pantry and hid.”
Charlie looked back over to the pantry, then down at the kitchen floor and began to tremble. Steven walked over and put his arm around Charlie wishing that she didn’t have to go through this, but they needed to know what happened that night.
She barely seemed to notice that he was there, “It was my parents and another man, when they came through the back door my dad was pleading with him. He kept asking to keep something for a little bit longer, but the man kept saying that a deal was a deal.”
“Do you know who the man was?” Annabelle asked gently.
“No, I’d never seen him before. He was scary, big and tall, with these strange orange eyes,” Charlie said, then paused almost as if she was in a trance.
“Then what happened?” Annabelle asked, coming a few steps closer to Charlie who was beginning to look very scared. “I know it’s hard to remember but just relax and it’ll come.”
Charlie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “They started fighting, screaming and yelling at each other, even my mother joined in. Then suddenly they were all gone and there were three huge wolves in the kitchen, snarling and growling at each other. When they started to fight, I shut my eyes, hoping that I was dreaming, but when I opened them and looked again, my parents were lying on the floor in a puddle of blood and the man was standing over them,” she said, then began to sob, her entire body trembling and shaking.
“Stop this right now,” Steven said, pulling Charlie into his arms. “We’ve heard enough.”
Charlie stopped sobbing and pushed away from Steven, “I was so scared I dropped my glass,” she said, crossing the room to stand in front of the pantry again. “The man heard the glass hit the floor and he found me, he was just pulling me out when Clarise walked into the kitchen. I don’t know how she found the guts to do it, but she pulled me away from him and started yelling at the man. Then she pushed me out of the kitchen and told me to go back to my room, I don’t know what happened after that, the next thing I remember is waking up in my bed.”
As soon as the last words were out of her mouth, Charlie’s knees gave out and Steven had to catch her before she hit the floor. “That’s enough Annabelle, release her from the spell,” he growled at his sister in law, Charlie limp in his arms.
“The spell has already played itself out, she’s remembered everything she’s going to,” Annabelle said, “Bring her into the living room and lay her down on the couch, she’ll come around in a few minutes.”
“She’d better,” Steven growled at Annabelle, earning him a dirty look from his brother.
Chapter 18
***Charlie***
Charlie woke up on the smelly couch, all her memories flooding her mind, but Steven’s face was the first she saw, and it calmed her. “Are you okay?” he asked, helping her sit up.
“I think so,” she said, grimacing as a wave of fear raced through her. “But I’d like to get out of this house.”
“If you’re ready, I do think it’s time we go,” Steven’s father said, coming over to help her up. “That was very brave of you.”
Charlie managed a weak smile, “Thank you for going to all this trouble, I hope it helped.”
“I think it did,” William said, taking her arm and helping her out of the house.
Walking to the car with Steven on one side and William on the other, she felt a little bit better. She kept reminding herself that what she’d remembered had happened a long time ago, but the memories were still felt so fresh they took her breath away. When they got to the car, Annabelle hugged her, then tied a little bundle wrapped in leather around her neck.
“This will protect and calm you over the next few days, you’re a brave woman Charlie, don’t forget that,” she said, then gave Charlie a hug. “I’m always available if you need to talk.”
“I think I’ll be okay, but thank you,” she said, then got in the car so exhausted she could hardly stand.
She fell asleep on the way back to the hotel and when they got there Steven announced that he was taking her back to her room for a nap. Charlie didn’t fight him, she had no strength left and loosing herself in sleep for a while sounded like the best thing in the world.
Steven tucked her into bed and laid down beside her, pulled her into his arms and kissed her on top of the head. “I’ll be right here with you, get some sleep,” he said, his voice soothing.
She drifted off to sleep, his heart beating in her ear, and slept soundly for a long time. But then the dreams began, dreams full of blood and snarling teeth that she couldn’t escape from. Each time she’d try to run, she’d find a pool of blood and her parents bodies blocking her way, behind her the snarling and panting of an animal.
She woke screaming and jumped out of bed, ran for the door and threw it open, only to run right into Steven who’d come running from his room when he heard her scream. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed as she sobbed, so relieved he was there, she couldn’t speak for a long time.
Steven stroked her hair as she cried, whispering in her ear that it was okay until she started to believe him. “I had a bad dream,” she finally managed to say. “I kept seeing my parents and all that blood, and there was an animal there, I could hear it snarling and panting.”
When Charlie began to tremble, Steven did the only thing he could think of and kissed her. A deep kiss that took her breath away and distracted her from the terrible images in her mind. “I’m sorry, that probably wasn’t what I was supposed to do,” Steven said when they finally parted.
Charlie looked up at him, tears in her eyes, “That was exactly what you should have done,” she said, with a little smile, the first she’d been able to manage in days.
***Steven***
When Charlie smiled at him it ignited something inside him, an intense need to protect her but behind that feeling there was desire, desire so powerful that it took his breath away. Unable to help himself he pulled her closer again and lowered his mouth to hers, prepared to back off if she resisted.
But she was pliant in his arms, her body molded to his, her skin hot where it touched his. When she groaned and opened her mouth to his probing tongue, he growled deep in his throat as the passion between them ignited, sending delicious waves of pleasure washing over him.
Shifting them in the bed, he pulled her nightgown over her head and lowered his head to her breasts, sucking first one taunt nipple then the other into his mouth. Charlie arched her back and ran her hands up and down his back, then reached between them and took him in her hand. The feel of her small hand gripping him so tightly made him suck in a deep breath, then sigh with pleasure as she began to stroke him.
Each stroke of her small hand brought a wave of pleasure surging though him, making him moan, and encouraging Charlie. When she pushed him on his back and began kissing her way down his chest, he sucked in a deep breath of anticipation. But nothing could have prepared him for the feeling of her mouth sliding over his swollen member, her mouth so hot and wet it nearly sent him over t
he edge.
It took all his control, but he managed to hang on just long enough to flip Charlie onto her back and drive himself into her. Once he was buried deep inside her, he paused to relish the feeling of her hot velvety passage as her muscles clenched around him. Growling low in his throat, he thrust his hips over and over, driving himself into her while she moaned and cried out his name.
He was close but no where ready to let go, so he rolled them over and pulled Charlie’s legs up until she was straddling him, driving him even deeper inside her. She cried out in surprise, but then began to rock back and forth, her eyes locked on his as she rode him.
When he reached between them and found her swollen nib and began to rub it, almost instantly he felt her body begin to tremble, her muscles rippling and squeezing him as she crested and tumbled into oblivion. As her body began to still, he flipped them over again, and began to move gently inside her, slowly at first but then faster when she began to respond to him again.
Their eyes met as he slowly brought her back to the heights of passion, his pace slow and measured until her eyes clouded over and she began to writhe underneath him. When she wrapped her legs around him and thrust her hips up to meet his, he knew he’d reached the end of his control, so he let go.
Thrusting into her as hard and deeply as he could, he let the pleasure surround him, let Charlie take him to that place only she could. Shuttering and sighing as his orgasm took him, he buried his face in her breasts and inhaled her scent, knowing that he’d found the one woman who would satisfy him for the rest of his life.
They lay entwined as the sun set, neither wanting to break the spell that had fallen over them to face the real world. But as it got dark outside and their stomachs began to growl they rousted themselves out of bed and got dressed. Charlie seemed much calmer than she had when they’d gotten back, the color had returned to her cheeks and he could almost believe that everything was going to be okay.
Fairplay Shifters Boxset Page 46
