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Nightshade

Charlotte&039;s heart caught in her throat as she ran Every h the crowded Occult town square She needed to find Valek Fast

Bewitched lanterns twinkled in oranges and reds against the color of h the alleys as all of the various creatures moved quickly from the shops, headed for the Occult border The low monotone of people&039;s conversations floated around her as she shoved against the packedupstream, every face less fa He couldn&039;t possibly be back where she was going He must be somewhere near the front of the crowd

She spun on her heel, fiery curls flying into her face, blinding her search for hiht for each breath as she begged an unseen force to make him appear within the crowd

She screamed his name until the back of her throat went dry, like sandpaper, scorching like fire She grasped at her neck, digging her nails desperately into her flesh Where was he? Surely, hiding in the darkness for what he had made of her

Nobody looked at her as she called Nobody even acknowledged her cries or the fact that she was screa out his name as loud as she possibly could The various Elves, Imps, Phasers, Witches, and the rest of those so utterly different fro in the same direction down the wide, cobblestone street All of their blank stares were cast upward, as if waiting for sorabbed hold of one tall Witch by her pointed shoulders She recognized her instantly as one of the Witches her arch-rival, Evangeline, used to spend time with in the tavern Her face hite and drawn, the expression in her eyes co for Valek Ruzik!"

The Witch didn&039;t even acknowledge her with so much as a facial twitch The wicked woh Charlotte weren&039;t actually there at all Like she didn&039;t exist

"Help ain, "Please!" She turned, side her She caught only a gli her to the ground Trying hard not to be traasped and scraainst the rough granules between the cobblestones, bloodying instantly She winced as shards of rock and rubble clung to the shalloounds The fa sroaned with it She lifted her reddened pal to open her mouth and lick her wounds clean, but she shoved the atrocious urge away as quickly as it caasped for air like she&039;d just surfaced from the depths of dark waters "Valek! Valek!" She turned the other direction, desperately scanning each face "Where are you?" Hot tears streamed down her cheeks "I&039;m so sorry!"

No one answered or even looked at her It was as though she were invisible to the world Oh God, I&039;ve really lost hi the square for his face, whirling around to see if she&039;d so past

A lute and fiddle played the off the large rim of the ancient fountain Ghostlyin time to that music crawled up Charlotte&039;s spine as she choked on the dry air in her throat There was nothing but deathly silence fro patrons now She wrapped her sweater-clad ar mist in front of her face

Charlotte cried his naht of the azed upward like the rest of the crowd Charlotte finally turned to see what had captivated all of them so-what had driven them out of the square, and what had caused all of the like the opposing ar over the rooftops It blasted its way through, striking a cannon&039;s hole in the hten around her bones She looked down at her palh theray "No! Valek! I&039;m so sorry! Please! Where are you? Valek!"

More tears poured down her face as she sprinted off in the direction of her house She could see it just beyond the crowd and the rooftops of the inns and taverns It stood there faithfully, as always Safe Constant Unchanging The lights were on Valek must be inside

She ran harder and faster, her own breath heavy in her ears, her lungs burning The shock of her feetand hit her hip and knee like a lightning strike The pain was more than she could bear, but she kept on She could not leave Valek there Not when daas co to claim them It was her fault, for what she had become That hy he wouldn&039;t cory with her

Charlotte burst through the front door Despite the pale lights gli from the salon and kitchen, the house took on a dark and dead quality It looked empty, abandoned, and panic set in until she sensed Valek was in his bedroo and bolted for the staircase and down the dusty hall, her lungs on fire Possibly fro sunrise "Valek!"

She shoved through the carved double doors to hisfor us! Valek-" Charlotte stopped in a cold shen she saw there were two figures in the rooh the black bed curtains, Charlotte saw Valek belly up on his bed, a graceful-looking felinted off her slender ring finger that stroked the side of his face affectionately Her brown hair twirled down to the ainst the perfect ivory of her skin She was beautiful Delicate Human

Bile rose in the back of Charlotte&039;s throat

"I&039;ve ently, his horriddown her pure, naked spine The sudden recollection of the story Valek had told once in Francis&039; base back to Charlotte She gripped fistfuls of her hair in knots But how could this be possible?

"No!" Charlotte howled until her chest felt like it would explode into a thousand pieces "Valek! No! It&039;s a trap! No!"

"Charlotte!" A familiar voice called to her "Charlotte, open your eyes!"

A warripped her shoulder She whirled around in Valek&039;s bedroo over her, one distinct, pointed ear poking out from the waves of auburn hair The h her A screa gently, like she&039;d so to return back to that basement Tears continued to ensue

"Charlotte, wake up!"

"No," she sobbed

"I b-believe this is the th-third night in a row," another familiar voice stammered next to her

"Charlotte, darlin&039; Wake up You&039;re safe!"

Finally, her eyelids fluttered open to the utter stillness of the ruddy color of a dirt-packed ceiling, cluttered with several brass pans, a few cuckoo clocks, and about a dozen or so silver teapots Her senses filled with the heady scent of wood s in Mr T&345;inozka&039;sshtly in a quilted blanket, as one of Mr T&345;inozka&039;s eight large arht, she could barely ht in a web She finally realized where she was

"Charlotte! Why, you had a nightruff voice was lifted a few octaves higher than usual, probably fro out loud? How e "Ifell asleep?"

"You did Edwin and I came in from the day and found you were curled up in one of my bean chairs" His mustache bristled with the promise of a smile just underneath, the corners twirled upward by fresh ax His antique brass aviator goggles were lifted onto his forehead, his ruby scarf wound tightly around his broad neck He and Edwin must have just arrived home fro up the shop after a looting that had occurred during their battle at the Regime Palace It had taken them days to do so

Another set of faht her attention as they loomed over her Edwin, the enchanted, boy of burlap and yarn, stared back at her curiously, his stitched mouth mashed into a worried line Charlotte was never very certain what kind of creature he was So doll of sorts and the only one of his kind, as far as anyone knew Mr T&345;inozka had invited Edwin to live with hii Horris, Mr T&345;inozka&039;s old rooone

Mr T&345;inozka rested Charlotte into one of the enor fire His burroas cozy and intiged teddy bears, lalow around the red color of the dirt walls It danced in the reflection his e of Edwin&039;s burlap nose

Charlotte reached over and pulled one particularly pathetic looking teddy bear into her lap Bringing her knees up, she wrapped her arathered in the corners of her eyes, causing the light in the room to blur "It ful I was in the square There were so many faces I searched, but I couldn&039;t find him anywhere"

"Hush!" Mr T&345;inozka abruptly pressed a finger fro, front ar Sarah had knit hilanced around "We irly Evil feeds on &039;em, don&039;t ya know it It&039;s bad luck You&039;ll bring about htiant Phaser, with the face of a kindly, elderly man and the lower half of an arachnid pulled his human-like hand away from her face and replaced it with another one of his hands that was clutching a cup of tea He offered it to her He was a strange, half-transformed shifter that was perpetually in between his two forms, the upper half of his body still hureatest misfits she&039;d ever known and she loved the&039;s fine now, ain&039;t it?"

Charlotte nodded

"My dearif you ever wish to flee a nightht," he whispered

She took the stea cup of tea from him and nodded her response "I suppose I don&039;t knohat&039;s gotten into ht terrors continued to replay in her mind