This time, Jamie, Naomi and Simon exchanged glances. Clearly, they were all thinking the same thing. “Okay, what’s the deal, you guys?” Nikki said.
“You don’t tell her,” Jamie said. “You show her.”
“Exactly,” Simon said.
Maybe Nikki was still tired but she wasn’t quite catching on. “How?”
“You jump her in time,” Naomi said. “Like you did with Ian, but just backwards instead of forward.”
“But we didn’t jump Ian forward,” Nikki said. “We jumped to a point in his future.”
“Those events hadn’t happened for Ian yet,” Henry said. “We could see them but he couldn’t experience them until they actually took place.”
“Plus, he was still living in the physical realm,” Nikki said.
“I know,” Naomi said. “But Rose never fully left the physical realm. Part of her has always remained there. And those events are part of her past, so they’ve already happened. You wouldn’t have to wait, right? Maybe you could get her to see things she hadn’t before.”
Nikki stared at Naomi for a few seconds, speechless. She looked to Henry, who wore a similarly stunned expression. When they’d learned that their old friend Curtis— now living as Ian—was about to die again, Nikki had found within herself a new ability beyond just being able to read the minds of the living. She’d discovered she could jump through Ian’s consciousness forward in time and see his future. She’d also brought Henry and Jamie along to witness events on Ian’s timeline that hadn’t yet transpired. At the time, there had been no need to jump back into Ian’s past but it made sense that she could take Henry back on Rose’s timeline the same way. But could she take Rose as well? Nikki wasn’t sure but it seemed possible. While Rose hadn’t directly experienced all of what had happened in her past, Naomi was right. All of it had still taken place. And if Nikki could jump Henry back, why not Rose along with him? After all, that life for Rose had already ended and she now stood outside of it.
Henry broke the silence, using the same words running through Nikki’s mind. “That’s brilliant.”
“It really is,” Nikki said.
Jamie gestured at Naomi. “She just said it first. All three of us were thinking it.”
Nikki knew it to be true but wasn’t about to admit that to Jamie. “Whatever, Spikehead. Nice job, Naomi.”
Simon’s face flushed. “Hey! I was also—”
“Destroying perfectly good food,” Nikki said. She shot Henry a look and he kept a straight face for about three seconds before he burst out laughing.
“Who cares who thought of it?” Henry said.
“I do,” Jamie said.
“Me too,” Simon said.
Nikki’s mind flashed back to that unspoken message in Martha’s eyes. Maybe she hadn’t been sure but had wondered if their group would come up with something as they always seemed to do when faced with a dilemma. Maybe Martha had been hesitant to suggest something contradicting Lysrus’s authority. After all, Lysrus had decided they’d done enough. Either way, it didn’t matter. Nikki knew that she and Henry had to try. She couldn’t stand the idea of Rose being left to haunt her old house. She had no doubt Henry felt exactly the same way.
Nikki looked at Naomi, Jamie, then Simon. “You guys are the best.”
“Seriously love you guys too,” Jamie said. “But I think the steaks are on fire again.”
15
Hopes, Dreams, Memories and Imaginings
Nikki and Henry had decided not to approach Lysrus about their decision. Not that they could without going to Martha first but they’d decided to leave her out of it too. Would Martha somehow know? Nikki supposed it quite possible she would. Typically, Martha had a way of knowing at least their emotional state if not their actual comings and goings. Either way, both she and Henry had discussed it after hanging out with the others and decided they weren’t going to ask for permission.
Nikki held Henry’s hand as they stood on the veranda in front of Halfway House. The stars above glimmered and they looked up together at this astounding night sky that Nikki had never entirely gotten used to. What their world was made of, Nikki couldn’t be entirely sure. A mix of hopes, dreams, memories and imaginings, she supposed. That part, as strange as it had once seemed, she’d gotten used to. And she also supposed their world was real, in some way. As real as any, she imagined, since all worlds are experienced through the eyes of the person seeing it. But this sky above, Nikki knew stood outside all worlds, real and imagined. These were the actual heavens, viewed from a place where no light interfered with the stars—millions, it seemed—spread across the sky.
“It’s just a house, right?” Nikki said.
Henry met her eyes and offered a smile. “It’s just a house this time.”
Which was exactly what Nikki needed to hear. She couldn’t put that other realm out of her mind. She hadn’t spent a night without dreaming of her parents and sister urging her to join them again. They’d seemed so real. As real as the stars above.
She squeezed Henry’s hand. “And it’s not like you haven’t ghosted out yourself. Right, River Rat?”
“Thanks for reminding me again, Road Kill.”
Nikki laughed. “That’s why I’m here.”
“Glad you are,” Henry said.
In that moment, Nikki recalled his words from when they hadn’t been sure what was about to happen. There’s something you should know. Something I probably should have told you before. But this definitely wasn’t the time to ask what he’d meant to say.
“Ready for this?” Nikki said.
Henry inhaled audibly. “Sure, let’s see what happens.”
Nikki closed her eyes and waited, envisioning the same house she and Henry had been to within Rose’s dream—her only image of it being that sunny morning from long ago that had kept Rose ensnared within her imagination. She felt the energy shift around her but no light touched her eyelids and part of her wondered if they might still be standing outside Halfway House.
Henry spoke first, his voice little more than a whisper. “This has to be it.”
Nikki allowed herself to open her eyes, only now realizing how much her heartbeat had increased. She looked around, seeing very little in the dim light surrounding them. She waited for her eyes to adjust and realized they were in the same living room where Rose had showed them her record collection. For just a moment, Nikki thought about the Beatles album Rose had loaned to Henry, thinking they’d forgotten to return it. Then she remembered that it had never really happened. That small thing reminded her how much at times she too had been sucked into the dream. Now, though, moonlight shined against window panes, casting its glow across the room enough that Nikki could make out the sofas, chairs and coffee table. They were sleek in design, where before the furniture had been squat and solid with arching backs and rounded armrests. A reflection caught her eye and Nikki realized light shone off a flat-screen TV mounted to the wall above where she remembered the old stereo cabinet.
Still, they stood in the same room. Nikki had no doubt about that.
“Is she here?” Henry whispered.
At first, Nikki wondered how she was supposed to know. But, of course, Henry was right. It was her job to know. She was a Reader, after all. Whereas, Henry was the Speaker and Nikki suspected his ability might well play a part in this too. Nikki closed her eyes again to see what kinds of consciousness she might sense around them, part of her fearful at what she might discover, her heartbeat kicking up a little more.
What she felt first was fear. Not her fear, though. She sensed it coming from the floor above. At first, Nikki didn’t understand what she was getting. All she saw in her mind was the image of a woman—the same one she saw once before in a dream. She’d woken up from it that first morning after they’d entered Rose’s dream. A name came back to her now—a name she’d almost forgotten. Michelle. Nikki remembered her as the mother of two frightened children who’d run to her in the night for comfort. Something s
cary had happened, something the children couldn’t comprehend and which was happening again now. Nikki knew where she was sensing the fear now and why the only image attached was the face of that woman. She was reading her children—something she’d never done before—and the only answer they had for fear was the face of their mother.
Nikki looked up at the ceiling. She was about to tell Henry when the little boy cried out in the dark.
“Mom? We can hear her in the hall!”
Then, the voice of the little girl. “Mom? We’re scared!”
Nikki listened, glancing over at Henry to see his eyes raised to the ceiling as well. Only a few moments passed before Nikki heard voices. A man saying something she couldn’t make out. Then, the woman, also a murmur but Nikki guessed from her tone what she was telling her husband. Something along the lines of, “It’s okay. Go back to sleep. I’ll go to them.”
Feet hit the floor above and then travelled down the hall. Henry looked over at her and nodded. Nikki understood and she lifted to the air with him, passing through the ceiling. It had been a while since she’d crossed over and even now Nikki continued to recalibrate to the idea that she and Henry could pass through ceilings and doors in the physical realm where Michelle and her family lived. Rose, of course, hadn’t lived in this realm since long before Nikki and Henry had Transitioned. That reality jolted Nikki in a way it hadn’t before. All those decades. Rose’s spirit had remained here for almost seventy years while her mind had been trapped in the dream.
Nikki’s breath caught in her throat as the woman she’d dreamt about walked right through her, her eyes half-closed and puffy as she tightened her robe. As always, the experience carried impressions Nikki couldn’t ignore. This time it was Michelle’s concern, love, and protective fear for her children.
Henry spoke softly. “She just crossed the hall.”
For a moment, Nikki wasn’t sure who he meant. Her mind was locked on the children and their mother. Then she realized he meant Rose. “Where?”
Henry pointed toward a closed door and they passed through it to stand within a large bedroom. Not the master bedroom, but considerably more spacious than the master bedroom in what Nikki would consider a normal house. Whoever Michelle and her husband were, they must be affluent to live in a house this immense. This room had been turned into a home office, with a desk and computer, bookcases and an armchair in the corner near the window.
Sensing something, Nikki spun around to see Rose facing the wall at the opposite end of the room, hunched over, whispering. “Grandmother? Where are you? There are people in the house!”
Rose turned and crossed the room again. They followed her as she passed through the door and into the hall, where she started to cry.
The boy’s voice carried from the bedroom. “Mom, I can hear her again.”
“Me too,” the little girl said. “She’s crying, Momma. Why is she so sad?”
“It’s nothing,” Michelle whispered, trying to comfort her children “It’s just the wind outside.”
“They hear her,” Henry said. “The kids, they can actually hear her.”
In the past, Nikki had heard how sometimes children can hear or see ghosts. Typically, no one believes them. After a while, they tell themselves it couldn’t have been real—that it had been just their imagination when they were too young to know better. Would this brother and sister someday convince themselves that what they were experiencing now hadn’t happened? In this case, Nikki hoped so. These memories would only carry with them fear.
Rose descended the stairs as Nikki and Henry again followed. She stood in the front hall, where moonlight cast rectangles of light against the floor from windows set into the front door. Rose raised her eyes to the ceiling, tears streaming down her face. “Who are you? Why are you in my house?” Her voice rose in volume and pitch. “I want to see my grandmother! I want to talk to Joseph!”
Nikki took hold of Henry’s hand. “We need to do something,” she said. “This has to stop.”
They walked toward Rose.
Rose suddenly stopped and turned. She looked directly at them, her eyes wide as she stared. Rose said nothing but Nikki felt sure she saw them.
Nikki took a deep breath and closed her eyes. At first, she wasn’t sure what would happen, if she’d be able to get anything at all. But then the images started to flow, along with associations and words, the impressions strong, much stronger than Nikki had expected. She hadn’t been able to know but it appeared they’d guessed correctly. Rose might no longer live in the physical realm but part of her consciousness had never crossed over. Reading her wasn’t much different than reading anyone else, except there was even less order to Rose’s thoughts. While the thoughts of those still living in this realm usually came at Nikki in a jumble, there was typically something loosely connecting them. She’d be able to track the associative leaps taking place. Not so for Rose. Feelings, names, words, images of faces and locations washed over Nikki’s consciousness as she connected with Rose’s mind. Not surprisingly, the faces she saw most were those of Olivia, Joseph and Linda. These had been the primary people in Rose’s later years. But Nikki saw other faces too—teenagers and children, men and women. The faces came at her too fast to process but they must have been people Rose had known from school or her neighborhood. At one point, she saw a man and woman together. The image was of them standing side by side, gazing down as if at a child in bed. He was tall, with thinning blonde hair combed back. She stood several inches shorter, with brown curly hair exactly like Rose’s. Nikki looked at the man again and immediately knew who they were. Rose had her father’s eyes.
Without opening her own eyes, Nikki reached out. She waited, hoping, frightened, unsure what would happen. Then, seemingly against all odds, Rose’s hand found hers. The connections startled Nikki. She’d been hoping it would happen but part of her hadn’t thought it possible with Rose this far gone. Could Rose somehow sense that she knew Nikki, that she could trust her? There was just no way to know and there wasn’t time to think about it. She needed to jump Rose back, if that was possible. Nikki dove deeper, searching for the place in time they needed. She merged her mind with Rose’s, willing herself to take Rose’s consciousness back in time. She waited, hoping, praying it would work. Then she felt it, that now familiar sensation of wind blowing past and the tunnel of swirling light she remembered from when she’d jumped forward through Ian’s consciousness.
Nikki felt light against her eyelids—a steady light different from that of the tunnel. She blinked against sunlight streaming through a bedroom window. She checked to be sure and saw that Henry still stood next to her. Rose no longer held her hand, though. Nikki hadn’t been sure what would happen. She’d even wondered if Rose might end up standing next to her viewing a projection of her own past containing herself. But apparently that wasn’t how it worked when you jumped someone back on their own timeline. Rose now sat across the room at an old-fashioned vanity, brushing her hair before the mirror. Nikki had maintained her connection with Rose’s mind and knew that Rose was fully rooted in this moment. She felt the order to Rose’s thoughts now, logic connecting the flow of images and words within her mind.
After a few moments, Rose set her brush down. Nikki kept her mind merged with Rose’s, reading her thoughts and emotions as Rose considered her own reflection. Rose didn’t love what she saw but she wasn’t entirely displeased either. Her hair had always been difficult to manage, her nose a little bigger than she would have liked. The freckles she’d once despised didn’t bother her as much these days. After all, Joseph said he loved her freckles. Rose checked her watch and it was just after nine. Joseph was supposed to call at ten. In the meantime, Rose suspected she’d find Olivia outside sitting on the patio. She’d join her for some breakfast and wait for Joseph to call.
Rose stood and walked right past Nikki and Henry. She got shoes from her closet and sat on her bed to put them on. Nikki hadn’t been sure if Rose might be able to see them somehow but Ro
se was enough immersed in her past life that the “nonliving” didn’t register in this moment.
Nikki turned to Henry. “This is the same morning Lysrus first showed us. Remember, we’re not in the dream this time. Maybe you can push thoughts at her.” Even as she said it, Nikki couldn’t be sure if Henry’s skill as a Speaker would work. But she’d been able to jump them to this place in time, which suggested Henry might be able to influence Rose’s actions. Nikki hoped that was the case. Otherwise, she wasn’t sure what more they could do. “Tell her she should go to Joseph’s now. She should just get in the car and go there.”
“Is that even possible?” Henry said. “We’d be changing the past.”
Nikki shrugged. At this point, it was anybody’s guess but it was up to them to try. “I don’t think we’d be changing the past. It already happened. Hopefully, Rose will just see part of it she didn’t before.”
Rose got up and crossed the room. As she reached for the doorknob, Henry whispered into her ear and she froze. Rose stood there for a few moments, as if lost in thought, her hand resting on the doorknob. Then she shook her head, as if to clear her mind. She opened the door.
Henry turned to Nikki, his eyes locking on hers.
Nikki nodded. “She heard you, definitely. But Joseph told her he’d call at ten so she doesn’t know why she’d go over there. Try again. Remember, his parents are out of town. Tell her how much he’d love it if she surprised him.”
Henry caught up to Rose as she reached the top of the stairs. Again, she stopped, listening as Henry whispered. As she had last time, Rose thought for a moment, then tromped down the staircase.
Again, Henry’s eyes met Nikki’s, looking for confirmation.
“It’s working,” Nikki said. “She’s thinking about going over there.”
They followed as Rose descended the stairs. She reached the landing, checked her watch, then walked briskly down the hall. She crossed through the kitchen and opened the French doors leading out to the patio. Olivia looked up from where she sat reading the newspaper outside.
Stepping into the Sky: Jump When Ready, Book 3 Page 16
