Chapter 08 - A Heart to Heart
Derek, Scott, and Carrie pulled up to a dark building, most of the outside lights being turned off. A cold breeze rushed past her when she climbed out of Derek's car. She pulled Stiles' shirt that he had given her a little closer, silently kicking herself for not grabbing her jacket and purse. They were all sitting in the back of Stiles' jeep. The shirt that she held tight against her still held the scent of Stiles. She smiled to herself as we walked; Stiles' sent was somewhat comforting. She wasn't sure what it smelt like but it wasn't a stereotypical Axe Body Spray scent.
Carrie noticed a sign on the wall of the building that read, Beacon Crossing Home. A home? Was Derek taking them to a retirement home? Carrie was suddenly very confused about why they were here, and what Derek's intentions were. How could he show what the Argent's were capable of by bringing them to a retirement home? "Are we going in there?" she asked.
"What are we doing here?" Scott asked promptly after Carrie.
"Yes, and be quiet" Derek barked in a low voice, "And you'll find out why when we get inside."
The front door of the hospital was surprisingly unlocked and the three slipped inside undetected. "This isn't a very secure place..." Carrie whispered to herself. They quickly but quietly moved through the dimly lit halls, turning when Derek instructed. As they crept through halls, Carrie noticed the lack of orderlies roaming around. This place was highly understaffed - whatever kind of hospital this place was. Derek and Scott stopped in front of a closed door, and Carrie walked right into Scott. That's what I get for not paying attention, Carrie thought to herself.
Derek looked up and down the hallway a few times before turning the knob and pushing the door open. They filed into the room, the only source of light coming from outside the window. Beside a classic hospital style bed was the silhouette of a man sitting in a wheel chair. Instantly, Carrie felt deathly cold, like there was a fan blowing cold air down the back of her shirt. She ignored the feeling as best she could and walked Scott's side.
"Who is he?" Scott asked.
"My uncle. Peter Hale," Derek explained, almost sounding sad.
Suddenly all the heat of the room was zapped away and darkness rushed in, leaving Carrie standing in a single beam of light that came from up above. She looked up trying to find the source of the light, but didn't see anything. She started turning around, looking to find Scott or Derek or anything. She had just been the room with then, so where did Scott and Derek go? "Scott! Derek! Hey guys, this isn't funny..." she yelled into the darkness.
Her head snapped to the other side when she heard footsteps clicking against an unseen floor, and she automatically stepped backwards, the pool of light following her. Out from the darkness came a man - he was tall and fairly young looking, about the same age as Carrie, maybe a year older, and he had shaggy brown hair and light blue eyes - and she continued to step away from him. In a blur of movement, he was in front of her, hand gripping around her neck. This was the second time that someone had wrapped their fingers around her neck, and Carrie desperately hoped that this was not becoming a habit. She looked up and into the man's eyes, and watched as they turned from a soft blue to a bright red. She was puzzled by the red iris's staring back at her; How could someone possible have red irises? That just didn't happen.
The man opened up his mouth and let out an ear piercing scream. But this scream sounded different, different as if it contained multiple voices all screaming at the same time, some sounded younger and others older. As quickly as the scream had happened, it stopped and his mouth snapped shut. Carrie hung there limp as his man continued to choke me, she felt paralyzed as she dangled there and felt very out of control. Her arms and legs weren't responding and she tried desperately to move them so that she could hold on to the arm in front of her, but nothing happened.
"Help. Me..." echoed a voice from around both the man and Carrie. Then the man's arm dropped and circled around her waist, and surprising she hadn't moved an inch. His eyes turned dark and his head dipped to Carrie's next. The next thing she knew there was a excruciating pain at her neck and Carrie tried to scream, but nothing came out. She felt a liquid, probably blood, trickle down her neck, and down her chest and back, and the drops splattered to the floor. Then he dropped her to the floor, her head hitting the cold ground. Her eyes fought to stay open, but darkness took over.
Carrie smelt it first, and the tickling sensation in her nose woke her up. She blinked open her eyes, and was startled when she realized that she was lying in a burning building. Burning wooden beams fell all around her and In the distance the wails of people in pain could be heard. But somehow, Carrie was safely inside a ring of fire, it neither got closer or farther away, the circle remained the same. Carrie quickly stood up and surveyed her surroundings, twirling in place. It seemed like Carrie was standing in the heart of the fire, in the centre of a burning house, but she couldn't see much through the smoke and flames. She could feel the heat from the flames as if they were real, and she unwillingly reached out a shaking hand to test something. When her fingers got close enough, the flames jumped and raced up, burning the tip of her fingers.
Carrie let out a pain filled, blood curdling scream and the scene collapsed back into my mind. The flames and the screams were gone. She only realize she was back in the dimly lit room with Scott and Derek when her head hit the cold, concrete floor of the hospital room. She stuck her finger into her mouth, half to keep from screaming in pain and half in an attempt to stop the pain of the burn. And she only vaguely noticed Scott crouch down in front of her.
"Carrie! What happened?" Scott asked, worry very much present on his features and in his voice. Carrie looked from him to Derek, tears welling at the corners of her eyes. She just shook her head as she fought back the tears.
"What did you see?" Derek asked in a serious tone.
"Some guy, I don't know who it was" she said, first taking the finger out of my mouth. Derek looked from me to the man and back. "It was dark but I could see his face and he had red, evil eyes. When he opened his mouth, screams came out, and he…" Carrie's hand shot up to her neck and came away slick with blood. She had to fight the urge to sob. How did all this come back with her. It was just a vision, she shouldn't have brought anything back from it. She tried to calm herself down and continue, "He bit the side of my neck and drank my blood. He dropped me, then I was in a burning house, surrounded by flames. Then because I'm stupid, or maybe I wasn't in control, I reached out and touched the flames. Maybe the pain is what brought me back..."
Scott grabbed her hand and examined Carrie's fingers, then her neck. "Have you ever brought back an actual injury from a vision before?" She shook her head, her visions were starting to really scare her. Her visions were changing and were becoming more intense and frightening.
"You must have been in the fire that took my family six years ago. Our house caught fire while my sister and I were at school. Kate Argent started it," Derek stated.
Scott turned to Derek, brows pulled together, "What makes you so sure that they set the fire?"
"Because they're the only ones that knew about us."
Scott helped Carrie back up to her feet, "Well, then they had a reason." Carrie wrapped an arm around Scott; she wasn't totally sure that her legs would support her for much longer.
"Like what? You tell me what justifies this." Derek reached toward the man and turned him, showing us the other side of him, and Carrie inhaled sharply. That was definitely the man that had stood in front of her, just slightly older. His right side was badly scared, and he had a vacant look in his eyes. If Carrie wasn't able to see his chest very slowly move up and down, she would have sworn her was either dead or a wax figure.
"They say they'll only kill adults, and only with absolute proof, but there were people in my family that were perfectly ordinary in that fire. This is what they do. And it's what Allison will do," Derek said harshly. As he spoke, it was easy to hear and feel the pain coming from Derek. He was still very much angry and hurt about this incident, and no matter what Scott or Carrie said, it wouldn't change his opinion.
Though Carrie could understand, to a degree, how Derek could still be resentful of what happened. She didn't lose her entire family, but she did lose her dad, who was the most important person in her life. And every day since he died, Carrie has felt as if a piece of her was missing. "I don't mean to be rude or insensitive, but you said that I needed to be careful too. That this will affect me as well. How?" she asked.
"What are you doing? How did you get in here?" Standing in the open doorway, was an orderly with a stern look on her face and hands on her hips.
The three exchanged looks before Derek spoke. "We were just leaving," He said, and Scott and Carrie followed him out of the room. They walked in silence through the dark building, but Carrie still felt weak from the vision and my finger were in excruciating pain. Thankfully Scott let Carrie lean on him for support, so the long walk through the hospital wasn't as hard.
Shortly thereafter they climbed into Derek's camaro and left. Derek dropped Carrie off at her car, which was still at the school, She said her goodbyes and hopped into her car. She sat there in her car, enjoying the silence that it offered. Carrie had been in Beacon Hills for a little while now, but since the moment she arrived it had been non-stop werewolf shenanigans and seriously fucked up visions. She just needed a moment of silence to herself, especially after what she experienced tonight. She let out a very loud sigh and jammed the keys into the ignition. She knew she was late and that Lacey was probably home, waiting for her. Time flies when you're dealing with werewolf things.
Finally, Carrie arrived home. she shut off the engine, exited the car and headed inside. She pressed the button on my car remote and locked it before she stepped into the house. After kicking off her shoes, headed straight for the stairs, but stopped when Lacey called her name. "Carrie!"
She flinched and stopped. Yep I was definitely in trouble. She turned on her heels and very slowly walked back down the stairs. "Hi mom," Carrie greeted, trying to be as cheerful as possible in hopes of defusing Lacey's anger.
"I thought we agreed to talk tonight and that you'd be home early," Mom asked as she came around the banister and stood at the bottom of the steps, "And what is with your shirt? What is all that black stuff? And, oh my god, what happened to your neck, it's completely bruised."
Carrie's hand shot up to the dried blood and covered it. "It's... paint. I got busy with Allison on a group art project for class and well, a paint fight happened. We lost track of time," She lied.
Lacey moved up a step, and Carrie did the same. If Lacey didn't get close enough, then she wouldn't be able to tell that the red on her neck was actually blood. "You should have let me know. I was worried."
Carrie shrugged, and lied some more, "I'm sorry, I left my phone in my car after school. It's no big deal and I'm home now anyways."
Lacey crossed her arms and gave Carrie a stern look. "Carrie, that's not the point."
Carrie threw up her hands, turned and stormed up the stairs. "Ugh! See this is what happens. One little thing and you get super overly parental. You weren't there at all, you were never a parent, so you don't get to treat me like that."
"Carrie! Come back here. We need to deal with this," Lacey shouted after her.
"No!" She shouted over her shoulder, "I should have never agreed to your help. I don't want it any more, you're off the hook. Now leave me alone!" She stomped into her bedroom, swung the door shut, and threw her bag to the floor. Then, falling onto the bed, Carrie buried her face into a pillow. Then she screamed, the pillow softening the sound. Then she heard the door click open, and she stopped, but she ignored Lacey when she sat at the edge of the bed.
"Carrie. Please. I want to deal with this," Lacey explained in a soft voice. Carrie shook her head, and Lacey sighed, "Why not?"
Carrie remained silent for a minute, trying to think of what to say. She had been hurt her whole life because of her mother. Lacey abandoned her and never came back, she made a life for herself in Beacon Hills that didn't include Carrie, and that hurt her. And as she grew up, she needed her mom. Carrie rested the side of her head against the pillow and looked up at her mom, brows pulled together and an angry frown on her face. "You left me all those years ago. I needed you while growing up but you never came back. And now that dad's gone, you want to play parent but it doesn't work that way. I have no one."
"Carrie. You-"
"Save it," Carrie spat, rolling over so her back was to Lacey, "I don't want to hear any of it."
Lacey put a hand on Carrie's shoulder, "Please listen to me. I want to explain everything to you. However much I can."
Carrie snorted. What could her mother tell her that she didn't already know? Her mother left and never looked back, that's it, that's the story. But maybe… She thought for a moment about what she had read in the journal, about Lacey leaving so that she could live a normal life. Without saying anything, Carrie sat up and scooted up towards the headboard, pulling her knees towards her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. She rested her chin on top of her knees, "Fine. Talk."
Lacey shifted and crossed her legs, and she started playing with a stray thread from her sleeve. "When you were little... No, when I found out that I was pregnant with you, I was horrified that you were going to have a stronger clairvoyant power than I have. I didn't want you to have to grow up with the daunting possibility that you'd be used, I wanted to give you a normal life. And I thought that maybe, if I got you away from all forms of influence, like my mother, that you wouldn't develop the power."
"Used how?"
"If you're not careful, people will attempt to control you since you're open to different planes of life than everyone else. Your mind is like an open door to different waves of conscience. You're connected to the past, to the present, and the future. They'll get you to induce visions of the future and then change it so that life benefits them. My mother told me horror stories of girls who were corrupted by the darkness that grew inside them as they started using their power for good. There are things in the world other than clairvoyants, like werewolves and other werecreatures, that-"
"Wait. You know about werewolves?" Carrie asked. Carrie wondered how much her mom knew about the happenings in Beacon Hills.
Lacey nodded, "I've know about them for a long, long time dear. Werewolves were the reason I was hired on at the hospital here. I was the chief physician to a very important family, The Hale family."
"Wait, what. No..." Lacey knew the Hales? Did she know who Derek was? Was she talking about the same family? Now Carrie was starting to get really interested in what Lacey had to say. Did she know that Derek was in town?
Lacey nodded, a sad smile on her face. "I was to be their doctor since they couldn't really visit a regular doctor, and sometimes things happened where they couldn't heal properly. Or some of the younger children that weren't werewolves, accidentally got injured by another family member, and they needed someone who knew about them but wouldn't say anything. I was employed to help them, to tweak medical sheets so that they could receive medical help, but not be found out."
"How did you get the job?"
Lacey was silent for a moment as she played with the loose string. "When I found out I was pregnant with you," she said, not looking up, "your father and I ran. We packed up what little we could and left. We reached L.A. and decided to stay there, having moved across country from New York. I gave my mom our address just in case she needed to get in contact for an emergency. Your father and I got married, and I took his last name, which was a big deal for my mom. In our family, since the women are so important, the men take the women's names after marriage, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted to be normal and normal meant taking Mason's. Once we were settled in, we tried to survive on our own, staying relatively hidden. But when you were born, it was a lot tougher than we had thought. We struggled for a while but we quickly realized that you needed stability and things that we, at the time, couldn't give you."
Carrie was starting to feel angry again. "So to give me those things, you though leaving was the answer?"
Lacey's face dropped, and it was easy to see that Carrie's words had hurt her. "Your father started working in the entertainment industry and to get anywhere, it takes time. We didn't have time, so I went to school to become a nurse, since we figured that would be quicker. I got into Stanford and your father and I decided that I would stay up there, alone, and that your father and you would stay in L.A..."
"But you still left..." Carrie whispered, her hurt feelings coming through.
Lacey nodded, "I did, because I thought it was for best, and that in a few years I could give you everything you wanted."
"What I wanted was a mom," Carrie whispered, voice starting to crack.
"I know." Lacey replied quietly, sounding defeated. A silence fell between them as both gathered their thoughts. Lacey was the first to speak. "While I was in school, I focused and excelled in my classes and the school offered me a multi-summer internship that I couldn't refuse. Your father pushed me to take it. You had adjusting well to living with just him and I visited a few times during my breaks. Once I had finished my nursing degree, I came home. But by then, you were convinced that I didn't love you and I had left. Your father nor I could understand where it came from."
"That's not true!" Carrie blurted out. Lacey remained quiet and looked away. She felt tears welling up at the corners of her eyes, and Carrie rubbed harshly at them with her finger tips. Was she the reason that Lacey wasn't around as she grew up? Had she been the one to push her away?
Lacey turned back and continued, "Since I had been gone so long, you had convinced yourself that I had left you behind. We were supposed to leave as a family shortly after I returned so that I could take a nursing job, but you refused to go anywhere else. You didn't want to be near me at all and it broke my heart. All you wanted was your dad. Your father suggested that I go and leave you both behind, and that he'd try to convince you to move. I hated it, really I did, but I agreed."
Carrie turned away and glared at the wall. All of her anger towards Lacey was caused by her own childish thinking. She had pushed her way, not the other way around. Why didn't dad ever tell me, Carrie thought, at least tried again when I was older?
"During the time that I was working as a nurse, my mother contacted me and told me that there was a group of wolves in Northern California that was looking for someone to be their resident doctor. I called them and explained to them that I was only a nurse. They suggested that I go to graduate school and become a doctor, but they would help with part of the tuition as long as during the summer I would come up to Beacon Hills and work at an internship."
"But how did... How did your mom know about it?" It was weird for Carrie to hear about her moms family. She didn't know any of them, and she barely knew that they existed. She wondered who else was on her mom's side.
Lacey shrugged, "She never told me exactly, but I that she saw it in a vision. I don't know what it consisted of since your grandmother is very secretive about what she sees. She has never told anyone how often she has visions or how strong they are. I believe it was to keep herself safe."
"So the Hale's knew that you're like me?" Carrie asked.
Lacey nodded, "At least they did when they were alive. They consulted me a few times, not just for medical attention. Then there was a fire and three survived. Peter Hale lives in a home here in Beacon Hills, and, well, I don't know where they are." Carrie chewed on the side of her cheek, unsure if she should tell her mom about Derek. Lacey watched Carrie, her brows slowly knitting together as she watched Carrie. "What is is?"
Carrie glanced up at Lacey. "Derek's alive. He's here."
Laceys jaw dropped and she shook her head, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth. Visible tears were forming at the corner of her eyes. "No. When did… How do you know this? You just got here."
Carrie shrugged and chuckled, "My life has been pretty eventful since I got here, Mom. I've been busy."
"I don't want you hanging around him!" Lacey said loudly, catching Carrie off guard.
"How could you say that," she shouted back, glaring at Lacey, "You were someone they trusted with their secret. Now you just want to turn your back on them?"
"I haven't turned my back on them!" Lacey shot back, her voice raising even higher. "Who do you think has been paying for Peter to stay in the hospital?"
"That's you?"
"Yes, it's me. Someone had to take care of him and I was the only one that knew about his secret. That's why I've stayed up here even though they're no longer around. I stayed because I couldn't desert the last remaining member of family that helped me in so many ways. And the reason I don't want you around them is that it's not safe to be close to them."
"But why. Why isn't it safe?"
"The Hale house fire wasn't an accident, it was deliberate. I don't know who it was exactly but it must have been someone who knew they were werewolves. And I'm sure that person who did it is still out there. I don't want you getting wrapped up in that sort of mess. I tried to give you a normal life, and being around anyone who is supernatural would be throwing that away."
Derek knew who had started the fire, and now Carrie did too. Kate Argent, Allison's Aunt. She thought for a moment about the vision she had that morning, the lady that was with Allison's dad had to be her. Carrie wondered if she should tell Lacey that she knew who it was? If she did, Carrie might be putting her own mother in danger. Derek did say that she shouldn't assume that the Argent's would ignore her presence if they found out about her being a clairvoyant. Carrie was confused on who she should trust. How did she get wrapped up in this so quickly?
The Argent's were werewolf hunters and Carrie knew that they were looking for Derek and Scott, in hopes that they'd lead them to the Alpha. She was worried about Scott, he was so new to this, and she wondered how she'd be able to help him, even maybe help Derek. She was clairvoyant but it wasn't amounting to much so far; being clairvoyant didn't seem to be that useful of a power right about now. How could she help her friends when the visions only happen when they want to, when they were triggered by outside stimuli. She was starting to feel really low, she wasn't a very helpful friend, and it felt like she was failing them. On top of it, Carrie still hadn't told Scott about what she had seen in her vision, and she didn't know how or when she could.
"Carrie..." She looked up at Lacey, and pursed my lips to the side. She didn't know what to say, didn't know where to start. "Carrie," Mom started, "what's going on with your visions?"
Carrie let out a half laugh, half sigh, and shrugged. "I don't know. I don't understand it at all."
Cautiously, Lacey moved up the bed towards Carrie, resting against the headboard beside her. She scooted over and made room for her mom to sit next to her. Lacey put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close so that Carrie's head rested on her shoulders. Unsure if she wanted the contact, Carrie tensed up but my mom didn't remove her arm. With a sigh she gave in and leaned into her. "I want to help," Lacey said.
"I don't even know what could be done," Carrie explained quietly, "I don't know how to explain these these changes, just that they're getting worse."
"Could you try describing the change to me?" Lacey asked, resting her head on top of Carrie's.
She swallowed hard and nodded, "When I arrived here in Beacon Hills I started getting more frequent and vivid visions. Before, they were only sometimes and usually it was just like watching a movie or a tv show. But the first one I experienced, I was the person the vision was about. When she screamed, I was told that I actually screamed too."
"Have you ever had a vision like that before?"
Carrie shook her head, "I've never before been in the mind of the person I was visioning about, I would just watch from a third person's point of view. And then it happened again at the lacrosse game and last night, I was in the body of someone as they chased something else. But in the one last night, it shifted and I was standing in front of my friend, but he couldn't see me. I was there, I was experiencing the situation alongside him but he couldn't see me."
"Like you were a ghost?"
Carrie nodded, "Yes, kinda of like that. But then I… tonight when I was with Scott and Derek visiting Peter-"
"You what!?" Lacey gasped, and moved to look down at Carrie. Her hung open from shock and she was struggling to find what to say.
Carrie nodded and held up her hand, "I know, I know. I was just following Scott, but while I was there I had another vision."
Lacey's brows knit together and she thought for a moment, "You do have a lot don't you?"
Carrie nodded, "Mhm. Well when I was in this vision, I was trapped in a fire. Derek thinks I was in the Hale house fire, and well I reached out to touch the fire and when I came out of the vision, my fingers were burnt." She held up the fingers and showed Lacey.
"You brought back the burn," She asked as she grabbed Carrie's fingers and looked them over. "It doesn't seem to be too bad. Just put some ointment on it, and you'll be okay. Maybe a small wrap bandage to make sure nothing happened." Carrie laughed quietly, her mom had just doctored her. Lacey looked up and narrowed her eyes at Carrie, "Is that what happened with your neck too?"
Carrie looked away sheepishly, realizing that she forgot to tell the beginning of the vision. "A man was also in the vision I had tonight, before I was in the fire. He choked me, and then bit the side of my neck."
Lacey leaned closer and examined Carrie's neck. She gently pushed her head to the side and examined the dark bruising on the side of her neck. Carrie winced as she ran her fingers up and down, a pain shooting up. "It almost looks like teeth marks, but I don't see any cuts or torn skin," Lacey announced, "but be careful. A bite from any werecreature, especially if the guy you saw in the vision was Peter, can be danger. If you feel anything changing, come to me right away."
Carrie nodded. Shit, she didn't want to become a werewolf. She could hardly deal with being clairvoyant, how the hell would she be able to deal with being a were? "That's not the weirdest thing happened. One night while I was sleeping, I had a dream that I was chasing Scott and when when I woke up I was near him, still in my pajamas. The thing is, I don't think I was sleepwalking."
Mom chewed on the inside of her cheek and pursed her lips. "Wow. I really don't know what to say."
Carrie nodded, and turned to face her, crossing her legs under her. "Me either," she answered truthfully, "It's overwhelming and scary. I don't know what to do to help myself. I don't understand it at all."
"I wish there was something I could do. I didn't have even a fraction of the power that you seem to have, and I ran from mine. I tried to live as normal of a life as possible and didn't try to force any visions. So I don't know much about the power either, but give me a few days and I'll see if I can find anything that can help you."
Carrie nodded, "Okay. Thank you."
"Do you forgive me now?" She asked, a hopeful smile on her face.
Carrie stopped, frozen for a moment. Her question caught Carrie off guard. "I-"
Lacey started shaking her head and waving her hands, "I shouldn't have asked that. I'm sorry. I just want you to know that I love you very much. I am so happy that you're here, though I wish it was under different circumstances."
"Do you still love him?" I blurted out and it was Lacey's turn to stop and stare. Carrie knew that her mom still wore her wedding ring, a small white-gold band with a medium circular diamond. It was nothing super flashy, but the fact that Lacey still wore it had to mean something, right? Within seconds Lacey's composure crumbled and she twirled the diamond ring around her finger. Soon, the tears welled up and started to fall down her cheeks. Carrie instantly felt horrible. Mom must have been keeping it all, Carrie thought. "Mom..."
As Carrie watched her mom break down, her heart broke for her. She knew that Mason never moved on, never dated anyone else, and even though he never said it out loud, she knew that he loved Lacey up to the point of his death. It had to be the same for Lacey. Carrie moved forward and wrapped her arms around her mom. "I'm sorry mom," She whispered, and Lacey wrapped her arms around her, holding her tight.
The pair remained like that for a bit, before Lacey's tears eventually dried up and stopped. She excused herself from Carrie's room and left her to her own thoughts. Carrie changed out of her horribly disgusting clothing and jumped into the shower, washing away the blood from her neck and the black goo vomit that Derek had barfed up on her. Finally, she climbed into bed and pulled the covers up. Even as the happenings of the day raced through her mind, Carrie finally managed to fall asleep and ending the day thinking of her new friends and how she was going to help them. Thankfully, no vision's disturbed her sleep.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Yay! I am so happy to be finished this chapter. I know its a little shorter, but it is a information packed chapter. You learn a lot about Lacey here, so you'll definitely want to pay attention. There is a bunch of dialog, I am sorry, but its worth it! I don't want to say too much about this chapter since I don't want to spoil it for all of you, so I'll keep this short. I hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think! Enjoy~ xoxo
EDITED 07/2014: I think this is one of the most reworked chapters. I fixed a bunch of Lacey's history, and the vision Carrie has when she's visiting Peter. There's some things in this one that will show up later in the series; It's always fun to add those "future bits" to your beginning chapters. Anyways, enjoy!
