[MJ Fanfiction] Collide

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN - AWAY

Reading Michael's book was somehow a way for me to find a way to trigger something in my brain: images, voices, flashes... Anything. Anything that would show me that I wasn't done with Michael, that I would find a way to be by his side again without hurting anybody in the process: not me, not Grams, and not Michael.

The more I read about him, the more I felt close to him. But was it a good idea to feel closer to him while all I was doing was pushing him away?

I shook my head, determined to put an end to this annoying questioning that kept on intoxicating my brain. I went downstairs with the book in my hands, and plopped down on the couch. With a warm plaid secured around my arms, I started reading  Michael's every words, trying to find comfort in his writing, trying to make his absence less painful.

Chapter after chapters, I learned more things about him, about his childhood, his work, his relationship with his family. I was saddened to see how Michael's childhood was completely taken from him. His father, Joseph, was always hard on him, and expecting him to be the best in everything he did. He even confessed how he could be abusive at times with him and his brothers. I shed a tear as I remembered what Michael told me about this book. How he felt so exposed that he didn't want it published. I understood better why he changed his mind at the last minute, and I found him even braver for releasing it after all.

"I myself have never tried drugs — no marijuana, no cocaine, nothing. I mean, I haven't even tried these things. Forget it. This isn't to say we were never tempted. We were musicians doing business during an era when drug use was common. I don't mean to be judgmental — it's not even a moral issue for me — but I've seen drugs destroy too many lives to think they're anything to fool with."

As I read this passage, the memory of seeing Michael taking pills in one of my visions came to my mind, and I felt a chill running down my spine just thinking about it. I didn't know what kind of pills they were, but I had the feeling that this would become a problem in his future. I remembered the pain I was in when these images flooded my mind, how the images were so strong that I was barely able to stand on my own two feet.

What could happen to him that would make him take pills? Was he going to be sick? Was he going to go through an addiction issue? Was this something I needed to save Michael from, and was it the reason why I was allowed to see this part of his future?

With a heavy sigh, I closed the book, and put it on my lap. I looked outside through the window at the city, as I let my thoughts wander freely in my head. I surprised myself thinking about my past and my family, and more precisely Katelyn, my mother's sister.

When I was only discovering about my ability to see people's future, my parents sent me to see different doctors that would help me understand why I could feel and see things that didn't happen yet. This moment in my life was a real nightmare for me and for both of my parents. I didn't know what was happening to me, I just knew it wasn't normal, that I shouldn't be able to know things before anyone, such as my grandfather's lung cancer.

I happened to have one vision at a family dinner on my mother's side, back in the days. It was just the three of us, Katelyn and her husband, George, their daughters Alyssa and Mary and our grandpa. I've never known my grandmother, she died when I was only two.

This family gathering turned into a real nightmare for me. My parents knew that I was seeing things about my grandfather's condition, but the one I had that day... It was stronger than the other ones, quite similar to the ones I had with Michael. Following this, I was feeling horrible, and of course Katelyn and her family started to ask questions. Thinking that family was a safe place away from judgments, my mother told them all about me. She told them that I was seeing things, things concerning my grandfather, concerning the fact that he was going to be very, very ill.