Nightmares

Chapter fourteen: Harper

I couldn't sleep. I kept touching my throat, still unsure about Carter. If that was even his real name. It occurred to me that it was ridiculously stupid of me to be so trusting of someone I'd only known a few days. What if he had really meant me harm? I thought about telling someone; but didn't want to get him into trouble. However daft that seemed.

He seemed harmless. But then, so did most murderers and kidnappers. No one went about with a sign over their head stating who and what they really were. Particularly not people like that. Their whole existence and freedom relied on them being as unobtrusive and unthreatening as possible.

Yet even as he'd held a knife to my throat, there was a part of me that still trusted him. And that will be your downfall, Harp. A voice in my head told me. Trusting too easily is bound to land you in trouble sooner or later. But I remembered how sincere his eyes were when he'd apologized. How soft and caring they were, and knew I was right. He wouldn't hurt a soul. Not without good reason.

But what were his reasons? I knew he had them. And he'd told me about the incident, but I knew there was more. That wasn't the end of his story. Deep down, where no one saw, he'd had cause to harm someone. I could just feel it. I wanted him to tell me. Tell me the truth about the dangers of the dark. But he wasn't ready. And if he wasn't ready, I couldn't push him into it. My phone buzzed.

I'm sorry, Harper.

I didn't respond. I wasn't sure what to say. What was I doing? This wasn't me. I didn't just meet random guys, give them my number and then meet up with them in the dark. The sort of situation earlier was exactly the reason I didn't usually do that sort of thing. And yet I had still done it. For him. For Carter. A boy I had nothing but suspicions about. So what if he seemed hurt? So what if he seemed lost? That could all be a trick. And like a fool, I had almost fallen for it.

But his eyes were so soft and caring... snap out of it, Harper! Of course they looked soft and caring. Murderers and kidnappers have to look soft and caring! It's in the job description. They're meant to be discreet. If they were in-your-face and obvious, people wouldn't trust them; and they'd be locked up.

You have to cut contact with Carter. The sensible voice in my head told me. You don't know what he's capable of.

My finger hovered over his contact in my phone and I almost deleted it before I got a message from him. I knew I shouldn't open it. But my finger clicked anyway out of curiosity.

I can explain. He said.

I hesitated. What if he told me lies? Would I ever really know the difference?

Wasn't it better to trust someone before judging them? And that was how people got hurt.

After a few minutes hesitation, I messaged him back.

Start talking.

~*~

"Are you kidding me right now, Harper?" Danny said as we took our usual seats in the cafeteria the following Monday.

"What?" I whined. Picking up a chip off my plate.

"You gave the guy your number. And he threatened you with a knife?" He whispered. So as not to alarm the people nearby.

"He didn't mean to." I said. Unsure why I was defending a guy I hardly knew. Who had, admittedly, threatened me with a knife.

He gave me an incredulous look.

"How can you not mean to do something like that, Harper?" He demanded.

I couldn't think of a response, so I just shrugged. He threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. "What were you thinking?"

"He's a nice guy." I defended, still not sure why I was doing so.

"A nice guy who could be a potential murderer or psycho-maniac." He responded.

"He isn't." I insisted.

"And this is from...what? Two meetings with this guy. One of which he almost stabbed you with a knife?" He said, sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. He rolled his back. He sighed, "Fine, but if you meet him again, I'll come too. For back-up." He said eventually.

"Back-up?" It was my turn to be sceptical.

"Or else you can't see him again."

I simmered at the ultimatum. What was he? My mother? But considering what had nearly happened the last time we had met, I found myself reluctantly agreeing.

"Fine. But you'll see that he's actually a really nice guy." I told him. "I'm sure you'll get on great."

He looked sceptical, but simply shrugged it off. I lifted my chin, stubbornly. Carter wasn't a bad person; when Danny met him, he would see that. He was just...what was the word he used? Careful. That was it. He was just careful.

"You should have deleted his number." Danny said. "Who knows what his intentions really are?"

"Exactly." I replied. "I'll never know what his intentions are unless I hang around long enough to find them, will I?"

"That's the kind of thinking that leads to trouble." He said.

"No." I replied. "That's the kind of thinking that leads to answers. He's a mystery, Danny. I can't leave a good mystery."

He studied me for a long while and I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"You watch too many detective films." He said eventually.

"So?" I smiled. "They always end up okay, don't they?"

"Life isn't like the films, Harper."

"No." I agreed, thinking about Carter's intense blue eyes. "Sometimes it can be so much more beautiful."