037: Chapter 2.5 ~ I'm not scared at night anymore ③

April 22, 2021 - 4 minutes read - 817 words

Eventually, the night arrived. In a silence that isn’t even pierced by insects, Charlotte sobs to herself.

“Hi, u, u … u …” Charlotte

In the pitch-black room, Charlotte cries softly. This isn’t a normal bedroom, it’s a food storage room in the basement of the Evans residence. Because of its intended purpose, there’s no windows and the air is cold. The darkness of the room is so complete that Charlotte couldn’t see a hand in front of her face.

Sometimes, Cordelia will sit in on Charlotte’s lessons. Ostensibly, she’s a mother ensuring her daughter is paying attention. However, the reality is nothing like that. Cordelia harshly punishes Charlotte for making any sort of mistake, or failing to answer questions she couldn’t know.

“Why can’t you do this!” Cordelia

“You’re a shame on the Evans name!” Cordelia

“Are you doing this on purpose?! We’d be better off without you!” Cordelia

Cordelia is like a storm of negativity. The tutors just turn pale, but won’t do anything about the abuse. Charlotte sits silent and tries to endure.

Originally, Cordelia wasn’t cruel to Charlotte, more tough. It was obvious Cordelia detested Charlotte, but she wouldn’t go too far. Then Natalia was born, and a few years later, Cordelia’s switch was flipped.

Charlotte became her number one enemy, not that Charlotte had any idea why. Duke Evans was uninterested in the whole affair, no matter what Cordelia did to Charlotte. He just averts his eyes, though he is rarely at the residence to notice anything.

Another unfortunate circumstance is that Charlotte dropped the medicine she had been given by Natalia. Charlotte couldn’t say anything when she was accused of stealing the medicine. She didn’t want any suspicions landing on Natalia.

Cordelia paid no attention to her biological daughter Natalia, so there wasn’t any chance of immediate violence. Charlotte didn’t want Cordelia to realize that Natalia was still friendly with Charlotte, potentially prompting future problems.

Charlotte meekly accepted her punishment and was left in the darkness.

She hated being here, but knew that no one would come and help her even if she screamed as loud as possible. Instead, her punishment would only increase… so Charlotte is forced to endure.

“U, U, U U …” Charlotte

Charlotte is so very scared. She hates this darkness and constaly being in fear. She hates being so lonely.

Suddenly, she notices something.

Huh? I can’t feel any pain? Charlotte

In the darkness, there’s no one to hurt her. It’s a little painful she can’t be with her sister, but she can breathe easy for a little while.

While she’s thinking, the darkness starts to wiggle around her. It forms into hand shapes and cling to Charlotte, they look like Charlotte’s own hands. Dozens of them cover Charlotte’s body, soon, it’s like she’s merging with the darkness.

The darkness tells her to go to sleep, don’t think about anything, forget about suffering…

“This is so damp, it’s bad for your health!” Voice

“Hmm?” Charlotte

Dogooooon!!

Suddenly a silly sound breaks in the darkness. Charlotte hurries to open her eyes.

Her room is now lit up, and there’s a hole like someone broke through a wall. Beyond it seems to be a pure white world, completely unlike her dark world. In that world, there’s a young man in a robe.

His hair is somehow both white and black, he wears a grimace like the world is ending. He’s unfamiliar, at least, he was.

“Oh, are you?” Charlotte

“Huh? Oh, hmm…” Voice

The young man seems to think a little before responding.

“Right. So, I’m the Great Demon King and I’m here to kidnap you.” Voice

“What?” Charlotte

“Ugh… Hey, come on over here already. You should get out of there as soon as possible.” Great Demon King says as he reaches out his right hand.

Charlotte can’t see any black haze covering his face. His surrounding are bright and warm, nothing like the darkness she was in.

And yet, Charlotte shakes her head.

“No…” Charlotte

“Huh?” Great Demon King

“Outside… I’m scared of the outside, I don’t know anything outside…” Charlotte

Charlotte hangs her head in sadness. The darkness surrounding her seems to grab on to keep her there. Charlotte feels that her surrounding are the only pace she can live. Or, at least, that’s what she thinks…

“Ah, right” Great Demon King

“eh?” Charlotte asks.

The young man stepped into the darkness around Charlotte and bends down on one knee as he reaches out his hand.

“I will not let go of your hand. I swear I’ll protect you from the things that want to hurt you. So… let’s leave.” Great Demon King promises with a gentle smile.

Again, he reaches out his hand.

Charlotte takes a breath, then slowly lifts her right hand… and gently touches his hand.

At that point, the darkness bursts out like a balloon and light takes over the world.