The Dragonfly Prophecy

by Jacquelyn Castle

  The cool breeze blew in my window as I curled up on my bed and closed my eyes tightly. Thoughts of my mother shot into my head. It all started to make sense. My mother took me to Doctor Rush, who was really nothing less than a complete freak. He must have been part of the black market William was talking about. I thought of my father and all the conversations and arguments I heard him have with William. The pieces of my life’s puzzle were arranging themselves. An enormous part of me wanted it to be true. A smaller part of me was scared if it was. I thought about Aunt Fay. Would she go, too? I had too much to think about and not enough sleep. I’d figure out a game plan in the morning, with a well-rested mind. Maybe.

  ˜ * ˜

  Every night at three, William came to visit me. Sometimes he would stay longer than others, but most of the time he would just hold me by the stream. He played with my hair, even though it wasn’t as soft as he remembered. He didn’t seem to care. He told me how my parents were and how much they missed me. We talked a lot about them and us, but he never let the conversation get too deep. At the start of any interrogation about his world or my being in it, William would only say ‘when the time is right, you’ll know everything.’ My being so stubborn made it incredibly hard for me not to know everything right at that minute. William must have known I needed time to absorb all he had given me so far.

  It didn’t take long before I became completely wrapped up in my night life. I thought about William every waking moment and looked forward to sleeping each night so I could be with him. I read the journals I kept under my mattress to hold me over until I saw him again. He made me feel better. I would have been happy to spend the rest of my life asleep. In a strange way, I had never felt more alive than when I was in that state of mind. I often wished morning would never come and cursed each time it did.

  Chapter 8

  The Reunion

  Party time came way too fast, and the excitement of being reintroduced to all of my friends reached its highest peak. I slipped my freshly showered body into my new, silky, off-white gown that hugged my slight curves and complemented my dark hair and eyes. The new teardrop diamond earrings and necklace finished off the look, and I felt like a real princess. With a forced smile, I took one final look in the mirror to make sure all was in place and I hadn’t forgotten anything. All I really wanted to do was go to sleep so I could be with William. What was the purpose of this stupid charade? As soon as William found a way, I was going to the alternate universe. Why would I stay with a bunch of people I didn’t remember, while the ones that I did had carried on without me?

  “Lex?” I heard Aunt Fay tap at my bedroom door.

  “Yeah, come on in,” I answered. I was dabbing my eye make-up when she came in mumbling something and then stopped herself mid-sentence. I looked in her direction just in time to see her blink back a tear.

  “You look stunning!” Her eyes darted up and down until she captured every tiny detail of my outfit. She walked closer until she stood behind me in the mirror, adjusting the straps on the back of my dress.

  “Just like your mother.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered. That was truly the best compliment she could have given me. “I feel a little overdressed, though. I don’t think I ever liked fancy clothes much,” I joked.

  “You’re right, honey. Even as a little girl, you never liked to dress up, but look at you now! You’re going to take everyone’s breath away! And don’t worry about being overdressed. All of your friends are downstairs looking quite sophisticated too!” She chuckled and flipped her head while imitating the model strut on the catwalk.

  I laughed hard at the sight of it and, just like that, my fears trickled away. “Nice!” I remarked. “I’m ready. Let’s go!”

  We started down the stairs to the great room where my long lost friends sipped sparkling water and virgin daiquiris. I smiled at the crowd while I ran through the names of each person in my mind. Nicky. Mom liked her because she was smart. I liked her because she was pants-wettingly funny. That’s Tracy next to her. She was always so pretty and perfect. It looks like she still is. I liked hanging out with her, too. We were on the same basketball team and she thought she was an amazing point guard, but she was really just a ball hog. And there’s Maggie. Outgoing, fun-loving, gorgeous and plain old nice. She was loaded, but low keyed so if you didn’t know her, you’d never guess her father ran an empire. She was always the life of the party and made it a point not to be a rich snob. I liked that about her.

  I had only seconds to glance at a few faces before I had to open my mouth and say something that sounded somewhat smart. As the crowd watched me reach the bottom of the long, curvy staircase, they broke into a concert-worthy applause. I blushed, very confident that my discomfort in being the center of attention wasn’t new to me. I should have planned a speech, but since I was preoccupied with William, the thought never entered my mind until that minute. I said whatever popped into my head.

  “Thank you! I feel like a rock star!” I joked as my audience laughed. “Thank you all for coming. I’m doing so much better now with the help of my wonderful Aunt Fay. I remember almost everything, so if you’ll just have a little patience with me, it’ll be like I never left.” I wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to say. In their minds, I really didn’t leave. They didn’t know what I knew about where I had been. My friends all clapped and cheered, giving me a sense of relief in knowing they didn’t see anything wrong with my unplanned speech.

  I worked my way around the room, chatting with anyone who stepped in my path. It surprised me how good it felt to be around all of these wonderful people whom I was afraid wouldn’t think I was worth the effort. Maria approached with a huge smile. “Is everything to your liking, Miss Lexi?”

  “Oh my God, you’ve done a fantastic job! It’s better than I could have imagined, right down to the name tags!” I squealed and reached out to hug her.

  “Those, my dear, were your aunt’s idea,” she smiled. “She thought of every precaution so you wouldn’t get nervous or worried about your memory.”

  “She’s great. You both are. Thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome, Miss Lexi. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  “Yeah, stop calling me Miss!” I laughed. “And stop worrying over every little detail and go have some fun, will ya? You work too much!” Maria laughed with me.

  “Lexi, you sure haven’t changed much, even with that bump to the head,” she joked, brushing her hand against my forehead. It was then that I remembered how much I liked her. She had been around so long she had become part of our very small family.

  Maria stepped away from me, creating a clear path to a very familiar face trying inconspicuously to look in my direction.

  “Paige!” I screamed. I ran across the room as fast as my dress and shoes would allow, and threw my arms around her.

  “Lexi! You’re rockin’ it!”

  I cut her off to save her from saying something stupid, which was typical of Paige. We were so tight and I knew she would have done the same for me.

  “What? I could never forget you!” I didn’t want to let on that I actually had forgotten her until recently, along with everyone else. “You’re my best bud! It’s so good to see you. It really is!” I screamed, not noticing or caring if I offended any of my guests for not giving them the same outpouring of emotion.

  She pulled away from me and hung her head low. “I hope you’re not mad.”

  “What? Why would I be mad?”

  “Because I haven’t been around. I wanted to see you in the hospital, you know. It’s not like I forgot you, but they weren’t allowing visitors so I had to do the next best thing.”

  “And what was that?”

  “Well, it was frustrating to say the least. I could see them not letting anyone else in but... ME? Your best friend? I was pissed. So I made you this.” She reached behind her and grabbed a beautifully wrapped package off the table. “Open it,” she demanded in a sarcastic but friendly way t
hat only Paige could manage.

  “Oh, you really shouldn’t have.”

  “Shut up and open it,” she chuckled. I slipped my finger under the pretty gold ribbon she had tied around the shiny black paper. I opened the box and sifted through the tissue until I found the homemade scrapbook.

  “It has pictures and mementos of people and places and stuff. A lot of things in there weren’t exactly broadcast to our parents so you might want to be careful with it.” She flipped the book open to the first page. “Look, here’s the ticket stub from the Kings concert. Remember that night? Here’s the picture of you trying to talk the security guards into letting us get closer to the stage. I laughed so hard I cried my mascara off and had to use your crappy stuff. Oh, and here’s the one with Tracy on your shoulders because that tall chick in front of us was blocking her view. That night was so much fun! For months we sang I Could Use Somebody high enough to break a few windows. Or at least make the local dogs howl! Remember?” she asked again.

  “I couldn’t forget that if I tried!” I shrieked. “That song still gives me an earworm!”

  “I was the only one who could give you this part of your memory back if you managed to put it all out of your mind. So that’s what I did. Each day you were in the hospital, I found something to mark a special time in your life. I hope you like it.”

  “I think I’m going to cry,” I said.

  “Oh God, not that!” she said with such sarcasm that I laughed instead. “Don’t go getting all mushy on me, Lexi. You know I can’t handle mushy.”

  “I do?”

  Her toothy grin disappeared and was replaced by a look of complete panic.

  “Nah, just messing with you. I know you can’t deal with emo,” I joked.

  Paige breathed again, the color returned to her cheeks and her smile found its way back to her pretty face. She let out a very loud laugh.

  “You really are back, Lex. It’s so nice to have my biyatch back! I was feeling awfully lonely, you know. No one really gets me the way you do. And I’m so freakin’ happy you still do!”

  We both laughed for a few minutes and started making plans to get together in the coming days.

  I left Paige to mingle while I visited with the rest of my guests. I burst into the little clusters of people, all of whom I remembered pretty well, and caught up with their lives. As I inched my way across the crowd, a masculine hand touched my shoulder; its owner didn’t say a word. Ever so gracefully, and in my extremely uncomfortable gown, I turned to see a very handsome Chace Preston standing before me with a pearly white smile and sun-kissed skin. I remembered us being very close and I knew he was very special to me, although I wasn’t quite sure why. At any rate, he was my best boy friend. I even had a picture of us sharing a ride on my tricycle when we were about three years old. I didn’t recall him being so... gorgeous. He looked like he had just walked off of a Manhattan billboard.

  “Hello, beautiful!” he whispered and kissed my cheek.

  “Chace!” I said. It was just one word but it came out all wrong. I could have sung in the opera with that soprano voice. How embarrassing. “Look who’s beautiful!” I felt my face get hot, and I was sure it turned a few different shades of crimson.

  “Look at you! You look great! I’m so happy you’re home—and in one piece!” He twirled me around as he spoke, most likely checking to see if I was missing anything.

  “Thanks.” I ran my fingers through my quite obvious new hair.

  “Don’t worry, Lex, you’d still be beautiful even if you were bald with a wooden leg!” It broke the intensity of the moment and I laughed, mostly at my own insecurity.

  Chace asked the usual questions about how I felt, what I remembered and those kinds of things. But then the conversation started to get deep and I felt very uneasy around him.

  “I don’t want to seem unsympathetic or selfish or anything, but do you remember anything about us, Lexi?”

  “Of course I do!” I was clueless, though. I searched my memory for hints of an ‘us’ as he called it and came up with nothing. “I know me, I know you—what else is there?” I said like a jackass.

  “There was more than that, but... never mind. I’m sorry, Lex. I didn’t mean to bring anything up that would upset you.”

  “No. Wait. What are you saying? Were we hitting it or something? Chace, you have to tell me. I don’t remember and I’m sorry for that, but...”

  “No,” he interrupted my minor meltdown. “We go back a long way and always had, well... it was a special relationship. We were like best friends, well more than best friends. It was just very special. To both of us.” He took a sip of his drink, creating an awkward silence for a few seconds.

  “As for dating, or ‘hitting it’ as you called it, you never wanted to take the chance. You thought it would ruin what we had. A few months before your accident, I had you convinced to give it a try. I guess I hoped you’d remember that part of your life, that’s all.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. The feeling I had, I can only describe as awful. “I do remember everything about you except that I caved into test-driving a relationship.” I tried to laugh a little, but I could only give him a plastic smile instead.

  I studied his face and my lifetime of memories with Chace came very easily to me. He used to be a dork in school and kept to himself and his science books. Chace missed a lot of school and the other guys started rumors about him plotting to take over the world with his computer or some other ridiculous, far-fetched story. He might have made himself scarce to avoid the constant tormenting. His intelligence went beyond his years, and his intensity gave him the charm and goodness of an old soul. In all of his quirkiness, my group of friends accepted him, unconditionally. We were always together and I wouldn’t dare let him be ostracized. I loved him in a way that even I never understood.

  I couldn’t imagine him not being the most popular guy in school now, since he seemed to have grown into himself. His sandy hair and light brown eyes were the perfect complement to his chiseled jaw and manly build. He looked a lot like the picture of his father on the mantle that was taken when he was around the same age. I knew his parents very well. His mother, Katrina, was a scientist who always worked on top-secret stuff. It must have been something really big, judging by the house they had. His father, Max, worked for some branch of the FBI. It was so secret that when anyone asked where he worked, he would playfully answer, “I would tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” In all the years I’d known Chace, his parents had always treated me like I was family. I used to walk in and out of their home like it was my own. Chace and I were close, I remembered.

  “It’s okay.” He touched my face with the back of his hand. “You’ll figure it all out. Someday, you’ll understand just how much you mean, and have always meant to me.” He kissed my head and disappeared into the crowd. I stood paralyzed, butterflies and all, wondering what I could have done to deserve all the patience, love and understanding Chace had given me.

  Chapter 9

  Never in My Wildest Dreams (And They’re Pretty Wild)

  The smell of freshly cooked gourmet foods took over the air in the little town of Far Hills, as it had every autumn since I was little. Aunt Fay let me go ‘without supervision’ to the annual Fall Food Festival since it looked like I wasn’t having any more issues from the accident. When Paige got to my house in full whacky getup, too much makeup and perfume that smelled like a spice jar exploded in her bra, I felt good to be back. We drove with the windows down, which saved me from getting eu de toilette sickness, and girl-talked the whole way. We caught up on lots of stuff, like when I would go back to school and who she thought the new hot guy was that year.

  She was such a good friend and I felt like I was somehow lying to her. I guess I was, in a way. I wanted to tell her all about William and his world and how I had been there. I especially craved a shoulder to cry on when it came to Chace. My emotions went haywire around him and I didn’t know what my true feelings were. My heart
belonged with William, but when it came to Chace, it was different. I could actually touch him. I knew he wasn’t part of this freakiness in my dreams. I had no doubts about loving him; I just didn’t know what to do with it. I wanted her to tell me what I should do. She was the only one who would even entertain the idea that my whole experience was real, since she was such an oddball. Her room was decorated with crystal balls, funky statues and spell books along with a bunch of other weird trinkets. Enter the oddball status. I thought about telling her all the way to the festival, but when we got there, I still hadn’t mentioned it.

  The aroma of apple cider donuts hit me in the face as soon as I opened the car door. It brought me back to when my father and I had tried to make cider donuts with the apples we’d picked from the local orchard. They tasted like pickles and the house reeked for weeks, so we never tried that again. “We have to get one of those first thing, Paige,” I demanded. She laughed and pushed us through the crowd to the beginning of the line at the entry gate, where the cashier waved us in like celebrities. “Um, Paige? What the hell was that all about?”

  “What?” she asked.

  “Cutting the line and—”

  “Oh that,” she interrupted. “That’s one of my mom’s friends who volunteers here. So, we are not waiting in any of these ridiculously long lines,” she said with a head wobble and a smirk.

  “Good to know people in high places. Now let’s go get the donuts,” I joked. We walked around sampling every kind of food imaginable. I felt like a pig but it felt good. About a half-hour went by before I got a text from Nicky that she and the girls were waiting by the fortune-telling booths. No one had heard from Chace. I wondered if he would show at all, considering we both got weirded out with the conversation about our relationship. He could have been pissed at me, but didn’t want to stress me out for fear I might regress. Or I could have just been reading him wrong. Yeah, that was the most obvious answer.