The Truth About My Scratches (The Carolina Killer Files #3) Read online

  I slowed down, tears still streaming down my cheeks. “A few weeks ago, the day you found me at the hospital, my dad was diagnosed with a stage two brain tumor. It’s inoperable. He has seizures because of it. He just had one, and my mom had to rush him to the hospital. It may be nothing; Mom says it probably is and I’m probably just overreacting, but it was terrifying. Seeing him like that was the scariest thing. I just really want to be sure that he’s okay…Brayden, what are you doing?”

  He was leaning in closer to me, just inches between us now. He kissed my cheekbone. “Go on.”

  “Okay. He’s okay, I think, but what if he’s not, you know? What if he’s really not okay and he needs me? What if my mom needs me and I’m not there because I’m here and…hey, stop!” His kisses trailed down my collar, onto my neck. He stopped my protest by kissing me firmly on the lips. I pushed him back. “Brayden, stop it. I’m trying to talk to you.”

  “You look beautiful tonight. Have I told you that?” He continued kissing my face, my nose, my forehead. He lowered his lips to my jaw line. I pulled back until I reached the arm of the couch and could pull back no further. He had me pinned.

  “No, but thank you. I really need to leave now. I can catch the bus if you want to head over to the school.”

  “You want me to go alone? Like a loser? As if no one wanted to go with me?”

  “What? No. I just really need to leave. I’m so, so sorry.”

  “No, Jaicey. You can’t do this to me. I love you, remember? Stay with me, please. Stay here,” he begged, like a child.

  “Brayden.”

  His kisses had worked their way down to my collar bone again.

  “I really am sorry. You know what? Why don’t you go ahead and go, and I’ll call you when I leave the hospital and then we can arrive together. Fashionably late, right?” I laughed nervously, my cheeks flaming.

  He kissed my neck, his lips brushing my scars. I instinctively covered them with my hand. He pulled it down forcefully. “You don’t have to be embarrassed by your scars, Jaice. I love them so much.”

  “What did you say?” I pushed him back. He’d never mentioned my scars before, never even looked at them from what I’d seen. It was part of the reason I’d liked him so much. Why I’d loved him.

  “Your scars.” He smiled. His eyes had a menacing look to them I hadn’t noticed before. “Everyone has them. Want to see mine?” His smile grew threatening. He sat up, keeping one hand on my stomach so that I stayed pinned down. He then proceeded to unbutton his tux and slide his jacket off, never letting me up. He unbuttoned the white shirt underneath slowly, never breaking eye contact with me. He turned around. “Look at my scratches, Jaicey. See my scar? What do you think?” I laid eyes on a solid red line running from his mid back up over his right shoulder. I flinched, though he’d made no move toward me. I knew where that scar had come from. My heart pounded, my throat going dry. Every part of my body grew cold. My hair stood on end. My organs felt as though they had turned to solid ice. I couldn’t move, couldn’t scream.

  I tried to stand up but he swung his arm around, stopping me. There was nothing I could do, nowhere I could go. I looked at the door and then at him. How had I never noticed the savagery in his eyes? Without thinking I rolled off the couch, sinking to the floor and crawling under the glass coffee table.

  CRASH. His fist went through the glass, blood splattering me. He grabbed my hair through the table and pulled me up, the broken shards cutting my arms and shoulders as I went through the broken top. He flung me onto the floor with all of his might, and I heard my wrist crack as I hit the floor. Pain shot through me like lightning. I cried out, my scream horrific. He grabbed my broken wrist, pushing on it until I screamed again. I kicked him with my heel, standing up through the excruciating pain. He was too quick. I bolted for the door, but before I knew what was happening, he stood above me, smiling down. I tried to shove him, but he twisted my arm.

  It hit me then that this was his plan all along. He was going to win. My wrist throbbed and my head spun as everything happened too fast. If I could only make it to the kitchen, there was a drawer with knives that I could grab. I put my good arm behind me, trying to scoot away, but I didn’t budge. He didn’t say anything, just watched me try. In one final attempt, I put my foot firmly on the ground, pushing myself back. Riiiip. I looked down, staring at where my dress should have been. The bottom had completely detached, still stuck to the floor under his shoe. This was my chance. I knew I should run, but I couldn’t move. I stared at my legs, pale from lack of sunlight. I gasped as I saw it, a thin red scar running from my upper thigh around to the back of my knee; a scar like Brayden’s. Seeing the scar made me dizzy, and then I remembered. I remembered everything.

  Chapter 13

  It was the night of Dan Murphy’s party. The last day of my freshman year. Everyone who was or wanted to be anyone was there. I had told my parents that I was staying with Bailey and she had told her mom that we were staying with Mallory’s sister in college. By the time we had all arrived at the party, most of the people there were already drunk. A group of senior guys had started throwing people into the pool. I remembered the way Derek had pulled me to him when any of the boys had gotten close, though we knew they weren’t noticing me. We were still freshmen, practically babies in their eyes. At some point that night I had lost sight of Mallory and Tyler, though I couldn’t be sure of exactly when. Bailey had also been lost at some point throughout the night. I remembered that the house smelled like cigarette smoke and vomit, though I tried to pretend it didn’t bother me. It was our fourth anniversary, Derek and I. We’d been elementary school sweethearts, joined at the hip, inseparable. While he had wanted to take me out to dinner, I had insisted that we go to Dan’s party.

  After we got in that night and settled, I had excused myself to go to the restroom. Dan’s mother had more perfume than I’d ever seen and I took time smelling each and every one, dabbing them delicately on my wrist. When I finally found the one I liked, I dabbed it on my neck. I remember looking at myself in the mirror, seeing the way my long, dark hair cascaded down my slender, unscarred neck. I noticed the way my bright silver eyes shone a little extra when I smiled and the way my teeth were naturally white. I was pretty, and there was something about that night that had made me glow even more.

  When I walked out of the bathroom and went to look for Derek, I found him standing with a bunch of his friends around the pool table. They were laughing. I remember catching a glimpse of Mallory sitting with Tyler and a group of juniors, fitting right in. We were all way out of our league and we knew it, but Mal and I weren’t going to let it be that way. We refused to settle for less than what we wanted.

  The party got pretty wild, I even heard rumors that it ended up getting broken up by the police. Of course, I wasn’t around to find out.

  After a few hours at the party, Derek brought me into a quiet room. We’d both already had a lot to drink. “Can we please go?” he asked, holding my hand.

  No, maybe it was just me that had been drinking.

  “Derek, no. I thought you wanted to be here. You agreed. Don’t you want to start summer out the right way?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Okay then, being here is the only way to make sure that we do that,” I insisted.

  “And I’ve been here, Jaicey. I’m here. But this isn’t how I want our anniversary to be. I want it to be me and you.”

  “This is where all of the cool kids are, Derek. If we want to be popular this is where we need to be. We can’t leave early.”

  “I don’t honestly care if I look cool or not. What I care about is having you with me. There will be plenty of parties, ones with our friends. People we actually know.”

  “Do you care about making me happy at all?” I screamed at him, the alcohol making my head spin.

  “Of course I do!”

  “If you really did,” I shouted at him, dropping his hand dramatically, “If you really care about me at all,
you would understand why this is important to me. Because it is, Derek. This party, being surrounded by these people, this is it. This is what high school’s all about.”

  “It doesn’t have to about this, Jaicey. Surrounded by people we don’t even know, being too drunk to remember anything. Why can’t we just go? It’s our anniversary. There’ll be other parties. There’ll be other nights.”

  “Why can’t you ever just let me have any fun? It’s one night, Derek. I am so sick of you taking me to movies by ourselves, and picnics by ourselves. I want to hang out with other people, Derek, and I can do that with or without you. If you can’t accept that, then you can just leave.”

  I hadn’t mean to say it, of course. I was just upset. In the end, that didn’t matter. I didn’t get to tell him that, or that I was sorry, which I was. That was the last time I saw him that night. That was the last thing I said to him.

  I stormed out of the bedroom, tunneling through the crowd, ignoring Derek as he called my name. When I got outside, he was there. Waiting for me. Looking back, I guess I should have been surprised, but at the time my anger surpassed my confusion. When I saw him, he called me over. I ran straight up to him, crying over the fight. I had always talked to him about my problems; I didn’t for a second think that that night would be any different. Boy, was I wrong.

  Mr. Brown was one of my best friends, even though he was a teacher. He was cool. He was always the first person to say hello to me in the mornings, the first person to tell me I looked pretty when I felt like I was having a bad hair day. He told me that I was smart, that I was special, that I had a bright future, and so I believed him. I told him when my parents considered divorce. I talked to him about what I wanted to do after high school. When my grandfather had passed away, when Bailey and I were fighting, whatever the problem, it was Mr. Brown who had comforted me.

  Bailey. Oh God, Bailey. B. Her name struck me deep into my chest. Bailey was my best friend, as much as I had wanted to forget that, as much as I had tried to forget her. It was Bailey who had drawn the picture of me hanging on my bedroom wall. She was going to be an artist. We were going to tour Spain together after graduation. We had had it all planned out. That one night changed everything.

  “What’s wrong, sweetie?” Mr. Brown asked, pushing his glasses further up on his nose.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked him, my voice slurring partially from the alcohol, partially from my tears.

  “I heard you talking about this party today in class. I came to make sure you were okay. I would never ever tell your parents of course, but I needed to make sure that you were staying out of trouble. Here, give me your cell phone and I’ll put my number in it, so you can call me in case you need anything tonight.”

  “Mr. Brown, you already gave me your number, remember? I have it.”

  “Oh, right. Well, I forgot to tell you I got a new number, so it’s different now. Come on, give me your phone.” He held out his hand, waiting.

  Without thinking I handed him my phone, hoping he wouldn’t smell the alcohol on my breath. I watched as he began pressing buttons.

  A voice interrupted us. “Jaicey? Is that you? Thank God, I’ve been looking all over for you. Derek is frantic. Hey, what are you doing over there? Who are you talking to?”

  “It’s Mr. Brown, B. Come here.”

  “Jaice, Derek is freaking out looking for you. What happened?”

  “We just had a fight, Bailey. It’s fine. No big deal.”

  “Maybe we should go back inside.” It was Bailey who had been suspicious, I could see it in the way she looked at me, but I wouldn’t hear of it. Bailey was always the cautious to my extreme. She was tame when I was wild. She was calm when I’d gone mad. I thought she was just being childish, uncool even. What I wouldn’t give now to have listened to her, to have trusted her.

  “No. I need to clear my head. It’s fine, Bailey. Go inside if you want to.”

  “No,” she said. I felt her lock her pinky around mine, our sign of safety.

  “She’s right, Jaicey. You girls go on back inside. I’ll see you at school.”

  “Oh, okay,” I said, sad to see him leaving.

  He walked back to his car, stopping to turn around. “Oh, Jaicey?”

  “Yeah?” I called out.

  “Don’t forget to call me if you need anything. I put my new number in your phone.”

  I nodded. “I will. Thank you for coming to check on me, Mr. Brown.”

  He continued to walk away, staring at me intently.

  “Oh, wait, Mr. Brown,” I called out to him, tapping my pockets.

  “Yes?”

  “You still have my phone! Hang on just a second.”

  He stopped by his passenger door and reached into his pocket, pulling out my phone and pointing at it, a goofy grin on his face. “Oh, look at that. Silly me, you’re right.”

  I ran up to his car, hearing Bailey’s footsteps following close behind me. I reached for my phone.

  “Wait a second, don’t I get a hug?” He held out his arms.

  Without hesitation, I leaned in and wrapped my arms around him, stretching around his pudgy stomach. “Thank you so much for everything.”

  “Come on, Jaicey. Derek is going to be worried,” Bailey called out behind me.

  Mr. Brown wrapped his arms around me, and for a second, we just stood there. Then, before I realized what was happening, he was shoving me into his car. I was so confused. It never even occurred to me that I should scream, not even when I felt Bailey’s weight land on top of me. She, on the other hand, was fully prepared to scream and that’s exactly what she did. Her screaming brought me back to reality and I began screaming as loud as I could. We locked pinkies, screaming as he made his way around to the driver’s door. It was no use. No one could hear us over the blaring music, and no one had seen us. Mr. Brown wasn’t taking any chances regardless. I’m not sure what he hit her with, but when I felt her head slam into mine, it all went black.

  ***

  When I hazily opened my eyes what seemed like years later, I heard water splashing all around me, as if we were on a boat. I tried to sit up, but my head felt as though it weighed a thousand pounds.

  I lay back down, groaning and rubbing my head, trying to figure out where I was.

  I heard her voice echo across the dark room. “Jaicey? Is that you? Are you awake?” she whispered.

  “Bailey?” I called out to her, my head pounding.

  “Shhh! He’ll hear you,” she said quickly.

  “Who will?” I asked, my voice still loud.

  “Jaicey, whisper! If he hears us he’ll come back. You have to be quiet. He keeps checking on us, but I think we’re safe as long as he thinks we’re still asleep.”

  For a second I had no idea what she was talking about, but then my memory came back to me. She seemed far away from me, though I couldn’t be sure. The room was pitch black and cold.

  I whispered to her, my voice shaky. “Bailey, where are we?”

  “I, I don’t know, exactly. It seems like some sort of basement. I think we’re beside the lake. Do you hear the water? It reminds me of being on Daddy’s houseboat. We aren’t moving though. We have to be on the shore.”

  “I don’t understand what is happening. I mean, it’s Mr. Brown. He was my friend.”

  “Tell me about it.” She sighed. “I’m really scared.”

  “How long have you been awake?”

  “I don’t know, Jaice. A day, maybe? I’ve tried to stay awake, but I keep falling back asleep. At least a day, maybe more.”

  “A day? How long have we been here?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered, her voice sounding small.

  “Bailey, why hasn’t anyone come for us? Surely they know we’re missing.”

  I heard her sob. “They think we’re in Charleston for the weekend, remember? We weren’t even supposed to be back until Monday. They might not even know we’re gone.”

  “They know, Bailey. Surely they know
. Derek would’ve told them, right? Surely he would’ve told them.” We both knew I was lying, though she didn’t argue with me. No one knew where we were, and no one knew we were missing.

  “Are you tied up too?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I replied.

  “I keep trying to wiggle out, but it just hurts so badly. He’s got it tied so tight.”

  “What do you think he wants, Bailey?” I asked the question neither of us truly wanted to answer.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I can’t believe this. He was always so nice.”

  She didn’t answer. Bailey had never liked Mr. Brown, had never trusted him like I had. She thought our friendship was weird.

  “I’m sorry, Bailey. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

  “It’s okay, Jaicey. You couldn’t have known.”

  I sobbed loudly, forgetting I should be quiet. “Of course I could’ve known. You warned me about him.”

  “Jaicey, shhh!” she begged.

  It was too late. We heard the heavy footsteps up above us immediately. I squeezed my hands into fists, wriggling to get free, but it was no use. A door crept open and a bright light shone into my eyes, burning them fiercely. He entered the room and shut the door behind him, leaving us in darkness once again.

  I heard his voice through the darkness, filled with venom. “Hello, ladies. Finally awake, I hear.”

  Neither of us answered. “Not going to answer me?”

  Silence still. If we were quiet enough, maybe he wouldn’t be able to find us. I felt his warm breath on my face suddenly, felt his boot crunch down on my fingers. I let out a painful cry as I felt the bones in my hand crunch.

  “Jaicey,” Bailey cried out. “Leave her alone!”

  He took his foot off of my hand. “Oh, so you are awake then? I just wanted to make sure.”

  I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Confusion spilled out of me in the form of tears. “You were my friend. How can you do this to me? I trusted you. I trusted you and you lied to me. How? Why?”

  “Yes, yes, you’re right,” he said spitefully. “See, I had you pegged right from the beginning. So sweet, so trusting.” His breath was back on my face, reeking of rotten milk and alcohol. “So pretty.” He rubbed a piece of my hair gently. “And of course it helped that half of the money in the bank has your last name on it. I just had to come up with a plan. A plan that would allow me to become…what was it you called me? Oh yes, your friend,” he said in a mocking tone. “I had to get close to you, Jaicey. I had to learn your weaknesses, to convince you that you could trust me. You made that all too easy. And then the fact that you came in a two pack.” His breath left me and I heard him stride away. Bailey screamed out in pain. “Well, that was just a bonus.”