We Go On

Chapter Seven

     Friday night came sooner than Carter had hoped. She tried to think of the best excuse to get out of her date with Damon, but she knew her friends wouldn't vouch for her on this. In the end, she figured it wouldn't be so bad to go on one date with him.

     Carter sits with the families of her friends. The boys are out on the field and the girls are off to the side, cheering their hearts out. She'd keep her eyes peeled for numbers 7, 33, and 13. But she couldn't help but look for number 2, Damon's number.

     The game comes to an end, their school winning by a 36-point lead that had the crowd going wild. Carter's friends meet up with her before they send her off on her date.

     "It'll be fun." Maria says to Carter, resting a hand on Carter's shoulder, sensing she was a bit nervous.

     "You look hot, I expect to hear all the details later." Liam whispers into Carter's ear as he hugs her.

     Carter smiles at him, "Okay..."

     "If for any reason you need us, call." Charlie says to her.

    "But she won't call. Because she's going to have so much fun." Samantha says

     "I'll try not to." Carter responds

     "Have fun, kiddo." Erick says to Carter and soon they all say their goodbyes and leave Carter on the bleachers waiting for Damon.

     A couple of minutes go by and Damon finally shows up, hair wet from his shower, wearing jeans and a navy blue button-down shirt. Carter didn't want to admit it, but she really thought Damon looked really cute tonight.

     "Hey there!" Damon says as he approaches her.

     "Hey. Congrats on the win. You guys played a good game." she says to him as she stands up to greet him. He wraps her in a hug, catching her a bit off guard.

     Damon takes a step back to take a look at her. She had on a red button-down blouse, jeans, and black boots that almost reached her knee. "Wow... you look incredible. As always." he smiles at her.

     "Thank you." she responds shyly, looking down.

     "Shall we?" he asks, holding out his hand.

     She hesitates but takes his hand and he leads her to his car, opening the door for her.

     Damon had taken her to a nice restaurant in town, The Golden Rose.

     He was a complete gentleman. Opened all the doors for her, pushed in her chair, he even bought her a rose. They talked about their plans for after high school, and how football was going. He made her laugh and complimented her smile and her dimples. The night made Carter shut off her thoughts, made her enjoy herself, and she didn't mind hanging out with someone who wasn't a part of her inner circle.

     Once dinner was over, she agreed to go back to Damon's place and hang out for a little bit more. Arriving in his driveway, she tried to hide her amazement at how big his house was.

     "Hope this is okay." he says, getting out of the car and running around to open the door for her.

     She looks up at the big house made of bricks, lights illuminating the outside, beautiful gardens, and even a water fountain. She's convinced this is a house straight out of a home décor magazine.

     She smiles up at him as he helps her out of the car, leading her inside, keeping his hand on the small of her back the entire time.

     Damon leads her into the kitchen and he takes out two glasses, cokes, and a bottle of rum. He turns his back to her as he serves the drinks. "Do you drink?" he asks, as he finishes pouring the drinks and he hands her a glass.

     "Not really. But I'm sure one drink won't hurt." she says, accepting the glass and taking a drink.

     "Good. So how about we go up to my room?" he smiles at her as he downs his drink. He puts the glass down and just starts drinking straight from the bottle.

     "No, that's okay, I'm good here." she says, taking note of how fast he drank his drink, and that he's her ride home.

     "C'mon, you'll have fun." he begs, pouting his lip.

     "No thanks." she confirms, taking another drink.

     He lets out a sigh of defeat, "Okay, fine. How about we take this party to the living room instead?" he suggests

     "Okay." she agrees

     Damon presses a button on a remote and soft music begins to play all around the living room. Carter suddenly starts to feel dizzy, so she sits down on the couch.

     He sets the bottle down on the table in front of them, takes her cup out of her hand, and does the same.

     "You okay?" he asks her

     "Yeah, I just got a bit light-headed." she says

     "I'm sure it'll pass." he scoots closer to her, "I've been meaning to tell you how beautiful you look tonight." he says in a low voice, pushing her hair behind her ear.

     "Thanks..." she barely says. The room around her starts to spin, and her breathing becomes ragged.

     "You'd be even more beautiful with fewer clothes on." he's closer now, he brings himself to her neck, kissing her slowly, sliding his hand down her chest.

     "No, stop." she tries to say, but she could barely get the words out. He kept going.

     "What are you doing? Stop." she reached for his hand to push it off, but he held firm.

     "It's fine. You need this." he starts to unbutton her shirt.

     "Stop. I don't want this!" she yells, trying to push him off.

     "Yes you do." he pushes her body down onto the couch so she's lying down, trapped underneath his weight. He had a grip on the fold of her neck and her shoulder.

     The room is a blur in Carter's eyes. He's too heavy for her to push him off. "Stop! I want to go home!" tears start forming in her eyes.

     "Just relax. I'm doing you a favor." he says, ripping open her shirt, a few buttons popping off.

     "Please... stop..." she cries.

     He's pinning her arms up above her head and he kisses down her body, ignoring her cries.

     "Damon. Please stop. Don't do this, please." she says, she's about to give up the fight.

     He lets go of one of her hands and starts to undo both of their pants.

     Carter looks around to see if there's any sign of help. She sees the bottle of rum on the edge of the table. Damon's looking down, sliding off his pants when she reaches over for the bottle, and as soon as he looks up, she smashes the bottle on his head. The bottle shatters and he falls off of her from the impact. Shards of glass landed on her, some sharp pieces digging into her exposed chest.

     "You bitch!" he grunts

     She struggles to get up, but once she finally reaches the door, she runs out as fast as she can.

     "Carter get back here!" he yells after her.

     It's dark outside, but it doesn't matter. Carter runs into the woods across from his house, not knowing where she's going, only that she wants to get away from Damon as far as possible.

     She hears a car engine start. His car. She couldn't make out what was in front of her, but that didn't stop her. She kept going, deeper into the woods.

     Carter runs for as long as she can before her chest starts to hurt. She could barely breathe as it was, and everything around her didn't seem to stop spinning either. At this point, there was no doubt in the world that Damon had spiked her drink.

     She finally came to a stop, hoping she was far enough. She drops to the cold, hard, muddy ground, trying to catch her breath.

     Whatever Damon put in her drink didn't give her long before she completely blacked out.