There Is No Light in Darkness (29 page)

I love you to the moon and back.

Cole

Through my tears, I can barely make out the last few lines. I wipe my nose with the back of my hand and look at the date on the top-right corner. August 3, 2005. My eyes widen. That was before we went to see him at Duke. That was ... oh my God. My stomach turns once more. That was the day I broke up with him before we left for college. Why didn’t he tell me any of this? I close my eyes and let more tears spill out of them. I wish I could go back to that night when Aubry tried to give this to me. I shake my head. No, I don’t. Everything would have been different. Yes, we wasted a lot of time, but it was for the better. We’re together now, and nothing can break our bond. I smile at the thought while I wipe the last tears from my face and pull my hair into a ponytail.

I get up and shake off the grass stuck on my jeans before I start to walk out of the park. As I scroll through my phone to call Cole, I hear a loud sound and screams that startle me. I have the ringing phone up to my ear as I look in the direction of the screams. I feel a strong tug on my arm that causes me to lose my balance. I’m expecting it to be a rude homeless man or a drunk, anything but what I’m faced with. He’s so close, and he’s holding on to my arm. I open my mouth—about to scream, and I hear Cole answer the phone. The man covers my mouth roughly with one glove-covered hand and it feels like sandpaper.

Through my muffled screams, I can taste the mix of gasoline and metal in my mouth. I’m kicking and pulling down on his strong arms, and accidentally let my phone slip out of my hands. My frantic eyes widen as I’m dragged away from my only source of communication. I look around for Bruce. Where’s Bruce? My chest is heaving in panting breaths and I’m sweating profusely, but it has nothing to do with the sunlight that’s hitting my body. He turns my body and grips me tighter in his hold, crushing my ribs.

A carnival of dread washes over me when I see that he’s dragging me to an unmarked van. This is suddenly too familiar. Too real. Too much. He puts a gag in my mouth, and I am finally able to take a good look at him. He’s a big man; I would never stand a chance against him. He has short blond hair and one blue eye and one brown eye—made of glass. I narrow my eyes at him and curse him for being so evil. Through his glass eye, I can see the reflection of my own. My eyes look stormy, surely a reflection of what’s to come.

His eyes are filled with hatred that I don’t understand, and I want to ask him what I did to deserve it. I whimper when he throws me into the van and pulls up the sleeve of my shirt to inject me with something—a tranquilizer, I’m guessing. I try to squirm away from the needle, but he pins my body down with his legs, making it impossible for me to move. He ties me up tightly with rope and closes the doors with a bang. I try to twist my aching body, but cannot move anywhere. My eyes droop heavily, and I feel them beginning to close. The sunlight is fading through the tinted windows; it’s getting dark again. I will my eyes not to close on me. I try to force them open. I think of Cole and try to push through the tranquilizer’s effects. It’s no use though: my breathing is beginning to relax, and my chest is no longer heaving. My eyes begin to shut heavily—once, twice, then a third time. I open them one last time as I try to search for light, but I know I’ll never find it, because there is no light in darkness.

Dear Reader,

If your TBR list is as long as mine, I’m sure you had a hard time choosing what to read next. Thank you for choosing this one. I hope it was worth your time :).

I have a confession to make: I hate cliffhangers. I always want to strangle the author when they leave me hanging. So, if you’re like me, I’m sorry about that. I wrote the ending to this story before anything else, so yeah, I’ll try to have book 2 ready as soon as I can. I promise.

In the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts on this one!

Love,

Claire

P.S. Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading.

Contact me about whatever your heart desires:

[email protected]

Facebook.com/CContrerasBooks—teasers will be posted here

GoodReads me: Claire Contreras

Tweet me: @ClariCon

Acknowledgements

This is going to be VERY long, so bear with me. It really took an army for me to get this done.

Christian: Thank you for putting up with my craziness, never giving up on me, and treating me like a queen (even when I don’t think I deserve it). Thank you for putting up with my snarky attitude and laughing at my sick sense of humor. Thank you for being an amazing father to our boys and for believing in me and my writing. Most of all, thank you for loving me. I love you.

MJ Abraham: I’m so glad we have each other to lean on during this crazy ride. Thank you for believing in me as much as I believe in you. One day, we’ll move to a world where reading and writing are the only things we need to do to survive. Love you! Write on! Happenstances is coming!

A.L. Zaun: The original Colette. I feel like I don’t have enough room on this page to thank you. You read, read, re-read, and read again, and read again after that. Thank you for not being scared to tell me to re-arrange and change things that needed it. Thank you for spending so much of your time on this when you had your own writing to worry about and for pushing me to be a better writer. I can’t wait for the world to read your triangle! ;)

Angie D. McKeon: Words cannot express how thankful I am for you. Thank you for: believing in this story, pushing me when I wanted to give up, finding me beta readers, being my friend, personal assistant, publicist, beta reader, and giving me the guidance I needed.

Taryn Cellucci: I’m SO glad that I got to know you during this incredible journey. You’re so much like me it’s scary (& pretty damn awesome, of course, lol), I feel like I’ve known you forever. Thank you for being HONEST, not sugar coating shit, being real, bantering with me about nonsense ... and for just being you. Thank you for reading, reviewing, and sending me picture messages (LOL). I really wanted to write Taryn “The Asshole” Cellucci, but I thought it would look tacky, so I’m writing it in here since not everybody will read this LOL. <3 <3 <3

The girls who have stuck by me from the very beginning and read all of my stories, no questions asked: Frances Molina, Megan Burgin, Mari Mendez & Nat Rodriguez, Andrenella Dielingen, Brigitte Aleman, Carla Crespo ... I appreciate you more than you’ll ever know. Your feedback and support means the world to me.

My WWM Girls: Luisa Hansen, Lisa Harley, Crysti Perry, Lisa Chamberlin, Laura Benson, Sarah Lowe. Thank you for your support. I’m always rooting for you.

Michelle Finkle, Dyann Tufts, Barbie Bohrman, Sandra Cortez, Kimberly Shackleford, Ciara Martinez, Megan Hand: Thank you SO freaking much for reading this story, reviewing it, and for your support.

Jessica Carnes: You thought you got off the hook, huh? LOL THANK.YOU.SO.MUCH. for kicking my ass with your feedback on my first draft. Honestly, because of your feedback, this story ended up the way it is now (which is good, I hope, because if it sucks, then you have to take some blame too, lol). Thank you for being honest:).

Eli Salom, Alexandra Jorge, Yvette Huerta, Fred LeBaron (my book guru!), Christine Estevez: Your support means the world to me.

Mami, Jay, & Barbara- Thank you for your help and support. I love you more than words can say.

Stepha, Blanca, Diana, Anabelle, & Lidia: Thank you for always supporting me. Love you!

Sarah Hansen: Best cover artist ever. You’re such a pleasure to work with. Thank you for going back and forth with me a gazillion times & for making such an amazing cover.

Jovana Shirley: Seriously, editor extraordinaire. No words for you, lady. You. Are. Amazing.

Keri Wilson: You ROCK! Thank you so much for the work you put into this.

Katja Millay & Kyla Linde: Thank you for answering ALL of my questions! I appreciate you more than you’ll ever know!

Theresa Wegand: Thank you for going beyond just formatting.

My Secret Romance Book Reviews, Angie’s Dreamy Reads, Shh Mommy’s Reading, Books, Babes & Cabernet, Kindle Buddies, Book Broads, Book Lovers & More.

About the Author

Claire Contreras graduated with her BA in Psychology from Florida International University. She lives in Miami, Florida with her husband, two little boys, and three dogs. Her favorite pastimes are daydreaming, writing, and reading. She has been described as a random, sarcastic, crazy girl with no filter.

Life is short, and it’s more bitter than sweet, so she tries to smile as often as her face allows. She enjoys stories with happy endings, because life is full of way too many unhappy ones.

She is currently working on the second novel in her series.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine