Breathless (The Breathe Series Book 1)

by Christy Johnson

  “That’s called imagination, mom I used to want to stay home and use it.” I look up to her getting ready to speak on how all of this made me feel but am motionless by the humble abode in my eyesight. I walk past her, astonished by the delightful sight.

  “Nora?” She turns around to watch me adore the beauty. “Nora?” She whispers out again, worried that I might show my crazy side. “Nora, is there something there? Do you see something that I can’t?” I roll my eyes at the thought of her actually trying to make fun of my “condition.”

  “Did you ever bring me here when I was younger, mom?”

  “No, never. Why, what’s wrong?”

  The place was open and grassy. The trees in the same stance as they were in my dream last night. The flowers bloomed of colors that accented the red and orange trees. I turn around to her slowly, “Is it possible to dream of places you’ve never been?”

  20 connections

  Dear you,

  Happy Birthday. I miss you and I love you, still. I hope your birthday is everything you could ask for and more. You deserve the world. I only wish I could have been the one to give it to you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t and I’m sorry I broke your heart. Anyway, happy birthday again. Oh, and it was great seeing you too at the fair.

  Love, Me

  Riles P.

  “Mom, why did you give this to me?” I place the birthday card down on the table. Mom and I decided it was better to drive to Abenaki to talk more. “And tell me what’s going on with the tribe? Why is everyone in such a fright?” I peek out of the window to see people scurrying into their homes, locking the doors behind them.

  “There’s something you should know about your dreams, Nora.” She brings me a cup of hot tea, ignoring my questions.

  “Okay? What about them? They’re just dreams, right?” She sits next to me clasping her cup of tea in both hands.

  “We all have dreams, Nora. They mean nothing but yours, yours are the special kind.” And I’m the looney one? “I told you a long time ago, you’re special. For instance, look at your tattoo.” I slide my wrist band back slowly to look down at my tattoo, not making the connection. “Now look at mine.” She slides her wrist band down. I had never seen her tattoo before. I don’t look at it right away—it felt too personal, it was all forbidden. “It’s okay, you can look.” Her tattoo looked nothing like mine. It was an infinity sign.

  “Is this what everyone’s tattoo here looks like?” I ask her in disbelief.

  “Yes.”

  “Why am I different?”

  She sneers, “It’s because of your father.” She sniffles and wipes the tears from under her eyes.

  Still confused, “What does dad have to do with it? And what does this tattoo really mean?” I ask her, gripping my wrist.

  She sighs. “Are you ready for all of this information? I mean, it will be heavy?”

  I nod, expecting her response. “Yes, momma! I need to know. I’m going crazy.”

  She sucks in a sip of her tea and closes her eyes. “Your father isn’t from this planet.”

  I look at her deep in her eyes and burst out in laughter. “Mom! Stop joking. Seriously.” I lean back in my chair and wait for the real response. She doesn’t crack a smile; she just waits for me to stop laughing. I stop. “Wait, so you’re serious!? He’s not from Jeshyria?”

  She nods. “We all aren’t technically.”

  “So which other six are we from? Gethurn? Bulea? Tiarilia? Vaurus? Haotov? Keuria? I mean, how is that even possible!? Those planets are inhabitable! We’ve learned that! You taught me that!” I stand up from the table. “Are you trying to make me crazy!?” I pace back and forth, trying to piece together everything unusual that has happened in the last months, years even. The weird dreams, seeing Stephanie, Devin’s bathroom mirror… how does that correlate to dad?

  “How does that correlate to dad!?” I scream.

  “What?” Mom looks confused.

  “I mean my dreams, that Stephanie girl, Devin’s mirror!?” I continue to pace.

  “Devin’s mirror? Look, honey, sit down. Let me explain the best way I can.” I sit down hoping she could really explain.

  “Your dreams are not just dreams, Nora.” She begins, only confusing me even more. “They are visions, warnings, gifts and…” She pauses.

  “And what!?” I snap.

  “… and sometimes, it’s just you time traveling.” She sips her tea again like none of this is unusual to talk about.

  “What!? Are you sure I’m the looney one? I mean, because what you’re saying is ridiculous. How can I time travel!?” I stand up, pacing the floor again.

  “Sit down!” The walls shake with her fury. I don’t question it; I just sit next to her and calm myself. “Drink your tea.” She demands. I take a small sip. “It’s true.” She continues. “It’s all true. Your father could do the same thing. And there’s so much more to this but I can’t tell you all of it.”

  “How is this even possible?” I ask humbly this time.

  “We, as humans, can only use 20% of our brains. Well, there are people, like you, who can use more. There are people who want to be like you, imitate you, that’s why it is so important that you do not show your tattoo to anyone! I had to call your doctor. If someone would have found out that you were the one, they would have killed you, Nora. All of this is so important.”

  “All of what!? You’re only giving me bits and pieces of information, mom.”

  “I know. You have to understand that if you learn everything in one sitting, it will destroy you. The only way you can find out more is if you continue to do your training to protect yourself. You are in grave danger—danger I cannot protect you from. Trust me.” Her eyes display sincerity. I look down into my tea to see small purple crystal-like bits in the bottom of the teacup. I squint to get a closer glimpse of it.

  “What is it?” She asks.

  “Did you put sugar in this?” I ask suspiciously.

  “No, you don’t drink your tea with sugar.” She says, sipping her tea.

  “Oh—tastes a little sweet.” I push away the teacup. Her face contorts.

  “You don’t want anymore?”

  “No, I’ve had enough. Mom.” The right side of her mouth twist up into an awkward smile. I stand up from the table. “Well, I need to get going. Sudan is expecting me later on tonight.”

  “Oh? I thought trainings are cancelled?” Shit, why was I such a bad liar?

  “Postponed.” I take a step backwards, closer to the door. “Well, mom it's good to see you and this talk was amazing.” I try to sound convincing.

  “Let me walk you out.” She stands. I walk over to the door first, almost slinging it open when something heavy pounds down on my skull, nearly taking the life out of me. I fall to my knees; the only thing in my sight is my mother telling me to sleep. Her evil grin imprints into my brain, leaving a stain of hate towards her on my heart. My vision blurs, the room spins. I fall flat onto the cold, hard floor foreseeing my expiry.

  *****

  LESLIE

  “I put sleep crystals in her tea but she became suspicious.” Leslie says.

  “I see why. The crystals didn’t dissolve.” Mairi says standing over my body. “You couldn’t use another method to knock her out? Geez, Leslie. She’ll know something is up when she wakes up with a knot on her head.”

  “Don’t worry, toots. I have this covered.” Leslie heads into the office to grab the book with Nora’s tattoo on the front of it.

  “What’s that?” Mairi asks.

  “It’s… a book.”

  Mairi puts her hand on her hip, “If I will be your partner, you will have to be more specific.”

  Leslie disregards Mairi’s craving to know more. She just cracks the book open, holds her hands out above Nora and chants, “Oblitus. Hoc est somnium.”

  “Wait, what are you saying to her?” Mairi backs away from her.

  “Oh calm down. I just told her to forget, and that this was all just a drea
m. Relax!” She reaches in her pocket, pulls out a cigarette and lights it, taking a puff of it.

  “So?” Mairi leans against the table, waiting for Leslie to spill the beans about the supernatural world.

  “So what?” Leslie lets out a puff of smoke.

  “What’s so special about Nora?” Mairi eyes Nora’s limp body.

  “She’s the most powerful Chosen there is. She possesses powers we could only imagine having. I knew when I tricked her into letting me look at her tattoo.” She pulls in another puff of the cigarette.

  “What! She has those powers now?” Mairi points at Nora in disbelief. Her voice shakes in fear that she would wake up and take notice to her and Leslie's betrayal.

  She lets out the smoke through her nose. “No, not now.”

  “So what the hell are you saying then, Leslie?”

  “I’m saying, if we allow her to gain all of her powers, we will be in deep shit.” Leslie doesn’t mask her fear of being destroyed.

  “How can she gain all of her powers?”

  “Well, Riley is the bane of sacrifice. He has to die in order for her powers to be released–”

  “Why?” Mairi cuts her off.

  “Patience, girl. Give me time to swallow my spit.” Leslie rolls her eyes.

  “Sorry.” She mumbles.

  “The destruction of the person she loves most will be motivation for her. You know how the story goes. It’s all so cliché. Riley is the one she loves most. Not even her father can top the love she has for him. But he can’t die yet.” She puts her cigarette out.

  “Why not?”

  Leslie chuckles, “I can’t let all the cats out of the bag. You’ll know soon enough. It’s only the beginning.” She chuckles with evil intent. “Just get her back to Apalachicola. She won’t remember ever seeing me today. She’ll think she’s been sleeping all of this time and don’t worry, she won’t know about your betrayal either.”

  21 cosmic love

  He runs his fingers through my hair and I fall, victimizing myself to his embrace. I lie my head back on the passenger seat, staring into his green eyes, wondering when he would leave me but praying that he never would. It’s not time. He smirks at me, resting his head back on his seat. The sky grows darker as we gaze at one another in silence. I feel my chest weigh down deeper into my body, crushing my heart as I think about all of those bad dreams I have had of him. What was I supposed to do without him?

  “What’s wrong?” He knew me too well; everything about me. He could see the worrisome expression deepening into my being, my lips spread into a thin line and my eyes drifting away from him to the sky above us.

  “Nothing’s wrong, Riles. Why do you ask?” He shifts once in his seat, looking up at the sky with me. The stars didn’t appear anymore, not like how they used to when I was a kid. A star or two would appear but the occasion was rare. Tonight, was different though. Stars danced around heavily tonight. I sink further into the illusion that they were actually really there, drifting off into the distance of this mere dream of us.

  “I know you, baby. Something is wrong.” I wouldn’t dare tell him about my dreams of him. I couldn’t tell him that he would die. Not tonight. Not here, while we visit one another still in my subconscious.

  “Let’s just gaze into the moonlight. Let’s drift away to a better place.”

  He chuckles. “But we are already in a better place. What better place to be than in your dreams?” I look back to him unable to mask the smile creeping onto my face. I wanted to so badly hate him for leaving me in my time of despair but I couldn’t. He was my personal galaxy that held me in place, allowing my world to rotate around my own personal sun.

  His eyes glimmer with something I hadn’t noticed before: Hope. He doesn’t mask his love for me, instead, he reaches out to touch my face, deflating my body. I stop breathing for the first time in a while to suck in his every touch. These touches wouldn’t be around much longer, I knew.

  I close my eyes and lean into the palm of his hand, soaking in all of his glory, “Why do you have to go?” I whisper, allowing a tear to slip out from the corner of my eye.

  “Go? What do you mean?” Humility settles into his spirit.

  “Go away. From me.” I couldn’t help myself. The words pour out of me.

  “Where am I going to go?”

  My mind drifts back to when I first met him—how he tried to mask his face from me. Who are you? A question I still can’t answer. Who am I?

  “Go away from my dreams once I wake.” I change my reasoning for asking but every part of my entity was screaming to tell him the truth. He would die. He would go away for a long time. I could never see him again.

  “You’ll see me again.” He whispers.

  My mind explodes, time lapses once more, and my heart dwindles down to dust. I knew this would soon be over—the love of he and I—this imaginable land we would always escape to when we wanted to run and smash into each other. I turn away from him to dry the tears that couldn’t resist flowing.

  “Nora?” He leans in closer to me to analyze me. “What is wrong?” He's stern this time, hoping it would make me spill my guts.

  “There is nothing wrong. I told you, I’m fine.” I sniffle and wipe the last drop away from my cheek, turning back to him.

  “You’re afraid.” He sighs. “I am too.”

  I gape at him with concern. “What are you afraid of?” Disinclination forces its way into his soul. “Riley?”

  “I’m afraid of what will become of you when you wake.”

  “Wh—what do you mean?”

  “I mean Devin. How well do you know him?” Clearly, he knew something I didn’t.

  “Well, I–” I pause realizing that I knew nothing of him.

  “You know nothing?” I don’t answer him. “NORA! Seriously!?” He swings open the car door and jolts out.

  “Riley?” I open mine and step out to join him in our secret spot in my dreams. The trees sway from side to side, dancing to the whirling music of the wind. My hair whips around enjoying the howling air.

  “How can you not know anything about him? Do you even like him—love him?”

  “How dare you!? You’re the one who left me.” I place my hand on my chest trying to revive my dusty heart.

  He lowers his head, “I know.” He walks over to me, rubs my shoulders to comfort me. “I’m sorry, I wish I could marry you know so that you could be mine forever.” He places his forehead onto mine but I lie still, gazing up at him from under my brows but even I knew marriage couldn’t stop what was coming. Death.

  “Really?” My eyes flicker back and forth between his.

  “I will always love you, Nora. One day you’ll understand why I had to do what I had to and I hope by that time, you’ll have the love for me like you used to.”

  I study him, confused. “What do you mean? Why did you have to do it, Riley?”

  He releases the pressure from our foreheads and drops his hands by his sides. He doesn’t answer me, instead, he turns from me, his back shifting as he takes more steps in the opposite direction of where we were just standing.

  “I can’t give you up!” I yell out to him almost breaking. He stops dead in his tracks, no longer walking away. He turns his head to one side slowly but never looking at me. “I just can’t. I love you too much. How can it hurt this bad to love someone but also feel so good—so addicting? How can I love you so much?” My teeth chatter from the chill in the air, the tears stain the sides of my face. I hug my shoulders, consoling myself.

  “You have to.” He utters.

  “I have to—to what?”

  “Give me up. This cosmic love exploding in your head, ringing in your ears isn’t real. This place,” he looks around, gaping at its fictional beauty, “the way we keep meeting like this: it just isn’t real.” He turns his head back to the front to walk away once more, leaving me bleeding dry without him. With every step, he takes, I feel the life he sucks out of me.

  I fall for him but neve
r get back up.

  *****

  Knock, knock, knock. I wince, rolling over in my bed.

  Knock, knock, knock. I sit up slowly, glancing down at my clock. It’s 5:33. I yawn. Who could be here this early? I slip my robe on and walk to the front door. I look through the peep hole to see a delivery man holding a package.

  I open the door, “You’re early.” I say through a yawn.

  “Early? Miss, it’s 5:30 in the evening.” My eyes widen.

  “No?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He clears his throat. “Sign here.” I scribble a simple signature on the dotted line.

  “Thanks!” I slam the door and run back to my room. I didn’t recognize the PM on the clock.

  “I’m screwed!” I whisper to myself checking my emails before opening the package. Sudan hadn’t emailed about updates on training today. I sigh with relief.

  My wrist gadget vibrates alarming that Devin was texting to let me know that he was on his way over. I reply. It had been days since I’ve last seen him.

  Knock, knock, knock. I pause and stand to my feet, terrified of who it could be at the door. I walk over to it slowly, checking the peep hole. I feel that familiar feeling. My knees go weak and my head spins.

  I open the door.

  “Happy birthday.” He says standing there with two dozen roses.

  22 behind closed doors

  The past 1.6

  Alex Jacobs runs to the office, burning all the paperwork in the file cabinets, on the desk and all other evidences of Chosen in the desk drawers. Leslie comes downstairs flicking on the light, “Alex?” Her voice groggy, “What’s wrong?”

  “Go get Nora. They’re coming.”

  Leslie’s eyes widen, “You had a vision?” She asks, worried.

  “Yes, and they are on the way here. They can’t find her. We have to protect our child, Les. They’re coming for me but if they find out who she really is–”

  She walks over to Alex, who is still scurrying to burn everything. She rubs his back, “What will happen to you?”