I woke up alone in my bed. Vic was here with me last night, wasn't he? I stood up and walked into the bathroom. No Vic. I turned and walked out of my room, checking in my kitchen and living room. No Vic. I walked up the stairs to check in the other empty rooms in my house. I was approaching the last door when I heard a loud bang come from in the room. I ran inside to see the most horrifying thing a person could see. Blood painted all over each wall, blood all around an unmoving, lifeless body. Blood sinking deep into the white carpet all around the room. A small piece of paper stained with blood. I fell to my knees, burying my face in the ground, hoping that when I came up it would all be gone, that it wasn't real. I picked my head back up and realized that I was now covered in blood as well. Blood was everywhere. I began to feel sick, but I crawled over to the piece of paper, using every last bit of strength I had. I held it up with quivering hands to read:

This is all your fault. - Vic

I woke up, choking on my breath, sweating and shaking all over. I was screaming and I didn't even realize it until I realized it was all a nightmare. I turned to see that I was, in fact, alone. I ran into the bathroom, now feeling sick. I barely made it to the bowl of the toilet in time to let the contents of my stomach empty inside. I was shaking uncontrollably and now I felt completely disgusting. I grabbed a tissue and wiped my mouth and flushed the toilet. I stood up slowly, still feeling uneasy and dizzy. I looked at myself in the mirror to see my bruises becoming more visible. What? Shouldn't they be disappearing, not reappearing? I shook my head and decided to take a hot shower, hopefully it would help to clear my mind. I brushed my teeth and then jumped into the shower, letting the hot water trickle down my body. I was still shaking and dizzy.

What a fucking nightmare.. Why am I being tortured this way? It may not be real, but it's real inside my head. I couldn't help but feel like I'm bringing everyone around me down with me..

Vic would never feel like he needed to die if I did.. if he had never met me. Jaime wouldn't be hated at school along with me.. Tony probably wouldn't be as unhappy as he is..

I shook my head and turned up the heat of the water, hoping it would burn my skin enough to take my thoughts away. Hopefully it would help me think about the pain instead of the torture. It did help a bit, but it wasn't enough to fully bring my mind away from the terrible nightmare I had.

I finished up in the shower and turned the water off, stepping out into the steam-filled room. I wrapped a towel around me and wiped some steam off of my mirror to look at myself. I looked terrified. And I was. I stepped out of the bathroom and pulled some loungewear on and decided I would call Vic to see where he was.

"Hey, where did you go?" I asked as he answered.

"I got called into work early this morning I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I didn't want to wake you."

"Oh, it's fine." I mumbled.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I sighed. I really did hate that Vic could sense my emotions, even over the phone.

"Yeah, just another nightmare."

"Aw, I'm sorry I wasn't there to comfort you. What did you see in your nightmare this time?" he asked sympathetically.

"I really don't want to talk about it.." I choked.

"Okay. Just remember it was only a nightmare. I'll come over after work, okay? I have to go though. I love you."

"I love you too." I smiled. I hung up my phone and sighed, not knowing what to do with my day now. I walked out into my living room and sat down on the couch, turning on the TV. I flipped through the channels and landed on the movie channels. All they had were silly Christmas movies, but I decided it might help bring my mood up a bit.

I was watching one with a small family, two parents and a child. The dad was off in the military and the wife's only wish was that the dad could be with them for Christmas. I sighed, at least the kid has one parent at home.. By the end of the movie, they ended up getting their wish and they were going off about how it was a 'Christmas miracle.'

I turned the TV off and pulled myself to the kitchen, realizing the movie didn't help bring my mood up at all. If anything, it made it worse. I made myself some cereal and sat back into the living room, looking for a movie. While looking, I stumbled across an old tape titled:

Carlee's first Christmas.

I smiled and pulled out a tape player, sliding the tape inside. I sat back and watched. It was me, my brother and my parents. I smiled the whole time while watching, I was such a happy little baby. My brother looked really happy here, too. So did my parents. We used to be such a happy, loving family. I smiled as I watched my dad help me open my presents. I smiled as I watched my little baby face light up at a big teddy-bear they had gotten me. I watched as my brother tore through his presents, jumping around and smiling at everything he had gotten. My parents definitely spoiled us.

I may not remember anything from this time, but I definitely miss it. Watching this tape brought on a whole new feeling of grief. I didn't realize how much I really did miss my parents. I just wish I could've grown up with my parents by my side. Maybe things would've been easier for us. Maybe things would be different.

Thinking these things definitely wasn't going to help me though. The tape came to an end, and I actually felt happy after watching it. It was nice to see my family like that. I walked over to the tape and pulled it out, sitting it back in its case. I looked around for more tapes and I found a ton of them.

--

I spent a good 4 hours watching a bunch of old tapes. I felt a warm feeling. I missed my family, but this was helping me cope with the pain. I got up and put all the tapes away and went back to the couch. My phone started ringing, so I picked it up to see Vic's name across the screen. I smiled and answered, putting the phone up to my ear.

"Hey." I smiled.

"Wow, someone sounds happy." he laughed.

"Yeah, I found some old tapes of me and my family."

"Oh, I want to see them. I'm off work now, so I'm going to pick up some food, and I'll be over. Then you're going to show me the tapes, okay?"

"Sounds good to me." I smiled. We said goodbye and hung up the phone. I was scrolling through my phone when I landed on the calendar. I didn't even realize it, but today was Christmas Eve. I sighed and continued scrolling through my phone.

--

"Aw, you were such a cute little fat baby!" Vic laughed.

"Hey now. I wasn't that fat." I laughed.

"Yeah you were! You look like a good 30 pounds and how old were you?"

"A couple of months.." I laughed. "I wasn't 30 pounds you ass."

Vic walked over to the basket of tapes and started searching through. He pulled out an untitled one that I didn't see before.

"What's this one?" he asked.

"I don't know. Put it in." He nodded and took the previous tape out and put the new one in. He came back and sat with me on the couch. My parent's faces popped up, looking seriously into the camera.

"Carlee, Chandler, you're both too young to understand now, but one day, when you come back to watch this, I hope you will." my dad spoke. "We didn't die in a car accident. There are some very bad people who want your mother and I gone. In order to protect you, we're going to have to give you up to your grandparents and tell everyone we're dead. I hope you understand that this is all to protect you both. We love you both very, very much." Tears started to fill both my parents eyes as they talked some more about why things were the way they were. "When Carlee turns 18, I want you guys to ask your grandparents to bring you to us. We'll be waiting. We love you guys so much. Goodbye." The tape ended and I was stuck staring blankly at the screen. My eyes were wide open, along with my mouth. My heart was beating a million miles per hour. I was completely speechless, and I could tell Vic was as well. We sat there for awhile, both completely frozen.

Then a wave of sadness overwhelmed me. My brother would never get to see them..

"What.. the.. fuck?" Vic said.

"Oh my god." I said. I was smiling and tears were falling down my face. Happy tears.

"Carlee your parents are still alive!" Vic exclaimed.

"Oh my god." I repeated. Vic stood up and grabbed his keys.

"Let's go!" he smiled.

"What?" I asked, finally snapping out of whatever I was in. He scooped me up in his arms and carried me to my room.

"Get dressed!" I laughed at how excited he was. He seemed a bit more excited than me. But I was just completely overwhelmed, this was so weird. I shook my head and pointed to my closet.

"You pick out my clothes while I get ready." I smiled. He sighed but did it anyways. I walked over to my vanity and started to apply my makeup. It took me a bit longer than usual because my hands were shaking so much. I finally got done with that and straightened my hair. I walked over and pulled on the outfit that Vic picked out for me. A black, red and white plaid shirt, some dark skinnies and combat boots. I smiled and followed him out the door.

The whole car ride all I could do was sit in silence and think about what was happening.

It's Christmas eve. My parents aren't dead. My parents are alive. My parents want to see me. I'm going to my grandpa's house to find out where my parents are. I'm going to be meeting my parents.

My parents are alive.

Notes

Carlee's outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=90632390

Guys I honestly don't know where I'm going with this whole story.
Do you guys want me to continue writing it?
Do you want me to make a sequel? OR just keep writing this one instead?
If I make a sequel, this is going to be the last chapter of this story.

SO, stop writing, sequel, or keep writing this story?

If I keep writing this story, it's going to end up having like 100 chapters lol whoops

I love writing this story, so let me know :)