( crossfire! )¹ ─ ᵗʷᶤˡᶤᵍʰᵗ ✓

chapter ten.

( CHAPTER TEN )
DRESSES, DRUNKS,
AND CHICKEN NUGGETS

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12 MARCH 2008

AFTER VISITING LA PUSH with Bella and her friends and going out to eat dinner with them yesterday, Carter had gone to sleep as soon as she got home. However, her sleep was anything but peaceful as it was consumed by nothing but a nightmare that just repeated itself over and over again that she couldn't wake up from. It would always start off with a man in a boat, listening to music on a Walkman and drinking beer. Carter thought he looked familiar, but she couldn't think of his name or where she had seen him before. He was singing along to the song when a sudden deep growl sounded throughout the boathouse he was in. Carter knew the man had heard it, as he stopped singing and looked around the area. He heard a sudden movement and called out to whoever it may have been. Carter tried screaming at him to run but he never heard her. Three bodies sped around the boathouse at a speed too fast for any human or animal and the man tried to catch a glimpse of what it was, his heartbeat racing loudly in Carter's ears and giving her a headache. When another growl and loud movement was heard, he pulled the headphones off his ears and called out for a man named Gerald, wondering if it was the man messing with him. He stood up and continued to call out for the man, walking to the front of the boat. Carter felt tears prick her ears as she knew what was going to happen.

The boat rocked with the man's movement. Whoever it was continued to dart around in the shadows and the man was growing more scared by the second. Wanting to get out of there as fast as possible, he started the boat and put it in reverse. He didn't get very far as suddenly a fiery red-head appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the front of the vessel, pulling it back to the dock with inhuman speed and strength. She crouched on the dock, looking ready to pounce as she eyed the man as if he were food. The man, being a little tipsy, smiled at the beautiful woman and greeted her. Another body―a tall, blond, and shirtless male―then jumped down from the rafters behind the man, landing in the boat gracefully. With a wicked smile, the blond stood as the man turned to face him.

"Nice jacket," the blond complimented in a dark tone, eyeing the man's old leather jacket. The man didn't notice the woman climb onto the boat, too confused to properly comprehend what was going on.

"Who are you?" the man questioned the blond. The blond's malicious smile fell as he tilted his head to the side and kept his stare on the man.

"It's always the same inane questions," the blond said in a bored tone. "'Who are you?'"

"'What do you want?'" the red-head followed in a playful tone.

"'Why are you doing this?'" the blond continued as a black male with dreads appeared, sitting on one of the boat's seats. The man's heart was racing so fast that Carter thought he might have a heart attack.

"James, let's not play with our food," the black male said. The woman's leg kicked out quickly in a blur, knocking the man down onto the floor of the boat. Then, as the three strangers swarmed the man and blood-curdling screams escaped his lips, the dream would start over. It wasn't until Robyn came into her room early that morning, after coming home from a late night shift at the hospital, to wake her due to the screams leaving her niece's mouth did Carter finally escape the nightmare. Robyn kept a close eye on her up until the moment Carter left for school, believing that Carter's night terrors were returning. But Carter knew that the dream wasn't one of her normal night terrors, it felt different. It felt real. Carter chose to try and brush it off, but it stayed in the back of her mind.