𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒚-𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 | 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔂'𝓼 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻

𝘘𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯' 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘖𝘯 𝘔𝘺 𝘖𝘸𝘯

"CHARLOTTE, LOOK AT ME. LOOK at me!"

She finally acknowledges Chris Argent's urgent voice and she slowly looks over to him, her vision blurred by the tears that have been streaming in a continuous flow for the last twenty minutes. "What?"

He ignores her sharp tone and places his hands on her shoulders. They lock eyes. "You have to remember that you called me first, okay?" When she nods in response, he realises that she's still in a dazed-like state of mind, so he repeats his words more firmly. "Say it. You called me first."

"I called you-"

"No. Not 'you.' Say Chris, like you normally do, or her dad."

Charlotte screws her eyes shut as her heart rate picks up at the mention of her. "Okay," she whispers. She stares down at her hands. The colour red has been ingrained into her mind. All she had been seeing for the last hour is blood. It has been stained onto her hands, refusing to return to its pale colour as if someone had tattooed it onto her.

"What else?" he presses. "What happened?"

"There were two of them. They tried to steal our car, and they wore masks... One of them had a knife-"

"You think," he corrects again. "Don't get specific, Charlotte. You saw something sharp and metallic; you think it was a knife. What do you say next? If you get confused, what do you always repeat?"

She leans her head back against the wire fence behind her and violently snaps the hair tie against her wrist. "It all happened so fast," she says quietly.

"That's right. Say it again." He watches her stares vacantly off into the distance and he sighs. "Charlotte, say it again."

Her eyes snap back over and meet his exhausted ones. A tear falls. "How are you doing this shit?" she questions, her voice trembling with emotion.

Chris freezes for a long moment before taking a deep breath. "It's what we do." He thickly swallows and places a hand gently on her shoulder. "It's what we do."

»»———-　　———-««

I love him, I'll always love him. But there's a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. I think I've only recently realised that I've been in love with someone else for a while.

"Can you remember anything else? Anything else?" Charlotte stares back at Jordan Parrish as if she's looking right through him like he's a ghost. She feels Lydia squeezes onto her hand. "Charlotte?" the deputy repeats gently.

Scott takes one glance at his best friend before making the decision to jump in for her. "We're sorry," he replies, blinking back tears. He looks down to his shoes and stays quiet for a few moments. "It just happened so fast."

And it did. Allison Argent died so quickly. Time is a funny thing. Throughout the last year, being suddenly engulfed into the supernatural world, Charlotte had begun to realise that a few minutes could feel like hours, a day could feel like a month, or vice versa. But right now... right now it feels like time has been at a standstill since it happened. She can't think about that she'll never be able to spend any more time with Allison, that she would never have any more time to create memories that would be permanently etched into her mind. She can't think about it too much because it's only a matter of time before she loses her damn mind.

Shortly after Parrish releases them from making an official statement, Charlotte tells her sister that she wants to go with Chris back to his apartment. Lydia doesn't hesitate to let her go. She herself had lost her best friend, but she can't even begin to image what Charlotte is going through.

Shoving her hands into the pockets of the coat Lydia had lent her, she stares at the floorboards as Chris unlocks the front door. She is so focused on counting each grain in the wood that she doesn't hear the man calling her name.

"Charlotte?"

Her head snaps up when a hand touches her shoulder and she immediately flinches at the contact, sidestepping away from him. But when she remembers that she's still with Chris, she quickly mumbles an apology. "Sorry..."

His eyes are full of concern as he steps aside to let her in. "Don't apologise. Come on, let me make some hot chocolate." She slowly trudges inside the residence void of any light and makes her way straight into the kitchen, her eyes still glued onto her Converse that are decorated with spatters of blood.

I've been in love with you for months, I just never realised it.

She slides onto the bar stool and folds her arms on the marble bench-top, then lowers her head to rest on it. Her eyes remain closed even when he opens the fridge, afraid that once she starts crying again, she won't be able to stop.

"We'll be okay."

"What?"

"We're going to be okay," he repeats. He turns around from the stove and quickly turns the gas off upon noticing that the girl he considers a daughter is on the brink of a panic attack. "Hey," he calmly calls out.

"I-I'm fine," Charlotte stutters. A tear involuntarily slides down her cheek and she's quick to reach out and wipe it away. "I'm fine," she says confidently. But then the façade falters. "I'm fine. I-I'm fine."

Chris pulls her into a tight embrace as she breaks down in silent sobs. He screws his eyes shut as he rubs gently circles onto her back. "She loved you so much," he whispers.

She hiccups as she tries to take in a deep breath, suddenly feeling lightheaded. She turns her head so her cheek is resting on his shoulder, and she sniffles. "Why did she have to leave us?" she asks.

A fracture runs through his heart at how her voice cracks with emotion, but at the same time he can hear her anger. "It wasn't her choice. She would have never left us if she could have made that decision herself." Charlotte finally pulls back and wipes her nose with the sleeve of her coat. She closes her eyes once more and places a hand over her heart, trying to regulate the erratic beating.

It's always been you. I love you.

After a few minutes spent in a comfortable silence, her eyes open. However, this time, there is no sign of any fresh tears. Her determination is clear as she declares, "I want to kill them all." Charlotte inhales a deep breath. "I'm going to kill all of them."

»»———-　　———-««

After refusing to let her drive herself to the animal clinic, Chris pulls up in the carpark outside the building. He casts a glance over to her and gives her a small smile when she looks over. "Call me if you need anything, all right?"

Charlotte nods and unclips her seatbelt, her lips upturning ever so slightly as she does so. "Thanks," she says quietly. "See you later."

And with that, she gets out the car and walks straight up to the clinic. When the bell dings signalling her entrance, she reaches up and wrenches the object off the door, then throws it straight into the bin with a thunderous glare. Every little thing that she would normally be able to ignore is setting her off. Scott peers round the corner of the examination room and his eyes widen as he catches her chemo-signals. Fury. He's never, ever seen her this angry before. "H-hey, Charles," he greets cautiously.

Charlotte nods to him in greeting as she joins himself, Lydia, and Deaton in the room. "What's the plan with the ninjas?"

Lydia's eyebrows raise and she glances to Scott who appears equally confused. "What about them?" she questions her sister.

"They're fucking ninjas!" she exclaims in frustration. "How the hell are we supposed to kill a fucking ninja that can't die?"

Deaton watches her in amusement but he remains serious as he replies, "I think the more important part is how we're going to defeat the nogitsune."

Scott takes a deep breath before repeating to the small group what Stiles had called him to explain minutes prior to Charlotte's arrival. "Stiles and Kira said it was the Nemeton that kept it trapped."

"The problem is this isn't even a person you're fighting," Deaton corrects him. "It just looks like one. It's a spirit that's taken the shape of a human."

The blonde-haired banshee rolls her eyes and leans back against the brick wall. "So what?" she retorts. "Nature always finds a balance. There has to be a way to kick his fucking ass."

Lydia nods in agreement, however, her concern only increases as she notices Charlotte's lack of emotion. "Someone caught it once," she points out. "Someone can do it again, right?"

Deaton looks to each of the three teenagers in his clinic. "I don't know," he admits frantically. "This thing was trapped a long time ago, before the Nemeton was cut down. It doesn't have the same power anymore."

"Is there anything that does?"

The veterinarian hesitates at Scott's question before saying, "Possibly. When the tree was whole, its wood was sometimes used to contain powerful objects. But those objects are very rare."

Appearing to have the same thought process, the twins share a look of realisation. "Hold on," Lydia begins. "Powerful objects? Like an Alpha's claws?"

"Which Alpha?" Deaton asks.

"Talia Hale," Charlotte replies.

His eyes widen at her answer. "Peter had them in this wooden box with a triskele carved on the lid," Lydia explains. "What if it was made from the Nemeton?"

"It was."

Scott's head snaps over from the strawberry blonde and over to his boss, who he stares at in surprise. "How do you know?"

"Because I made it," he confesses.

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Charlotte immediately dials Derek. With an impatient Lydia and Scott waiting for the conversation to finish, they both look hopeful when she hangs up. "He's got the box and he's gonna meet us."

Scott nods in approval, but his eyebrows draw together in concern when the girls both visibly pale, Lydia stumbling backward and Charlotte reaching out a hand to stabilise herself on the examination table. "What's wrong?" Deaton queries.

"Something's happening," Lydia says as she regains her balance. "I had this sudden rushing feeling."

Charlotte grits her teeth and clenches her jaw in frustration as the rage begins to boil again. "It's like we're running out of time."

"Yeah..." They quickly look over to the door to find Stiles being supported by Kira. With the circles under his eyes looking as dark as they've ever been and zero colour to his skin, he looks deathly. "Yeah, I kind of got that feeling, too."

"Wow, you look like absolute shit," Charlotte observes. Everyone shares a discreet glance, something she misses, all of them taking notice about her lack of sympathy for anyone. Just as Stiles goes to reply with something just as blunt, her phone rings. "Iz, what's up?"

"Hey, you're gonna wanna see this... I'm with Chris at his place. It's, uh, it's about Allison."

She hangs up as soon as the name leaves the speaker, and she salutes to the group looking expectantly at her. "You guys are on your own," she announces.

"Wait, what?" Scott questions in alarm.

"Don't 'Wait, what?' me like I'll be able to help you with my supernatural strength, Scott. Chris and Isaac found something, so I'm gonna go see if it's important. Don't die." At the multiple looks of exhaustion she's sent, she grimaces apologetically. "Too soon, sorry."

But before she can walk out, Charlotte grunts at the feeling of a body colliding into her. Lydia tightly wraps her arms around her sister and squeezes her eyes shut. "I love you," she mumbles.

Charlotte softly smiles and grips onto her twin's hands. "Love you too, Dee. But I'm gonna see you in a few hours so what's the hug for?"

She hears the girl suck in a sharp breath and hesitate for a few seconds. "I just wanted to say be careful, you know... after-"

"Don't," she snaps. Charlotte winces as she feels the pair of arms quickly retract and the physical contact disappear. "Shit, I'm sorry."

Lydia gives her a small, understanding smile. "It's okay, I get it. Love you."

As soon as her taxi arrives in front of the apartment complex containing the Argent residence, Charlotte is greeted with Isaac standing out the front waiting for her. The werewolf smiles at her, but even without being able to smell nor sense his emotions, she can tell that the gesture is slightly forced. She can't blame him; she's holding herself together by a thread. "What's so urgent that I have to give up the opportunity to kick fucking void into oblivion?"

Isaac's eyes briefly widen but he snaps out of the surprise as he begins to walk back inside, his friend following closely behind. "Chris found something in the basement... You know about the ritual that hunters do, right?"

Charlotte nods as she remembers the time that Allison had explained her entire family history, down to the very first hunter and the small, traditional rituals that they do once graduating. "Yeah, the silver bullet."

As Isaac leads them down instead of through to the lift, she sees him nod in the dimly lit stairwell. "But she didn't make bullets," he tells her.

She sighs as they head further down into the basement and spots the faint light in the distance, presumably from Chris. "She made arrows, didn't she?" she asks quietly.

Isaac glances to her. "Yeah. Yeah, she did."

The teenagers open the door to the family's locker, Chris already looking their way. "What's going on?" Charlotte questions.

The man sighs as they close the door behind them, then he unfolds the cloth on the desk. Underneath are four silver arrowheads laying side by side. "I'm not entirely sure," he responds. "Isaac was with her yesterday..."

Said boy gulps when Charlotte's stare causes goosebumps to erupt across his skin. Isaac takes a deep breath before revealing something that causes the pair beside him to fall speechless. "She made five of them," he begins. "She made the first one, then she figured it out."

She arches a brow as she crosses her arms across her chest. "What, Isaac?"

The ghost of a smile graces his face. "She used the first silver arrowhead to kill one of the oni. We saw her do it.

"How?"

"The same way you almost did," Isaac answers. Chris looks to him in confusion. "Do you remember when you told us about one of your first gun deals, the yakuza?"

"That meeting wasn't one of my first deals," the man corrects. "It was my first deal."

Charlotte's eyes widen as she turns to face him. "The bullet that you shot the oni with back then, was it made out of silver?"

Chris momentarily meets her eyes before returning to the arrowheads on the table. "Yes, but it didn't kill him," he says in confusion. "It just broke his mask."

"Probably went straight through," Isaac theorises.

And that's when it all falls into place. Her nails dig into her palms as she experiences a flashback of the moment her girlfriend's life slipped away before her. Charlotte meets Chris's eyes as she tries to keep her tears at bay. "Allison was saying to pass something on to you, more like she was trying to say something to me. I thought it was just that she loved you... But now..."

"You think she was trying to say she figured out how to kill them," Chris realises. His eyes flick back to the silver weapons. "That means these four still would have been setting when she went off to meet Scott."

The teenagers share a glance, both suddenly filled with a newfound hopefulness. "If silver is like a poison to them... we could stop them," Isaac exclaims.

A genuine smile appears on Charlotte's face as she picks up one of the arrowheads and twirls it around in her fingers. "No," she says lowly. "We're gonna kill them all."

»»———-　　———-««

As Chris's SUV speeds along the highway toward the school, Charlotte sits silently in the backseat and scrolls through her phone. Finally getting a chance to read through all the mixed calls, voicemails, and messages from yesterday, she takes the time to make sure she hadn't missed anything.

Dog DUDE
Heading to the school
Derek's bringing the box with him.
Good luck with whatever you're doing with Argent :)

Sherlock
Don't know if Scott told you but we're going to school
Good luck
Lottie?
FINE
FUCK YOU TOO
Ugh...
You know I love you

Thing 2 ♡
Love you Lottie. Please stay safe xx

UNKNOWN NUMBER
Its Malia... I just got this phone today
Heard about your friend
Sorry

Dog MAN
Got the box. Meeting Scott and everyone at school.
Have Aiden and Ethan with me as well.
Good luck, Charlie

Future wife ➴♡
Hey baby... It's been twelve hours and I have no idea where you are. No clue. It's killing me because all I can do is just sit here and think about what I didn't get to tell you. I forgot to say I love you yesterday, and it's been eating me up inside because I don't know if I'm going to get to say it again. You know how you told me the other day you wanna get married eventually? Me too. I love you so much. So when we do find you and you read this, I'm gonna tell you that in person.

When she eventually finishes reading Allison's text, she turns her phone off, refusing to let herself reread the message. She doesn't want to cry in front of Isaac and Chris. In fact, she doesn't want to cry anymore at all. But when she feels the familiar sensation of a tear trickle down her cheek, she sucks in a deep breath, grateful for the music playing out of the radio. Isaac locks eyes with her in the rear-view mirror in concern and she quickly plasters on a small smile and mouths, I'm okay.

A few minutes later and the vehicle comes to a stop in front of the high school's sign. Chris clears his throat and turns around to look at the girl in the back. "You both ready?"

She finishes tying her hair back into braids and nods. "Let's go get these fuckers." She had been gifted something half an hour earlier, something that now sits swung over her shoulder. Allison's bow and quiver full of arrows. Charlotte places her fingers up to her lips then touches them down to the tattoo on her wrist with closed eyes.

I came- I came because I love you.

Striding through the school, Charlotte and Isaac follow Chris toward the commotion of roars in the distance. It doesn't take long to find the source.

"We can't do this!" Aiden yells through a mouthful of blood. "We can't beat them!"

"Take the box," Ethan calls to Derek. "We'll hold them off!"

Without needing words spoken between them, she catches her father-like figure's glance and grabs her bow, quickly nocking an arrow. Her ocean eyes narrow to slits and she raises the weapon, aiming directly at one of the oni readying itself to attack Derek. As soon as her fingers remove off the string, the arrow flies through the air and hits its target, striking the creature right in the chest. Isaac leaps off the ledge and flips down below, causing Derek to spin around to look at the new arrivals in surprise.

Charlotte grins as she watches the oni rip the arrow out of its chest, then explodes into a burst of neon light and shadows. "Take that, bitch," she seethes.

"What was that?" Ethan asks in shock.

Chris readies his cross bow and glances to the boy to respond proudly, "Silver." But it's then that she spots the person on top of her Most Wanted List. Charlotte lurches forward but abruptly comes to a halt as Chris grabs onto her arm. "Not yet," he warns her.

Derek watches the nogitsune disappear around the wall and orders, "Isaac, the box! Get the triskele box to Scott!" As he races off into the distance, everything falls still. It's so silent that one could hear another's heartbeat racing, even without supernatural hearing.

Then, all hell breaks loose.

It's because it doesn't hurt.

Flipping her hair back, Charlotte holds her breath as she draws back the string of her bow once more, then releases it as the arrow leaves her vicinity. Another explosion of yellow light appears before her eyes and the corners of her lips upturn. Running down the stairs, she joins the werewolves into the fight firsthand, leaving Chris to watch and participate from a more elevated angle.

With one last oni circling them like prey, it's Argent that shoots next. The lethal weapon soars towards the creature, but at the very last second, the oni brings its ninjatō up and slices it cleanly in half. Charlotte's eyes widen in alarm. "Well, shit," she mutters.

"Get the arrow, it's the last one!" Chris yells out.

The banshee closes her eyes as a strange feeling suddenly spreads across her body, forcing her to take a few steps back. As she does this, Aiden lunges toward the remaining silver arrow with determination. He slides across the floor, ducking underneath the oni's sword and manages to grab onto it.

Charlotte gasps loudly as her chest constricts tightly, prompting Derek to look over to her with worry. It's almost identical to what happened with Allison but not a fraction as painful. "Wait, Aiden-"

But he ignores her desperate calls. Just as the former Alpha attempts to plunge the arrow into the oni's body, they watch his body tense up, then hear the silver clatter onto the ground. Aiden's blue eyes flicker back to his human ones as he slowly looks down to his stomach, his teeth and mouth coated in blood.

"Aiden!"

Ethan's cry for his brother is deafened by the shrill scream that leaves Charlotte's mouth. As she pants for breath, still in complete shock, she watches the oni pull out it's ninjatō from Aiden's stomach then disappear into thin air. "Oh, my God... No, no, no," she whispers. It's happening again.

Aiden collapses onto his knees and his distraught brother immediately rushes over to him. With black blood dripping out of his mouth, Aiden whimpers quietly in pain as his eyes tightly screw shut. "Does it hurt you as much as it hurts me?" he stammers through a mouthful of blood.

Ethan sobs and leans his forehead against his twin's. "Yeah."

As the cries of both boys echo in her ears, Charlotte pulls away from Derek's hand that rests on her shoulder as an uncomfortable shiver runs down her back. "What's wrong?" he asks quietly.

Charlotte looks up to the Hale, her features displaying the one emotion she hasn't stopped feeling for months: fear. "It's not dead," she reminds. "He didn't kill it." As Ethan sobs over his brother's lifeless body, the three behind him watch in alarm as the same oni from minutes ago returns. Her eyes lock onto the arrow a few metres away and she whispers to the men beside her, "Distract it."

Chris and Derek share a look and they know what to do. They have to give Charlotte time to get to the arrow.

It's okay- it's okay. It's perfect.

With her heart thumping inside her chest, she waits for the right moment as Derek growls and Chris fires an arrow, purposefully letting it skim right past the creature. With the oni's full attention now on the pair beside her, Charlotte races forward and grips onto the silver that threatens to slip through her sweaty palm.

I'm in the arms of my best friend. The first person I truly loved, the person I'll always love. I love you. Charlotte- Charlotte Martin.

When she stands back up, her breath catches in her throat as she notices that Chris has been knocked aside and Derek is now cornered by the shadowed creature. White hot rage courses through her veins and Charlotte Martin races forward with a yell, violently stabbing the arrow into the oni's back. She steps back and breathes heavily, and as it stares back into her eyes, the neon yellow light slowly dimming, she smiles.

"CHARLOTTE!"

She stills in confusion and looks over in the direction that Lydia's scream had come from. Then the oni explodes, and the growing pit of dread in her stomach finally reaches its breaking point.

Something clatters to the ground and everyone assumes it's just the arrow. Derek's eyes widen and he stares at the girl who remains frozen with her hands hanging by her side. "Charles?" he calls out.

"I'm fine," she answers shakily.

It's when the blood trickles out of her lips that people jump into action.

Derek is the first to race over and take the girl into his arms before her head can crash against the concrete floor. He ignores the ninjatō sword that lies behind her, dark blood staining the once polished metal. Everything is growing fuzzy, like someone has stuffed cotton wool into her ears. She hears the soothing voices trying to distract her from what she knows is happened. "W-where's Lydia?" she chokes out. "I need- I need Lydia."

Chris stares on in disbelief. He had only just lost Allison. He can't lose his other daughter too.

"Charlotte! Charlotte? Where's my sister?"

Ethan, Derek, and Chris solemnly watch as Lydia sprints down to them, faltering when she lays eyes on what is happening. She falls onto her knees and gently pries her sister away from Derek, letting the older werewolf move back and to prepare for Scott and Stiles to arrive.

With shaking hands and tears already streaming down her face, Lydia reaches up to brush strands of blonde hair out of her sister's eyes. "No," she mumbles. "No, no, no, I'm not doing this again."

Her hands had previously been clutching the burning pain in her stomach. Now, they lay by her side. She knows there's no point anymore. As Charlotte tries to smile, her teeth stained a dark red, she moves up to touch Lydia, but the action causes coughs to wrack through her lungs. The blood leaking out of her lips becomes darker by the second. "Are you- are you all okay?"

Lydia quickly nods and wipes the tears away streaming down Charlotte's cheeks, pointless as more appear in place. "He's gone," she says. "He's gone. Scott bit him."

"Another one bites the dust, hey?" The twins can't help but quietly laugh even in their situation, but it's something that Charlotte regrets instantly. She coughs heavily and winces. "Knew I should've worn full fucking body armour today."

The younger twin sobs as she tries not to focus on the large gaping hole in the girl's coat. Lydia tilts her chin up, trying to prolong their moments for as long as possible. "Please don't leave me," she pleads, her lip wobbling.

It's funny because Charlotte now knows exactly what Allison had meant yesterday when she said it didn't hurt. What should hurt right now doesn't. Instead, the crippling pain comes from the mere thought of leaving her family all alone. Leaving her friends all alone. "You're gonna be okay, Dee," she says firmly. She coughs again and droplets of blood spatter across the collar of her shirt. "Promise me that you're going to be okay."

Lydia grips onto her hand tightly, not wanting to let her go. Because if she does, she'll lose Charlotte forever. "I'm not gonna be okay," she confesses. She can barely see through the salty water in her eyes. "You can't leave me."

Then she remembers what Chris had said earlier. "It-It's not my choice," Charlotte whispers. Her breathing has now gone from being laboured to shallow, her chest barely rising and falling with the intake of oxygen.

At the top of the stairs, Scott, Stiles, and Kira all skid to a stop in absolute horror. Stiles Stilinski stumbles back a step, his hand covering his mouth at the sight of his best friend. Scott instantly turns around and grabs the boy into an embrace as they begin to sob.

Catching the eyes of her best friends in the distance, Charlotte weakly smiles at the boys. In particular, a heavy weight lifts off her shoulders at the sight of seeing Stiles alive. "You tell them that it's not their fault," she says quietly. She squeezes Lydia's hand. "Tell him it's not his fault." A wheezy breath leaves her mouth. "I love you guys all so much. Tell Mom- tell Mom I love her. Tell her that I'm so sorry."

The strawberry blonde banshee nods furiously and tries to smile. "I will," she promises. "I will."

Chris kneels down next to them and takes one of Charlotte's bloodied hands into his. "No," he interjects. "We're gonna tell her that you saved us. You saved all of us."

Lydia looks into her twin's eyes and chokes back another sob. "Thank you," she says softly. "Thank you for everything." She leans down to press a kiss onto her sister's forehead, and by the time she pulls back, Charlotte Martin has taken her final breath and dies for the second time.

»»———-　　———-««

She awakens with a loud gasp as she feels her airways suddenly open. She can breathe again. She slowly sits up and runs her hands through her hair and looks around. She knew something had been wrong. She had sensed it a few minutes before she had felt the sword. But her need to protect everyone, her family, overshadowed her senses that were telling her that she was about to die. What shocks her the most isn't that she is back at the high school, but what is before her. Charlotte shrieks in terror and scrambles away from her own body lying in front of her. Then she hears a soft gasp and she spins around. Her heart falls to her feet.

"Allison?"

The huntress sadly smiles and a tear runs down her cheek as her eyes fall back onto the body. "It wasn't your time," she whispers.

Charlotte stares at her in disbelief. "I'm dead, right?"

"Yeah... We both are."

After she overcomes the vast amount of shock, the first thing Charlotte Martin does is break into a run and collide into her girlfriend's body. "Oh, my God, I missed you so fucking much," she mumbles against dark hair.

Allison leans her cheek on the girl's shoulder and she breathes a sigh. "I saw it all," she confesses quietly. "I saw the oni turn around and I couldn't do anything to stop it."

Charlotte pulls away when she hears a quiet sniffle and she reaches out to brush the tears off Allison's cheeks. "Maybe we are soulmates after all... I mean, we're still here in death."

With a sad smile, Allison leans forward to rest their foreheads against one another. "I never thought I'd see you again."

"Me either."

"We didn't either."

The girls spin around at the third voice that joins their conversation. If Charlotte hadn't already died, she would've right now by cardiac arrest. A great sadness and joy fills her as she looks into the eyes of the people she had tragically lost over the last year. Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd, and as much as she wants to hate him but currently can't, Tyler McCall. As she tightly embraces those she loves, she locks eyes with Allison. And then she realises that in whatever kind of plane or afterlife she is standing on, she knows that she's going to be okay.

𝘏𝘪 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘎𝘖𝘙𝘎𝘌𝘖𝘜𝘚 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴!

𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘓𝘓 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 ☹️

𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴: 𝘈 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 5 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘵𝘤, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘰 𝘯𝘰, 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯'𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥.

𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘚𝘖 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵.

𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘓𝘪𝘷 𝘹𝘹