Old Souls (16 page)

He reached out and grabbed my chin between his thumb and finger, stroking his thumb along my jaw. “You’ll tell me what happened.” His soothing smile stroked over my senses and quieted my building tension. I nodded.

Aedan sat on the other side of me. “Ready Lissy?”

I nodded my head. “What do we do?”

He reached out and took both of my hands into his. “I want you to think back to the day of the car accident. It was morning. What happened before you got into the car with Colin?”

I told him about the incident with my power outage and what happened with my hair. He chuckled. “Yes, most of our women enjoy that perk.” He said before continuing. “What happened after that?”

“I heard the horn and ran out to meet Colin. I had been quiet and distracted, thinking about what had happened that morning, but Colin chattered enough for the both of us.” A forlorn half smile tugged at my lips as I remembered his exuberance. “He was excited. He met someone the night before.”

“Now I want you to picture the highway that morning.” His voice was soothing, almost hypnotic. “Do you remember the truck?”

Every muscle in my body tensed as I remembered the green landscaping truck. It was open at the back but had a wooden enclosure built around the edges, which unfortunately hadn’t been enough. I’d heard the screeching of tires and glanced ahead to see a lawnmower and other tools falling from the truck onto the busy highway.

“Close your eyes.” He ordered.

“Now, concentrate as if you are there.”

At first, I remembered the incident as an observer, with the vague impressions of unformed details that memories often had. Eventually, the sound of water lapping from the lake below faded and the noises and images of my memories began to sharpen to crystal clarity. First, I noticed the smell. Colin’s cologne. Huh, I hadn’t even remembered that. Then the music from the radio station that had been playing that morning filtered into my foggy mind, One More Night by Maroon 5. I remembered thinking I loved that song. Then the glowing red lights from the cars in front of us and the sound of breaking glass.

“Shit, Lyss hold on!” Colin yelled.

Suddenly, I was there again. Mark and my father had disappeared and I was in that car again with Colin. He swerved and the car bounced uncontrollably as we headed into the ditch. My body jerked forward when we slammed to a stop, my seatbelt stopping the forward momentum with a jarring wrench. It was no less shocking the second time around, even though I knew it was coming. The sounds of metal screeching drew my eyes back to the road, knowing with a terrifying certainty what I’d see next. A car flipped off the road and catapulted through the air, right at us.

“Oh, fuck, Lyss.” The fear that filled Colin’s voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

Just as the car was about to crush us, I threw my hands in the air. This time I watched, fascinated, as blue light exploded from my hands. The car hovered directly above us. A surprised gasp had me turning my head to find myself staring into the wide eyed, totally freaked out stare of my best friend. Neither of us said a word. It was easier this time, seeing that look on his face, knowing he’d accepted me fully when he found out exactly what I was.

Shit. This was the first part of the insufferable decision I was expected to make. The first time I let the car drop on us because I was shocked at what had happened and lost my concentration. This time, I knew I could use my power to throw the car away from us. We’d both be safe. Colin would live… but Mark and I would die. Fuck. If it was just me at risk, I’d have pushed that car away and given my life for his, but Mark would be punished if I did the wrong thing. I couldn’t allow that to happen. I closed my eyes and released my hold on the car. Luckily, the pain didn’t last long and I was pulled quickly into unconsciousness before the worst of it hit.

The throbbing agony in my leg finally pulled me groggily from the darkness. I felt it screaming in protest with every beat of my heart as the blood rushed through the crushed limb. Moaning, I tried to move it, but it was impossible. Not only was it too painful, but I couldn’t move my body at all. Confused, I glanced around at my surroundings trying to remember what had happened. Metal surrounded every side of me. I fought the claustrophobia that threatened to overwhelm me. What the hell happened? Every part of me hurt and I had no idea where I was.

“Is someone in there?” The male voice was coming from outside somewhere.

“Yes,” I croaked.  Man that hurt. As I tried to draw in air to breathe my chest burned and felt like I’d swallowed water. I coughed again and again before I tried to speak once more. “Yes, I’m here. What happened?”

“Ma’am, you were in a car accident. We are going to get you out, just hold on.”

Suddenly, the memories came flooding back at his words. The accident. Colin. Shit.

His gargled words had me turning my head to find him. He was speaking to someone, but I couldn’t make out the words. The only thing I was able to distinguish was the agony in his voice.

“Colin,” I groaned and a tear slipped from my eye. He was hurting. I heard it when he tried to speak.

“Lyss?” He coughed. “Are you all right?” He managed.

“Yes. Don’t worry about me.”

“Don’t worry Lyss, they’re getting us out. I can hear them. We’re …going to…be okay.”

“I know.” I answered, feeling like the lowest piece of scum on the Earth. What kind of person sat back and did nothing, knowing they had the power to save someone. I was trading my best friends’ life for mine. He was lying there, dying, trying to reassure me and I was saving myself. I hated myself at that moment. Intellectually, I knew that this wasn’t just about me. Mark was a part of it too, but that knowledge was little comfort at the moment.

I couldn’t speak, afraid that as soon as I tried the sobs threatening to break from my throat would escape. My leg was almost healed and a warm tingling spread throughout my body, letting me know my body was still repairing the last of my injuries. I didn’t want to heal, I
wanted
to suffer. I deserved to suffer.  Minutes felt like hours, time felt so distorted. Then, in a sudden flash the lights appeared again. It was inside my mind, but bright beacons of light shone everywhere around me. I was connected, felt the life and energy around me, felt Colin’s light begin to flicker.

This was it. It was happening again. I squeezed my eyes closed and fisted my hands to prevent myself from reaching out to his and stopping what I knew I had to do. I took a deep breath.

“Colin.”

“Yeah…Lyss?” His voice was thready and weak.

“I just…” I didn’t know what to say, this was the last time I was going to talk to him. “I… I love you and I’m sorry.”

“Not…your fault.” He choked out.

“His pulse is weakening!” Someone shouted outside the vehicle, but I ignored the frantic chaos and focused on my friend.

“I wish I could’ve stopped it. I just…I couldn’t.” I hadn’t remembered a time that my chest had ever ached with such intensity. My throat felt like I’d swallowed glass and my tears fell freely now.

“s’okay, Lyss…tried.” His words were slurred now and the flurry of commotion outside was getting worse. “So cool...the car…knew you were special.”

“Co-lin,” my voice hitched on a broken sob.

“Love you,” he said.

“I love you too.”

“I’ve lost a pulse!” someone yelled, but I already knew. Colin’s light had extinguished. My shoulders shook as violent sobs wracked my body. Everything hurt. The word “no” echoed through my mind on an endless loop as my knees began to shake. I wanted to scream, but couldn’t catch my breath long enough to make a sound. My body had become nothing more than a repository for pain and tears.

Nothing mattered after that. Time simply had no meaning. I wasn’t sure how much longer it was until they pried me out of the car, but eventually they did. As they loaded the stretcher onto the ambulance a new wave of pain hit when I looked over to see them cov
ering Colin’s lifeless body with a black tarp. He was lying on the pavement, forgotten. A new stream of tears spilled from me until I just wanted to sleep. Closing my eyes, everything began to fade again and my body went limp.

***

The salty taste of my tears woke me. I expected to be lying on that gurney in the hospital emergency room again, but instead I was back at the cabin. Mark gripped my shoulders, gently shaking me awake. Confused, I glanced around to see my father sitting worriedly to one side while Mark towered over me. “Oh, thank God.” He said, pulling me into a crushing hug.

“Where…What happened?” I asked, bewildered.

“You’re okay. Shhh.” He stroked my hair and I felt his body trembling. He was worried. What had happened?

I looked to my father and raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand.”

He cleared his throat and I noticed his eyelashes were wet, like he’d been crying. “It’s over, Lissy. You and Mark have been exonerated. I will report back to my brothers and let them know.”

“But, I don’t understand. You said Mark wouldn’t remember. And why are we back at the cabin?”

“It was a test, baby.” Mark explained softly while sitting in the chair beside me. “Aedan explained it to me after you went out. It was just a test.”

“I know. I had to go back and let…” My voice broke and I couldn’t even finish the words.

“No, you didn’t go back.” Mark said, compassion softening his gaze.

“But I did. I was there.”

“No, you weren’t,” my dad answered this time. “Alyssa, you have to understand that this was the only way I could convince my brothers that you are not Evangeline. It was a hallucination of sorts.”

He glanced at me nervously unsure of my reaction. “It wasn’t real?”

Aedan shook his head. “No, it wasn’t. I’m sorry that I lied to you but it was necessary. We don’t really have the ability to go back in time Alyssa, you were right. That’s just crazy.” He flashed a crooked smile and continued. “But we do have the ability to alter memories.”

“We can alter memories?”

“A memory is simply our brain’s way of processing and storing information. You and I are able to pluck out those stored memories and change them. We can make people believe anything we want them to. That’s what I did with the paramedic who was asking questions. I took him back to that day and made him believe that there was no blood in the car, and also that when he found you and Colin you were both unharmed. He won’t be bothering you again.”

Mark let out an audible sigh at that announcement.

“So, is that what you just did to me? You changed my memory of that day?” I thought about that. “But I still remember what really happened, and yet I have memories of Colin dying as well. How is that possible?”

Mark squeezed my hand reassuringly as Aedan answered. “I didn’t change anything. I just brought you back to that memory,
you
changed it. You had to be the one to do it. Unfortunately, you will have both memories now. Both will feel real to you.”

“But Colin is really okay?” I was almost afraid to hope.

A huge smile spread across my dad’s lips before he answered. “Yes, he is alive and well.”

I flashed a beaming smile, and then a thought hit me and my smile faltered. “The woman I killed?”

My father pulled me into his arms and held me tightly. “Lissy, whether or not you killed that woman she would still be dead now. You didn’t steal her life, it was already over. And when you had the chance to go back and do it again, you chose differently.  I hope you can find some comfort in that thought.”

I hugged him back before pulling away and letting out a deep breath. “I know. I don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling guilty for what happened, but you’re right. I have to let it go and move on.”

“Yes,” he glanced at Mark. “And now you have something wonderful in your life to move on to. I am so happy for you.”

“Thanks Dad.”

Mark cleared his throat and stood. “Aedan, I said some pretty awful things to you. I’ve blamed you for so long when none of what happened was your fault. I was heartbroken and devastated. You took good care of Alyssa and you allowed her to find me again. I don’t know how I can ever thank you enough, and I’m sorry.”

Mark’s apology was so heartfelt and I watched as a multitude of emotions passed over his face. He reached his hand out to shake with my dad. My father clasped his hand firmly. “There’s nothing to be sorry for,
son
.” He stressed the word son. “I understood you were hurting. You just take care of my daughter.”

Mark grinned at me and put his arm around my shoulder. “I will.”

“Um, dad?”

“Yeah.”

“How are you getting home? For that matter, how did you appear out of nowhere? Did you teleport?” I asked excitedly.

Mark groaned and Aedan rolled his eyes. “Teleport? You’ve been watching too much science fiction sweetie. We can’t teleport. We can however hide our presence when we want to. It’s nothing but a trick of the eye.” He winked at me. “My car is in the drive.”

I chuckled.

“You’re welcome to stay for a while.” Mark offered.

My father shot him a knowing glance and said. “No, I think I’ll give you two a little time alone.”