Carrie stood in front of her mirror and smiled at the reflection. She'd plucked up enough courage to wear the red top that showed off the best of her magnificent cleavage that was usually under wraps. It hung low enough to tease the admirer but high enough to be respectable. The back of the top hung low, just skimming the small of her own back, leaving a large amount of smooth skin on show. Paul had loved this top. Every time she wore it, it drove him crazy. Her smile faded, as she thought of him. Two years had past since his death and it was still only a month since she had taken his name of her will. She'd hated it when they had made their wills, but Paul had assured her that it was the best thing to do, just in case something happened. She had made him swear to her that day that he'd be there for a long time to come. He'd promised her right there on that spot, that he'd be there for as long as he could, nothing could keep him away from her. It was ironic that that had meant five months. She was still staring into the mirror thinking about Paul when she was startled by the sound of the phone ringing. Her heart jumped to her mouth and her throat felt just that little bit tighter. This would be Liam ringing for directions. She looked in the mirror one more time, rubbing out an imaginary crease in her top. ‘He can't see you stupid' She though giving herself a mental head slap. Trembling she walked over and picked up the phone.
"Hello," she said as calmly as possible but the nervousness shone through.
"Carrie dear? What's wrong?" Carrie let out a sigh,
"Hello mother," This was not the time one of her mother's lectures, and definitely not the time for a long line of questions about ‘this new boy of hers.' "There is nothing wrong, I'm just in a hurry that's all."
"Well you should always have time to speak to your mother darling,"
"And I do mother, it's just I'm busy that's all,"
"Well, what's this I hear about you working for NCIS now? I keep hearing there name on tele when they talk about those poor missing girls,"
"That's because we are in charge of the investigation, and how did you find out that I'm working there?"
"Well you're Auntie Chloe told me that cousin Nora had told Susan who had told her."
‘Damn it,' telling Cousin Nora something was like broadcasting it to the nation. How had she been so stupid as to tell her about NCIS.
"Well, I haven't even accepted yet. In fact I don't even know if that offer is still open."
"Well I don't want you getting involved with this, let someone else do it. I forbid you to go after this serial killer mad man" Carrie sighed. This was why she hadn't wanted her mother to find out.
"We had this talk when I joined the police mother, it's not dangerous. We have teams to do the actual apprehending bit, I'd just be looking at evidence and sitting in an office all day." Ok so a tiny white lie there, but what her mother didn't know…
"Well, if I find out that you are out there traipsing around after this man…"
"Mother, it may not be a man, and I really have to go now,"
"Your father feels exactly the same, in fact let me go and get him…"
"No! look mother I'm going now,"
"You haven't heard the last of this Carrie Edith Lockhart," Carrie cringed, she hated her middle name and her mother had a knack of making it sound even worse.
"Bye mother," she half shouted and slammed down the phone before she could hear anymore. No sooner had she done that, the phone rang again. Carrie grabbed up the phone and held it to her ear.
"Look mother I really don't have time to…"
"Carrie?"
‘Damn it!' It was Liam. Carrie sat down on her bed. Did she really just call him mother?
"Carrie? Is that you?"
"er…Yeah hey Liam, sorry about that," she said twirling the cord of the phone between her fingers.
"That's ok, Are your ready?"
"Yes, where are you?" After five minutes she had told him her address and he was on his way.
***
A car pulled up at Carrie's house and she peaked between the crack in the curtains from her front room. He was here already? She'd barely put the phone down on him five minutes ago. She went to the front door and put her hand on the door knob.
"Calm and collected now Carrie," she said to herself. She took a deep breath and opened the door. "Hey!"
"Hey, you ready to go?"
"Yeah hang on," she said turning and locking the door, "How did you get here so quick?"
"I was near the neighbourhood when I called getting petrol,"
"Oh, ok." She finished with the door and turned back around, "Ready," she said flashing Liam a smile that she hadn't used in ages. Liam walked around the car and opened the door for her. As she got in, his hand brushed against the base of her spine and sent a shiver up her back. She stifled a gasp and sat down. Liam came back round, got in the car and they were off.
***
Halfway through the film, Liam yawned and reached over, placing his hand around Carries shoulders. Carrie laughed silently to herself. ‘That was the oldest trick in the book, but it still worked!' She turned to him and smiled, nestling deeper into him. He had been so sweet, paying for both her ticket and all the popcorn and drinks. Maybe she'd been missing all of this since Paul. She'd closed up and let the world go by without her, now was the time to let it back in. She laid her head on his shoulder and threw back a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
***
The credits rolled and they both stood up and clapped. She'd been surprised how much she'd enjoyed the movie, but maybe that was just the company. As they walked out the room, Liam slid his hand into hers and Carrie smiled, she was really enjoying herself. She hadn't felt like this in so long. They reached the car and again Liam opened the door for her. ‘I could get used to this,' she thought as she got into the car. As they drove home Carrie was again surprised by how easy it was to talk to Liam. It turned out they had a lot in common. Liam had her on tenterhooks when he talked about scuba-diving in the great barrier reef. She'd worked over in Australia for a couple of years after College but had never actually done it. It had always been a dream of hers. After about twenty minutes, Liam slowed down and looked over at her.
"How about we go over to mine?" he said. Carrie froze. As much as she'd enjoyed tonight, that was a massive step for her and she just wasn't ready for that yet.
"Sorry Liam, I just…"
"It's alright," he said calmly but Carrie could here the coldness in his voice.
‘Damn it, why did he have to go and ruin it?' she thought to herself. Everything was going so well up until that point. Silence entered the car for the first time that night. Carrie sat still and looked out the window. Every now and they passed a streetlight illuminating buildings. It was kind of creepy, the way the light threw up shadows here and there. Everything looked different after dark, like a whole new world. A few more streetlamps passed and Carrie realised that the more she looked, the more she didn't recognise what she was seeing.
"Where are we?"
"I'm taking the scenic route, I thought it would give us more time to chat," Liam said quietly.
"Oh, ok…" Carrie looked out the window again and watched as the world passed by. They passed a church, and several gargoyles peered at Carrie from the roof. One of them had massive eyes that Carrie could swear were watching her as they drove by. She shuddered and looked over at Liam,
"How long do you reckon we'll be?" Carrie said; she was getting tired now.
"Not long, in fact we're here" Liam said as he turned into a driveway. Carrie felt the tyres roll over gravel and she froze. She didn't own a gravel driveway.
"Where exactly is here?" she said slowly, she'd told Liam that she didn't want to go over to his. What was he playing at?
"I wanted to give you something," The car had now come to a stop and Liam reached into his jacket. Carrie was now completely still, her breathing shallow. What the hell was going on?
In seconds, Carrie saw a flash of something as Liam's hand came rushing out of his jacket. She didn't have time to react as she felt pain in her left arm.
"What the…" she said her eyes drooping, her head bobbed and the last thing she saw before blacking out was the end of a syringe sticking out of her left arm.
***
Author's Chapter Notes:
Its the night of Carrie and Liams date and something doesn't exactly go to plan...