Epilouge Charlotte's Diary

Charlotte's Diary
Escape 101

My dreams have reached depths unknown to most. Like a raging fire from the pit of hell itself. My misery precedes me and somehow imagination is my only key. If only they knew the circumstances in which I hide in fear. I am sworn to secrecy and in this hypocrisy I seem to stand defeated. I have no options and no choice of fate. My body is numb from all the pain. I seem to be the only one to blame and I carry no defense at my disposal. I am as lost as a child in a crowded New York park. I have no where to run and no where to hide. To some, I seem to have no soul, and to others no heart. That however, couldn't be further from the truth. It is with all of my heart and every dimension of my soul that I am here. No one could ever take that away from me.

Mahogony Isle. 1958


Dear diary I write tonight with deep regret. I fear the worst. I know they are coming for me. It is only a matter of time. I have hidden in every place I can think of to hide and they always find me. I know it won't be long now. My heart pounding so loud inside they can hear it miles away. I am alone in this war. I know I can run but I can't spend my whole life watching my own back. I can't keep putting Catalina through this either. I need to get her out of here and out of this mess. Oh Robert tell me what to do. (Tears fell down on the pages of her much guarded and only worldly possession, other than the the clothes on her back, her beautiful blond headed daughter and what little money she could take.)It has been two years today since Robert passed away. I miss him terribly. Images still cloud my mind and the agony that grows inside knowing that the bullet that killed the love of my life came from my gun and my hand alone. I had no choice but to save him. I cried for months and now years. My heart seems to have turned to stone, but it has kept me and my daughter alive these last two years. I still can't hear a gunshot without that night playing out in my head. I was so weak and my mind poisoned. He begged me to stop. My heart couldn't bare to know that he would soon be against me too. His last words were don't ever forget I love you. How can you say that to someone holding a gun to your head? I think subconsciously he knew. He knew that I would do anything to protect our child. For him it was too late he did all that he could do. His love for me preceded the love of our child. He did everything he could to keep us together. But when push came to shove he was willing to give her up. I could never have done that, nor would I let that happen. She had only been in my arms for an hour or so when they bombarded the door. Fear immediately struck me. 'Please Charlotte' he kept saying over and over, "Just give them what they want.I love you too much to lose you." I guess I didn't love him nearly as much as he loved me. I put our child over him. Truth be told, if I had to do it over again, I would still choose her. She is our only hope for a better future I know that now. And even when I was completely unaware I still fought. Sometimes I can still feel the cold metal in my hand. I can still hear the sounds in my head. One... Two... three and they were all dead. I took Catalina and I ran.

Charlotte quickly closed the diary and crammed it into her handbag. She grabbed her sleeping daughter in her arms and snuck into a boarded wall hoping that she would be safe at least for the moment. She could hear the footsteps and the whispers. "She can't be too far!" A man called from the dimly lit hall of the old asylum. The footsteps were getting closer now. She could hear them getting louder and louder. She closed her eyes and prayed to God for help. Not that she thought that he would listen. Not after all that she had done. She was remorseful, but she was also very headstrong. She had to be not only for herself but also for Catalina. That was what they were really after. Her precious baby girl.

Her thoughts began to drowned out when she heard Cat's voice.
"Mommy." Catalina whispered in the darkness. Charlotte gently covered her mouth signally that it wasn't safe to talk.

"I heard something this way." The strange man called out.

Tears streamed down Charlotte's face as she tightly embraced her daughter. Please God she thought to herself don't let them take her. She finally took her hand off her daughters mouth and put her finger to her mouth. Catalina nodded she knew she had to be quiet and still. She peeked out the crack in the boards she was hiding behind. She saw two big black boots. Taking a deep breath and knowing that the only thing between him and Catalina was this thin wood covering the hole she had squeezed through. She knew if he look closely enough he would find them. That was a chance she wasn't willing to take. She gently and quietly as she could began to wiggle one of the boards out from the wall. It was nailed but still loose enough for her to grab a hold of. The boots began to walk to the other side of the room. She began to wiggle it a little more and snapped off into her hands. The sound echoed through the room. She clenched the board in her hands so tightly her knuckles began to turn white. Two men slowly approached the wall. She gently pushed her daughter further out of sight. Then men got closer and closer until they were pulling the board away from the wall. Charlotte tried to stay calm but panic took over. Her heart was racing so fast and she could barely breath. She wouldn't let the panic take control. She knew better than that. She saw the man peering in through a hole. This was her chance she had to take it. Charlotte drove the nail in the board through the husky man's eye. Blood began pouring unto the floor as she pushed harder until the board was completely through the man's skull. Without a second to loose she grabbed his gun and shot the other man in the head as he was raising to fire at her. She grabbed Catalina's arm. "C'mon baby let's go!" She whispered. She knew there were other men. She could hear them coming from the other side of the asylum. Somehow she knew she could make it out. She picked Catalina up and clutched her as tightly as she could to her chest and began to run as fast as she could run towards the door.