by Kaitlyn Hoyt
I WAKE UP THE NEXT morning after a dreamless night of sleep. Despite the situation, I feel really good. I’m fully awake, it’s sunny outside, and for some reason I’m happy. I push the Colton situation to the back of my mind; I have bigger things to focus on. I look across the room, and see that Emma is still sleeping. Quietly, I get out of bed, and get dressed. I walk down to the kitchen, and find almost everyone sitting around the table.
I grab a bottle of water, and lean against the back of a chair, wanting to join in on whatever is going on. “Eat something, Ryanne.” Liam walks up behind me, and places a hand on my back.
“I’m not hungry.”
“You didn’t eat dinner last night. Eat a muffin at least.” He pushes a basket full of muffins toward me. I scoff, but grab a muffin. Sticking my tongue out at him, I break off a piece, and eat it. I try to keep my annoyed expression, but seeing Liam struggle to keep a smile down brightens my mood even further.
Tom is pacing around the kitchen, talking on the phone. “Yeah, members of the Gadramicks are going to attack the house tomorrow. She’s had a vision. Yes, yes. It’s her. She’s very powerful. We haven’t even cracked the surface of her abilities. She needs protection. Dravin has already captured her once, and we can’t let that happen again.” Tom pauses to listen to what the person on the line in saying. I look around the room. Liam and Colton are both watching me to see how I react. I keep a blank expression, and continue listening to Tom’s conversation.
“No. No. We expect about fifty members. Yes. Thank you. Tomorrow.” He ends the call, and looks at the table. “The Wilson’s are going to come and help. They are excited to meet you, Ryanne. That makes a little more than thirty people right now.”
I grimace. I’m horrible at meeting new people, and I’m really awkward in new situations. Liam and Colton laugh at my expression. Wait? Colton laughed. He isn’t ignoring me anymore? I look over at him, and see him looking back at me, smiling. I wonder what changed. I open my mouth to ask him when Natasha runs into the room. “Mommy and Daddy can’t come, but Conner said he would. Natalie and I have to stay with Madison. Daddy won’t let me fight.” She stands behind Colton’s chair, and places an arm on his shoulder. I pull my eyes away from him, and bring my attention back to Tom.
“That’s probably for the best, Natasha. You have a useful power, but it won’t be useful if you are dead. You haven’t been trained to fight like the others have.” She nods, obviously relieved that she isn’t going to have to fight. I bet she doesn’t want to break one of her perfectly manicured nails.
“When will people start to arrive?” asks Liam.
“Tomorrow morning. We don’t have a ton of extra room here to keep a lot of people. Your brother is welcome to stay here, though.”
I almost choke on the muffin. “Bragden is coming?”
“Yeah, I called him last night. He’s more than willing to fight against Dravin, especially after he saw what happened to you last time you were there.” I’ll finally have a chance to fully thank him for his part in rescuing me.
“What happened to her last time?” Natasha asks, obnoxiously chomping her gum. Liam glances my way, asking for my permission. I shrug. I don’t care if this girl knows. Maybe she’ll leave me alone.
“Dravin kidnapped her and tortured her for five days straight, refusing to give her any food. He questioned her about our whereabouts, and she never told them anything. She was very strong.”
“It doesn’t sound that bad.”
The room silences as everyone turns and glares at Natasha.
This girl is really pushing my buttons. “Not that bad?” I pause to see if she is serious. Sticking her hand on her hip, she nods. “Not that bad?” I repeat. “How would you like to be constantly picked up and dropped flat on a concrete floor? Every time I didn’t listen to their demands, I was punched, kicked, and stepped on. Think of any way to beat someone up, and I endured it.
“The only break I got was when I passed out from the pain. Then I would get slapped awake and it would start all over again. Dravin was able to look at me and give me a blinding headache. I felt like my head was going to explode from the pressure. I screamed in agony, but the pain never lessened. Then, he forced me to replay the most painful experience of my life. How would you like to re-watch the day when your mother was killed in a car wreck that was supposed to kill you?! I was supposed to be the one that died, not her. In that moment, I wanted them to kill me so the pain would end. I didn’t think I could take anymore.
“How you like to be given a truth serum that makes it feel like your insides are being slowly ripped out if you don’t speak? Huh? Or how about having a man who had previous assaulted you come in to your cell when you are too weak to move, cut into your skin, and tell you all the gory details about how he is going to rape you, and enjoy doing it? Then strangle you to knock you out, so it’s easier for him? If that’s not bad enough, I have a constant reminder in your nightmares.
“You don’t know what it’s like to look in someone’s eyes, and see pure evil and hatred for you, knowing that he would enjoy killing you.” I collect my breath, and say in a quiet voice. “Don’t you dare say it wasn’t that bad.”
Natasha’s eyes are huge by the time I finish. She has taken a couple of steps back. Scooting my chair back, I quickly and quietly walk out of the room, leaving everyone stunned at my departure. I don’t know where that came from, but I don’t care. It feels really good to get all that out.
I don’t really have anywhere to go, so I just stand outside the kitchen door, pacing back and forth. Liam walks out, and envelops me in a hug. I don’t like thinking about what happened to me at that compound. I’ve tried to push it back, but it is always going to be there in the back of my mind. I lean into his embrace. Silently comforting me, he starts rubbing my back. My mother used to do that when I was younger. It feels comfortable and safe. Taking a deep breath, I step out of his arms, and tell him with my eyes that I am fine. He pulls me back into the room. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me as I sit back down in my chair, and am silent for a couple of seconds.
I loudly exhale and look at Natasha, who’s warily staring at me. “I’m sorry for my outburst. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
“I had no idea.” It wasn’t really an apology, but I don’t see Natasha as the apology type.
“You couldn’t have known. Besides maybe Logan and Liam, I don’t think anyone knew the whole truth.”
“I didn’t know the whole truth, Ryanne. I only saw what externally happened to you,” Logan replies.
At that moment, Emma runs into the room. “Sorry I overslept,” she stops. “Whoa, there’s a lot of tension in this room. What’s going on?” She looks between Natasha and me for a moment. I shake my head telling her that nothing is wrong. She walks over, and sits down in David’s lap.
“Ryanne…I…” Colton starts, but seems speechless.
“Please don’t. I don’t know why I just said some of those things. They were all true, but I didn’t want anyone to know.” I pause, and look around the table. “I apologize that you all had to hear that.” I glance at Natasha and give her a sad smile. “You seem to bring out the worst in me.”
I hope this is the right house. It’s the only luxurious cabin I’ve seen. Holy crap, this place is freaking huge. “Someone’s at the door.” Tom’s cell phone rings at the same time as the doorbell. Tom walks out of the room to answer his phone while Logan gets up to get the door. I concentrate on blocking the man’s thoughts. Logan walks back into the room with a tall man following him. I instantly recognize him.
Bragden.
There’s a strong family resemble, except he’s taller, has shorter black hair, a straight nose, tanned skin, and no scar above his eyebrow. Liam gets up, and hugs his brother before stepping aside.
“Everyone, this is my older brother, Bragden.”
Bragden scans the room, saying hello to everyone before his eyes stop on me. Smiling, he waves. “Ryanne.”
I can’t help my
reaction. I fly out of my chair, and run toward him. He drops his small duffel bag on the ground, and catches me as I launch myself at him. My feet lift off the ground as his arms wrap around my waist. I tightly fasten my arms around his neck, hugging him close to me. I am so thankful for both men in the Kane family. They have both saved my life. I feel tears start to fall down my face. “Thank you so much for helping rescue me. I can’t even express how thankful I am that you guys came when you did.”
He bends down, and puts me back on the ground. “There’s no need to thank me.” He reaches down to wipe the tears from my face. When he is done, he smiles at me.
I step back a little, to give him more space. I can feel a small blush building. “Sorry. I basically just attacked you.”
“If this was the reaction I knew I’d get, I would have come sooner.” He glances at Liam and then back at me. “Why, Liam’s description of you doesn’t do you justice.” He takes a step closer to get a better look. “You’re just beautiful, aren’t ya?” Time for full blush mode. Liam grabs my arm, and pulls me back to my seat, a small smile on his face. Bragden lets out a deep laugh. “Ahh, she’s one of those girls.”
“One of what girls?” I hesitantly ask from my seat. I’m not sure if I want to know what he’s talking about.
Bragden grabs a chair and flips it around. Resting his arms across the top of it, he looks at me. “One of the girls who are obviously beautiful, but doesn’t know it. I bet every time you get a compliment, you blush and then disagree.” He points his index finger at me. I open my mouth to refute him, but someone else’s words come out. “She does.” Okay more than one person says it. Basically everyone at the table agrees with Bragden. “Don’t worry. It just adds to the beauty. Just don’t go fishing for compliments. That’s not attractive.”
Emma turns and looks at me. “Oh, Ryanne doesn’t fish for compliments. In fact, she hates them. She hates anything that brings attention to her. Like right now, she hates that we are talking about her while she is sitting right there.”
I raise my hand. “Yes, Ryanne does hate that.” I reply, saying my name in third person since everyone else already is.
“Ahh, humor also. You’re killing me here.” I glance over at Bragden, confused. Seeing my expression, he just laughs at me. I turn to Liam to see if he can explain to me what’s going on, but he’s also laughing. Colton and Logan are both smiling at me. Natasha is still standing behind Colton, seeming just as lost as I am. I cross my arms and slouch in my chair, accepting that being surrounded by this many guys all the time is a recipe for disaster, because I don’t understand how their brains work.
“Okay. The Taylor’s are also coming. Everyone is excited to meet the ‘prophecy girl’ as you call yourself, Ryanne,” announces Tom. Seeing Bragden at the table, he extends his hand. “I’m Tom,” he says. “I’m Colton and David’s uncle.” Bragden shakes his hand, and introduces himself.
I scrunch my face in that weird expression that I tend to get in uncomfortable situations, and bite my lip, my nervous habit. Tom abruptly turns and leaves the room. So many people are coming to fight alongside me. People who don’t know me, and only know of the girl that’s mentioned in the prophecy. What if I’m not what they are expecting? I know I don’t look like much. Would they leave after seeing me? I wouldn’t believe that I was the supposed girl from the prophecy if I just met me either. What if I’m not able to do what everyone needs me to do? I don’t want to let everyone down.
“Stop it, Ryanne.” Liam pats my arm, drawing my attention away from my thoughts.
“Stop reading my mind, mister.”
“You can read minds, Liam?” his brother asks.
Colton explains. “No, he can’t. Liam just has an uncanny ability of knowing what Ryanne is thinking. It’s a little scary. Ryanne is the only one that read minds here.”
“Are you reading my mind, Ryanne?” Raising his eyebrows suggestively, he flashes a toothpaste commercial worthy smile.
“No, I blocked out your thoughts when I heard you at the front door wondering if this was the right ‘luxurious cabin,’” I imitate his voice as best as I can. It sounds more southern than manly.
“Am I suddenly from Texas?”
“Shut up.” I never claimed to be good at imitations.
Tuning everyone out, I think about how, despite my visions, I have no idea what is going to happen in thirty-six hours. Will I ever see these people again? I haven’t had another vision depicting myself in any situations after tomorrow. I don’t remember seeing myself at David’s wedding; I was watching the event, invisible to everyone else. Maybe something happens to me. The prophecy never claimed which side I would end up on, or how long I would even be a part of this war. Everything is still up for grabs. Maybe I’m going to die tomorrow. It would explain so much.
“What?” asks Liam.
I blink back, look around the table, notice that everyone has stopped talking, and is looking at me. I didn’t realize that I had said anything out loud. Oh dear, those weren’t exactly positive thoughts I was having.
Slumping my shoulders, I glance over at Liam. “What did I just say?”
“You think you’re going to die tomorrow.” He didn’t say it as a question.
“Shoot. Any of my other thoughts would have been acceptable to say out loud, but, of course, I said that.” I roll my head back and stare at the ceiling. “Forget I said anything. I didn’t mean to express that anyway.”
“Why do you think that?” asks David.
I’m not sure if I want to share my thoughts. Some of them were pretty depressing. I scan the table, and see that everyone genuinely wants to know why I think that. “Because I’m not in any of the visions I’ve had of the future. I don’t see anything about myself after tomorrow.”
“You’ve had visions about the future?” Emma asks.
Focusing on the table, I mumble a response. “A couple.” Okay, only one, but that’s beside the point. I have a feeling that I’m not supposed to survive tomorrow. Just because I’ve had a vision of the future, doesn’t mean I’m actually in that future.
“Ryanne—” I cut Colton off. I’m not in the mood to hear everyone tell me that they won’t let anything happen to me. No one knows what tomorrow will bring. I’m the one with the visions, and I have no idea how it is going to play out. I don’t want to hear promises that they aren’t able to keep.
“Look, let’s just forget I said anything. It was just a thought; nothing is permanent until tomorrow.” I stop and look toward Liam, trying to lighten up the mood. “I’m getting really good at bringing up depressing topics.” He grabs my chair, and pulls me toward him, until I’m as close as I can be to him while remaining in my chair. He wraps an arm across my shoulder, comforting me, as I lean into his side. Bragden is staring at us, wondering what’s going on. I can understand how close we are could confuse people. I do love Liam, but like a best friend or brother. I know he feels the same about me.
“Anyone want to train a little?” Liam suggests.
I perk up. “I do!” Liam laughs at my eagerness, and looks at everyone else questioningly. After agreeing, we all get up to go get ready.
“Colton, can I talk to you for a moment?” Natasha grabs his wrist to halt his progress. I catch him glance over at me, but I refuse to let him know how they’re affecting me. He nods at Natasha, and follows her outside. Liam puts a hand on the small of my back, and leads me out of the room. Bragden stands back, and waits for us to catch up to him.
“So, what’s going on between you two?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Nothing like that Bragden,” Liam responds. Bragden’s gaze lands on the necklace that I’m wearing.
“Is that…?” Glancing over to Liam, I see him subtly nod. They obviously know something that I don’t.
“Are you two going to tell me about the mental conversation you’re currently having, or am I going to have to read your minds?”
“I’ll tell you another ti
me,” Liam says, walking past Bragden and up the stairs. I don’t like that idea, but I know that arguing with him is futile. He’s immune to my stubbornness. We arrive at my room; Emma is already inside searching for something to wear. Liam gently pushes me in and walks away.
Emma and I walk down together. When we walk outside, we see the guys stationed randomly throughout the yard. Even Bragden is going to train with us today. I turn to Emma, wondering if she knows what’s going on. Both of us pass Natasha, who’s leaning against the banister on the deck, without saying anything. I don’t mean to be rude, but she seriously brings out the worst in me.
“Ryanne, do you remember what happened during the training session the day after you met me?” Tom asks as he approaches us. I think back. Of course I remember that. Tom had the guys attack me to see if I remembered how to use any of the defensive moves they taught me the day before.
“Of course I remember. Why…? Oh no.”
“Oh, yes. I want you and Emma to see if you can incapacitate the guys when they try to attack you. Because you are girls, any opponents will consider you to be an easier target. You need to prove them wrong. Surprise them. Now, go stand in the middle of the yard, and get ready.”
Tom walks away, and Emma I start toward the center of the yard. “So, they are all going to attack us, and we have to fight them off? Is that right?”
“Yep. Pretty much.”
Standing back to back with Emma, I scan the yard, preparing myself for the first attack. We don’t know who will strike first. Simultaneously, Liam and David both start running toward us. Emma takes on David, and I take on Liam. I can hear Emma behind me fighting. Liam pauses briefly in front of me before throwing a punch, aiming for my face. I bend backward and avoid the hit. Standing back up, I kick my leg up, trying to connect with his shoulder, but he sees my move and grabs my leg, throwing me to the side. I twist mid-air, so I will land on my feet. Without giving me any time to collect myself, he runs over to me, and I drop to the ground, swiping my leg out, knocking him to the ground.
“David out!” Emma must have gotten a hit on David. Logan starts toward her now.
Liam quickly jumps up, and runs toward me again. I do a back flip to give him more space, and to brace myself. When he reaches me, he swings his arm out again. “You know, if you loved me, you would stop trying to hit me right now,” I say as I bring my arm up to block his punch.
“I’m doing this because I love you, Ryanne,” he says while deflecting my hit. I duck as he attempts to swing with his other hand. In my ducked position, I kick his shins. He bends down in pain, and I take his injury to my advantage. I bring my knee up, and connect it with his stomach. When he hunches over, grabbing his stomach, I step back and thrust my foot out, kicking him in the chest, and knocking him backwards.
“Liam out.” I barely have a chance to recover before I hear footsteps behind me. I whip around, and come face to face with Colton. He doesn’t give me any time to react. Feeling sharpness spread through my shoulder, I start to fall down to the ground because he just punched me. While falling backwards, I bend, and do a quick back walkover. When I kick off the ground, my feet connect to Colton’s abdomen, also knocking him over.
“Emma out!” Apparently Logan got the upper hand, and was able to land a hit that would have knocked her out. I hear footsteps behind me, and find Logan running toward me. “Crap.” Can’t a girl get a break?
Colton gets up, and both guys start to fight me. I have no idea what my body is doing. I can’t really concentrate on either one of them, but thankfully, my body seems to know exactly what it needs to do. I thrust my arms out, punching and blocking simultaneously. Kicking my leg back, I am able to duck Colton’s hit, and kick Logan in the stomach at the same time. I do a couple flips backwards, so I am no longer in the middle of both guys. They seem momentarily surprised at my disappearance, but quickly recover.
Instead of waiting for them to come toward me, I run toward Logan first. I know that he is starting to tire out, since he fought off Emma already. I run off to the side, confusing him, before abruptly stopping and turning around. I kick him in the back; sending him to the ground, face first. Without seeing if he would get up, I turn and give my attention back to Colton. “Logan out!” When I see Colton reach out to deflect my blow, I swing my leg up, and connect with his shoulder, knocking him down. “Colton out!”
I thought that that would be the end of it, but no. I hear footsteps again. Logan and Colton both get up, and run to stand with Emma, Liam, and David, beside Tom. “Oh, come on!” I shout. As I turn and face Bragden, I can hear everyone’s laughter behind me. I’m glad they find this so amusing. Bragden’s larger than the others, so I know he will be harder to fight.
He reaches me, drops to the ground, and spins, hitting the back of my knees. With a thud, I land on my back, and roll to avoid another blow, before jumping up. He attempts to punch me, but I deflect it. He is way stronger than the other guys. It hurts when I block their punches, but with Bragden, my arms start going numb. What can I do to get the upper hand here?
I’m so stupid. I have magical abilities, and I’m fighting fairly? Tomorrow, no one will fight fairly, so I should get some practice in. I start to draw magic into my limbs, so my punches and kicks are more forceful.
Bragden seems surprised when I hit him, and he staggers backwards from the force. His shock gives me the time I need to back away a little, and get a bearing on the situation. I run and do a cartwheel that transitions into three back handsprings. Stopping around ten feet away from him, I try to think about what to do next. I can hear Emma cheering me on. I close my eyes when I see him start running toward me, calling air to me. I don’t know if this is going to work, but it’s worth a shot.
The wind starts to pick up. I can feel my hair coming out of the ponytail, and hitting me in the face. I lift my arms out, and imagine the wind picking me straight up into the air. I open my eyes, and see that Bragden is two feet away from me. The wind is still increasing in intensity, and when he’s less than a foot in front of me, I jump into the air, hoping the wind will lift me higher. At the last possible second, the wind increases beneath me, catapulting me further into the air.
Bragden runs past the spot where I was a second ago, stops, and looks around, clearly confused by my disappearance. Landing behind him, I push some magic into my foot, and kick him in the chest as he turns around. I know before he hits the ground that the fight is over. “Bragden out!” Tom yells.
I’m so out of breath, it isn’t even funny. I collapse to the ground from exhaustion. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Emma jumping excitedly from her spot. She runs toward me, and never slows down, barreling me farther into the ground, hugging me. “Oh my gosh! That was amazing! I didn’t know you could do that!” She gets off of me. “Sorry for attacking you, but that was awesome. I don’t know how you do it!”
David, Logan, and Colton all make it over to us. Bragden crawls over, and sits down beside me, rubbing his chest. “Ouch, girl. That hurt.”
“I’m sorry I used magic against you. You’re just so much bigger than me. I didn’t know what else to do.” David starts cracking up; he literally doubles over laughing. Bragden is shaking his head in amusement.
“You’re apologizing for using magic to attack a man who’s over four times your size when he was trying to attack you?” asks Colton.
“Well…yeah.” Colton pats my shoulder, laughing with everyone else, but when his hand connects with it, pain shoots through my arm. Wincing, I move my tank top and bra strap to the side to see why my shoulder hurts. I grimace when I see the giant red and blue welt forming there.
“Who did that?” asks Bragden.
“I think Colton did.” I turn and look at him. “You surprised me when you first started attacking. You got in a punch.”
“I’m sorry.” His fingers lightly touch the forming bruise.
I shake my head and smile. “You’re apologizing for hitting a girl way smaller than you when she wa
s trying to attack you?” I throw his words back at him. He purses his lips and looks over at Logan, who rolls his eyes, but crawls over to me.
“You don’t have to heal it. It doesn’t hurt that bad.”
“I’d rather not get chewed out later so, yes, I do.” He touches the bare skin on my shoulder, and concentrates. His eyes narrow while he stares at the mark. “Ouch.” I know he is watching the fight again in his mind. “You’ve got a couple other sore spots as well.” He grabs my arms, and heals them as well. “We didn’t take it easy on you, did we?”
I blankly stare at him. No, they didn’t. At all.
Bragden turns and addresses his brother. “You told me she could fight, but I didn’t think she was that good. No one has beaten me before.” He smiles at me, causing me to blush under his praise. “There’s the blush again.” Pointing it out obviously makes me blush more.
Tom yells from the back porch, “Why don’t you all come in and get some water?” I jump up first. No longer sore since Logan healed me. I reach down and help Emma stand up. The guys can manage on their own. I walk past all of them into the house. I don’t realize how thirsty I am until I see all the bottles of water lined against the counter. I grab one, and chug half of it down before anyone else even comes in the house.
“That was very impressive, Ryanne. How did you jump so high when you were fighting Bragden?” asks Tom.
“Yeah, I wondering that too,” says Bragden.
“Well, I was getting desperate because nothing I was doing was working against him. He kept coming, and I was almost to the point where I just stopped fighting, and ran across the yard screaming bloody murder.” I point toward Colton. “Then I remembered the time where I almost got hit by a car outside of the bookstore, and that huge gust of wind came, and blew me across the road at the last second. I pushed my magic out, so it swirled around me, and asked the wind to come and help me. I visualized being lifted into the air. When he was close enough, I just jumped, and hoped that the wind would push me higher. It was either going to work, or Bragden was going to pummel me into the ground. I took a shot.”
“Amazing.” Tom’s face is full of awe.
“Girl, your hair is a mess,” Emma comes around, and pulls it out of the ponytail. “Shake.” I bend down so my hair falls around my face, and frantically run my hands through it, while shaking my head at the same time. I flip it up, and look toward Emma, asking her to fix it. I know that I have a lion’s mane right now. She pushes a couple strands to the other side. “I’m so envious of your hair. It’s so curly and thick and long.” I roll my eyes, and turn my attention back to Tom.
“How many people are coming tomorrow so far?” I slap Emma’s hand away when she continues to pet my hair.
“At the moment, about forty-five. I still have more people to call. We should have more than that by tomorrow. Larkin said that Dravin would have about fifty, right?” I nod. “We’ll make sure to have more. Though, with how you fought today, we shouldn’t have to worry about that too much.”
“Last time, Thomas injected something into my arm. It caused me to almost instantly fall asleep.”
“Yes, that’s called dormirako. It’s basically what you just said: a sleeping shot. It mixes with your blood stream, and slows down all your internal organs. It makes you feel like you are very tired. Your body basically becomes paralyzed as you fall asleep.” I know very well the effects it has on the body. “I guess we’ll have to warn everyone about that when they get here tomorrow.”
“Well, I should probably get home,” Natasha says, while staring at Colton. He glances at her briefly, but doesn’t say anything. With a frustrated sigh, she turns around, and stomps out of the room.
Tom’s phone rings again, and he leaves the room to go answer it. I back up to the counter and jump onto it.
“So, what’s with her?” Bragden whispers as he leans against the counter to my left.
“That’s Colton’s ex-girlfriend,” I whisper in his ear.
“Really?” he asks me. The look on his face is classic. I bump my shoulder into his and laugh. Bragden smiles at me, and crosses his arms.
“I don’t think you work out enough,” I tell him as I poke his arm. The muscles in his arms are bulging. Bragden’s grin widens, and he leans back and flexes his arm. I shake my head. “Now, you’re just showing off.”
Liam looks over at us and smiles. I think he’s glad that Bragden and I are getting along so well.
I rest my head against the counter behind me, and watch everyone. They’re all relaxed at the moment, and full of smiles and laughter. Right now, it’s the calm before the storm. It’s peaceful, but in the back of everyone’s mind, we know that everything will change in a day’s time. David is standing with his arm around Emma, and she’s smiling up at him, listening to what he’s saying. Colton is standing near me, talking to Logan, and Liam is directly across from me, talking with his brother. We’re all together and for once, there is no awkward tension in the room.
My head starts to vibrate. I instantly recognize what’s happening. I jump off the counter, because the last thing I need is to face plant off the counter onto the ceramic tiled flooring. “Ryanne, what’s wrong?” Liam asks worriedly.
“Colton…” I whisper, hoping that he’ll catch me when I fall. Images start swarming in front of my eyes, transporting me to a different time.
