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"𝙄 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙆 𝙔𝙊𝙐 should let me do the talking," Charlotte announced as she turned into the Carrera driveway. "You don't have the best track record when it comes to convincing mom and dad."

Kiara let out an offended scoff as Charlotte shut off the car, "Oh come on! I've been practicing in my head the whole way over here."

"Oh yeah?" Charlotte challenged, stepping out onto the driveway, "Let's hear what you've got then."

Squaring her shoulders, Kiara let out a breath as if she was prepping for a big presentation, "Okay, okay. We could go with the simple yet effective, we're basically both adults─"

"At least one of us is." Charlotte muttered.

Kiara shot her a look before continuing, "Fine, you don't like that one? What about...we─we'll never ask for anything ever again?"

Charlotte picked at her nails, "Yeah, right."

"Yeah, you're right," Kiara sighed. "I cannot promise that." She paced in a small circle, "Oh! This is a good one─I'll write an essay about our experiences with Indigenous tribes in South America, and then I'll use it to apply to colleges. You could write one too since they're so worried about your schooling."

Quirking a brow, Charlotte regarded her younger sister, "Seriously, Kie? They're never gonna buy it."

Kiara's shoulders slumped, "I'm trying my best here, okay?"

"I think the truth is our friend right now," Charlotte reasoned, "We tell them the truth, but the key is to not ask for permission. Just have enough decency to let them know what's happening."

"Where'd you learn that, little miss perfect?" Kiara wore an amused smile.

Pretending to brush dirt off her shoulders, Charlotte smirked, "You can't do the out-doer, little sis. You forget I paved the way for you."

Kiara snorted, "You're so full of shit. You could do no wrong in mom and dad's eyes back then."

Charlotte winked, "And that was all part of my plan."

"Yeah, sure. I bet you had it all─" Kiara trailed off, her eyes focusing on something on the street behind Charlotte.

Spinning around, the eldest of the two noticed a car pulling up to the curb. There was a logo printed across the front of it with a rainbow lacing over the words. There was nothing inherently wrong with the vehicle, but something felt...off.

A man stepped out, rounding the car with a cool composure. Yet it seemed that there was something daunting about him.

"Hey, Kiara." He greeted only the youngest sister, his pace quickening slightly as he approached. He acted as if they were old friends.

Charlotte stepped in front of her sister, latching a hand on her wrist to make sure no one tried to take her away. "Can we help you?" She wondered, a bit more bite behind her tone that she had originally intended.

Kiara was already pulling Charlotte toward the house, not wanting to stick around for whatever this creep had to say.

"Hey, come back." The man pleaded, "I just want to talk to you."

"Uh, no thanks!" Kiara called back as the two girls made their way up the porch stairs. She was taking a much more civilized approach that Charlotte had planned to. "Stranger danger." Kie muttered, a certain panic in her tone.

Charlotte paused for a moment, giving Kiara a light shove toward the house, "Go get dad. I'll see what this creep wants."

She had never been the most confrontational person around, but when it came to her little sister, Charlotte was willing to put any apprehensions aside.

Kiara stopped at the door, jiggling the handle to reveal it was locked, "No, Charley. Just come here." She pleaded, knocking on the door fervently. "Hello? Dad! Mom!"

The man from the driveway was making his way up the stairs, just as Charlotte's heart was clawing its way to her throat.

"What do you want?" She demanded, shaky voice giving way to her fear. "I swear to God I'll call the cops if you don't leave right now."

The man basically looked right past her, eyes focused on Kiara.

"I said leave!" Charlotte snapped, stepping in the path of her younger sister. "Or this will not end well for you, you fucking creep."

The sound of the door opening followed by Kiara's shocked gasp filled the air. "Uh, who are you?"

Another man spoke, seemingly from inside their house. "This can go one of two ways," he declared, as if daring Kiara to try something.

The driveway man shoved past Charlotte as she spun around to see who the hell was inside of their house. Recognition had just begun to dawn on Kiara as she shook her head, eyes wide. "No. No, no, no."

"Kie?" Charlotte wondered, trying to figure out what she was missing.

Kiara was too in shock to answer her sister, now boxed in by the two men. Charlotte, on the other hand, was straight up pissed.

"Get the fuck away from her," She warned, approaching the men with ferocity. "Don't touch her."

"I'm sorry, sweetie. We're sending you away for a bit. They say that Kitty Hawk's the best...okay?" That voice came from inside, and it wasn't from a stranger...it was their mother.

Charlotte squeezed her way in between the two men that were boxing Kiara in and instantly took hold of her sister's hand. "What is this?" She demanded, looking from the men to her parents. "What are you doing?"

Anna gave Charlotte a brief glance before looking toward her youngest child, "We just need to try this, okay? We're just trying to help you."

One of the men wrapped his arm around Charlotte's waist, trying to yank her away from Kiara who was being pulled by the other man.

"No!" Charlotte yelled, fighting against his strength. "Let go of me."

"Mom!" Kiara begged, eyes filling with tears as she gripped tighter onto her sister's hand. "Please don't!"

Charlotte held onto Kiara with all of her might, knowing the minute she let go, her sister would be taken away from her. And she couldn't let that happen. She couldn't.

Anna continued to try to justify their actions as both of their daughters argued─no, pleaded─with them not to do this.

Still flailing, Charlotte was pulled harshly toward the front door, her hand slipping from Kiara's. "No!" She cried, tears of panic filling her eyes as the man released her, shoving her into her father's grasp instead...it took two of them to rip Kiara from her home, leaving only Mike to restrain his oldest.

"Dad, let go!" Charlotte screamed, fighting against his strong grasp, "Don't do this!"

"Charley!" Kiara cried, begging for her sister to do something.

Hot tears coated Charlotte's cheeks as she did anything to force her father to release her. But he wouldn't budge.

"You can't do this!" Kiara cried, the men almost having her to the porch stairs. "You can't send me to some cuckoo wilderness retreat! I have somewhere to be! I─you can't do this!"

Mike still held on tightly to Charlotte as he all but dragged her down the porch, seemingly wanting to see Kiara off. "Just go with them, Kiara. Don't fight this." He pleaded.

"Kie!" Charlotte yelled, begging her sister to look at her.

Through her fight, Kiara turned her head, locking eyes with the only person here who was trying to protect her. Charlotte couldn't say anything─she didn't have to. One look was enough. It was a look that said everything; it said that she was furious about what was happening, it said that she was distraught...and it also said that she would be coming. She wasn't going to leave her sister in that place. No matter what.

Tears fell from Kiara's eyes as she gave her big sister a small nod, a small amount of hope bubbling in her chest. She had Charley on her side. Even if he parents betrayed her, she had the most important person.

But that didn't make this any easier on her.

"Mom! Dad!" She cried, latching onto the fence in one final attempt of escaping. "I don't want to go! Please!"

Just like they had ripped her from Charlotte's grasp, the men pulled Kiara away from the fence, down the driveway and toward their awaiting car.

She screamed the whole way, each plead to be released feeling like a dagger to Charlotte's already shattered heart. "You can stop them!" she cried to her parents who would barely look at her, "Don't do this to her!"

Kiara was still banging on the car window, pleading for help, when the car pulled away, taking her to what Charlotte could only imagine would be hell.

Charlotte let out a sob as her farther finally released her. He tried to set her down on her feet, but she crumbled onto the porch, crouched down as she dropped her head into her hands.

Anna Carrera was sobbing next to her, but Charlotte didn't feel an ounce of remorse for her mother right now. Call her blinded by rage...but she truly did not care.

Sucking in a deep breath, Charlotte slowly felt the pain in her heart be replaced by rage. The two people standing next to her, the ones who she had spent nineteen years loving and being loved by, felt like complete strangers.

Rising to her feet, Charlotte caught the attention of Anna who was still being consoled by Mike.

"Baby—"

"Don't," Charlotte bit out, barely looking at her mother, "What is wrong with you?" She demanded, scoffing with a shake of her head. "How could you do that to your child?"

Mike bristled, anger flashing across his features, surely a defense mechanism. "Charlotte—"

She didn't care to wait around for his justification. Without even looking at the two of them she wiped her tears and marched toward the house, slamming the front door behind her.

Stomping up the stairs, she slammed her bedroom door for good measure, knowing they couldn't even hear it.

Pressing her back up against the door, a shaky breath fell from Charlotte's lips as she fumbled for her phone. Her fingers clicked the contact of the only person who she knew would come help her save her sister.

She wasn't going to sit around and wait for someone else to do it. Kiara needed her.

"Charls!" JJ exclaimed, picking up on the second ring, "Where the hell are you two?"

"Kie's gone," Charlotte declared, voice wavering, "My parents sent her away."

A curse came from the other end of the line, "They sent her to the wilderness camp?"

Mike and Anna had brought up the idea to Kiara before, much to her dismay, but there was no way anyone ever thought they'd go through with it.

"Yeah." Charlotte muttered, her chest constricting. "We gotta get her back, J."

JJ's response was instantaneous, "I'm on my way."

A small seed of relief was planted in Charlotte's chest as she hung up the phone, knowing that JJ would be her greatest asset.

Knowing she didn't have much time, Charlotte threw open her closet doors, pulling clothes and random and shoving them into a duffel bag. The hope was to have Kie in time to make it to South America somehow, yet she wasn't convinced that was possible.

Hurrying around her room, Charlotte shoved everything she could imagine she may need into her bag. Just incase, she made her way into the room that had been designated as an office, grabbing both her and Kiara's passports before returning to her bedroom.

She was in the process of grabbing her phone cord when something on her bed caught her eye.

A handful of pamphlets had been put on her pillow, begging to be seen by her.

Hesitantly, Charlotte picked them up, her eyes scanning the words on the front pages. All of them displayed a similar message.

Mental Health Rehab Facility.

It felt like her heart had fallen to the floor as her head began to swim. Her parents wanted to send her away, just as they had to Kiara.

If she didn't get out of there soon she feared two strange men were about to show up to take her next.

Yanking her phone cord from the wall, Charlotte shoved it into her bag before hurrying out of her room. Her sneaker-clad footsteps thumped down the stairs as she made her way out of the house and back onto the porch. She prayed JJ was already there.

"Where the hell are you going?" Mike demanded, eyes landing on the duffel bag in his daughter's hands.

Charlotte wore a Stoney expression as she brushed past them, not giving them a chance to grab onto her. "As far away from the two of you as I can get." She muttered, earning a small choked sob from her mother.

"Don't speak to us like that," Mike snapped, rising to his feet from where he'd been sitting on the steps.

Charlotte, who had made it down the stairs, spun to face them. "Or what? You'll send me to a rehab facility? What, I was too old to send to wilderness camp?"

Something flashed in Anna's face, "Baby, we—"

Holding the pamphlets up for a moment, Charlotte ripped each of them in half before giving her parents a stone-cold expression, "Fuck you."

"Hey!" Mike snapped, seemingly ready to fly down the stairs and wring his daughter's neck out.

But something interrupted him.

Charlotte turned toward the driveway, relief flooding her at the sight of the Twinkie pulling into the driveway.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Mike muttered, standing on guard now.

JJ threw it into park, opening his door and stepping out, "Howdy, y'all." He greeted, knowing exactly what he was doing.

Mike clenched his jaw, "JJ, don't come on my property. Not even a little bit."

Charlotte sent her father such a withering glare he almost flinched.

"Yeah, well I'm here to pick up Charley." JJ responded, fully expecting that kind of reaction.

Anna stood now, seeming to have composed herself. "JJ, she's not goin' anywhere with you."

Scoffing, Charlotte opened the gate, marching toward the Twinkie and throwing her bag into the back seat. "Yeah, right." She declared, turning back to her parents. "You can't stop me. Unless there are some strangers hidden somewhere here, ready to abduct me?"

Dropping her gaze for a moment, Anna shook her head as Mike sent his daughter a look of wanting. "Charlotte, you better watch your mouth."

"Let's go, J." Charlotte muttered, making her way toward the passenger side.

JJ gave Charlotte a small nod, but before getting into the van, he turned back to Mike and Anna, "You know, you two really are some Kooks."

"Hey!" Mike snapped, making his way down the stairs, "You gave us no choice!"

Rage engulfed his features as he pulled open the gate, "Charlotte, get back here!" He demanded. "JJ, you leave her the hell alone."

"Go," Charlotte said to JJ quietly, her eyes downcast as it felt like the world has crumbled around her.

JJ did as she said, starting the Twinkie and peeling from the driveway.

Charlotte didn't look back.

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-an-
mike and anna can smd