After Charlotte took a right when Lucia told her to, the streets kept getting darker and there were fewer people seen out and about. It was a long drive, and if Charlotte was being truthful, she was making do with the silence considering that there wasn't much that she could speak about Lucia without triggering her.
Not that she would voice that opinion out loud since Lucia would likely kick her out of the car despite her being the one driving it. She didn't know when her heart rate started to pick up and her hands started to get clammy, but she must in somewhat knew on the inside that they were getting closer to her final destination.
Lucia took out her hand, and Charlotte somehow knew exactly what she was asking for and fished her phone out of her sleeve. Swiping up on the screen, Lucia turned to her expectantly, and Charlotte sighed.
"It's six zeros."
"That's it?"
Charlotte shrugged. "It's better than nothing."
"I would have thought that you would leave it at nothing."
Charlotte snorted. "You just wanted to say that you think I'm stupid."
Lucia shrugged. "Well, you said the words first. I'll just let you believe them."
"You're so kind to me," Charlotte muttered.
Lucia didn't bother to respond to her baited words and instead pulled up the maps. "Turn the next corner to the left, and we should be outside."
Charlotte gripped the steering wheel tighter and nodded. The light drizzle was starting to come down, making the scenery become drowned with a light mist as when she first arrived in the outer circle only a couple hours ago when nightfall had first hit, and Charlotte turned on the windshield wipers to combat the fat water droplets forming on the glass.
The constant screech of the wipers as they slid back and forth slowly on the glass clearly showed that there was still much work to be done to the car. Charlotte would actually love a cool car like this, but it was a bit flashy for her taste.
She was going to say a prayer for the person that she stole the car from since he was truly doing good work. At least, she would hope so.
Charlotte pressed on the brakes when they finally made it to the destination Lucia lifted her hand, and Charlotte parked the car on the side of the road to finally stare out the window to peer up at the tall nondescript building while still leaving the car running. She couldn't tell if it was a business building or an apartment building just from the looks of the outside.
Lucia got out of the car first, and Charlotte mustered up the courage when she opened the car door and slammed it shut behind her with her hands shaking just like when she had first stepped foot into the outer rings alone.
It was a sharp reminder that she was often standing on her own and was a constant battle that she could only watch from the outside.
The drips of rain fell onto the thin material on her shoulders making her shiver as the temperatures dropped to the lowest it would reach that early morning, and the tiredness that had weighed her down earlier was immediately washed away by the nervousness and fear that was settling in instead.
She glanced up into the darkened sky that was illuminated by the bright lights from miles and miles away near the center, and she hoped that she wasn't too late before wiping the light mist off of her cheeks. Vincent may be alright, but there was part of her that knew that something was wrong even if he was in one piece.
Charlotte didn't even bother to lock the car since they were probably going to return to it, but there was a high chance that it wouldn't be in the same place when they returned like her previous car which she would have to break the news to Vincent later, but she was sure that it wasn't a large hardship for him.
She turned over to Lucia to see if she got any ideas for the car since she couldn't care less, but it was Lucia's ride into a new life.
"What should we do with the car?" Charlotte asked.
"Well, do you really need me to go inside with you?"
Charlotte flashed her a frigid smile. "It would be much help. Two is better than one."
She didn't want to admit it but having another eye with her when she stepped foot into an unknown building would be much help. Charlotte knew that Lucia was quite capable of weapons as well, so having her around would ensure another level of security to get them all out alive again.
"My job was only to get you to your destination," Lucia replied blandly.
"It's not over until it's really over isn't it?"