Hunted

Thirty-Eight: The Diner

Charlotte slid her feet up onto the dashboard, stretching and stifling a yawn, as the sun descended below the horizon. The western sky was stained pale orange, the dying light catching in the ghostly tracks left behind by planes. She watched them for a moment, wondering briefly where they were travelling to, amazed that so many planes moved about the sky at one time. She had her own biases about air travel, though her only experience with flying had been brief and hardly pleasant. She sighed losing interest in the tracks, their patterns fading with the light and time's passing.

The days that had passed since they had taken her away from Nicholl's house, had transformed her. She was growing stronger, the memories of what had happened, merely memories, the remnants of the attacks and lack of sustenance fading away thanks to Harris' care. Regaining her strength was her main priority, though being altered helped, her body responding quickly to treatment, wanting to return to its most powerful state. A fact that made her happy. She needed to be strong, because she knew what was hunting her.

She knew too that she couldn't keep running from them. Running was no way to spend her life, and it was unfair to subject Matt to the dangers that hunted her. She had already convinced him to send Harris, Rhian and Freddie in a different direction. She had fought for him to go too, but he wouldn't hear of it.

"What the hell makes you think I could possibly be without you again?" he had snapped when she had suggested it.

His words still clung to her; they scared her. Not for any reason other than she knew she felt the same way. She felt the same need to be around him, to know he was safe, and for all it was worth, she felt safer in this world with him by her side. This was his world, she still understood so little of it.

Though she still had James to think about. It hurt her to think of him, guilt rising inside her like bile, her stomach twisting painfully with the need to see him, the pure agony of not knowing what was happening on the island, the pain of being without him. It was instinctive for her to want him near her, and yet she feared all of that was beyond her now, that James had slipped from her grasp, that when she saw him again he would be changed beyond recognition, or she would be. How could it ever be the same after everything?

She frowned, listening to the hum of the car's engine and the country music coming from the speakers. Maybe it would be better if everything had changed, maybe it would make it easier if things were different to how she had left them. Maybe it was meant to change, change for Matt.

"What are you thinking about?" Matt asked, invading her thoughts. She glanced at him and smiled slightly, trying to hide the worries plaguing her mind.

"Nothing," she said in an off-hand tone. "I'm just getting hungry".

"Good," Matt nodded. "We'll find a diner soon and get something to eat". Matt had become obsessed with making sure she was always fed, trying to get her back to full health. She really didn't need much help. Her appetite had returned with a ferociousness, her body needing the energy to rebuild itself.

"What do you feel like?" he asked.

"I'm not picky," she smiled, tapping her fingers against the door handle, counting the beat of the music as the song came to an end.

Matt nodded, glancing out the back window distractedly, before fixing his eyes back on the freeway.

"What's up?" Charlotte frowned, glancing in the side mirror, half-expecting to see Elmhirst in hot pursuit of them.

"Oh nothing," he said, with a forced indifference.

"Have you spoken to Freddie lately?" she muttered, resting her head back against the head rest.