by Ami Urban
The room was dark, but the light from the window splashed over both beds.
To my left, someone was curled in the fetal position, the blankets pulled up to her chin and the rhythmic rise and fall of steady breathing made my heart beat faster.
To my right, the girl was splayed out on the bed, the sheets tossed to the floor, one pant leg rolled up to the knee, and her long blond hair fanning out across the pillow.
If I hadn’t known any better, I would have said she was the Siren. After all, she looked closer to those drawings of mythological creatures I’d seen than Katie did.
A monstrously tiny dog was huddled at the foot of Serena’s bed.
It opened its shark eyes, growled, and threatened to bark. I let it sniff my hand. As soon as it took in my scent, it settled, wagging its ratty tail. It must have been a she.
Girls—regardless of species—couldn’t resist me. Sometimes that fact stroked my ego, other times it made me ill.
I turned to my left. Katie was in that bed.
I was standing over her, unable to breathe, unable to move. She was facing away from me, her short, dark hair flowing behind her head. I wanted to see her face so bad, but I was afraid I’d wake her—even though I knew not to worry.
I reached out. But before my fingertips could touch the sheet, she moved. I retracted my hand. She flipped onto her back, then her other side, curling into a ball again and sighing comfortably.
I froze. I could see her now; her beautiful, perfect face. I touched her cheek with soft fingers, wishing I could hear her voice again.
She seemed different somehow. Even more so than that afternoon in the park. And I knew then that it was her soul I was noticing.
No longer did she seem shy and subdued. Her soul bared experience, wisdom, and confidence. Somehow, I was even more in love with her at that moment.
Kneeling down next to the bed, I allowed my fingers to follow the contours of her cheek, her jaw, and down her throat. I felt a sob threaten to overtake me, but I had more pride than I knew what to do with, so I kept it in.
“Katie…” I whispered in the dim light. If she was in there somewhere, dreaming about something insignificant, maybe she could hear my voice. “I…I miss you…”
My fingers tangled in her soft hair, tucking it behind one ear. She wriggled suddenly, and I pulled away. But she didn’t wake up, only curled tighter into a little ball.
I sighed, shaking my head as I stood once again, my knees eliciting a groan of protest. I felt like I was getting older and older, even though I knew it wasn’t possible.
“Katie…I love you.” I leaned forward, brushing my lips against her cheek. My heart hammered inside my chest when the warmth of her skin seeped into my own. I missed her so much.
“Maarrttiinn Krraannee…”
I straightened. Who had said my name? Where had it come from? It sounded like a female’s voice. I looked down at Katie, but she was sound asleep. She hadn’t moved a single muscle.
“Martin Krane…”
I spun around.
Serena was where I’d left her with the exception that one hand was now over her head on the pillow. She looked really uncomfortable.
“I know you hear me, Martin Krane.”
Yep, it was definitely Serena who had spoken. Only she wasn’t whispering with an accent. It was as if a different voice were coming from her throat. And I knew exactly who the voice belonged to.
“Yeah, I hear you,” I mumbled in the dark room. “Where have you been? And how are you doing that?”
Her lips twisted into a grin while her eyes remained closed. “You’ve created a bridge for me. I can speak to you through her because you are keeping them asleep…”
I sucked in a breath. I had nothing to say to my guardian wraith, and I hoped if I didn’t speak another word, maybe he’d go away.
“Do you know why I sent you here?” he asked in her voice.
“Yeah, you want me to take a soul for your sick little games.”
“Games? These are not games, Martin Krane. This is what you owe me for my…gift to you.”
“Yeah, some gift.”
“But you refuse to take souls. You refuse to supply me with energy.
“I could rid myself of you in an instant by consuming your body’s energy, you know.”
“Go ahead, then. Do it,” I challenged.
What did I care? I didn’t really have a lot to live for at that moment.
A puff of air escaped Serena’s throat. I guessed it was his way of laughing through her.
“I do not need to, Martin Krane. I sent you here to collect enough energy for me to return to your dimension.
“And your pain and suffering for the Siren has been feeding me more than a soul as dirty as this one would.
“It is almost time, but I must find a suitable body.” Serena rolled her head to one side and let out a snore.
“Why do you need to come back?” I asked. “You just told me you don’t need her soul. What could you possibly want from this dimension?”
For a moment, nothing came from Serena’s mouth, and I thought he was done. But after a moment, her lips smiled once again.
“Revenge.”
I opened my mouth to ask him what the hell he was talking about when I felt a vibration in my back pocket.
I jumped, then fished out my temporary cell phone. I’d only agreed to get one in case Katie needed something in a hurry.
After one last glance at Serena—sound asleep—I snuck out of the apartment.
When I’d closed the front door behind me, I answered the call.
“Hello?”
Sniff. “Martin?”
I scrunched up my face. “Who is this?”
Another sniff. “Don’t act like you don’t know!”
Well, that wasn’t fair. I didn’t know who it was. The girl’s voice sounded somewhat familiar—angry and thick—but I couldn’t pinpoint it.
“Don’t act like the last three years never happened!” she cried.
Huh? “I don’t—”
“This is Justine, you asshole! You’re ex-girlfriend!”
I almost fell over.
I had to grip the edge of the elevator to keep steady. What?! Ex-girlfriend? Justine?! I’d never…
“Andy broke up with me…” She sniffled again.
“And you’re calling me because…?”
I was being mean, but I just wanted her off the phone.
“Because you were the only one that was good to me. Can’t you see how good we were together, Martin?”
I pressed the down button three times in rapid succession, debating whether or not to just hang up on her.
“I saw you talking to the new girl this afternoon.” Justine’s voice darkened as my nerves bristled to attention. “Do you like her, Martin? You know why she’s really here, right?”
What did she mean? The elevator doors dinged open, but I was too focused on what Justine had been saying to step on.
“What are you talking about?”
“When she dropped all her shit in the hall this afternoon like a total spaz…” The tears in her voice were gone, replaced by a judgmental southern “valley girl” tone.
I was about to bite her head off for calling Katie a name, but she cut me off before I could.
“I saw that she had a picture of Serena in her backpack. She must be so totally obsessed with Reenie, that she came all this way from backwater Canada to meet her. Isn’t that sad? What a freak, right?”
My blood vessels constricted. My heart beat too hard and too fast. I was losing oxygen. Justine was out of line.
Katie didn’t deserve those insults. I stepped onto the elevator and spun around to hit the bottom floor button. Then, I counted to ten before saying, “Go to bed, Justine.”
Before she could protest, I hung up. And when the elevator let me off, I stormed out of the building and hailed a cab for the Omni Dallas Hotel.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” I de
manded when Kevin Carter answered the door.
He didn’t look as though he’d just woken up. How could he have been asleep? I’m sure all that concocting and executing of his plan had made him feel so empowered.
I paced halfway into his room and spun around. “Why the hell would you put a thought in Justine’s head that we’d dated? And for three years?”
Kevin was unnervingly quiet. After a moment, he pushed a hand through his hair.
“Sorry, Martin. I had to do it. You need to stay away from Katie.”
I was speechless, my hands curled into fists at my sides.
This man was ruthless. He’d do anything to keep me out of the way.
Why was it so important to him?
When I hadn’t spoken for a solid thirty seconds, I threw up my hands and said, “Fuck!” I shook my head and started to pace again. “Why Justine? I’d never date that…that…dragon in a million years!”
“Because she won’t let Katie near you without a fight, that’s why,” he replied.
I stopped and stared at him for a minute. “Fu—”
“Don’t say it again, Martin!” He pointed a finger at me. “Just calm down.”
“Calm down?! I was doing fine on my own! I wasn’t pushing her, I wasn’t getting in the way—”
“Right. Because breaking into Serena’s apartment to watch Katie sleep is doing fine,” he said calmly, crossing his arms over his chest.
Damn his mind-reading abilities. “Those thoughts you hear come with pictures, too? Or are they just words?” I demanded.
“Sometimes both.”
I nodded and smirked, sending him some choice images of Katie and me kissing on the grass on her last day.
I gave him one of her telling me she loved me, too. But I left out our private moment. That was for me.
Kevin flinched and passed a hand over his face. “Shit, Martin! Jeez. Come on. I shouldn’t be seeing that stuff…”
“Serves you right,” I shot. “Take back the thought.”
“No can do.” He spread his arms. “I’ve already integrated it into your lie. Nothing you or I can do will stop it without releasing the entire influence.”
I huffed. “I’ll make this war, you know.”
“It doesn’t have to be. Just do what I say. I’ll make sure her memories come back smoothly. When she’s ready to remember you, she will.”
I narrowed my eyes at him in the dim light of his hotel room on the seventh floor. “I’ll get her back. One way or the other. If I have to step over you, I’ll do it. You said it yourself: she’s not happy. That’s because she doesn’t remember me. She’ll be mine again.” I stepped forward, invading his space.
He didn’t move a muscle. “Good. I hope so. But don’t be disappointed if you don’t get what you want, Martin. We can’t always have what we want…”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll be singing a different tune when I’m holding her again, kissing her again, touching her again…”
Chapter Sixteen
Something was touching me.
I sat bolt upright in my bed. The room was dark, cold, and sounds of traffic were rushing below the tenth story window. Why Serena had left it open was beyond me. But the cold wind wasn’t why I had woken up so abruptly.
I’d sworn something touched me. It had felt like...a kiss...
I swung a look over at Serena.
Still asleep.
Shoving the covers back, I grumbled under my breath.
I had to go to the bathroom, anyway, and I’d started getting used to sleepless nights.
Often, the jumbled memories plagued me in the form of nightmares.
Faces I didn’t recognize and events that never happened swam through my brain at breakneck speed almost every night.
But I was in a stranger’s house.
I couldn’t just go through my normal insomnia routine and dig through the freezer for a pint of ice cream, plop myself on the couch and watch endless B movies until I passed out.
I’d settle for a glass of water and a pee break.
I headed out into the living room, past the high-backed green sofa, and filled a clean glass with water. And on my way to the bathroom, I stopped cold.
I hadn’t noticed the shadowy figure sitting on the sofa the first time around. A tingly feeling crawled up my spine, exploding into my neck and shoulders. Oh, not now... Not another wraith!
“Need something, Katie?” Marcus turned and set watchful eyes on me.
My stupid treacherous heart wouldn’t slow, even when I knew it was only Serena’s foster-father and not another being from the seventh dimension—or whatever dimension they came from.
“Uh, I got it, thanks, Mr.—” crap, I didn’t know his last name “—Marcus...”
Lame, Katie. Real lame.
“Last name’s Perry, Katie. It’s okay, though. You can call me Marcus. I don’t mind.”
“I’d rather go by Mr. Perry, if that’s all right,” I said with a weak smile. It was a respect thing. You know, respect your elders?
“Sure.”
I turned to leave, but something nagged at me. “Why are you up so late, Mr. Perry?” I asked.
“Work. I just got home a few minutes ago.”
“Oh.”
“Why are you up so late, Katie?”
“Time difference.” I took a sip of water. Ew, it tasted like the tap.
“Is there a big time difference in Canada?” he wondered.
Um... “Jet lag,” I offered.
He nodded, seeming to accept my answer as fact. “I know how that is.” We were silent for a moment. “Hey, while you’re up, I’d like to ask you a few questions. Maybe you can help me get this work done.”
“Me?”
I reluctantly rounded the edge of the sofa to see a pile of papers littered on the small coffee table. They looked like reports of some kind—with names and addresses on them.
“These are lists of people who may be interested in hearing your voice.”
“Oh,” I said, propping myself on the arm of the couch. I tucked a strand of hair behind one ear.
“So, tell me, how long have you been singing, Katie?” He watched me carefully.
I felt like I was under a microscope.
“What? Like, professionally?”
Oh, jeez, I was so hopeless.
“No…at all.”
“Oh…well…I guess I’ve been doing it since I was ten. I used to hold concerts for my friends where I would sing movie songs and stuff.”
What was I—drunk or something?
That sentence was the dumbest I’d ever uttered. And when Marcus just watched me in silence, I knew he was thinking the same thing.
“Other than that... I was in choir for most of my middle school career and halfway through high school, which was quite a feat because our electives wouldn’t allow—”
“Were you president of the class or anything?”
I shook my head.
“Well…you’re lucky this isn’t a job interview.” He turned back to his work and crossed out half the list. “I’m going to be frank with you, if that’s okay.”
“By all means.”
“You have a decent voice. But what you need is more than that.”
“I know. Serena has personality and confidence. It’s no secret I’m shy and reserved. I know I’m socially awkward,” I said.
“That’s not why Serena cut a CD.”
“It’s not?”
He shook his head. “Hardly. It’s all her antics—drugs, drinking, men. Serena certainly doesn’t compare with some of the other talent out there, but people loved reading about the things she did last night. Even if they weren’t true half the time.”
“Well… You’re right. I’m not like her in that respect.”
He sighed. “You may wonder why she speaks to me the way she does.
“When she was born, her parents named me as her Godfather. Her dad and I used to frequent the pubs together. We had some good times.
“When I got into the business, that’s when Serena decided she wanted to sing. I used my connections and got her a job. I’ve just never been able to say no to her.”
That explained why she acted so spoiled around him. But something told me she did that with a lot of people. And he’d just given me a little piece of gold.
If I could find out where Serena’s father was, maybe I could get them to reconcile.
“That being said,” he continued, “I can shop you around a little, but without that X-factor, I doubt we’ll get any hits.
“If anything, we can set you up to record something...anything.” He scribbled something else on the list that I couldn’t read.
“Can I...ask you something?”
The pen dropped from his hand. When he looked up at me, I felt like I’d done something wrong.
“If you’re about to tell me you need money, you can get out of my house right now, because that’s the second worst thing you can say to me,” he said.
“What’s the first?”
He didn’t answer. I shifted on the arm of the couch.
“I don’t need money. I have plenty. I, uh...wanted to ask about Serena’s father.”
Marcus sighed. “That’s the first worst thing you can say to me. Get out.”
“No, wait! Just hear me out!”
He watched me for a moment with one eyebrow raised. Then, he sat back; I guessed allowing me to continue. “Go ahead, then.”
Crap! I was hoping the conversation would open his door, not mine. I had imagined he’d just open up and spill the beans about Serena’s daddy issues, but now I had to ad lib.
“I just... I think she should talk to him, you know?”
“Why?”
“I...”
“Let me tell you something about Serena and her father. When Serena was fourteen, she cut her first CD—fourteen. The minute she stepped into a studio was the minute her dad decided to leave.”
“But she told me he left when she was four,” I protested, recalling the hour long conversation we’d had before falling asleep.
“Yeah? She tells other people he left when she was sixteen. It just goes along with her character.
“Charles left because he couldn’t handle her overnight success. He was just a factory worker. She hasn’t spoken to him in four years because she doesn’t want to. I suggest you stay out of that part of her life. Why—why do think you can help?”
