Click, click, click, click. Heels clicked against the pavement as a woman ran.
The cold air stung Charlie’s cheeks, burned her lungs. She kept running, running, running, until she got to a park. Her only light was the meager lumination that the lamps cast. She finally slowed, before stopping completely.
A harsh sob tore through her throat, and he clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the noise. Crouching down the woman let all her emotions bubble up through her skin, tears pouring from her eyes.
Charlie stayed like that for ten minutes before the sobs turned to hiccups, then just labored breathing. Standing once again, she started moving through the park. She came to a fountain and stopped, sitting on a bench nearby,
Little did she know she was being watched. A pair of glowing pink eyes followed her movements as she took off her heels. She then did her hair up in a messy bun, rubbing a hand over her face.
Taking a deep breath, she held it before breathing it out. She did this a few more times until her emotions were under control. She leaned back on the bench and closed her eyes thinking of what had happened.
Suddenly a hand tapped her shoulder and her eyes flew open. Looking around wildly, she saw a child standing behind the bench. He was dirty and he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment. Charlie smiled sweetly at the child and his expression somehow grew more bitter.
She patted the seat next to her, and he eyed her warily before stepping over the back of the bench and sitting on his heels, posed to take off at the slightest sign of danger. Charlie amused that he looked like a frightened kitten, hunched over and side-eying her.
She opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing out here when he blurted, “What the hell is your problem, coming out here crying in the middle of the night.” He looked as shocked as she was, and he looked away and muttered, “never mind.”
“First, ask me what my name is,” she chided, eyebrow raised.
“What?”
“If we’re getting to know each other we start out with names. My name is Charlie, whats yours?”
The kid seemed to consider the question before opening his mouth, “Shirk,” he quietly sighed, seeming unsure.
“Okay, Shirk, nice to meet you.” Charlie held her hand out and Shirk flinched, then recoiled, looking confused. Charlie’s expression softened, and he kept her hand held out. “Grab my hand.”
The blue-haired kid studied her face, and he must of found something good in her expression because he took her hand. He looked even more confused when she shook his hand, snatching it back and wiping it on his jacket.
“Have you never shook hands before.” Shirk huffed and looked away.
“I asked a question first.”
Charlie rolled her eyes, then rubbed the feathers on her neck. “How about this,” she tried, “I ask a question, you answer, then you get to ask me one. If the question is too uncomfortable for you just say pass.”
Shirk sighed, then nodded. “I’m first. Why are you out here in the middle of the night?”
Charlie thought of what to say before, “Something happened at my house with my husband, and I needed to clear my head.”
“Did he give you those bru--”
“Excuse me, it’s my turn,” she cut him off. She then thought of what to ask. “Why… are you out here by yourself in the middle of the night.”
“Pass. Did your husband give you those bruises?”
She was quiet for a moment, before she sighed, “Yes. Where’s your parents?”
“Dad left.” The answer didn’t fully answer the question but she wasn’t going to push, yet. “Why do you stay with him then?”
“I have to. Do you have any siblings?”
“Two. Sisters. Do you have any children?”
“Yes… I mean, I did.”
Shirk’s eyes narrowed, and he cocked his head, not unlike a confused dog. “You did? Not do, did?”
“My turn. What’s your favorite color?”
“Pink. What do you mean you did have children?”
“Pass. What is your favorite food?”
“I like fried chicken. What does yo--” Shirk cut himself off and his ears perked up. Charlie heard the faint sounds of footsteps, and a far off call. “I-I have to go.”
He jumped off the bench and went to take off, but Charlie grabbed his arm. “Wait, can we meet here tomorrow?”
“Yeah, yeah, noon. Now I have to go.” He urged. “And so should you.” He then wrenched his arm away and took off into the darkness.
Charlie stayed there and a woman with four eyes and large teeth walked up to her. Charlie thought she looked familiar, but she couldn’t place why. The woman asked, “have you seen my daughter, Lucy? She ran away a few weeks ago, but I know she’s still in the area because she’s too much of a coward to go far.”
“What does she look like?” Charlie asked.
“She’s tall with messy blue hair, pink eyes, and a black and blue sweatshirt,” the woman described.
“I haven’t seen her. Sorry,” Charlie lied, before standing, putting her heels back on. “I hope you find her.” She walked off, heels clicking on the pavement. As she made her way back to her street, she realized she wasn’t sad. Talking to the kid had made her forget about her baby’s death. Charlie was shocked. She walked up her path to the front door, glad to see her husband was out. This usually meant that he wouldn’t be back until late at night, if at all. Probably out drinking.
The purple-haired woman stepped into her house and shut the door, locking it. She noticed that her husband’s house keys were on the table by the front door, meaning that he wouldn’t be able to get back in.
Good, she thought, taking her heels off. She undid her hair, letting the purple strands fall behind her shoulders. Walking up the steps, Charlie saw the empty bedroom that had belonged to her child. Her heart clenched, and she shut the door, turning away. Her thoughts strayed back to the blue-haired boy, and the woman who was presumably his mother.
She sat on the edge of the bed, head in her hands as she thought. What do I know about him, she started. Well, I know that he’s a runaway, he’s transgender, and he seemed afraid of his mother. He likes the color pink, and fried chicken, and he has two sisters. Not much to go by…
She stood up, grabbing a notepad and scribbling down meet Shirk @ noon @ park. bring food before changing into pyjamas. She then turned off the light, grabbed her phone and laid in the bed. She glanced at the time, 1:28 AM, noticing she has 15 texts from her husband. She ignored them, plugging her phone into the charger.
As she was falling asleep, her mind drifted to the boy, again. She had just met him, but already cared deeply for him.
Charlie was standing in the park. It was night, and only one of the lamps was on. Someone stood just behind the light, holding something. She couldn’t make out who it was or what they were holding, so she tried to call out.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Charlie tried to take a step but her body wouldn’t move. Heart pounding, she watched in horror as her husband stepped into the light, holding her baby in one hand. In his other, he held the hand of a woman, with four eyes and a viscous smile.
Her husband look up at the woman, and smirked, saying something Charlie couldn’t hear. He then looked back down at the baby. He pulled his hand from the woman’s grip, making a fist.
He placed the baby into a crib that hadn’t been there before, and suddenly Charlie found herself in the baby’s room.
Bringing the fist up, her husband hit the baby, and Charlie wanted to look away, but she couldn’t.
Again, and again, and again, he brought the fist down. Charlie screamed at him to stop, begged and cried, but he didn’t hear her.
Suddenly she was back in the park, only the four eyed woman standing there.
She held Shirk’s hair in her hand. Charlie could see he was in pain, tears running down his face.
“You’ve been a bad girl, Lucy. You back talked me, and lied to strangers. You aren’t a boy, you’re a girl, Lucy,” the woman cackled. She threw him in front of her, and lifted a foot, bringing it down---
Charlie sat upright, a sob getting caught her throat. She took a deep breath, before she checked the time. 4:10 AM. She rubbed her face, taking deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart.
She decided to get up, as her alarm would go off in an hour anyway.
________________
Shirk sat in a tree, eyes scanning the area around him. Why had his mother come tonight? Why did he agree to meet that strange woman again tomorrow? Why did he feel as if something had happened to her child or children?
Shirk rubbed his temples, letting out a sharp sigh. He pulled out a necklace with a carved T-rex head. A pouch was tied to it, holding about $200 and two gemstones, a Rose Quartz and a Botswana Agate. He rubbed the T-rex head, letting it calm him slightly.
He saw his mother still looking a little ways away, and he shrunk in his jacket.
He knew it was silly to be afraid of her, but after what she had done to him when he came out as transgender…
Well, he didn't want to go through that again. He could still feel the pain on his shoulder.
He retracted his arms into the sweatshirt, pulling the hood up. He wrapped his arms around his middle, an eye still on the woman searching for him.
Shirk sat there, awake, for most of the night, but he ended up drifting off, even throughout his best attempts to stay awake.
He awoke with a start, heart in his throat. Groaning as he realized what had awoken him-nightmares. always nightmares- he rubbed a hand tiredly across his eyes. He ran his other hand through his hair, noting it was getting long and that he had to cut it soon.
He felt his body shiver involuntarily and he huffed. The sun was rising, so Shirk decided to get up and start his day.
He sniffed his sweatshirt, wrinkling his nose in disgust. First on his list was to get clean, and wash his clothes.
He knew his mother worked in the morning, leaving at 4 to get to work, so he made his way to the house. Lifting the potted plant, he grabbed the spare key and unlocked the door.
He made his way to the bathroom, shutting the door. He didn’t turn on the light, using the light from the little window to let him see. He stripped getting into the shower, cleaning himself quickly before stepping out of the shower and wrapping himself in a towel. He peeked his head out of the bathroom, then scurried down the hall down to his old room. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, before going back to the bathroom. He changed into the new clothes, grabbing his old clothes and going to the laundry room.
Shirk threw his clothes in the washer and sat down to wait.
________________
Charlie walked down the street, bag in hand. She was wearing a loose, flowery top, a grey skirt, and flowery tights. She wore a pair of pink sneakers. She had a sweet smile on her face, and she greeted everyone she passed who she knew.
She made her way to the park where she had met the blue-haired boy, a lighthearted bounce in her step. She made it to the park, and took the time to admire it, as she hadn’t got to enjoy it last night, because she was too upset and it was to dark.
The park was real nice; the trees were tall and in full bloom, and flowers dotted the areas where the sun broke through the leaves. She could just make out a pond through the trees, and she decided that’s where she’d go with the boy.
The boy! Charlie looked at her phone, noticing that she didn’t have long until she was supposed to meet Shirk, and she hurried her pace up slightly. Making it to the fountain she had been at the night before, she set the bag down and sat on a bench.
She checked the time again, 11:58 AM, and she smiled. She busied herself with checking her emails, still ignoring the texts her husband had sent her. She was replying to an email from her mother when someone sat next to her. She looked up and saw it was Shirk.
He was dressed in black jeans and a bright-pink shirt. His sweatshirt was over his shoulder, as it was too warm to wear it. (Also he didn’t want to admit it was still damp.) “Hey,” he murmured, playing with his pants.
“Hello, Shirk. How did you sleep.” He shrugged, still not looking at her, clearly embarrassed. “I was thinking we could go to the lake and we could continue our ‘game’ there?” He nodded, standing. He turned and held out a hand for Charlie to take, and she grabbed it, standing.
Shirk then shoved both hands in his pockets, fidgeting. He smirked, huffing, “I’d never thought I’d date an older woman. Woo, I’m lucky.”
Charlie laughed, then joined in with, “and I’d never thought I’d be dating a younger man, but you’re a cutie. I really lucked out.” Shirk’s face turned bright red, but he laughed anyway, seemingly slightly more comfortable.
“Shall we go, Ma’am?” Shirk bowed.
“What a gentleman. Why don’t you lead the way.”
The two made their way to the lake, and Charlie pulled a blanket from her bag. She placed it on the ground, sitting. Shirk stood awkwardly, so she patted the spot next to her. Shirk sat across from her, legs crossed. She then pulled out food from her bag; Sandwiches, fruit, jello, soda, chips, and half a cake. Charlie wouldn’t say that she had bought everything, as she couldn’t cook at all.
Shirk’s eyes were wide as he took in the food. “Is...is this for me,” he asked warily. Charlie nodded, opening the top off the fruit.
“Yep, go ahead, dig in.” She then grabbed a sandwich, taking a bite. Shirk also took a sandwich, sniffing it. He then took a bite, noting it was turkey.
The two ate, and chatted, still doing the question game.
Suddenly, Shirk stiffened and his head whipped up, eyes darting around. Charlie went to ask what was wrong when he went to take off, but was stopped by a large man.
Charlie stood, noticing it was her husband. She looked behind her and saw the woman from last night, smiling.
“Dave! What is the meaning of this?” Charlie demanded, stepping up to him.
Dave just smiled, hand around Shirk’s arm tightening. “I assume you remember Ava, my friend?” He gestured to the other woman, who was now walking up to him. “She called me, saying her rat of a daughter ran away. And what do I find when I help to look? You and the rat eating lunch.”
“I never assumed that you’re the woman I met last night. If I had known you were Dave’s wife, I would’ve talked more. Thank you for finding Lucy.”
“My name’s not Lucy,” Shirk said, before sinking his teeth into Dave’s arm. The man yelled, then struck Shirk across the face, who just snarled.
“Don’t backtalk me, rat. I could easily snap you in half.”
Charlie marched up to Dave, saying calmly, “Let him go.” Dave laughed. She tried again, “Let Shirk go. Now.”
“Or what? You can’t do shit to me.” He smirked, then Charlie’s fist was in his face, and she jabbed a thumb in his eye.
The man howled, letting go of Shirk to grab his face. Charlie’s feathers were puffed up in anger, and she made her wings appear. “Leave. Don’t come back. I’m done with you, you asshole. Don’t come back to my house.”
She pushed him, grabbed Shirk, then ran to the blanket, grabbing her phone. “Let’s go!” She took off, Shirk in tow, until she felt resistance, and heard him choking.
She turned, seeing that Dave had gotten up, and was now holding Shirk by his necklace. Shirk was struggling, but he was losing air as the rope was pressing into his airpipe.
With a roar, though, Shirk lunged forward, the necklace snapping. Dave tried to grab his hair but Shirk ducked, spinning around and with strength that didn’t seem possible, kicked the man’s feet from under him. Dave went down hard and Shirk spun again, taking a shocked Charlie’s hand before tugging her to run.
She followed, before realizing that she could fly them from danger. Grabbing the boy, she started running faster, spreading her wings. With one, two, three strokes, she was up in the air. She flew quickly before making it to her house. She said, “wait here,” then went inside. She grabbed a bag, shoving clothes, her charger, her laptop, and her toiletries, before stepping outside again.
Shirk was seated on the step, looking like he just saw a ghost. She placed a hand on his shoulder, asking what was wrong.
He told her, “my necklace. It broke.”
“You mean this? I had grabbed it while they weren’t looking.” She held out the broken dinosaur necklace, and handed it to him.
He stared wide-eyed, then whispered, “thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now come on, we’re going to my other house.” Shirk looked at her, confused. “I have a secret house that Dave doesn’t know about. We can stay there.” He nodded standing. She walked to her car, throwing her bag in the back before going to the driver’s seat. Shirk climbed into the passenger’s seat, knowing he was being too trusting, but he knew she was good.
Also it was better than being alone.
Charlie started up the car, and they drove to the house, in a different town. But they went passed the town, still on the major road. She then turned off onto a path that lead into the woods. It went for about three miles, before Shirk saw a house. It was large, but not huge. Charlie stopped the car, stepping out. She walked up to the door as Shirk was still making bug-eyes at the house, and touched it. It unlocked to her thumbprint, and she stepped inside.
Shirk followed her, stepping into the house. He looked around, before Charlie said he could go to wherever he’d like, and that he could choose a room. He wandered down the hall, picking the room across from the bathroom, and he collapsed on the bed.
When Charlie went to see where he had gone, she saw him asleep on the bed. She smiled and shut the door, walking to the room at the end of the hall. She, too, also laid in the bed, shutting her eyes.