Chapter One
Jocelyn and Carter got out of the car and headed up toward their house.
"I had fun tonight," Carter said as he kissed Jocelyn on the forehead.
Jocelyn smiled and said, "Yeah, it's been a while since we've been out."
Carter nodded.
"Oh," Jocelyn said as they approached the door to their house. "I left my purse in the car."
"I'll go get it," Carter said as he dug in his pocket for the keys.
"No, sweetie, I'll get it. You go ahead and head on in."
"Okay," Carter said as Jocelyn ran over to her silver Trans Am.
"Hey, next time, can we take your car?" she teased.
Carter grinned as he thumbed through the keys. Jocelyn could hear the tinkling. It was a sound that she had grown to love over the three months that they had lived together. Exactly two years after they had started dating, they decided that it was time to move in together.
"Do you honestly want to take a police cruiser out to eat?" Carter laughed.
Jocelyn reached for the car door and opened it. She looked at Carter to say something and noticed that he had finally gotten the door open. Before she could say anything, there was a huge explosion. The force of the explosion, threw Jocelyn into the car, causing several bruised, if not broken, ribs. As Jocelyn landed on the ground, she passed out.
Jocelyn regained consciousness several minutes later. She managed to slowly to stand up and face the house, which was now fully engulfed in flames.
"Carter," she whispered as she brought a trembling hand up to her mouth. Tears spilled down her tanned cheeks and her knees gave out under her. Sirens blared in the distance.
"Carter," she said a little louder.
She was pleading for him to answer her. For him to come back to her. Before she knew it, she was screaming his name and sobbing. Jocelyn only quit yelling after she lost her voice. Several neighbors rushed up to her and picked her up from the ground.
"Carter," she whispered one more time before the darkness took her once again.