It was snowing when I woke up on December 25. I smiled when I saw the huge flakes drift past my tiny window and land beautifully on the white ground. I walked upstairs and looked at my family's beautiful Christmas tree. I saw the many gifts underneath; some for me, some for Travis, some for Grace and Ryan, and some for my parents. My parents were both awake and in the kitchen; my mom making eggs and bacon, and my dad making a pot of coffee. Travis was at his apartment and he would be arriving within the hour with Grace. Ryan called me the night before and said that he wouldn't be able to come because of his own family, but would stop by the day after.

"Morning, Mom and Dad. Merry Christmas."

They both looked up at me and simultaneously said, "Merry Christmas, Care Bear!"

I smiled and set the table for the five of us. Soon, Grace and Travis arrived bearing four presents, and we all sat down and had our Christmas breakfast. After breakfast, we began opening presents. As always, Travis and I sorted them to their rightful owners, and then I got to open mine first. I ripped the paper off of each one in a hurry, and soon it was Grace's turn, then Travis's, then Mom's, then, finally, Dad's. There were a few presents left over, and we all assumed they were for Ryan, so we left them there for the next day.

I felt someone kiss me. I stirred. Another kiss. I opened my eyes.

"Ryan, God, do you ever let me sleep?" I mumbled, turning over.

I heard him laugh. "Nope. I want to open my presents."

"You sound like a bratty little kid. 'I wanna open my presents,'" I mocked.

"Fine. I'm starting without you, then."

I sat up. "No!" I screamed, holding my dizzy head. "Now look what you made me do, I'm dizzy now!"

Ryan laughed again, "You sat up too fast." He grabbed my hand. "Let's go."

I reluctantly got out of bed and walked upstairs. I walked over to the Christmas tree to get Ryan's presents. I got confused when I saw one more present than the day before.

"Hey, Ry," I asked.

"Yeah?" he answered, walking over towards me from the kitchen.

"Did you bring any presents?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

"Then who is this from?" I held up a package that had my name on it.

Ryan shrugged. "I don't know."

"Hm."

"Open it," he said.

"Open yours first."

He smiled. He really wanted to. "Okay." Ryan opened two gifts: one from my parents and one from Travis and Grace. Then he told me to open mine. I did.

"What is it?" I asked, eyeing the tape recorder.

Ryan took it from my hands and pressed play.

It crackled a bit, then said, "Caroline… I want you to know that I'm coming for you. I want you, and I always get want I want. We're going to be together forever." Then there was a cackle; an insane, maniacal laugh.

"Oh, my God." I looked at Ryan.

"What's wrong, Caroline?" I heard a voice from behind me. "Scared?"

I turned around. I nearly fainted. In walked Luke, along with Patrick and Logan.

"Patrick? Logan? What are you guys doing here?" I asked cautiously.

Luke laughed. "Come on, Caroline, get in the game. I had to get my information from someone. Ryan, Patrick, and Logan are my cousins."

I gasped and almost cried. I realized I was too scared to let the tears come out. I tried to call out my parents' names. My voice didn't work. Then, Ryan grabbed me from behind.

"Come on, Baby, let's get out of here."

I turned around. I finally forced out, "How could you do this to me?" Ryan didn't answer; he just laughed. "I thought you loved me."

He laughed again. "I could never love a whore." He put a lot of emphasis on the word 'whore.' "Besides, you fucked up Luke's reputation pretty bad… and no one does that to my family and gets away with it."

"How did I mess up his reputation? He was the one who raped me! Plus, I never even told anyone until I told you!" I spat.

"Well, everyone found out about it after you moved, you little bitch." Luke shot right back.

"So how did you pin that on me?"

Neither of them said anything. Ryan started pushing me towards the front door. Luke already had it open, and Patrick and Logan were walking over to Patrick's truck. When we passed Luke, he grabbed my hair and Ryan let go of my arms. I cringed as the pain overtook my body. Luke shoved me into the Suburban, and I hit my head and blacked out.

I was sitting in a chair when I woke up. I looked around for a minute, and then there was a hand on my shoulder. I turned around, smiling, thinking it was Ryan, but instead saw Luke.

"Aren't you supposed to be in jail?" I asked him, petrified.

He smirked. "I've been out for a few days. I know a few cops." My eyes got big, and Luke pulled me in closer. "Baby, I'm glad we're together now. You're going to be mine forever." Luke's smile grew into something evil and not humanlike.

"No," I said. "I have Ryan. You can't hurt me when I have Ryan."

An insane laugh escaped from Luke's throat. "Sweetheart, you don't have Ryan."

"Where is he?" I asked, scared for my life.

"You don't remember?" Luke responded.

I shook my head nervously, waiting to be woken up.

"He's here." My heart lightened. "But he's on my side." My stomach dropped. I felt like I had been hit with a ton of bricks. What was happening? Since when was Ryan on his side? How did Luke have me? Luke seemed to have read my mind when he said, "Do you remember opening my special present?" Then it hit me: Ryan and Patrick and Logan were all helping Luke. "Ah, so you do remember? Good. I didn't want to have to explain it to you."

My eyes filled with tears. "What are you going to do with me?"

Luke sighed. "Well, I was really hoping to save that part for later, but if you really want the grand finale now…" his voice faded as he pulled a knife out of his belt loop. I was absolutely terrified. Tears streamed down my cheeks. Luke pulled the sharp blade up close to my face. Memories of Ryan flooded into my mind; how can someone pretend to love someone else like that? I felt the knife on my neck, now. More and more pressure was added, slowly, and I felt it penetrate my skin. The pain ripped through my body. I screamed. Luke laughed. Deeper, deeper, deeper still. The pain was unbearable. It was too much to handle. I blacked out.

*AUTHOR'S NOTE – I am in the process of writing a sequel to "Sweet Caroline," and all questions will hopefully be answered. Thank you!