Chapter Twenty - Three ✧Gone But Not Forgotten✧

Melissa McCall and I sat silently on the front steps of the house. 

After discovering the body inside with Melissa, I'd told Mason he should leave. He didn't argue, but he did make me promise that we would talk about the things that were going on with me. Then, it was my turn not to argue with him. 

Once it was just the two of us, Melissa and I decided to wait outside. She had called the sheriff, but neither of us wanted to wait for him inside with a dead body. We were mostly quiet as we sat outside, which was fine with me as I still was recovering from the emotional rollercoaster I had already gone through that night. Between having my hideous secret uncovered and then my maybe-boyfriend kidnapped, along with a girl I was really starting to consider a new friend, my mind was just a little bit too hazy to carry a usual conversation. 

Melissa seemed exhausted, too. It probably didn't help that she had discovered a body after pulling a late shift, but then again I guess there really was no good time to find a dead body, either. But even as she sat silently next to me, she treated me like the daughter she never had by loosely wrapping an arm over my shoulder and hugging me to her body. At some point she decided to lean her head against mine which I wasn't going to object to. 

It had probably only taken Sheriff Stilinski five minutes to get to us, but it felt closer to five hours. Maybe it was the fact that it was very late at night, or maybe it was the fact that it felt like the entire world was falling a part, but either way time seemed to be moving extra slow in Beacon Hills. 

Sheriff Stilinski gave us both a tired nod by way of greeting as he got out of his car. Slowly and tiredly, both Melissa and I uncurled our bodies and stood up. I don't know about Melissa, but it took me a few moments to mentally prepare myself for what was about to come next. 

"I haven't been able to reach the boys, either," Stilinski informed us. 

I thoroughly wished that Scott and Stiles not picking up their phones was the height of our current issues. 

Melissa didn't say anything to the Sheriff but instead was visibly trying to collect herself. It was a task I couldn't imagine trying to make myself do and proved for the billionth time that Melissa McCall was one of the strongest women in the world. Sheriff Stilinski seemed to note the pain in her eyes as she did so, because he gave her a concerned frown. 

"I, uh, thought you said you had a situation?" The Sheriff asked. His eyes glanced over to me as if to see if I could be of any help, but I was pretty sure I couldn't form a coherent sentence at the moment. His eyes fell back on to Melissa. 

"Yes, but complicated," Melissa agreed. She once again hesitated before continuing. "If you come in, I need you to leave your badge at the door." 

Sheriff's expression was ninety-eight percent confused and two percent amused. "Uh, literally, or figuratively?" He questioned as he motioned to the sheriff's badge that he had pinned to his jacket. 

"Both would be preferable," Melissa answered flatly.  

The sheriff sighed. "Melissa... I, uh, set my badge a few too many times these past few weeks," He explained. Any hint of amusement before was as dead as the girl in our kitchen that he had yet to learn about. 

"Well, you may need to do it a few more considering what our kids get into during their free time," Melissa responded. "So do you want to come in or not?" 

At her words, I wondered how much more trouble we'd get in if Stiles' dad wasn't the sheriff. Then again, if any one else had been the Sheriff these past few years, I'm pretty sure they would've left town a while ago. 

Sheriff Stilinski also seemed to be pondering over Melissa's words, but probably not for the same reason I was. He once again looked over at me as if I would have some kind of answer. I don't know what exactly my expression told him, but it didn't seem to instill confidence in the man as I could see the frown lines on his face get just a little bit deeper. 

The sheriff sighed once more, but this time he did it as his hand reached up towards his badge. Melissa and I watched carefully as he unpinned the badge. Without realizing it, we both let out a long breathe as he pocketed the item. 

Melissa then made the first move in the form of stepping back and slowly opening the front door. I looked down, not particularly wanting to see the body again. Melissa stepped inside, the then sheriff, then me. I happily stayed behind the two as Melissa led the Sheriff to the discovery that would surely make his frown lines permanent. 

The sheriff was quiet for a while as he circled the body. I stuck by Melissa and continued to look at any part of the room that wasn't a dead body. It was quiet for just a little too long, and my body began buzzing with anticipation. Waiting for the sheriff to analyze a body a friend of mine may or may not have killed while I myself was worrying about my other friends who have gotten kidnapped along with the fact that I'm definitely going to die soon was not a great concoction of events for a fifteen year old with anxiety problems. 

"Has anyone seen Kira tonight?" The sheriff finally asked. It wasn't the question I was expecting, and by the way Melissa tensed next to me, I could tell she was also caught off guard. 

"You don't think she did this, do you?" Melissa countered. 

My first instinct was that no, Kira could not have possibly done this. But then again, recently I had been doing things I don't think anyone would've expected from me either. Maybe what ever horribly twisted supernatural mayhem that was embedding itself into my soul was doing the exact same thing to Kira. Maybe, the evidence seemed so damning because it was true. 

I hated the thought as soon as it ran through my mind. My stomach was tying itself up tightly into a knot and I thought it was going to cause me to double-over. Our entire situation was getting far too truly horrible. 

"Could this have something to do with Scott?" Melissa asked next. She moved from her spot next to me to approach Stiles' father. "Maybe some kind of message being sent?" 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the sheriff bend down closer to the body. Without meaning to, I looked up to get a better view of what he was doing. Unfortunately, that meant I also got a better look at the body -- at the girl that could've very well have been my age -- and the knot in my stomach twisted even more painfully. I willed myself not to look at it, and instead at the Sheriff's expression. I tried desperately to read it before realizing that I didn't think even Sheriff Stilinski knew what he was thinking. 

Eventually, he stood back up. He didn't look at me, or at Melissa, and just kept his eyes trained on the dead girl in front of him. Then, he reached up to the walkie-talkie that was attached to his shoulder. 

"Dispatch, this is Sheriff Stilinski. I've got a 1-8-7 at 821 Williamson Road. Notify Beacon Hills Memorial." 

My mouth fell open as the Sheriff radioed in to the station. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. The air, which had already been frigid, suddenly felt like it was composed of razor shard icicles. Not for the first time tonight, everything felt wrong. 

Apparently I wasn't the only who was shocked at what the Sheriff had done. When he was finished speaking into the radio, he turned to Melissa who immediately greeted him with a smack across his face. Although I was all the way across the room, I flinched at the all-too-familiar sound. My stomach was officially tied up into the most painful bow it could muster. 

Th sheriff turned his head back to look at Melissa once more. A part of me wanted to run out of the room before watching the rest of this scene unfold, but then I realized my body couldn't move. I was frozen. 

"There is a dead girl in your kitchen with a sword sticking out of her chest." The Sheriff said to Melissa in a low voice. "What did you think I was going to do?" 

"You know it wasn't Kira!" Melissa exclaimed.

"This is murder!" The sheriff's voice was no longer calming. It was unhinged, it was loud, and it scary to hear. "This kid, this child has a family!" 

My body still couldn't move, but every nerve was screaming at me to find cover. Every part of me had been conditioned to want to run and hide when a man's voice reached that volume, but at the same time it knew that the punishment would be much worse if I cowered away. 

I knew I shouldn't be afraid. I knew I was in a home much safer then the one I grew up in. But then I also knew that there were some things, some fears, that I would never out grow. And seeing the Sheriff Stilinski and Melissa McCall -- the two adults in my life I've ever fully trusted-- fight in front me enacted every horrible memory of my childhood no matter how deeply I had it buried. 

There were tears streaming down my face before I realized it. I had been too busy trying to control the shaking of my body and the lack of air reaching my lungs. I felt stuck in a nightmare. 

It was then, just as I broke, that the Sheriff looked across the room at me. I don't know how shattered I looked, but apparently it was enough to make all of the anger in his face dissipate into shame. That didn't make me feel any better. 

"Charlotte," Stilinski murmured. He sounded sad now, too. He moved past the body, past Melissa and over to me. Instinctively, he reached out to me but quickly realized that wasn't the right way to address the situation, no matter how close he was to me. Instead, he settled for lowering his head just a little bit as if to make himself less intimidating. I don't think I could ever express how much that meant to me. "Charlotte," He repeated softly. "I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean to yell." 

I nodded. Words weren't something my lips were capable of creating at the moment. Both Melissa and the Sheriff seemed to understand, and again I was thankful. It took a moment for me to remember how to breathe again. Another moment passed, and my body no longer felt like it was in danger. Finally, I was in control again, and I was able to chose what I did next. 

My choice was to reach a hand out to the Sheriff. Then I wrapped an arm around him. It wasn't until I placed a tear-stained cheek on his chest that he lightly put his own arms around me. By now, I realized that Melissa had come over to us. 

They don't want to hurt you, I explained to my heart, that was still pounding from panic in my chest. 

We were right to trust them, I reminded my mind, which had begun to ache with doubt. 

Sheriff, who had his head rested on top of mine, lifted it up ever so slightly. I didn't have to move to know he was now looking over to Melissa again. 

"I can't just cover what happened here up," He said quietly. "This is a crime." 

Melissa was quiet and I couldn't blame her. There never seemed to be a right or wrong any more, just choices that got harder and harder. With that awful thought in my mind, I unwound myself from the sheriff, who gave me a soft pat on the back before turning completely to look at the woman of the house. 

"It is my responsibility to handle this within the parameters of the law," The Sheriff explained. 

"What about our kids?" Melissa asked, her eyes flickering over to me. "The constantly deal with things outside of the law." 

My mind flitted to the fact that Scott and Malia were still out there in the night, searching for Liam and Hayden. Then there was the Sheriff's son himself, who as far as I knew was watching over a dead body at the Vet's Clinic. 

"But not above the law," The Sheriff reasoned. With that, he pinned his badge back on to his jacket, and it was clear that the discussion was over. 

It didn't take long for police sirens to be heard outside. The sheriff went outside to greet them, and Melissa and I cleared out of the kitchen to be out of everyone way as they inspected the curious crime that had been committed. 

I wanted to go to my room, not because I thought there was a chance I would be able to get any sleep tonight but because I was far too emotionally drained to want to risk any other feeling and possibly combusting. I'm pretty sure I was at a point where that could actually happen to me. However, before I could make it upstairs, Melissa stopped me. 

"Hey, wait a sec, okay?" She asked softly. I could tell she was still tip toeing around me. I couldn't blame her. With all the good that had happened to us, even I had forgotten how deeply embedded in to my brain what my father had done to me and my brothers was. Unfortunately, even with my abuser gone, the abuse itself was far from being forgotten. 

Melissa fumbled for words for a moment. She seemed still caught up in what had happened between the Sheriff. I think I wanted to comfort her just as much as she wanted to comfort me. 

"Listen, Charlotte," Melissa finally said. "I'm sorry for what happened in there. I don't even know what happened in there. I just know that it really sucked for me to do that." Melissa sighed and I finally saw how badly her eyes were drowning in sorrow. "I love you, you know that right?" She continued. I felt stitches tucking them selves into my heart and slowly pulling it back together. "I love you like a daughter, because you are my daughter. And I never want you to be in a situation where you feel like your unsafe in your own home. If any of those feelings happen again, just let me know? We're a family and we will work this out together." 

Despite how much the past twenty-four hours had sucked, this moment felt pretty great. It was quite possibly the only thing that could give me hope that maybe we would find our way through the darkness that had shrouded itself over Beacon Hills. Without thinking, I threw my arms around Melissa and hugged her tightly. At this point, I couldn't tell who was crying. Maybe it was me again, maybe it was her. Probably both. 

"Thank you," I whispered. "Thank you for giving me a second chance to have a mom." 

✧✧

In the morning, Melissa had gone into the Sherriff's station to write a report on what had happened. After the events of last night, I couldn't imagine that going over smoothly and I was very relieved when she told me she wasn't going to drag me in with her. So instead, I was being dragged in to my room with Mason. 

Mason had come over with Corey, the chimera he had discovered last night. Right now, Corey was sitting in Scott's room reading a copy of the Dread Doctor's book as Lydia watched over him. Downstairs, Stiles, Malia, and Theo were waiting in our living room for Scott, who had apparently gone to the station to talk to Kira after she had gotten arrested. Then of course there was Mason, who was locking himself into my bedroom with me for obvious reasons. 

"So I have many thoughts as to what's going on," Mason started eagerly. His tone was oddly light for a topic that may or may not lead to my 'doom'. 

Before Mason could delve into any theories, I raised a hand urgently, trying to signal him to stop talking. Luckily for me, he did. Then I moved somethings around in my room before I finally found what I was looking for, my sketchbook. I picked up a pencil from my desk and began writing a message: We can't talk, the others will hear. 

Mason frowned, but nodded his head. Then he motioned for me to hand him the sketchbook next. 

Does anyone else know? I watched him write. I shook my head and mouthed 'no'. 

Mason began writing again. I expected him to write down a theory, or ask me a few hundred questions about what had been going on. Mason didn't write any of those things, and when he angled the book for me to read his hand writing, I couldn't help the tiniest of smiles from creeping onto my face. 

Don't worry, we will figure it out. 

I could tell Mason was dying to say more (or to really be able to say anything out loud) but he didn't. We weren't really in a situation where we had time to unpack everything that was happening to me. Unfortunately for Mason, I don't think I will be able to even think about the whole Getting-Haunted thing until we found Liam again. 

There was commotion outside of my door. I head Stiles' voice calling after someone, and then Lydia's voice. It sounded like they were trying to talk to Scott. Mason and I exchanged confused looks before hurrying to unlock the door. Maybe there was information on Liam. 

Mason and I filed into the room at the same time as Stiles, Malia, and Theo. The sight we we're greeted with was not at all what I was expecting. Corey was still sitting on the end of Scott's bed, like he had been when Mason and I left. However, he was no longer reading the book. Instead, his eyes were rolled back in his head as Scott McCall was standing next to him with his claws deeply imbedded into the back of Corey's neck. 

an : friendly reminder that charlotte was abused for a very long time and then promptly lost everything she knew and while her childhood had been shitty it was what she knew and it is something she will always carry with her. she will have good days and she will have bad days, just as other people with anxiety disorder and post traumatic stress syndrome do. so im sry that this chapter probably seemed kinda boring but this was important!! 

 on a happier note to all of you who have been waiting patiently for Charlotte's story, I've made a meet my OC's book where I plan on writing oneshots (and posting memes) for her so like, give that a looksies if you want more Char content!