Insight (27 page)

I slid the ring off again to look at the inscription; as I did, the silver dulled and the tingle left my hand in protest.

“Do you know what this means?” I asked, counting the seven gold lines. I’d seen this before—the night I picked out my tattoo. It was the eye of RA, and it meant “protection.” My Ankh meant “eternal life.” I reasoned that if I had eternal life, I wouldn’t need protection—that’s why I chose the Ankh.

“August told me a lot of stories. If I remember correctly, I think it’s a watchful eye. I don’t remember what culture or dimension he was referring to when he described it, though.”

“Well, if it’s the same as my tattoo, it came from Infante. It’s Egyptian,” I said, looking at my wrist and the uninvited star inside my loop.

“Egyptians, as you call them, are in a lot of dimensions and are a very advanced people,” Landen said, sliding the ring on my finger again. The tingle came as the shine returned. “They’re the only other people that we’ve discovered exploring the strings. They’ve settled across many dimensions.”

“Seriously?” I asked, thinking he was just teasing me.

Smiling, he answered, “The string is energy. In theory, everyone should be able to see it. People have the power to change their perspective. They just get caught up in an endless cycle of foolish things that don’t matter.”

I looked down at my olive skin, matching my tone to Landen’s and wondering if that culture was a part of me.

“Do you know what my tattoo means?” I asked Landen.

He smiled. “‘Eternal life.’ I remember when you got it. I thought you were trying to tell me something,” he said, tracing the cross while avoiding the star in the loop.

“I think I was trying to tell myself something that I’d find you in this life or the next,” I said, looking up at him and smiling shyly.

Landen kissed my lips softly causing my soul to seize with anticipation. “I always knew I’d find you,” he swore.

I looked down at the rings again. It felt like I had seen them before, too, like they’d always been ours. “Did August tell you where he got these?”

“He really didn’t have a chance. All he said was ‘time is simply an illusion, and the gifted live on,’” Landen said, smiling. “August isn’t like the others. He isn’t quick to offer advice. He likes to watch your mind work.” He laughed a little, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear. “He said he needed to show us something in the morning.”

“Is he going to tell us what the others are hiding?”

“I believe he will.”

We changed out of our party clothes and into the all-black attire. We then laid in our bed in silence. Hoping we’d given Rose and my father time to rest, we drifted to sleep, almost simultaneously. Standing over our bodies, the addictive rush of excitement came over us again. Landen checked his pocket to make sure the garlic salt was with us then looked at me.

“Let’s try this: think of your father’s porch.”
He reached his arm around my waist and pressed his forehead to mine, concentrating on my father’s porch.

“We did it,”
he thought. I opened my eyes to see that Landen was right. We were on the front steps. A rush of excitement came through us, more exhilarating than before. I gave him an alluring smile; this power was becoming less elusive.

I led the way through the door. All the lights were off, and I could sense peaceful sleep coming from five people. Karsten must have stayed there, too. Walking up the stairs, we stopped in the guest room. Rose was asleep in a chair with an open book resting on her lap. I was afraid to wake her and startle her. We went down the hall to my parents’ room. When we opened the door, my father raised his head and whispered into the darkness. “Willow.”

I walked over to him and pulled back his blanket, letting him know it was us, and a rush of excitement came over him as he watched the blanket move without seeing anyone. Landen found a note pad on my mother’s side of the bed and wrote “wake Rose, we are on our way now.”

Already dressed, my father slid on his shoes and walked to Rose’s room.

“Do you want to see if we can make it to the hospital the same way?”
I asked. Landen smiled, and we held each other again and focused on the roof that we’d been on earlier that day. A moment later, raindrops could be heard. When we opened our eyes, we were on the roof. It was an awful looking day; the sky was so dark, it was hard to tell that it was daylight. There was thunder in the distance with increasing wind.

Knowing the way, I took Landen’s hand, and we walked in the door and down the steps. The hospital was quiet; not much was happening there, new births being the most exciting thing.

The maternity ward was on the fourth floor, and we passed that doorway on our way to the third floor.

We opened the door slowly, not knowing who might be standing close to it. At the end of the hallway, we could see two women standing outside one of the doors. As we approached them, I could see it was Chase’s mom, and Gina, Dane’s mom. We listened as they talked.

“It just doesn’t make any sense, how did they get here so fast?” Gina said.

“At least they’re safe. The search for Monica was called off yesterday…I don’t think this town could bear losing another child,” Chase’s mom said in a sorrowful tone.

I looked at Landen. He felt my grief and put his arm around me.

“I wish someone could get a hold of Jason, or Grace, for that matter. Jason would know what was wrong. That man is the best doctor on this planet.”

I felt a rush of pride all my own as they spoke of my parents.

“How is Dane anyway? I can’t believe he ran off with Willow like that. I bet you’re happy, aren’t you?”

Landen was shaking his head and smiling. He wasn’t angry or jealous. It was just odd how Dane and Clarissa had met.

“He’s not with Willow. He’s—he’s seeing one of her friends, Clarissa,” answered Gina, confused by her own words.

“Oh, I see. Do you know if Willow’s okay? Chase said that Willow and Dane were really hung up on each other. Apparently, that kid, Drake, made a move on Willow, and Dane showed up, saw it, and was furious. Chase said they had to stop Dane from tearing that guy apart.”

“Remind me to tell Dane he’s awesome when we get back,”
Landen thought.

“Willow is happy, too. Grace said she’s in love with a really great guy, and Grace and Jason both seem to love him. They went to school with his parents, I think,” Gina said, trying to curve the conversation.

“So tell me about Clarissa, what’s she like?”

“Dane called a day or so ago. He’s going to go to Paris, too. Right now, they’re in New York. He said he’d come home before he went overseas.”

“So Dane could ask Jason to come home, too?”

Before Gina could answer, the door they were standing in front of opened, and Olivia’s aunt, came out, holding a pad of paper. Still studying the words on it, she looked tired and aged by the event.

“How’s Hannah,” Gina asked.

“She’s asleep now. I don’t know. She doesn’t remember anything about getting on a boat or going to the Keys,” Olivia’s aunt said, leaning against the wall and staring at the notes.

“Do they know what happened to her voice or Jessica’s hearing?”

“The doctor said the memory loss is due to trauma, but he thinks the girls will recover if they rest.”

“What about Olivia? Does Hannah remember where she is?” asked Gina.

“Hannah can’t even tell me if she was ever with them to begin with.”

Feeling their agonizing grief and confusion, I shifted my way in front of Olivia’s aunt. Landen took a protective step forward, bracing himself for anything that could happen.

As I reached for her shoulders, my trembling hands anticipated the rush. Staring into her eyes, I concentrated on peace. I remembered how happy Olivia looked dancing with Chrispin, hearing her laughter over the music. Her eyes closed slowly then opened again, looking past the room. Gina and Chase’s mom started to yell her name, fearing she was passing out. My fingertips tingled. Just as I felt her emotion change to joy, a flash of light came across my face, causing me to lose my touch. The rush found Landen, and the sensation boomeranged between us, intensifying the high and energizing our spirit.

Olivia’s aunt let out a gasp of air as Chase’s mom and Gina both reached for her, blocking a potential fall. At first, I thought I’d done something wrong or hurt her somehow, but she just gasped again then smiled.

“She’s fine. Olivia’s happy, she’s found her place.”

“What?” Gina asked, looking behind her, halfway expecting Olivia to be standing there.

“I could see her, dancing and laughing. She’s in love. It’s in her eyes, a light I haven’t seen … since,” Olivia’s aunts words faded as tears surfaced in the corner of her eyes. She took a deep breath and stood up straight. Smiling, she still carried the joy I’d given her. “I think I need some coffee. Will you guys go with me?”

Gina and Chase’s mom walked behind her, whispering and looking back through where we stood.

“What was that? Did it hurt you?”
Landen reached down, examining my fingertips.

“No, it was amazing—exhilarating.”

“Were you thinking of them dancing?
Is that what she saw?”

“Yeah, I don’t know how she saw them. I always think of something when I help. Did you see that light?”

Landen nodded.

“Where did it come from?”

“Her, well, the both of you. A light came from your fingers, then another burst from her chest.”

The elevator door dinged, then opened. A nurse got off as Olivia’s aunt and the others got on. We watched as the nurse check a clipboard before going into the room across the hall. As we waited, we were hit hard with terror. Looking at each other, then to the room, we were sure where it was coming from.

Landen grabbed my hand before going into Hannah’s room. It was dark. Only a little light came from the gray windows where rain sheeted across the pane. I could see Jessica’s mother sleeping on a couch under the window. All of a sudden, the terror we were feeling seemed to double. Landen saw them first – the ‘monkeys.’

Jessica and Hannah were in beds side-by-side, asleep, and on their chests sat small demonic animals that resembled monkeys. They had short red hair, and spikes made of reddish bone lined their spines. Horns crowned their head and black collars circled their small necks. Their feet were planted firmly on the girls’ chests as they stared centimeters from their sleeping faces.

We stared, frozen with horror.

“We have to hide our fear,”
I thought, remembering that Rose would wake us before we’d be able to help if she felt it in our bodies.

We both pushed it aside and found anger instead. As we stared, not believing our eyes, we listened to the growling of the monkeys as they breathed. Landen reached in his pocket for the bag of garlic salt. He then opened it, grabbed a handful of it, and gave me a handful, too. We never took our eyes off the demons. The girls moaned as if they were in pain, and the chuckle of a growl filled the room.

The terror coming from the girls was growing stronger. Not knowing if the demons could see us, we stepped cautiously in their direction. All at once, the growling halted, and the one on Jessica looked slowly over its shoulder, its red eyes glowing in the dark room. The other one sensed us and turned as well. It was clear that they could see us. As they stepped off the two girls’ chests, their terror faded as they turned restlessly. The demons sauntered toward us as the growls resumed and grew louder. Landen and I threw the handfuls of salt at them. They let out large growls as the salt hit their faces then leaping at us they suddenly vanished. Stunned, we looked slowly at each other, allowing the fear to come out.

A resilient pull came over us, and as we gasped for breath, we suddenly found ourselves back in our bed. My father was standing over me, and Rose was standing over Landen. They were shaking our shoulders. We jolted up, making sure we were both back. Landen dove across the bed and pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my neck. His fear was in rhythm with his heartbeat. He knew just like I did that those things had visited me often. The weight on my chest—that was them.

“Never again, Willow. He will never do that to you again. I swear I’ll
kill
him—never again,” Landen said through his teeth as he rocked me back and forth.

The fear in the room was overpowering. Rose and my father stood like statues, not sure what had happened.

“Olivia…Landen…Olivia,” I said, pushing him back and holding his face so he would have to look at me through his rage.

Olivia was sleeping now. The demons could be tormenting her where she lay.

“Jason, where is Olivia?” shouted Landen, still staring at me.

“She’s…uh…she’s with Felicity. What’s—”

My father was cut short as we rushed by him down the stairs, out the door, and into the Jeep. Landen didn’t even use the road. He tore off across the field in the darkness. Just over the second hill, a house could be seen in the moonlight. Like the others, it was wrapped in porches. We stopped inches short of the front porch.

Landen charged open the door not caring how loud it banged back. He raced up the stairs two at a time. I ran to keep pace with him. At the top of the stairs, he took a quick left, opening the first door. The light flicked on, and Olivia lay, sleeping peacefully. I walked breathlessly to her side to wake her, and I could hear Brady charging down the hall with Felicity close behind.