Page 10 of Tranquility

Minutes passed, and we ventured further away from her dad’s garden and toward the woods, which, unlike the one close to Aaron’s house, was on the thicker side.

“I don’t think we are going to find your bracelet here, Carrie. We’ve been searching for quite a while,” I said as she continued to walk forward, leaving me to trudge grudgingly behind her.

“Just a little further,” she said. “We’re almost there! I can feel it.”

We went on and halted when she screamed with joy and pointed toward something in front of her.

Curiously, I ran forward to see what she was pointing to, and behold, it was a… “Aahh,” I screamed.

The bitch had pushed me into a ditch.

CHAPTER TEN

“Do you know how long I spent digging this hole, Kat?” asked the girl crouching at the edge of the opening to the ditch where I was trying desperately to claw myself out. “Take a guess,” she said with a smile that I ached so badly to tear off her face. “From the very moment you stepped foot into Redwood High,” she continued when I remained defiantly silent.

“You are sick,” I spat at her, determined not to give her the satisfaction of looking weak even though I was many feet beneath the ground.

She nodded as if agreeing with my words.

“I guess you could say so since you don’t know what true love is. For years, I’ve tried desperately for Aaron to notice me, but you just come along, and bam… he can’t take his eyes or mind off you. I’ve watched you these past few months, Kat. I’ve seen how you string these boys along for your own amusement and games.”

“Trust me,” she continued. “I’m doing them a favor by putting you where you belong: In the fucking ground.” Her eyes glowed with malice and pure hatred.

“Aaron and I are nothing. Fe’s with you now,” I spoke softly, hoping she’d come to reason with me.

Instead, she threw her head back and laughed before glaring at me. “That may be what you tell the others, but I’m not a fool. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other even though you claim otherwise. He’s with me, yes, but his heart still longs for you, and the only way to shift his affection to me would be to get rid of you. Aaron is mine, mine alone, and I won’t have it any other way.”

“So, then what? You’re just going to leave me here? They’ll look for me and then…”

“Won’t find you, I’ll make sure of it,” she finished and stood.

Quickly I called to her in an attempt to delay her so the others could have more time to find us if they suspected anything. “Wait… even if you do this, it doesn’t mean Aaron will love you. He’s going to see right through you eventually, Carrie. He’ll know what kind of monster you are.”

She crouched back with a smirk.

“What makes you think so? Hmm? Even your friends don’t believe I locked you in that room with Glenn intentionally because sweet, red-headed Carrie could never harm a fly,” she said, making a gesture of mock fear before her laughter echoed through the woods again. “You are the real monster here, Kat, don’t you see? Ever since you came into their lives, they have been constantly put in harm’s way, even your own mother.”

I clutched Mason’s locket tightly, words that would have filled me with guilt once upon a time drifting past me. “No.”

“What?”

“No, I haven’t put them in harm’s way. Instead, they have protected me every single time because they love me, and that is something you will never know or feel. You think this is love? You are obsessed, Carrie and obsession never does anybody any good. I don’t care if I rot in here, but as I do, I’ll revel in the fact that you would never feel the love you so badly crave,” I said with blunt confidence.

My words must have hit their target because she screamed in anger and pointed a shaky finger at me. “Every day, I will come and watch you fade away due to hunger and thirst. I will watch you waste away as the world slowly forgets you, and when you are gone, I’ll delight over your corpse.”

“Seriously,”I thought.“Did this girl think she was in an eighteenth-century horror movie?”

“No, you won’t,” a deep male voice I immediately recognized as Aaron’s filed my ears.

Shocked, Carrie turned around, her back to me, hindering me from seeing what exactly was going on, but I could hear their voices correctly. “How did you…?” she trailed off.

“The boys came to pick us up, and when you were taking too long, I told Aaron you went looking for the charm bracelet he gifted you because you promised to wear it tonight. But Aaron says he never gave you a charm bracelet,” Noelle said.

“Oops,” Carrie snickered, covering her mouth with her hand. The girl was a true psychopath. “It still doesn’t explain how you found us.”

“Kat’s locket has a tracking device in it. I activated it as soon as I sensed things didn’t add up, especially with you,” I heard Mason say.

“Hey,” I yelled, a little bit offended that he had put a tracking device in his gift for me.

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