Chapter 12

The hallway whirled in the mind of Gabrielle. Pain erupted through her senses keeping her from stepping steady. Her vision attempted to focus itself but she had no time for that. Charlie’s car door slammed shut and she knew he was in a hurry to reach inside. He had heard her crash.

Rushing into the room, she slipped once more but managed to close the door. Everything around her felt distant, chaotic. Her palm rubbed her temple and tried for the doorknob again. Luckily it had locked behind her. Breathing a sigh of relief, she crawled over to her wardrobe to help her stand. The pills still needed to be hidden and time was running out.

Charlie was just as frantic as he charged through the front door. The house was quiet but that didn’t ease his mind at all. The grocery bag in his hand almost dropped as he ran to his Annabel Lee’s room. She couldn’t leave him and he was terrified that was just what she had done. The flipped up corner of the hallway rug made him that much more worried.

“My Annabel Lee,” he called to her. “Please answer me!”

With no response, he jiggled the door’s handle to her room but found it locked. The key to it was quickly taken out of his back pocket with trembling hands and shoved into the slot. He needed to see her, to make sure she was still there. He barged into the room and with ragged breath called quieter to his love.

“My darling dear, are you here?”

Gabrielle laid on the bed with her eyes tightly shut and the covers in disarray. Her breath was much heavier than a sleeping person’s should have been. Charlie paced closer to her bed but paused as Gabrielle started moaning in fear.

“No,” she whispered with her eyes still closed. Charlie looked to his Annabel Lee and sighed seeing that she had never left her bed. “No get away from me. Don’t… don’t kill him.”

She is simply having a nightmare, he told himself. He made to her side and sat on the edge of the bed, dropping the grocery bag on the floor. The black hair that was wrapped wildly around her head was pushed away from her face before he started shaking her shoulder. His Annabel Lee gasped as she ‘awoke’ and bolted up into his arms.

“Charlie,” she whimpered into his chest. “They… they were going to take you Charlie. I– I didn’t want them to.”

Surprised by her actions, it took a second for the man to hold her back. Once he had though, Charlie squeezed her tightly and kissed her hair. He could feel the fear shaking her and the rapid pulse beneath her skin. It was his duty to keep her safe and he felt as though he had let her down in just thinking she was going to run. This Annabel Lee was different and he needed to never doubt her again.

“It was just a dream and no one will hurt you.”

Gabrielle shook in his arms, thankful that he believed her. The poor girl had only just made it onto her bed after hiding the sleeping pills away. She squeezed tighter even though his touch offended her. The girl needed him to be absolutely convinced, absolutely trusting.

“I am here,” he continued. Charlie chuckled unaware there was anything wrong. His strong arms let her go and picked up the grocery bag, a warm smile brightening his features. “With dessert too.”

Letting his love change from her ‘pajamas’, Charlie waited in the kitchen and unloaded his shopping bags. Gabrielle joined him shortly after layering one of her new sweaters over her tank top. The man had almost caught her. Luckily she was able to conceal the pills in the bottom corner of her wardrobe. They’d be safe there for now until she figured out when to use them.

Shakily, she let out a sigh of pent up air. She wasn’t done but a dangerous part of her new plan was over. It took everything in her not to crumble from relief. It was hardly past ten but the day had been so intense, she could fall back asleep. But Gabrielle knew she had to push those thoughts away. Charlie needed her to be his Annabel Lee and she planned on being exactly that.

“Never has an Angel been quite as lovely as you,” he said as she walked out to the living room. Charlie held out a single rose for her to take which she did gingerly. “To grace our presence on earth must be hard to do. But as a prize for winning my heart, I propose today as a brand new start.”

“A start for what?” She couldn’t help the genuine blush coloring her cheeks. No one ever talked to her like that and even though it was Charlie saying these things to her, she felt the flutter of butterflies in her stomach.

Her kidnapper held his index finger to his lips and ushered her to the living room. The coffee table she rarely ever saw was filled with plates of cookies and cakes next to a few different board games. She smiled and sat on the sofa where he joined her.

“I used to play this all the time,” Gabrielle said, holding up the box of Chinese checkers. “When I was younger we had a family game night on Thursdays. Mom and dad were always yellow and blue and I’d take the green.”

“It does not matter the side you begin, I promise you this: you will not win,” he said with a challenge blazing behind his eye. After a wink, a broad smile played on both their lips and the game was on.

The two had their fill of the desserts and played checkers and chess all day. Charlie had never seen his Annabel Lee so carefree and excited before. The joy in her eye made her that much more beautiful to him. Many times Gabrielle had reminded him to play since he could not help but be amazed by her shining personality. His daydreams were becoming more and more real.

When it came dinner, Charlie decided on watching a movie as they ate. They filled their plates with simple cheese and bologna sandwiches and went to his room to eat. It was the only place with a TV to watch. Gabrielle sat warily on the edge of the bed but Charlie took the floor. He reclined next her feet after popping in the DVD of The Princess Bride. The menu played on the screen which had Gabrielle hesitating on the movie she had never seen.

“This sounds like a mushy romance story,” she whined to Charlie. Indeed she was not one for such movies but she was more so scared that her kidnapper would want to be romantic with her afterwards. She didn’t want that happening.

“Wait and see. It is an amazing plot. I don’t doubt that you’ll like it a lot.”

Gabrielle nodded her head with irritation at his constant rhyming but watched. Soon enough she started to enjoy the movie. Heroes and fighting and true love but mostly it was the 80s humor she liked most. Her body relaxed on the bed and she ended up loving the story.

Near the end of the movie Gabrielle glanced down at Charlie. The scene had taken a turn for the serious talking about revenge on a man for killing a father. She thought it was one of the more badass scenes but glancing at her kidnapper, she noticed he didn’t take it as she did.

“Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die,” the character repeated many times during the sword fight. Charlie wiped his tear before it fell. He knew the exact feeling Inigo went through. Losing his parents was devastating; they were all he had.

‘Those who cry aren’t evil, only broken.’ Gabrielle had written that in one of her many lyrics. Every day she was trying to convince herself that Charlie was the enemy, the one who should never be given sympathy. The girl turned back to the movie seeing how sentimental he could really be. For the first time since she had been there, she honestly was confused about if she really wanted to leave.

It might have been nice to live here, she thought. Her sympathy was quickly discarded. But dying with him is the thing that scares me. I won’t let it happen.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: Dedicated to the awesome Lynx_Elric for knowing the whole quote! The Princess Bride is actually one of my favorite movies of all time and I recommend it whole-heartedly. Watch it if you ever have the chance.

And yay she made it in the room before he found her. It was actually an even vote between him finding her and her making it in. I went with the one I felt more inspiration for. But what about next chapter? Do you think things will start heating up between the two? Mhmm…? I know a few of you who really want that to happen. *cough* Luna *cough cough* ;)