Page 74 of The Predator

I don’t bother arguing with him and turn to get out of the car. He joins me, and without saying a single word he lets me stand there staring. Once ready we walk towards the carnival. As we approach, I can’t help but smile wider the closer we get. There's a small game section with one attendant lounging on a fold out chair.

"Let me know if you want to play," he calls out.

Sebastian nods and keeps pace with me as I take it all in. There are a few rides, a ferris wheel, a tea cup ride, a spinning ride, and a few more things like a french fry truck and a cotton candy stall.

There's a few attendants near the rides but I don't pay much attention, not with Sebastian staring at me like that.

I point at the small stall with funnel cake. "Oh, I want that. But I didn't bring any cash with me..."

He extends his arm and I smile again as I slide my own arm through his to the elbow. "That's okay. I've already paid for everything. They'll give us whatever we want."

It only takes a minute for the attendant to hand me a hot funnel cake on a paper plate covered in a cloud of powdered sugar. I eat it until I can’t possibly have another bite, fold the rest into the plate, then toss it in the trash. Once I swallow the last piece, he leans down and kisses me, delving his tongue deep to catch the taste of the sugar.

My face is warm when he pulls away.

I clear my throat, needing a minute to settle after a kiss like that but he’s got plans apparently. “What now?” He asks.

There are so many choices I’m not sure. "Can we look around a bit?"

He nods and leads me to the edge of the carnival. We walk a little loop, and I try to take it all in, to see everything. My chest is tight, and I can’t even think around the knowledge that he did this for me. For me. As we walk, I pat my belly. "I'm going to need to work off all that fried deliciousness."

"If you need help with that, let me know."

I swat at Seb’s arm but smile. As long as he’s not planning to do it here in the cold, I’m down. “This is really beautiful, you know? I never thought I’d get to go to one of these. And here you bought out the whole thing just for me.” Tears coat my eyes andI blink them back, if only to keep from getting snotty when I try to kiss him later.

He leads me over to a small booth with a glass bottles set on a low shelf. The attendant in ratty jeans and a puffy vest slides a basket of balls toward Sebastian. “Knock em down, rack em up, win a prize for the little lady!” His voice carries through the mostly silent carnival.

I’m already grinning when Sebastian holds a ball out toward me. “You want to go?”

“No. I’m good. I’ll just watch.”

“You deserve things like this Ely,” he says, as he tucks some of my hair under my hat again. “You deserve everything you want and I’ve made it my personal mission to ensure you get it. Now, let me dominate this game for you.”

He waves the ball up at the prizes hanging from the ceiling. “Technically, I think I own all of these but...how about I win you one.”

I eye the overstuffed bears, miniature whale plushies, and a variety of small animals hanging from a net above the game. A stuffed dog catches my eye...brown like... I point at it. “That one.”

Sebastian turns to the game, throws the ball and knocks the glasses off in one swoop, one of them bouncing off the backboard with a loud crack.

The crack blends, morphs, and I clutch my head between my hands, pain ricocheting off my skull.

My vision blurs, and I’m pulled back in time.

Sebastian stands over me, I’m laying on the shiny tile of the foyer, and staring up at him through swollen eyelids. There’s a crack, and the small flash of a muzzle from a handgun catches my eye.

Sebastian shot me. He shot me.

I blink back to the present, my mind and body reeling as I try to assimilate this new piece of information, memory.He shot me.

I shove away from him as he turns, saying, "Ely, what is it...” He trails off.

I can’t breathe.

The air is too thin, too cold, and I suck it down, trying to get a full breath into my lungs. "Sebastian..."

Turning to face me, he cups my cheek. His gloved hand is warm against my skin. "Talk to me. What is it? What's wrong?"

All this time. The memories. They all pointed towards him.