[ she reaches down to gently take charlie's face in her hands, smiling softly - and more than a little apologetically. charlie can feel it, actually, the emotion of that. a deep well of grief for leaving, for it ending up like this. ]
I need you to listen, Charlie. I can help you, but you need to leave before it's too late. We can make sure you will be there to protect her.
I shouldn't ask more of you, but I need you to promise me something.
[ her mother smiles at her, tears at the corner of her eyes as well. charlie is filled with a sense of righteous anger at her situation, at the world, at heaven for letting such things happen, but her Mom is here now. Her Mom can help fix it, because that is what Moms do. ]
You're going to have to wake up soon, but you need to take me with you. And once you're awake, I can help you. [ she shakes her head and corrects herself. ] I will help you.
[ it's true. just having her here, trying to help, makes everything seem a little less horrifying, even as vaggie's corpse is still in her lap, as her hotel is in shambles around her, as the unseen corpses charlie knows are there littering the rest of the hotel. as charlie's on the precipice of giving up, her mom is there ]
Of course, mom. Of course I'll take you.
[ it doesn't make sense, really, but this is a nightmare, and her mom's always in her heart anyway. it's no trouble. ]
[ her mother pulls her into a tight hug, and she feels that sense of righteous anger surround her. a mother's love - that wrath, that will protect her from the world, that will keep everything she loves safe, no matter the cost. ]
I'll see you soon.
[ vaggie is gone, but her mother is still there, burning hot beneath her skin and then-- darkness. ]
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M-Mom? You... you're here?
[ she needs a second to process it ]
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I need you to listen, Charlie. I can help you, but you need to leave before it's too late. We can make sure you will be there to protect her.
I shouldn't ask more of you, but I need you to promise me something.
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[ she looks up at her with her tear-stricken face, putting her own hands over lilth's. seven years. ]
[ seven years's worth of words come bubbling to the surface, but charlie finds she can't speak any of them. it's too much. it's all too much ]
What is it?
[ her expression, wet and red as it is, says it all: whatever she's asked, she'll do. ]
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You're going to have to wake up soon, but you need to take me with you. And once you're awake, I can help you. [ she shakes her head and corrects herself. ] I will help you.
[ a solemn promise. ]
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Of course, mom. Of course I'll take you.
[ it doesn't make sense, really, but this is a nightmare, and her mom's always in her heart anyway. it's no trouble. ]
no subject
I'll see you soon.
[ vaggie is gone, but her mother is still there, burning hot beneath her skin and then-- darkness. ]