After the Storm {Book 2}

Chapter 19: The War Isn't Over

"C-Carson?" I stuttered over my words, unsure if I had heard her correctly.

She nodded, creeped out by my reaction.

"What did he say?"

"He was banging on the door so I grabbed a knife and went to answer the door. He looked like he had been awake for days. His eyes were like bloodshot and wide.. It was rather strange-"

"What did he say?" I demanded, uninterested in his physical details.

"Sheesh, I was getting to that." She rolled her eyes and continued, "Anyway, he stopped acting like a crazy person once he saw I was crazy as well with a knife in my hand and all. I asked him what he wanted and he asked where you were-"

"What did you tell him?" I interrupted.

She gave me another annoyed look and said, "I told him you left and I didn't know where you went."

"What else did he say?"

"When I told him that, he seemed disappointed and a little upset." She seemed to entertain her thoughts, but shrugged and gave up. "He was really weird. He was sweating, almost as if he had ran all the way to your house."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and my heart began to race.

"Guy's a creep if you ask me," She commented, biting her nail.

"Did he come all the way in the house? Was he driving a car?"

"Whoa, whoa. Slow your roll, dude. I'm not a private investigator. But no, he didn't come all the way in. I didn't let him passed the driveway."

"I may be crazy but I want to protect my safety, too," She went on.

I sat down next to her and stared at the water flowing down the river. "My life is so messed up, it doesn't even make any sense."

I felt her staring at me and she asked, "Who is this Carson guy anyway?"

"Oh, an old person from the past." I blew out a long sigh.

"Oh. Well, he left something for you."

I jerked my head up and stared intently at her. "What?"

"He told me to give you this brown box. I didn't look in it. It's at your house. You didn't see it in your bedroom?"

"No, I didn't go upstairs." A box? What could Carson possibly want to give me, other than a headache?

"You should go open it. It could be a bomb or something," She joked.

"Don't play around like that."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I decided to bring Yolanda along with me back to the house. I still wasn't sure how mentally stable she was and I didn't want to be responsible if something happened to her.

"It's getting late," She said looking out of the car window.

"Yeah." 

Alea's situation began to linger in my mind again. The reality that the baby was really gone was just now hitting me and the rush of sadness invaded me like a deadly disease.

Yolanda must have noticed my sudden mood change when she asked, "Are you OK?"

I nodded, trying not to think about the time when Alea showed Cindy and I her ultrasound pictures.

When the baby was alive.

"Do you want me to drive? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine." I insisted sternly.