Chapter 3
I woke to the muted sun’s rays spread across my face while the sound of my cell phone beeped with a text message. I rubbed my heavy eyes then squinted at the blinds that I’d forgotten to close. My window faced the front of the house, and from my bed, I saw the top of a large tulip tree. This morning, a thick fog covered it.
When the phone beeped again, I moaned and reached for it. I had two text messages. The first came from Chris, stating that he and Brody stayed up all night messing around in the loft. I translated this to playing video games and jamming to music. He ended the message with “I can’t wait to see you.”
My eyes lingered on the last part. What did it mean? Last night, he called me beautiful while he held me. Surely, we were back together. But what if I’m reading too much into it? Even when his hatred for me was at its highest, he still would’ve offered me his shirt, opened my car door, and extended the breakfast invitation. He’d do it because our group’s friendship went beyond him and me. And he’d do it because it was the right thing to do, not because he wanted to. Until his intensions were clear, I couldn’t let my yearning emotions go there. With mental resisting, I forced them aside to focus on the second message.
It came from Mom. After her eccentric yet normal behavior yesterday, I didn’t feel like dealing with her. Since she texted me, I figured she was probably jogging with Zane. This meant I could tell her about my breakfast plans without actually speaking to her.
I opened the text, reading it aloud. “Jogging. I’ll be home for breakfast. BL vamp.
I blinked. The first part easily confirmed my suspicions, but what did BL vamp mean? I thought of abbreviations that corresponded to her jog or breakfast. Blueberries, bacon, lattes, long strides. I shook my head. Nothing made sense. I ran my finger over the word vamp, contemplating another minute. Again nothing. Finally, I gave up, figuring it was one of her harebrained moments. I sent her a text, stating my morning plans, hoping she wouldn’t deny me my chance to go, and inquired about the meaning of BL vamp.
The clock on the nightstand told me it was too early to be getting ready for my rendezvous, yet even with my lack of sleep, I couldn’t stay in bed any longer. Chris wanted to see me. Whether that meant as friends or more, I wanted to see him too.
I scooted off the bed, tiptoeing around tossed clothes and empty wrappers until I made it to my dresser. I chose undergarments, a pink top, and white shorts then headed to the bathroom. Across the hall, Katz’s bedroom door was closed. I contemplated knocking but, remembering her tiredness from the mental pull with crazy Nathaniel, I decided to wake her after I got dressed.
As I sat on the toilet to relieve myself, I heard Katz’s bloodcurdling scream. I shuddered at her shrieks while I instantly was pulled into her mind.
One hand yanked up my boxers while the other flung open the door. I dashed down the hallway toward her bedroom as flashes crossed into my mind. Jumbled clips of overgrown foliage in a wooded area dominated the images. Katz was watching through the eyes of someone who ran. The images blurred, faded then reappeared. A man was hunched over with his back toward the person. He was surrounded by similar undergrowth to the runner but I didn’t know if the runner was looking at the man or if Katz jumped into someone else’s mind because the eyes Katz now looked through were frozen with fear. The man stood, turning. His eyes remained closed. His face was unnaturally pale against wet scarlet lips. He sniffed the air. His eyelids lifted and two menacing, glowing red orbs stared back.
I yelped, tripped, and fell to the floor.
Katz screamed louder.
The images were more powerful than I’d ever felt. Katz’s panic forced me to stay focused.
He wore torn jeans and a black motorcycle jacket, the kind with many zippers that was made for someone with lots of muscles. His white-blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail although a few strands fell free, landing at chin level. He tucked some behind his ear then wiped the back of his hand across his mouth smearing something red.
Blood, my mind shrieked.
I clamped my hands over my mouth, fairly certain nothing came out. Where did the blood come from? Was he hurt? No, that wasn’t right because his face looked hard and scornful, not pained.
He smiled ominously. I really wish he hadn’t smiled because it revealed gleaming, white teeth with two pointy fangs.
Shivers spiked down my spine.
Katz’s cries shortened into a hiccup then gasps.
Standing, I screeched through our bond, Katz, wake up! You’re dreaming…
The images shifted; she remained in the nightmare. I saw the woods again. Since there were no identifiable landmarks, I couldn’t be certain it was the same area.
Katz’s screams intensified, giving me a feeling of urgency. I wrenched open her bedroom door, banging it into the wall with a thud. Looking at her doubled over on her bed, chest heaving, I froze. She flung her head back as she sat upright. Tears streaked her cheeks and dripped off her chin. A deeper, animalistic scream ripped from her throat. She collapsed forward then just stopped, no shrieks, no images, no sobs. For a horrible moment, I thought she died. I launched myself onto the bed. Placing a hand on her back, feeling her ribcage expand and contract with each breath, I realized, with relief, how irrational that thought was.
After some time of coaxing, she wiggled her head onto my lap while shifting into a fetal position. I wrapped my arms around her. “You’re okay now.”
She whimpered as more tears slicked my leg.
“Shh,” I said soothingly. I handed her a tissue from a box from the nightstand. “It was just a nightmare.” As the words left my mouth, I knew they were false. Sure, Katz dreamt. Most likely, however, it wasn’t a dream but rather a vision—a horrific incident happening right now.
A powerful vision, where she couldn’t initially throw up mental walls, occurred once every couple of years and she’d had two in a short time frame. Yeah, it might be a coincidence. Or, as I suspected, creepy Nathaniel was related to this new one. I hoped they’d both fade away, never to pop up again. But if they did, we needed to be prepared. Protecting her physically and mentally was my number one priority. At the moment, I felt helpless. I needed to know what Katz knew. I needed to know the truth. I’d let her calm down but this time, I’d demand answers.
She sobbed for several minutes while I stroked her hair or handed her tissues. She flipped over. Her wet green eyes pleaded for hope in a way I didn’t understand.
In raspy voice, she said, “Zane, Mom.”
“What about them?”
“They’re…” Her words broke off. Her bottom lip quivered, making her look more childlike. I patted her shoulder encouragingly. She squeezed her eyes closed. In a strained voice that increased in volumes, she blurted, “They’re dead. Mom and Zane are dead!” She buried her face in her hands, crying again.
My muscles clenched, my hand freezing midway through her hair. Her words reverberated back through my head in slow motion. My lips trembled. Instead of crying I let out a hysterical nightmarish laugh.
“This isn’t a joke!” Katz screamed through sniffles. “I’m serious. They’re dead!"
“Mom’s not dead.” I grabbed a tissue then wiped the tears of laughter from under my eyes. I continued calmly, “It’s funny because you had a nightmare. It couldn’t have been a vision.”
“Why not?” She sat up.
“Simple, I got a text message from Mom a few minutes ago.”
Relief spread across her face. “What did she say?”
“She said she went jogging and she’d be home for breakfast.”
The color drained from Katz’s face. Slowly, like she contemplated her thoughts, she asked, “Anything else?”
“Nothing that made sense. I texted her back, telling her our breakfast plan with the guys.”
Katz’s confusion and concern weakly beamed through our bond. She was shielding me from her mind, which told me the feelings trickling through were actually a lot stronger. I suspected my plans were changing, not that I wanted to break my plans with Chris. He’d understand—at least I hoped. Katz needed me. Perhaps Mom and Zane did too.
“Where was Mom jogging at?’
I shrugged. “I assume Gettysburg National Military Park. She and Zane go there all the time.”
Katz lowered her head into her hands. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
“Why?”
“I’m almost positive it was a vision.” She looked up. Tears welled in her eyes again. “Lexi, I was in Mom’s mind.
I held up one finger as I thought. Occasionally, when Mom didn’t get up so early, I’d go jogging with her. She slowed her pace when I tired, but I knew her route. She ran the same five miles around fields with statues and cannons, near the Peach Orchards, around Little Round Top, and ended at Devil’s Den. Sure, she passed woods. They had recognizable landmarks on marked paths. It wasn’t like the woods in the vision yet, the trees and vegetation could easily be from Gettysburg area.
Katz’s eyes glazed over into a blank stare. I didn’t feel her panicked mental pull when she couldn’t control it but I felt something. “Are you contacting Mom?”
She blinked. “No, I tried though. I can’t get through.”
My eyebrows shot up. Her honesty scared me. Katz broke the rules—our parent’s rules. She was a pleaser and wouldn’t purposefully enter anyone’s mind, yet she contacted the one person who’d punish her. She worried for Mom and I didn’t think either of our minds would be at ease until we knew Mom and Zane were safe.
We discussed our options. To avoid punishment, we agreed not to tell Mom or Dad about the visions, although we still needed to hear from Mom. Katz decided to call her while I looked for her SUV in the driveway, hoping she returned home with Zane. Making my way from one window to the next, I saw Dad coming from the barn. Only my Oldsmobile and Dad’s 1969 Ford truck were in the driveway. On my dash back to Katz’s bedroom, I detoured into my room, picking up my cell phone. With Mom’s overprotective, nose-in-my-business personality, I felt confident that if she read my breakfast plans, she’d respond. No messages. My heart sunk. I swallowed the forming tears to put on a bold face for Katz.
As soon as I saw her solemn expression, I knew she hadn’t reached Mom either, which she confirmed with a headshake. I told her about my empty-ended results too. She stammered, “I think it’s time to tell Dad.”
“No!” I said adamantly. I propped up a pillow, getting comfy on her bed. “I don’t want you in trouble unnecessarily. You need to tell me the whole story.” I fluffed a second pillow, gesturing for her to lean back. “We’ll figure it out. If there’s no other option, we’ll tell Dad together.”
“I don’t know if I can.” She blew her nose. “I mean the best way to tell you is to show you. I can drop the walls. Let you in my mind. That part is easy.”
“It is?"
She shrugged. “After the break up with Chris, I had to do something to get your thoughts out of my head. I kind of became an expert at building and tearing down walls.”
“Oh,” I said regretfully. Over the years, I’d tried to convince her to let me in to converse. She never played along and most times I quit trying. She aimed to please. It was part of who she was, the same part that followed rules. Yeah, I felt her occasional emotions or saw glimpses of visions, but it was always a blur for me. Even if she let me in now, I wasn’t sure if I’d experience it as clearly as she had.
“This is different,” Katz admitted. “It’s what happens to Mom. I don’t know if I can relive…you know, how she died.”
I smiled weakly. “You remember though?”
She jerked her head away to stare out the window as though she struggled from deep inside. After a moment, her sad gaze fell back on me. “Yes, I remember it all. I can’t forget…I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”
“I’m sorry.”
Although the idea of eavesdropping in Mom’s mind sent a pain to my head, I pressed on. Eventually, Katz leaned back, clutching my hand and closed her eyes.
The barriers between our minds dropped and she began.