The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

~CARTER~

"Carter!" I hear my mother scream my name. "Carter, wake up!"

I was in pain everywhere. What the fuck did I do last night? I must have tried to escape for the entire night. I shouldn't be feeling this awful. Every part of my body felt exhausted.

"Carter!" Her cries are more desperate now. “Please wake up son. You must wake up now!”

The desperation in her voice jolts me awake. My eyes flash open, and she's the first person I see. She's hugging me with tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong mother—"

My words don't make it out of my mouth when I take in everything around me.

Blood.

Everywhere.

What was the meaning of this?

"What happened here?" I ask as I continue to search around the room.

Everything within me freezes when I spot a piece of Scarlett's dress covered in blood. There were even pieces of her hair on the ground next to me. Content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.

It takes my body a while to recover from the sight but when it does, the shock hits me so hard that I can barely move.

My hands are shaking as I gently pick up the bloody cloth in front of me.

"Where's Scarlett?" I whisper.

My mother doesn't answer me, and at that same time, Alaric runs into the room. He looks at me in horror.

Where was she? Where was my wife? The panic on his face tells me that it couldn't possibly be good news.

"WHERE IS SHE?" I roar. “WHERE IS MY WIFE?”

"We can't find her." My mother explains. “We don't know what happened here. When I came in to free you, I saw you like this. Clara realized Scarlett was missing from the room when she woke up. This is the first place I came to search for her.”

"Let me go!" I hear Clara scream outside of the room. "If someone doesn't tell me where my sister is this second, I will scream as loud as I possibly can!”

Alaric turns around and takes her from Ares. The second her eyes fall on me, they widen in horror.

"W-what?" She can barely form any words as she covers her mouth in shock.

Alaric turns her around in his arms so that her face is buried in his chest. "I'll explain everything to you, Clara, but right now, we need to figure out what happened here."

"Did I?" I whisper in shock. "Did I hurt her?"

I can barely recognize my own voice.

It isn't possible. I wouldn't hurt her. I wouldn't hurt Scarlett. I loved her too much.

"I don't want to believe you did something to her." My mother answers me. "However, the evidence says otherwise."

"He wouldn't hurt her mother," Alaric says confidently. "If that were the case, she would still be here."

"Maybe she got scared at what she saw and ran away," Nicole says as she walks in.

Her words didn't make this easier on me.

Her eyes narrow when she sees Alaric comforting Clara.

"Can't you see me standing here, Alaric?" She demands. "I'm your wife. Not Clara. You should be comforting me, not her."

"Do you think this is the time?" Ares growls. "Scarlett is missing. Of course, Clara will be upset. This is also the first time that she's seen something like this. It's all new to her."

"She can get comfort somewhere else." Nicole snaps.

"Give her to me," Apollo says as he walks in.

Alaric looks reluctant to let her go, but he finally does when Nicole gives him a dirty glare.

Apollo rubs his hand up and down her back, "It's going to be okay, Clara. We will find out what happened here."

"I can't remember," I whisper. "I can't remember anything at all."

It's the most desperate I've ever been to remember something from a full moon.

"It's okay." My mother tries to soothe me.

"It isn't okay!" I shout. "My pregnant wife is missing, and all of the signs say that I did something to her! How could it be okay?"

Alaric rushes over to my side and slowly begins removing the locks on the chains.

I could barely stand when he finally took the chains off me. It wasn't because of the pain; it was because of the gut-wrenching fear in my stomach.

I'd done something to Scarlett. I'd hurt her.

Who else could have possibly been in here to do something to her?

"How could she have gotten inside without the key?" Ares asks. "She shouldn't even know about this basement. Someone must have mentioned something to her."

All eyes turn to Nicole.

"Did you say something to her?" I growl.

"I don't have to answer you or anyone." Nicole snaps.

"Nicole," Alaric says in a surprised but worried tone. "Please don't tell me you're the reason that Scarlett came here last night. Please don't tell me you would do something like that."

"Of course not!" She snaps. "I mentioned a few things to Scarlett in the past, but I apologized for everything. I can assure you I'm not the reason that she came here last night. All of this is Carter's fault. He's the one who didn't protect his wife; why is everyone turning on me?"

She was right.

All of this was my fault. If I had told Scarlett the truth initially, she wouldn't have come here last night to discover our family's secret.

My knees felt weak, and I could feel myself drifting to the ground; Alaric stopped me in time as he put his hand around my shoulders, and tried to drag me out of the room. Ares soon joins him.

"Check the cameras!" Alaric orders everyone else. "We can see when she entered the room and left."

"I already did," Violet whispers as she enters the room.

We all turn to her. The surprise in her voice worries me.

"What did you see, Violet?" I demand.

I was impatient to find out about my wife. I had to know everything.

"All of the cameras were shut off last night." She informs us. "Someone else must have been here. I don't think Scarlett left here of her own free will. I think it's possible that someone took her."