Synergy (See #3)(38)

“Madison is the only one that can hurt herself.”

“What does that mean?”

“All of you made a choice. You are here now because of it.”

“I need to get you safe,” I mumbled as I backed out of the driveway.

I started to shift through all that I had been through that day, all the darkness, all the deep conversations trying to find answers. I was mad at Silas. I walked away from that conversation with nothing but guilt. I may have learned about my beginning to this curse, that I knew Willow and Landen before, but none of that was going to help me now. I needed to know more about that devil, The Realm, who Silas was about to help become like him. It almost sounded like back then Willow and Landen were building an army. The question was, what war would need soldiers born across time? What was really happening right now?

My thoughts had pulled me into in a daze. A mile before Draven’s house, Silas appeared in front of my car. I slammed on my brakes, but my car drove right through him. With a pounding heart, I looked in my mirror to try and find him, but he had vanished. I slammed my hands on the steering wheel again; furious that in the middle of this he was still trying to stand between me and Draven. I hit the gas and drove as fast as I could to Draven’s, then pulled around the back of the house and parked behind the garage. I pulled the keys out and leaned my head against the seat and closed my eyes.

“He wasn’t trying to stop you,” I heard Monroe say innocently.

I opened my eyes and glanced at my side. “Really?” I said with little interest.

“He was trying to tell you he was sorry, that he would answer the questions you were thinking about.”

I raised my eyebrows. “What are you saying? He can read my thoughts?” Please. Please. Say no.

“Selectively.”

“What does that mean?”

“If you are thinking about him and you ask a question, he can hear it.”

“So he decides to give me a heart attack? Do undead people not use cell phones?”

Monroe could not hold back a grin. “They do, just a different kind.”

In dismay I moved my head side to side. “Listen, I need to think for a second. Why don’t you go in and get Nana to get you some dinner?”

She glanced at the clock on the dashboard, then looked back at me. “Will you make sure you are in the studio at ten fifty-five?”

I furrowed my eyebrows. It was almost nine. “I can. Do I have a date or something?”

She didn’t answer me; instead, she got out and walked into the house. I moved my head from side to side as I watched her go in. I didn’t get that little girl. If I could see the future, I would tell everyone. I would not rest until all danger was out of the way. I didn’t understand why she was calm, how she just witnessed all of this and did not show any fear.

I closed my eyes and began to remember Egypt. That night, I spoke with Willow all alone. I let my senses slowly recreate that night. I didn’t want to miss a single detail. I opened my eyes and found myself there, a witness to a conversation that happened so long ago.

The moon was full, encasing the sky. There were more stars than I had ever seen in this life above us. Willow and I walked side by side along a waterway. I could see the awe in my eyes for this woman. Willow was at least forty then; she seemed so calm, wise. Even though I’d lived long past forty years, I was still a child, a young soul. One that craved an open conversation with a mother figure.

“How did you know about us?” I asked her.

“A dream.”

“Did you dream of Isis?” I asked, wondering if she sent Willow to me.

“I dreamed of you.”

Befuddled, I muttered, “Why me?”

“When you seek answers, you find them. I was seeking you, and I found you in this life.”

“Did you know me in another?”

“No, but I will know you in a life after this, but before that point, you will serve as a catalyst.”

“How do you know that?”

She was quiet for a moment. She looped her arm though mine and smiled slightly. “Every life is different. Vastly different. In this life, I have been given a gift. I have been able to see where I was and where I will be. I am able to see how beautifully we are all weaved together.”

“Why do you need me if you already know what will happen?”

“Because a life like this, a life that is this aware, will not come again for me. Many things could change what I believe will happen. When I die, this time I will be reborn blind. I will have no knowledge of any past, or fate, but I will feel it, I will feel called to it; that will happen at least ten times before we meet again.”

“And you need me because I will remember. You need me to remind you of what you desire today.”

We halted by the water, and she turned in to face me. “I want to prepare you, but I have my doubts that my words will alter any fate of yours.” Her eyes grew sad. “Your choices will be difficult, and you are so tired at this moment.”

“Prepare me?” I asked, mystified, sure that I was prepared for anything. “I will help you. I admit I am tired, that I envy death, but if I am going to live, then I am going to fight. I will honor the charge given to me by Isis. Altering the fate of others is my destiny. I already know that.”

Willow nodded once. She glanced at the water, then back to me. “You see how this water flows, how it does not argue with the path it is given? You know that it will flow into the ocean, and at some point it will be absorbed into the air and return to the earth. Though its path may take it to several other lands, it may serve as nourishment, or home for nature, but one day it will find its way here again and flow once more down the same path.”