5.14 Anger, Sorrow and Pain [Charlotte]

[AN: Once again I’d like to thank everyone who sent me sims. Thank you dears!]

Charlotte begrudgingly dragged her feet to the porch of her house. She was feeling a bit grumpy that Jeff had texted her and demand she leave. Who the hell did he think he was, her father? He was a human, telling her to be careful. Psh, he didn’t know just how well she could take care of herself.  She was shocked to see her cousin Alistair when she exited the taxi. “Hey, Al…what are you doing here? Is everything alright?”

 

“Hey Char.” He leaned in and gave her a hug. “Someone came to my apartment the other day claiming to be our cousin. Her name was Autumn, do you know anything about that?”

 

“Honestly, Alistair, I’ve been in my own little world. My dad has been making me babysit this human and-”

 

“My sister is a human,” Alistair sighed in annoyance. “Stop saying that.”

 

“Well, what do you want me to do? I don’t hate all humans, just Jeff!”

 

“We have mor eimportant things to worry about right now. I need to know if what she said was true or if she was trying to lure me away from Astra. How is grandpa Apollo?”

“I saw him just a few hours ago and he was fine, why?” Charlotte asked.

 

“Granpa has a brother, Ambrose Gray and he has this feeling that his brother is in trouble. I would usually ignore this because there wasn’t enough proof, but Astra was freaking out and he’s family, so I had to just check.”

 

“I do know of Ambrose, but he’s human, so why would his premonition be right?” Charlotte asked. “This could be a set up.”

 

“Thats what I thought, but I don’t think so. Sometimes, you just know when your sibling is in trouble, and also the fact that he hasn’t heard from him in years. We could give Ambrose some closure. My mother was adamant about this,” Alistair admitted.

 

“Well, he’s fine. But, let’s go inside and talk to my dads. They’ll call grandpa and see what’s up.” She pulled out her keys and began to unlock the door.

 

“So, whats with the fancy dress?” Alistair smirked.

 

“Don’t really want to talk about it, twerp.”

 

“I should be calling you that, twerp.”

When Charlotte walked into the door, she was met with the sight of her grandfather heaving on the ground. “What’s going on!?”

 

“It’s a time fluxuation,” Adeline explained. She held  onto Apollo’s arm as she stroked his back. “There’s nothing we can do right now, but remain clam. THe pain will subside and he will be alright.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about!?” Charlotte demanded.

 

“Char,” Alistair (jr) said. “Calm down. You heard the girl.”

 

“He was fine a few hours ago, what the hell is going on, where is Ethan!? Why is grandpa even here to begin with if I was visiting his house!” Charlotte was near hysterical. This wasn’t right. Time fluxuations didn’t just happen, and if it wasn’t for her family’s history, she wouldn’t believe they were possible.

 

“Please remain calm,” Adeline instructed. “He could go into shock if he’s overwhelmed. I’m infusing him with as much power as I can muster right now, but the distraction will only make things worse.” Adeline was sweating profusely, and it looked like she was wasting a lot of energy.

“Charlotte, you’re finally home.” Her dad enveloped her into a massive hug. “I was worried, why didn’t you call?”

 

“Dad, I’m an adult-”

 

“Now is not the time, Charlotte. Your grandfather…my dad, is in trouble. I really am in no mood to do this with you.”

 

Charlotte bit her lip but nodded. “I’m sorry, I just…I didn’t know this would happen. Grandpa was fine a few hours ago. Why is he even here?”

 

“Everyone was looking for you,” Alistair confided. “You left, didn’t text or call us, and dad said you were acting strangely. And, you hypnotized Jeff?”

 

“Do we have to argue right now? Look, Alistair is here.” She shoved her cousin in front of her to shoulder the blow.

“I really don’t want to be put into the middle of this, but what the hell is going on?” Alistair junior demanded.

 

“Tell him what you told me,” Charlotte urged.

 

The purple haired male nodded. “A girl claiming to be our cousin, Autumn came over my house. She’s the child of Brody Gray who is Ambrose’s son. My mom vouched for that..”

 

Alistair nodded. “Yes, I remember cousin Brody. I only met him once, after Ambrose went on the Bachelor he moved away. But, yes. I’m aware of Autumn, she is indeed your cousin. What happened? You have more you know, Blair and Shawn. Maybe I’ll set up a meeting for you and Astra.”

 

“Nows not the time,” Alistair Junior said. “She told me that her grandfather, thought his brother might have been in trouble. Since Astra couldn’t leave, I came by to quell her fears. I was hoping that he’d be alright, but…” His voice trailed off.

 

Alistair was rubbing his temple. “Don’t worry kids. Your granfather will be just fine. You’re worried about how Ambrose would know?” They both nodded. “He always was aware of our supernatural abilities and the drama that our family was involved with. he wasn’t directly involved himself, but…” Alistair sighed. “His father was arrested before Ambrose was born. Of course, that had some affiliation with the guardians, but to Ambrose it was the markings of a bad man. He never realized that something was different about our family until much later. All of my kids know, because I don’t want to repeat history, but…what I’m saying is Ambrose knows, even if he doesn’t understand. His kids don’t, but he does.”

“Nothing is ever simple, huh?” Alistair Junior pondered.

 

“Of course not,” Charlotte said. “We wouldn’t be Grays otherwise.”

 

“Charlotte…” Her dad looked pained. Of course he would be, she was lying to his face, and her grandfather was here because of her immaturity. She blamed herself.

 

“Daddy, I’m sorry. I was meeting with someone, I-” She was ready to tell him everything she had done in the past few days when he ruffled her hair.

 

“I know everything, Charlotte. I keep watch on this town, but more importantly, I keep watch on my kids. Patrick is playing with fire, and I need you to stay away from him.” Charlotte’s eyes widened. “He’s working for Damian.”

 

“How?” Charlotte frowned. “He’s looking for his friends, your friends.”

 

“I don’t know what his intentions are. They seem noble, but he doesn’t want me to know, which is off. I thought he was working with Altiere….I just don’t know yet. Things are going to start heating up, I can feel it. So please, stay away.”

 

“Jeff told you?” Charlotte frowned.

 

“Jeff told me what he thought you were up to because he was worried about you. Adeline confirmed it for me and gave me all of the details. But, I don’t want anymore of this talk. Go downstairs and see Ethan. He’s pretty shaken up and would lvoe to know that you’re alright.”

Charlotte did as she was told. She was upset, now more than ever. Her grandfather was heaving on the floor, and she felt like she was to blame. Did the incident earlier at their house stress him out and cause this? What was this? Why the hell couldn’t Adeline just tell her what was happening, and why did it seem like she was keeping him alive? Then, as if things couldn’t get worse, her dad told her that he knew about Patrick. The one thing she was going to solve on her own, and he was there watching her. No, she had a rat. Jeff. She clenched her fists. She was about to burst. Ethan stared sadly at his granddaughter. How many years had he been alive? So much more than he was supposed to, or even deserved to. His husband was in pain, and he had to stay here so that his grand daughter could keep the man alive. It was killing him inside not to be able to hold Apollo in his arms, and make it better. What was even worse, was that…for the first time ever, he didn’t understand what was happening. Time fluxuations? Thats all he had been told. He was on edge and the thought of the inevitable was driving him insane. Apollo was aging and Ethan was not. He wanted to let go, only a few more years until Alistair could handle things on his own, but…if he lost Apollo…he shut his eyes. He didn’t want to think of it. He didn’t want to live without the one man who understood him.

 

“I’ve lived a long life,” Ethan muttered to himself.

 

“Not long enough,” Charlotte said. “Grandpa, I’m sorry.”

 

Hearing her voice seemed to snap him out of the trance he was in. “Charlotte? Oh thank the watcher you’re alright! What the hell is the matter with you? You had us all worried!”

 

“I’m sorry for lying to you…” She bit her lip. “You know why I really hypnotized Jeff?”

 

“It doesn’t matter right now. As long as you’re safe. You need to stop being so rebellious, life is short and you have an obligation to your family.”

 

“I know, I’m sorry.”

 

He hugged her tightly. “Look who you brought with you, my favorite imaginary friend. What’s up kid?” He tried to sound happy, but she knew he was fighting an internal battle. She excused herself to talk to the others while Alistair conversed with their grandfather.

“Charlotte!” His voice was urgent, even a little bit downcast.

 

“No,” She said coldly. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

 

“Well, I need to talk to you.” He grabbed her arm gently, causing her to stop. “Please hear me out.” She glared at him, but made no attempt to move. “I’m sorry about your grandfather. Will he be alright?”

 

Charlotte’s voice was low, and she was trying to fight back the tears in front of Jeff. “I don’t know. Dad says he’ll be fine, but thats what Dads are supposed to say, right?”

 

“He’ll be okay. He’s a fighter, he’s already been through so much. And Ethan won’t let anything happen to him,” Jeff said.

 

“I just wish I knew what was going on, but Adeline is the only one and she’s too preoccupied right now. It’s killing me, and…” She stopped talking. “I’m still mad at you. Stop trying to make me feel better.”

 

“So its out that I told on you huh?” There was a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

“It’s really not funny,” Charlotte said. “I wanted to do this on my own.”

 

“I thought we agreed that we were doing this together,” Jeff said. “And together means I have the right to do things that I think will get the best result. I wanted to make sure that you were okay. It’s a little funny that you’re accusing me of being a tattletale.”

 

“Thank you.” They both turned to face the purple haired male. “My name is Alistair, I’m Charlotte’s cousin. Thanks for keeping an eye on her. She hates you, which must mean that you’re doing something right, because she hates everyone who seems to be looking out for her.”

 

She rolled her eyes. “For once, I wanted to just solve a mystery on my own. Ok? Not just cause more trouble. Dad put me in charge of this legacy, I don’t want to disappoint him.”

 

“You won’t, neither will Astra. The two of you should really have a conversation, I think it’ll do you both wonders.” Alistair stretched his arms over his head. He looked at Jeff. “She has another sister who lives with me in Lucky Palms. It’s a bit of a distance, but uh, much more calmer than here. No evil vampires.”

 

“Probably so much less exciting,” Charlotte said.

 

“Yeah, but it’s nice. None of this.” He motioned around him. “No offense.”

“I kind of like it,” Jeff said. “Being one of few humans sucks, but it’s interesting.”

 

“Sure, working with my sister to sell me out to my dad is interesting,” Charlotte said.

 

“You tried to hypnotize me, we’re more than even,” Jeff said. “Besides, I was trying to help you. Your grandfather told me that you said you were doing it because you had feelings for me.”

 

“Obviously a lie,” Charlotte said.

 

Jeff wore a devious smirk. “Is it? I mean, Ethan seems like a smart guy. He wouldn’t fall for something like that if he didn’t think it was true.”

 

Charlotte lowered her eyes. “I wouldn’t date a human, not one that needs babysitting at least.”

 

“Me? You’re the one going off to Watcher knows where!” Jeff exclaimed.

 

“Yeah, but I have the power to handle myself.” She bared her teeth and allowed her tongue to roam across them. For a moment, Jeff was mesmorized. What it’d be like to kiss a vampire with those pointy fangs, it must have gotten pretty wild…wait, what the hell was he thinking? Even if Charlotte had a shitty attitude, he had to admit that was good looking, and she flaunted her assetts. He rubbed his head, trying to get the thought of her body pressed against his out of his mind. It was so wrong on so many levels, but the more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to explore her. He almost forgot about that wife and child he once had… “I’m seeing someone anyway.”

 

Her admission broke him from his thoughts and all he could do was stare, dumbfounded, at the vampire. It only brought him further back into reality. he was fighting for an old love. Charlotte meant nothing more than the granddaughter of the guys who were kind enough to open their home to him. That was it. Thats why he was putting up with her.

 

“I don’t even want to know,” Alistair said. He patted his cousin on the shoulder before heading off to talk to Millie.

 

The easiest way to get Mason what he wanted was to flirt with the vampire. Jeff wasn’t sure if he wanted to go through with it yet, and it seemed like he missed his window of opportunity. “Are we done here?” Charlotte asked, her residual coldness returning. “I kind of just want to be alone to think about things.” Jeff nodded weakly.