by Alicia Rades
He didn’t say another word but instead pulled me close again and crushed his lips to mine. That gave me reassurance even after we parted. After all, I still had a few weeks to save her.
On the way home, I relayed everything Sage had said back to my friends in hopes that they’d help me make sense of it all. The whole time, I wondered if there was anything significant in her words, but nothing jumped out at me except for her transferring schools. Was that the piece of information I needed to solve this mystery?
When I arrived home, I slumped to bed and fell asleep almost instantly. I only hoped my dreams would give me something good.
9
That night, I dreamt about death.
A red sedan drove through the thick rain. The tires sprayed water up as the car pushed through puddles that gathered on the road and ran down into the ditch. A bright glow filled the scene as if it was still daytime, but the clouds were so thick, and the rain was coming down so hard that visibility was near non-existent.
The car approached another corner, and before I knew what was happening, it hydroplaned until one of its wheels slipped into the ditch. The car’s gathered momentum sent it off the road and down the slight dip neighboring it.
My heart beat wildly in my chest. I wanted to scream for the people in the car, to give some sort of warning, but I already knew it was too late for them.
The vehicle flipped twice before it landed on its top, its wheels spinning toward the sky.
***
I woke with a start and found myself lying in a puddle of my own sweat. I knew it was a vision of some sort, but what did it mean? Someone had died. But who?
I thought about it for several long moments before it hit me. Of course! Derek’s birth parents. Emma had asked me to figure out how they died, and now I knew.
That Wednesday morning, Emma and I walked to school together like normal. I didn’t think it was fair to tell her about Derek’s parents before I told Derek what I had seen, so I kept quiet, intending to tell them both about my dream later. Emma and I entered the doors to the school a little early.
It was typical of Derek to get to school just in time for the first period warning bell, so I wasn’t worried until I heard him call out my name just as I reached my locker.
“Crystal!” Derek rushed up to me. He seemed out of breath.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Emma’s eyes widened in surprise a few lockers down from mine. She immediately pushed through the crowd of students on their way to their own lockers.
Derek nodded and then sucked in another long breath.
“Were you running?” I asked. I tried to stay calm, but my palms began sweating. What had happened? Was he okay?
“Derek, what’s wrong?” Emma put a gentle hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t tear his gaze from me.
“Last night when I got home, I did a little more digging on my birth parents. I tried out a whole bunch of different key terms, like the city I was born in and stuff like that. I asked my mom about it. At first, she wouldn’t tell me anything, but then she told me she thought my birth dad was an accountant and my birth mom was a nurse, so I used those search terms, too. Anyway, I kind of went crazy with keywords and eventually found all this information on them.”
“Do you know how your parents died?” Emma asked the same time I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he was okay.
“It was a car crash, wasn’t it?” I guessed. “They died in the rain.”
Emma and Derek both stared at me wide eyed.
“No, but how did you—?” Derek started. “Hold on. I’ll get to that in a minute. This morning, I was thinking about what you said about Sage not being online. So, I thought I could do the same thing with her, you know, narrow the search a little bit. Anyway, I remember what you said about her playing saxophone. I found this.”
Derek handed me a printout image of a paused video. In it, Sage was standing on a stage in the center of a concert band with her saxophone to her lips. Everyone else was sitting down, most of them hidden behind the stands. The director was facing directly at her. It was clear she was playing a solo.
If she was good enough to play solos, why did she quit? I wondered. I didn’t say anything; I simply studied the image, amazed that Derek actually found something on her. And why did she tell me she didn’t like being in front of crowds? This photograph proves otherwise.
“I can show you the video later. She’s really good. But that’s not all.”
I tore my gaze from the photo and looked back up at Derek. What else had he found?
“What you said about the car crash in the rain . . .” Derek paused for a moment. “It wasn’t my parents. It was Sage’s.”
I drew in a sharp breath. Part of me was surprised that I’d seen something related to Sage. Another part of me was shocked that Derek had dug up this information. The biggest part of me, however, was stunned to hear that Sage was an orphan. I could only partially relate because my dad had died, but I couldn’t imagine losing both of my parents.
He handed me a news article, and all I could do was stare dumbfounded at it. Emma peeked over my shoulder.
“How did you find this?” I asked him in amazement.
“See, that’s the funny thing. I was trying out this search term that I thought wasn’t going to go anywhere. I just did it on a whim, and then this came up.”
“What was the search term?” Emma asked.
My mouth went dry, and I tried to swallow, but I couldn’t. As my eyes scanned the news article, I already knew what term he’d searched.
“Well, Crystal said the ghost’s name was Melissa. I searched for Sage and Melissa Anderson and found the article about Melissa’s death.”
***
I spent all of first period reading and rereading the article about how Melissa and her parents died. It said that the family was driving to their daughter’s concert performance. It was last summer, so I figured she was part of a traveling music group or maybe she went to band camp like I had a few summers back. The article didn’t say. It didn’t actually name Sage because she was still a minor, but some people who knew the family had left comments with her name in it.
Now I knew why she had stopped playing. Now I knew who Melissa really was.
But questions still nagged at me. What does that mean for Sage’s death? How was she in danger? How could I save her?
I wanted to hurl when I realized that I only had three and a half weeks to figure it out.
10
Anticipation taunted me as I waited to talk with Teddy about what he found out about Sage, if he found out anything. With school, babysitting, and Robin’s band practice, I hadn’t had a chance to talk with Teddy since Monday night. I was so out of it at Hope’s house that she won every game of checkers we played.
She eventually noticed my mood and asked me what was wrong.
“It’s just . . . teenage stuff,” I told her. I knew Hope was smart for her age and had an idea about my abilities, but I still wasn’t completely open to telling her about Sage.
“Boyfriend troubles?” she asked in the most casual tone that I laughed out loud at her. What would a seven-year-old know about boyfriend troubles?
“How about we watch a movie?” She kindly placed her hand on mine for comfort.
I smiled. “Sounds great.”
Hope’s mom returned home the same time the movie ended. I said goodbye and walked back to my own house at a quicker pace than normal. When I reached home, I immediately rushed to the kitchen where I knew Teddy was already preparing supper.
“Did you find out anything?” I blurted.
“You mean about Sage?” Teddy asked, turning to the sink to fill a pot of water.
“I can’t help but worry about her,” I admitted.
“I did find a few things out.”
“Well?” I asked expectantly.
He paused, shutting off the water. Something in his demeanor made me suspect he was reluctant to tell me what he knew. “Her parents died
,” he said with a hint of sorrow to his voice.
“I know. A car accident.”
Teddy’s eyes locked on mine, and he looked momentarily shocked. Then, as if he remembered I was psychic, he relaxed a little bit. “She’s living with her aunt and uncle on her mom’s side.”
Okay, so the switching schools thing was starting to come together, but something in Teddy’s tone told me there was more.
“What else?” I gripped onto my owl necklace, hoping the news wouldn’t be all bad.
Just then, my mom entered the kitchen. I glanced at her and then back at Teddy.
“Come on, Teddy,” I insisted. “You can tell me anything. I swear I can handle it.”
He leaned up against the counter and took a deep breath. He exchanged a glance with my mom like he wasn’t sure if he should tell me or not.
“Just tell me,” I demanded with almost too much volume.
Teddy set his pot on the stove and shoved his hands in his pockets but didn’t meet my eyes. “Sage’s paternal uncle has been missing for the last five years,” he finally said.
Silence filled the kitchen for a few moments as I absorbed this information.
“Okay. How does that put her in danger?” I asked.
“There’s a warrant out for his arrest.”
“So, he’s on the run from something. Is Sage in danger from him?”
Teddy shrugged. “It’s possible, but I doubt it.”
“Why? What did he do?” I felt my mom’s hands touch my shoulders for comfort, but I was too annoyed at how Teddy was beating around the bush. I shook her off. “Teddy, just tell me. I have to protect her.”
He took a long breath before finally answering. “Child abuse. He’s wanted for abusing Sage, and I don’t mean hitting her and stuff. It was a lot worse than that.”
My breath caught, and I stared at Teddy in horror. How could someone do that to a little girl? How could that happen to someone I knew?
I balled my hands into fists. “Anything else?”
He shook his head.
“Then I’m not hungry.” I turned and raced to my bedroom.
I fell down on my bed and buried my head in my pillow. I hoped it would help stifle the lump forming in my throat. My face grew hot, and I squeezed my eyes shut as if that would help my problems go away. I didn’t want to imagine what Sage had been through, and I was terrified of what I had just been put up against.
If all I had to do was prevent Sage from getting in a car that would cause a death like her family’s, that would be simple. There wouldn’t be anyone working against me. But instead of saving Sage from a car crash or some natural accident, I had to save her from someone dangerous.
But what if her uncle is irrelevant? I wondered. What if it is a car crash or something like that that’s going to kill her? I need to find some way to be certain before I start jumping to conclusions.
A knock rapped at my door.
“Crystal,” my mom called, “can I come in?”
I forced down the lump in my throat and sat up in my bed. “Yeah. Come in.”
My mom took a seat next to me. “Sweetie, I know that kind of information is tough to swallow.”
You have no idea, I thought as the lump in my throat began rising again.
“It’s harder when you know the person,” she continued. “But look, sweetie. We’re going to figure this out.” She ran a hand through my hair like she always did to comfort me. “Have your abilities ever failed you before?”
I didn’t meet her gaze, but I did put some real thought into her question, and she was right. They hadn’t. But I hadn’t even been using them for a year. Surely I was bound to make a mistake at some point.
“That doesn’t mean they won’t fail me this time,” I told her.
“Why would they when you’re so determined to help her?”
“Maybe I’m too determined,” I said a little too aggressively. I took a breath and adjusted my tone. “I mean, I’m so focused on Sage that I don’t actually see anything about her. The only thing I’ve seen is the car crash that killed her parents.”
“Remember when you had this same problem with Hope?” my mom asked.
I nodded.
“Remember how spending time with Robin helped you get your mind off things and you started seeing more?”
I nodded again.
“Maybe that’s what you need to do, then. You need to get your mind off Sage first.”
“Easier said than done.”
“You could spend some time with your friends this weekend to try clearing your mind,” she suggested.
“I guess Robin and I could do a double date with Emma and Derek.” I shrugged. “I don’t know. That just makes me feel like I’m abandoning Sage or something.” But if it was the only way I would get the answers I needed . . . I had to know what danger she was in. How else was I going to prevent her death?
“Sweetie, you won’t be abandoning her. The point is to make progress.”
“I know.” I stared down at my hands.
“Hey,” my mom said, forcing me to look at her. “You’re not the only one who cares about Sage. None of us want to see her get hurt. I may not be able to use my abilities to help her, but I will do whatever I can to make sure your abilities do. I’m not going to just leave you hanging, okay?”
I nodded.
A silence stretched between us for several long seconds. “Mom,” I finally said. “You told me once that you had to save someone’s life. How did you handle it?”
My mom shifted on my bed and inched closer to me. “I guess I never told you about that, huh? Did I ever tell you anything about how Teddy and I met?”
“Mom, don’t change the subject.”
Her eyes bore into mine seriously.
I blinked a few times before finally realizing what she was saying. “No!” I practically shouted in surprise. “You don’t mean—Teddy was going to die?”
My mom nodded, but a smile played at the corner of her lips like she was proud of saving him.
“How?” My voice came out in almost a whisper this time. All she’d ever told me before was that they met while she was out on a walk. There was never anything paranormal about the story as far as I knew.
“It was right around the time he got the job on the force here in Peyton Springs. I kept dreaming about his face, only I’d never met him. I didn’t even know his name, so I had no idea how I was going to save him.”
Her expression fell, and she stared at a spot on the floor like she was remembering something horrible. “I kept watching him die night after night, and I was sure there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I didn’t know when he was going to die. I couldn’t pinpoint the place in my dream. I didn’t even know who he was.”
“What happened?” I leaned in closer, engrossed in her story.
“You’d think being a police officer, Teddy would have been in danger while on duty. It wasn’t that at all. In my dream, I kept seeing this big brown dog chase this orange tabby cat. I’d watch them tear through the streets until the cat raced underneath a ladder. Each night, the dog followed the cat underneath the ladder, and each night, he’d send it off balance. Every night, Teddy was at the top of that ladder. Every night, he fell. In my dreams, he always died. He was supposed to break his neck.”
“How did you save him if you didn’t know how?”
“It’s funny how the universe works. Earlier that day, one of our clients called and put in an order for some herbs and candles—the kind we use for contacting spirits and things like that. She called later and said that she was sorry, but she wouldn’t be able to make it to pick them up. She said she’d come another day, but I offered to drop them off. It was on the other side of town, but you were staying over at Emma’s that night, so I didn’t mind walking over there.”
My mother paused for a moment to take a breath. “After I dropped off her order, I was walking back home, and I saw this orange tabby cat come tearing down the street. I knew . . . I
just knew it was the same one I saw in my dreams. I didn’t even think about it. I ran after the cat, but I wasn’t as quick as it was, and just as I started following it, the brown dog appeared. I kept running.
“As they disappeared around the side of a building, I caught a glimpse of the ladder in my peripheral vision. The cat and dog were still weaving through the streets. In a split second, I decided to head to the ladder, hoping to cut them off.”
She shook her head but smiled in humor. “Teddy didn’t even realize I was there. I gripped onto the ladder just as the cat and dog were coming around that side of the building. That’s the first time Teddy looked down and noticed me there. The dog managed to hit the ladder the same way it always had when I saw it in my dreams, but since I was holding on, it didn’t knock it off balance.”
“Seriously?” I asked. “That’s how you two met?”
She nodded.
“It sounds more like you made that up,” I said with a small laugh.
“It’s true!” she defended, but it was clear she didn’t think I was serious. “I had a tough time explaining why I was holding onto his ladder, but he even joked that if I wasn’t there, he may have broken his neck. Of course, I couldn’t tell him how right he was about that. And how could I? He was up there cleaning the gutters for his elderly landlord just because he’s nice like that. You don’t tell someone that a good deed is going to kill them.”
“Have you ever told him he was going to die that day?” I was partially curious because it was my mom and Teddy, but I was also nervous about the answer. What if I had to tell Sage one day about her pending death? How would she handle it? How would I handle it, for that matter?
“I didn’t even think to explicitly tell him,” my mom admitted. “I don’t think about it a lot, but I’m sure he’s figured it out.” She ran her fingers through my hair again. “But you see what I mean? You wouldn’t get these warnings and visions if the universe thought you couldn’t do something about them. It works in funny ways, but it manages to work.”
