Chapter 8 - "To make it even."

Charles had been staring at the wall for what felt like hours now. Thankfully, they couldn't hear the chatter downstairs, but he had all the answers and wasn't saying anything; how could he?

All he could think about was those pale brown eyes burning through his skull. They were right at the door, they were right about to leave, and then the metallic clank from the safety on the gun, the muzzle aimed directly in Natalia's face. He remembered her face; she didn't even flinch. There was no shock or fear, she merely stared directly at it, as if she knew it was the end and she had accepted it. Maybe she did know, maybe that was why she continuously said that it was her last time?

His mind rewinded.

Walking through the nightclub, being looked at by every single customer. His mind was attempting to remember every single detail he could; how gravelly and bumpy the road had been when they drove up to it, how secluded that strip club had been. The fact that the name of it had been an irony. He even tried to remember how the customers looked like, or what they had on their tables. He didn't know different types of beers or drinks, but he did know what cocaine looked like, the difference between joints and blunts, and how to tell if someone had some pistol under their waistband or strapped to their ankle.

Now thinking back, they all did, even the body guard.

He shook his head; he needed to focus. He remembered how red the wall and carpet had been during their walk across the V.I.P rooms, he even squirmed when his mind vividly replayed the chaotic screams from one of the rooms as they made their way to the last room at the end of the hall. The blank stare on the bodyguard's face had been difficult to read, and he wondered how heavy the door had been since Natalia had gritted her teeth slightly while she pushed; maybe it was to give herself encouragement to go through with it?

And then again, the conversation, the two women that acted as dogs, when the cold voice asked one of them to fetch and the sound of the bag dragged across the carpet was so loud in his mind that he could recreate it with precision. Natalia's arrogance to lie to him, then to threaten him, both starting to walk away as they thought they were going to be fine, and then hearing his voice again, then the gunshot, her body dropping and the blood pooling and not moving, I should have moved maybe I could have saved her I could have added pressure, oh my god his strength when he pulled me up his fingers on my jaw to lift my chin and meet his light brown eyes so light that he was basically a fucking ghost—

"Have some water, Char."

Charles flinched, stumbling backwards and collapsing into his instruments, falling into his electric guitar and causing the fretboard to break in half. That creak from the break made him shriek, trying to crawl away and only causing his keyboard stand to fall, and that noise made him quiver uncontrollably as he hid himself into a ball, his hands trembling as he grabbed onto his head.

All of those noises were translated to gunshots by his mind.

"GET AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY FROM ME! I'LL GET THE MONEY, JUST DON'T HURT ME!"

His breathing was alarmingly heavy, and both Nate and Bronsted, who had taken a few steps back, glanced at one another in horror.

He was traumatized.

They let him calm down on his own, the quietness in the room returning as he stayed into a ball for a few minutes, before he finally lifted his head and realized he was in his room, with his uncle and father stared back at him in shock. When he realized what had happened, glancing around the room and noticing that he had caused his keyboard and guitar to tumble, specifically his guitar to break, he felt so humiliated that his face burned red.

"I-I'm s-sorry...I just..." he swallowed hard, rapidly pulling himself to his feet and forcing a smile, although it was crooked. "I-I d-don't...know what got in-into me, but I'm f-fine." He nodded vigorously, trying to convince them that he wasn't hiding the fact that his chest felt as though it would close in on itself and there was something stopping him from inhaling as much as he should. "I'll pick a-all of...th-this up..."

"Charles, can you sit down for me?" Nate was trying his hardest not to cry, but seeing his son this way was heartbreaking, especially since everything made him flinch. Even the sound of Nate's voice made Charles squirm, his bloodshot widened eyes staring at Nate for a moment before slowly nodding his head. And that destroyed Nate because the innocence in his eyes was no longer there.

Charles' eyes reminded Nate of himself after he had been tortured and rescued.

When Charles sat down, Nate handed him a bottle of water. "Have a drink, and try to take a couple deep breaths."

Even though Charles quivering fingers squeezed his own sweatpants over his thighs, he shook his head and forced another fake smile. "I'm fine," he said through a shaky breath, waving his hand to decline. "I said I'm sorry."

"Char," Nate sighed, sitting on the bed as well and meeting his gaze. He kept a stern look as he stated, "we need to talk about what happened today—"

"Nothing happened today."

Nate didn't want to insist on it, because he knew it could cause an anxiety attack, but there was a body in their kitchen and they needed to get to the bottom of it, regardless of his emotions. Charles continued to shake his head, appearing completely delirious as he persisted with vigorous movements, "You came to say goodnight and I went to bed. Everything else was a nightmare. Natalia is at home, sleeping, and everything's fine."

"Charles," Bronsted intervened, grabbing his desk chair and pulling it closer. Lucius was restrained downstairs, there was a bullet in someone's forehead and they needed answers. "We need to find out who did this, and we don't have time for this." Nate lowered his gaze; if it was any other circumstance, he would never allow anyone to confront his kid in such stern tone. However, they were desperate for these answers, and Charles had all of them. "You have to tell us everything you know."

Charles' eyes turned towards his dad, as if pleading for him to make all these questions go away. He bit his bottom lip, his fingers gripping his pants so tightly that his nails were digging inside the fabric. Those images felt as though his body was being electrocuted every time they crossed his mind and he didn't want to relive them aloud.

He lowered his head, his eyes overwhelmed with tears as he whispered, "I can't."

Bronsted turned to Nate who rubbed his eyes, fighting back tears as hard as he could. Doing this to his son was such an awful feeling, but he cleared his throat and continued to add the pressure.

"Natalia's dead, Charles." As expected, Charles' spine stiffened. They heard the sharp inhale, and there wasn't an exhale until a few seconds later. "Unless you tell us what happened, we can't do shit."

"Dad, pl-please..." Charles pleaded, his red swollen eyes leaking with tears as he began to tremble even more. "I-I c-can't—"

"It's not up to you anymore, Char," Nate retorted, pushing himself to his feet and folding his arms. He had to be stern or else they would never get answers for him. It didn't help that Charlie was already very soft-hearted, hence witnessing this shattered his perception of the world completely—but Nate couldn't care about that anymore. "You have to tell me what happened and I'm not leaving until you do."

Charles' lips quivered so much that neither of them knew how he would even be able to talk. However, he eventually wiped as much tears as he could, staring into space for a little while as he thought of what Natalia had told him long ago. He had promised to never tell anyone, and even though she was gone, it still felt like betrayal to share this.

But they needed to full story, and it was the only way to make sure her death wasn't in vain.

Nate and Bronsted weren't sure what they expected, but it certainly wasn't what Charles said next. After taking deep breaths to get the words ready at the tip of his tongue, he took one last deep inhale and as he exhaled, he revealed, "Natalia was raped."

They didn't know that that was just the tip of the iceberg.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Charles lowered his gaze even more as he added, "And she killed all three of her attackers, all on her own. That's why she owed them money...to make it even."