Demented ➳ h.s [Editing Starting Soon]

CHARLOTTE’S POV
TUESDAY

I took another sick day and continuously used hours and hours to watch the same footage over and over again. It was sickening that this girl was allowing Harry to be put in a mental asylum and she isn’t even dead. That made me wonder if the other girls are even dead. That is until I got detailed pictures of the crime scenes of where the girls were found. Raven’s body was the only one not discovered. “Charlotte, this is dangerous. I don’t think you should go,” Celia was blowing her nose on the couch and watching daytime television.

“I don’t think I should go either. I know I should go.” I continued putting my laptop into my bag and a few notepads.

“Jesus, you’re not a journalist, you don’t need to pack for weeks.” She joked. I was too focused on making sure I had everything to worry. “Who’s picking you up?”

“Jack is picking me up and staying with me. I can’t go alone.” A horn beeped outside, “And that’s him. I’ll be back in a few days. This is really important to me.”

“Char, there are thousands of people in the world locked up for no reason. What makes Harry so special?” Her question made me wonder for a moment.

I picked up my bags, “He’s special to me.” My walk downstairs was filled with joy and suspicion once I hugged Celia goodbye.

Jack sat in his car and rolled down the window, smiling. Sunglasses hung on the bridge of his nose and his hair was pulled up. A beard was growing and he looked pretty intense. “Hey there hottie, need a ride?” He joked. It was a classic between us.

“Yeah, take me to Holmes Chapel, asshole.” I put my things in the back of the car and got in the passenger’s seat. I remembered the first time I met Jack. Of course, I was at a party Liz persuaded me to go to when we first moved to London. She got drunk and I had no ride home. And I happened to get the cliche event where a drunk creep from the party tries to get me in his car, sunglasses and disgusting pick-up line and all. That’s when Jack came to the rescue and walked me home. He’s older than me but has always been my best guy friend. Especially in my time in need, “Thanks for helping me. You know, with the records and tapes. I really appreciate it.”

He looked over at me and scratched his beard, “Anything for you, Charlotte.” And he continued driving. Cheshire is around three hours from London so I’d packed a pillow to use as a headrest on the cold window and a small blanket. This was going to be a long ride.

****

I woke up later outside an exclusive motel. We didn’t want to go to a nice hotel and risk being caught with footage and records we weren’t supposed to legally have. Jack was checking us in when I got out of the car to start pulling out bags. “Room.. 294?” I asked. He nodded and tucked the keys in his back pocket.

“I got us the Honeymoon Room. Hopefully that one is roach free.” We laughed and walked up the stairs to the room. Most motels are honestly underestimated, this one wasn’t all that bad. It had a somewhat nice TV, not that we’d be using it and enough space for the set-up we needed. I pulled the table on the other side of the room to the middle and started unpacking one of the bags.

That bag contained my laptop, records, and the tapes. All were laid out on the table along with Jack’s laptop. We said we’d get a good night’s sleep before going around and asking questions. “Okay, I think we should start at where Harry used to work. It’s a bakery somewhere on Macclesfield Road. There should be the same people there. Then, we can check out his neighborhood and go there.” Jack looked at Harry’s home address and agreed.

“Alright then, we have a long day tomorrow. Better get to sleep.” We got into our pajamas. I took the bed and Jack gladly took the couch that somehow looked more comfortable. “Night.”

“G’night.” I responded and dozed off once again.

****

I woke up earlier than Jack and went to get dressed. I pulled out a pair of blue jeans in case of emergency running and a long sleeved sweater with holes in it. The bathroom was tidied, probably by Jack in the middle of the night. Two toothbrushes were sat next to the sink with a note stating what one belonged to who. The purple one belonged to me and I used it to brush my teeth with mint toothpaste.

I used one of the towels to wash my face and I then applied my makeup. When I exited the bathroom, Jack had his clothes on and had appeared from outside. “The keys are on the table, go start the car. I’ll be down in a minute.” He then disappeared into the bathroom and started running the water. I grabbed a notepad and a few written down addresses along with a pen and took the keys, jingling them.

The walk down the stairway wasn’t bad, steep but not bad. I started the car and tapped my thumb lightly on the steering wheel, waiting for Jack to come out. He came out and stuffed the keys to the motel in his pocket along with his cell phone. “Alright,” he started, “the bakery’s address is 2 Macclesfield Road, Holmes Chapel.” I put the address into my phone and watched the GPS start up.

We arrived outside a red and cream colored small building, “I guess this is it.” I turned off the car and got out, taking my notepad with me. The shop was a tad bit empty but customers still were scattered throughout the establishment. It honestly smelled good in here. A woman was at the register. She wore glasses with short, curly hair. There were small parts of gray at her roots, the rest sandy brown. “Hello, how are you today?”

“Oh, I’m wonderful. How are you, Dear?” I smiled and said I was okay.

“I’m Charlotte Huntington and this is my friend Jack Mindell. We’re looking into a recent case. I’m here to ask you questions about a former employee of yours. Harry Styles?” She tensed up for a slight second but regained her posture.

“Maybe we should talk about this in the back,” she started walking away. I looked over at Jack and he shrugged, being the first to follow her. “Okay,” we sat down at a nice fitting table in the back, “Harry is a good boy. He’s a hard-worker and so sweet. I honestly don’t believe he murdered those girls, especially that Raven Townsend.”

She spoke about Raven with such spite, “What’s the story on Raven Townsend?” I looked over at Jack who’d already read my mind to start writing. He was good at writing, I was good at asking questions.

She sighed, “Raven Townsend was the town whore. Sure, she was the prettiest girl in all of Holmes Chapel but that girl had been passed around so many times it’s almost unrealistic. She wasn’t all that bright but she was smart enough to know how to stage things.” I’m suspecting this lady isn’t the only one that thinks that Raven isn’t dead. “That’s all I can say about either of them. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” Jack started.

“Barbara. My name is Barbara and you can stop by anytime you need anything.” And she left us there.

Jack sat back and sighed deeply, “Well then. That wasn’t odd at all. I have everything written down. We can either take a break or go to the Twist/Styles home. You choose.”

“Let’s get to the house.” I took the car keys out of my pocket, thanked Barbara again, and got into the car. “We can lie and say we’re investigators or tell the truth.” I said as we pulled up to the curb in front of his house.

“Either way, we use the voice recorder on this. I’ll put one in my pocket and one on the table, just in case.” I agreed with his decision and we walked up the porch together. I knocked and a woman answered.

It wasn’t Gemma, must have been their mother, Anne. She had brown hair and beautiful skin, “Hello. How may I help you?”

I decided not to lie, “I’m Charlotte Huntington and this is Jack Mindell. I am the therapist for your son, Harry. We are looking into his case and we believe that Harry was framed.”

A tear was ready to pour out of her eye, “Well,” she breathed, “come on in.” We all talked for hours, recorder in Jack’s pocket and on the table. Anne didn’t sensor her words either, she went into detail about what it was like to have Harry was a son, “He was well liked. A very spoiled little boy but appreciated what he had, if that makes sense. He always took care of Gemma and I when his father wasn’t ‘round. I have to remind myself to be grateful for what he’s done for the two of us. He didn’t kill those girls,” she shook her head and grabbed a tissue to wipe her nose, “he couldn’t have. Harry isn’t capable of looking a person in the eyes and wanting to take their life. He doesn’t deserve this.”

Another woman came behind her, I recognized her as Gemma. Her hair was blonder than it was when I first met her, “You must be Gemma. We’ve met once before.” She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Just don’t make my mother cry and we’re fine.” And she walked upstairs. Her jeans were tight and her short sleeved shirt was tucked in to show off her curves. Gemma Styles was one of the most gorgeous girls I’d ever seen.

“I’m sorry, that’s Gemma. She’s had to protect me with words, you could say since Harry’s gone. Robin works a lot now to take away the stress of everything,” she waved her hands in the air while she spoke. “Anyway, if you need anything else, just stop by. Louis’ mum lives down the street, if you’d like to speak to her. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

I looked over at Jack who already looked dead tired, “Maybe tomorrow.” A smile spread across everyone’s lips and I gathered my notebook, car keys, and voice recorder. “Thank you for your time, Anne. I really appreciate it.” She nodded and walked us out. “Well, that was fun.” I spoke to Jack.

“Yeah, maybe next time there won’t be tears.” We laughed.

HARRY’S POV

“What do you mean Charlotte’s been there?”

“She came saying she’s your therapist and she’s trying to get you out of there,” Mum’s words were rushed and slurred together. She’s not drunk, just frightened.

“She is my therapist, damn it.” I cursed myself, “I’ll talk to you later. I love you,” the one time I answer the phone from Mum, it has to be about Charlotte. How in the hell did she get my address? It doesn’t matter. Apparently I was wrong and I thought about that once I was escorted back to my room and laid in bed. I was wrong.

I thought Charlotte had some elaborate scheme to try and get me stuck in here, but no. She’s actually trying to help. That rules out the possibility of Charlotte going on a murder rampage. I remember every single court date as if they happened all at once, it’s terrible. Everyone came as soon as they heard it was the last one. No one wanted me to die but no one wanted me to be locked up in a mental asylum either, everyone knew I wasn’t crazy. I’m not crazy; not yet.

You see, you might enter the place crazy enough. Almost as crazy or crazier as most politicians or any business people you might discover on your journey of life. Yet, we are put in here because the general society believes we are crazy. Being in here won’t do anything. Sure, it keeps those people from the outside world and terrorizing people but it does absolutely nothing. Therapy does nothing; absolutely nothing.

What good does it do to attempt to “get inside of the patient’s mind” when inside the patient’s mind isn’t meant to be tampered with. It’s complete nonsense and insane in itself to want to go into someone else’s mind when your own isn’t even in tact. Putting people in here just causes them to fall into a deep abyss of more insanity.

Which is why I tried my hardest to not allow Charlotte to tap into most of my inner thoughts. That lasted what, a week? Being here does nothing but cause insanity, not cure it. And maybe if people thought about that, there wouldn’t be a problem.

Notes

Thankss for my 66th back (love you) and a 41st vote, I love you all. So how do you feel about Charlotte putting her foot down and not being the cliche damsel in distress? I like it, she's pretty fearless. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

I love your cute faces and you should definitely still go over and read @XOXOH 's series, "It Takes Patience" cause she is seriously the best. Might double update today, and I know I said that yesterday but this chapter was supposed to be the double update but by the time it was finished, it was too late to update. Sooo, might double update today. Love you again and see you latesss x