Shadows Within (The Dark Mind Trilogy Book 2)

by Matthew Goldstein

  Her appetite was gone. It was all so unfair. Everything would be fine if only Frank understood the truth. She took a deep breath, preparing her words carefully, praying she was doing the right thing. “There’s more to it than that.”

  “Oh, really?” Frank said sarcastically keeping his eyes on his plate.

  “It’s not what you think. This is going to sound insane but hear me out. I can prove all of it to you. The two of us have an ability…” She told him her entire history, from as far back as she could remember, to the present. She plowed through, rarely making eye contact, not wanting to see the expression on his face. She tried to recall all the concrete evidence that she knew in order to back it up, concluding with, “Come with me next time I get one of these instructions and you can see for yourself.” Finished, she raised her eyes to look at Frank’s face, which could have been carved from stone, hiding the tumult of emotions behind his eyes. “Please, if you love me, at least humor me. Let me try to show you.”

  Frank placed his fork on the table. “Maybe another time. I'm going to bed. I'm really tired. I do love you but this isn't something I can deal with right now.” He kissed her forehead and went off to their room, leaving a half-finished plate of food on the table.

  Meredith sat at the table for a long time, staring blindly ahead, her own plate of food getting cold. Half of her wanted to run to Frank and try harder to convince him, but the other half thought it best to leave him alone and let him sleep off his exhaustion. She knew she might only make it worse by pestering him more now, but she also could not sit here alone, doing nothing. That left only one feasible option, Peter. She hoped their new discoveries would lift her spirits.

  Fifteen minutes later she was at his door. He answered at once.

  “I thought you changed your mind,” he said, ushering her in. “Come in. Is everything all right?”

  “I told him.” She collapsed onto the couch with a huff.

  “Went that well?” He took a seat next to her. “What did he say?”

  “Nothing. He said nothing. He went straight to bed.”

  Peter squeezed her hand. “That might not be a bad thing. It’s a lot to take in. Maybe you’ll have more luck talking to him tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, I know. Hey, can we do something to take my mind off it? Let’s play a game.”

  “A game? What kind of game?”

  “A way to hone our sensing abilities. Hide and seek.”

  Peter chuckled. “Seriously?”

  Meredith nodded, grinning.

  “Let’s do it! Sounds fun. I’ll count to fifty. Go hide.” He covered his eyes and began to count.

  Meredith ran upstairs to the master bedroom and slid under the queen size bed. She waited with bated breath as she listened to Peter’s footsteps on the stairs and then coming down the hallway. As he entered the bedroom, she covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. Without hesitation, he bent to one knee and stuck his head under the bed.

  “Too easy,” he said, smiling.

  “You’re too good at this,” Meredith said as she burst out laughing and swiped playfully at his face. She crawled out from under the bed and stood up. “My turn!”

  “You don’t feel a little old for this?”

  “Nah, this is too much fun. Go hide, I’ll count in here.” Without waiting for a response, she covered her eyes and began to count. After she no longer heard Peter’s footsteps, she could sense his presence growing further away and then coming closer, which she took to mean he was now below her. Anxious to get started, she sped through the last ten numbers and raced downstairs, focusing all of her energy on Peter’s essence. Once downstairs, however, she was unable to determine in which direction he was hiding. She began to walk slowly, trying to tell if his presence would grow stronger. Using trial and error, she came to a spot in the hallway where two side-by-side doors stood open. Unsure of which room to enter, she chose one, but after a brief search she realized there was nowhere he could be hiding. Ashamed now of her blunder she ran into the other room. She looked around and found the best hiding spot, a closet, which she promptly threw open, revealing Peter inside.

  “That took forever,” he said jokingly.

  “I’m not as good at it as you,” Meredith said. “I’m going to have to practice.”

  “All right, you let me know when you want to go again.”

  Meredith stopped as a thought occurred to her. “Maybe another time. Hey, wasn’t there something you wanted to test?”

  At the mention of it, a spark ignited in Peter’s eyes. “I was second-guessing whether or not I should say anything because it’s kind of ridiculous. I mean, right now we know we can detect each other’s presence and general location, so clearly there’s some kind of mental link. Well, I was wondering how far this sensing can go. This may be a stretch, but, do you think it could be possible to communicate… telepathically?”

  Meredith froze, and suddenly Frank was the last thing on her mind. “You don’t think… I, mean, I have no idea, but I’m certainly willing to try. How would we do it?”

  “Beats me. Here, sit on the couch with me. Concentrate on a single thought and I’ll try to guess what it is.”

  A single thought? Uh, how about, you’re the coolest person I know and I wish I had known you my whole life. No, that’s too long. “Okay, got it,” Meredith said as she sat next to him.

  “Now look deep into my eyes.”

  Meredith stared into Peter’s eyes, repeating the phrase over and over in her head. However, she found it difficult to concentrate while noticing how blue Peter’s eyes were, and her thoughts kept drifting. After a few minutes, Peter broke the stare as surprise spread across his face.

  “Did you get it?” Meredith said, excited.

  “No, I didn’t get anything. But my wife is going to be home early. You should probably get going. She likes to unwind with me when she gets back from these meetings and I don’t want her feeling uncomfortable if you’re around.”

  “You look like you’re surprised by this. What, did you just find out?” Meredith said, smirking.

  “Yeah, I did, I sensed her coming closer.”

  “Wait, what? You can sense your wife too?”

  “Yep, her, and Travis. You can’t sense anyone but me?”

  “No, should I be able to? I’ve never noticed that with Frank and Cole. How do you do it?”

  “As far as I know, I don’t do it. I’ve been able to for a long time, since shortly after we started dating, but I never gave it much thought until you brought it up.”

  “Huh.” The sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach was returning. Why can’t I sense Frank? There was probably a mundane explanation, but that did not diminish her worry. “All right, don’t want to get in the way. Have a good night.”

  * * *

  Cole found that he enjoyed foreign languages, although he could not shake the memory of his lie to Dr. Stern about loving to learn new languages. All throughout class he would feel the pang and see her face in his mind. Guess I was telling the truth and didn't know it. He shook his head, trying to focus on his teacher's words.

  He was back in homeroom faster than he could believe, sitting in his now assigned seat on the other side of the room as Amy. He now noticed that the same girl from biology was in this class too, sitting a desk away from him and slouching in her chair. Homeroom was only a few minutes long, and then they were out, free from the confines of the student body. Maybe high school won't be half as bad as middle school.

  Amy took Cole's hand and together they walked outside to wait for the city bus. Out of nowhere, Martin appeared by their side.

  “Oh, man, Cole! I had no idea you two were a thing now. Not that I'm surprised. Congrats, man.” And just like that he was gone, off to his own bus stop with a group of new friends.

  “You told him, I take it?” Cole asked, turning to Amy.

  “He asked. It's gotta be pretty obvious, honestly. Why, did you not want me to tell anyone? Embarrassed by me?”


  Cole answered with a sly grin. “Of course not. Tell the whole world, if you don't mind.”

  Amy laughed. “I'll try my best.”

  The bus pulled up and let them inside. Cole pulled out his bus card that his school had given him to take public transportation and struggled with inserting into the slot. “You're putting it in backwards,” the bus driver said, gruffly.

  “Oh, yeah, of course.” He turned it over and it popped in, then he took his seat next to Amy.

  “Taking a bus. One more thing you can check off,” Amy said.

  “Very funny. So you did tell Mr. and Mrs. Williams you were coming over, right?”

  “Yeah, they're going to pick me up for dinner later.”

  “Then we'd better hope the rest of the story doesn't take longer than that.”

  “Seriously,” Amy said, excited now. “Who knew your mom was so fascinating? No offense.”

  “None taken. I would have said the same thing. Don't tell her that.”

  “No promises.”

  Cole gave her a playful shove. The bus reached their stop a few minutes later and they nearly missed it as they had no idea when it was approaching. On the walk to Cole's house, they stopped a few blocks away to make out.

  “I can never get tired of that,” Cole said as they continued on their way.

  “I sure hope not. So do you have any guesses about what's going to happen in your mom's story?”

  “Um, let's just wait for her to say it.”

  “So you do know.”

  “No, no. I just... well, not really.”

  “Now you have to tell me! What is it?”

  “No.”

  Amy grabbed his arm, turning him towards her. “Come on. Please?” She gave him the puppy-dog expression.

  “I said no.” Cole voice was louder than he intended. He pulled his arm free and started to walk again.

  Amy jogged to catch up. “All right. Sorry I asked. I guess I'll find out from her.”

  Cole couldn't face her right now, and he felt dumb that he had to apologize twice in the same day. “No, I'm sorry. I just... can't tell you. I think I'm wrong anyway. I don't want to spread any false rumors.”

  “Fair enough.”

  That was when he heard the voice in his head. Take Amy's hand so she doesn't stay mad at you.

  Cole would have laughed to himself, if he wasn't afraid of offending Amy. Seriously? That's the instruction? He took Amy's hand and she did not resist. How is that an instruction? I thought Travis said my instructions were all for evil? Maybe I shouldn't have listened to him so readily. But if my instructions aren't evil, then what are they? And then how was he my competition? Was he actually competition? It was too much to think about with no way to find the answers so he pushed it aside. Doesn't matter anymore.

  They walked the rest of the way in silence. The front door was open when they arrived at Beth's house.

  “We're home,” Cole called as he opened the screen door.

  “I can hear that,” Beth said from the kitchen.

  Meredith came running into the living room from her bedroom. “How was your first day? How was the bus? I want to hear every detail.”

  Cole fought back the urge to roll his eyes. “It was all right. That pretty much sums it up.”

  “It was really cool,” Amy said. “Some of our friends from I.S. 24 share lunch with us. The classes are really interesting. I think my favorite is going to be biology.”

  “That's just because she thinks the teacher is cute,” Cole said.

  “Nah-ah, I really do-”

  A doorbell ring cut her off. They all turned in unison towards the front door.

  “Random doorbell two days in a row?” Meredith said on her way to the front door. “Do you think he forgot something?” She opened the door to reveal a woman and a boy about Cole's age.

  “Sorry to bother you,” the woman said. “I'm Margaret Osborn and this is my son Darryl. Go ahead, Darryl.” She placed her hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

  Cole stepped closer to the door to get a better look at them and his eyes met Darryl's. In a flash he was in one of his visions, looking at Darryl through someone else's eyes. Darryl was younger by a few years and he was standing at the home plate of an empty baseball diamond holding a bat.

  “Come on, throw already,” Darryl shouted. “What are you waiting for?”

  “Here comes a fastball. You ready?” Cole felt as if he himself were speaking but the voice was not his own. However, it was one which he recognized immediately.

  Cole was back in his living room, looking at the present-day Darryl, who was regarding him strangely.

  Cole steadied his breath, trying to say the words, but the moment he opened his mouth, his voice caught in his throat.

  “Are you all right?” Darryl said.

  Cole opened his mouth again, his voice only a whisper. “You're Travis' friend.”

  11

  Now everyone was looking at him.

  “How did you know that?” Darryl said.

  “I... he told me about you.”

  “Oh, that's what I came to talk to you about.”

  Cole's eyes narrowed. “How do you know about me?”

  “Come on in,” Meredith said. “Let's talk in the living room.” She gestured them inside and offered them seats on the couch. “May I get you something to drink?”

  Darryl and his mother declined. “Travis talked about you. It took me a long time to decide I wanted to come here, and then even longer to actually get here. I was hoping I could talk to you about some things.”

  “It's all right,” Cole said to his mom. “We'll talk in the library.”

  “We'll be in here,” Meredith said. She turned to Margaret. “What do you do?”

  Cole led Darryl to the library, Amy following close behind. When Darryl noticed Amy was behind them, he hesitated, looking her up and down. “I kinda wanted to just talk to you,” he said.

  “She knows everything I know,” Cole said. “You don't have to worry about saying anything in front of her.”

  “Still, I'd like to talk to you in private.”

  “No problem,” Amy said. “I'll be in the living room.”

  “You sure?” Cole said.

  “Yeah, no biggie. Have fun.” She left them alone in the library, shutting the door behind her.

  “What did he say about me?” Cole asked, taking a seat in his usual chair.

  “I'd like to know the same.” Darryl sat across from Cole and leaned forwards. “He told me all about the instructions. Proved them to me. He also told me you were playing against him. He didn't know what to do about you until one day he decided to help you. And died.” Darryl's eyes watered but his expression remained hard.

  “I didn't have anything to do with that, I swear.” Cole held his hands up innocently. “It was his crazy mother. She tried to kill me and shot him. It was all an accident.”

  Darryl's eyes narrowed. “That better be true. I know his mother and she didn't act very crazy around me.”

  “Look, I swear, I had nothing against Travis. If he were still around, I think we would be working together now.”

  “Really? Nothing against him? Then why did you almost kill him before that with a golf club in his own room? Or was he lying and that wasn't you either?” he said, his voice full of bitter sarcasm.

  “I, uh, I-” What can I possibly say to that?

  “No answer? Didn't think so.”

  “No, wait. It's a long story. I had reason to believe he burned down my house, which turned out to be his mother too. She was afraid of me and was trying to protect Travis. I went to his house to confront him about it, but the voices in my head made me so angry that I attacked without thinking. They can make me do things but I've learned to control them. It sounds crazy but the point is, I did not kill him. Were you not at the trial? She admitted it openly.”

  “No I wasn't there but I know she's pleading innocence. I'm going to find out exactly what happened. From her. I just
wanted to hear your side first. Is that the story that you're sticking to?”

  “It's the truth.”

  “Fine. So how did you know about me? Didn't seem like you were on close speaking terms with Travis.”

  “He mentioned it on... that day. He told me all about himself, trying to convince me he was trustworthy. It worked.” He hung his head.

  “You expect me to believe that? He told you enough to recognize me on sight?” Darryl's eyes remained narrow.

  “Well, not exactly but with his brief description and your age, I assumed. Talk to Amy. She was there.”

  “How will that help? She's clearly on your side. I'll find out soon enough. I'm gonna go.” He left the library and returned to the living room, Cole trailing a few steps behind. “I'm ready to go,” he said to his mom, interrupting her conversation with Meredith.

  Mrs. Osborn stood. “Thank you for your hospitality.” She shook hands with Meredith and guided her son out the front door.

  Meredith closed the door behind them. “What was that all about? His mother just made small talk.”

  “I have Travis' memories!” Cole blurted out.

  “What?” Meredith and Amy said in unison.

  “I figured out those visions. It's like he's inside my head and every time I see something that he saw, it triggers a memory.”

  “That's really weird,” Amy said. “And creepy.”

  “That can't be,” Meredith said. “I've never heard of anything like that happening.”

  “I think it happened when he was dying,” Cole said. “He looked at me and our eyes met and there was like an invisible whirlwind between us. Ever since then there's been a presence inside of me. I felt it but I had no idea what it was until now.”

  Amy's face lit up. “Do you think it's just memories, or is he actually in there? Still alive.”

  “I don't know. I just get memories.”

  “Try to communicate with him. How cool would that be?”

  “Now Amy,” Meredith said. “Dial it back a bit. This isn't a game.” She looked at Cole. “I'll let you decide what you think is best.”