Page 7 of Carter's #Undoing

Three

SERENITY

Burning wood and chili. It was what I smelled before I was able to pull my eyes open. My eyelids felt so heavy and my lower back was hurting, although I had no idea why.

I must have had too much to drink at Crayson and Jordyn’s wedding reception.Even worse, I dreamt about Carter. Again.

Yet, this dream was different than the others. Instead of the Carter I remembered and always envisioned, I dreamt up a darker, more dangerous-looking man who barely resembled my golden boy. His dark brown eyes had seemed almost black, like the color of charcoal. Gone was the head full of curly hair he used to have, and instead of shapely arms, his in my dream had been huge, powerful, and thick just like his raspy voice.

Open your eyes,I silently coaxed, my mouth too dry to say the words aloud. Slowly, I popped one eye open, my eyes widening even more when I noticed brown fabric in my line of vision. Lifting my head, I studied the brown couch that didn’t look familiar to me at all. My eyes made their way down my body, and I noticed that I was still wearing my bridesmaid’s dress.

Where am I?I wasn’t familiar with a lot of Caden’s property, but it didn’t feel like one of his villas on the ranch to me. There was a light on somewhere in the room, but it was dark near where I was. Unfortunately, that wasn’t all I noticed. My wrists were handcuffed together and connected to the side rail of the couch in a way that made it hard for me to move my arms. And the palm of my hands ached so terribly, it felt like I’d been squeezing tiny shards of glass.

My first instinct was to scream or try and shake my wrists free, but I remained still and lowered my head back down to where it had originally been. I needed to think, and if I was in a place I didn’t know with someone who had handcuffed me to the couch and thoughts too fuzzy to decipher at the moment, acting hysterically wouldn’t help me.

Taking a deep breath, I tried my best to angle my head over my left shoulder. I could tell someone was in the room with me, feel someone nearby, but I couldn’t turn my head completely around to see the darkened corner. Wasn’t even sure I wanted to.

It was so quiet in the room, I could hear myself breathing, which meant if I could hear myself, someone else could, too.Get it together. Figure this out,I encouraged, turning my head a little more and scooting upward so that I was able to see farther over my shoulder. My eyes reached the nearby chair first. It was the same brown fabric as the couch and similar in color to the coffee table that was clear of any magazines or remotes for a television. Items I would expect to see on a coffee table.

I saw the kitchen next, the open floor plan revealing an island and a couple stools as well as a table and all the equipment you’d find in a kitchen. When twisting my head became too difficult, I laid it back down and tried my best to gather my thoughts.Shit. Try to remember something, Serenity.

I thought back to Crayson and Jordyn’s wedding because everything before that was clear to me. How beautiful Jordyn had looked. How happy Crayson had been. Next, I recalled how much fun I’d been having during their reception and how elated I was when I heard that Caden was going to propose to Cordelia.

As a matter of fact, I was so excited for her, I followed Avery to Caden’s home to see if he needed any help with his proposal. Yet, the moment we walked into his home, something felt off. I hadn’t known why at first, yet, the last person I expected to see standing across from Caden was—

“Carter.” My voice was shaky as the rest of the night came flooding back to me in a rushing river of emotions.

“You feel me here with you, don’t you?” The voice cut through my thoughts almost as if he was mocking me.Did I feel him in the room?Of course I did. And I didn’t have to look over my shoulder to know exactly where he stood. He was by the window in the kitchen. The same window my eyes had almost traveled to moments before I convinced myself that twisting my head farther was too difficult. Now, I assumed that my psyche hadn’t wanted to lay eyes on him just yet. Especially when he was the reason I was handcuffed and I obviously had no recollection of ever leaving Caden’s house.

“Tell me where am I?” I demanded. As I glanced over my shoulder in his direction, I noticed his back was turned to me.

“I can’t do that,” he said.

“You can’t do that!” I shouted. “Carter, where the hell are we, and why am I handcuffed to this damn couch?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked, his back still turned.

“I remember slapping you for showing back up like this.”Hence, my palms being so sore.

“What else?”

I exhaled. “What else matters? Un-handcuff me and we’ll talk.”

“No.”

“No! What do you mean no? Where are Caden and Avery? Where is everybody?”

He didn’t say anything, and I felt my blood rise. “Did you hurt them?”

“I would never hurt them. Caden and Avery are fine, they just aren’t here.”

I tried to look past him and out that window he was standing by. “And where is here exactly?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked again.

“I remember arguing with you and being pissed that you showed up like you did. I remember Avery taking me down to Caden’s kitchen and making me some tea to calm down, and then …” My voice trailed off since my thoughts stopped there.

“And then what?”

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