Page 96 of Tell No Lies

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I froze in the doorway of my home. I could hear someone shuffling through the kitchen. It was early evening. There was no way Brandon would be home already with the project he was working on. I dropped my bags outside of the door and slipped off my sandals. With my phone in one hand, I eased open the door with the other.

Making as little sound as possible, I snuck farther in. With my back against the wall at the end of the entry hall, I peeked around the corner. There wasn’t anyone in the kitchen, but a flash of movement caught my attention at the entrance of my room.

My heart pounded within my chest. I pushed my hand against it, trying to calm down. I took a deep breath and held it as I strode silently through the kitchen. Luckily, ballet had made me light on my feet and aware of the noise I made.

At the other end of the room, I paused, waiting to hear anything from my room. Nothing.

Was this the same person who’d left the note? Glancing around the kitchen, I spotted a large knife sticking out of the block. I grabbed it and pressed myself back against the counter. Looking down, I remembered the phone in my hand. I contemplated calling 911 but decided against it. You could only cry wolf so many times before you were deemed delusional. I knew that from experience.

Counting to three, I prepared myself to enter my room. On three, I turned and slipped in. I padded my way across the carpet, looking around. Nothing was out of place, and no one was there. I looked behind me and cursed myself for standing in the open.

I hurried back to the door and looked to my right. There were two more options: my bathroom or my closet. Squeezing the knife for courage, I reached out for the knob closest to me. Slowly, painfully slow, I turned it. There was one creak. I paused, looking around for any movement. When it proved quiet, I continued twisting ever so carefully.

Suddenly, there was a slam from the bathroom. I dropped the doorknob and brought the knife up with both hands, keeping it in front of my body.

I heard quiet footsteps coming from the bathroom. I turned toward the noise and froze. Panic flooded in. This was it. Silently, I crossed one leg over the other, moving closer to the door. Just when I was ready to turn into the room, a body slammed into me.

I fell back to the ground, landing hard. The knife flew from my hands, too far away for me to reach. Spots filled my vision from hitting my head. Dread filled me as I lay on the carpet, helpless.

Before I could scream, two hands grasped my arms.

“Aubrey!”

I shook my head, trying to clear my vision. I twisted, trying to escape my captor. Just as I brought my knee up, one of the hands dropped from my arm and wiped away the tears falling from my eyes. I looked up and saw concerned blue eyes. It was not the face of evil, or Morgan. It was Carter.

“Aubrey, calm down!”

My body, now filled with relief, shook. My insides trembled as I lost control, collapsing back onto the floor despite Carter’s efforts to hold me up.

He held my head in one hand and brushed tears away with the other.

“Breathe, Bree. I need you to breathe.”

I tried to focus on his words, but images flashed in my mind of being attacked in the dark, a hand grabbing me and a needle piercing my skin.

I could feel myself slipping away. From somewhere in the distance, I heard Carter swear. The hand that had been soothing away the tears was gone.

There was a mumbled conversation. He sounded angry, or was it concern? It no longer mattered as I let the darkness take over.

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I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the ceiling. I tried to sit up, but strong hands held me down. I looked to where they came from and saw an EMT kneeling next to me.

“Aubrey, I need you to stay down for a few minutes, okay?” Despite his strength, he had a very gentle voice.

I was too tired to fight back anyway, so I remained still and continued my inventory of the surroundings.

We were in my bedroom, and I was lying on the carpet. Odd. That didn’t explain why an EMT was restraining me. I turned my head, looking for someone familiar. Finally, my eyes connected with Brandon. He was home? It was too early, wasn’t it?

I felt my heart speed up. What was wrong? He wouldn’t be home unless something bad had happened. I tried to remember what had occurred, but I only had glimpses of the day. Waking up with the girls. School. Dance. Then nothing.

Finally, the EMT who was looking me over sat back. “Aubrey, can you tell me what happened?”

He was the one who’d shown up here. Shouldn’t he tell me?

“I remember dance.”