Getting Back to Friday

Chapter 2

Chandler's POV

I didn't know what the plan was. All I knew was that I was in a stranger's home with Carter and I had just drugged and could have very well possibly over dosed an innocent teenage girl. Looking down at her tear-stained cheeks, I realized that I still had the syringe in her arm. Gasping, I slowly pulled it out, hoping I didn't hurt her. But how could I? She was just knocked out with an animal tranquilizer. The very same thing that I would have and should have used on her dog instead of a beer bottle I just so happened to have clasped firmly in my hand at the second I saw the massive animal look up at me. I had reacted out of instinct, like any pity robber would. You see a big dog, so you do whatever you can to get it away from you. It was just how the world worked.

I stood tall and looked down at the girl's frail little body curled up on the couch. Apart of me wondered if she was still awake and just faking her sleep until we left, but there was no way that was possible. The drug was too strong.

"You see anything valuable enough to take?" Carter asked, walking from another dimly lit room.

I glanced around. There wasn't much in the living room. Just a small flat screen television set, a little leather sofa, some pictures hanging on the wall, and two tall towers standing high full of DVD movies. The couch was in the center of the room, and behind it was the hallway to what I assumed were more bedrooms and maybe a bathroom or two. To the left of the couch was a sliding glass door that led into the big open backyard and to the right was the entry way into the kitchen. The house was decent and looked like every other house that I had robbed in the past.

I shook my head at Carter's question, almost forgetting that he had even asked it. "No, I don't see anything." My eyes made their way down to the German shepherd lying limp on the floor. Shattered glass outlined him like police tape at a crime scene. "What are we going to do about the dog?"

Carter looked down at the dog through his shadowy black hood and shrugged carelessly. "It's still breathing. Might as well leave it here. It will either wake up eventually, or die in a few minutes or so. Just forget about it." He looked back in my direction, though I could tell that he was actually eyeing the couch. "How's the girl?"

"Well she is asleep if that is what you mean."

He nodded. "Good," Carter chucked a roll of duct tape at me from inside his deep jacket pocket and I caught it with one hand last minute, "Tie her up and lets go. We're bringing her with us."

I froze. I could feel my heart drop. With a quivering lip, I stuttered, "W-what do you mean? Can't we just leave her here?"

Carter pulled his hood down from his head, revealing a face so stone cold and angry that even a gargoyle would have coward away. I licked my pursed lips nervously. "Carter, we don't have to take her. That is not what I signed up for! I can't do this!" My voice broke, and just then did I know I was going to lose this fight.

Carter stomped towards me, his black steel-toed boots clonking on the floor with every step he took. I didn't step back. I knew better. Last time I backed away from him, I found myself thrown across the room by the throat. Carter was a great partner, but was also very aggressive and would fight to get his way if he wanted it. Carter liked having his way...

He had gotten nose to nose with me when he abruptly stopped. For a long while, I thought he was just going to bulldoze me over. Through his grinding and clamped teeth, he growled, "I said tie her up."

He took a step back and offered me room to do as he asked, and I reluctantly obeyed. The girl's long brunette hair was stuck to her cheeks from all of the salty tears she shed, and I wiped them out of her face before applying a small amount of duct tape on her lips. When doing so, I really got a good long look at the girl. She was an older teenager by the looks of it, maybe sixteen or seventeen, and had dark brunette hair that went down to a few inches below her shoulders. She had high cheek bones and a cute little button nose. Maybe she was pretty. I didn't really think about it, though.

"And her hands. I don't want her fighting back when she wakes up." the voice of my partner demanded behind me. I rolled my eyes.

Both of her wrists could fit in one of my fists, so it was easy for me to tape those up. When I was done, I stood and faced Carter, waiting for what he had to say.

The moment of silence that rested in the air was peaceful, but nerve-wracking at the same time. I sat like an anxious little dog waiting for it's master's return after a long day's work, hungry for Carter's next choice of words. I was silently praying to myself that Carter would just tell us to go and leave the girl behind. I didn't want to get involved in any type of kidnapping. That was way out of my league. But after all of that waiting, all of that patience, all I got was a stern look and another demand. "Put her in the truck and let's hit the road."

Damn it.