Breaking Free

Chapter 29

2 Days Later

Taylor's POV

Something heavy is on my chest, and it's making it hard to breath. I try to press it off, but find my arms restrained by a similar weight. Groggily, I open my eyes, which is surprisingly difficult. My eyelids are painfully heavy.

The first thing I see is crates. I look around and notice that I'm in what appear to be a warehouse. I try to stand up, but fail- because, you see, that's what happens when you are duck taped to a chair.

"What the hell," I mutter, before it all comes rushing back to me. The dance, the kiss, the hotel, the car- oh god.

"Deputy Jones," I whisper.

"I'm sorry- he's not available. But maybe I can take a message?"

The man who stands before me I've only seen in pictures and news clips- but even so, it strikes a chord of terror in me that I didn't know existed.

"Clint Harris."

Carter's POV

"How are you holding up?"

People have been flowing in all day- sometimes bringing food, sometimes just stopping by to let us know they're thinking about us. And each one of them asks me the same question.

"How are you holding up?"

I just say I'm fine, or I'm handling it, but the truth is, I can't feel anything. I'm completely numb. I know I should cry or be angry or feel something, but I don't. I just can't bring myself to believe that she's gone. It can't be possible.

And yet it is.

To get away from the constant flow of people- which my parents are handling well, I might add- I go out to the barn. Before I fully know what I'm doing, I am standing in front of Ezhno's stall.

Because I'm not the only one who lost her- he lost her too. And no matter how important she was to me, she was a million times more so to him. Ezhno will never know what happened. He'll never know his owner was brutally murdered- a detail I found out yesterday- before being thrown in a ditch.

He'll expect her to walk in that door. And when she doesn't- I think he might just give up living.

"Hey boy," I murmur, patting his neck. His eyes look sad, their usual fiery gleam nonexistent.

I sigh, before turning to go back to the house. I get there just in time to see a few familiar faces climb out of the car.

At first, I just see Joy, Sky, Andrea, and Ethan. They are all teary eyed with red faces, except Sky. She has an unreadable look on her face- as if she knows something that we don't. When she sees me, she gives me a weak smile that I can't gather the strength to return.

I start to walk over to meet them when I stop dead in my tracks.

Because the last face on this godforsaken Earth I want to see is that of Jake.

Unable to control myself, I charge towards him, tackling him to the ground. I slam my fists into his face repeatedly, yelling curses that I won't bother writing down. If it weren't for Ethan and my father, I'd probably have killed him- or at least given him serious brain damage.

But they pull me off of him, confused as to my sudden outburst of anger.

They'll never know why I'm so angry. I'll never tell what Jake did. But I'll hold him responsible till the day I did for Taylor's death.

Cause let's face it- if he wouldn't have kissed her, she wouldn't have taken off. And if she wouldn't have taken off- she'd probably be with me right now.

A/N

Awwwwwww poor Carter. If only he knew. Two updates in one day. Plus I updated last night =]

Goodnight my lovelies!