Dreams of Blood and Water

Prologue

“So… what do you think, Cari?” His voice was heavy with anticipation as he regarded the road ahead of him carefully. The woman beside him just smiled secretively, as if knowing something that he didn’t, whilst staring out of the window beside her. One hand rested gently on her protruding stomach, whilst the other rested along the window of the car. The world was rushing by, making her eyes hurt as she tried to pick specific scenery out. She shook her head, getting rid of the slight dizziness before turning back to the driver.

“Hannah is a beautiful name, Michael.”

Michael nodded, with satisfaction evident in his hazel eyes. He began tapping his fingers gently on the steering wheel, in time to the music which was coming quietly from the radio between them. Cari just smiled, now placing both hands on her stomach. She wasn’t too far along… around 3 months, but she knew she was past the most dangerous stage of pregnancy, and so she and Michael had been deciding on names. Hannah for a girl was the most recent decision. Yesterday, they’d finally settled on Andrew for a boy. Cari took one of her hands from the small bump and rested it on Michael’s arm. He turned his head to flash her a smile before looking back at the road. He’d become a lot more careful with his driving since they’d been to the doctors and confirmed Cari’s pregnancy – that had been around two months ago. Cari was amazed at the change her pregnancy had brought about in him. At first, she hadn’t been sure whether he’d want to keep it or not – after all, they were both only seventeen – but when she’d told him, he’d spun her round and round and round… telling her how much he loved her. Shortly after that, he’d proposed. Her life was… perfect. Even her parents were happy about the baby, and that was one thing Cari hadn’t expected! It seemed as though they liked Michael, and they believed that Cari would make a great mother. Cari had a feeling they were just ecstatic about becoming grandparents for the first time. Eliza, Cari’s eldest sister, had already remarked on how she didn’t want to have children – this had disappointed their parents awfully.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Michael asked, his brow furrowed in concentration as they came to a roundabout. Cari just shook her head.

“Just thinking about how perfect everything is.” She watched as Michael’s smile turned into a grin.

“And it’ll be even more so when I get you down that aisle, and you become Cari Locke. And then, when little Hannah or Andrew Locke is-”

He was cut off by his own gasp as a large black car rolled over in the middle of the road, right into their car’s path. He quickly swerved, trying to avoid the vehicle, but their own car began to spin out of control – the rain on the road not making things any better. Cari’s scream could be heard as she tried her hardest to protect her stomach, fearful of what may happen if there was a collision…

And a collision there was.

Cari’s scream was abruptly interrupted as the car went straight into a tree. Silence ensued.