Finding Carrie (23 page)

“I’ll get my bag, and I’ll be right there.” She hung up the phone and walked out the door. It switched back to Carrie, who was now sitting on the chair that her mother had been in. She was wearing a silk blue bathrobe. Her hair was all pinned up, and she had her makeup on. There was a knock at the door. Amy was there to answer it.

“If Isaac’s out there, he can’t come in,” a voice said that Carrie didn’t recognize from the video. Amy opened the door a crack and looked out.

“It’s Chrissie.” She let her in and poked her head out to make sure no one was with her. Chrissie walked over to Carrie and Carrie lifted the towel off her arm so she could look at it.

“Carrie, how do you always get hurt? I swear, if I charged you for all the times I’ve had to stitch you up, I would have a vacation home in Italy.” Carrie just giggled at her.

“You should have been around when she was a baby,” her mother said. Chrissie looked up and laughed. There was another knock at the door, and it opened a little. Amy ran over to the door.

“Isaac, you can’t come in here,” Amy said.

“I have to make sure she is okay,” Isaac said. Carrie jumped up and ran over to the door.

“I’m fine, Isaac. You shouldn’t be here,” she said.

“I just want to make sure,” Isaac said. Sighing, Carrie stuck her arm with the cut out the door. Isaac grabbed it and pulled it farther out.

“Honey,” Carrie said as she was yanked closer to the door. Carrie felt him kiss her hand. He let go when he was satisfied that it wasn’t serious.

“All right, I’ll wait for you,” he said reluctantly.

“I can’t wait,” she said; then she shut the door.

Next, the scene changed, and it was Carrie walking down the aisle. She was on the arm of her father. She was wearing the off-white dress. It looked roman style with black ribbon wrapped around the front in an X. It fell from her waist to the floor. Her hair had a black ribbon wrapped around her head and around the curls that fell from the bun she had. She reached Isaac. Her father kissed her on the cheek and put her hand in Isaac’s, who then kissed it and slid it into the crook of his elbow. The scene changed and they were reciting things that they wanted to say to each other. Carrie went first.

“Do you remember when we took a walk in the park? I think it was our third date.” Isaac nodded as he remembered, she continued. “It started to rain. I mean it poured.” Carrie and Isaac nodded and smiled at each other. “You picked me up and ran to the nearest gazebo. I realized that I was laughing. I hadn’t laughed for years up till then. I turned around to look at you, and you kissed me. That was our first kiss, Isaac.” He smiled again. “And that was also the moment I knew I was going to spend the rest of my life with you.” She took a deep breath and suppressed a sob. “If I had ten lifetimes with moments like that, it wouldn’t be enough time.
Aishite imasu
, Isaac, today, tomorrow and forever.” She lifted her hand and caught a tear that was falling from his eye. He whispered, “I love you,” under his breath as the priest told Isaac to go ahead with what he wanted to say. He exhaled, blowing his lips out as he began.

“When we decided to write something to tell each other on our wedding day, I honestly thought you were going to write it for me.” The crowd laughed as Carrie lifted her chin and grinned. “But you said you couldn’t write how I felt about you. I was like ‘you’re the writer here not me’, and you told me to suck it up and write something.” The crowd laughed again. “So, I thought about it, and I came up with our first camping trip. I remembered something you told me that you were afraid of, and this is what I came up with.” He inhaled and exhaled slowly before he continued. “Carrie, you once told me that you were afraid of growing old. You told me that to grow old means to be alone, and it frightens you. But I want you to grow old, Carrie. I want you to grow old with me. I want to watch the wrinkles form on your face and every strand of your hair turn white, because, to me, you would be beautiful even when you are all wrinkled and gray. You do not have to fear being alone, my beloved Carrie, because I shall be with you. Grow old with me. I promise to love you faithfully, to care for you and to cherish you, to provide you with support and everything that you need, to respect and honor you! All my days left to me, I vow to spend them all loving you.” On camera and watching the video, Carrie was crying. Carrie, who couldn’t remember this moment, was touched more than anything. She couldn’t believe that this man was the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with. If she never got her memory back, she would make new ones with this one man. The scene switched to Isaac saying something to the girls. The girls walked forward and stood in front of Isaac as Carrie backed up them to give room. Isaac had something in his hand.

“Sabrina, will you accept my being your father?” Isaac asked to Sabrina.

“
Hai, chi chi
.” She said ‘yes, father’ in Japanese, which Carrie didn’t recognize. She thought to ask Isaac later what Sabrina had said. Isaac on the screen was dumbfounded that Sabrina spoke in Japanese. His mouth hung open for a moment, then he looked over to Carrie as tears streamed down his face. Carrie smiled and nodded once. He put a necklace around Sabrina’s neck, and he kissed her on the cheek. The camera zoomed in to show a guitar pendant. He turned to Sierra while Sabrina stepped back to where she was standing before.

“Sierra, will you accept my being your father.”

“
Hai, chi chi
,” she answered. More tears ran down his face as he put a necklace around her neck and kissed her on the cheek. The camera zoomed into show a smiling mask. She went back to where she was standing before, and Isaac returned to Carrie. He wiped at his face with the back of his hand then joined hands with Carrie, and the priest went on.

“Do you, Carrie Ann, take Isaac Anthony Walsch to be your lawfully wedded husband?” he asked Carrie.

She took a deep breath and said, “
Kokoro Kara asishite imasu
.” That meant ‘with all my heart’ in Japanese. Watching the video, Carrie didn’t know what she just said. On screen, tears streamed down her face and Isaac’s as well. The priest turned to Isaac.

“Do you, Isaac Anthony, take Carrie Ann to be your lawfully wedded wife?” He asked. Now, Isaac didn’t plan to speak Japanese at his wedding, but since everyone else was speaking it he decided to speak it as well.

“
Kokoro Kara Aishite imasu
,” he answered. You could tell that he was itching to kiss her. He was hoping up and down on his feet, and he was biting down on his lip.

“I now have the great pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife.” Before he said it, Carrie jumped into Isaac arms and kissed him. “Well, I guess you can continue kissing your bride,” the priest said, and the crowd laughed.

The video changed again, and it was at the reception. The DJ announced “and now, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Walsch.” Carrie and Isaac walked through the door, hand in hand, as the music started to play. They walked out to the dance floor. Carrie recognized the song as the song they had danced to just the other day. As they went in close to dance, out of nowhere, the lights went out.

Chapter 20

C
arrie sat for a minute in the dark. She slumped down in the couch and rested her head on the back. She had her eyes open when the lightning flashed. No one was in the room with her. It was silent. The only thing she could hear was the sound of her own breathing. The lightning flashed again. Still nothing. She swung around and put her head on the armrest. She was calm, and she decided that she would just sleep there until the lights came back on or until Isaac came home. She heard what she thought was the door opening and closing. She lifted her head and looked toward the door. The lightning flashed again. This time there was a man standing in front of the door.

She stood straight up, and her heart started pounding in her chest. She raised her arms just in case she needed to protect herself. Her breathing changed, and she was gasping, almost hyperventilating. The lightning flashed again, and this time, he was standing right in front of her. She recognized him from that morning at the recital. He smelled awful, and he was breathing deep with hatred and a snarl on his face. She wanted to scream but all that came out was a whimper. She put her hands over her mouth. She didn’t hear anything; she couldn’t see anything. The lightning flashed again, and he was gone.

“Isaac,” she said under her breath. It was all she could think of. She needed him, and he was gone. Why didn’t she go with him when he wanted her to? She looked around in the pitch black, trying to see where the man was.

She felt the blow. It was hard on her back. It knocked her air out of her lungs. She fell forward, and she fell hard. She went right through the glass coffee table. She fell in at an angle so that her face went through glass and hit the leg of the table hard. She lifted her head and pressed her hand on her head.

She struggled to her feet. She could feel the blood pouring out of her head. She had glass in her arm. When she reached her feet, her legs were wobbly and she was lightheaded. She had her eyes closed as she went forward; she ran into the wall. With her hands on the wall, she opened her left eye and looked around. The lightning flashed, and the man was walking toward her.

She ran through the kitchen and into the doorway of the hall toward the bedrooms. She looked back again, and he was there when the lightning flashed. She went into the hallway and tripped. She fell over, and she felt hot blood pouring down her face. She got back up and tried to run forward, but she ran into the wall. Sliding across the wall, she felt her way toward her bedroom, knocking pictures off the wall as she went.

She felt the doorway and turned around. Prying one eye open, she looked back, and the lightning flashed. He was standing at the end of the hall, staring at her. She watched as his shoulders heaved up and down. She froze and thought about Isaac and the girls. She was sure she was going to die at the hands of this man. She didn’t know who he was, but he wanted her dead.

“Who are you? I have nothing for you,” she pleaded, her body shaky with fear. The lightning flashed. He took one step forward. She panicked and ran toward the closet. She tripped with her hands in the air, grabbed the shelf, and it fell down, bringing her with it. Everything on the shelf fell on top of her. She couldn’t move; she just lay under boxes of clothes and whatever else was on the shelf. She heard the door slam and thought that he might be in the room. She prayed that he would just leave, but when nothing happened, she hoped he had left.

She was bleeding from her head. She grabbed something and pressed it hard on her forehead to try to stop the bleeding. She laid back down and waited, waited for Isaac to come home.

Isaac was on stage singing when the lights went out. He stood in silence for a moment. He was calm until he got the feeling of fear running through him. He stood frozen for another second. He felt that Carrie was in trouble. The emergency lights came on, and he ran to his dressing room, tore off his costume, and wiped off his makeup. He threw on his jeans and his shirt then ran out the door.

He kept running until he was on the street. He tried to hail a cab, but none would stop. He was only a few blocks from the apartment, so he took off running, dodging walkers as he ran by. All the while, he was hoping and praying that she was okay. While running, he could hear laughter, but he didn’t bother with the chaos. He just kept running. He reached the building of where his home was, and he stopped, throwing up on the sidewalk. He couldn’t breathe, and he couldn’t stop. He ran in the building, and taking the steps, two at a time, reached the floor and ran down the hall. The door was ajar slightly, and he swore under his breath—what breath he had. As he pushed the door open, the lights came back on and the TV played music.

He saw that she had been watching the wedding video. It was on the part of their first dance. His gaze shifted down, and he gasped, putting his hand over his heart. The glass coffee table was shattered. There was blood everywhere. His heart sank, and he was instantly panicked.

He stepped toward the glass and the blood. He saw a trail leading to the wall. There were two handprints with streaks of blood running down on the wall as if she ran into it. There was a trail of blood running through the kitchen and into the hallway. He followed the blood, his heart pounding. He was moaning with grief the farther he went. He stepped into the hallway. There was a long line of bloody handprints running across the wall. Pictures were knocked off the wall, and blood was everywhere. He knew she was dead. He shoved his fist into his mouth to keep from screaming. The smell of blood was making his stomach turn. His heart was dying. He was dying.