Page 13 of Claiming Charlotte

I watched, speechless as he pulled on both ends of the wire, sawing at the delicate flesh as it slowly cut into my finger. The wire disappeared in a torrent of blood, and I screamed out my pain. If I had use of?my legs, they would be slamming against the floor.

Jerking against the chair, my body fought against the pain and was slowly succumbing to shock.

My mind finally escaped from the torture, and I thought about the first time Lottie and I met.

I was sitting on the couch shoving the chips in my face, nothing but my shorts and my ass backward hat when Nicole just walked into my house, something she has been doing for a while and it stopped bothering me. Jason and I had to leave soon, Nicole knew, and she normally stayed and watched the house while we were gone. But this time was different; she was trying to coax someone in.

I wiped the food off my chest and rose from the couch to investigate, just over the threshold?stood another woman but she seemed too shy to just walk in and I narrowed my eyes.

“You can come in,” I spoke.

Carefully, skipping in she stood at the entrance staring at me, and I was immediately drawn to the freckles that lined her cheeks and her green eyes.

Interrupting the moment, Nikki said, “This time she's going to stay with me if that's alright. I need company. Rowan meet Charlotte; Charlotte, this is Rowan. I’ll be right back.”

“Sure,” I shrugged my shoulders and motioned for her to take a seat on the couch as Nikki ran upstairs two steps at a time.

Smoothing her skirt, she sat down and I offered the half-eaten bag of chips to her, she scrunched her eyebrows, and I scoffed. She's a princess.

Rolling my eyes, I headed to the kitchen to grab a bowl from the cabinet before filling it up with the salty snack and returning.

She stared at the bowl in my hand, and after a moment of contemplation she took it gracefully and my body shivered as her fingers grazed over mine. I continued to eat watching her out of the corner of my eye, she still hadn't eaten.

“I have other food if you don’t want them.” I offered awkwardly.

She shook her head in surprise. “It's not that sorry… no one has ever done this for me before. Thank you,” She smiled gratefully.

“Anytime, Princess.”

“Princess?” she questioned in disdain.

“Oh yes,” I teased. “In this house, we all grab out of the bag, put the breakfast sandwich in a paper towel, things like that, less dishes. Learn it, live it, and you will fit in just fine here.”

“I know how to microwave a sandwich, Rowan.” she countered.

She reached for my hat and pulled it off using her fingers to slightly part my locks, and I looked at her in confusion.

“Much better.” She replied before turning back to the show playing in front of us.

We went back to staring at the TV and a few minutes later I laughed when she said, “I guess I can learn your ways, if you want me around, oh lazy one.”

She's had my heart from that moment, and that memory has become my happy place. I always go back to it. We are both making it out of this, that’s my promise to her, and then no one will hurt her again…Ever.

As I clenched my eyes shut tight against the pain in my hand, I heard footsteps in the doorway. A bead of cold sweat dripped down my forehead as I opened my eyes and saw Lacey leaning against the door. She smiled sweetly at me as she set up a computer on a small stool and drew it near me. What is this?

Jason loosely wrapped a piece of gauze around where my finger used to be and set about cleaning up the blood as I stared blankly at the wall in front of me. My stomach lurched at the thought of looking?at what he’d done, and I didn’t want to see all the blood I knew would be there.

Lacey pulled a chair up next to me, and I finally allowed my eyes to flit to the screen of the laptop. The screen read ‘Stream Starts Soon’. My eyebrows knit together slightly as I stared at the uniform lettering, and I vaguely registered Lacey’s fingers testing the edge of her small dagger.

She played with the knife for a little while, and then she ran the blade up and down my arm, across my chest, teasing and testing me. Jason finished his task and walked to the door.

Pausing, he nodded at Lacey and looked me dead in the eyes.

“Enjoy the show,” he said smugly, and he walked away.

7

CHARLOTTE

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