Hunted

Thirty-Two: Reunited

The air was dank, suffocating.

The sudden light that illuminated the basement prison as the door was wrenched open, blinded Charlotte, sending dancing white dots across her vision. Charlotte smacked her dry, cracked lips together, trying to find her voice, but her energy was spent after her weakened Alteration had sensed Matt. It had roused, tasting his fear - a fear that seemed to engulf the entire house, seeping into every crevice, even down into the dark and forgotten recesses of her prison.

Charlotte forced herself into a sitting position, slouching against the wall. Her breathing was laboured, her vision unfocused as she tried to get a better look at him, a better look at her saviour.

This moment, his fear that he had been too late, was the first time she had known fear to be something positive. It had been his driving force, his determination. It was something that was feeding his actions, not breaking his will, but making him stronger, making him more resolute in his actions. Yet, that was the Matt Charlotte knew. Fear had forced him to be brave in order to save Freddie once before and now it was forcing him to help her.

Matt's shadow moved into the light, carving a perfect silhouette before her. He didn't look at the dead, at those she had murdered. He only saw her; he had only come for her.

"Charlotte," he breathed, taking hold of her shoulders and lifting her from the cold ground. Her arms and legs were trembling violently as her eyes filled with tears, relief and disbelief clouding her mind. She could hardly believe he had found her, that she had sensed him in the house that was so full of death, a house, which she had imagined, would become her tomb.

She desperately wanted to be stronger for him, but strength had abandoned her in this hellhole, strength had abandoned her to Edwards, to Nicholls.

"Charlotte, it's okay," he sighed, embracing her. "Thank God! I'll get you out of here and I'll take care of you, I promise. Everything is alright... you're alive," he whispered, his voice marred with mistrust, as if he couldn't believe his own words. She could sense the fear and worry that continued to radiate from him, but she was too weak to care. It had taken every bit of strength she had to project the image of herself in an effort to draw him back to her.

"Where is Nicholls?" he asked abruptly, pushing her hair back from her face, his dark eyes full of sudden anger and hatred, his lip curling back at the mere mention of the man's name.

"Dead," she whispered, her voice cold and resolute.

A shadow of sadness passed over his features at her words, pity for what she had had to suffer through. "Did you kill him?"

"No, he killed himself, he took away my chance," she breathed, struggling to recall the encounter fully. Adrenaline and shock seemed to have erased much of her memory, clouding her mind and fogging her thoughts. She knew Matt's name had come up, but she couldn't recall why. All she could recall was that Elmhirst now knew where she was, that he was now coming for her, hunting her.

"Are you injured?" he asked, distracting her brooding thoughts. He took hold of her chin and tilted her face, inspecting it with worried eyes. She couldn't add to his distress, by revealing Elmhirst was on her trail - not yet. She would wait until she was stronger, until she could protect him.

He ran his thumb along her jaw bone, frowning. Despite the weakness that gripped Charlotte's shrunken body, frantic butterflies assaulted her stomach when he gazed at her like that, his dark eyes burning, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't know anymore," she breathed, trying to distinguish one pain from another, to separate memory from actuality.

Matt's brow puckered, as he appraised her, completely supporting her fragile weight in his arms. He pressed his lips together and glanced at Edwards' motionless body slumped forward in the chair, before his eyes wavered to The Charmer's body lying on the floor.

"How long have they been...?" he breathed, the disgust obvious on his face. Charlotte worried her lip wondering if he thought less of her. She paused, a strange moment of déjà vu washing over her, a sense that he had disappointed her somehow, but the feeling faded as quickly as it had developed.

"I don't know... a few days maybe? Time doesn't matter down here," she whispered, leaning into him, unable to control her trembling limbs, her legs refusing to hold her up anymore. "How did you find me?" she whispered, her voice fading, as her body began to finally concede to its exhaustion.

"It's not the time for that now," Matt said, his voice tight. "Your skin is like ice - here put this on," he breathed, sliding out of his coat and wrapping it tightly around her. She reflexively pressed the jacket's collar to her face, breathing deep the familiar smell of Matt, banishing the smell of death for the briefest moment.

Matt zipped up the coat and pulled the hood up, covering her matted hair. He bent down and scooped her up into his arms, wrapping her tightly as if afraid to let her go, and carried her from the dingy, windowless basement. As Charlotte closed her eyes, she knew she had never felt as safe in all her life as she did in that moment, pressing her cheek against his shoulder, wrapped in his arms, leaving the darkness and death behind.

When she opened her eyes again, Matt was descending the front steps of Nicholl's house towards an awaiting black car. Charlotte was vaguely aware of white snow everywhere and the icy air stinging her lungs. The air smelt fresh and clean. While one or two soft, fat snowflakes drifted from the darkness about them, only to meet her exposed skin and quickly melt. Matt's footsteps crunched beneath his weight, but he never once looked away from her, his expression a mixture of a dozen different emotions.

With careful movements he lowered her down to the car, sliding her into the backseat, never releasing her from his grip. He sat in beside her, not leaving her move from his protection, as he fastened her belt. She was vaguely aware of Rhian behind the steering wheel and Harris in the passenger seat, his turbulent grey eyes searching her face for a moment, before moving to Matt's questioningly.

"Don't look at me like that, Harris," Matt said in a dark voice. "I want to be away from here as quickly as possible. When we get to the hotel you can look at her. She's alive and for now that's all that matters".

No more words were spoken as the car growled to life and they drove away. Charlotte was vaguely aware of Matt's cheek resting against the top of her head, the fingers of his right hand stroking her hair reassuringly, while his left hand was tightly entwined with hers, as if afraid to let go.

As the car accelerated away from Nicholls' house, she became aware of his uneven breathing and the fear that was seeping from him; the fear of what could have been. Her alteration was too weak to even stir at the thoughts of a fresh fear. Instead Charlotte glanced up at him, surprised to see unfallen tears in his eyes.

With her free hand she reached up placing it on the side of his face and forced a smile.

"Hey," she whispered, her voice a husk of what it should have been. "It will be okay," she said, knowing that she spoke the truth. He looked down at her and the tears fell, but he smiled softly and pressed his lips to her forehead.

As he moved back, she wiped away the tracks the tears had made along his sallow cheeks with her thumb.

"I missed you," she breathed, her lids becoming heavy once more. He smiled gently, but didn't speak, as she closed her eyes and rested her head back against his chest, falling fast asleep.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read Hunted - I have to apologise for such a short update, but I will try to squeeze in an extra one before Wednesday XD In any case, I hope you enjoyed this brief moment of light in a very dark place! If you did please vote! If you get a chance I would just LOVE to hear how you are enjoying Hunted so far!

I also want to dedicate this chapter to @Lucyface, whose story, Ashes to Ashes is a wonderful little love story! Definitely worth a read XD

Now press that little star people!!