Sweet Like Candy (The Series)

Chapter Six: Coming Home

I walked into my eerie home at around 5AM on a cold, snowy November night. The lights were out and the darkness was prominent. I felt something I had never felt before walking into that house: dread. My heart, soul and gut were telling me that Mr. Matthews - my husband, the man who could've been my baby's father; my abuser - had something to do with Carter's death. I had only known Carter for just over seven months but I knew he wasn't in such a state of mind where he felt he couldn't go on. He was killed. I was about to find out the truth.

I used my dangling silver keys to open the front door, which was tall and large, which had golden handles on it, creating an extravagant vibe. That house was as pretentious as wealthy mansions get. I never felt truly at home there, if I'm being totally honest and now, I was going to find out why. I took one step - one, hesitant step - over the threshold of my home and entered the dimly lit hallway, where I could see a light, what I made out to be firelight, emerging from Mr. Matthews' study, which was located directly down the hall from the front door, to the left. I quietly tip-toed my way down the never ending hall, and peered around the corner of the wall, where I saw Minnie, standing over a gun-wielding Mr. Matthews, kissing his neck lovingly. Though I had just spotted my husband acting as an adulterer, I felt no sense of betrayal. I had done the same and I never really loved him, so I wasn't hurt by what I was seeing. However, when I discovered the meaning behind their 'love', I felt violated and sick to my stomach.

I was sick and tired of being in the dark (literally), so I attempted to muster up enough courage to confront Minnie and Mr. Matthews and learn the truth about everything but - and there's a huge but - I got much more than what I was expecting. As soon as I was about to announce myself to the room, I felt a vicious force nudge me out into the open, for both Minnie and Mr. Matthews to see. The firelight being the only source of illumination in the room gave the situation an appropriate dark orange tension. It needed that. I glanced over my shoulder and found that Lukas had followed me to my home, and grasped a macabre machete in his right hand. I was in danger. And I had no idea why... then. Mr. Matthews rose from his plush red loveseat, with a smug look on his face - as if I was deserving of the horror I was about to uncover. He raised his left hand, which just so happened to hold a handgun, and aimed it directly at me. I winced, as I half closed my eyes. I thought my husband was going to shoot me on the spot, without ever learning about my past. But she had other plans.

As Mr. Matthews was just about to place his index finger on the gun's trigger, an all-too-familiar female voice emerged from the darkness behind me and Lukas. Her voice was as eerie and mysterious as ever. Gabriella. And right at that very second, the truth hit me like a tone of bricks but I waited until one of the four crazy ass psychopaths in the room with me would confirm it before I allowed myself to believe my theory. Gabriella was decked out in a black pencil skirt, towering charcoal high heels and a grey blazer, almost as if she was ready for a funeral. The person standing in the same room as me was not the same Gabriella I had known. But, that's exactly what she wanted. "Don't shoot, Isaac. She's not ready", Gabriella ordered, her tone confirmed to me that she was the leader of the pack. Mr. Matthews lowered his firearm and I let out a sigh of relief, which didn't last very long. In the midst of this chaos, I latched onto the fact that Gabriella had just referred to Mr. Matthews as Isaac. Was that his first name? All this time, he never did tell me his first name. I had never questioned it as I believed it was a sensitive topic but now, I wasn't so sure.

"Wh... why did you call him Isaac?", I asked, stuttering as I looked around the room and saw two men - Mr. Matthews and Lukas - holding death inducing weapons. Gabriella stepped towards me, her high heels creating a cruel and elusive sound against the wooden floors. She raised her perfectly black manicured hand to my left cheek and whispered, "Because that's his name". I had made that connection already but Gabriella's confirmation helped me a lot. My next question opened several reveals that my stomach was not prepared for - I don't think I would ever have been prepped for this.