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Amber Blake is having dreams, and they just might be the key to saving her best friend, Mark.
Unfortunately, she's too preoccupied pretending to hate the boy next door, Carter Hayes. Secretly hoping to rekindle what once was, Amber atte...
When I'm waist deep, the spiders reach me en mass, covering my arms, my neck, my face. They crawl along my eyes, through my nose, into my mouth, trapping in my scream. Over the chaos, the only thing I can hear is Carter.
"Can't you trust me?"
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Jerking awake, I kick the seat in front of me. My breaths are shallow as I search the car frantically for any sign of the spiders. The feeling of them crawling down my throat lingers, and I cough from the sensation.
"Hey, do you need water?" Carter twists around from the front seat to see me better.
Apprehension coats my every nerve, made worse when I meet his eyes. Though some of the terror has ebbed away, details of the dream are still sharp in my mind. With his question still ringing in my ears, I can't shake a feeling of distrust. When he hands me a bottle of water, I make sure to avoid touching his fingers.
"It's good you're awake. We're here." He reaches over to Brynn's side of the car and starts collecting her things. A few of her toys get caught in the straps of the car seat, and Carter curses under his breath. I can't blame him for his frustration; we had a rocky start with the seat when we were packing up the car this morning.
It took him twenty minutes to get it attached correctly, and even then Charlie had to lend a hand. They resorted to shaking the seat at one point, though I failed to see how that would help. When I asked where Kerry was, thinking she'd be the best person to do it, Carter explained she didn't work for us anymore.
"Did she do something wrong?" I asked, hitching Brynn further up on my hip. I found it was easier to be around her when she's asleep.
"She was doing us a favor the other morning. We didn't need a nanny after you stopped working. You quit so you could stay home with Brynn," he said, still struggling with the seat.
I analyzed his answer long after Brynn was secured and we pulled away from the apartment. It just further proved how different I am from Mom; you couldn't pay her to stay home with me instead of going to work.
It gave me enough confidence to reach across the backseat and take Brynn's little hand. She clutched my fingers tight, even after she drifted off to sleep. I must've knocked out shortly after, because it's the last thing I remember about the ride. For someone who just slept through a three hour drive, I'm not feeling very rested.
As the panic uncoils from around my nerves, I realize the seat next to me is empty. Brynn isn't in the car anymore.
"We dropped her off at the house already," Carter answers before I can ask. He hops out the front, then comes around to open my door. It started raining at some point, and Carter struggles to keep the umbrella steady while helping me out car.
"Wait, where are we?" I've never seen this street before in my life — at least, not in the one I remember.
"Ah, can't tell you that. It would ruin the surprise." Carter leans through the passenger side window. "No need to stick around, Charlie. We'll probably be a while. Grab an early dinner, on us."
