Insight (Web of Hearts and Souls #1)(5)

My eyes searched over the woman, trying to understand if the sorrow I felt coming from her was grief or loneliness. After a moment, I knelt in front of her, reached out with my hands and touched her shoulder.

With my touch, the gentle pull grew into a force that moved me forward. A tingling sensation absorbed me. The air around me shifted to freezing. It was dark. Snow fell softly through the air. The woman never raised her eyes to meet mine—the images never do. I tried to remember an emotion of absolute bliss, the way I always felt in my good dreams. I could feel her emotion shifting to the same pleasure. Her tears began to dry. A small smile came to the corners of her lips. I let go, slowly taking in her details, knowing that she would be my next sketch.

The same force that pulled me in pushed me away. I took in the tingle as it passed again. It didn’t matter how many times I went through something like that, it always left me enchanted with this seemingly mystical power that was calling my name.

I was back in my yard in the small town of Franklin on a warm summer day. I felt Dane standing behind me, his emotions calm. When we were kids, I could sense how terrifying this was to him. His emotion was powerful enough to make me question why I had no fear of this dance with the unknown.

Now, it’s as common to him as a simple conversation.

I took a deep breath before I turned and walked back to the patio. Dane followed me. As I sat back down in the swing, he passed me and went into the house. I stared blankly at the door, trying to figure out what he was doing. He returned abruptly with a sketchbook and stick of charcoal, then walked over and handed them to me before taking a seat.

I leaned back in the swing, pulling my legs to me to balance the pad. My hand then flew across the page as I outlined the woman. As she came to life on the pad, I realized how observant Dane really is. He understood the significance of my art. Why I sketched. That it had nothing to do with a raw unclaimed talent, but that it was my grip on sanity.

When it was done, he smiled and shook his head. “Well, the rebellion thing didn’t work. Maybe we should play up the nightmares,” he said in a teasing manner that held a volume of truth.

He and my closest friend, Olivia, tried to help me come up with excuses for not going away to school. The school was my mother’s dream, not mine, and in truth, if it were up to me, I would never leave Franklin. I knew everyone here. Their emotions were familiar and I knew how to block them if need be. The thought of being in a huge city filled with millions of emotions was exhausting. I seriously contemplated Dane’s words before we both broke into laughter.

“What time is it?” I asked.

He looked at his watch. “Three thirty,” he answered, a little shocked by how quickly time had passed.

“I have to walk down and get Libby for Mom,” I said, standing and folding the sketchpad closed.

“I’ll walk with you. I have to work tonight,” Dane said, stretching before he stood. His mother, Gina, owned a small diner in town named, appropriately enough, Gina’s. Dane seemed slated to run it one day, but that was a fate he would never choose for himself.

My house sat just one block from Main Street, the heart of town. I slipped on my sandals and walked side by side with Dane down the sidewalk. Almost everyone we passed waved, followed by a Tell your dad I said hello.

Dane just shook his head. “Your dad should, like, run for president. He would so win,” he said, nodding as someone else said Say hello to your dad to me again.

“You’re probably right,” I muttered, suddenly remembering him leaving last night and the way my mother was acting. I was still eager to find out what had gotten into them.

My friend, Olivia, is working at the theater for the summer. Her passions are movies and books, so it’s a fitting job for her. Olivia is one of those people that I enjoy being around because words are not always needed. We are the two girls who sit on the sidelines, watching others in our class. Because Olivia is small and has the same olive skin and long dark hair as I do, teachers often mistake one of us for the other. Our eyes are similar, too, but I’ve always thought that mine were stranger than hers. When she saw Dane and me coming, a smile absorbed her bored face.

“What have you guys been up to today?” Olivia asked.

“Sketching,” Dane answered, all too cynically.

Olivia’s smile fell. “Man, I really thought that one would have worked.” She was sincerely trying to help me stay here. I had to love her for that.

“Wait,” Dane said, raising his hands to make his words have more of an effect. “I have good news—the nightmares are back.”

I elbowed him to tell him to chill on the negative energy he was spouting off. I was fine. I was making it from one minute to the next just like I always had.

“Really?” Olivia gasped. “Do you guys have any good news for me?” she asked as her concerned gaze melted over me.

“Afraid not,” Dane said quickly. “Hey, I gotta go. If your lights are on when I get done tonight, I’ll stop by,” he said to me.

I nodded and watched him go.

“I don’t think I will ever figure the two of you out,” Olivia said under her breath.

I tossed a dirty glance in her direction. I was always teased about not dating Dane, or anyone, for that matter.

“Just kidding,” Olivia said, smiling and raising her hands defensively.

The doors to the theater opened. I could see Libby coming up the aisle with her friend and her grandmother.