To the reader 50 years from now
Chapter 1
Carrie and I were psyched to move to our new house. After winning the Lotto Max 50 Million we bought our mansion close to the White House. When John F. Kennedy heard, he sent us a letter saying that he will celebrate by throwing us a house warming party at the White House the night we will move in, which is Friday.
"Honey? Which box do we put the pictures in?" I say.
"In the box labeled pictures of course" She says rolling her eyes at me.
"Don't roll your eyes at me. Next time, there will be consequences" I say teasing her.
Carrie and I are married for about 2 years now but we knew each other way before that. It all goes back to 12th grade when we started sparking. She is pregnant with our 8 month daughter.
"Kevin! Look what I've found!" She calls.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Our Graduation photos. They were in a box in my university bag which I haven't opened in years."
We stared at our photos. We laughed and snuggled together and as we finished the album then we went back to unboxing.
"Your still the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. You haven't changed a bit since we graduated." I said complementary.
"Kevin, It't only been a 2 years since we've graduated."
"Right, keep forgetting that." I say.
It was night and we were exhausted. Carrie was even too tired to cook. So we've decided to order Take-out.
"So, what do you want to eat?" I asked her.
"Definitely Chinese Food. Me and my baby have been craving it for the past days." She replies.
"Chinese Food it is. Make sure to get anything you want, it's on me." I say.
"Kevin, You always say it's on you and this time so it's fair, it's on me." She says persuasively.
"Whatever you say, boss" I say.
She exits the room for 2 minutes and comes back in.
"Okay food's coming in 15 minutes." She says.
We order food almost everyday because when Carrie was at the age of 13 her mom had accidentally killed Larry Dread when he tried to rob their house. Since then, Carrie has had nightmares and had panic attacks whenever she sees blood or anything that colour and consistency. She basically has Haemophobia. For example, raw meat. So whenever she's cooking I offer to cut the meat and she'll cut the veggies.
"Let's watch t.v . That will speed up time" She says.
"You can, I'm going to take a shower, still sweaty from moving boxes" I say.
Even though she's basically traumatized, her mind is also full of great ideas. When I finished showering, food has already arrived and Carrie was halfway finished with her food.
"By the way, what did you order?" I ask seeing so much food on the table.
"10 Egg Rolls, 4 boxes of Chow Mein, 5 Spring Rolls and some other stuff." She says.
"Man, Carrie! You eat so much. Well at least you can finished it, thats fine." I say
"I can finish it…." She says rolling her eyes at me again.
"Did you just roll your eyes at me again? I warned you." I say giggling.
"Um….. yes…." She says nervously but at the same time knows it's a joke.
"After eating, we are gonna have some fun." I say.
She blushes.
Chapter 2
Sun shining through the curtains woke me up as a silhouette of Carrie stretching blocks the light. She hurries to the bathroom, comes out and goes straight into the kitchen. After I walked to the kitchen, she's was cooking. It was a mystery what she was cooking since she was turned around all the time and I couldn't get a glimpse. She must've made something with no meat, cause if she did she would have woken me up to help. After she turned around revealing a marvellous breakfast, she made waffles with…. sausages.
"You can cook meat now?" I ask
"Kevin are you that stupid? Sausages don't have blood." She says with no emotion.
"Carrie what happened last night. You seem off." I say worryingly.
Surprisingly she runs and hugs me. Crying on my shoulder I kiss her on the forehead. Hugging her tight I pulled back a chair and let her sit. I was sitting facing her on another chair and she explained. She said last night she had nightmares, it was about the robbery. She said that her mother almost got killed and that she saw blood everywhere and it was on her hands and face. The robber attempted to stab Carrie with a knife and she said it had gone right through her palms. I shudder just by the thought of it.
"Carrie, at least you are okay now and that I will protect you no matter what." I say pitifully.
"Kevin, I know you'll always be there but that thought of you leaving me just for a fraction of a second, I'm scared something might happen to you or me." She says.
I lean over and hug her tight. We both hug for a few minutes than told her I needed to go to take a shower and that she should get ready because we are going out today to shop for this evenings party at the white house. As I'm in the shower, how good it feels once all the stress is washed away by the warm water flowing down my body. As a shower is also a good place to think, I think about Carrie, what is happening to her and what will become of this. I don't want anything to happen to her at all, I guess you can call me an overprotective husband. As I open the door of the bathroom, Carrie was right there just standing her face only a few centimetres away.
"What the heck Carrie! You scared the living daylights out of me." I say.
"Sorry….. Needed to pee." She says grinning.
As she's closing the door behind her I say, "You look beautiful when you grin, try not to be down."
"Indeed, I will."
Few hours later we are ready to go. Carrie plans her list of things that we need for tonight. Like both mine and her outfits. We decided to go to Christian Dior to buy our clothes. As we are driving we noticed a car following us, but we assumed that it's going to the same store. As we get off, the person inside turns out to be a man in a black hoodie with sunglasses. We ignored him and walked inside the store. Carrie head straight to the Women's section wear as I go to the Men's section and just took a Tuxedo and shoes my size, tried it on and went straight to the counter.
"Carrie! Are you finished yet? I'm already finished." I call out unaware of where she is.
"Can you come here? I want you to check out my dress." She said.
"May you keep this for me?" I say to the cashier women.
I walk over to the dressing room and as Carrie stepped out, she revealed a beautiful Haute Couture Red Cocktail Dress.
"Carrie, that dress is stunning and just marvellous." I say as words cannot describe her.
She blushed.
"Do you like it?" Carrie asks.
"Well of Course." I reply. "Do you want that dress?" I asked.
"No because I don't like it anymore." She says.
"What do you mean?" I asked confusingly.
"I don't like the dress anymore. I love it now since you also liked it too." She says.
I smiled.
"Come on, get changed so we can check out. Meet me at the counter." I told her.
"Okay."
As I walked to the counter, I see that man from earlier looking at me from behind through the reflection of the mirror. It sent a shudder down my spine. But I continued to walk. Minutes later, Carrie shows up with the dress hung over her arm and black heels hanging from her fingers. We checked out the total price and it was $1085. We both gasped but realizing that we did have the money calmed our senses us down. We walked out of the store and we both knew to look for the car of The Man, but we realized his car was gone. We hopped inside out new white Maserati 3500GT car and as I put my key in the starter and turned it, the engine, it wouldn't start.
"What's wrong Kevin?" She asked.
"Engines probably busted." I say.
I got out of the car and opened the hood. As I was processing of what happened to the car, I snapped and cursed. Carrie looked at me and asked what had happened.
"Someone cut all the wires that connected to the engine." I explained to her.
"What are we going to do?" She asked. "Oh look, Kevin! There is a garage right across the street." She points out.
"Good eyes Carrie."
I walked to the garage and shook the man's hands. He was a tall man, about 180 centimetres tall and had dirty overalls. I told the mechanic to fix the car by tonight. I went back to the place where I told Carrie to wait and realized she was covered in blood. She screamed.
Chapter 3
"Carrie! What happened!" I asked after processing all the information.
She continues screaming and I quickly lifted her up and called a taxi.
"Take us to the nearest hospital! Fast." I told the driver.
"Carrie. Tell me what happened! Is the baby okay?" I asked her again.
"Yes everything is fine." She told me after hyperventilating.
"Then explain the blood."
"I don't know, one moment I was watching you come back. The next, it is as if a water balloon had hit me on the head."
The thought came to my head about The Man in the hoodie. Who was he and what does he want with us? I realized that there was blood all over my clothes. Then just snapped in my head, the clothes. I was looking at Carrie and was about to ask her but looked at her hands seeing the bags in the grasp of her hands. I grabbed the bag and checked the clothes inside. Thank god. No blood managed to leak inside and all the clothes looked just fine. One my senses snapped back, I told the driver to go back to our house since no medical attention was needed. We got in the house and Carrie went to the washroom and I set up the dress for her. It was about 4 in the afternoon and I decided to go watch the news to see if anything about that man had came up today. Once the latest news was finished it was about 6 and Carrie was finally done. With her makeup, dress and heels. She was complete. I was about to tell her how good she looked but…
"What the heck Kevin! It's 6 and you didn't even take a shower or put your clothes on. Worst part is you are still covered in blood! You don't even know who's blood that is." She scolded me.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I was caught up in the news trying to see if that man had did anything to anyone else today."
We stared at each other for a few seconds. She shook her head.
"WELL?!" She says.
"Well what?"
"GO TAKE A SHOWER" She vociferate at me.
I rolled my eyes at her and left to the bathroom. Once I got out I put on my tux and shoes and at the perfect moment the garage man was at the door knocking.
"How much will that be?" I asked.
"It will cost 5357 dollars." He replied.
"What? Why so much?l
"We got the lowest Mileage we could find sir."
I handed him the cheque and off he went. All we need to wait for is the truck that will take all our packed boxes to the new house. Whats great about moving there is that President Kennedy has paid for our gas, car and moving payments for tonight.
"God, why is the truck taking so long!" Carrie complains.
"Calm down Carrie, it's a big night tonight. Don't get angry it will ruin your smile." I tell her.
"KEVIN! You don't understand. I hate being late, especially if it means meeting the president."
I didn't know that blood would have made her this angry and for such a long period of time. I decided to be prudent and called the truck.
"Hello, why are you taking so long?" I asked.
"Sorry, I was caught up in traffic but I'm right on your street." He replies.
"Okay, bye."
"He's on our street, lets go." I told Carrie.
"Took him long enough. But thanks for calling when I didn't ask you too." She says.
We took our things and opened the door to find the truck in front of our house. I shook the man's hands and it took about 25 minutes until all the boxes and items were packed in the truck. He told me that he already knew our house address from the papers and that we could go to the party right away while he will set up our stuff. He also added that if we were missing any items and that we suspected that he took it, we could contact his manager. So we got in our car and headed straight away. From where we live which is Baltimore to Washington D.C is about an hour drive so we wanted go the fastest way, we decided to take the MD-295 Washington-Baltimore Parkway. I stepped on the gas pedal to go as fast and safe as we can. It was a silent ride but as soon as we saw the White house. We gasped and gazed at the lights and people. Everyone was dressed in elegant and magnificent clothes especially the girls since all the men wore a suit just like me. We parked at the VIP area and got off. Carrie examined my appearance while I examined hers. We nodded our heads and went straight into the white house.
"Chins up, smiles on." I whispered into Carries ear.
She giggles and I manage to grin. As we stepped inside the whole place became alive, just if we were the missing pieces to spark this place up. The White house is one of the most exquisite places for the party to be held. It contains curtains at every window that are unique for every room. Marble tiles cover the floor shining like diamonds. Pictures of former presidents hanging on the wall visible from every corner. We expected a lot of noise and music but instead soft chatting and noise fragments of Violins are all the noises that manages to sink into our ears. We didn't know what to do since we have no idea who anyone is around here. Just then, he silences the room with a big "Welcome."
Chapter 4
President Kennedy looking down from the second floor with a microphone, he smiles. He calls out our names and his eyes scatter the room trying to look for us. We wave our hands and a path forms in the crowd allowing us to walk through. We climb up the stairs and shook his hand. He welcomes us to the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Kevin and Carrie Ackerman, the new neighbours of our White House community."
The crowd applauses and Carrie blushes.
"Now that we've met the two couples lets move on to the dinner room." He says
I take Carrie by the waist and walk down the stairs heading to the dinner room. We sat down at the table that has our name cards on them. I sat beside a guy named Zeph Vixen, looks old probably in his 40s. He's assuringly my height and has straight black hair. He is really tan for an American. His most noticeable feature is his jaw-line, just like Robert Redford. Carrie sat beside a girl named Luna Morgan, she looks about Carrie's age and you can tell that she spent a long time with her hair since not even one strand of her blond hair is coming out of her Beehive hairstyle. I chatted with Zeph for a while and he seemed like a fun guy. While Carrie and Luna didn't really get along.
"Is something wrong with Luna, Carrie?" I whispered into her ear.
"It's just that she keeps looking at you and it makes me feel jealous."
"Don't worry about it, I would never like her. I love you and only you" I say.
"And your mine and only mine." She tells me.
We see a card on the table and it's the list of the meals for tonight. It reads:
First. Rich and flavourful baked shrimp
Second. Exquisite foie gras and sweetbread-flavoured treasure encompassed by a truffles circlet
Third. Scallop mousse line with truffles and a dab of caviar set on a unity black squid ink sauce
Fourth. Refreshing sorbet to reawaken the appetite
Fifth. Juicy roasted veal tenderloin napped in a silky white wine and cream sauce, served with sautéed Jasmine rice
Sixth. Cheese gourmet
Seventh. Decadent chocolate and raspberry mousse hurting with flavours
Eighth. Coffee or tea
My mouth waters and I show Carrie and she gasped. We giggle and I pat her on the shoulder. What awakens me the most is the Scallop mousse line with truffles and a dab of caviar set on a unity black squid ink sauce. I have been craving scallops for so long, especially with Caviar. Meal after meal we both get stuffed and I feel like I am going to vomit. But, I hold it in since we are in the White House. Zeph told me that he was a police and that he was the one who went to the scene of the murder of Larry Dread.
"Really? You were there?" I asked Zeph.
"Yes I was there at the scene."
"Carrie, I would like you to meet Zeph. He was a police who was at the murder scene of Larry Dread." I told Carrie.
"Nice to meet you Zeph." Carrie said to him.
"You've grown a lot since I met you. And beautiful too." He said to her.
"Why thank you. We've met?"
"Of course we've met. Probably you don't remember me but I do remember you. Where is your mother?"
"She's living in New York." I replied
"Ah, New York. My wife and two kids live there too." He adds.
"Your not living with them?" I ask.
"No I've moved here for work. But I go visit them once a year and stay with them during the summer. It's a pain that I don't get to see them. I really miss them, even now."
Zeph becomes a really nice guy once we got to know him. He's really careful with his words as he stutters most of the time. He gave us his number so that we can contact him if by any chance, bad events might occur. I'm glad that he gave us his number so that we have double the protection for Carrie. From the events that had happened recently, I am scared that something might happen to Carrie and the baby. The Man and the blood, these things swirl in my head as I try to figure out what this could mean. Then the president raises his glass.
"Cheers, to Kevin and Carrie." He says.
We raise our glass, mines filled with wine while Carrie has water. I cheer with Carrie, Zeph and Luna.
Chapter 5
Dinner was over and now was the dance and the "get to know each other better" talk. Many people came by us and said hello and introduced themselves. One of them is a detective named Elliot Kavanagh, he is a detective and he also gave us his number just incase we want him to help solve any mysteries.
"How long have you been a detective, ?" I ask.
"5 years."
"Are you still working?"
"Of course I am! Then why the heck would I have given you my number."
"Right." I say embarrassingly.
The president soon walked over to join us and we were so nervous. He was very intimidating. I was being extra cautious of what I do or say because it could ruin our reputation with the president and who would want that?
"Ah, Mr and . How delightful it is to have you here." He says.
"Well it is a party for us and who wouldn't want to meet you." I say.
"I've been wanting to meet you two. You look very beautiful , and you also look handsome." He addressed to Carrie and I.
"Thanks but you can call me Kevin and her Carrie." I told him.
"What good names for two good couples."
Why would the president complement us? We should be the ones complementing him. But just how do we do that?! Man, John F. Kennedy is sure one intimidating man. Probably the most intimidating person in the world. Unaware of what to do, I excuse myself to the washroom. I don't even know where the washroom is but so much pressure finally begins to ease off my back. Is it really that hard to talk to the president? I ask myself this countless times. After 10 minutes had gone by and I still haven't found the washroom, I bumped into Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the presidents wife. Oh man not again.
"You must be . Nice to meet you." She says.
"Nice to meet you too Mrs. President. Sorry to bring this up but do you know where the Men's room is? I've been walking for a while and couldn't seem to find it." I ask her.
"Of course, turn left at that intersection." She says pointing.
Wow… This place is so big they use the word intersection.
"Thank you." I say.
As normal the washrooms are humongous and is even bigger than two master bedrooms combined. With automatic flushing toilets and… a buttwasher I guess? Even urinals have an automatic cleaning service. "But no thank you." I say as I push the off the button for cleaning. I walk back but I heard screaming. I assume it is a surprise scream but as soon as I saw people running, I ran to Carrie expecting that she's fine. I told myself she's fine and that when I turn around the corner, she will be there as always waiting for me. My heart pounding, I can feel adrenaline rushing through my blood and veins. Suddenly, I'm struck, I…. I….. I see Carrie, on the floor… with a knife in her lower abdomen. She screaming and her hand on the wound as blood leaks over her fingers. Crud! My body automatically reacts. I pick her up, she's light as air. I guess thats what adrenaline does. As I carry her on one hand, I reach into my pocket and grab my phone calling 911.
"What is the problem sir?" A young women's voices asks.
"I need an ambulance and a group of policemen. My wife has been stabbed in the abdomen and she is 5 months pregnant. The accident is happening at the White House. Please come quick." I say hyperventilating.
I lay Carrie down and pull out the knife slowly. She screams, I can see the blood on her dress as the colour of the dress becomes darker. I grab a handkerchief from my pocket and cover the wound. I looked at the knife. It has many designs on it. But, a note catches my eye. "Revenge" it reads. I stare anxiously at it but kept the it for evidence. Within five minutes the ambulance comes rushing in. They lay her on the trolley and puts an oxygen mask on her. I rush with them and got into the ambulance as well. A women sits there too. Maybe supervising.
"Carrie, talk to me! I'ts gonna be okay." I say clutching her hand tightly.
She doesn't reply but I know that she's still alive. I see her eyes closing but check the heart monitor. It's still running. She's probably unconscious…. We arrive at the hospital and they took her into the emergency room. I sat outside waiting. For 2 hours. I sat there praying that she and the baby will be alright. One of the doctors came out and he said everything was fine.
"Even the baby?" I asked.
"Even the baby is alright. It's just that the womb was ruptured but we were able to seal it completely."
"Thank you so much doctor." I say shaking his hand.
"It's our pleasure to help."
Carrie came out but she is asleep. We stayed in room 221b on the fifth floor. I kept my eyes on her until they closed. I awaken quickly. I cocked my head to the side to check the clock and it's 2 in the morning. I check on Carrie and immediately went back to sleep.
Chapter 6
It was morning by the time I woke up. I saw a nurse checking on Carrie and as the nurse left I sat up and immediately walked over and hugged her. She was crying.
"It's alright. Everything is fine. You and the baby are fine." I say. "Are you still hurt? Did they give you anaesthetics?"
"Yeah the nurse just gave me some." She replies.
"I'm so sorry Carrie."
"For what?" She asks.
"For leaving you alone. I didn't even needed to go. It was just to get away from the president because I was nervous."
"Come on Kevin. We all get nervous. It's fine. At least we are okay."
"Yeah. Thank god we are safe." I say gratefully. "Did you eat yet?"
"No, not hungry."
"Come on you have to eat. To stay healthy. Whether you like it or not. It benefits you and the baby." I say.
I head over to the closed food tray on the table and opened it. There was Chicken Congee, Bread and jam, Mushroom soup, a pudding cup and tea. I lifted it back to Carrie and placed it on her lap. I reached for the spoon and put it in the Mushroom soup and raised it to her mouth. She cocks her head.
"Come on you need to eat." I told her.
"Okay, Okay. But let me feed myself." She asks.
I handed her the spoon and like a person who hasn't eaten for months, she has ate everything in less than 10 minutes with no traces of crumbs.
"Not hungry eh?" I say with a smirk.
"It's for the mine and the baby's benefit, remember?" She says smiling.
An idea pops up to my mind. I call Zeph and Detective Kavanagh.
"Zeph can you come to the hospital. I need assistance."
"Sure thing….. Last night was crazy. I'm freaked out." He says.
"Yeah I know."
"What happened anyways? Are you or Carrie hurt?" He asks.
"We're all fine but Carrie wasn't last night. I'll explain to you when you get here. Laters." I say.
"Okay, bye."
Next I phoned the detective.
"Morning detective. It's me, Kevin Ackerman from last night."
"Ah, Ackerman. How are you?"
"I'm fine. Where are you?" I ask.
'I'm in the hospital close to the White House."
"Really?! I'm here too. Looking after Carrie. Say, what room are you in?"
"222b on the fifth floor." He replies.
"What a coincidence. I'm in room 221b. I'll head over now."
"I'll be in the detective's room Carrie." I told her.
"And I'll be sleeping." She says.
I walked to the room next door to find the detective injured.
"Detective! What happened? I was only expecting you to be checking on a patient but instead I find that you are the patient."
"Well I got pushed by a certain and mysterious man and feel on a glass table."
"I'm sorry to ask you this while you injured, but can you help us solve the mystery of who injured you and Carrie?" I ask.
"In this state, maybe. I don't know how my wounds are healing. But I'll try."
"Thanks so much."
"Wait Carrie is also injured?" He asks.
"Yeah she got stabbed in the lower abdomen."
"Dear god! Is the baby alright?"
"Yeah both of them are. Just a rupture in the womb occurred. But they closed it up." I say. "Detective, do you have any idea who the killer might be?"
"No, I don't suspect anyone. No clues have been left." He says.
"But I have some." I say.
He raises his eyebrow.
"It started when Carrie and I went shopping for clothes. There was a car following us. When we got at the store we realized it was a man in the car. So we stayed in the store for a few minutes and I saw him again. This time behind me when I was looking at myself in the mirror. After that, when we were going to drive home, the car was broken because someone has cut all the wires to the engine and when I was taking the car to a garage across the street and cam back, Carrie was covered in blood, she said it was like someone throwing a water balloon at her. And then there's the knife scene that happened last night and I think it was all done by that man."
"Wow. A motherload of clues. It seems to me that he's not after you. He's after Carrie. Because he was never made physical harm to you and only her. Do you think there is anything that the man might want from Carrie?" He asked.
"No….. I don't think so…." Then it snapped at me. "When Carrie was 13, Carrie's mom did killed someone while robbing their house. After that, Carrie has been scared of blood."
"I guess that explains why the man decided to throw blood at her." He says.
"Wait detective, I have a evidence from last night." I say puling the knife out from my pocket. "This was the knife that was in Carrie's lower abdomen."
I handed the knife to him. He inspects it.
"This knife looks very feminine by the designs and how it is shaped. Do you anyone by the initials of L.D?" He says.
"No."
"Come on man, are you even with him? L.D? Larry Dread?" A voice says behind me.
I turned around to find Zeph. I walked to him and shook his hands.
"I just went to check on Carrie. She's awake." He say
"Okay. But this is Detective Kavanagh." I say.
"Nice to meet you detective, I'm Zeph Vixen. I am a police." Zeph says shaking the detective's hands.
"Nice to meet you too Zeph."
Zeph turns his attention to me and says "Even though Larry is dead, someone…" He was cut as we heard Carrie crying.
Zeph and I rushed to the other room.
"Carrie!" I shout.
"Kevin… my Mom's dead." She says crying.
"What how?" I ask staring at her.
"She…. was shot."
Chapter 7
Again and again. I see these clues circling my head. Why won't they stop! Is this what being rich means? To always meet bad luck? If not, why does this keep on happening? Carrie and the baby almost had their lives lost. Now Carrie's mom is dead. All because of that darn MAN!
"KEVIN! Answer me!" She cries.
"WHAT!" I shout.
Everyone is quiet. Carrie cries harder. I walked and sat beside her, hugging her, tight.
"Oh god Carrie. I'm sorry. I was lost in my own thoughts. I didn't mean to shout, I was stressed of all the things that had happened since we've won the lottery." I say. "Who told you about this?"
"My stepdad." She says sobbingly.
"Did he insist we go?" I ask.
"No, after he heard that I was in the hospital he said I should just rest and get better."
"Zeph can you call the nurse?" Carrie asked him.
"Sure thing." He says.
I kept holding her hand tightly until she jerks it away.
"Kevin that hurts." She says still sobbing.
"Sorry."
Then the nurse comes into the room.
"Can I know when I can check out of the hospital. I have to leave my mother has been shot." Carrie says.
"Sure." She say checking her clipboard. "You will be out in 2 days."
"Great thanks." Carrie replies.
She then hugs me and asked me:
"Kevin, can you book our flight to New York?"
"Okay for how long?"
"3 days."
I called the airport and booked the tickets. We've got a cheap ticket on a jet. The day before we left the hospital, Carrie sent me home to get all the things we needed. When I got home I went through everything and left the house a mess. We slept at the hospital for one more night and tomorrow we went straight to the airport. Zeph drove us.
"Thanks Zeph for driving us." I told him as we got our luggage out.
"Yeah thanks Zeph." Carrie says.
"No problem." He says.
As we get our bags out I notice two extra ones.
"Who's are those? Carrie?" I ask her.
"Nope, don't look at me." She says.
"They're mine. I'm coming with you." Zeph says.
"Really?" I ask.
"Yeah I figured you might need some assistance and while I'm there I'll visit my family." He says. "Carrie, if you don't mind can I stay at your mother's house for a day while I can stay with my family for two days."
"Of course." Carrie says.
"I'll park the car. You two go in first I'll catch up with you." I say
I parked the car and ran inside. Dam it! I forgot to ask Carrie for the gate number! I rushed and ran to every gate and finally found Carrie in gate 7. We boarded the airplane as soon as I got there and Zeph bought a seat right next to us. This guy must really know how to stalk being a police officer and all. As the plane prepares to take off, the alight attendants came around and checked our seat belts. Carrie got an extension since she is pregnant. I felt like joking with her but I see that she is still crying.
Wait… Who's that?
"Detective Kavanagh?" I say to the man sitting beside Zeph.
"You finally noticed me?." He asked sarcastically.
"Your fully healed?" I ask.
"Good as new."
"Why are you coming to New York?" I ask.
"It seems to me that the mystery case that you have here is quite interesting to me and I would like to find out more about it."
"Great then. You know where your staying? You can stay with us." Carrie asks.
"Why thank you Carrie. Thanks a lot." He says.
I turned my attention to Carrie.
"Everything okay Carrie?" I ask.
"Yeah it's fine. Just thought I would have been ready when this happens. But not like this."
"We both didn't expect this. And I think I know who it is that is causing everything."
"Remember that man following us and destroying our engine?"
"Yes."
"I think it's him. But we just need to find out who he is."
"How are we going to do that?" She asks.
"With the help of your husband, a cop and a detective." I say smirking.
Chapter 8
3 hours later we arrive at John F. Kennedy airport in New York. It was 4 in the afternoon and New York was very crowded. It had far more lights than in Washington D.C. Everything their was extravagant, even for a person who has just won the lottery. Just a slice of "Tunnel of Fudge" cake was 5$, while in Washington was only 3.5$. People here do have a way of tricking others in buying their food. But I do say it looks heavenly. Creamy, hot and chewy fudge. The aroma spreads up my nose and I react quickly to look back and stare at it's goodness. But Carrie pulled me away and called a taxi. We waited and still no taxi. So just to pass time, I ran to buy the Fudge cake.
"Kevin! Come on! This is not the time to buy food!" She shouts while I opened the door to the shop.
I Stopped and shouted "It'll be quick!". I went inside and bought one. But I had no idea that they actually had to make one right now! Dam it! Carrie will be so pissed. Five minutes and I finally got it. There, A yellow taxi waiting at the intersection with the emergency lights on. I got in and Carrie stared at me with those fury eyes I like to call mine. Zeph was sitting in the front.
"That was quick wasn't it?" She said sarcastically.
"Okay okay okay. I didn't know that they actually had to bake it while I was there. But anyways, do you want one?"
"Of course I do! New York's famous for it's Tunnel of Fudge." She says changing her mood quickly.
"Zeph?" I ask.
"Man I've been waiting for you to ask that. I was about to go buy one too but Carrie here dragged me into the car."
"Detective?"
"No, I am on sugar diet. I get sick if I eat too much sugar like that."
"Oh okay."
I handed each of them a piece and as our teeth sinks in, fudge comes out and it burns our tongues. But we keep it quiet and Carrie manages to squeal. I forgot about the driver.
"Do you want a piece driver?" I ask him.
"Nope I'm fine." He replies straight forwardly.
"Did you tell him where we are going Carrie?" I ask her.
"Yeah." She says with her mouth stuffed.
"A beautiful girl like you shouldn't talk with her mouth full you understand?" I say putting my left hand on her cheeks and squeezing it.
She swallows and says "Yes, I do understand."
Carrie's mother lived on Francis Lewis Boulevard. Which is about 12 minutes from the airport. Carrie sits there by the side of the door looking out of the window. Sometimes she would lay her arm across the window board and put her chin on her biceps and her eyes fixed on a point showing that she is very furious. I'm actually quite freaked out by her, she looks like she is ready to revenge the person who shot her mother. As we reach her house, we see police tape surrounding her house. It stretches probably from her front lawn to the backyard. Carrie gets out of the car and she imminently went to he stepfather. I took the luggage with Zeph helping me and we went inside. Carrie is sobbing on her dad's shoulder, his name is Rick. They let go and I went to shake his hands. I introduced him to Zeph and the detective and Carrie asked if it is also okay for Zeph and the Detective to stay with us too in the spare rooms. He said that it was fine and that he was happy that Zeph and the detective came because it made him feel more comfortable that her daughter has more protection.
"Do you two mind sharing a room together? But we have two separate beds." Carrie asks Zeph and the detective.
"It's fine." Zeph says.
"I don't mind either." Replies the detective.
I took our luggages to the 1st floor and everything is good as new and well cleaned. Zeph went to his room which lies next door to ours. The bedroom smells of fresh laundry and you can tell it was washed with floral soap.
"Uh….. Kevin… I think that you should come here." Zeph shouts from the other room.
"Wait." I say dropping every thing and heading to the other room. My jaw drops. "What the heck!"
"I will avenge you brother." Zeph reads from the wall covered in red letters.
"Brother? Who wrote this and what are they trying to do?" I ask.
"Beats me, this is creeping me out. Zeph can the detective and I sleep in your room but on the floor? I can't sleep in this room."
"Sure."
I shout for Carrie and the detective to come up and check it out.
"Holy cow!" Carrie says.
"Yes! More clues." The detectives says excitedly.
"Dad is this new?" Carrie asks rick in the hallway.
"What is?" He comes in the room. "What in the name of god is that? No I have never seen that. I check this room everyday and the only time I haven't was three days ago when your mother got shot "
The detective went close to the wall and felt it.
"It's definitely not human blood." He says.
"Human? Than what?" Zeph asks.
"An animal."
"What animal?"
"I'm a detective not a vet."
We held an emergency meeting in the living room. We discussed the events that have occurred since the time we saw the man. The detective reached for his suitcase and pulled out something. It was the knife. Carrie covered her eyes.
"It's okay Carrie I washed the blood off." I say as she uncovers her eyes.
"Right, when we were at the hospital, I pointed out that there were initials on it that are L.D. Right" He asks.
"Right." Zeph and I say at the same time.
"It's obvious that it could stand for Larry Dread." Zeph says.
"But Larry Dread is dead. My mother killed him." Carrie says.
"Ah but since on the walls just now, it said 'I will avenge you brother.' That means that his sibling could have done it." The detective points out.
After we discussed all this, I take Carrie upstairs and we get ready for bed.
Sibling? Larry Dread has a sibling? Its definitely a man.
"That't right. A sibling like me could have done it." A man calls out.
"What do you want?" I shout.
"Just need the sweet taste of revenge from how her mother killed Larry." He says.
"It was for protection. Larry was going to kill them." I say.
"Oh well, its in the past. This is reality." He lifts up the same knife he used on Carrie and stabs me right in the heart.
I am sweating and panting. Everything was a dream. I am alive. Outside was completely dark. I went to the bathroom and checked the clock. Man it's just one hour before midnight. This bugs me. It bugs me that I think I have slept for a long time but when only 2 hours has passed since I've gone to bed. I went back to bed and couldn't keep my eyes of Carrie. As I'm staring, I notice a figure behind Carrie, It't not clear that it is a person but there is something there. I stared at it and shouted.
"I can see you!" I shout. "Guys someone is in here."
"I know I saw it too." Zeph said.
"Good eyes." A girls voice said and jumped through the window.
Chapter 9
We rushed and looked out of the window. Great. Nothing. We were only about 4 meters above the ground. She has escaped. It turned out to be a she? How is that possible? It was a man who did all those things wasn't it?
"You guys did hear that right?" I ask.
"Heard what?" the detective says.
"That the person turned out to be a girl." Zeph answers.
"How could that be. Last time I saw the suspect it was a man. Not a girl." I say.
"Has the man ever spoken to you?" the Detective asks.
"No." I replied.
"So the person could have dressed like a man but is actually a girl under those clothes." Zeph says.
"Yeah. probably." I say. "Lets go to bed, it will be fine, just leave the lights on. She might not come back if she thinks we are awake."
I lay down on the mattress and Carrie slept really close to me. Although the bed is huge, she decides to be as close to me as possible with her head on my chest. I hug her back and try to forget about all the things that had happened. I think about our future. Carrie, the daughter and I. Will this be over when the baby is born? The next time I awoken, I ponder about how I even fell asleep because I don't even remember closing my eyes. Sleep, nature's anesthetics.
Carrie is still lying on me and she notices I'm awake.
"Thanks for letting me lie on you. It makes me feel more comfortable."
"No problem Carrie." I say.
As soon as she lifts her head my chest aches but I don't say a thing. We wake up and go into the washroom. Carrie takes a shower while I brush my teeth and do my personal things. After 10 minutes we rotate so I shower and she does her thing. I have flashbacks about how we never got embarrassed seeing each other naked. Even for the first time. When we come out Zeph and the detective are gone. I actually panicked and wonder where they went. I search around the room but nothing.
"We are here if you are looking for us." The detective says from the other room. "Zeph is in the washroom, just waiting for my turn."
"Oh okay then." I say.
"Hey if you want breakfast, I made some downstairs". Rick says standing in the hallway.
"Oh thanks dad." I say
"No problem, I made Carrie's favourite since she was young, Egg Benedict. Do you like it too?"
"Well I eat anything." I say.
He walked down the stairs carrying laundry a laundry basket down with him. Rick is actually a nice guy. I thought stepdads were all mean, well I was wrong cause I think Rick is the most caring person for his daughter. When it was time to go eat, we all sat at the table staring at each other while the eggs find its way into our mouths. Poached eggs have such a savoury taste. Rick told us that he adds extra vinegar to the water so that the egg whites don't separate when he poaches it. The yolk burst inside our mouths and we can taste a kick of vinegar and that nice and buttery hollandaise sauce. I can actually see why Carrie like to eat this. Especially if it is her stepdad that makes them.
"So now we know that the suspect is a girl." the detective says.
"And that she is Larry Dread's sister." I say. "By the way Zeph, do you know what colour hair and style Larry had?"
"He had black hair and had short curls."
A loud boom goes off in the basement. We all went to check it out except for Zeph who is busy eating his breakfast. The stairs creaked as we stepped on them and the room was so dark all you can see are essences of white that stands out. Carrie puts one of her arms over me so I am supporting her in case she falls. Rick lights a candle to find the light switch. The lights come on and we can see again.
"Ah its just the furnace you guys. You can all go back up now." Rick says. "It's February so the furnace is always running to keep us warm. Guess it needs to break down once and a while. I'll call the repair man tomorrow."
"Got me worried there." Carrie says.
This basement has many things it it. Most of them covered by white sheets. I lifted one up and found a picture of Carrie and her family. I smiled and showed her.
"I looked so ugly. I mean look at me. My mom had all the beauty. I consider my beauty idol." She says.
"You don't think your beautiful and that you don't have your mother's traits?" I ask.
"No…"
"Well you are Carrie. From this kid in the picture to what you are now, I think you've grown to become such a beautiful person. Much beautiful then your mom even."
"Aw thanks Kevin. I am so thankful for you. That you've came into my life and that your not even stress out by what's happening."
"I do it because I want to protect you. Your something I don't want to lose. That includes the baby. I want to see our baby grow up and become a fine lady like you."
I leaned down towards her, preparing for a kiss. But the detective interrupts by knocking on the door.
"Whats wrong detective?" I ask.
"This door won't open and I Zeph is not answering whenever I shout his name."
I helped knock on the door and shouted for Zeph. Still no reply. We heard something fall and shatter. We shout even louder.
"Zeph!" I say "Zeph! Zeph open the door!"
We heard him scream in terror and he calls out:
"Guys! It's Lu…"
Just like that, we know that he was been killed….. Carrie gasps and we all stay quite. Rick calls us to come back down from where we are on the stairs.
"Hey, I have another path that leads to the living room. Lets take it." Rick says.
"Great, but we need some weapons." I say.
"Well you are in luck cause I collect them." He says removing the white sheet that covers his whole weapon collection.
"Wow! Dad how come you never told me about this?" Carrie asks.
"Uh, well because your young and I don't want you playing with them."
"Dad, I'm 26." Carrie points out logically.
I made a small snort. We went through the weapons. Rick told us to choose only one. I choose an axe, Carrie choose a nail gun since it looks the least terrifying and the Detective didn't need any since he has the knife from last night in his pocket.
"Let's move." I say.
We walked through a small passage that is very dusty and the detective couldn't stop sneezing until he covered his mouth and nose with his shirt collar. It actually is taking a long time just to walk since it is actually cramp and the fact that I am claustrophobic makes everything worst. I am caught in the middle with the detective as Rick leads and Carrie is at the back. To admit I am getting stressed right now due to the small space. Once we climb up to the opening, I took a deep breath and let it all go. The detective stops and I I head butted his butt.
"Hey! What't the hold up?" I ask.
"Shhhhh. She's right there." The detective says.
We climbed the stairs and I help Carrie up. Carrie stares at her with abhorrence. It's like they have met before. Before I turn to look at her face I automatically knew who it was. The only women that Carrie would dislike this much is Luna Morgan.
Chapter 10
The detective, Carrie and I stare with hate and confusion. Luna Morgan did it? The girl who seemed neutral to me turned out to be that man who followed us, vandalized our car, threw blood at Carrie, stabbed Carrie, killed Carrie's mother and now killed Zeph.
"What?! What is it that you want. What is it that is so important for you that you had to do all those things to us?" I ask her.
"I think Carrie already knows." Luna says.
"What? I don't know!" Carrie replies.
"You know what your mother did to my brother. Don't you?"
"Yeah, she killed him. So what? He tried to kill us. It was for protection, Luna." Carrie says bitterly.
"Even though you have all your reasons. I am still vexed at what you and your mother had done."
"Why?" I ask.
"Why what pretty boy?" Says Luna.
I turned to see Carrie rolling her eyes at her distastefully.
"Why did you have to kill Carrie's mother and Zeph when you already had stabbed her and could have almost killed our child." I say.
"Well. Just for revenge and hey, its fun." She answers.
"Fun. How the hell is that fun?!" Carrie shouts.
"Well I like to see you feel the way I felt when my brother was killed and I was left with no hope." She says.
"Okay so you've done that! What else do you want?"
"I want to kill you Carrie. And the baby of yours as well."
"As if I will even let you get close to her." Carrie says showing her nail gun.
"Nice nail gun. But which is faster? That or my gun?" Luna asks sarcastically.
I told Carrie that she doesn't have to do this. But she says that she insists. Unaware of what to do I looked around the room. What caught my eye is Zeph. He is on the floor with blood coming out of his head. Luna is so spiteful. I just absolutely want to kill her. But I know I shouldn't do that. That would make me a bad person. It wouldn't be just. But just then. Luna charges at Carrie. Luna kicks the detective making him fall and elbowing Rick in the chest so hard it looks like he can't breathe. Before Luna could even touch Carrie, I swung my axe and rotated it so that the side of the axe will hit her head. On the moment of impact I felt slight vibration coming down the axe and onto my arms. She collapses face forward.
"Do you think that will stop me?" Luna says still fully conscious.
I look down finding the gun pointed to my feet. Before I could pull away, it has already fired. I gasp for air. Pain jolts through my body and I cursed. I immediately fell onto the floor. Carrie screams and Luna pushes her to the floor.
"Carrie!" I call at the top of my voice. "Get away from her Luna!"
"But I don't want to Kevin. I want to kill her. Her mother killed my brother and that is punishable by death." Luna commented.
"Nothing is punishable by death Luna! Don't be stupid!" I say.
"Don't worry you guys. You'll meet each other in heaven after I'm finished with you. You'll all be dead by this afternoon." She declares.
It's no use. She's insane. Nothing we say will change her mind. I'm hoping that something, anything or anyone can help us. To end this madness. No….. Luna reaches into her jacket and grabs a gun. It's a Pistole Parabellum 1908. One of the guns used in the Second World War. How did she get her hands on that type of weapon? She points it at Carrie who is on he ground hopeless. I try to stand up.
"Stand up and I'll shoot her." Luna says.
I stopped moving. I am paralyzed by fear. Fear of losing Carrie and the baby. I don't know what to do. If I move she will get shot, if I won't she'll still get shot. Carrie can't die and she won't. I try everything to standup and get on my feet. Luna turns towards me and kicks me right in the chest. I am sent falling backwards.
"Lets see, should I shot you in the head or in the stomach first?" Luna says.
"Shoot this Luna!" Zeph says as he comes in running with a taser.
"Zeph!" Carrie and I shouted.
"I thought you were dead" I say.
"I was just unconscious. After I heard Luna said 'You'll all be dead by this afternoon' I immediately grabbed my taser in my pocket and I waited until the right moment she wasn't looking in my direction and charged right in." He said.
"Thank god Zeph! You saved us." Carrie said and ran to hug him.
"Just doing what a police man should do." He says.
Zeph called the the police and the hospital. Luna has awaken and Zeph went to her.
"I could have killed you if I wanted too. But I didn't." He says. "You've caused enough pain for everybody. Just so you know, your brother isn't dead."
Her eyes widened.
"After he was treated with medical care from being stabbed, he was sent to prison. Now think of all the things you have did to us, did it seem necessary now? Live with that for the rest of your life now."
Epilogue
On the last day of our visit, we attended the funeral of Carrie's mother. Family and friends came together to mourn over the death. Flowers lined up along her grave and Rick and Carrie both gave an Eulogy. Carrie couldn't stop the waterworks and I was glad I was there to support her. As she stands up there reading, her words seemed all true. You can even say that even if you haven't witnessed Carrie's life. She creates pictures of happy moments with her mother just by describing them. I will always be there for Carrie, during her brightest moments like graduation to the darkest ones like now. Carrie's black hair is untied on let down. It covers part of her face as she refuses to make eye contact with anyone except me. When she does she will always manage a small smile and will tuck her hair behind her ear.
"Thank you." Carrie says to everyone after her Eulogy.
"You did great Carrie. Your words described your emotions and experiences clearly. No flaws can be pointed out." I say.
She doesn't say anything and just gave a smile and a hug. We won't be heading back to her parents house anymore as we decided to just go straight to the airport. Although Zeph did come to the funeral he has decided that he will stay behind for a few days while he stays with his family. Zeph wasn't been with his family for a while and he did promise them that he would go see them while he is in New York with us. It was 8pm and Rick drove us to the airport and Carrie, the detective and I said our goodbyes, thanks and wishes for Rick. We head to the check in station of our gate, got in the airplane and off we flew. This time I got to sit beside the window as last time I was in the middle. I looked outside the window admiring the dim lights below that once seemed to light up the whole streets. For some reason, I have a feeling that something special is going to happen tonight and I don't know what.
"Kevin?" Carrie calls.
"Yeah?" I turned my body towards her.
"Are you having that same feeling too?" She asks.
"You know I am."
"You know what it is don't you?"
"It's a guess, but I think it is going to happen tonight." I say excitedly.
The flight was quicker than last time. Or it's just me. I stand up and grabbed our luggage above our head in a small cabinet. We wait as people also get off the plane. Once we got out and on ground floor, I took all the luggage to the car and told Carrie to wait with the detective inside. As I opened the doors, the cooled air of February blew into my face. It is as if everything bad that has ever happened was all taken away by that gust of wind. I loaded the luggage inside the car and started the engined. It roared since it hasn't been used for 3 days. I drove the car to the entrance and went inside to get Carrie and the detective. I spot Carrie and I spot her in pain. AGAIN.
"What's wrong Carrie?!" I ask.
"It's the baby, Pauline thinks it's time."
Message from the Author:
This story means very much too me. I included some of my personal experiences into it.
