Lucia rolled her eyes at Charlotte but ended up taking the rope and heading down first. She had the heavy duffle bag around her shoulders as a backpack which looked funny as the oddly shaped shadowed silhouette on the far wall.
Charlotte watched as Lucia descended after much effort waiting for her to do the same, but Charlotte ended up glancing back to the door, feeling guilty for walking away.
But Charlotte had to be strong as Lucia had been and gather the courage to the next step despite it may be the selfish perspective from another angle. She truly did wish the best for the children in the house even without having not met them, knew that they were good amongst those daring to tarnish them.
Charlotte kicked her leg over the edge and tightened her bag around her shoulders, running her hand down the frayed edges. It was time to shine. Using the remaining strength left in her arms, she slowly made her way down the rope as it was more of a workout than she had anticipated when she had first stepped foot into what seemed to be the new world.
Luckily, for her, she had been fit despite not doing much and sitting behind a desk for most of her hours was able to condition herself to make sure that she was healthy. Glad that she had been keeping up with it since it came in handy multiple times when she was running away or had to escape.
That was one that she was able to rely on herself instead of Vincent which made her proud of herself for the little that she had. The rug burns on her palms were not light in any way, and she rubbed them down the fabric of her skirt to try and cool them off. Lucia knew what she was going through and immediately gave her some salve.
"It's best to do it now so that it doesn't blister," Lucia said coolly.
Charlotte nodded and rubbed it into her hands and up her wrist so that her hand was fully moisturized. They walked down the street with the dripping water from the rooftops falling into the ditches and echoing on the stones.
Her boots stepped right into the dingy puddle, making whatever odd colored mixture slosh up onto the leather, and she turned back to look at Lucia when she abruptly stopped.
There were voices that were coming down the street, and Lucia flattened her back along the brick walls and motioned for her to do the same. Charlotte quickly backed up to the wall and stared straight at the ground waiting for the people to pass while checking if her face guard was put on correctly.
Her gaze was on the wet stone yet the people who passed still managed to cat-call them in their drunken stupor. Charlotte glanced up from her lashes and saw the two men who were walking with their hands over each other's shoulders for support while still wobbling and laughing like hyenas with the noise grating on her nerves much to her chagrin.
"Hey lovely ladies," one of them called. "Would love some of your services."
Charlotte wanted to voice her words of displeasure, but Lucia squeezed Charlotte's arm to stop her. They remained silent within the shadows which only stirred up the drunk men's anger and spite. They stopped right in front of Charlotte's face, and one of the tilted her chin up to look at them.
"I can tell you would be worth claws," the man to the right laughed. "Let me see the hidden treasure under."
Charlotte cringed away from his awful innuendo and swatted his hand from her face before looking back at Lucia with a frown. That was her plan? To stay silent and wait for them to pass?
As if that would happen. Not ever here, and not ever anywhere where there would be a sleazy man pass up on trying to hit on a girl no matter how many times they tell to back off.
"Don't touch me," she seethed. "Go on your way."
The men keeled over and laughed. "What's your price, girl? I can give you the time of your life."
Charlotte palmed her gun in her belt holster and smiled up at the man. "I don't think that you would enjoy it very much."
There was no hesitation. She had one last fresh gun from the assortment that Vincent had given her in the beginning and ripped it out of its holster. Drawing the gun to their heads with her hand steady, the men froze in shock while Charlotte cocked her head to the side. "Run along now."
The men laughed at her. "You can't shoot, girl."
The way that they were belittling her by calling her girl was hilarious to her considering that the men had to be older than her own father. People like them disgusted her more than she could ever say and didn't deserve to walk on the earth.
She pulled the trigger with no hesitation, and they screamed as they ducked for cover, bringing their hands up to their face while cowering away.
"The first one's a blank," Charlotte smirked. "Do you still want to play?"