Eternity and a Year Read Online Free

anniversary of Brendan’s disappearance had certainly not been lost on his mother. She, along with several other members of Brendan’s family, had been bombarding Carrie with phone calls that bordered on harassment for the past year, trying to bully the information they thought she had out of her. But she had been left just as much in the dark as they had when Brendan had disappeared, and each one of their thinly-veiled accusations hurt like a knife through the heart.
    After deleting two more similar messages without listening past the first few words, Carrie drifted down the hallway to her bedroom where the queen-sized bed she’d shared with Brendan took up most of the space. A dresser—some of the drawers still filled with Brendan’s clothing—stood to the right of the bed. A black and white picture was displayed prominently on top. It was her favourite from the engagement photo session they’d posed for together only a couple of months before his disappearance. In it, Brendan smiled down at Carrie, who beamed up at him, her arms wrapped around his waist. Their gazes were locked, and although the picture was devoid of colour, the soft shade of his eyes was markedly different from the dark burgundy she had seen the night before. His eye teeth were shorter, too, and he looked happy—very happy, in fact, not at all like a man who would soon abandon his bride-to-be.
    Unless, Carrie thought, something serious happened—something that would change everything. Like becoming a vampire. She still struggled to acknowledge the issue without feeling like a gullible child. She raised her hand to the side of her neck, and the double fang marks there throbbed dully beneath her fingertips. Yes, Brendan had supplied considerable evidence to back up his claim.
    She set the picture back on the dresser. Next she scooped up a small stack of papers—credit card bills—and shoved them into the top drawer. She didn’t want Brendan to see she’d been struggling financially since his disappearance and the consequent loss of his income. And she especially didn’t want him to see some of the particular purchases she’d made—nestled among the charges at grocery stores and her utility payments was evidence of just how much she’d spent on alcohol lately. Seeing the statements turned her cheeks warm and just the thought of Brendan finding out made them absolutely burn. He had claimed he was no longer the man he used to be, but she didn’t think he’d considered the possibility that she had sunk to levels that her old self would have scorned. With luck, he wouldn’t, and she could go back to being the woman she’d been before his disappearance.
    With the bills safely hidden, Carrie began to disrobe, slowly unveiling the rest of the proof of Brendan’s return. She had never been one to bruise particularly easily, and yet the soft, white curves of her hips had been touched with abstract whirls of blue and purple. Could a man do that simply by loving her? Brendan’s fiercely labouring body had certainly slammed with force against her ribs and hips. That was something her old self had never experienced.
    Carrie did her best to push aside all thoughts of blood as she stood naked before her dresser and pulled out the second drawer from the top, where she kept her lingerie. She dug through the assortment of brightly-coloured, lace-trimmed negligees she’d collected during the course of her and Brendan’s relationship, as well as the depressingly modest garments she’d bought over the past year, until her fingertips scraped against the wooden bottom of the drawer. She groped there until she felt delicate, barely-there material between her fingers. Then she lifted it carefully, holding it up against the light.
    It was snow white and filmy, trimmed at the bust with blue ribbon. It would hug her figure like a second skin, clinging to her shoulders with decorative lace cap-sleeves and skirting her derriere in another flourish of lace. She