by Jill Sanders
He dropped his hand from hers and she leaned back. “Now you’re afraid of me.” She crossed her arms over her chest again.
“No…” he started to say, only to have her eyes snap to his.
“I thought you weren’t going to lie, as long as I didn’t.”
He shifted slightly. “Fear isn’t the right word.”
“What is, then?” She waited.
“Concern.”
“That I’ll know all of your secrets?”
Shaking his head, he stood up and walked towards her window. There, in the dying light of the day, he could see his home in the distance. He’d left the front porch light on, so that he could find his way home later.
Already, several cars had pulled out of the long driveway and he knew that soon the house would be empty once more.
“No, for putting anyone through what I had to go through,” he said under his breath.
She’d moved without him knowing and when she spoke again, her voice was right behind him.
“What have you gone through?”
He turned to her. “Don’t you know already?”
She shook her head slightly, her dark hair falling over her shoulders. “I can’t…” She took a deep breath. “It seems that I can read everyone but you.”
Chapter Five
“What do you mean?” Mike asked, his back towards the window. The sun was setting behind him, giving him a halo ring around his entire body.
There, she thought. She’d finally told someone else. She credited him for not running away in fear, but when he’d dropped her hands, part of her heart had broken off. But now he’d told her he wasn’t afraid she’d know everything about him, but that she’d have to experience what he’d gone through.
“Was it something that happened that caused you to quit the force?” she asked, purposely avoiding his question. When he just looked at her, she crossed her arms over her chest, determined. “I answered one of your questions, it’s only fair that you answer one of mine.”
“Okay, yes,” he said quickly. “Now, what did you mean when you said you couldn’t read me?”
She smiled and took a step closer to him. “Yes is not a full answer.” She stopped right in front of him and his dark eyes hardened with desire. She enjoyed the way he’d looked at her skin, her tattoo, until Jessie had walked in. Her body had instantly responded to his desire. Now, she was almost shaking with want for him.
“Okay, yes, something happened to me on the force that caused me to quit.” When he opened his mouth to ask his question again, she stopped him with a slight shake of her head and her eyebrows arching. “Fine, I was put into a position by my best friend and partner that could have easily led to my death. So, I shot Cameron, almost killing him, and saving not only myself but the city.” He smiled and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling back at him.
“Kind of like Batman? Was it a dark rainy alley?” she joked, but when his smile fell away as he nodded, she rushed over to his side.
“I’m sorry.” Her hand went to his shoulder as his arms wrapped around her waist.
“I don’t like to talk about it.” His eyes met hers. “Now, answer my question.”
“I… I don’t see anything when you touch me.” Her eyes moved to the spot where her hand rested on his shoulder. “You’re a blank spot.” Her eyes moved back to his. “You’re the only one that this has ever happened with.” She laughed and took a step back. His hands easily dropped away as she walked over to the window and looked out. “You know, it’s funny. My entire childhood was one big punishment because I knew things about people I shouldn’t have. I saw things…” She turned to him. “And now that I’ve found someone I can’t read; it scares the shit out of me.”
He chuckled as he took a step closer to her. “Does anyone else know? Besides your parents, I mean.”
She dipped her head. “Jessie found out in fifth grade.”
He smiled back at her. “And she’s still around.”
“Yes.” She didn’t realize she was crying until he reached up and gently brushed the tear from her cheek.
“I knew I liked her for a good reason.”
Xtina couldn’t stop the smile. “Everyone likes Jess.”
“But not everyone likes Xtina?” he said and her smile fell away.
“No, Christina was the freak.” She wrapped her arms around herself, leaning back against the windowsill. “My parents spread the news around town that I had a delicate skin condition and would break out in hives if anyone touched me.” She closed her eyes remembering the pain that had caused her. All of the teasing, all of the names she’d been called. But she supposed it was better than the truth coming out.
“They were trying to protect you.” His words were like a bucket of ice dropping on her head.
She tensed up and looked at him. “They were embarrassed of me. They thought I was a freak. They believed I had the devil in me. They ran to their God, demanding he fix me. They tried everything known to man and church to rid me of these….”
“Powers?” His head tilted to the side as he watched her intently.
She nodded slowly. “They tortured me.” She raised up the right sleeve of her sweater and exposed the thin white lines that ran up and down her arm. “They bled me, burned me.” She turned her wrist until he could see the circle marks from the heat. “They…”
“Drowned you.” His dark eyes had turned red. His jaw was set in a strong line. If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn he was having a vision of his own at the moment.
“Mike?” She took a step towards him, her fingers gently touching his arm.
“No!” He jerked away, then turned back towards her. “Tell me!”
She waited until she noticed his breathing steady, before nodding slightly. “Yes, they purified me with holy water.”
His burst of laughter echoed in her room. “You mean they drowned you and revived you?”
She nodded. “Yes, that was part of what they thought was needed.”
He turned away from her then and stared out the window. “The last car has left.” He turned back towards her. “I’d better—”
She stopped him. “Don’t. You promised to have a drink with Jess and I.”
She could feel the tension leave his body at her touch. “I would have killed them,” he said under his breath. “You were just a child.”
A slight smile crept onto her face. “You did have a vision?”
His dark eyes closed, just as Jess walked into the room. “They’re all gone.” She held up the two bottles of wine. “I’d say getting drunk is in order.” She tapped the bottles together.
Xtina reached down and took Mike’s hand in hers as she followed Jess downstairs.
“Later,” she whispered as she sat next to him on the front porch. “I’ll want to hear what you saw.” He nodded, then took a drink of his wine.
Jess leaned against the front porch railing and watched them. “Are you going to tell me what you saw?” she asked, after they had emptied an entire bottle.
“No.” Xtina laughed and kicked the swing into motion again. “Are you going to tell me why you guys didn’t continue dating?”
She watched as Mike and Jess exchanged looks. They both shook their heads and answered at the same time. “No.”
“Then it’s settled. Some secrets are better left unsaid.” She held her glass up and clicked it with theirs.
At that exact moment, there was a bright flash from the three glasses. The fine crystal shattered in her hand as a wave of power spiked through her bones. Her eyes went dark until she could only see a ring of dim light coming from far above her head.
She could hear screaming and realized she was floating in water—deep water, cold water. It was too dark to see anything, but there was a foul smell to the air. Hands reached out to grab her, but she fought them off, pushing them away until she felt herself sinking deeper into the darkness.
“Xtina!” someone shouted. She felt her body shaking a
nd when she opened her eyes, she could see Mike hovering over her. Instead of waiting for her to respond, he turned and started shaking Jessie.
Instantly, worry filled her. Her friend was laying on the front porch, her white blouse covered in dark red wine as she twitched about. Her gray eyes had rolled to the back of her head and she was saying one word over and over again as Mike tried to shake her awake.
“Byron. Byron. Byron.”
***
“Who the hell is Byron?” Jessica asked, almost half an hour later. They had newly filled plastic cups of wine and had gathered around the fireplace. She’d lent Jess a sweater and was soaking her friends blouse to get the wine stain out.
Jessica had a thick blanket wrapped around her, as did Xtina. They were both huddled together on the sofa, while Mike stood in front of the fireplace.
“We thought you would know,” Xtina said.
Jess shook her head. “I don’t know any Byron.” She turned to Xtina. “Do you?”
“No, I know a few Bryans, but no Byrons.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t answer my question,” he broke in. “What the hell happened to us? One minute we’re saluting, and the next I wake up in a puddle of wine with the two of you convulsing at my feet.”
“Did you see anything?” Xtina asked under her breath.
“No.” Worry flooded him. “Did you?”
Her eyes moved to his. “Yes, but it wasn’t…” She shook her head slightly. “I mean; it wasn’t about any of us. At least I don’t think any of us have drowned in a dark lake with the moon overhead.”
“No,” Jess supplied.
“Not me either,” he added.
“Tell us exactly what you saw,” Jess said, reaching out for her friend but holding back slightly.
As she ran through her story, he became more worried.
“Why did your vision affect us?” he asked once she was done talking.
“I… I don’t know. Nothing like that has ever happened before.”
“Can she see her?” he asked, nodding towards Jess.
“I don’t know.” Xtina looked over at her friend, as she bit her bottom lip. “I’ve never told Jess about… her before.”
“Who?” Jess asked, sitting up slightly. “Who is her?”
Mike walked over and took Jess’ hand in his, then tugged her up and repeated the process with Xtina. “Up for an experiment?”
Jess smiled. “Oooh, I’ve never been asked to have a threesome before,” she joked.
Mike burst out laughing. “I wish. Maybe some other time.” He turned and looked at Xtina. “You up for this? You’ve had a pretty crazy day.”
“She’s never been anything but kind to me. Besides, I told you, she doesn’t scare me.”
“Okay. You might want to put on your shoes and jackets. We’ll walk to my house.” He held out Xtina’s jacket and waited until the ladies had put on their shoes and jackets before holding the door open for them both.
“What’s this all about?” Jess asked as they made their way across the yard.
“You’ll see.” He glanced down at his watch. He had an alarm set for the same time every night. “We’re a little early, but I assure you, it’s worth the wait.”
When they entered his house, he could already tell there was energy in the air. Something wasn’t quite right. As Jess shut the door behind her, Xtina turned to him.
“Something’s different.” She reached for his hand.
He took her hand, then reached for Jessie’s and walked back towards his bedroom. The three of them sat on the edge of his bed in silence.
“What are we waiting for?” Jess whispered.
“Her,” he and Xtina said in unison.
“Her who?” Jess whispered, sounding very impatient.
“My ghost,” he answered, only to have Xtina tug on his hand. “Okay, not a ghost…”
He glanced down at his watch and waited silently as the minutes ticked by. When the hand reached a quarter past one, a white film started to form in front of his eyes. His hand tightened on Xtina’s and he glanced over to see that she was watching the form slowly appear in front of them. But when he looked towards Jess, she was glancing around the room like she’d rather be anyplace but in a dark room with two crazies who were seeing a ghost.
“You don’t see her?” he asked Jess.
“Who?” she whispered back. “There’s no one here.”
He turned his head towards the figure and jumped when the dark eyes glared back at him.
“No, don’t. Look deeper,” Xtina said right next to his ear. “See the pain. The loneliness. The betrayal.”
With her words echoing in the room, the dark eyes of the woman before him shifted. Soon, they were as gray as Jessie’s but full of sadness and sorrow. The eyes moved between Xtina and his as she hovered over the floor, her form dissipating right below her knees.
“There,” Xtina said, pointing to the woman. “Jess, do you see her?”
“I don’t see anything. Are you guys punking me?” She stood up and walked in front of the figure, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Seriously?” Mike reached for and grabbed her back down on the bed since she was pretty much standing through the figure. “You don’t see her?”
“No!” Jess almost yelled it. “There is no one here. What am I missing? Why can you see her and not me?”
Mike turned towards Xtina with the same question running in his mind.
When the woman finally disappeared, he released the breath he’d been holding.
“She’s gone,” he said, releasing his hold on Jess.
“Okay…” Jess stood again, crossing her arms over her chest. “Spill. Everything.”
“I think I need another drink.” He walked out of the room towards his kitchen. He pulled out his bourbon and threw back a shot quickly.
“Wow, tell me you’re in the process of remodeling, because if not… yuck,” Jess said, stepping into his living room.
He chuckled. “Of course. It’s a work in progress.” He turned and assessed his own house. There was no flooring down in the living room. His kitchen had a temporary countertop held up by two saw horses and the kitchen sink was just a bucket of water with a hose he could turn on and off with the flip of his wrist. “I remodeled the bedroom and bathroom first.” He nodded back towards his room.
“You’ve done wonders already,” Xtina remarked.
“If you say so,” Jess added dryly. “So?” She turned to her friend, waiting.
“I’ve seen her my entire life,” she supplied.
Jess’s eyebrows shot up. “Who?”
“The woman.” Xtina shrugged her shoulders. “That Mike is seeing too.”
“She’s in her late teens…” He held up a finger and quickly disappeared down the hallway towards his office. Pulling out the file from his desk, he returned to the kitchen and set the folder on the countertop. “Here, everything I know on the gho— woman,” he corrected. “Sorry, for almost a year I’ve thought of her as such, but after tonight… I’m not so sure.”
“Why?” Jess asked. “What changed your mind tonight?”
“I’m not sure that ghosts can be selective of who sees them.”
“She’s not a ghost,” Xtina said.
“Okay, you’ve still not explained how you know that.” He turned to her as Jess looked through his file.
“Because… I touched her once.”
“And?” he asked before it dawned on him. “Oh…”
She nodded. “Memories. A flood of them. They were garbled and confusing, but… not from a dead person.”
“How would you know the difference?”
“The dead don’t… I can’t touch their minds,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Okay, let’s put a pin in that for a moment,” Jess remarked, causing him to chuckle. “So, tell us what her memories were full of.” Jess held up his sketch of the woman. He wasn’t an artist, but he’d taken his time and had drawn a pretty good likeness
, or so he thought.
“They were all mixed up. Jumping around like she was trying to show me too much at once. She was in love with a boy, then there was a big party. She was dressed in white, like she is now. They were holding hands and walking through the woods, then she was…” Xtina stopped. “Oh my god!”
“What?” He rushed over to her side. “Are you okay?”
“It was her. She was the one…”
“When? What?” Jess and Mike asked at the same time.
“I saw her… She was the one drowning in the dark water with the sliver of the moon overhead.”
“So she is dead?”
“No.” Xtina frowned at him. “That wouldn’t make sense.” The room was silent for a while.
“Well,” Jess broke in, causing him to jump slightly, “it’s been fun kids.” She glanced at her watch and whistled. “And I’ve got to be at work in about five hours. So, I’m heading home to get a few hours of sleep.” She turned to Xtina. “Walk me back to my car?”
Xtina smiled and nodded. “Sure. I hope we’re not creeping you out with all this.” Xtina bit her bottom lip.
Jess walked over to her and hugged her lightly. He noticed Xtina had braced for the slight contact. “You always creep me out, but I still love you.”
Xtina chuckled, then turned to Mike. “Are you going to be okay?” She glanced back towards his room.
“I’ll be fine, but I’ll walk you both back.” He closed the file and walked over to open the door. Once more, he noticed the shift in the house. After the woman visited, things felt calmer.
They walked in silence back to the big house, which was almost completely lit up. After Jess drove away in her car, he stood on the porch and turned back to Xtina.
“Are you going to be okay?” He nodded towards her house.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” He wanted to move closer to her, gather her in his arms, but leaned back against the stair railing instead.
“What do you think it means? That she can’t see the woman?”
Xtina shifted her shoulders. “It could mean lots of things. The woman might not want Jess to see her. Or, she could be afraid to show herself to other people.”
“What if it means that we’re connected. Somehow?” He threw his thoughts out there, something he’d felt since first seeing her last night outside his window.
