Chapter 13

Days passed again and a funny thing started happening to Gabrielle: she wasn’t constantly thinking about freedom. Her time spent at the ‘kingdom’ was becoming more enjoyable and less about constant fear. Charlie bought her flowers and candies and lavished her in compliments. His voice was the first thing she heard in the morning and the last one to bid her goodnight. Charlie was no longer the bane of her existence but a person she came to like the company of.

Not that she trusted him, of course. She was still plotting her grand plan and nothing would change her mind of that.

But the days were spent of time enjoying herself. She didn’t know what was happening to her mind. Perhaps it was the fact that Charlie was the only person she had seen in months or maybe it was truly how he cared for her. He would never raise a hand nor would he ever compel her for a kiss. He always left it to her to decide if she chose to do so. The man was a gentle soul, so gentle that Gabrielle was still wondering why he had taken her. If he was this kind of a person, why did he have to kidnap his lovers? She questioned herself that every day.

“You’re a librarian?”

Charlie had just come home from his day of work and went straight to his Annabel Lee’s room. Gabrielle looked through the stack of books again. She had always seen the barcodes with the same library name but she had thought he went there after his job to relax. Never in a million years would she have guessed he worked there.

“My mother and father the owned ‘The Clover’. After they…” Charlie’s voice trailed off with his memories. Gabrielle glanced at him when he didn’t complete his rhyme but as soon as he caught her gaze, he cleared his throat and finished. “I took over.”

“You own a library,” she clarified with him. Gabrielle raised her eyebrows at the man who sheepishly nodded. She turned from him to place the novels by her bedside to read later. The girl remembered him talking about how his parents owned a book store but she didn’t think he kept it going. He always complained about office work not grumpy customers. As she made room on her nightstand, Gabrielle muttered quietly to herself. “Entrepreneur by day, abductor by night. Who’d have thunk it?”

“Mhmm?”

“Nothing,” Gabrielle quickly covered. She smiled up at Charlie and rubbed his arm affectionately. “I’m just glad I have new reading material. Thank you Charlie.”

The man led his Annabel Lee out to the dining room table where he had brought food home for lunch. Today was another half-day of work for him and he could do so frequently since he was the boss. He had bought meatball subs which they munched on happily talking of idle chatter.

“Today I have something to show you,” Charlie said as their meal was done. Gabrielle helped clear their plates listening intently. “Something I hope you won’t misconstrue. It will be the greatest of love I can ever show. As soon as you’re set, we’ll be ready to go.”

Gabrielle was told to put on comfortable shoes to walk in and sent to her room. Her heart pounded as she tried lacing up the simple grey Keds Charlie bought her last week. They were going for a walk! It would be the perfect opportunity for Gabrielle to see which way civilization was. Everything was falling into place.

The salty perfume of the ocean and the foggy day greeted the two as they opened the back door. The fresh air did wonders to Gabrielle. She hated always being in her stuffy room. The girl had grown so bored out of her mind that she started an exercise routine. Gabrielle had never been one for keeping fit but it did help to keep her entertained.

Interlacing their fingers together, she leaned on Charlie’s shoulder. It sent whirls of butterflies through the man’s stomach. He couldn’t help but smile as he squeezed her hand back. It definitely put a sense of honor in his stride.

“Why do we never take pictures with each other,” Gabrielle questioned him. “I miss the feeling of a camera in my hand.”

“There’s no need for inked scraps of paper since you’ll always belong with me,” he told her. “I want your beauty engraved in my mind. Plus cameras and such can be costly.”

Gabrielle let the issue go even though she knew he was hiding something from her. Every crime show she ever watched had criminals with keepsakes of their misdeeds. It only seemed natural.

Maybe I’ll find something tomorrow. Charlie should be working the whole day so I can sneak into his room and maybe find what happened to the other Annabel Lees.

They continued their walk, leaving the ‘kingdom’ behind. It was the farthest Gabrielle had gone since the first day she was brought there and thankfully there were no handcuffs involved. The water lapped over their ankles and the house grew smaller as they strolled along. Soon it was out of sight due to the fog. Not being able to see any sort of landmark left the young girl anxious but Charlie didn’t seem to mind one bit. As a result, Gabrielle pretended it didn’t bother her either.

Charlie started explaining it was a special day. She didn’t understand what he meant but went along with him anyway. She couldn’t have him thinking she was suspicious. After all, he never knew she had the diary to explain the plans he had already made. Gabrielle was still hoping her complete devotion to him was enough to dissuade is mind.

Finally they were far enough from their house where the land became different. There was a slight incline but once they reached the tip of the hill, Gabrielle let a small gasp escape. Still no civilization for miles. The girl swore in her thoughts and scanned the horizon again.

The mist of the day hid everything within a mile radius. She saw no streets or cars or houses along the shore; there was only a small, stone tomb bearing two names and a phrase written gracefully on the door.

Charlie and Annabel Lee

We loved with a love that was more than love

.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The super fricken awesome-tastic trailer was done by the very talented brookieismyname! She’s amazing and not only that, she’s great at writing too! Her story Alive and Shattered is absolutely breath-taking <3 Click the external link to go read that since it’s so beautiful.

And shout out to Anonymous4321 and MadAboutMusic for helping with the new summary! What do you guys think of it?